grizzly59

Might find interesting:

https://theconversation.com/cycling-...-cities-157163

Troul 

Junk that vehicle! because riding from the store in a windy 85F degree moist heat with a 50lbs bag of dog food, 1 gallon of milk, dozen of extra large grade A eggs, some jars of pickles, a bag of chips, carton of ice cream, & deli cold cuts just seems like a great idea.

Cougrrcj

So haul a child-hauling trailer behind your bike, problem solved!

Troul 

That might be attached on the way to, but it might have a new owner before coming out from the store... Not practical in every location to rely solely on a bicycle. What if at work one day my leg is crushed leaving me without mobility for months? Those miles aren't going to pedal themselves.
If I were to shop closer to home out of convenience, that "easier" shopping comes with other challenges. That closer store will not stock 1/2 of what I normally purchase, what they do have is marked up by far.

So, essentially, I should spend more money, expend more effort, change my personal ways of life & nutrition all to satisfy a moving finger pointing of carbon blame gaming.

Koyote

This seems an odd response from a person who frequents a forum for cyclists.

I saw absolutely nothing in the article to suggest that you, or anyone else, should "junk" their car and travel completely on foot or bike. Nothing in this thread suggests that, either.

Sheesh. What a reaction.

Troul 

that is where the implication resides from my reading.

Koyote

Okay, I missed that. Thanks for the quote.

Still seems like you are taking it rather personally. After all, it ain't gonna happen.

Troul 

really isn't blipping my radar. Felt the response to the OP's topic on par. Typing conversation, if you will.

Koyote

Hate to say it, but I think we've already gone past the tipping point with climate change...Even if we stopped all GHG emissions today, the planet would keep warming for a couple hundred years due to the positive feedback loops that we've unleashed. I'm not personally doing it, but I almost feel like we might as well just party up and enjoy ourselves -- you know, dancing on the Titanic's deck.

rsbob 

An e-bike trike with a large cargo carrying box would be a step in the right direction for those not plagued by snow or tons of rain. Not exactly what the author was advocating but when hauling a 35 lb bag of dog food, milk and eggs would be more practical. The writer does seem a bit pie in the sky but his heart is in the right ecological place.

50PlusCycling

A good subject for a long argument. An electric bike requires the mining of a larger variety of materials, including rare earths. The mining and processing of these materials is energy intensive. Then there are the chemicals and metals used in batteries, and the rather limited life of modern batteries (I have an electric bike, and after 4 years of use, the battery has about 40% the capacity it used to have). A new battery requires more metal, plastic, more chemicals, and more processing, not to mention the difficulty involved in recycling the old battery, Then one must consider how electric vehicles are charged. Where I live (in Japan), the vast majority of electricity comes from burning gas, coal, and oil. Engineers here in Japan have argued that gasoline powered scooters generate less CO2 than electric bikes and scooters because of the large amounts of fuel burned to generate electricity.

I bought the electric bike for my wife to use, it carries our daughter to-and-from school, and it is good for getting groceries and such. The part of Tokyo where I live is hilly, and though I have no problems climbing hills on an ordinary bike, trying to do so while carrying a kid, a couple backpacks, and other stuff is a little more than I can handle nowadays (I am no longer the young man who raced up and down the Alps and Pyrenees). If I lived in a flatter region, I would do fine without an electric bike.

mcours2006

Hauling stuff regularly is doable, but not desirable. I used to regularly carry up to 40 lbs of groceries on my home from work, and it'd be a 14-km ride from the store. And while it wasn't much fun, the effort required to ride this rig was the least of my work, cuz I was riding home anyway, so what's another 40 pounds, right? It wasn't easy trying to fit that much stuff onto a set of large panniers, and a large trunk bag on top of the panniers, and sometimes I had to put things into a backpack that I also carry. I saw it as a challenge, and it felt good after it was done, but I doubt many see it the way I do.

Getting folks to get out of their cars and onto bikes is a non-starter here in North America. That just ain't gonna happen, at least not enough to make a difference. eV's the about the best we can hope for at this point, and 3x better than non eV's is still better than nothing.

sloppy12

He has a solid point. this is basically a nonsense plan for the majority of people. Realistically a bike makes less sense than a horse for a large part of the world. sure a short trip or a commute to work the argument for bike could maybe be made. for actual travel and resupply a horse buggy makes way more sense. I'm not totally sure a horse is cheaper to keep alive than a car. A ebike doesnt even really bridge this gap for most people.
I have tried it and sure you can do it. Most I have drug home supply wise was a 100lb of animal feed and some light groceries in the front basket. Its not a terrible ride but I wouldnt really want to do it in the wind or a snow storm. plus doing multiple stops starts to suck once you start loading up a cargo bike.
It takes digging big holes in the ground just keep producing steel and aluminum to. tires, paint, batteries(need lights) all stuff you have on any bike. A Ebike is probably the only way for many people a idea like this would ever even be possible to accomplish. I think like you anyone that starts dealing with traffic and hills and more cargo starts to question the sustainability of riding every single day at least in a family style setting.

Germany_chris

Urbanization is a thing world wide we'll never be car/tractor/truck free but for a large segment of the population living car free is realistic. I spend 5 days a week away from home I basically live car free during the week at home it'd be a bit harder but I think it would be doable but I'm not sure the juice is worth the squeeze there.