Jim from Boston

If bicycling to work is sensible, why don't more people do it? I think the major point of this thread is that to the Common Man, cycling to work is nonsensical, or at best whimsical. I feel victorious after making my way through the herds of 3000 pound steel behemoths, but that's just me.

thdave

[QUOTE=ItsJustMe;9741029]Wow, "bicycle lifestyle", feeling heroic after a ride, etc? Really?

snip... Paying for gas to haul 3000 pounds of steel around with me doesn't really make that much sense.

snipQUOTE]

Love that quote, as it sums up my attitude these days. It's a waste. It should be reserved for the occasions when you need it.

coffeecake

Personally I like to wear a cape and sprinkle smugness and fairy dust as I float like a butterfly, sting like a bee amongst the unwashed masses.

ItsJustMe

They're brainwashed, or very lazy.

Jim from Boston

Is Coffeecake also your Superhero moniker, or your secret identity?

coffeecake

It's my weakness!

TwoHeadsBrewing

I think it's definitely part laziness, but the other part is just that driving a car is a social norm. There is a whole social system based on what you drive, how expensive it is, etc. Cars became an American symbol of success and freedom, and then social status. So even when you look at cagers and wonder why they are putting up with traffing for 30 minutes rather than riding their bike for 35 minutes...just realize it's built in to our society.

irwin7638

Yep, unfortunately people have bought the Madison Avenue belief that cars are a means of self-expression, not transportation.

jeffpoulin

If I had to give a serious answer for why I commute by bike, it's because traffic is horrible where I work. On the worst days, it can take 30 minutes to go a mile by car in the city. Outside the city, the driving is better, but in the end, it usually takes me the same amount of time to get home whether I drive or bike. I like to bike, I like exercising, I like being outdoors, and I hate being stuck in traffic, so that in a nutshell is why I do it.

I recently moved and I now have the option of taking the train (which allows bikes on board), but since I've been biking to work for so long, it's a hard habit to break. What was originally intended to avoid daily traffic jams has turned into a daily passion. I still ride even though I could go to/from work much faster by train.

Noobert

Reminds me of this one time how I was endurance swimming on this lake, and this pontoon boat came right up to be asking me if I needed a ride. They thought I was struggeling. I must need to work on my form. Their boat was leaking alot of gasoline. And it burnt my eyes.

Noobert

Driving a 3000 pound bohemouth can make me feel uncomfortable to

dynodonn 

With the media inundated with auto commercials, like one of the new Audi diesel versions that imply that cyclists and other alternative transportation users would enjoy themselves better if they drove one of their new diesel vehicles, I'd have to answer both, that they're brainwashed into being very lazy.

Bah Humbug

They certainly can be self-expression. They're not all black Model Ts these days.

Look, I love my bike. I love riding it. However, it's not for everything. I take my alzheimered grandmother to lunch most weekends, and I'm not just going to pop her in a trailer for it. Also, I'm not going to rent a car every time I need to ferry a visitor to or from the airport. I'm not going to worry about my bike when I show up for a date (and not be able to pick her up, or not be able to take her somewhere else later in the night). Sometimes I'm feeling a little sick and don't want to stress my body further. Sometimes it's cold, and my circulation is bad enough that I've never found a pair of gloves that keep my hands warm in serious cold. Sometimes I just want a nice quiet ride with some music instead of an unending whoosh of wind and tire howl.

irwin7638

Point well taken, but at least you realize there is an alternative and how practical it is. I tell people to look at a map of their town, draw a circle of 5 miles from their home and, whenever they have to go somewhere in the circle, substitute their bike half of the time for a month. Some people have actually done it and gotten hooked, most people stare blankly.

formerly RE

I've had many offers for rides over the years. I even had the custodian at my school once try to advise me on how to get a loan for a car. (That was when I was totally and intentionally car-free.)

Over time, people have learned that I'm just "quirky" and like to pedal. I noticed that a few at my last work site started pedaling, after I'd modeled for about...3 years! The cool part is that I go back to that site sometimes, and I still see their bicycles parked at the racks during working hours. So something was accomplished there.

Two miles is really short. Your co-workers should be embarassed to even think that is car-worthy.

TamaraEden

I ride 1.5 miles. Almost too short , except on the way home where it's all a slight uphill grade and my chubby butt feels it!

dynodonn 

I opened up a checking statement that I received in the mail to discover, to my amazement, a hand written note from one of the tellers at my banking facility stating that I was more than qualified for a considerable car loan, and that she would be more than happy to set one up, preapproved.
I wonder if she considered on how I was able to attain that level of credit, and I'm sure that not having a car loan in the first place ever crossed her mind.

coldfeet

No, I didn't read about that trick until after I *****ed on here about it happening. I am going to order one of Morningstar tools freehub buddies so I can re-lube all my hubs. Not gonna happen this Winter!The whole social norm thing is a form of laziness, don't you think? most of us know we can learn to be quirky, different, renegade, etc but it is so hard to summon up the courage to do it. It's too easy to just... go along.Did you ever say anything to her? "Thanks, I can afford a car, but I like riding." Or whatever.

irwin7638

rotfl!!

Kimmitt 

Hey, man, endorphins are a cheap high. Don't deny happiness.

Smokinapankake

Ya know, I think most people don't commute by bike because they don't consider it to be viable.
Add in a bit of laziness (because it's scary and hard to try something new that no one else has shown you how to do), and you have a nation dedicated to the car.

I would bet that 99% of America's population would classify bicyles as toys, not tools.

I haven't commuted (by bicycle, anyway) for years thanks to the time commitment. I work 10 hour shifts a half hour drive away, vs. an hour and a half ride away from home. With little kids at home, I just don't have 13 hours a day to spend away. Not that I wouldn't love to commute.

In response to the OP, I usually tell them I just like to ride my bike. This is especially amusing when it's been snowing for a week. I then ask them to explain how it's any different than skiing? You enjoy being out in the snow while skiing, right? Why can't I enjoy being out in the snow biking? And why would you care how I get to work anyway? You're not riding it....

I could go on and on...

sourdoughT

ItsJustMe this is an excellent comeback

"Paying for gas to haul 3000 pounds of steel around with me doesn't really make that much sense."

Jim from Boston

I suppose the brainwashed, or very lazy as decribed by ItsJustMe in an above post (#79) might reply,"Of course it makes more sense than getting out of the car and pushing it."

Jim from Boston

Don't forget, it worked for Walter Mitty, even without the endorphins.

thdave

[QUOTE=ItsJustMe;9741029] Paying for gas to haul 3000 pounds of steel around with me doesn't really make that much sense.

[QUOTE]

My kid asked to use the car this weekend, to run up to the store to get a couple of grocery items from the store a half mile up the road. I used your line on him--I'm not paying for gas to haul 3000 pounds of steel up the road for one stinking mile! Of course, he had no choice anyway, but it got him thinking. I gave him my pannier and off he went. Then he had to go back out again, since he forgot an item. No complaints, however. I think he might have enjoyed it! (17 yr. olds who don't compain about something usually like it--that's my take.)