Welcome to General Chat - GAW Community Area
This General Chat area started off as a place for people to talk about things that are off topic, however it has quickly evolved into a community and has become an integral part of the GAW experience for many of us.
Based on its evolving needs and plenty of user feedback, we are trying to bring some order and institute some rules. Please make sure you read these rules and participate in the spirit of this community.
Rules for General Chat
-
Be respectful to each other. This is of utmost importance, and comments may be removed if deemed not respectful.
-
Avoid long drawn out arguments. This should be a place to relax, not to waste your time needlessly.
-
Personal anecdotes, puzzles, cute pics/clips - everything welcome
-
Please do not spam at the top level. If you have a lot to post each day, try and post them all together in one top level comment
-
Try keep things light. If you are bringing in deep stuff, try not to go overboard.
-
Things that are clearly on-topic for this board should be posted as a separate post and not here (except if you are new and still getting the feel of this place)
-
If you find people violating these rules, deport them rather than start a argument here.
-
Feel free to give feedback as these rules are expected to keep evoloving
In short, imagine this thread to be a local community hall where we all gather and chat daily. Please be respectful to others in the same way
Today I will cover one of the least flipped things in our daily life, bicycles. Bicycles themselves are an almost ideal transportation device, allowing humans to move up to 5 times faster than walking with similar effort. E-bikes can allow much higher speeds while not requiring registration or insurance. This loophole is being closed by increased regulation of e-bikes. Most issues with bikes are related to the surrounding world.
Mr Money Mustache says biking is the safest transportation method. https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/06/13/bicycling-the-safest-form-of-transportation/ But this analysis focus only on deaths. For both driving and biking, suffering from a life-altering injury is a problem. Chronic pain or a traumatic brain injury is no way to live. Even if you make a full recovery, the cost of treatment will be high.
Sun exposure is another issue not addressed by many pro-cycling articles. Sun damage is quite insidious, taking decades for the effects to be seen. Such effects include age spots, sagging skin, and even cancer.
Many cyclists report that their bikes need more maintenance than cars, mostly repairing flat tires. You can get airless bike tires which may have a cost of increased rolling resistance.
In many parts of the US, cycling infrastructure is not pleasant to use. It’s annoying to have to wait minutes at stoplights. Although cyclists do have a reputation for not obeying traffic lights. Breathing exhaust is also unpleasant and dangerous. The new direct injection engines create smaller particles that can be inhaled deeper into the lungs. Wearing a mask while cycling on a road is not a bad idea. (If they work for that.)
Now to address the elephant in the room, bike theft. 80% of cyclists have had at least 1 bike stolen. https_thebestbikelock.com/bike-theft-statistics-us/ There might be some selection bias there. Due to victims not reporting it, the number of bike thefts in the US is suspected to be about the same the number of vehicle thefts, about 1 million per year.
(I needed a break last week :)
I ride a mountain bike on neighborhood roads (about a 3 mile loop in my sub-division) that connects to trails through some Federal park land; about a 10 mile ride, or more if I add more loops. I don't ride on any significant road because the risk of an idiot driver taking you out is too high! It's the law to stop when people are in crosswalks, including people with bikes, yet 9/10 drivers where I live just zoom bye, even when you are IN THE CROSSWALK! Considering that, and the general lack of attention of drivers today, I won't risk riding a bike on any road where drivers can maintain their course without much thought (my neighborhood road is curvy and hilly, so drivers have to pay attention or they will end up running into a tree or someone's yard :) )
In Arizona bicycles are not feasible unless you live by a college and even that it’s not feasible in the summer because it gets up to 115°, and you would probably kill over and die before you got to where you were going because of heat exhaustion.
Also, a friend of mine, who was only in his 30s was riding his bike, fell over, hit his head, and died. Although, I don’t think he was wearing a helmet, but still… His family is devastated. So is my daughter. It was one of her best friends.
Same with the electric scooters, I’ve heard they are super dangerous, and people can get really hurt on them. We used to have an electric scooter, and my friend was riding it, and she broke her shoulder.
Now I can say personally that I wrote that scooter every night while we were walking the dogs, because I needed foot surgery, for many many years, and I never fell on that scooter. I just sold it to a friend of mine for 50 bucks. But it was the kind that had a seat.
This is all anecdotal.
If you are physically able to ride a bike, and you live in urban/suburban areas, you should have one, it should be part of your bug out plan, imo. baskets for gear, etc. Make a route for yourself, Mopeds go a long way on a gallon of gas. Just part of emergency gear, it would be impossible to get through traffic if all hell breaks loose.
I live in the desert.
Also, in the summer it’s 115° here, so probably not gonna be riding a bike anywhere. In the summertime. You would literally pass out from heat exhaustion.
During the summer, when I get home repairs, we had to have at least two or three bottles of Pedialyte just to stay alive. We would have to take frequent breaks, sit in the truck with the air conditioning on. Hi just to reacclimate it was brutal. Thank God I don’t have to do that anymore. Now I’m a pet sitter and I get to enjoy peoples air-conditioned homes along with their beautiful pet.
In terms of sand and terrain, a fat bike will probably do okay -- likely easier than walking -- but heat will of course be an issue. You will need copious amounts of water and possibly electrolytes to replace them as they're diluted.
Not an ideal situation. I would definitely have a bike and flee to more temperate locales if things go bad though.
Best way to do an e-bike is a conversion kit IMO.
Cheaper than a whole new bike, and doing it can teach you a thing or two about bike mechanics.
Disc brakes and thumb shifts were the best things added to bicycling ever, I think. As are newer, more ergonomic grips rather than straight bars.
Don't understand e-bikes for normal use though.
It's like people use it so they can act like they're going out biking for exercise but in actuality it's a half lie. E-bikes are usually capable of pedaling too, and yet I don't think I've ever seen the people who only ride e-bikes pedaling. Maybe ONE guy.
One of the places I found that E bikes are popular is when I’m on Kauai. Down in areas like Hanalei Bay. People can rent e bikes, and get around to a lot of locations in a short amount of time. This is feasible for tourism and I think it’s a good idea. It allows for a feeing and stimulating experience while on the island.
Also, for many years I needed to have foot surgery, I couldn’t walk rapidly or for a long distances without it hurting really bad. My best friend and I were roommates, and we would walk our dogs every night somewhere between 10 PM and 12 PM so we could let them loose in the park when other people were around. We’ve routinely had boxers as pets. Well, I bought this scooter for 75 bucks on craigslist, this was before they were even popular. But it had a seat. It was a Schwinn actually. But having this little scooter, allowed me to walk with my best friend and the dogs, because I would ride the scooter. Then I would Jam through the grass with the dogs for them to chase me. It was so much fun. I recently sold the scooter to one of my old friends from that neighborhood because I had my foot surgery and I don’t need it any longer.
I agree with you. Recreational not commuting!
It's a good thing to maintain in life, a good bicycling habit.
I cycle to work on the South Platte trail in Denver.
Speak your mind, freind