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    Cycling!

    I didn't do it for a year and a half (well, I did...I also have a stationary bike that I use for workouts), but I just fixed my bike and I'm LOVING IT. Reasons:
    -It's total double tasking...you get to get yourself places plus work out at the same time.
    -It's nearly free. Except for the occasional cheapie repair it doesn't cost anything.
    -It's faster. Unless I'm going really far away, it's way faster than public transport or even driving in a city setting...my friend came over yesterday and spent 15 minutes looking for parking and then walking over from where she found parking....doesn't happen if you have a bike!
    -It's not smelly, hot and disgusting like the Underground.
    -You actually get to see the city.
    -It's super "green"....uses no fuel!

    #2
    Re: Cycling!

    Good for you! I haven't ridden a bike in so many years I'd kill myself for sure LOL
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    Can you hear me, Major Tom? I think I love you.

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      #3
      Re: Cycling!

      I'm an avid cyclist. Pedaling around on two wheels is one of three things I've determined I need to survive. It may even come before food and water.

      I just recently put 50 kilometres on a bike, but now I'm in camp again, so it's back to the stationary. I'm working towards saving up for a carbon frame road bike, because I'd really like to get into racing.

      Cycling is my life.


      Mostly art.

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        #4
        Re: Cycling!

        All my friends back on the coast cycle as well, and whenever I see someone on a forum who is like "I can't do it because I'm in a city" or "I can't do it because there are hills here" I'm like "pft." I also cycled back home, everywhere I lived and up hills and everything. And the west coast is NOT flat! And while I'm in a European city now, Berlin is not Amsterdam or even Paris. It's SPREAD OUT. It takes like 3 hours or so to take the overground train across it, and that's minimal stopping and no traffic.

        Here, there's just no excuse either. If you're within Zone A of the transit, it's almost always faster to cycle, especially if your trip involves changing trains normally. And it's mostly flat. There are only a couple of natural hills (meaning not made of war rubble or housing an old bunker) one f which is the gradual incline of my neighbourhood (which I find hilarious because it has the name "berg" in it, which means mountain, and it's just a gently sloping hill).

        I really did miss it though. I want to keep it up as transportation because the savings are just so big. I'd only stopped because of the horrible, horrible 2009-2010 winter season and just never got back into it after until now. I'll also keep up with the stationary bike. I'd like to take one of those trips along one of the German rivers (they all have paved bike roads along them) where you cycle and camp your way down!
        Last edited by DanieMarie; 28 May 2011, 15:52.

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          #5
          Re: Cycling!

          I love to bike...thats the only downside of where we are now actually...because of all the tunnels and bridges, its hard to bike anywhere.
          Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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            #6
            Re: Cycling!

            yeah that's too scary!

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              #7
              Re: Cycling!

              I would bike places if I could, but the way American cities spread out necessitates having something with an engine attached. For example, from my house to the nearest shop is around 7 miles (11km) one way, almost entirely on roads that are just barely two lanes that wind in between hills with no shoulders and sheer drops in places. Riding a bicycle on these roads is a good way to get killed or cause other people to wreck off the road as they try to avoid you when they come around a blind curve and you're in the way. The university I go to is around 25 miles (40km) away, one way. That's if you take the interstate, which bikes aren't allowed on; backroads are a longer distance. Similarly, my workplace was around 12 miles (19km) away.

              Oh, and this city simply doesn't have a public transit system. Doesn't exist. So, yeah, I have to keep my car...I've been trying to buy a motorcycle, though, so that's kind of like biking, right?
              "Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others."
              -Thomas Jefferson

              Let a man never stir on his road a step
              without his weapons of war;
              for unsure is the knowing when the need shall arise
              of a spear on the way without.
              -

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                #8
                Re: Cycling!

                I can get that....some places really aren't doable by bike.

                BUT not all North American cities are like that....Portland is notoriously bike-friendly, as is Seattle, Vancouver and even San Fran (I have friends who do it despite the hills!) I heard good things about Denver as well. Maybe it's a Western thing. It kind of drops out in Southern California it seems though...I couldn't imagine biking in LA.

                If you ever move and want cyclability as a criteria, here are some others:
                Last edited by DanieMarie; 02 Jun 2011, 15:12.

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                  #9
                  Re: Cycling!

                  Originally posted by DanieMarie View Post
                  I can get that....some places really aren't doable by bike.

                  BUT not all North American cities are like that....Portland is notoriously bike-friendly, as is Seattle, Vancouver and even San Fran (I have friends who do it despite the hills!) I heard good things about Denver as well. Maybe it's a Western thing. It kind of drops out in Southern California it seems though...I couldn't imagine biking in LA.

                  If you ever move and want cyclability as a criteria, here are some others:
                  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/0..._n_252092.html
                  I think it has more to do with urban areas in general--when people live and work in the same area, car transportation is less necessary. TBH, I think most of us don't live in urban centers. Right now, the area where I live is often called "The Seven Cities"--realistically, its more like 8 cities, at least 11 military installations that I know of, and even more outlying towns. Plus, there are multiple bridges and tunnels, the only efficient way of getting anywhere is the interstate, and the main roads are dangerous enough that I barely want to walk across the street to go to the grocery store in a crosswalk if I have the kids with me. The Metro-area of St. Louis isn't much better--sure, if you live and work in the city, or off the Metro route, you can bike...but the only person I know that is in position to do that is my Uncle, who drives to the metro station, takes the Metro with his bike, and then bikes 2-3 miles to work (weather dependent--it can get to 100+ in the summer)...most everyone else I know works past the end of the Metro, or no where close to a Metro stop, and lives across the river in IL.
                  Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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                    #10
                    Re: Cycling!

                    I guess that's true. And I'm kind of part of a more urban crowd, so my friends in both Canada and friends I met here who moved back to the US all live in the city, so it's probably easier to cycle (and actually really inconvenient a lot of the time to drive! A few friends -have- cars, but only use them on weekends to "get out" of the city and keep them parked during the week because parking and traffic are too much of a pain)

                    ---------- Post added at 01:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:46 PM ----------

                    Also, not saying everyone should cycle! I have lived in a city before where it just wasn't practical (it was a long, thin, poorly planned city that, while small, took a long time to get from one end to the other and there were only about 3 routes to do so!) Just saying that if you live in a place where you can, it's a great way to get around!

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                      #11
                      Re: Cycling!

                      Cycling sounds like fun - my land backs onto state land (land owned by the state & held in trust), and there are miles and miles and miles of dirt road back there that almost never see traffic (young couples in the early evening, mostly. Not sure why...). That would be great for cycling, methinks.

                      Really not worth it as a means of travel for me, though - I'm way out in the country, like Thjoth - it's a twenty mile drive just to get to work (and also the nearest gas station).
                      Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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                        #12
                        Re: Cycling!

                        I used to love mountain biking too back home....really fun!

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                          #13
                          Re: Cycling!

                          I'm trying to plan a 1300 kilometre cycle tour through asia this winter.

                          Also, I use the stationary in camp every night for 30 minutes.


                          Mostly art.

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                            #14
                            Re: Cycling!

                            That's AMAZING! If you do that take lots of pics for us!

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                              #15
                              Re: Cycling!

                              Originally posted by DanieMarie View Post
                              That's AMAZING! If you do that take lots of pics for us!
                              Oh trust me, there'll be photos. It's still in early planning stages - I only just looked up some cycle routes last week. But basically, want to start in Bangkok, cycle south towards Malaysia, through Malaysia, and into Singapore, all the while, staying close to either the east or west shores (aka beaches). It's about 1300km or so, I believe.

                              I'm looking for travel partners if anyone is seriously interested.

                              I'm going to do it on my 80s mountain bike - I bought it off Craigslist for $100, and I'm outfitting it slowly to become a touring bike. I've already changed the saddle and swapped the tires for slicks, but I still need to add fenders, either toe straps, or clipless pedals, and a pannier rack. The gears don't work so great on the bike, but so long as it shifts, I won't bother swapping out the shifters. Besides, that could get expensive because it's an older model, and I might have to change out the drive train too - at which point, it becomes cheaper to buy a new bike, lol.


                              Mostly art.

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