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Old 01-12-03, 09:29 AM
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uciflylow
Still on two wheels!
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: West Tennessee
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Hi iluvbiking!

I'm from TN and this end of the state is mostly flat land with some rolling hills, the real reason most here don't use bikes is, there lazy. Americans have gotten use to getting into their car and going 3 blocks to get anything! Heaven forbid that even my children should have to walk to the movie rental or local market that is 3-4 blocks away! I will add that many people here live in rural areas and don't see a bicycle as a viable resource for anything other than recreation. Most of the bikes sold in department stores here are destined to clutter up some one's porch or garrage and never be ridden except for some recreation and that usually doesn't last long. Why do you think that diseases that are assoatied with a sedentary life style and over eating pleague our nation?
I ride mostly for fun and fitness and plan to do some commuting this spring and summer to see how it goes. I also noticed that in areas that have more congested trafic and more cyclers that people don't seem to "live by the clock" as much as in other areas, so their always pushing themselves to "be on time" somewhere. Many Americans commute by auto 30-40 miles to their jobs and think nothing of driving more miles than that to work. Small towns and cities often make no effort to encourge bike riding and often riders are looked on as a nusance to autos that are trying to "be somewhere"! Almost all the street lights are activated by some sort of magnetic sensor imbeded in the road so a cyclist will wait all day and the light will never change to allow a bicycle to pass! More and more stores are located off major roads and cyclist have to contend with high volume, high speed trafic and motorist that have many distractions. I will add that I have had very few issues with hostile motorist, most of the time they just don't see you or they aren't paying attention to what they are doing.
I work in a college town and most of the student riders I see are Asian and do use the bicycle as a means to run errands and trips to the store. Why do American kids think that they are too good to ride a bike? When my son wanted a car the first thing I did was make him ride a bike back and fourth to work and earn his money. I realy sours my stomach to see so many of the kids in this country driving cars that cost $20,000 and I know that most haven't earned it. WE ARE SPOILED!
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