pueblonative

the other day at work I heard one of my co-workers saying that she needed to lose some weight so I suggested that she started biking. She immediately started in with the excuses of why she couldn't. That she needed to drive her kids around, etc, etc. And another person chimed in with "oh, no you couldn't. If you drove a bike down Santa Fe you'd get run over by a drunk." Never mind the fact that you would get hit by a drunk in a car as well, or that you don't need to do everything on your bike (though there is a good deal that you can do). How many of you get those sorts of people who start backpedaling with every excuse under the sun not to bike (or walk)?

cyclezealot

Once addicted its quite the opposite. Making excuses for avoiding house chores , even maybe once a year. Not going into work because some bike event is more importnat.

Hickeydog

You can't. Just present them with the facts and let them make their own decision.



I loath Wally World and the impact it has on the cycling community.

cudak888 

That goes for just about anything most Americans are asked if they can do. That's why people have a tendency not to learn - they put roadblocks in front of themselves rather then putting their mind to it.

You'll get the same type load of excuses if you ask the same people why they don't learn how to use their digital camera correctly, refuse to learn how to fix small computer issues, don't do their own home improvement, et cetera.

Yet, even the dumbest of this group usually can figure out how to use the button-laden CD players in their automobiles...

-Kurt

-Kurt

gcottay

I never get excuses because I do not suggest cycling. Instead, I state how much I appreciate riding and find it useful for general fitness.

In the case of people I like, I also provide an invitation to a short and slow recreational ride using a bike from our fleet. Some accept and some decline.

uke

Most people who decline cycling, in my experience, do so due to the perceived lack of safety. In other countries, cyclists and governments address such concerns by increasing infrastructure and restricting autos. In the US, we tell such people to toughen up, and wonder why our national average of commuters remains below 1%.

keiththesnake

I hate it when people start talking about the improvements they need to make physically. It's like they're inviting me to suggest cycling or other exercise. People have done this a lot in the last year. It's tough to fall prey to this kind of invitation only to be shot down with excuses. Why would the person comment in the first place if she wasn't inviting a response?

I try to keep from suggesting cycling. I'm tired of people thinking I'm some sort of extremist. So, I just comment, "That's too bad. What are you going to do?" By dropping a question rather than a suggestion, I avoid ownership of a suggestion that's just going to be rejected anyway.

beerfilter

I don't mean to come down on Americans, but for a proud nation, we make a lot of excuses. Little old ladies around the world walk for miles every day with huge loads of water, firewood, children, etc. balanced on their heads. You ask a hale and hearty American with access to good diet, gymnasiums, and a surplus of American pride to walk (or bike) a mile and they say, " Oh I have a sore foot and it looks like rain and I have to go pick up my kids, how would I find the time, blah, blah, blah.

We are spoiled rotten.

bf

Sammiches

hrmm... I don't hear many excuses, but rather people admit up front they won't even try. Generally people just say "boy, I wish I had that kinda drive." Or, when I got to work this morning "wow, Mr. Bike-man, you've got more balls than me, biking in the middle of the night like that."

It's disappointing that when people ask about my bike commute their first response to details is that it's a horrific challenge they won't even consider, but I don't dwell on it. I think if I get in a lil better shape in a couple more months these same people might give it more thought.

crhilton

Smart man. Wave the carrot instead of telling them to eat their carrots .

tortoise

Or could it be because if they told the truth, "I don't feel like spending three times as long sweating on a bike for an errand that I can accomplish with my car, in the air conditioning." they would be demonized, especially by enthusiasts/zealots. Maybe the "average" person isn't comfortable being judged as immoral/slothful for choosing convenience, and maybe they're too polite to tell the questioner to go 'F themselves.

I bet they don't make excuses to their peers, because their peers likely feel the same way. To them they'd just say, "I'll drive."

How many of those little old ladies would choose to continue hauling wood and water on their heads were a vehicle option available? Or clean water in their homes? Exactly.

I don't agree that it's spoiled. We and our forebears built a nation with great infrastructure (electricity, water, roads, etc.) No one gave us these things. They weren't always here. No one else supports and maintains them.

We don't have to suffer (ANYMORE) like some in less developed countries do. Our ancestors did, and they didn't like it, so they changed things for the better. Many in this "proud" nation are proud of that. I am well aware that some others feel guilty about it.

For me, if I choose today to ride, so be it. If I choose to drive, I'd make no excuses to anyone. Though I don't worry about justifying my life to others and I may be a bit more indelicate than the average soccer-mom, so it's not an unsolicited discussion I'd be having.

Some will make excuses no matter what. Some don't really care about losing weight, fitness, gas prices or the environment. They will complain for the sake of complaint. You know who they are.

For the rest, live and let live, even if others don't meet one's own standards. -I know, I know... this is A&S.

juggleaddict

to each their own, some people are too busy, have to carry stuff, whatever, but i don't : ) and i like to bike.

Sammiches

+1.

When my co-workers mention they won't bike I'm not about to judge their reasons. A lot of them work plenty hard here and I've no idea what they go home to. Sure, a radical realignment of their lifestyle might benefit them, but I don't know that. It takes 2+ hours of my day to commute, and with 2 kids I'm very fortunate to be able to take that time.

And those third-world populations that are lucky enough to be industrializing? They're buying cars as fast as they can.

StrangeWill

If she exercises she wont have something to complain about, simple enough.

caloso

Too hot.
Too cold.
Too late.
Too early.
Too windy.
Too still.
Too far.
Too close.

Whatever.

grayloon

Never ever mention any source of exercise, even walking, to someone who says they want to lose weight unless they specifically ask for advice on your particular type of exercise. They want to lose weight, not exercise, and they want to do it without inconvenience and with no sweat involved. It would not matter if you told them they could lose weight by playing solitaire on the computer. There would be an excuse about how they don't have time, or a myriad of other excuses.

Rosso Corsa

Sorry, I have to take action against this continued usage.

"...or myriad other excuses."

uke

LOL.

MrCjolsen

When I first started biking to work - about 4 years ago - I would not bike if it was raining or windy, if there was a forecast of rain or wind or if I had something I needed to carry. I also would not bike if I had biked the day before (you know, "recovery days").

Gradually the excuses went away. I learned to ride in the wind. I got fenders. Panniers. Lights. Eventually I traded my Trek 1000 for a Surly Crosscheck. Most recently, I got a Bob Yak Trailer.

Now I make excuses as to why I can't drive - It makes my back hurt, I'll get sick, no place to park, etc.

Large Filipino

There really is no excuse.
Yes. I roll a little differently that you guys because I have a helper engine but I still get my cardio.
I don't use my engine until my knees start giving out. Then I'll use it till my knees don't feel so bad then I shut her off again. It seems every day I can go a little longer each day with no help. The helper engine is there because I go 30 miles one way at times. Between both of my engine assisted bicycles I have racked over 5,000 miles in a year and a half including the winter.
Yes. My bikes are my PRIMARY MEANS of transportation and I use my trike without any kind of assist for the trips to the grocery store. If my knees feel bad I'll clip on my trailer to my assist bike.
One day,I hope I will become fit enough to never need my helper engines again. In fact,I'm looking into a road bike. I dunno about those thin seats but I'm thinking there has to be some benefit to that.
Haven't smoked in over a year. It makes a HUGE difference. I can sustain the treadmill for almost an hour now going 3 mph. That's saying a lot when it comes to me,believe me.
I look at it like this. My heart doctor told me after my quintuple bypass that the average American that by the time they are 20 years old no matter how much or little they weigh is already 75% clogged in their arteries.
WOAH. Yea. That's because unless you are a true vegetarian what we put into our mouths is simply loaded with bad cholesterol. I mean look at the way out teeth are designed. Our teeth are not designed to eat meat. They are designed to eat fruits and veggies. Something to think about.
So that's the American way. I'm guilty as charged. Every day I always said "I need to lose weight" and looks for an easy fix.
It took me a quintuple bypass to quit smoking cold turkey because I WANTED TO and to eat more salads and get out there and smell the air.
I tell you,smelling the air.
People need to do that more often.
It's amazing,really.

MrCjolsen

Biking actually helps my arthritic knees and degenerating disc conditions. The first thing I say to people with bad backs and knees is to not drive so much.

norsehabanero

bottom line no excuses (see sig)

grayloon

Damn, another grammar cop

ritepath

Well it is somewhat hard to take kids to school and daycare on a bike. Try packing 2 kids and 300 bucks worth of groceries 25 miles on a bike. It's also hard to find time to ride if you have "pre-bike on road" kids. Lots of evenings I get maybe 3 miles in because our kids ride 3mph stop, 3mph stop, 3mph stop... I left the pukes in this evening after our jeep ride and managed 20.2 miles in less than a hour. First "extended" (LOL) ride I've had in a 10 days or so thanks to the family. It's hard to find any time for exercise when you have kids, and a job much less getting out by yourself and being able to set a pace that actually gets the HR up enough to matter.

If you're a college kid there's all the time in the world.
If you're single there's all the time in the world.
If you're married and live in a thown house there's all the time in the world.

If you have kids, and a home and property to take care of there's 10 minutes a day.

striegel 

No, I disagree with this statement. Humans are omnivores. Over 10,000 years ago, before the invention of farming, people were mainly eating meat -- the larger the animals, the better. This is what we evolved to survive on.

Look into what hunter-gatherers eat.

Certainly our modern western diet is providing too many of the wrong types of foods, and it's the imbalance together with our more sedentary lifestyle that brings on the obesity and chronic diseases.