View Full Version : What's your attitude about cars?
Roughstuff
04-06-06, 03:43 PM
LOL went shopping the other day... brought home a gallon of milk, a load of veggies, some salad dressing and crutons and a newspaper... about 25 bucks worth. The wife was quite pleased as she did not want to go play the parking game.
Most interesting thing was that there is no longer a bike rack in front of the store... so I just went in with the bike and filled the panniers as I walked the aisles. No one said a thing... got some smiles though.
As far as the furniture... have it delivered... let them break their backs.
And the kids... heck, a slow jog to the game will do them and you good. :D
Nice! I never took my bike actually in the aisles, but I have brought my bike inside some places where I have shopped or eaten. Usually I walk if its close enough.
Your triplicate letter shows that me that **I** am not the only one having problems with Bikeforums access these days. Maybe they got chimichungas all over there hardware! :)
roughstuff
Roughstuff
04-06-06, 03:43 PM
LOL went shopping the other day... brought home a gallon of milk, a load of veggies, some salad dressing and crutons and a newspaper... about 25 bucks worth. The wife was quite pleased as she did not want to go play the parking game.
Most interesting thing was that there is no longer a bike rack in front of the store... so I just went in with the bike and filled the panniers as I walked the aisles. No one said a thing... got some smiles though.
As far as the furniture... have it delivered... let them break their backs.
And the kids... heck, a slow jog to the game will do them and you good. :D
Nice! I never took my bike actually in the aisles, but I have brought my bike inside some places where I have shopped or eaten. Usually I walk if its close enough.
Your triplicate letter shows that me that **I** am not the only one having problems with Bikeforums access these days. Maybe they got chimichungas all over there hardware! :)
roughstuff
Roughstuff
04-06-06, 03:43 PM
LOL went shopping the other day... brought home a gallon of milk, a load of veggies, some salad dressing and crutons and a newspaper... about 25 bucks worth. The wife was quite pleased as she did not want to go play the parking game.
Most interesting thing was that there is no longer a bike rack in front of the store... so I just went in with the bike and filled the panniers as I walked the aisles. No one said a thing... got some smiles though.
As far as the furniture... have it delivered... let them break their backs.
And the kids... heck, a slow jog to the game will do them and you good. :D
Nice! I never took my bike actually in the aisles, but I have brought my bike inside some places where I have shopped or eaten. Usually I walk if its close enough.
Your triplicate letter shows that me that **I** am not the only one having problems with Bikeforums access these days. Maybe they got chimichungas all over there hardware! :)
roughstuff
Roughstuff
04-06-06, 03:43 PM
LOL went shopping the other day... brought home a gallon of milk, a load of veggies, some salad dressing and crutons and a newspaper... about 25 bucks worth. The wife was quite pleased as she did not want to go play the parking game.
Most interesting thing was that there is no longer a bike rack in front of the store... so I just went in with the bike and filled the panniers as I walked the aisles. No one said a thing... got some smiles though.
As far as the furniture... have it delivered... let them break their backs.
And the kids... heck, a slow jog to the game will do them and you good. :D
Nice! I never took my bike actually in the aisles, but I have brought my bike inside some places where I have shopped or eaten. Usually I walk if its close enough.
Your triplicate letter shows that me that **I** am not the only one having problems with Bikeforums access these days. Maybe they got chimichungas all over there hardware! :)
roughstuff
Roughstuff
04-06-06, 03:43 PM
LOL went shopping the other day... brought home a gallon of milk, a load of veggies, some salad dressing and crutons and a newspaper... about 25 bucks worth. The wife was quite pleased as she did not want to go play the parking game.
Most interesting thing was that there is no longer a bike rack in front of the store... so I just went in with the bike and filled the panniers as I walked the aisles. No one said a thing... got some smiles though.
As far as the furniture... have it delivered... let them break their backs.
And the kids... heck, a slow jog to the game will do them and you good. :D
Nice! I never took my bike actually in the aisles, but I have brought my bike inside some places where I have shopped or eaten. Usually I walk if its close enough.
Your triplicate letter shows that me that **I** am not the only one having problems with Bikeforums access these days. Maybe they got chimichungas all over there hardware! :)
roughstuff
Roughstuff
04-06-06, 03:43 PM
LOL went shopping the other day... brought home a gallon of milk, a load of veggies, some salad dressing and crutons and a newspaper... about 25 bucks worth. The wife was quite pleased as she did not want to go play the parking game.
Most interesting thing was that there is no longer a bike rack in front of the store... so I just went in with the bike and filled the panniers as I walked the aisles. No one said a thing... got some smiles though.
As far as the furniture... have it delivered... let them break their backs.
And the kids... heck, a slow jog to the game will do them and you good. :D
Nice! I never took my bike actually in the aisles, but I have brought my bike inside some places where I have shopped or eaten. Usually I walk if its close enough.
Your triplicate letter shows that me that **I** am not the only one having problems with Bikeforums access these days. Maybe they got chimichungas all over there hardware! :)
roughstuff
Roughstuff
04-06-06, 03:43 PM
LOL went shopping the other day... brought home a gallon of milk, a load of veggies, some salad dressing and crutons and a newspaper... about 25 bucks worth. The wife was quite pleased as she did not want to go play the parking game.
Most interesting thing was that there is no longer a bike rack in front of the store... so I just went in with the bike and filled the panniers as I walked the aisles. No one said a thing... got some smiles though.
As far as the furniture... have it delivered... let them break their backs.
And the kids... heck, a slow jog to the game will do them and you good. :D
Nice! I never took my bike actually in the aisles, but I have brought my bike inside some places where I have shopped or eaten. Usually I walk if its close enough.
Your triplicate letter shows that me that **I** am not the only one having problems with Bikeforums access these days. Maybe they got chimichungas all over there hardware! :)
roughstuff
Roughstuff
04-06-06, 03:43 PM
LOL went shopping the other day... brought home a gallon of milk, a load of veggies, some salad dressing and crutons and a newspaper... about 25 bucks worth. The wife was quite pleased as she did not want to go play the parking game.
Most interesting thing was that there is no longer a bike rack in front of the store... so I just went in with the bike and filled the panniers as I walked the aisles. No one said a thing... got some smiles though.
As far as the furniture... have it delivered... let them break their backs.
And the kids... heck, a slow jog to the game will do them and you good. :D
Nice! I never took my bike actually in the aisles, but I have brought my bike inside some places where I have shopped or eaten. Usually I walk if its close enough.
Your triplicate letter shows that me that **I** am not the only one having problems with Bikeforums access these days. Maybe they got chimichungas all over there hardware! :)
roughstuff
Roughstuff
04-06-06, 03:43 PM
LOL went shopping the other day... brought home a gallon of milk, a load of veggies, some salad dressing and crutons and a newspaper... about 25 bucks worth. The wife was quite pleased as she did not want to go play the parking game.
Most interesting thing was that there is no longer a bike rack in front of the store... so I just went in with the bike and filled the panniers as I walked the aisles. No one said a thing... got some smiles though.
As far as the furniture... have it delivered... let them break their backs.
And the kids... heck, a slow jog to the game will do them and you good. :D
Nice! I never took my bike actually in the aisles, but I have brought my bike inside some places where I have shopped or eaten. Usually I walk if its close enough.
Your triplicate letter shows that me that **I** am not the only one having problems with Bikeforums access these days. Maybe they got chimichungas all over there hardware! :)
roughstuff
Roughstuff
04-06-06, 03:43 PM
LOL went shopping the other day... brought home a gallon of milk, a load of veggies, some salad dressing and crutons and a newspaper... about 25 bucks worth. The wife was quite pleased as she did not want to go play the parking game.
Most interesting thing was that there is no longer a bike rack in front of the store... so I just went in with the bike and filled the panniers as I walked the aisles. No one said a thing... got some smiles though.
As far as the furniture... have it delivered... let them break their backs.
And the kids... heck, a slow jog to the game will do them and you good. :D
Nice! I never took my bike actually in the aisles, but I have brought my bike inside some places where I have shopped or eaten. Usually I walk if its close enough.
Your triplicate letter shows that me that **I** am not the only one having problems with Bikeforums access these days. Maybe they got chimichungas all over there hardware! :)
roughstuff
Roughstuff
04-06-06, 03:43 PM
LOL went shopping the other day... brought home a gallon of milk, a load of veggies, some salad dressing and crutons and a newspaper... about 25 bucks worth. The wife was quite pleased as she did not want to go play the parking game.
Most interesting thing was that there is no longer a bike rack in front of the store... so I just went in with the bike and filled the panniers as I walked the aisles. No one said a thing... got some smiles though.
As far as the furniture... have it delivered... let them break their backs.
And the kids... heck, a slow jog to the game will do them and you good. :D
Nice! I never took my bike actually in the aisles, but I have brought my bike inside some places where I have shopped or eaten. Usually I walk if its close enough.
Your triplicate letter shows that me that **I** am not the only one having problems with Bikeforums access these days. Maybe they got chimichungas all over there hardware! :)
roughstuff
Roughstuff
04-06-06, 03:43 PM
LOL went shopping the other day... brought home a gallon of milk, a load of veggies, some salad dressing and crutons and a newspaper... about 25 bucks worth. The wife was quite pleased as she did not want to go play the parking game.
Most interesting thing was that there is no longer a bike rack in front of the store... so I just went in with the bike and filled the panniers as I walked the aisles. No one said a thing... got some smiles though.
As far as the furniture... have it delivered... let them break their backs.
And the kids... heck, a slow jog to the game will do them and you good. :D
Nice! I never took my bike actually in the aisles, but I have brought my bike inside some places where I have shopped or eaten. Usually I walk if its close enough.
Your triplicate letter shows that me that **I** am not the only one having problems with Bikeforums access these days. Maybe they got chimichungas all over there hardware! :)
roughstuff
Roughstuff
04-06-06, 03:43 PM
LOL went shopping the other day... brought home a gallon of milk, a load of veggies, some salad dressing and crutons and a newspaper... about 25 bucks worth. The wife was quite pleased as she did not want to go play the parking game.
Most interesting thing was that there is no longer a bike rack in front of the store... so I just went in with the bike and filled the panniers as I walked the aisles. No one said a thing... got some smiles though.
As far as the furniture... have it delivered... let them break their backs.
And the kids... heck, a slow jog to the game will do them and you good. :D
Nice! I never took my bike actually in the aisles, but I have brought my bike inside some places where I have shopped or eaten. Usually I walk if its close enough.
Your triplicate letter shows that me that **I** am not the only one having problems with Bikeforums access these days. Maybe they got chimichungas all over there hardware! :)
roughstuff
I have nothing against cars but we use them too often. I prefer to have a nice car and to use it as little as reasonably possible.
shokhead
04-06-06, 05:57 PM
Nice! I never took my bike actually in the aisles, but I have brought my bike inside some places where I have shopped or eaten. Usually I walk if its close enough.
Your triplicate letter shows that me that **I** am not the only one having problems with Bikeforums access these days. Maybe they got chimichungas all over there hardware! :)
roughstuff
WHAT! WHAT! Could you repeat that please?
I have nothing against cars but we use them too often. I prefer to have a nice car and to use it as little as reasonably possible.
I hear ya, I pride myself in the number of days that my car sits in the corner by itself. :D
cyclezealot
04-06-06, 06:47 PM
Like our new little town. Another three days and the car has not moved. Gas gauge still reads full. Grocery store is only like 5 blocks away. Two trips can even carry 20 lbs of groceries and likely carry maybe twelve pounds of groceries in my panniers.
Another dislike of cars. My bike group the last two rides has left a half an hour earlier, since this spring, we are riding further. But, at rush hour, the noise cars make as they pass. They are so loud. Disturb my peaceful ride in the country. Cars are just disturbing. From within the cage you don't know how loud all that horsepower is.
Bekologist
04-06-06, 10:46 PM
The notion of private automobile ownership was foisted onto the American public by a businessman interested in making profits.
Henry Ford's social engineering was a bit more intense for his workers and factory towns he largely built for them, and not the freedom of the open road his machination has meant for millions of americans. I think the enslavement to the auto is something early automobile promoters developed in the US, and has been fine tuned into a lethal gas huffing machine virtually all americans are caught in the grip of.
Look at one of Bike Forum's most artent bikes as equal transportation supporters, the OP- sounds like he drives a LOT!
Insidious, the notions cars have become to allow such illusions.
Another 3 inches of snow today. I'm kinda liking my car a bit more than my bike in this weather. And while I'm completely unapologetic, at least it gets 30+MPG and is hardly a shrine to conspicuous consumption.
Have I missed anything good in A&S over the last few months?
Bekologist
04-06-06, 11:19 PM
hows' the new digs, Expat? liking the change of pace from that other grind?
Naw, nothing really new. Some of the A&S posters are trying to rethink bike accomodations, there's some interest in updating some outdated notions in cycling, 'velotransit' is a term I'm incubating in there.
On a side note, I found the Tubus Cargo rack is almost ideal for racking skis by sticking skis lengthwise along the top tube with the tails bungied just aft of the headset. Hows the business plan going?
hows' the new digs, Expat? liking the change of pace from that other grind?
Naw, nothing really new. Some of the A&S posters are trying to rethink bike accomodations, there's some interest in updating some outdated notions in cycling, 'velotransit' is a term I'm incubating in there.
On a side note, I found the Tubus Cargo rack is almost ideal for racking skis by sticking skis lengthwise along the top tube with the tails bungied just aft of the headset. Hows the business plan going?
We're only in a 2 bedroom, so there's not even room for all the bikes here, and there's been plenty of snow. Hard to get used to having my wages cut in 1/2 too. As far as the business plan, we've been putting a lot of offers in on houses - a good workshop has been on the top of my list.
shokhead
04-07-06, 08:25 AM
Gee,i feel bad for my car if she sits more then a couple of days. I only use a 1/4 of a tank every other week. An 02 with 22K on it. I'm not riding my bike to get $200 in food.
sbhikes
04-07-06, 10:37 AM
I'm pretty amazed this topic didn't morph into another treatise on lane positioning. I was sure that was its purpose. After all, if you don't like cars it must be because you subscribe to one notion or another.
Way to go HH! You actually started good discussion that stayed pretty clean.
Monoborracho
04-07-06, 10:46 AM
My attitude about cars-
Americans are pigs, %5 of the worlds population consuming %25 of the worlds resources. Our country is mired in overconsumptive insanity.
I own a car, and i fell guilty every time i drive it, .
For some reason people alway neglect the other side of the equation, that along with America's consumption they are also the MOST PRODUCTIVE nation.
And I don't like being called a pig. Such statements are broadsided lambasts with no basis.
I also think its easy to say you could do without a car if you live in one the large cities of the world with public transportation. But that is not the case for all of us.
ken cummings
04-07-06, 11:12 AM
I have lived in places where not one in ten to fifty people had cars. And in both places most cars were used as shared ride vehicles or as taxis to carry others around for profit. Fuel prices will eventually reduce the number of cars. It is a few drivers that I do not like, not the cars themselves.
Helmet Head
04-07-06, 11:38 AM
I'm pretty amazed this topic didn't morph into another treatise on lane positioning. I was sure that was its purpose. After all, if you don't like cars it must be because you subscribe to one notion or another.
Way to go HH! You actually started good discussion that stayed pretty clean.
No wonder it's difficult to communicate effectively with you. When you assume everything I say is loaded until proven otherwise, especially when I try to be as explicit as I can about everything I say, it must necessarily lead to misinterpretation.
For some reason people alway neglect the other side of the equation, that along with America's consumption they are also the MOST PRODUCTIVE nation.
And I don't like being called a pig. Such statements are broadsided lambasts with no basis.
I also think its easy to say you could do without a car if you live in one the large cities of the world with public transportation. But that is not the case for all of us.
Americans are pigs, as are western Europeans and Canadians. There's no way you can say that we do not use more resources per capita than other nations.
Also, you'd be surprised at the areas that support carfree living. It sounds like you have never been exposed to amny ideas outside mainstream conservative America First stuff. I could be wrong?
noisebeam
04-07-06, 01:21 PM
Reducing car usage within ones community is a good objective. But I don't think the approach should be to vilify cars and people who use them.
I see more likelihood achieving (for example) the result of having 20% of community reducing car usage by 50% than 10% of same eliminating car use.
Al
Reducing car usage within ones community is a good objective. But I don't think the approach should be to vilify cars and people who use them.
I see more likelihood achieving (for example) the result of having 20% of community reducing car usage by 50% than 10% of same eliminating car use.
Al
The likelihood of either is nil unless gas prices go up sharply. With global warming, that will probably be too late for the planet.
ChezJfrey
04-07-06, 02:03 PM
My car is cool, sexy and necessary.
The problem is all the other cars on the road in my way; they suck! :rolleyes:
Yeah, that's the thing. It's all those other drivers. There was a story in the paper this week about all the people moving to Elk Grove, which used to be a nice little town and is now a huge suburb of Sacramento. Most of those people have jobs in Sacto or Folsom and they're all trying to jam on the highway at the same time. They call it the Funnel.
But the attitude is "Hey, all those other cars are the problem."
I guess everybody complains about traffic. But they don't realize: You ARE traffic.
cyclezealot
04-07-06, 02:24 PM
Americans are pigs, as are western Europeans and Canadians. There's no way you can say that we do not use more resources per capita than other nations.
Also, you'd be surprised at the areas that support carfree living. It sounds like you have never been exposed to amny ideas outside mainstream conservative America First stuff. I could be wrong?
Roody. US attempts to corner the world's markets for natural resources is not a new thing. been going on since man started making things.
In more recent times those who sought empire called it ' mercantilism' was it.? eg.- The French Canadian Fur Company or East India Tea company.'
so we should not be too harsh on the US. nothing new under the sun. We just refuse to learn our lession - don't have to own the resources for our corporate owners ; good neighbors allow us to buy their resources, instead of go to war. and when it cost us something, we should learn to live within our means, whether as individuals or nations.
shokhead
04-07-06, 03:39 PM
Give some examples of other nations the size of the USA that lives within its means? I might be wrong but it sounds like some of you need to move really far away,outside the US.
cyclezealot
04-07-06, 05:08 PM
Skorhead. I think all here want to see the US vibrant. By pointing out the energy needs of its' auto addcicton and its failure to harness alternative energy is not slamming the US. We are all hoping it adjusts to available resources. All nations need import its' needs whether it be food or whatever.
Just if we do not find a way to pay for our imports, we go broke. Alan Greenspan is now saying that.
Should the US harness solar , wind it makes us stronger. Certainly making the US auto fleet mileage higher would do wonders for our many problems. Even Bush is now calling energy gluttony a national security problem.
sbhikes
04-07-06, 08:05 PM
No wonder it's difficult to communicate effectively with you. When you assume everything I say is loaded until proven otherwise, especially when I try to be as explicit as I can about everything I say, it must necessarily lead to misinterpretation.
Like I said in another post. I suspect we're all aggressive a-holes, probably myself included. :(
shokhead
04-07-06, 08:56 PM
Skorhead. I think all here want to see the US vibrant. By pointing out the energy needs of its' auto addcicton and its failure to harness alternative energy is not slamming the US. We are all hoping it adjusts to available resources. All nations need import its' needs whether it be food or whatever.
Just if we do not find a way to pay for our imports, we go broke. Alan Greenspan is now saying that.
Should the US harness solar , wind it makes us stronger. Certainly making the US auto fleet mileage higher would do wonders for our many problems. Even Bush is now calling energy gluttony a national security problem.
And its always been known that the US is the most wastefull nation on earth,they were saying that when i was a kid 50 years ago or so. Have we changed. Very little. Unless the world does something,whatever we can do is only slowing down the end and maybe not even. Do i want to see hybrid cars,not really. That isnt doing what needs to be done. Do i wasnt to see gasless cars,yep. Am i going to keep driving my car,yep. Keep it running right,yep. Keep riding,yep.
That's more like it, a bit of bickering in A&S. I was worried for a brief moment.
Give some examples of other nations the size of the USA that lives within its means? I might be wrong but it sounds like some of you need to move really far away,outside the US.
I love my country and I feel lucky to live here. I criticise the US because I want it to be even better. And I want us to reach out to the rest of the world, and be a good citizen of the planet. Then I would be even prouder.
I-Like-To-Bike
04-08-06, 07:02 AM
I love my country and I feel lucky to live here. I criticise the US because I want it to be even better. And I want us to reach out to the rest of the world, and be a good citizen of the planet. Then I would be even prouder.
Americans are pigs, as are western Europeans and Canadians.
"Americans (and the people of other countries) are Pigs" is a contemptous epithet. Qualifiers don't change the tone. You do have an unsual method of showing your love. Reconcile, if you can, your schizoid statements.
shokhead
04-08-06, 07:17 AM
He has a right to his statement as much as anyone on here.
Bekologist
04-08-06, 08:15 AM
I agree with the poster above, except some posters like the Original Poster, tends to confuse driving his car, RV, or ailing vespa with riding a bicycle, and this leads to a lot of confusion in A&S.
Americans, %5 of the global population, consume %25 percent of the world's resources. China and India's economic booms are leading to large upswings in private car ownership in those countries.Gas huffing is on the increase in these huge, developing world economies.
With several billion emerging consumers in those markets, perhaps in a couple of decades, the % of global resource consumption will be more equalized as American's wasteful consumer habits are eclipsed by the more modest lifestyle gains in the much larger population of the asian continent.
I-Like-To-Bike
04-08-06, 10:29 AM
He has a right to his statement as much as anyone on here.
Sure he does. Anyone can toss out out the stupidist generalizations and stereotypes, and be dang proud of it too. Just that such namecallers shouldn't whine when their stupidity is recognized for what it is when so proudly displayed.
shokhead
04-08-06, 10:55 AM
I see,only one way to view things. Hell we are pigs. Throw it down,dump it,litter,waste,dirty streets,beaches closed.
"Americans (and the people of other countries) are Pigs" is a contemptous epithet. Qualifiers don't change the tone. You do have an unsual method of showing your love. Reconcile, if you can, your schizoid statements.
We are pigs because we use the planet's resources in a wasteful and destructive manner. Worse, we lack the compassion or imagnation to even realize this about ourselves. I hate that about us.
However, as a nation we also have many admirable characteristics. We are great artists and scientists. Our economic and political systems are flawed, but still among the best in the world. We have beauiful ideals, and after more than 200 years we are still trying to live up to them.
Do you find it diffcult to recognize the flaws in something or someone that you love? Ambivalence is a necessary part of the human condition, although that's hard for many to reconcile.
I-Like-To-Bike
04-08-06, 05:40 PM
We are...we use...we lack ...realize this about ourselves...about us...we also have...We are ...Our...We have...we are...blah, blah
Do you find it diffcult to recognize the flaws in something or someone that you love?
I find it easy to recognize gross generalization about entire populations that is so full of hotair stereotyped rhetoric that it could be applied to any group of people, anywhere, by anyone emotionaly mired in bias, jealousy, ignorance or with a score to settle.
sbhikes
04-08-06, 06:23 PM
Oink oink. And there are plenty of male chauvanist pigs in the US, too.
I think, although we are a wasteful lot, that we're pretty clean overall. You go to a lot of these other countries and people think nothing of tossing their garbage on the ground. And that's not limited to the 3rd world, either.
Lamplight
04-08-06, 11:40 PM
I don't hate cars at all, but I do hate the attitudes people seem to take on when they climb into their cars. I've seen perfectly friendly and sensible people turn into idiotic monsters once behind the wheel. I hate that I work so far from my house, and I hate every minute of my commute. But until I can find a job closer, it will have to do. :( Eventually I truly hope to be either car free or car-very-light.
cyclezealot
04-09-06, 12:39 AM
The odd thing. Because their are alternatives to the car , does not mean we don't have cars or won't buy cars. In most of the world mass/public transit is actively supported by citizens and governments as a vital service. It gives commuters going to work alternatives therefor security in getting to their jobs. Good for employers and employees. DOn't understand why Americans don't want trasnportation security.
Setting on a train workiing your pc is so much better than cursing the maniacs on the freeways.
And the rest of the western world still has a vibrant auto manufacturing sector.
Cars and trucks are useful for many things. Driving can be fun. Biking is very fun. what I mostly used to use the truck for is hauling loads, doing errands, and commuting to work. I now use my bike to commute to work. saving on gas and wear and tear on my truck. and polluting the air less. and I feel better, too. Eventually I may get to the point of using the truck only for hauling and long trips.
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