Living Car Free - Why are bikes never mentioned as a mainstream solution to climate change?

Do we all need to give you a list of our non-cycling hobbies and activities so we can get the Roody Stamp of Approval(TM) for our life-styles?

<...shakes head in wonder while climbing down ladder from Roody's high horse...>
Acquiring the Roody Stamp of Approval(TM) (or equivalent) may be necessary for all to obtain rationing stamps for any product that does not receive Roody's blessings in the future Roody World.

So you like going to the store, wandering through the aisles, standing in line, etc., etc.? I don't consider that a good time, even though I do get a ride in to and fro. And who said anything about doing nothing? Do we all need to give you a list of our non-cycling hobbies and activities so we can get the Roody Stamp of Approval(TM) for our life-styles?

<...shakes head in wonder while climbing down ladder from Roody's high horse...>
I don't much like shopping either. But I don't see that as a good reason to burn a lot of gasoline. In fact, I don't even see how car or bike has any effect at all on how much shopping you do. You can shop for groceries every day with a car or a bike, or you can shop every two weeks with either.

If you think you can't carry as many groceries by bike as by car, you can look through the archives of this forum to find many ways that you can. One beauty of bike is their flexibility. The main limit of bikes is one's own imagination.

I don't know how many groceries you can carry on a high horse, but I guess I'm about to find out.

I once had an apartment with the grocery store on one side, CU campus on the other, and the town's major bike path (Boulder Creek) and bus route running right along the grounds. Now THAT was a wonderful place to live. Dirt cheap, too. :)

The really diehard winter cyclists are those in the Midwest and Northeast that have to deal with sub-zero Ferenheit temperatures, snow, ice, slush, and salt.

Every climate has its own challenges, but cold snow-and-ice weather has some advantages. You don't get wet and it isn't too hard to avoid sweating in your clothes.

Every climate has its own challenges, but cold snow-and-ice weather has some advantages. You don't get wet and it isn't too hard to avoid sweating in your clothes.
Tell me again about the advantages of ice on the road, I must have missed that day in bike school.

Every climate has its own challenges, but cold snow-and-ice weather has some advantages. You don't get wet and it isn't too hard to avoid sweating in your clothes.

Cold is one thing, it's just a matter of dressing for it, but I for one will not ride in ice/snow (don't particularly like driving in it either if I don't absolutely have to). For me at this point that would just be asking for a wipeout.

Tell me again about the advantages of ice on the road, I must have missed that day in bike school.

Nice one!

Every climate has its own challenges, but cold snow-and-ice weather has some advantages. You don't get wet and it isn't too hard to avoid sweating in your clothes.
Also, around here the car people on average are more polite to bikers when it is icy or snowy. They seem to try to give me more space. Bikes don't get stuck like cars do and on very icy conditions it seems like biking is safer than walking because you can put your feet down to give yourself 4 points of contact with the surface rather than two. On ice I select the bike with the lowest top tube height to make the feet down move easier.

Also, around here the car people on average are more polite to bikers when it is icy or snowy. They seem to try to give me more space.
For a darn good reason on ice. Either you or they are likely to be sliding sideways at any moment. And if they are following you there is a darn good possibility you will suddenly be on the ground lying directly in front of them with their having no possibility of avoiding a collision.

Sorry, I don't find that an advantage over cycling on dry roads.

For a darn good reason on ice. Either you or they are likely to be sliding sideways at any moment. And if they are following you there is a darn good possibility you will suddenly be on the ground lying directly in front of them with their having no possibility of avoiding a collision.

Sorry, I don't find that an advantage over cycling on dry roads.
I fail to see an advantage either. Dry roads are mighty nice, but they're not talking aout roofing over the streets!

But with my studded tires on my bike I'd rather ride on ice than drive. Studded tires on cars are illegal here--now that really is an advantage for bikes!

Strangely, with the studs, the rock salt used to melt the ice is a bigger danger than the ice itself. A couple years ago, I made it to work just fine in an ice storm. As soon as I hit the parking lot, I got cocky and made a big swooping turn, showing off in front of the cigarette smokers. I wiped out on the rock salt and broke a rib. I guess I learned the hard way that pride really doth go before a fall! :o

Bicycles aren't the solution, per se, because most people are addicted to the comfort and speed of the automobile. Look at China. Those folks are hopping off their bikes and rushing headlong into their new cars. Bicycles are competitive to the auto for short trips and in dense urban areas but overall, can't compete against the auto, in most people's books. There is very little usage of bicycles for utilitarian purposes in my neck of the woods.

For a darn good reason on ice. Either you or they are likely to be sliding sideways at any moment. And if they are following you there is a darn good possibility you will suddenly be on the ground lying directly in front of them with their having no possibility of avoiding a collision.

Sorry, I don't find that an advantage over cycling on dry roads.

I didn't fall once all winter, or slide over into traffic. You just need the right tires.


Tell me again about the advantages of ice on the road, I must have missed that day in bike school.

I'll tell you. Ice and packed snow fill in the potholes and cover up the bumps. On a good, cold day in the 20's riding on a nice ice roadway is fantastic. Of course, it rarely stays that way. It's either much colder or it's snowing and you have to wade through that stuff. I found fresh snow FAR more annoying than ice. Ice is a great surface for bikes.

I didn't fall once all winter, or slide over into traffic. You just need the right tires.



I'll tell you. Ice and packed snow fill in the potholes and cover up the bumps. On a good, cold day in the 20's riding on a nice ice roadway is fantastic. Of course, it rarely stays that way. It's either much colder or it's snowing and you have to wade through that stuff. I found fresh snow FAR more annoying than ice. Ice is a great surface for bikes.
You ride all winter in Alaska, so I'm listening! Yes. fresh snow is a lot like sand. It's slippery and it wears you out fast. Even a small hill can be bad news when the snow's deep. The "greasy" snow churned up by the cars in real cold weather presents another challenge.

I have fun riding on frozen lakes in the winter. I use a MTB with studded tires, and I ride almost like I do on pavement--not exactly like that and that's where the fun comes in. My friend Tony rides a MTB with regular knobbies, and he has even more fun than I do, but he's a fantastically skilled trick rider--and 20 years younger than me.

Getting back to the topic of climate change, one thing I hate about it is that the ice on lakes down here is less predictable now. I will probably have to move further north as the climate gets warmer.