Why its unfair!!!!!!!

[CagerTools]

You choose to bike or walk places instead of using an automobile.

Well I think its actually worse for your health.

Everytime a car goes by that engine/car is generating EMF's -and- loud noises.

Whether you block it out or not, both of those make your body release stress hormones...

I have been trying to bike/walk now for a few years... and its just stressful.

I think the reason people buy huge trucks is not so much an ego thing.. but also that they literally hear and feel other vibrations less on the road. Sitting up higher...the energetic radiation emitting from other engines doesn't hit them in the chest (like all of us pedestrians).

Its a mad world. You want to help be a solution, but you can feel it in your body... the stress. the fear. the always wondering if your going to die...

I don't know what to do folks. It seems reality requires you to move about in your location... and that tends to mean your moving about being exposed to all of this radiation.

Maybe I just need to homestead and live away from machines. That...or move to a better city with less fear... Venice...etc...

I don't know if its just me. I know I am very sensitive. In fact, I have always been really good at directions, and navigating around me. That means I have a very in-tune pineal gland (which is responsible for picking up on the magnetic energy of the earth)... but I also feel very sensitive to EMFs... since the pineal gland picks up on that I believe as well.

But I know I can't be the only one.

It has taken me awhile to understand this. I used to feel hate when I would walk or bike along the roads, towards other drivers.

But in fact it was me reacting to the EMF's I was feeling in my entire chest area. I think when you are walking or biking (walking especially) that radiation just hits you dead on... and the noise...

I just react. It just sets me off EACH AND EVERY TIME I ever go out there. I have never -really- accustomed to this...

I don't think you ever can. The human body is designed to react instantly to stressful energies/sounds etc... Plus...the danger IS real. The danger is you could die.

Its like machines have become our predators, in this concrete jungle we live in. Do you want to be a human? Or do you want to pair with the machines?

Its like there is a war going on. Another round of evolution. The machines are killing us... just like we are killing the apes.

[mike]

Dude, you got the miseries.

In your particular case, I would recommend getting some headphones to block out the noise, and some sunglasses. Put on some extra after-shave to help with the pollution smell that is bothering you.

Eyes straight ahead. Pleasant thought in the mind.

The wheels on the bike go round and round...

You will be there before you know it.

If that doesn't work, a shot of whiskey for breakfast might help.

Good luck. :)

[CagerTools]

Hey Mike.
I have found some drugs do help sorta "numb" myself to these stressors. I think the tranquilizers really work the best for this. Alcohol...and I find tobacco sorta tranquilizes me a bit. They don't call it a peace pipe for nothing.

But I'm running man.


When did it ever become -hard- to find a quiet place outside. A place free of any noise. Any EMF. Any whatever. Just pure nature. Pure peace. Pure bliss.

It doesn't exist in cities. It doesn't exist around most humans. We are destroying our own

home.

We are destroying our own

EARTH

[Newspaperguy]

There are some roads — only a few in my part of the world — where it's stressful to ride a bike. There are workarounds on most of those. Getting around by bike does not mean you need to take the same routes you'd use in a car. Feel free to take the quiet side roads instead. Traffic is less congested and the sounds and vibrations are diminished. If you're using the main arterial roads to get around, that's a recipe for tension.

[Newspaperguy]

I have found some drugs do help sorta "numb" myself to these stressors. I think the tranquilizers really work the best for this. Alcohol...and I find tobacco sorta tranquilizes me a bit. They don't call it a peace pipe for nothing.
Tobacco isn't a good solution. It has some potentially nasty consequences. As for alcohol, I wouldn't advise using it when you're riding. You need to be fully and completely alert to deal with the traffic.

[CagerTools]

Yeah I love taking the side quieter roads.


But you can't escape it. Why do we have to build our lives around technology that is hurting us!

I just watched this video on google:
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-8714482344821425610

In it.. one of the Ecuadorian tribes said how its funny us americans think we are so intelligent. They come into their rainforests and kill their trees, destory the land, pollute the rivers.



He said HE was the intelligent one. He was trying to protect these very things...

And something inside me told me that...


He
was
right.

Its madness.
All of this is madness.
We are living in it.

It will surely make for some fun reading in a history book 1000's of years from now...
if things ever make it that far to begin with.

[CagerTools]

http://www.nonoise.org/library/epahlth/epahlth.htm

[rajman]

I dunno, I have found that the 'countryside' that a lot of north americans have flocked to is actually quite horrible - 50+mph traffic, transport trucks, highways, and no people.

Give me crowded streets, slow traffic, roads too narrow for transport trucks, pedestrians, cyclists, dogwalkers, and rollerbladers any day. It may be slower, but there's a lot of people to interact with.

BTW what are EMF's?

Final note - I may not be as sensitive to sound as you, and I love going to the cottage, but I find the cars going on our road (about 1/10 minutes during the day) to be much more of a hazard/stress than the constant traffic on my urban congested street that I live on, so it just may be a matter of taste.

[lyeinyoureye]

Give me crowded streets, slow traffic, roads too narrow for transport trucks, pedestrians, cyclists, dogwalkers, and rollerbladers any day. It may be slower, but there's a lot of people to interact with.X2. Now that I'm out of a city I find riding to be much more intimidating.

[AllenG]

I dunno, I have found that the 'countryside' that a lot of north americans have flocked to is actually quite horrible - 50+mph traffic, transport trucks, highways, and no people.

Give me crowded streets, slow traffic, roads too narrow for transport trucks, pedestrians, cyclists, dogwalkers, and rollerbladers any day. It may be slower, but there's a lot of people to interact with.

BTW what are EMF's?

Final note - I may not be as sensitive to sound as you, and I love going to the cottage, but I find the cars going on our road (about 1/10 minutes during the day) to be much more of a hazard/stress than the constant traffic on my urban congested street that I live on, so it just may be a matter of taste.

Absolutely, there people out here who haven't passed a bicycle in thirty years. Scare the hell outta me with their wobbly high speed passes; or worse, they freeze up and can't pass, stacking up traffic.

Atlanta is a bit high paced, but Athens is down right civilized in comparison.
However nothing beats empty country roads, and night riding in a Nowhereville is surreal. I've come home from the studio a bunch of times at 2:00-3:00 a.m. and not run into a soul on my six mile ride home, peaceful, but if you let your mind wonder it's almost creepy.

[I-Like-To-Bike]

I have found some drugs do help sorta "numb" myself to these stressors. I think the tranquilizers really work the best for this. Alcohol...and I find tobacco sorta tranquilizes me a bit. They don't call it a peace pipe for nothing.

But I'm running man.
Try using duct tape to fasten more tin foil inside your helmet. Then duct tape/super glue the helmet to your head. Your problems should disappear.

[Sianelle]

I moved from the city to the countryside over a year ago and I would never consider going back for a second. Here in the country I get to hear that rare sound 'silence' on a regular basis whereas in the city intrusive noise pollution is a maddeningly constant situation. The one fly in the ointment is the large trucks passing through on the main highways from time to time, but these are easily avoided by using the back roads and secondary routes.
On the few times I've had to make a trip to the city I've had the joy of experiencing that instant stress effect that CagerTools describes. I put some of it down to all those minds being in one place and broadcasting their discomfort/fear/stress & etc out into the ether.

[AllenG]

Try using duct tape to fasten more tin foil inside your helmet. Then duct tape/super glue the helmet to your head. Your problems should disappear.
It's dangerous to mix duct tape and tin foil in your hat, it can cause feedback loops. It's better if you have thin strips, shiny side out, attached along the rim.

[chephy]

I don't know if its just me. I know I am very sensitive. In fact, I have always been really good at directions, and navigating around me. That means I have a very in-tune pineal gland (which is responsible for picking up on the magnetic energy of the earth)... but I also feel very sensitive to EMFs... since the pineal gland picks up on that I believe as well. Heh. I've always been HORRIBLE with directions, so according to this theory I should be completely oblivious to the stuff you're talking about. :) But I'm not. Loud noises bother me; however, curiously, it bothers me most if I'm at home. I think of my home as a hiding place to where I should be able to escape from the whole world, and the sound intrusion is really awful. But when I'm out in the world, I can tolerate the noise. Still, it's much nicer when it's not there.

I don't think you ever can. The human body is designed to react instantly to stressful energies/sounds etc... Plus...the danger IS real. The danger is you could die. Yes. THIS is what makes riding stressful for me sometimes. That, and expecting confrontations with cagers all the time.

Its like machines have become our predators, in this concrete jungle we live in. A damn accurate comparison, actually. In fact, when I'm riding I think of cars (not drivers) behaving in this and that way. It shows in others' language too: if you read these forums, you'll see phrases like "the car did this or that" or "cars should obey the rules" etc. etc. Nobody ever says something like "I am crossing the street as this bicycle rolls up to the intersection and tries to cross on a red". :D Cyclists remain human. Drivers are swallowed by their cages.

P.S. What on earth are EMFs? Electro-magnetic fields?..

[Buglady]

Erm, while I see your point about the noise and perceived-danger stressors, I have to point out that unless you're visiting from the future, vehicle engines do not produce large electromagnetic fields.

[Newspaperguy]

if you read these forums, you'll see phrases like "the car did this or that" or "cars should obey the rules" etc. etc. Nobody ever says something like "I am crossing the street as this bicycle rolls up to the intersection and tries to cross on a red". :D Cyclists remain human. Drivers are swallowed by their cages.
It's not just the cyclists who use these terms. Even the motorists around me will talk about "that car" or "that truck" when they're describing something in traffic. The impersonal aspect makes me think of a line in a song by the Police in 1983. "Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes/Contestants in a suicidal race."

[bragi]

You choose to bike or walk places instead of using an automobile.

Well I think its actually worse for your health.

Everytime a car goes by that engine/car is generating EMF's -and- loud noises.

Whether you block it out or not, both of those make your body release stress hormones...

I have been trying to bike/walk now for a few years... and its just stressful.

I think the reason people buy huge trucks is not so much an ego thing.. but also that they literally hear and feel other vibrations less on the road. Sitting up higher...the energetic radiation emitting from other engines doesn't hit them in the chest (like all of us pedestrians).

Its a mad world. You want to help be a solution, but you can feel it in your body... the stress. the fear. the always wondering if your going to die...

I don't know what to do folks. It seems reality requires you to move about in your location... and that tends to mean your moving about being exposed to all of this radiation.

Maybe I just need to homestead and live away from machines. That...or move to a better city with less fear... Venice...etc...

I don't know if its just me. I know I am very sensitive. In fact, I have always been really good at directions, and navigating around me. That means I have a very in-tune pineal gland (which is responsible for picking up on the magnetic energy of the earth)... but I also feel very sensitive to EMFs... since the pineal gland picks up on that I believe as well.

But I know I can't be the only one.

It has taken me awhile to understand this. I used to feel hate when I would walk or bike along the roads, towards other drivers.

But in fact it was me reacting to the EMF's I was feeling in my entire chest area. I think when you are walking or biking (walking especially) that radiation just hits you dead on... and the noise...

I just react. It just sets me off EACH AND EVERY TIME I ever go out there. I have never -really- accustomed to this...

I don't think you ever can. The human body is designed to react instantly to stressful energies/sounds etc... Plus...the danger IS real. The danger is you could die.

Its like machines have become our predators, in this concrete jungle we live in. Do you want to be a human? Or do you want to pair with the machines?

Its like there is a war going on. Another round of evolution. The machines are killing us... just like we are killing the apes.

I've read this post a couple of times, and I've concluded that one of the following must be true:

1. You're posting this just to see what will happen.

2. You need to see a therapist.

If #2 is correct, just let me add the following: yes, the quality of life would dramatically improve in our urban areas if cars did not exist. There would be more space, cleaner air, less noise, less stress, and far more civility. However, the cars are here, and judging by the infrastructure and the results of recent local elections regarding mass transit, most people want their damn cars. You can learn to live with it, use side streets, advocate for more bicycle infrastructure, move to Baffin Island, or buy a Hummer. And quit going on about EMF. A car has a 12 volt battery, for Christ's sake; the computer on which your post was written probably produces more EMF than a car.

[Platy]

The spark ignition systems of gasoline vehicles do in fact emit low level electromagnetic signals. They were a major pain in the neck for some early GPS receivers that got their differential corrections on the so-called medium frequency radio band. Personally, I doubt they have any significant biological effects but, really, who could prove that right now with 100% certainty.

[I-Like-To-Bike]

It's dangerous to mix duct tape and tin foil in your hat, it can cause feedback loops. It's better if you have thin strips, shiny side out, attached along the rim.

Hopefully the OP will take the advice and report back which method is more effective in solving his "problem."

Or seek professional help.

[javna_golina]

What is EMF in this thread? Electromotive Force (ie volts)?

[becnal]

Dude, you need to move. Period. Find a place more in tune with you and your needs / wants.

[swwhite]

What is EMF in this thread? Electromotive Force (ie volts)?

I think that is Electro-Magnetic Field, the kind of thing you get from an electromagnet, or a big motor, or a microwave oven--that's why they tell you to stand an arm's length from a microwave oven. I also believe that is one of those phenomena that diminishes with the square of the distance, so if you just step back a few feet (depending, I suppose, on the strength of it) you are OK. But I'm not a scientist.

[Scout!]

[...] Its a mad world. You want to help be a solution, but you can feel it in your body... the stress. the fear. the always wondering if your going to die. [...]
I have no interest in helping to be a solution. I ride because I want to feel alive, and to know where I am, and how I got there. Yes, it's a mad world. I'm part of the madness. It's beautiful.

[...] Its like machines have become our predators [...]
They're not predators, they're playmates. I love when a huge pickup pulls up next to me at the bottom of hill and I feel the rumble of its engine in my lungs. It's like the truck is part of me. It's offering me its energy. It's encouraging me to the top of the hill.

[...] I used to feel hate when I would walk or bike along the roads, towards other drivers. [...] The human body is designed to react instantly to stressful energies/sounds etc... Plus...the danger IS real. The danger is you could die. [...]
Sure there's danger, but that doesn't mean the situation has to be stressful. And it ain't healthy to feel hate all the time. In fact, it's bad to feel hate even some of the time. I suggest you stop trying to be part of a "solution", and instead pay more attention to what feels right for you. Then life won't seem so "unfair", and in the end you'll probably be more helpful to the rest of us.

[bike2math]

I dunno, I have found that the 'countryside' that a lot of north americans have flocked to is actually quite horrible - 50+mph traffic, transport trucks, highways, and no people.

Give me crowded streets, slow traffic, roads too narrow for transport trucks, pedestrians, cyclists, dogwalkers, and rollerbladers any day. It may be slower, but there's a lot of people to interact with.

Final note - I may not be as sensitive to sound as you, and I love going to the cottage, but I find the cars going on our road (about 1/10 minutes during the day) to be much more of a hazard/stress than the constant traffic on my urban congested street that I live on, so it just may be a matter of taste.

+1 for me. I also find that even in a small yard in an urban area; if you are careful with your landscapping decisions and willing to invest some time and sweat you can make a small oases from the life outside your fence. I have to ride for quite a few miles to find a road with more than 40 mph traffic; also you aren't likely to find a non urban setting with reliable and convieneint public transportation, one bike accident and you'll need this public transit if you are to remain car free while recuperating.

Finally there is the simple fact that unless you work in something close to the agriculture industry there just aren't jobs for you out in the sticks.

[chephy]

Finally there is the simple fact that unless you work in something close to the agriculture industry there just aren't jobs for you out in the sticks. If your job allows you to telecommute, there are jobs for you anywhere there is internet access. ;)

[jeff-o]

Dude, you need an iPod and the entire Pink Floyd collection. Chill out! Calm down! Relax!

And EMF radiation?? Are you serious? There's more radiation coming from cell phone towers and power lines than there are from cars. Heck, you're being bombarded with cosmic radiation and neutrinos every single second of your life, so unless you live in a lead house you'll never be totally free. Sheesh.

[I-Like-To-Bike]

If your job allows you to telecommute, there are jobs for you anywhere there is internet access. ;)

The OP might consider a wood cabin up in Montana where he could write down his thoughts and bike into town to get supplies and mail his letters.:eek: It is hard to believe anyone with such a "problem" is capable of holding a permanent job

Or better yet, seek professional help.

[CagerTools]

It seems some of you don't mind traffic and loud noises and huge rumbling engines and trucks that fly by you endangering your life. I don't know how you could even get motivated and feel uplifted by that "energy".

I also thought I might find other people like me... and it seems there are some.

I'm not sure if its from a past traumatic experience with cars (i did almost get run over once...my bike actually ended up hitting the car but it was slowed down by that point)...

But I just get really stressed out around vehicles... I want to save the environment and not have reliance on autos myself... so its just hard to be a pedestrian in a non-pedestrian car-dominant city.

I guess I do need to just move to where I can enjoy myself more and not worry/stress so much. Stress is the number one killer and I wonder how my arteries are looking right now.

Until then, its gonna be booze.. good quality tobacco...some ganja... chocolate... and just relaxing as much as I possibly can. I guess I'll take Jeanne Calment's way of life and take pleasure when I can... do my best in this crazy mad world.

[CagerTools]

By the way,
Recently I did have the fortune of living in a smaller place in Hawaii. The roads were worse...since people went faster.

I think when people design cities they should have a transportation connection system for vehicles...then another one for non-vehicles... and make them as far apart as possible.

[PDay]

Maybe I just need to homestead and live away from machines. That...or move to a better city with less fear... Venice...etc...

A machine? Like your computer? Maybe you're right.

[PDay]

I think when people design cities they should have a transportation connection system for vehicles...then another one for non-vehicles... and make them as far apart as possible.

Yeah, that would make a whole lotta sense, like in cities like New York. You people need to take 5 seconds to think sometimes.

[CagerTools]

Dude... machines meaning automobiles for the most part. I have no problem with my laptop!!

[jamesdenver]

Any you live "near Santa Barbara"? Christ that's one of the most beautiful areas of the country. Don't ever move to N.Y. or Sao Paulo.

I actually like the city. I love people moving, trains, taxis, bikes all moving together. I find it invigorating and stimulating. Sure biking behind a dump truck or bus is no fun - but hey: just ride faster.

Not into it? Like the other posters said - there's plenty of great small towns in any part of the country to move to.

[CagerTools]

Yeah ideally that is where I like to go.

I was just feeling extremely stressed out when I made that post. Ugh... I will live another day, I hope.

[Newspaperguy]

I guess I do need to just move to where I can enjoy myself more and not worry/stress so much. Stress is the number one killer and I wonder how my arteries are looking right now.

Until then, its gonna be booze.. good quality tobacco...some ganja... chocolate... and just relaxing as much as I possibly can. I guess I'll take Jeanne Calment's way of life and take pleasure when I can... do my best in this crazy mad world.
You need help. You need to learn to relax without substances.

For your own sake, please quit the tobacco. You're putting yourself at serious risk of lung cancer and numerous lung and breathing diseases. As a cyclist, you need your complete lung capacity. You won't have it if you're smoking.

If you're using alcohol or other drugs — including marijuana — when you ride, you're putting yourself and everyone else on the road at risk. If you're impaired, even if you don't feel impaired, you're much more likely to do something unpredictable or to respond too slowly if there's danger on the roads. If you're riding erratically, motorists will swerve to avoid you, but they could put themselves and others at risk in the process.

If you're having trouble now, what makes you think you'll fare any better if you move? There's stress involved with moving and even if you move to a tranquil rural area, every community has its own stressful factors. It's up to you to handle what life gives you.

[I-Like-To-Bike]

You need help. You need to learn to relax without substances.

For your own sake, please quit the tobacco. You're putting yourself at serious risk of lung cancer and numerous lung and breathing diseases. As a cyclist, you need your complete lung capacity. You won't have it if you're smoking.

If you're using alcohol or other drugs — including marijuana — when you ride, you're putting yourself and everyone else on the road at risk. If you're impaired, even if you don't feel impaired, you're much more likely to do something unpredictable or to respond too slowly if there's danger on the roads. If you're riding erratically, motorists will swerve to avoid you, but they could put themselves and others at risk in the process.

If you're having trouble now, what makes you think you'll fare any better if you move? There's stress involved with moving and even if you move to a tranquil rural area, every community has its own stressful factors. It's up to you to handle what life gives you.

All good advice but probably wasted on the basket case.

[atman]

If you're using alcohol or other drugs — including marijuana — when you ride, you're putting yourself and everyone else on the road at risk. If you're impaired, even if you don't feel impaired, you're much more likely to do something unpredictable or to respond too slowly if there's danger on the roads. If you're riding erratically, motorists will swerve to avoid you, but they could put themselves and others at risk in the process.


I think it depends on the 'other drugs'. Most people would feel comfortable on the road after a nice cup of coffee, which contains the stimulant drug caffeine. Alcohol is known to cause various impairments which affect the operation of a bicycle. Marijuana, on the other hand, does not do so, or not to nearly the same degree, and this has been studied. The idea that someone (experienced) who has smoked some cannabis can't ride in a straight line is absurd, and cannabis users do not experience a degradation of their reflexes (again, this has been studied) the way users of alcohol and tranquilizers, say, do. 'Impairment' is a poor description of the cannabis profile, for most people, although short-term memory is a famous example of something that is impaired...but not reflexes or gross and fine motor skills. In other words, you might forget to stop at the grocery store, but you're not likely to miss a red light or swerve into traffic.

There's some sort of joke here about bike culture and dope culture in the Netherlands, but I'm not going to make it because someone would take me seriously.

[AStomper]

skipping all responses,
I have to say I used to work at Mickey D's and even when I had the head set all the way down I got an intolorable headache.
I beleive in Magnetic interference. Route your plug wires next to each other then come argue this with me.

I don't think that that is the problem. When I'm in a car on the freeway going 55 and I get passed I get really stressed waiting for them to pass me. They pass and then the next car comes and it happens all over again. I think you should take the lane, then pull over every half mile and let the cagers go by as you watch them. Think if you were prey, you wouldn't want anything behind you that you didn't know what it was and what it was doing. That is how we all innately think.

I'm passed that, I filter up, I let people buzz me, I pretend that I can't get run over.

If your not over it try to take some trips on MUPs or vent on bikeforums.

[becnal]

All good advice but probably wasted on the basket case.

Ah, the humanity! :D

[I-Like-To-Bike]

Ah, the humanity! :D

You are right. Sometimes I forget that some posters believe the good bicyclists are all members of a support group that should provide group hugs for characters with any and all personal problems and over-the-top issues.

[Bushman]

You choose to bike or walk places instead of using an automobile.

Well I think its actually worse for your health.

Everytime a car goes by that engine/car is generating EMF's -and- loud noises.

Whether you block it out or not, both of those make your body release stress hormones...

I have been trying to bike/walk now for a few years... and its just stressful.

I think the reason people buy huge trucks is not so much an ego thing.. but also that they literally hear and feel other vibrations less on the road. Sitting up higher...the energetic radiation emitting from other engines doesn't hit them in the chest (like all of us pedestrians).

Its a mad world. You want to help be a solution, but you can feel it in your body... the stress. the fear. the always wondering if your going to die...

I don't know what to do folks. It seems reality requires you to move about in your location... and that tends to mean your moving about being exposed to all of this radiation.

Maybe I just need to homestead and live away from machines. That...or move to a better city with less fear... Venice...etc...

I don't know if its just me. I know I am very sensitive. In fact, I have always been really good at directions, and navigating around me. That means I have a very in-tune pineal gland (which is responsible for picking up on the magnetic energy of the earth)... but I also feel very sensitive to EMFs... since the pineal gland picks up on that I believe as well.

But I know I can't be the only one.

It has taken me awhile to understand this. I used to feel hate when I would walk or bike along the roads, towards other drivers.

But in fact it was me reacting to the EMF's I was feeling in my entire chest area. I think when you are walking or biking (walking especially) that radiation just hits you dead on... and the noise...

I just react. It just sets me off EACH AND EVERY TIME I ever go out there. I have never -really- accustomed to this...

I don't think you ever can. The human body is designed to react instantly to stressful energies/sounds etc... Plus...the danger IS real. The danger is you could die.

Its like machines have become our predators, in this concrete jungle we live in. Do you want to be a human? Or do you want to pair with the machines?

Its like there is a war going on. Another round of evolution. The machines are killing us... just like we are killing the apes.

--------------------------------

there is some great headwear you can get to block out all that harmful stuff:

http://www.icmag.com/gallery/data/500/4395fnordtech.JPG

there is even protection for your pets:

http://www.damnedgames.com/tinfoil_cat.jpg

[Lamplight]

I guess I'm the exact opposite. I can almost feel my blood pressure rising when I'm driving instead of riding. And after a long stressful day at work, riding home is a peaceful, supremely relaxing endeavor that causes me to calm down and unwind. Driving does the opposite to me.

[aMull]

I dunno, I have found that the 'countryside' that a lot of north americans have flocked to is actually quite horrible - 50+mph traffic, transport trucks, highways, and no people.

Give me crowded streets, slow traffic, roads too narrow for transport trucks, pedestrians, cyclists, dogwalkers, and rollerbladers any day. It may be slower, but there's a lot of people to interact with.


I'm with you, although i like quiet roads as well. As for the original poster, i feel a bit sorry for you. Riding a bike is anything but stressful for me, cars or not. I honestly never ever think about dying on my bike, i just ride and be careful, whatever happens happens.

[donrhummy]

Wear a gas mask. Read this thread (got some very good info on the pollution facing cyclists and options):

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=165915

If you go the gas mask route, you'll want one that is NIOSH certified (like a 3M or North one). You'll want a HEPA filter and an Organic Vapors cartridge.

[dynodonn]

Personally, when it comes to blocking out the cold cruel world, I might prefer to have a foil hat made from gold, since it won't grow any "whiskers" like tin would, and possibly short out a few brain synapses. ;) If that's not available, then riding several miles on a bike on some deserted back roads/streets would serve me just as well.

[CagerTools]

okay let me see if i can get to all the responses.

first off, in regards to drugs. please. take your puritanical idealogy somewhere else. taking a hit of marijuana is going to put me and everyone else in danger? lol... u obviously don't smoke weed, or have hardly any experience with it. And I don't really even smoke tobacco regularly. If I do I usually puff it like a cigar.

There are actual studies on mice done...where they give caffeine to them, and find the mice can be more calm and focused in crowded stressful situations. In other words, caffeine helps all of us city-dwellers be able to psychologically deal with the actual crazy conditions we live in. No wonder everyone and their mom drinks it.

Weed on the other hand just heightens how crazy the reality actually IS. It allows you to see the real madness of the situation....pretty much unfiltered. Thats why Bob Marley says smoking weed reveals you to yourself. It pretty much reveals everything. Or "takes the veal away" from things.

Personally caffeine makes me more stressed normally. Weed doesn't really calm me down in traffic. The only drugs that help me are tobacco and alcohol.

I have never really been a drinker, but I did note one interesting thing. Back awhile ago in college, I started drinking more beer. I noticed if I had a half beer in the morning, walking to school along the roads bothered me much less. The cars/noise/safety issues still bothered me, but not as much. Maybe it put me at a reduced sensitivity level that many of you are just at by nature.

Without it, I am just naturally more sensitive. In fact, my father always used to say I was really sensitive. I just AM. I'm sensitive and that is how I am wired. I hear more/see more/feel more I guess... I am also a very decent musician...so that would help explain things. I can listen to any song, of any genre...and within seconds be playing a melody on guitar, or singing. Maybe thats not the best example...but the point is I am very sound sensitive.

Anyways, maybe this is the main issue. I know city are inherently stress-ful environments. I think you have to be fooling yourself to think otherwise. With the EMF, congestion, fear of dying, fast moving people, tons of noise... its a recipe for stress. In the wild, you mainly hear wind, bubbling creeks... rarely do you hear any large noises..maybe a tree falling here or there... or you have the thread of a bear wanting to eat you...

But in a city, especially as a pedestrian... there is always that fear of someone behind you in a car, who might not be paying attention.

Maybe the reason some of you have less fears about it, is because you are just less aware than me. I have always been the type of person who is very aware of my surroundings, which would explain why I excel at sports of any kind I play.

AStomper - I get stressed driving to. I really hate it when someone is behind me, and they are riding my bumper... it seems people are so fast-paced and only thinking about the next destination instead of taking their stress level down a notch and relaxing.... but this might be a larger societal issue.

DonRhummy - I've thought about those gas-masks before, those are cool.



Well, I might not have to deal with any of this madness. I might be moving to Venice. Not really any bikes there, but at least I won't have to deal with cars at all.

Check out carfree.com... peace

[CagerTools]

By the way, I think its quite possible your at a high risk for cancer by spending time near lots of vehicles... on major roads. Driving/biking/walking/or just living near a busy road. The truth hurts.

[I-Like-To-Bike]

Well, I might not have to deal with any of this madness. I might be moving to Venice. Not really any bikes there, but at least I won't have to deal with cars at all.

Check out carfree.com... peace

Look out for the Killer Gondolas and noisy Gondoliers; don't forget to wear a life preserver at all times as well as your helmet.

[CagerTools]

haha okay man...

[acroy]

another stresed out Californian.

Sell your house while you can (you did buy some property in the recent madness, didn't you?) and move to the Big Island of Hawaii.

or Texas. Lots of transplanted Californians here, much happier (i am one)
Cheers