Commuting - Has bike commuting discouraged you from activities?

Does anyone feel reluctant to take their bike to certain places?

I haven't gone to the movies in a long time. The only theaters remaining where I live are the huge multiplexes that seem to attract huge gangs of ne'er-do-wells. Yes, I said it. I'm an old codger.

I do have a beater that has taken all sorts of abuse, and I wouldn't care if it were stolen or vandalized. What I do care about is the possibility of having to call a cab (which would cost more than what the beater's worth).

I don't have the same concerns about leaving my bike where I work, because it's a university with a huge bike culture, but those places on the outskirts that have no public transportation just give me the willies.

Oh, the movie I so want to see on opening day: Pineapple Express. I may just drive.

WHAT ABOUT BATMAN?? You wouldn't risk taking a cab for batman?

With the cost of movies today, and what they charge for drinks & snacks how do "huge gangs of ne'er-do-wells" afford to go??

I take my bike to whatever I can get to, it's sometimes about the 'journey' and not the destination and my bike makes that fun.. :)

WHAT ABOUT BATMAN?? You wouldn't risk taking a cab for batman?

I would take two cabs and a bus for batman. A dirty bus, with annoying people on it. You know, the ones who want to get to know you while you're riding a bus!

I'm not sure what the outskirts are. I assume this is sort of the edge of the city? I park my bike in these places, it's no big deal. It's much much safer than at a university! Wrap a cable lock around it and a tree somewhere out of site, it should be fine. Of course, if they have racks do take advantage of them and your u-lock; but they won't have them or they won't be bolted down.

Just went yesterday, to our downtown area, to see a movie (that's where the biggest and best theater is; I love this town). Road my bike with the wife, locked them up, had some lunch, saw a movie. I thought for sure something would disappear, but nope. They didn't even steal my helmet. Probably reeked too bad!

Distance, weather, load, and time figure into what I take.

Yes, I realize my paranoia is irrational, much like my fear of flying. I assume the worst when undertaking something for the first time.

And yes, I am going to see the new batman movie. I feel I owe it to myself, having never seen the others.

My reluctance is also due to the fact that I never see bikes at these multiplexes the times I've ridden by. Plenty of cars, of course, but no bikes.

two words for you bro'

Home...Theater.

Way better than a cineplex experience anyway.

I actually find myself going more places with my bike (beater).

Since I am car-free, there's not a lot I don't do with the bike; if someplace I want to go is not feasible to ride to, there's always the bus (people tend to leave me alone -- I've been told I 'look mean'). This would usually be a wintertime situation.

I don't do theaters; food's too expensive, and I can just about buy the DVD when it comes out for what I'd pay for a theater ticket. NOTHING is so urgent that I can't wait until later to see it. (The last theater visit was Passion of the Christ -- minister sister handed me her car keys and said, "Go see it." Have the DVD now.)

Yes and no... I find myself going to different places. I've really lost interest in the across-town destinations that I used to frequent. We are more likely to search out places closer to home now.

In fact, we're in the process of selling our house with the hopes of purchasing one that would within easy cycling distance of almost everything we need.

I have locks for my bike... i'm not really worried about it.

Glad to see that I'm not the only old codger who appreciates things like "Pineapple Express".

I understand the concern about the bike. There is one Midnight Oil concert that cost me a dear bike. It was a beater locked with heavy chains at a corner with 4 cops. I walked home swinging the chain should anyone be fool enough to tangle with me as mad as I was.

I'd say that if it is fear of the taxi cost dissuading you, then go, if just to really face your fears. If you have a car, then maybe that's the solution.

In a more general answer to your title, I find that I'm somewhat reluctant to do networking things like Chamber of Commerce mixers because of bicycling. It takes so long to cool down that the mixer is almost over by the time that I'm cool and collected. I also find that I am reluctant to start a group such as a peer group of animators because of all the equipment needed to run such a meeting, and even though I have a trailer, I hesitate because of my fears that the road might dish out abuse to things like computer projectors.

Fear is the mind killer!

I do virtually everything with my bike. All you need is good rain gear and a decent locking system.

I'd ride my best bike and lock it with only a cable lock for Batman.

Honestly, I won't take my new bike everywhere because of the security concerns. I'll take my old bike just about anywhere, though. The places where I have to put it outside are closer anyway, so the old one works just fine for that. (The new one is to help me cross longer distances, mainly the distance from home to work, where I can park inside.)

I also have the "what if I have to walk/cab/bus home?" anxiety, but having an old, simple bike with a little bit of trash in the basket seems to keep it safe.

As for the movies, I typically go with others, who would never think of pedaling, so I end up riding in their cars with them.

I guess I'm in the minority in agreeing with the OP. I'm extremely hesitant to lock up my bike in any public place for more than, say, an hour. There's no way in hell I'd lock it up outside any of the movie theaters I'd go to.

I see chopped bikes and broken locks all around the city. I can't afford for my bike to become another casualty.

I keep my bike in my office, so I don't need to worry about locking it up anywhere. However, if I couldn't keep my bike in my office or had to run a lot of errands around town on it, I probably would have more of a beater bike. I keep a small cable lock in my seatbag for special situations where I might need to lock it up, but that is rare.

On the other hand, I find that I do a lot less "traveling around" on days when I ride by bike vs. my truck. It's too much trouble to go out to lunch, or the bank, or a shopping center on days when I bike commute. So I do those things when I drive. That's part of the reason why bike commuting helps cut down driving so much -- because you save not just the commuting distance but all the mileage you would rack up driving around during lunch and after work.

I parked my bike next to an unlocked $4k+ roadbike at the dentist office a week or so back. I guess it really depends on the area you are in.

Ok I've always pretty much ridden a bike for the last 10 years, but I actually think its the opposite because it has given me a level of fitness that means I can do other activities :thumb:

If I want to go for a run for a few km I can, not because I run regularly but because my commuting means I can manage it.

Everyone knows cycling does little for the tummy, but I cycle enough that physically I'm not a blimp so I don't mind putting on swimming togs or a wet suit when going for a swim or kayaking at the beach.

If the weather is bad some people will stay indoors "because it's raining" or "too cold' me I cycle in the rain and cold I don't mind being out in it doing stuff.

So yeah when it comes to travel maybe, but with enough thought and planning no problems. After all a lot of the worlds population don't use cars don't mean their lives aren't active and fufilling.

What discourages me is not going places, it's the pain of having to carry my heavy U-Lock if I am going to be away from the bike for extended periods.

I have a nice U-Lock that I hardly use because I keep my bike inside at work, and I carry a nice, thick, cable lock to use for stopping on the way home and such. But cables are comparatively lighter, and quicker to put on (especially since my U-Lock has a thick cable to lock the wheels with too).

On the other hand, just a cable is easier for a do-badder to cut through, so I'm a little apprehensive to leave it unattended around my neighborhood, as it's very common to have a bike stolen in short order.

two words for you bro'

Home...Theater.

Way better than a cineplex experience anyway.

+1. I work for a video rental company, so I get free movie rentals. Best of both worlds. No longer stressing about bike security. No more resisting the urge to turn some foul mouthed, cell phone using, laser pointer waving (usually one of those younger know-it-alls) person in to a human lawn dart. Yep, blood pressure is doing fine now.

I parked my bike next to an unlocked $4k+ roadbike at the dentist office a week or so back. I guess it really depends on the area you are in.

Good strategy to park your bike next to another bike that's more attractive to would be thieves. :thumb:

the first bike i had stolen was while i was watching a movie in the afternoon.

two words for you bro'

Home...Theater.

Way better than a cineplex experience anyway.

-1

Home theaters remove half the fun. There's no excitement from the crowd. No group of people to laugh and gasp with. The screen is smaller, the pause button works (huge negative), people feel like it's okay to talk and interrupt, there are phones and people call, the snacks are far too available, and it's in your house so it's just one more thing to turn you into a home-body.

And now that HD-DVD is in full swing it's not even cheaper. Normal price is what, $30? I can almost buy 4 movie tickets for that price. I suppose there's rental, but HD-DVD availability isn't really there at any of my blockbusters.

I was pretty well stuck to Saturday swim lessons for the kids, timing just did not allow the Tuesday Thursday 5:30pm ones. I might try them this fall though w/ just the younger kid whose daycare is right by the Y (at the bottom of the hill). The older one has finally been checked out for free swim w/ no adult in the pool, so it's not as pressing to go back up the hill to get him and bring him back down to the Y.

Well, the wife and I bike up to the movie theatre on Saturday night. There is a bike rack right outside the theatre and we locked them up. There were a dozen bikes there. All the others were kids bikes, but I'm fine with that.:D

We saw Mamma Mia. What a great movie to take a date to. We loved it. :love: We biked home at about 10 pm and enjoyed the ride.

dress up

call a cab

the end

With the cost of movies today, and what they charge for drinks & snacks how do "huge gangs of ne'er-do-wells" afford to go??

flipping stolen bikes...

WHAT ABOUT BATMAN?? You wouldn't risk taking a cab for batman?

Ride this to the movies.

http://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/article/797/797841/the-dark-knight-20070619051200455_640w.jpg

Me likes. :D

do you have a choice in movie theaters? I know I have one that I would feel safe at with my bike and one I wouldn't dare leave it without every piece being bolted down. Have you also considered making friends with the people that work there? Some harmless chit chat and flirtation could win the hearts over of those with protective back rooms.

I feel the same way, but I hate feeling that way. It helped when I made the trip to a local water park, White Water, and locked my bike up there for eight hours without incident. I didn't have to pay the extra $10 to park, so it was all good for me :D

Yes, I would head downtown more often if I had a beater to lock up. Heck, I would love to ride down to the Denver public library but my ride would be jacked in no time flat.
I suppose I could purchase a beater but every time I set out to do it I get sidetracked and end up with a way nicer ride than I would feel comfortable leaving locked up.
Oh well.

I found when I went to see the new Indiana Jones at lunchtime a month or so ago that our local theater doesn't really have any place to lock bikes up. My choice was a tree in the parking lot out front, which I'll probably do next time, or a fire escape stairwell in the back, which I used (locked to a post holding up the stairwell, not to the banister itself). The back of a multiplex at the edge of a mall is a pretty unsavory place in general, but at least it was uninhabited.

Yea, I am thinking of building a Fixed gear for winter. and it may end up becoming my "beater."

That way I can ride it places and not worry if it gets stolen.

Most of my riding is to and from work and I usually have an expensive laptop and dirty clothes backed in my ghetto crate. I find myself reticent to go through the bother of unloading all this carefully positioned gear just to stop at the grocery store, something I routinely do when I come home from work in my car...

I guess it's different if you primarily use your bike for work and have a secure parking situation there (like you can bring it inside). Parking at work is no more secure than anywhere else I might go (although there are no shortages of bike racks around work), any my bike is not especially expensive (especially today when I'm riding my $50, 30-year-old, Tote/Cycle), so I don't let fear of theft keep me from riding, or I'd never go anywhere except in big circles. I've biked to the movies several times with no bad results (other than getting there a little sweaty at times). The last time was the best, though. For a midnight showing of Eraserhead, a group go together an hour ahead of time and biked to the theater where they let us park the bikes in the theater, just to the left of the screen. There was no worry of theft then.

If I'm prevented from taking my bike somewhere, it's either because of distance, time, or weather, and sometimes the condition I'll arrive in, which could be a result of any of the previous factors. There are times that I don't go somewhere because I can't take my bike, but it's almost always because it's too far/long of a ride or in bad weather. It's never because I won't leave my bike there. At least not yet.

Bike commuting keeps me from going to the coffee shop every morning and evening. That can be both good and bad... Too much climbing on narrow dangerous streets. If it was flatter here I'd happily go.

What is the point of having a bike if you can't take it somewhere with you? Unless of course it is strictly a racing bike or something. I just don't get it.

Just go, lock it up with the best lock you can find, and don't worry about it. The cost of a new bike is less than car insurance payments for one year anyway. And if it is not then get some rental insurance with a low deductible so you can claim your bike if it gets swiped.

If i didn't go places because of security worries then i would never leave the house.

Since riding a bike set up for long distances and commuting I have lost interest in riding through the stop-and-go traffic of the city downtown. Before when I lived in the city I would ride around just to ride, now I tend to stick to the long, windy, high-speed-possible roads. On my commute I cut across the city in a way to bypass downtown entirely and as efficiently as possible.

Just go, lock it up with the best lock you can find, and don't worry about it. The cost of a new bike is less than car insurance payments for one year anyway.

You're obviously paying too much for your car insurance!

Meh.. I don't get why zoltani doesn't get it. So there.
I am attached to all my bikes. One gets stolen and I am out at least a grand. In one case more like three. No thanks.

-1

Home theaters remove half the fun. There's no excitement from the crowd. No group of people to laugh and gasp with. The screen is smaller, the pause button works (huge negative), people feel like it's okay to talk and interrupt, there are phones and people call, the snacks are far too available, and it's in your house so it's just one more thing to turn you into a home-body.


My HT technically has a bigger viewing screen (closer up) that is in calibration all the time, unlike the movie theater, plus my speakers don't buzz and hum like the local cinema. I'm a huge movie buff, so I hate it when people in front of me are saying stuff like "Did you see that?" or " Oh, I hope it turns out alright for the main character?" and the like. As for the phone, just don't answer it. You're at the movies.
Another home theater plus: My movie rentals are about the cost of a cup of soda at the movie theaters.

My reluctance is also due to the fact that I never see bikes at these multiplexes the times I've ridden by. Plenty of cars, of course, but no bikes.
This of course means bike thief would wait by bike racks long time before nice bike fly in.

Does anyone feel reluctant to take their bike to certain places?

Yeah my nicer bike I won't lock everywhere; so sometimes if I have it with me and decide to go somewhere else spontaneously I'm like ah must ride home, switch bikes, and then ride all the way to where I was.

-1

Home theaters remove half the fun. There's no excitement from the crowd. No group of people to laugh and gasp with. The screen is smaller, the pause button works (huge negative), people feel like it's okay to talk and interrupt, there are phones and people call, the snacks are far too available, and it's in your house so it's just one more thing to turn you into a home-body.

And now that HD-DVD is in full swing it's not even cheaper. Normal price is what, $30? I can almost buy 4 movie tickets for that price. I suppose there's rental, but HD-DVD availability isn't really there at any of my blockbusters.

Blockbuster has gone with Blu-Ray as the exclusive next generation format. HD DVD has gone the way of Beta tapes...

-1

And now that HD-DVD is in full swing it's not even cheaper. Normal price is what, $30? I can almost buy 4 movie tickets for that price. I suppose there's rental, but HD-DVD availability isn't really there at any of my blockbusters.

I think you meant Blu-Ray, buddy. HD-DVD is as dead as a doornail.

Meh.. I don't get why zoltani doesn't get it. So there.
I am attached to all my bikes. One gets stolen and I am out at least a grand. In one case more like three. No thanks.

You don’t get it? Well, my bike is my main transportation, so if I was scared of locking it up then I would never go out or do anything worth doing. Or I guess I could go out, but I would have to take the bus, and if that is the case then why do I have a bike anyway?

This is the second worst city in the country for bike theft, and I still don’t worry about it. I too am attached to my bike, but if it was stolen then I would suck it up and buy another bike. I take precautions so that doesn’t happen. I use locking wheel skewers and a heavy u-lock, but I need to get at least a bolt for my seat post if not a locking seat post bolt.

Okay, we've gotten a little off topic here, but I don't mind, as it interests me, and discussions are dynamic that way.

So, those of you who are in the know, is Blu Ray going to replace the original DVD format eventually? I certainly hope not. I am not planning on buying an HD TV ever, and I think good ol' DVDs still look killer. And no matter how much you improve the format, a bad movie is still a bad movie, and a good movie needs no further enhancements. (The restoration of Lawrence of Arabia is a good example; how would Blu Ray add to that?)

I am overjoyed when I see great flicks at $10 or less in the bargain DVD sections.