Advocacy & Safety - Excuses not to bike

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

-Kurt

-Kurt

the other day at work I heard one of my co-workers saying that she needed to lose some weight so I suggested that she started biking. She immediately started in with the excuses. . . . How many of you get those sorts of people who start backpedaling with every excuse under the sun not to bike (or walk)?

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

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

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

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

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

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

We are spoiled rotten.

bf

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

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

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

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

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

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

We are spoiled rotten.

bf


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

...

+1.

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

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

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

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

Whatever.

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

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

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

"...or myriad other excuses."

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

LOL.

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

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

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

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

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

bottom line no excuses (see sig)

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

"...or myriad other excuses."

Damn, another grammar cop

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

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

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

... I mean look at the way out teeth are designed. Our teeth are not designed to eat meat. They are designed to eat fruits and veggies. Something to think about.
...
No, I disagree with this statement. Humans are omnivores. Over 10,000 years ago, before the invention of farming, people were mainly eating meat -- the larger the animals, the better. This is what we evolved to survive on.

Look into what hunter-gatherers eat.

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

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

amen.

no back issues, thank god, but, my knees, (mostly the left) have bothered me on and off for the last twnety years or so. Bike riding is medicine to them. The more I ride, the better they feel. Not even the slightest bit of pain or stiffness when I am cycling regularly. I have tried explaining this to the wife who has a nearly 30 year his torn of issues with her left knee. She blew out an acl her senior year in high school doing gymnastics and has had 4 or 5 surgeries.

I'll post a list in order that I think most non-bikers would agree on:

1) Time.
2) Safety.
3) Sweat.
4) Appearances (clothing restrictions).
5) Weather.
6) Cargo.

I'll post a list in order that I think most non-bikers would agree on:

1) Time.
2) Safety.
3) Sweat.
4) Appearances (clothing restrictions).
5) Weather.
6) Cargo.


Very cool idea Mr. R. :D

I'd edit a bit, to this:

1) Sweat.
2) Appearances (clothing restrictions).
3) Time.
4) Weather.
5) Cargo.
6) Safety.


I know here on BF people think that "safety" is this huge bicycling concern, but frankly with regular people, it simply isn't.

Regular people haven't ridden a bike since they were kids. They never felt unsafe then. Today, their kids ride bikes out in front of their houses in their developments. -They really don't worry about it. "Be carefulllll honey!" :love:

Safety just isn't an issue in their minds. Safety concerns are for people actually out there on the road with the traffic. In my estimation such considerations can't/won't be speculated.

It's about getting sweaty, the effects of a helmet on their hair; hey, most people don't even think about their trousers getting caught in the chain, getting tired (and, did I mention... sweaty?;)), how much longer a "run" to the store would take, and how they would carry everything from the Costco/Price Club.

This is an outstanding thought experiment sir! Potentially valuable for a bike-centric future.

Good on ya'!

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

Look into what hunter-gatherers eat.

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

Consult any dietitian and you'll find out the truth about the human diet. Or retake 3ed grade health...
People that claim we're nut and berry eaters are pushing another agenda, not to be confused with actual human dietary needs.

Y'all are complicating a simple issue. Non-bikers don't bike because they don't want to. No other reason or excuse is necessary. Any others just buttress their non-desire to ride.

Y'all are complicating a simple issue. Non-bikers don't bike because they don't want to. No other reason or excuse is necessary. Any others just buttress their non-desire to ride.

Absolutely correct.

Their excuses are nothing else then a fancy, wordy way to say "no."

-Kurt

Pretty much; as idle, comfort-loving, and convenience-addicted as most of this society is, I'm amazed there are so many bike companies still in business!

Glad, happy, even a little ecstatic...but amazed.

We are spoiled rotten.

+1

...and lazy. Ppl tend to find the path of least resistance and getting them do something which requires more effort is difficult at best.

There is an excuse for everything.

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

I'm gonna have to rethink this. Maybe.. no. I'm sure of it. I need to adjust my seat a bit higher.
Just like I quit cold turkey with my smoking I need to just get that road bike and get it dialed in and see how far I can go each day.
I'll keep the helper bikes for the longer trips.

THANKS for this! I was seriously thinking I may be hurting my knees more.
But I'll get it checked up by my doctor too.

I still make excuses.

Current excuses I make not to ride to work:
1. It's eight and a half miles, and I'm not sure I'm ready for that (I ride longer on the bike path, but that's flat as opposed to the relatively hilly trip to work).
2. I'm not comfortable in traffic.
3. Riding in to work at the crack of dawn is pretty easy. Riding home in the high temperatures of the afternoon (I'm in Tucson) doesn't sound so easy.
4. I have no decent place to lock the trike. It's too large to cram into my office area (shared office) and there's no bike rack outside.

The worst thing is that I know that these are pretty flimsy excuses. But they're enough to keep me driving in to work rather than biking.

I don't even bother any more, I just suggest that if they want to lose weight they should switch to the donuts with the low-fat glazing.

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

so tell us, just what and how much experience would that be?

I know here on BF people think that "safety" is this huge bicycling concern, but frankly with regular people, it simply isn't.

Bingo! Give the turtle a free shell wax!

Heck, most regular folk are not even aware that they can legally cycle on the road...they think bikes should be on the sidewalk, on the path, or on their cul-de-sac. These same people are the ones who are driving the cars we interact with daily, so granted, they think what WE are doing is dangerous and probably illegal...but that isn't going to stop them from buying their wally-world bikes, putting them on the car and going down to toodle down the local MUP.

IMO, the biggest reason non-cyclists don't ride bikes is because they think it's too hard physically or logistically.

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

My first year, I started first work day of April and went 100% through til the first day of December. Don't know why I stopped on that particular day, although I do remember it was the most miserable day, with a cold driving rain.

By early January I was itching to get back onto the saddle. I started riding in on days it wasn't snowing, while developing my plans for winter riding. This included a fixed 1x1. By March I was rolling again and was probably 99% until June 06 when I started working out of town.

I mean look at the way out teeth are designed. Our teeth are not designed to eat meat. They are designed to eat fruits and veggies.


Except when you take a look at your four canines. Their called canine teeth for a reason and they're not there to pull the celery apart :D

Damn, another grammar cop

however, one can say " a plethora of excuses..."

Except when you take a look at your four canines. Their called canine teeth for a reason and they're not there to pull the celery apart :D

yup, I believe we are considered "omnivores" like bears...
not only that remember "agriculture" or "farming" were inventions at one point.... we used to be nomadic and part of that required to eat what you could find... kind of like the innuits who only ate meat and have started having colesterol problems with the "modern day diet"...

Except when you take a look at your four canines. Their called canine teeth for a reason and they're not there to pull the celery apart :D

But evolution shrunk them because were not tearing raw meat.
We cook meat to make it tender enough to eat.
Don't get me wrong,though. I've been conditioned all my life to eat meat and to be a vegetarian would play havoc with family food gatherings and what not.
But I don't eat as much meat anymore. A bean burrito at Taco Bell taste just as good to me anymore than a beef burrito at Taco Bell. But I need bacon bits with my salad.
Before I rediscovered my childhood love of riding a bicycle I first discovered good nutrition and the positive effects of having clean lungs. Then the biking just fell into it all.
So to excuse yourself from not biking is not applicable if your not gonna try and take care of your body first.
I really let myself go. But now I have real bonified achievable goals.

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

Whatever.

Reminds me of this Nike commercial -- ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obdd31Q9PqA

(actually, once I saw the thread title I went looking for it; it had been posted in another thread somewhere, too)


I still make excuses.

Current excuses I make not to ride to work:
1. It's eight and a half miles, and I'm not sure I'm ready for that (I ride longer on the bike path, but that's flat as opposed to the relatively hilly trip to work).
2. I'm not comfortable in traffic.
3. Riding in to work at the crack of dawn is pretty easy. Riding home in the high temperatures of the afternoon (I'm in Tucson) doesn't sound so easy.
4. I have no decent place to lock the trike. It's too large to cram into my office area (shared office) and there's no bike rack outside.

The worst thing is that I know that these are pretty flimsy excuses. But they're enough to keep me driving in to work rather than biking.

I ride to work almost all the time (usually not when taking a tuba or two, or I need to bring luggage for another trip), but I can identify with those points when I have to go somewhere else.

There's a big shopping strip (Potomac Yards) within decent biking distance of me, but like you say about your workplace, there are only a couple places to lock up a bike; I've only ridden there when I could lock the bike in a friend's car and go see a movie. I'm also not yet equipped to bike to my friends' place out in Vienna while carrying my Wii and its accessories for a party (that much weight in the small of my back suuuucks for that kind of distance). Or, I can't imagine taking 70 lbs of tuba and tuba case to play a community band concert outside the Beltway and not be a sweaty pig by the time I got there.

For me, deciding between the bike and car means I look at a combination of what I need to accomplish and the nature of the destination. Taking the bike into Old Town Alexandria seems more palatable than to Potomac Yards, for example, even though the Yards is a couple miles closer.

Then there's families like this, which a lot of car-free advocates conveniently forget about when evangelizing --


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

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

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

Almost makes me glad to be single..

At Chicago's All Night Ride in July (a 25-mile Saturday night affair) there was a woman who was wearing a picture of herself BEFORE she started riding to work pinned to the front of her shirt. She had lost 115 lbs over about two years of a 31-mile round trip. People who do this and are determined make real changes, and they succeed.

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

Whatever.

I can agree with Too Far. And in about 2 months I'm sure I'll be agreeing with Too Cold. You forgot about Too Dangerous, this is reason I hear alot.

Too easy to "swerve." Classic excuse given by motorists who hit cyclists: "he swerved."

If I bike, I may "swerve."

Never mind that I can ride that narrow stripe, that is used to mark a bike lane, pretty darn well. :rolleyes:

I can agree with Too Far. And in about 2 months I'm sure I'll be agreeing with Too Cold. You forgot about Too Dangerous, this is reason I hear alot.

Funny. My car stops to function around -5F and bike is my only form of transit. Main worry is overheating/sweating. I find it interesting (generalization) that people will go do stuff like ski, but think it is too cold to ride a bike.

Too easy to "swerve."

Don't laugh - to see most anyone around here riding for leisure, you are left to wonder if the general public has any concept of balance.

-Kurt

Don't laugh - to see most anyone around here riding for leisure, you are left to wonder if the general public has any concept of balance.

-Kurt

Oh I am not laughing... but to that comment I have to say... if cyclists are swerving so much, why do motorists try to pass with mere inches to spare?