Originally Posted by bostontrevor
Do you find it interesting that you're trying to solve the problem of "200 bike commuters" when we're talking about 1? I work ina place with a several hundred employees. Nobody seems to think it strange that there is an additional 300 square feet dedicated to each person plus garage attendants yet asking for a locker room in the event that there are hundreds of bicycle commuters is out of line.... Really?
Oh, and my bike needs no warmup, not ever a few minutes, when it's coated with an inch of ice. Actually, that's not true. If it's an inch of ice, I probably won't be riding. But then when it's really an inch of ice, sane people won't be driving either. I assume you mean normal winter inclement weather. And in those conditions, I'm ready to roll in about 45 seconds.
Seriousy, I sympathize with your position and that of millions of Americans. As I wrote previously, we've painted ourselves into a corner. But don't pretend like there's nothing we can do about it other than cross our fingers and pray to the hydrogen idol. The fact is, our lifestyle is unsustainable. If I said I wanted to live at the bottom of the ocean and *****ed and moaned about how expensive it was to come up every day and drive 300 miles inland to my job you'd rightly call me an idiot.
There's a qualitative difference between the two to be sure but still, it's just a difference of degrees.
Ok, looks like you missed my point. The "hundreds of bike commuters" as you put it was a response to someone who was basically stating that there was no reason everyone on the face of the earth couldn't ride to work everyday. And I'm not saying that they can't, just simply that it would impose a whole new set of problems for the riders. Of course I suppose that some of your parking garage could be converted to attend those needs. Hadn't thought about that. Never worked for a company that had a garage, let alone parking attendants. Must be nice. I park the car myself in a lot, sometimes several hundred feet from the front door.
And by the way, an inch of ice is no slicker than and 1/8 of an inch of ice, it just takes longer to melt. My bike won't shift or brake properly when its got that much ice on it. Granted, its not some multiple thousand dollar bike, just a poor Fuji, but the seat is still wet and cold even if I chip the ice off it.
As for normal inclement weather, such an ice storm is a common occurance here. We don't get much snow, but it is not unusual especially in January and February for it to be 45 degrees at 7 a.m., and by 4 the same afternoon to have it be in the teens and have anywhere from a quarter to half inch of ice on everything. That is often followed by a couple inches of very wet, heavy snow. Of course it melts off in a day or two (usually) but it breaks trees, downs powerlines, and generally makes a mess while its here.
The "hydrogen idol" as you called it was yet another example of some suggestions that others had put forth, I was trying to make the same point you are, in that we must find other answers, new technologies, and so forth. The bicycle is a wonderful, efficient machine, but we can't hide behind it either. As I've said several times before, the end of the crude oil supply will be reached at some point, I believe, in the very near future. We don't have time to argue and debate, we must figure out something PDQ! No form of bicycle will transport freight, harvest grain, power machinery, heat houses, or any of the other things we rely on oil for. Sure, conservation will extend how long the supply lasts, but that's a band aide solution. Something, whether it be hydrogen, alcohol, bio-diesel, or some as yet to be invented or discovered fuel source will have to be developed, tested, implemented and adapted to the existing vehicles, (meaning cars, planes, trucks, tractors, etc) and other uses for oil before that end is reached.