Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Then drama to the contrary? I seem to recall someone saying something about short trips all being "flat".
Reference?
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
What gets me is that some people can't respect other people's choices. You could force people to buy only the kind of bike you deem appropriate but that would only insure that people don't even do the once a month recreational ride. But this is the commuter forum where people have other needs than just "short flat rides".
Nobody (at least that I've noticed) is trying to force anything on anyone. My and I think others point is one of awareness and that we (and bike shops, etc.) should do a better job of making people aware of what options are available and what the advantages and disadvantages of each is. You seem to have a problem with this.
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Leaning forward isn't going to make some one sweaty. Riding a bicycle is going to make them sweaty.
People use their cars to go grocery shopping in the US because of the way we shop for groceries. We don't shop every day. Carrying a weeks worth of groceries for a family of 4 is more than most people have the capacity to carry on a bicycle.
Leaning forward creates considerable greater sweat than sitting upright. This is partially due to the increased folds in your skin from leaning over and partially due to less wind/air across your body. I very rarely sweat when I ride an upright yet riding a hybrid in the same weather for the same speed will result in sweat.
I agree that major once-per-week grocery excursions don't work well for many people on a bicycle. I do so with my bakfiets but I'd not expect many people to invest in one. For most people though there are still numerous trips that are very appropriate for a bicycle such as short trips to lunch or dinner or to pick up some wine for a gathering of friends or to get spark plugs for your car.
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
And Europe is more compact that most of the US. For many in the US, it's much further to dinner than 1/2 mile. For many, it's further than 1/2 mile to the grocery store. Even within a city like Denver, there are many places where a trip to dinner or to a grocery store is a 5 mile round trip. In the suburbs, the round trip can be 10 miles or more.
True. But just because some trips are longer doesn't mean that people shouldn't ride a bicycle for shorter trips does it? We have a few cafe's within 2 or 3 miles that we ride to regularly but if we're going to dinner 7 or 10 miles away we'll drive. That's not a problem.