Originally Posted by
Machka
Ah, but that "not real" bike really improved my pedal stroke on my real bike. They are fixies, and can really smooth out your pedal stroke because there's no coasting. They also gave me a whole new understanding and appreciation for fixed gear bicycles and riders.
I am not dissing spin classes. In fact, I admire people who go there, and especially the instructors. I don't think I could handle them, really. But my understanding is that the OP is looking for jobs that involve riding an actual bike that, you know, actually goes places. Under that criterion, spin classes are inadmissible.
Originally Posted by travelinhobo
If you go biking in other countries, you will find that in OTHER countries, there are other jobs using a bicycle. France, like Sweden (and other countries) use the bicycle to deliver mail. In some large cities in Europe, you'll find guys in rickshaw type bikes driving (?) their passengers around.
All of this is found in North America as well, though to a lesser degree. Bike messengers deliver mail, though it's not regular postal mail. When I lived in Russia, a remote relative of mine was a postal woman for the actual Russian postal service, delivering mail around her village by bicycle. She was no bike messenger - it was a typical crappy single speed ridden at about 10-12 km/h on mostly unpaved village roads.
You might call it more 'progressive' than in North America, but I think Russia is actually a far worse place for cyclists than even suburban U.S., if you're in an area that sees any traffic at all. A lot of Russian drivers are extremely aggressive - it's a nerve-wracking experience to even drive there (even if you're not a newbie but have been driving around for ages).
There are rickshaws in big North American cities too. Mostly tourist attraction, though occasionally used for real transportation (wasn't there some basketball player in the recent draft who could not catch a taxi to get to the draft and resorted to a bike rickshaw... or was it a pedicab?
).