Originally posted by Stor Mand
As much as some us would like to think, we bicyclists are not some fringe element that is so radical that no one can understand. It's no more radical than weight lifting or gardening for that matter. Some people get it and some people don't.
Still the absolute majority crank the car and drive. Though many of them could ride the same itinerary with a good bike.
It is more fun, takes about the same time as by car (including tanking, service, washing, warming engine, etc.)
I saw an ad on TV recently of a car (SUV), which takes 17 liters per 100 km. I do not get it - why smoking a cigarette in a public place could be outlawed and running such an engine can not be. A cigarette contains couple of grams of the burning material. Say, a man seats in an open air restaurant where it is illegal to smoke, 4 feet from him an engine runs, which emits thousand times more toxic fumes, and it is OK.
It is good that smoking is being outlawed more and more. However, excessive burning of fossil fuel is not touched for some reason. Though 5 liters per 100 km is enough to make a comfortable car.
I cycled last month from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh, PA, and back. It was my first trip to the USA. The ride along the C&O Towpath and the Great Allegheny Passage was splendid.
At the same time I noticed that the usage of an automobile is even more widespread than in Europe. The petrol costs the same as in Ukraine, though the average income is much lower here. I am not a medical researcher, but I can add 2 and 2. I saw strikingly many individuals who suffer from obesity. I guess it is the car, who did it to them.
Why John Kelso does not write about it? Neither he writes about road 837 near Pittsburgh. I cycled this road twice this year, because the bike trail is not completed there. The traffic is incredibly intense on this road and there are a lot of houses very close to the road. The inhabitants of these houses, who are to bear this endless flow of trucks, are not free. That was the thought, which came to my mind, when I cycled there; that these people are not free.
Do not misunderstand me, I am not bashing the US, in my country there are probably places much worse than road 837. I just wanted to notice that Mr.Kelso do not care about such issues in his column.
Wait a minute... Does any one know if the oil is processed in Austin? I mean - are there companies, which are involved in the fossil fuel business?