Old 10-11-09 | 08:40 AM
  #87  
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Minerva
Lone Ranger
 
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 68
Likes: 2
From: Middlesex County, NJ

Bikes: Trek 7200FX(unfortunately)

I think all of the requisite pros and cons about saving money, exercise, changing clothes, etc. have all been mentioned. Here are few that stand out for me:

Pros:

I can get out of some social engagements like tupperware parties, baby showers, etc. because I tell them biking 35 miles there would be a hardship.

I can have the extra beer at the bar and not worry about a cop sitting in the parking lot just waiting to bust someone for that .001 over.

I can go places and explore that I couldn't with a car because of lack of parking, such as trails, places to pick berries, old fields and farms, etc.

I enjoy finding the shortcuts that only a bike can take advantage of! And telling people in cars that they have to take the long way.

There are places here that charge admission by the carload, but bicyclists are free. (Parks and beaches)

Looking forward to the commute at the end of the day instead of dreading the "deadtime" sitting in a car.

Cons:

Carrying a ton of clothing around. Commuters need cycling clothes they can work in!!

Getting laughed at by the kids waiting at the bus stops because I don't match or I'm wearing a reflective vest or because my bike looks like a pee-wee herman special.

Having a longer suburban commute - 12 miles e/w. I'm right in between the urban cycling and the touring categories. Can't bike in my street clothes, can't commute on a heavy comfy dutch bike. It would be nice to commute on a pretty bike with a sundress, but its impractical. I hate having to go somewhere and change into "normal clothes".

LONELY! I rarely see another cyclist. I don't get the joys of meeting other people on bikes; no friendly races, no one to affirm what I do. It gets very lonely when you feel like you are the only one on a bicycle surrounded by SUVs.

There is no bicycle infrastructure here - no bike lanes, no sharrows, no MUPs. People who cycle here put their bikes on their car racks and go to the park to do loops. Sometimes on the road here, I feel like an early mammal in the world of jurassic giants, scrambling along, trying not to get stepped on.

In suburbia, everything is far away. Everything requires planning, time, energy. Makes me wish for a hub motor sometimes. Takes the spontenaity out of things.

Last edited by Minerva; 10-11-09 at 08:44 AM.
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