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Bicycles are great but you’d never use one to pick up grandma from her house, a 20lb turkey from the butcher shop, and little Jenny from the school Christmas pa

Bicycles are great but you’d never use one to pick up grandma from her house, a 20lb turkey from the butcher shop, and little Jenny from the school Christmas pageant rehearsal, all in one trip with below-freezing temperatures and near-total darkness at 5pm. The bicycle is a highly efficient machine for getting exercise, commuting to work, and letting lil Johnny out to explore with his friends on summer vacation. It’s never going to replace all transportation needs of a family.

globular-toast 5y ago
No, you wouldn't. Quite right. In the same way you wouldn't use a car to cross the ocean to grandma's island or trawl for fish. Other solutions exist.
- emteycz 5y ago
  But there's no ocean around most people's homes. Cold cities are very usual. Telling people living in them they should bike is just insensitive to them.
  - stephen_g 5y ago
    Of course, there are very cold places where much of the population happily bikes. See here for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhx-26GfCBU&t=800s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhx-26GfCBU&t=800s
    - emteycz 5y ago
      Much of the population? I live in one such place with many bikepaths and bicycling tradition where some people bike even in winter despite it looks just like on the video, but I've never seen old people risking it - for good reasons, as falling down can be deadly for them. My own grandma wouldn't be able to get anywhere the public transport doesn't go (many many places even in an EU country) - and she's one of the more mobile, more motivated seniors there. The others would be fucked.
hawski 5y ago
I agree that there are certainly legitimate uses for cars. But many countries in a cold climate manage by with more biking per capita. I would say it makes people mobile for longer and the grandma (up to some higher age) would just ride her own bicycle. The turkey will fit on your rear basket no problem. Jenny could also ride a bike home, because she has the school close. It is of course only applicable in an urbanized area (even small cities can and do work like that). Not all the time, but below-freezing does not by itself mean prohibitively cold. Urbanized area means it is never near-total darkness for good and for bad.
bluGill 5y ago
I have picked my daughter up from her dance lesson my on my bike. She is a bit heavy in the trailer, but I'm not in a hurry and I refuse to but the type of laze person who drives 1.5 miles. (though now that it is cold...)

globular-toast 5y ago

No, you wouldn't. Quite right. In the same way you wouldn't use a car to cross the ocean to grandma's island or trawl for fish. Other solutions exist.

emteycz 5y ago
But there's no ocean around most people's homes. Cold cities are very usual. Telling people living in them they should bike is just insensitive to them.
- stephen_g 5y ago
  Of course, there are very cold places where much of the population happily bikes. See here for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhx-26GfCBU&t=800s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uhx-26GfCBU&t=800s
  - emteycz 5y ago
    Much of the population? I live in one such place with many bikepaths and bicycling tradition where some people bike even in winter despite it looks just like on the video, but I've never seen old people risking it - for good reasons, as falling down can be deadly for them. My own grandma wouldn't be able to get anywhere the public transport doesn't go (many many places even in an EU country) - and she's one of the more mobile, more motivated seniors there. The others would be fucked.

hawski 5y ago

I agree that there are certainly legitimate uses for cars. But many countries in a cold climate manage by with more biking per capita. I would say it makes people mobile for longer and the grandma (up to some higher age) would just ride her own bicycle. The turkey will fit on your rear basket no problem. Jenny could also ride a bike home, because she has the school close. It is of course only applicable in an urbanized area (even small cities can and do work like that). Not all the time, but below-freezing does not by itself mean prohibitively cold. Urbanized area means it is never near-total darkness for good and for bad.

bluGill 5y ago

I have picked my daughter up from her dance lesson my on my bike. She is a bit heavy in the trailer, but I'm not in a hurry and I refuse to but the type of laze person who drives 1.5 miles. (though now that it is cold...)