8 ms·

I would absolutely love to ride a bike or say, roller skate to work, but as i live in a stroad infested car dependent mess of a town, that is sadly impractical

by afloyd 5y ago

I would absolutely love to ride a bike or say, roller skate to work, but as i live in a stroad infested car dependent mess of a town, that is sadly impractical at best and outright deadly at worst.

kiki_vh 5y ago
Agree not safe to ride bikes...
sinab 5y ago
I share the same sentiment. Something I've realized recently is that people who complain about car-centrism (myself) often fail to identify ways to start solving these problems. To remedy this, I've been thinking of writing a set of practical posts, sort of a how-to, in which I explore ways to solve these problems. Is that something that would interest you?
- milkytron 5y ago
  I would be interested. I've also been contemplating how to use my skill set to further decrease our dependence on car centric infrastructure, or help others engage in reducing it. There seems to be a very large community of people in the US who are opposed to more cars. /r/fuckcars has gained a large following rather quickly. Clearly there is demand, but how do we enable people to start making change? Money and NIMBYs are hard to challenge single handedly.
- zestyping 5y ago
  I'm quite curious to see what you would have to say! If you do this, please consider commenting again here so I can find it.
jhoechtl 5y ago
I do not like to ride a bike at 0 °C. Buses are fine, waiting for the bus at 0 °C not so. But yeah, owning a car which is only used 1% of it's lifetime is pretty laughable and actually prohibitive.
- hahamrfunnyguy 5y ago
  What's wrong with riding a bike in 0 °C weather? When dressed for the weather riding in the cold weather can be quite enjoyable as long as the roads are clear or your bike has appropriate tires.
  - jhoechtl 5y ago
    > When dressed for the weather riding in the cold weather can be quite enjoyable Not my sense of comfort. > as long as the roads are clear or your bike has appropriate tires. I live in a country where we have snow in winter, at least casually. I think driving safety is severely affected when driving single-track? Wouldn't ride my motorcycle in winter either.
    - frenchy 5y ago
      Each to their own, of course. You have a better idea of what's safe for you. That said I live in a snowy country and ride a bike. I absolutely wouldn't ride a motorcycle. Speed is by far the largest reason. On a bike, you can see black ice before you hit it. You can run a foot along the ground for extra traction. You can get out and walk and push your vehicle. You can just jump off if shit really hits the fan. That said, I also ride slowly when the roads are poor.
    - hahamrfunnyguy 5y ago
      Have you ever tried it or are you just assuming you wouldn't find it comfortable? Where I live, it's not usually safe to ride a bike because of snow clearing. We get huge snowbanks and there is no safe place to ride. I'd be riding if I could though. We do have off-road trails that are groomed for fat bikes that are a lot of fun. It's a nice alternative to downhill skiing or snowboarding which can get pretty pricey!
  - reddog 5y ago
    > When dressed for the weather riding in the cold weather can be quite enjoyable Not as enjoyable as sitting on my heated leather seat, sipping coffee, listning to an audiobook and moving my right foot back and forth between the the accelerator and brake while my wipers and heater keep the sleet off the windshield.

by afloyd 5y ago

I would absolutely love to ride a bike or say, roller skate to work, but as i live in a stroad infested car dependent mess of a town, that is sadly impractical at best and outright deadly at worst.

kiki_vh 5y ago

Agree not safe to ride bikes...

sinab 5y ago

I share the same sentiment. Something I've realized recently is that people who complain about car-centrism (myself) often fail to identify ways to start solving these problems. To remedy this, I've been thinking of writing a set of practical posts, sort of a how-to, in which I explore ways to solve these problems. Is that something that would interest you?

milkytron 5y ago
I would be interested. I've also been contemplating how to use my skill set to further decrease our dependence on car centric infrastructure, or help others engage in reducing it. There seems to be a very large community of people in the US who are opposed to more cars. /r/fuckcars has gained a large following rather quickly. Clearly there is demand, but how do we enable people to start making change? Money and NIMBYs are hard to challenge single handedly.
zestyping 5y ago
I'm quite curious to see what you would have to say! If you do this, please consider commenting again here so I can find it.

jhoechtl 5y ago

I do not like to ride a bike at 0 °C. Buses are fine, waiting for the bus at 0 °C not so. But yeah, owning a car which is only used 1% of it's lifetime is pretty laughable and actually prohibitive.

hahamrfunnyguy 5y ago
What's wrong with riding a bike in 0 °C weather? When dressed for the weather riding in the cold weather can be quite enjoyable as long as the roads are clear or your bike has appropriate tires.
- jhoechtl 5y ago
  > When dressed for the weather riding in the cold weather can be quite enjoyable Not my sense of comfort. > as long as the roads are clear or your bike has appropriate tires. I live in a country where we have snow in winter, at least casually. I think driving safety is severely affected when driving single-track? Wouldn't ride my motorcycle in winter either.
  - frenchy 5y ago
    Each to their own, of course. You have a better idea of what's safe for you. That said I live in a snowy country and ride a bike. I absolutely wouldn't ride a motorcycle. Speed is by far the largest reason. On a bike, you can see black ice before you hit it. You can run a foot along the ground for extra traction. You can get out and walk and push your vehicle. You can just jump off if shit really hits the fan. That said, I also ride slowly when the roads are poor.
  - hahamrfunnyguy 5y ago
    Have you ever tried it or are you just assuming you wouldn't find it comfortable? Where I live, it's not usually safe to ride a bike because of snow clearing. We get huge snowbanks and there is no safe place to ride. I'd be riding if I could though. We do have off-road trails that are groomed for fat bikes that are a lot of fun. It's a nice alternative to downhill skiing or snowboarding which can get pretty pricey!
- reddog 5y ago
  > When dressed for the weather riding in the cold weather can be quite enjoyable Not as enjoyable as sitting on my heated leather seat, sipping coffee, listning to an audiobook and moving my right foot back and forth between the the accelerator and brake while my wipers and heater keep the sleet off the windshield.