The Campaign Builder's Guild

Does anyone here put in a lot of time on the bike?  I am (primarily) a bicycle commuter, riding 16 miles / day four days out of the week for work and then some undiscernable extra amount for whatever I'm doing on the weekends.  I do this on a Schwinn Trailway.

What about you?

M.

I used to cycle a lot when I lived in Lincoln, but since moving to London I've not had space to store a bike. We do have a bycicle hire thingy in London, which is free for the first half hour, but I've never used it as I don't like the look of the bikes they have. Also, in Lincoln I could get away with being a reckless cyclist because it's a small town so traffic isn't as deadly as it is here.

While I don't bike, I have a pretty idyllic 10k in-line skate commute through the countryside since my suburb is separated from the rest of the city. Tempest 110s, not that anyone knows what that is. I just don't feel stable enough on a bicycle, and while I've never fallen off of a bike I dislike having the knowledge that I wouldn't be able to catch myself if it did happen.

Kindling:  Acquire a folding bike.  I can't speak for London traffic, though.  Around here it can be a little dicey, but I stick to the bike lanes anyway.

TMG:  I know those are expensive skates.  As for falling...wouldn't falling on skates be worse?  I fall off mine on occasion - you just get back up and start spinning again.

M.

Quote from: TheMeanestGuest
... while I've never fallen off of a bike I dislike having the knowledge that I wouldn't be able to catch myself if it did happen.

You do know you can take your feet off the pedals if you want to, right? :P

Indeed.  Wouldn't it be harder to "catch" yourself with skates?  I would not know, for I cannot wear skates.

M.

Well, I don't know, catching oneself might be more difficult for a beginning inline skater vs. a beginning cyclist. But what I mostly meant was with your hands to prevent your face from impacting pavement. Flying over the handlebars of your bike is a lot more dangerous than falling forwards on in-line skates.

Cycling just isn't for me. I feel way less maneuverable, can't jump over obstacles, etc.

It's all good.

M.

I live in Copenhagen, Denmark, where everybody bikes everywhere. It's rare for someone to not have a bike, even in the center of the city.
I bike to my university most mornings, but I honestly prefer walking if it wasn't so damnably slow. I've also recently moved further outside the city, so that has put a proverbial stick in my wheel. 

I'm a proponent of the Carfree lifestyle in the U.S., but it is more difficult here in many places than Denmark or the Netherlands.

Most of the people I know have a hard time wrapping their heads around the concept, let alone that I commute that way.  It also carries a bit of a stigma.  Things will change, or perhaps after I finish my degree programme I'll transfer to one of our European offices and not have to deal with it as much.

M.

Yeah when I went to the US I found it very strange how the towns I saw were laid out - it seems very difficult to get anywhere without a car.

This is pretty generally true.  It is a side effect of our history - agrarianism in the midst of industrialism.  Lots of land, cheap, where self-sufficient towns and whatnot grew up around.  We started to urbanize better in the early 20th, but the post WW2 era and the interstate project (rise of the suburbs) saw to the end of that. 

At one point, we had better rail transit, but the car companies saw to that problem in the early 20th century.

M.

How do you store your helmet when you are not riding?
How do you secure your bike? Chain or bolt?
Has your bike ever been stolen?

>>At one point, we had better rail transit, but the car companies saw to that problem in the early 20th century.
I am fairly certain that the consumers preferred car to passenger rail. Cheaper and it could get you point to point (more freedom). So yes, car companies 'saw to that problem' by creating a better product.

I don't wear a helmet, I chain it up, and luckily no, never, although I know for a fact someone tried to break into the shed where I used to store it at least once.

I keep my helmet in the house.  When at the house, I don't secure the bike but at work or shop I use a 4 letter combo chain.  To date, never had one stolen.

May be moving soon, into the "seedier" part of town, so I'm looking at investing in a folder for easier inside storage.

M.