GeeBee July 24, 2008 11:31 re Helmet wearing - "I used to ride without one for years, up to 5,000 miles a year. Then I read the following statistic from the UK. 94% of people who die in accidents on their bicycle would have lived had they been wearing a helmet."

I think you'll find that you have misremembered. 94% of people who die in accidents -of head injuries- on their bicycle would have lived had they been wearing a helmet. The same would I imagine hold true for 94% of pedestrians who die of head injuries, or indeed drivers and their passengers who die of head injuries in accidents.

Entertaining story. I was in Amsterdam last summer and saw all kinds of bike/haul contraptions . . . so I agree with one other commenter that Americans have remarkably impoverished imaginations when it comes to taking care of the necessities of everyday life. I mean, who needs to go to the gym when you can get plenty of exercise getting to and from the places you go every day -- saving money and the environment at the same time?

I don't think of myself as a particularly "alternative" person, but I have never driven to work in my entire life. When I was living in NYC I took the subway and/or walked, and since I've moved out to the bay area I've used various forms of mass transit, biked, or walked to work every day. (Granted, it's not that cold or wet in the winter in the bay area!) Nowadays I live so close to my job (about a mile) that I find myself biking out of my way, so I can get more exercise. I never worked up much of a sweat, even when I was biking 5+ miles each way.

People don't need to get all geared up, necessarily -- but this is another thing Americans love to do. I don't have any high-tech stuff for my bike -- I'm too cheap for that. If I had a large-ish family to shop for I'd probably get some kind of equipment, though. And I'm a CityCarShare member, so when I need to haul something big, I reserve a car.

The local paper (Memphis) ran an article last year about pedestrians and bikes. Apparently we're 3rd worst (my memory may be slightly off, but something like that) city in the nation to be either. See, Memphians are very bad drivers, there are no bike lanes, and it's against the law to ride a bike on the sidewalk. Memphians seem to consider hitting pedestrians a kind of sport. This tallies with my personal observations; when I was younger and poorer, we were a one-car family and my husband had to bike to work, and he was hit three times before giving it up.

I did see someone the other day in a business suit riding one of those strange low-slung sort of bikes where you're lying back, whatever they're called. People were actually honking and swerving at him to try to freak him out enough to run off the road.

$17 chickens are no prob because I don't have a car...I'm not even much of a yuppie income-wise but OH BOY do I love to GLOAT about that EXPENSIVE FOOD that I eat with all the money I save by not having a car and riding my COMMIE-PINKO bike everywhere.

RE: Showering -- Do it in the morning, before you ride to work. That's how many commuting cyclists, including my spouse, do it. The stink isn't from your sweat, it's from sweat plus dirt; no dirt, no sweat. If you're really worried about not being lemony-fresh, keep a supply of underarm deodorant at work.

RE: Winter riding -- Two words: Nokian Hakkapellitas. These studded tires will slow you down a gear, but they grip ice as if it were dry pavement. Any studded tires will do, but Nokians are the best in my opinion. That, and dressing sensibly (layers, especially of merino-wool, are the key), will get you through a Minnesotan or even an Alaskan winter.

My wife recently overcame my hesitation at the large price tag and we got an Xtracycle, complete with a new bike that we can both easily ride and a child seat.

On our first real trek out with the whole family, we picked our toddler up in the morning (we had taken her over in her stroller to grandma's house the night before), but when it was time to go home we realized we couldn't get home with our bikes and the stroller. Oh no! But the Xtracycle came to the rescue -- my wife easily fastened the stroller to the side of the bike, along with everything else we had with us that day, popped the toddler in the baby seat and we were on our way home.

What the fuck is it with you? You are bar none the shrillest person around here any time someone suggests living a life or lifestyle that differs from yours in even the smallest way. Nobody is saying that every single person in America *must* do this. Nobody is taking your car keys away from you. If this doesn't work for you then don't do it.

It does work for a lot of other people -- I happen to be one who lives 6 miles from my job and I can wear casual clothes in the office so happy day, I can commute by bike. If I get another job out in the 'burbs, I won't be able to because it's 30 miles of highway. Oh well, I guess I'll have to drive. Bummer. The point of all these articles is to show people that you can do more than you think, not that "Laurel1234 has to do this all herself in order to stave off the apocalypse."

Chill out. Your insistence that we all march in lockstep with your life is as ridiculous as insisting that people in northern Wisconsin should bike in 20-below ice storms.

do you have a shower in the office? If not, how do you manage summer commuting?

Biking in my "bike clothes" -- cargo shorts and one of those halfsie exercise top things and bringing a change of clothes in my backpack bungeed to my rack. I'm lucky in that I can dress very casually at work (surrounded by programmers with flipflops and uncombed hair).

A package of kleenex-sized wet-wipes lives in my bike bag as well, to mop myself off and keep me unstinky even after I change my clothes.