Interesting post on gas prices and bikes

John_Kane wrote:

Actually a real gasoline hike or shortage would probably have a very
impressive effect. The book _The Bicycle in Wartime_ gives some
interesting descriptions for what effect rationing had on bicycle use.
I suspect if gas prices get really high a lot of rural-suburban housing
is going to drop drastically in price

The bubble in housing is already starting to burst, but it's a slow
process, not a rapid process like when equities fall in value. It's a
very bad time to buy a house in many areas of the U.S..

james wrote:

i think when denver's new train system is in place (years from now),
more people will bike commute, but the first leg will open next year,
and will definetely help cyclists on bad weather days.

You realize that FasTracks means fewer (bike-rack equipped) buses,
don't you?

Denver RTD is currently experimenting with allowing bikes on trains
during rush hour, but they have a history of only allowing bikes during
off-peak hours. Bicycle Longmont (of which I'm a member) expressed
serious reservations about FasTracks, and I think Bike Denver outright
opposed the measure.

Which reminds me -- I'm meeting with our Region 2 RTD representative
tonight. I'll be sure to express again our concerns about bikes on
trains.

RFM

Fritz M wrote:

Which reminds me -- I'm meeting with our Region 2 RTD representative
tonight. I'll be sure to express again our concerns about bikes on
trains.

Use CalTrain as an example of how well a bikes on trains program works.
Or maybe not since the demand is so high that before the Republicans
came into office there were not enough bike spaces for everyone.

Will wrote:
wrote:

You have to change the whole culture. I don't see this ever happening
here in the US.


It's going to happen and it will happen a lot faster than most people
realize. Crude was $28/barrel in '03. Natural gas price has tripled in
2 years. It's not a question of culture changing. It's a question of
resource change. It's August and no one is thinking about winter heat.
But guess what, it will cost 35% more to stay warm in the U.S. this
fall.

Bikes are coming back...

What we need is a bicycle manufacturer that will put out a reasonably
priced utitilty bicycle ($300 or so), with fenders, chain guard, built
in lights, etc.

This type of bike exists now, except for the reasonably priced part of it.

I like your point, well said! I don't own a car, and haven't owned one
in several years. Before I took up the bike as transportation I walked
or used public transit. Blame it on the post WWII government. Ever
since the interstate highway system was dreamed up people have been
using personal motor vehicles more and more.

Ken

"Claire Petersky" wrote in message
...
"Andy Gee" wrote in message
8.78...

So what's the hold up?

I know women who won't ride because they are afraid the bike will have
something go wrong mechanically, and they will be stuck some place where
they will feel vunerable and fear for their physical safety. The
automobile is a big steel box, and they can lock themselves inside if
there's a breakdown.


The women I know who won't ride a bike give their reasons generally along
the lines of:-

"Too dangerous"
"Too dangerous as too many cars on the road"
"I haven't got the time"
"I wish I had the time"
"You cycle how far??? I could never cycle that far!"
"You cycle alone? You are brave! I could never do that!"
"You cycle the five miles into town! Too far for me!"

Cheers, helen s

The Wogster wrote:
wrote:

You have to change the whole culture. I don't see this ever happening
here in the US. The part that gets me is the total ignorance on part of
the general public. Ands it's jsut not about gas or health. I mean
things like if a woman hears, or guesses, you don't own a car and bike
everywhere you can forget about her and the majority of women. To them
only a loser would just own a bicycle. The truth? Only a loser would
own a car. I'm in minority. Maybe there's some other people like me in
this forum.


Your looking at the wrong kind of woman, do you really want a woman who
is only interested in the size of your car and your wallet. You need to
look at it differently, you voluntarily do not drive, because you like
the excersize of cycling, you like the fact the bicycle is the original
and most efficient zero emission vehicle, you like the fact that your
not wasting the money on a car. You probably have money in the bank, a
lot of car drivers don't.

I am still considering not replacing my old clunker when it finally
dies....

W

Is your 'old clunker' your car or your woman?

Andy Gee wrote:
snip
The typical car commute is 12 miles or less; a regular civilian should
be able to start out at 12 MPH and quickly work up to 16 MPH for a short
haul and many routes will be much shorter by bicycle (parks, back roads,
etc.) So what's the hold up? snip

My commute is only 4.5 miles and I think I could certainly get there
just as quickly on bike as I can in my car. However, there are a few
stumbling blocks.
1. I sell candy (lots of junk food junkies out there) and between my
lunch box and junk food, I can't carry all of that on my bike.
2. I get out of work at 1:30am and don't exactly feel comfortable
riding around with all the drunks on the road at that time of night.
3. Inclement weather - Even if I could come up with an answer for the
other two, I'm not confident riding with a foot of snow on the ground.
Rain wouldn't be a problem though.
Talk me into it folks, I'm really close to getting rid of my car.

wafflycat wrote:

"Claire Petersky" wrote in message
...

"Andy Gee" wrote in message
8.78...

So what's the hold up?


I know women who won't ride because they are afraid the bike will have
something go wrong mechanically, and they will be stuck some place
where they will feel vunerable and fear for their physical safety. The
automobile is a big steel box, and they can lock themselves inside if
there's a breakdown.


The women I know who won't ride a bike give their reasons generally
along the lines of:-

"Too dangerous"
"Too dangerous as too many cars on the road"
"I haven't got the time"
"I wish I had the time"
"You cycle how far??? I could never cycle that far!"
"You cycle alone? You are brave! I could never do that!"
"You cycle the five miles into town! Too far for me!"

I hear the same thing from the women I know, and most of the men, as well.

Pat

SMS wrote:
Will wrote:

wrote:

You have to change the whole culture. I don't see this ever happening
here in the US.



It's going to happen and it will happen a lot faster than most people
realize. Crude was $28/barrel in '03. Natural gas price has tripled in
2 years. It's not a question of culture changing. It's a question of
resource change. It's August and no one is thinking about winter heat.
But guess what, it will cost 35% more to stay warm in the U.S. this
fall.
Bikes are coming back...


What we need is a bicycle manufacturer that will put out a reasonably
priced utitilty bicycle ($300 or so), with fenders, chain guard, built
in lights, etc.

This type of bike exists now, except for the reasonably priced part of it.

The problem is the market isn't there, because the bikes aren't there,
because the market isn't there.

Part of the problem is that the bike market is too fractured. You
should be able to build a road bike, touring bike, hard tail MTB,
utility bike all on the same frame, the differences are often minor,
like frame width, maximum rim diameter and the bosses/fittings that are
in place.

Realistically, take a road bike that can accomodate a wide tire, swap
the handlebars, brake levers, rims, tires and tubes and fork and you
have a hardtail mountain bike. Go back to the road bike, add racks and
you have a touring bike. Swap the handlebars, brake levers, rims,
tires, tubes, swap the rear hub for one with a 7 speed hub, add fenders
and chain case and you have a utility bike.

W