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zuvembi

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:20 am

Joined: 24 Jul 2005 Posts: 942 Location: Little Addis Ababa

I was having a discussion in a different forum and someone made a statement saying:

>> I really do appreciate your desire to make a statement about conservation,
>> greenness and over use of technology but keep things reasonable.

I've heard this sort of sentiment from a lot of people, but I have to say it doesn't really have anything to do with why I cycle.

>Statement?!? Greenness?!? Hogwash! That's about tenth on my list of reasons to
>cycle. I certainly didn't start cycling for that reason, and it's not the reason I continue."

My list ended up looking something like this:

My reasons look more like this:
1. Enjoyment
2. Exercise as part of everyday life [1]
3. Money saving - I save a shedload of money by not having a second car.
4. Ease of parking [3]
5. I enjoy working on my bikes - I'm mechanically inclined
6. The social aspect - I see and talk to people on my bike I would never get a chance to see in a car.[4]
7. It is often faster. In many cases [5] I get home faster from work than the people driving.[6]
8. Pastry - I eat pastry instead of filling my car with gasoline.
9. Engineering reasons [7]
10. I don't like driving. [8]
11. Greeny-weeny reasons.

[1] I used to weigh 280 lbs, I weigh about 200 now. My father and brother are both type II diabetics. [2]
[2] Additionally I'm a computer programmer, so my everyday job is very sedentary.
[3] No joke this. You try and fight for parking at my favorite Asian grocer with the little old Chinese ladies. F$#% that noise. I roll up and park right at the front of the store. Parking at Pike Place market is a dream on the bicycle.
[4] Footnote elided
[5] Baseball games, snow, heavy rains, wind storms. This last winter many of my coworkers were trapped for many hours on roads completely jammed with traffic caused by downed trees and powerlines. One poor guy spent most of the night in his car. I rolled up to the downed sections picked up my bike, walked around, and was home about 15 minutes later than usual.
[6] The best case - where the highway was completely empty - it used to take me 25 minutes to get to work. It takes 40 minutes by bike. 30 minutes extra a day. In return I get 80 minuts of quality exercise I enjoy. And of course on the many days where traffic was not so good it could take much much longer in the car.
[7] Using a 3000 lb car to move a single 200 lb person from point to point is just an inefficient solution. It's always grated at my engineering sensibilities. Not to mention the huge amount of infrastructure needed.
[8] I'm far too concious of just how much damage you can do with a car to yourself of other people. Driving is fine at 2am when I'm the only idiot on the road, but how often does that happen?

_________________
When the revolution comes, we're going to need a longer wall

henry

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:27 am

somewhat piggish Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: 5415 Location: on porch with shotgun

By riding my bike i build up self-righteousness points that i can spend on making my friends feel bad about themselves for driving.

All your points are true for me, albeit in a somewhat different order. I know the thing that kept me riding my bike when i first started riding/commuting was the increased sense of community that i felt just from traveling through the neighborhood with no partition between me and the rest of the world.

_________________
winter men

lantius

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:40 am

1337 Joined: 22 Jul 2005 Posts: 6705 Location: right over

my list:

1) fun. driving always stresses me out so much. i even got a driver's license a couple years ago now and i never, ever use it. riding my bike is fun.
2) convenience. i can get on my bike and be downtown before my coworker has even gotten to his car.
3) cost. even an indulgent, expensive stack of bikes like i have has still cost me less than a car. in fact, it's probably cost me less than gas, insurance, and maintenance.
4) community. i love you guys.
5) hobby mechanics. you've seen the "custom" work i've done on my bikes, do you honestly think i should be working on cars?

of course the tragedy here is that we feel compelled to defend ourselves when driving a car, the impractical alternative for so many reasons, gets a free pass in the mind of the majority.

Stanglor

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:40 am

Joined: 28 Jan 2006 Posts: 555 Location: Wallingford

I'm too lazy to get a driver's license and too cheap to buy a car.

_________________
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jeff

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:44 am

SOC pussy Joined: 05 May 2006 Posts: 4501

It's good excersise and my fat ass can use all it gets.

I'll save all the touchy-feely, self-righteousness for those with better word skills.

Joe

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 11:58 am

Joined: 15 Feb 2007 Posts: 430

Ditto what you guys have said so far, especially the hating driving part. You really don't realize what a pain it is to drive until you do it infrequently. I would also like to mention that for me riding a bike means not having to ride metro, which is what inspired me to become a serious bike commuter in the first place. The less time I have to spend in a stuffy box with a bunch of smelly mouthbreathers the better.

MikeOD

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:00 pm

Joined: 04 Feb 2006 Posts: 545

All these are good reasons. My main reasons in deciding to get rid of the car were: 1. More enjoyable, healthly lifestyle, with a sense of adventure every day, 2. Save money, 3. Green.

#1 can be broken down into many many reasons. Henry hit one of them, feeling more a part of the world by moving through it under my own power.

#2 is dubious for me. When I was about to move from the east coast to Seattle and I was debating whether to bring the car or leave it behind, one of my most convincing arguments was that instead of spending money on a car and gas and insurance and parking tickets, I could spend that money on bikes and gear. That sounded like a lot more fun. I've probably saved some money not having a car, probably. It's money better spent though.

The green factor is a good benefit, but it only weighed slightly.

joeball

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:50 pm

Joined: 24 Jul 2005 Posts: 6037 Location: Ether

Honestly I have a hard time remembering these reasons at 6am in the morning. Henry feel free to tell me this memory issue is a personal problem. I have a car and license and thus have the option to drive. I am blessed or cursed with a reverse commute (relative to car traffic volumes). There is no parking penalty/issue at home or work and traffic is typically going in the opposite directions. Time wise it takes about 25 minutes to drive vs 1 hour to ride plus an additional 10 minutes for an extra gear up/gear down transition. If I drove every day I realized I would be spending close to 10 full days in my car per year. (Kind of like Mayonnaise, right Ray? It really grosses you out when you see a whole bunch at once) If I ride I have to double my time but I get more than 20 full days pedaling. That is much more appealing.

I wonder what I will do when my car gives up the ghost, its older, paid off, has nominal resale value, it is cheap to insure and mainly just consumes a moderate amount of gas by current standards. There is not much incentive to get rid of it right now but buying a new one doesn't appeal to me. Previously as a student living 5 mile from school/work I always rode since in no way was driving feasible and the 44 bus probably doubled the travel time.

I would like to ride more and hope to take steps to ride to work most, if not all days in May but I have to take more personal initiative since there are not as many external penalties.

Why I ride:
It's Fun
The scenery is better
I like bikes and like to tinker with them.
I am active
It keeps me off the internet
Community (I could have never imagined)

Why I don't ride sometimes:
Because I have an option not too
I care less if my car gets stolen/broken into when I park it rather than one of my bikes getting jacked.
Lack of penalty for driving to work (traffic, parking).
Crappy weather
I don't have a stoke monkey to get my ass and a full load of groceries up my hill and why the hell is there not a grocery store on delridge, screw home depot I want a Fred Meyer.

heidib

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 1:01 pm

Joined: 17 Nov 2006 Posts: 95 Location: maple leaf

a conglomerate of community, physical challenges, practicality, frugality, resistance to SAD, being outside, independance, snot rockets, self esteeme, and everything else ever.

i love my bike.

Ray

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 1:12 pm

Joined: 12 Sep 2005 Posts: 74 Location: Eastlake

I'm glad this has been brought up. I don't ride for poltitical reasons or to make a statement. I got into cycling because it is fun. I like the challenges like climbing hills and dodging traffic. I am into the bikes, how they look, how they feel on the road and working on them. And of course riding with other people. It's cool to hang out with 30 some odd people all riding and drinking together. Oh yeah I also ride for some kind of exercise I forget about that part sometimes. Ray

rlotz

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 1:16 pm

Joined: 23 Jan 2006 Posts: 311 Location: Capitol Hill

I originally started to ride my bike because I think driving is bad, I wanted to be "greener".

Now I ride my bike because its fun, challenging, non boring exercise, gives me an excuse to drink beer and eat french fries, and gets me more sexy time with the wife.

langston

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 1:28 pm

Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 5547 Location: Columbia City

I came back to daily cycling for four major reason;

1) I'm not a very legal or patient driver. Speed limits are well, limiting. Insurance is a scam if you drive a $300 car and pay enough attention to not crash into things. I was a delivery driver (flowers, pizza, the mail, etc) and was thoroughly done with sitting in traffic all day. Commuting downtown, or even across the city is slooow, expensive and infuriating.

2) I needed the exercise. I tore up a knee at 21 and had to have reconstructive surgery. The physical therapist wanted to charge me $80 a session to ride a stationary bike and do step-drills. I figured I could do that. I've always been a sporty kid, and I never want to be a fatty

3) The environment. I'm a proud Boyscout. I know intimately our Mother Earth and it rends my soul what we have done to defile her with our carbon emissions. It killed me to be a complete hypocrite, recycling everything, growing my own herbs (/snark) while tooling around all day in a delivery van. Moral Indignation, hello!

4) Community. I'm sure you who stayed in the areas where you finished your youth/education can identify when I recount how within 3 years of leaving college nearly everyone I knew had moved away. I needed some friends, ones that worked on the same wavelength and social clock as me. As much as I valued the electronic music community I was part of, dancing away, tweaked with psychedelics till dawn is something you can do only so often. It was depressing to see friends get strung out, go to jail, OD, get killed, etc. The shooting on Cap Hill last spring? Those were my people. I loved that whole world, but I couldn't do my day job at the same time.

Tensionier

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:08 pm

Joined: 06 Apr 2007 Posts: 11 Location: Troublesville

I like to get involved in long winded, rambling, and multiply divergent accounts of my day, and I find that being able to include nearly fatal bike happenings keeps people's attention much more effectively than "i totally got cut off on the highway today."

Also, at the level of poverty I've chosen for myself, I've been amazed at the number of things I'm willing to cut out to keep myself proxemic to quality alcohol. As I noted to Aaron as he kindly lit my way down an offroad a few weeks ago, this has included not just things like automobiles or public transport fees, but even the likes of a helmet, a brake, or a light.

Further, the dilapidated conglomerate of matter I'm lugging around in this skull of mine gets really angry when I take away the various neurochemicals it's used to depending on in order to convince itself to continue moving my legs in relatively small but increasingly painful circles during more and more frequent extended rides. FEED ME scream the serotonin receptors.

_________________
Constant corrector, make the unusual choice.
It is all spoiled by speaking too soon.

Joe

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:15 pm

Joined: 15 Feb 2007 Posts: 430

Tensionier wrote:

I've been amazed at the number of things I'm willing to cut out to keep myself proxemic to quality alcohol.

Is that you, Douglas? If so, let me remind you that malt liquor is not quality alcohol. Good, yes. Quality in the strict sense, no. Please get a helmet or a at least a brake.

the dreaded ben

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:21 pm

Grumpy Greeb Joined: 20 Aug 2005 Posts: 5329 Location: flavor country

for the bitches and ho's.

mississippi

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:24 pm

Joined: 02 Feb 2007 Posts: 258 Location: cap hill

i ride a bike because i live on capitol hill. it's what all the cool kids do.

maybe i can get some spinergys and paint them the colour of my fixed gear this week.

dashap

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:25 pm

professor Joined: 21 Jun 2006 Posts: 1566 Location: central district

No DUI on a bicycle.
Freedom, generally.

Alex

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 3:05 pm

Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 3128 Location: Roosevelt

I bike for different reasons.

commuting -- It's a great stress reliever, free (as in time) exercise, cheaper, more efficient. I take the bus when I don't feel like cycling. I drove to work for about a year as an experiment and really didn't like it. It took me a while to realize that I didn't like it.

touring -- I feel like I see more on a bicycle. I've only lived in WA state for 10 years but feel like I have a much better understanding of it's geography, towns, and roads than PA where I lived for 22 years. Most of that comes from cycling all over the state.

mechanics -- A bike is both incredibly simple mechanically and an interesting and approachable problem in optimizing weight vs utility. I love working on bikes, changing them, creating new stuff for them.

recreational riding -- It's fun to ride with friends. Day rides are like one day tours in my mind.

My wife and I went from a two car family to a one car family last night. We were a one car family for most of our relationship, but I learned how to drive 5 years ago and bought a car shortly afterwords. For the last two years I've hardly used it and I finally sold it. rlotz -- you should do the same thing, people really want Golf TDIs. Seriously. If you don't drive much then just get an old Civic or something. Biodiesel is cool but cycling is better.

alex

derrickito

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 3:25 pm

now with 50 percent more EVIL Joined: 22 Jul 2005 Posts: 10566

rlotz you have a golf TDI? what year?
selling it?

*backs out of thread slowly*

mississippi

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 3:34 pm

Joined: 02 Feb 2007 Posts: 258 Location: cap hill

say no to mexican assembled german garbage.

derrickito

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:22 pm

now with 50 percent more EVIL Joined: 22 Jul 2005 Posts: 10566

most of the tdi diesels are euro built arent they? the ones ive seen have been. was under the impression that most of the gas engines were mexi-built.

im known to be wrong.
but i dont like it

Alex

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 4:47 pm

Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 3128 Location: Roosevelt

All Jettas are Mexican-built (no matter what the engine is). The engines were made in Poland or Germany depending on year.

The Golf was built in Germany until mid-2000 when production moved to Brazil.

The Jetta Wagon was always built in Germany.

This is a lousy thread divergence from talking about bikes. Let's go back to bikes. Anyone going on the Tuesday Night Ride?

lantius

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 5:01 pm

1337 Joined: 22 Jul 2005 Posts: 6705 Location: right over

Alex wrote:

This is a lousy thread divergence from talking about bikes. Let's go back to bikes. Anyone going on the Tuesday Night Ride?

it's not a tuesday night ride without derrick and his jetta.

rlotz

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 6:49 pm

Joined: 23 Jan 2006 Posts: 311 Location: Capitol Hill

Alex wrote:

My wife and I went from a two car family to a one car family last night. We were a one car family for most of our relationship, but I learned how to drive 5 years ago and bought a car shortly afterwords. For the last two years I've hardly used it and I finally sold it. rlotz -- you should do the same thing, people really want Golf TDIs. Seriously. If you don't drive much then just get an old Civic or something. Biodiesel is cool but cycling is better.

Very tempting but I'm really lazy when it comes to the car. Selling it and finding a similarly functioning vehicle seems like way too much energy and time for a car. The biggest motivation for me to change the timing belt next month is to get another weekend trip to Portland in. Selling it would probably buy me a nice cargo bike though :)

Have fun riding everyone, I'm at home nursing a spasmed neck :/

And, to bring this back on topic. My wife's primary motivation for biking is the feeling of fun and freedom. Not needing to ride the bus is also a big plus.

Aaron

Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:47 pm

Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 4645

I started riding because it was faster than walking. I really hate walking (not really, but man is it slow! Good for smelling the flowers!).
Then I got into racing when I was teenager. My buddy was all cool with his fancy Italian bike. Back then being a biker didn't mean you were sexy, just a nerd. Then I discovered I was good at fixing bikes got a job at a bike shop. It was not acceptable to drive your car to work very often. Peer pressure and 80's bike shop culture, ya know. I really did not like driving too much either. It puts me to sleep! Now I ride just to get to somewhere and because it is fun. I am glad I was able to help make it cool for the rest of you. You're welcome! In my day, blah, blah, blah.....

I am glad the bike is a fashon accessory, even if a fixed gear bike is silly, it is cool and a lot cooler than having a car as a fashon accessory.

Thank you all for riding your bikes so much so they keep wearing out so you have to buy replacement parts and keep me in business, so I can ride with you all and buy beer!

Eric_s

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 9:01 am

Joined: 07 Mar 2007 Posts: 1691 Location: the dirty south

I started riding because I was tired of being a fucking fatty. Then I discovered that riding is fun. And then I discovered that riding is faster than taking the bus.

However, there are situations where a car is much better, sadly. Especially in Seattle. Queen Anne to West Seattle is so easy at 60mph.

Aaron

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 10:57 am

Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 4645

Eric_s wrote:

Uh, the speed limit is 35, 45 and 50 mph on the viaduct (s). Plus don't try it during rush hour!

Eric_s

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 11:35 am

Joined: 07 Mar 2007 Posts: 1691 Location: the dirty south

Aaron wrote:

Uh, the speed limit is 35, 45 and 50 mph on the viaduct (s). Plus don't try it during rush hour!

Yeah, I grew up and learned to drive in West Seattle (watch out!). Hyperbole for the purpose of illustration. Mostly. I don't drive during rush hour: I have a bike.

zuvembi

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 2:55 pm

Joined: 24 Jul 2005 Posts: 942 Location: Little Addis Ababa

Sorry for the late reponse (to my own fucking thread), I posted this and then got really busy. I kind of expected it to drop to the bottom of the page, so I'm pleasantly surprised.

henry wrote:

By riding my bike i build up self-righteousness points that i can spend on making my friends feel bad about themselves for driving.

Man, I need to write this shit down!

Henry's guide on how to win friends and influence people:
1...

Joe wrote:

Ditto what you guys have said so far, especially the hating driving part. You really don't realize what a pain it is to drive until you do it infrequently.

Yeah, I just don't like driving. People are sold on this vision of huge open roads that you zip around on like you're a driver in the the F1 circuit. The reality falls a bit short.

Quote:

I would also like to mention that for me riding a bike means not having to ride metro, which is what inspired me to become a serious bike commuter in the first place. The less time I have to spend in a stuffy box with a bunch of smelly mouthbreathers the better.

I don't mind the ride on the bus, it's waiting around for the next one and having to arrange my schedule around the buses that irks me. I'd rather just hop on the bike and go.

Regarding smelly mouthbreathers on the bus; yeah, so instead I bicycle around with you people...

joeball wrote:

I don't have a stoke monkey to get my ass and a full load of groceries up my hill and why the hell is there not a grocery store on delridge, screw home depot I want a Fred Meyer.

You should try it with two children on the bike also. Thankfully Trader Joes, where I do a lot of my bulky shopping is uphill from my house.

Tensionier wrote:

Further, the dilapidated conglomerate of matter I'm lugging around in this skull of mine gets really angry when I take away the various neurochemicals it's used to depending on in order to convince itself to continue moving my legs in relatively small but increasingly painful circles during more and more frequent extended rides. FEED ME scream the serotonin receptors.

I forgot that one. My blood sugar gets out of whack and I turn into a huge dick if I don't exercise regularly. Cycling keeps me (mostly) sane.

Plus the ride to and from work is a really nice separator of work bullshit from real life.

mississippi wrote:

i ride a bike because i live on capitol hill. it's what all the cool kids do.

maybe i can get some spinergys and paint them the colour of my fixed gear this week.

hOt! A/S/L?

_________________
When the revolution comes, we're going to need a longer wall

henry

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 3:31 pm

somewhat piggish Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: 5415 Location: on porch with shotgun

Dane, you are LOL!!

_________________
winter men

TrikerTrev

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 5:19 pm

Joined: 23 Oct 2006 Posts: 2303 Location: FOCO, MOFO!!!

When I was a kid growing up in Colorado, there wasn't public transportation worth a damn to speak of. So the obvious choice, like all my friends, was to bike. We went everywhere...hell so far out that if I was my parent i'd beat my ass! But I loved riding everywhere, with friends or alone. I learned how be self sufficient, fix my own bike then help my friends fix theirs. We made and rode BMX before it was BMX. We created tracks out of dumptruck pilings and raced each other over huge jumps...helmet-less, always, cause I don't think helmets existed for kids then.

When I moved to Bellevue one of the only items I brought was my Hutch BMX. the first thing I noticed was that the area was not designed for pedestrians or bikes (even though Redmond was the self touted "bike capital of the world/northwest/own-mind/whatever"). I couldn't believe how rude people were to bikers, and the high schoolers treated a kid on a bike like you were less than shit. Fuck 'em...I rode anyway...pretentious Bellevue douchbags!

As I got older I succumbed to the desire to own a car, well a VeeDub bus to be exact. Which I lived in and rode my bike to the Science Center for work. Had a kid and still rode to work daily. Kept the bike, divorced the wife and still commuted from the U-dist to Georgetown Costco every day, rain or shine for 6 years while the bike messenger craze came and went. I even remember drinking with Greg in the saloon and discussing bikes, messengering and shit. I was constantly mistaken for a messenger...got me sweet action tho!

I didn't stop riding till a few years back cause my current womans dad gave me a nice assed car for helping work on this house for a summer. I have to admit it was kinda nice not to have to carry a change of clothes to work...take off an hour or so early so I can get there, shower and change. But that didnt last long. Cars can suck my sweaty ass hairs! I can work on a car, but it's an expensive whore. Everything involved with cars is overrated...with the exception of long distance trips with kids (bike to Colorado with kids in tow...fuck that!). Not to mention I gained like 25 to 30 lbs of sedentary fat...no way...I don't DO being a fatty.

Sold the car, took the proceeds and got the trike. The rest is history. I'm a biker cause i've always been a biker. It's freedom materialized. It's a big middle finger to the industry/society that seems to think a person is only as worthy as the vehicle they pour liquid death into. It's walking the walk and talking the talk...so to speak. ITS FUN!. It's friends, it all that it was when I was 10...and then some. Being environmentally friendly is only the exhaust of biking, IMO.

TT

MikeOD

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 5:52 pm

Joined: 04 Feb 2006 Posts: 545

TrikerTrev wrote:

Being environmentally friendly is only the exhaust of biking, IMO. TT

I love that quote!

piratemolly

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:01 pm

Joined: 25 Aug 2006 Posts: 533 Location: here, there, everywhere

the dreaded ben wrote:

for the bitches and ho's.

nothing is free like _skirts on bikes_

john

Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:17 pm

AAAARRRRRGGGGbllll pppphtt! Joined: 26 Aug 2006 Posts: 725 Location: In the lab.

Been thinking hard about this one...

4 reasons

A. My wife and I have a "no gut no butt clause" so that's how I prevent the gut.

B. I needed to increase my cardio to lengthen my aerial tissue routines

C. Once I got a road bike again it was like giving a junkie dilaudid...instaddiction...

E. It is so much more acceptable to catcall chicks from a bike than a subaru station wagon....

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