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One year of cycling to work

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Re: One year of cycling to work

#281

Post by ljf »

ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #274
rconti wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The consistency is a vastly underrated quality of bike commuting. One amazing thing I've found is I'm more likely to do social events after work, even ones that are a great distance, if I don't have to worry about traffic. For example, sometimes after I work I bicycle 90 minutes to San Jose and don't think twice about it. If I had my car it would PROBABLY take 45 minutes, but I honestly have no idea. Or I could go ho…

Sorry for the basic question, but how do you bike for 90 minutes without being covered in sweat and needing a shower when you arrive at your destination?

I'd bet that you could walk for 90 mins even at a fast pace without getting all sweaty? If so then you can cycle for 90 mins without getting sweaty :)

Seriously though, I have 2 main modes of commute cycling: 1 as fast as I can manage, which I only do when I know I can shower at either end 2 at a pretty decent pace but one where I know that I'll stay cool and dry enough to not be a sweaty mess. Depending on the temp and how far I might slow right down for the last few minutes just to cool off.

The right clothes also help - even going pretty fast in lycra you'll stay cool enough. Cycling in full work clothes is doable but not fun for miles and miles.

Main thing for me was not carrying a bag on my back, as that makes me sweaty no matter the speed. I have a small bag for clothes on the front of my road bike (super cheap off ebay) and a rack on the back for bits. I try not to commute with a laptop - I've not needed to really so far.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#282

Post by mcsb1 »

troncjb wrote: post #131
sandover wrote: post #126

I've been cycling to work in downtown LA for nearly 8 years, 4 miles each way. I'm faster than a car over that commute. The weather is fantastic, and I am physically in great shape. Mental benefits are huge. I've gone about 15,000 miles in dense urban environments without any accidents of any kind. There are a number of keys to this: - Think like a driver -- it helps to be a good driver first - Think, period. Don't l…

> If you don't wear a helmet, don't worry about it, it doesn't mitigate that much risk. The exercise benefits of biking do way more to increase your life expectancy than skipping a helmet does to reduce it. This is very, very stupid advice.

Actually not wearing a helmet is very clever advice. In the Netherlands almost nobody wears a helmet and yet it is one of the safest places to cycle. In fact we all tend to overcompensate safety with more risky behaviour. A car is basically a 1.5t full body steel armor. And then we go and drive at speeds far beyond of what this armor can protect us from. If you'd remove the body work and make it a buggy, people would drive a lot slower.

Personal anecdote: I bought a helmet a few years ago. While it was still in delivery I came into a situation where I was not sure what a car was doing and I caught myself thinking: "with a helmet I'd not braked" - but rather taken the risk.

Thus I have never worn it and it is sitting there collecting dust.

Another abstract example: no country is more obsessed with "low carb" and "low fat" than the US. Yet no other country produces more plus sized people than the US.

Yet another example is Michael Schumacher. Without the helmet he may not have taken the risk to go into unknown terrain.

I feel vulnerable without a helmet and that keeps me alive.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#283

Post by akgerber »

subpixel wrote: post #227
aqme28 wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cycling in NYC is highly dependent on the bike lanes on your route. There are good stretches of quality bike lane here and there (especially in Brooklyn), however there are parts of e.g. Chinatown that I would not recommend on a bike.

I would add to that list the entirety of Queens, where I regularly see people cycling down Northern Boulevard. I'm not familiar with roads in other cities to compare it to, so you'll have to use your imagination when I say: it's very dangerous.

Much of Queens Boulevard already has a protected bike lane, and more will soon: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2017/08/04/eyes-on-the-street-th...

Re: One year of cycling to work

#284

Post by SquirrelOnFire »

ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #274
rconti wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The consistency is a vastly underrated quality of bike commuting. One amazing thing I've found is I'm more likely to do social events after work, even ones that are a great distance, if I don't have to worry about traffic. For example, sometimes after I work I bicycle 90 minutes to San Jose and don't think twice about it. If I had my car it would PROBABLY take 45 minutes, but I honestly have no idea. Or I could go ho…

Sorry for the basic question, but how do you bike for 90 minutes without being covered in sweat and needing a shower when you arrive at your destination?

Ease off on your pace for the last 10-15 min so your body has a chance to cool off. If you are showering regularly you remove the bacteria that cause the stank, so sweating by itself won't cause most people to be excessively funky.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#285

Post by akgerber »

kqr wrote: post #114
unicornporn wrote: post #34

I'm at my 12 year of every day bike commuting. Before I commuted 10 km each direction, now I'm at 6 km. If I have activities after work, I ride to them too. So my total ride length is a fair bit longer than what my commute is. The public transportation network here in Stockholm is good, but wouldn't even consider cramming myself into a packed subway train or bus. Even at this time of the year when it's -5 degrees cel…

Only thing keeping me from commuting year round is lack of studded tires. I'll have to fix that until next year, because as I'm standing here, hoping for a train that's not jam packed, I really miss cycling.

They're quite affordable if ordered from Germany: https://www.bike24.com/p238233.html

Re: One year of cycling to work

#286

Post by akgerber »

wbkang wrote: post #136
troncjb wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you don't wear a helmet, don't worry about it, it doesn't mitigate that much risk. The exercise benefits of biking do way more to increase your life expectancy than skipping a helmet does to reduce it. This is very, very stupid advice.

I totally agree. "Cyclists without helmets triple their chance of death by head injury" https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2012/10/15/cyclists_without...

Causation/correlation. The population of cyclists who ride without a helmet is unlikely to be the same as the population who rides with one.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#287

Post by ilovecars2 »

gerbilly wrote: post #257
ilovecars2 wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is NOT OK to go through red lights, whether in a car, on a bike or on foot. The rules are the rules and we should all abide them. It happens all the time in London where bikes go through red lights and weave through pedestrians (sometimes at speed) who are crossing the road. Pedestrians are even worse - and often walk or run across red lights and almost get hit from a bus, car or bike. It’s madness!

I bike to work everyday and I don't follow the rules of the road, and neither should other cyclists. In a system designed for cars, it's just false piety and won't keep you any safer. The one rule I do follow is that I am courteous and polite to everyone, drivers and pedestrians alike, and I remain hyper alert to everything that is going on around me. That's the only rule you need.

IMO The point of the rules are to remove as much subjection and interpretation to how road users should behave as possible.

For example, what should the rules be when overtaking other riders? Should I overtake on the outside or the inside? We know that having a rule on overtaking makes it much safer.

Courteous and politeness are great, but a lot of people don’t drive/ride/walk like that. What happens then?

Re: One year of cycling to work

#288

Post by darklajid »

pepe56 wrote: post #68
darklajid wrote: post #60

I commuted by bike (6km one way) in Tel Aviv, Israel and it was awesome. Great route, bike lanes/parks and a (tiny, but who cares) shower in the office. Did that for one year straight, just like the person in the article. Now I'm living in Singapore, a city that has a traffic problem and tries to reduce the cars on the streets. You'd think they would welcome bikes, but riding a bike here sucks. Big time. It's basical…

Totally feel you! I tried taking Ofos from Boat Quay to Chinatown and it‘s just not working at all. This city is not designed for bikes.

I'm glad you agree, but from Boat Quay to Chinatown (I live close to the latter) is walking distance. I can make that in 8∓2 minutes on foot.

Yes, I love biking as well. That's just an example of something very, very, very close already :)

Re: One year of cycling to work

#289

Post by akgerber »

troncjb wrote: post #156
sandover wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For this reason, I wear a helmet. But the health benefits of cycling vastly swamp the risk of death, so the helmet gain is only a small marginal difference. The person who is truly taking a risk is the person who doesn't ride a bike because of the perception that it's dangerous, and continues to be sedentary and drive a car to work. This person is literally reducing their life expectancy by years. (See links I posted…

> so the helmet gain is only a small marginal difference This is such, such flawed logic. If you are a cyclist getting hit by a car, the averages and statistics don't matter at all. If you are the cyclist getting hit by a car, the helmet is not a "marginal difference". Your protective gear matters. You need to consider the individual cyclist when you are making sweeping statements about the usage of protective gear.

If you are a cyclist getting hit by a car, a helmet is not designed to help you.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#290

Post by wila »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #226
losvedir wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you don't wear a helmet, don't worry about it, it doesn't mitigate that much risk. The exercise benefits of biking do way more to increase your life expectancy than skipping a helmet does to reduce it. What a bizarre contrast. If I'm inferring your point correctly, you're addressing those who would otherwise ride a bike to work but don't because of a helmet requirement ? Is literally anyone in that position? I g…

> Anyone commuting to work should have a plan to deal with a helmet, it's such a trivial thing to plan for and deal with compared to maintaining your bike, having parking for it, arranging showers, etc. There are whole countries, like the Netherlands and Germany, where that simply doesn't happen. In fact, biking is much simpler in those countries, they don't even bother with showers (instead they bike more slowly).

Correct, besides that we also don't wear helmets. Note however that our road infrastructure is very different from most of the other countries.

Getting hit by a car is not something we worry much about. Besides the bike friendly roads, chauffeurs are used watching out for bycicles.

Then there's special laws where a car hitting a bycicle is always wrong. The reasoning behind that is that a byciclist is much more fragile. This also makes car drivers more careful.

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