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One year of cycling to work

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Re: One year of cycling to work

#291

Post by darklajid »

moosekaka wrote: post #171
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…

A lot of the cities in SE Asia weren't even planned with cars in mind, hence narrow roads and lack of space. And then you have these giant freeways springing up haphazardly that bottle necks into these tiny roads. THe result is slow moving traffic yet is just too dangerous for pedestrians, let alone cyclists. The locals rely on motorbikes when they want to beat traffic.

Yes, crazy motorbikes are certainly popular. But then, while they might be fun: They have nothing to do with the "I used my body to get to work" article.

I think we agree that this is a shitty idea in SG. Motorbikes might be fun and are certainly popular, but they're not related to the subject at hand.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#292

Post by notauser »

moosekaka wrote: post #167
notauser wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually really nice to bike in Singapore, provided you can shower at work. I cycled every day for a month along a mix of park connectors (cycle paths) and two and three lane roads. I only had one close pass from a car because on nearly all roads they have a whole extra lane to use to pass you in so if you ride assertively (in the middle of a lane) they just go around you. And the park connectors are beautiful,…

NO its not...I grew up here and lived and worked abroad in in UK and US for a few years so I can attest to the difference weather makes...especially the humidity. (I cycled in both here and abroad.) And no one seemed to mention...two wheeled transport is great, until it rains. And if you have never been to Singapore, Malaysia or the tropics you haven't seen real rain yet. BTW...in SE Asia, the two wheeled transport o…

Singapore is pretty light on motorbikes compared to places like Hanoi.

I cycle year round in London and would rather cycle commute in Singapore. Once you are acclimatised to the humidity it's not that big a deal, and it's always similar so it's easy to plan for.

You do have to pull off the road to wait out a real tropical rain storm... but so do motorbikes. That's why they have shelters for then under the today bridges.

All these places are ace compared to most US cities, though.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#293

Post by rpearl »

dte22 wrote: post #231
nsedlet wrote: post #124

I commute about 6 miles each way between Brooklyn (home) and Manhattan (work). I've been raving about it to everyone I know because it's legitimately changed my life. It feels amazing, saves money, keeps me in much better shape, gives me more energy at work. It's slightly faster than the subway, and significantly faster than driving/cabbing at rush hour. I also love that transit time is very consistent (even relative…

If you don't mind me asking, how do you deal with the sweat? Do you shower on arrival? I would love to bike, but no showers at my current workplace :/

Pretend you are walking; move your feet at walking pace and have that be enough to move the pedals without too much force.

You'll still go 3-4x faster than walking, but it'll be the same amount of effort.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#294

Post by darklajid »

notauser wrote: post #111
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…

Look up one of the Singapore cycling clubs. There are plenty (with lots of Australian and French members as well as locals). There are some oddities to riding in Singapore, but once understood I found it a very enjoyable place to bike.

Ride where? I can easily find a nice "let's have a pick-nick" route for me and the gf.

But I'm comparing this city to the article, to the idea of commuting to work. My work is in the central district of SG. I _cannot_ ride there without cursing. I actually did find a couple shortcuts and ways etc, but still: It's a PITA. No bike lanes. Shitty sidewalks. There's no way to ignore these issues.

Singapore has nice places to bike. Not in CBD.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#295

Post by gerbilly »

ilovecars2 wrote: post #287
gerbilly wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

If people aren't inclined to be polite or courteous, what makes you so sure they will follow 'the rules' anyway?

Re: One year of cycling to work

#296

Post by rpearl »

alsetmusic wrote: post #178
sandover wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't ride in the door zone. Don't let cars make you ride in the door zone. Take the car lane instead. I've gone 15,000 miles safely in dense urban environments because I am heads-up about the 2 main threats: intersections, and the door zone.

> Don't ride in the door zone. Don't let cars make you ride in the door zone. Take the car lane instead. Please don’t do this. During the time that I commuted on a bicycle, it was very frustrating when other cyclists didn’t follow the rules of the road (zipping through stop signs is another example). It causes resentment in drivers. This leads to aggressive behavior towards cyclists.

In most (all?) states in the US cyclists are legally allowed to take the lane when it is unsafe to stay to the right.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#297

Post by darklajid »

notauser wrote: post #109
77pt77 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Biking in Singapore's humid heat does not sound pleasant at all.

It's actually really nice to bike in Singapore, provided you can shower at work. I cycled every day for a month along a mix of park connectors (cycle paths) and two and three lane roads. I only had one close pass from a car because on nearly all roads they have a whole extra lane to use to pass you in so if you ride assertively (in the middle of a lane) they just go around you. And the park connectors are beautiful,…

Ignoring that I don't have showers at work - some oversight that I dearly miss: I believe that you're not correct.

I cannot get to work via park connectors. Actually I probably have the 'best' way to work already: I'm already in CBD and the distance is small. But .. the city is not ready for bikes. Not at all. There are no bike lanes around my place. The one I found was about 200m long (yay!!) and used by pedestrians exclusively, every time I came there (yay!!!! I can try to ring my bell or push them over. That will help the bicycle community!).

Singapore is a great place. Singapore for bicycles sucks. Do not ride bikes here. Singapore doesn't care, they are not prepared and in general they offer no place to ride safely.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#298

Post by imperialdrive »

3pt14159 wrote: post #270
imperialdrive wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've biked heavily for 30 years... advising people to wear a helmet never works. What works 99% of the time is the first freak crash. Not a crash where they felt like they were speeding, or not paying attention, or drunk... then they think it was avoidable. It takes a crash where you hit a rare little crack in the road, or a bump hidden in the shadows, or a car doing a u-turn out of the blue... then it 'clicks' Or, i…

Take everything you just said and apply it not to a bicycle helmet but to a full face motorcycle helmet. Now do you see how you sound? Bike helmets marginally help, but the same marginal difference is found going from bicycle helmets to full face motorcycle ones. I’ve broken my face in 4 places in a bike accident where the only thing that would have helped would have been a motorcycle helmet, but I don’t go around to…

Shoot, now I'm getting paranoid... I've talked to a handful of people in full helmet gear and it's a similar painful story... definitely thought about the face/chin-plant scenario. I prefer the full peripheral vision but I'd be singing a different tune if I lost teeth or broke a facial bone... sorry to hear about your accident.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#299

Post by jdietrich »

troncjb wrote: post #144
sandover wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like you're not informed. https://www.vox.com/2014/5/16/5720762/stop-forcing-people-to...

> Helmet proponents are right about one thing: If you're in a serious accident, then wearing a helmet makes the odds of a head injury significantly lower — by somewhere between 15 and 40 percent. (This is why ER doctors and brain surgeons are so pro-helmet — they've seen firsthand what happens in helmet-less accidents.) So this is why most of us wear a helmet. The logic is not "so few people get in accidents that if…

Lots of ordinary activities present a similar or greater risk of head injury than cycling. Do you wear a helmet to get into the bathtub? Do you wear a helmet to climb the stairs?

The problem with the helmet debate isn't that it's wrong, but that it's irrelevant. Every minute spent arguing about helmets is a minute that isn't spent making the most important point - cyclists live longer than non-cyclists, regardless of whether they wear a helmet. Wear a helmet, don't wear a helmet, it doesn't really matter. TO AVOID A PREMATURE DEATH, MOVE YOUR BODY.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#300

Post by fsloth »

lb1lf wrote: post #265
kqr wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I've been mostly biking to work for years now, on an island off the northwestern coast of Norway. I have found that studded tyres are more of an annoyance than an asset on 99 out of 100 winter days. On anything but wet ice, regular tyres do surprisingly well - to the extent that I've felt no need for studs at all during quite literally thousands of kilometers of riding in the snow - yes, grip is not as good as on asp…

Thanks for this! I biked many years throughout the year to work in Finland but after series of bronchitis hitting me on consecutive winters I quit winter biking. I'm thinking maybe I could try again - and given your analysis I'll not let my lack of winter tyres stop me :)
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