One year of cycling to work • Hacker News Board

Re: One year of cycling to work

#371

Post by u801e » Wed, Feb 21, 2018, 1:04 AM UTC

bhandziuk wrote: post #364

u801e wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you are a cyclist getting hit by a car, the averages and statistics don't matter at all. But helmet design standards do. A helmet meeting the CPSC standards isn't designed to protect you in impact with a motor vehicle.

Think about what you're saying. You'd rather it be your skull to get hit directly. Why?

If car seat belts were designed and tested in frontal impacts at up to 20 mph, then would you believe that they would make a difference when traveling at 60 mph?

Because you're basically saying that bike helmets would make a difference in a collision scenario where the impact force would far exceed their design and impact testing standards.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#372

Post by agumonkey » Wed, Feb 21, 2018, 1:20 AM UTC

markstos wrote: post #245

agumonkey wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weather aside, if I had a clear way to secure my bike I'd use that everyday. Robbers are just too damn motivated.

Use a cheaper, junker bike for commuting, or a folding bike that you bring inside.

Sadly junker bike gets stolen as much if not better, because it's easy to scrap.

I know, my beloved piece of shit mountain bike has been stolen, it had zero value (had no seat, one pedal missing, cheapest ruined part everywhere, ugly) except for sentimental one. Yet it's gone.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#373

Post by agumonkey » Wed, Feb 21, 2018, 1:21 AM UTC

akgerber wrote: post #280

agumonkey wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weather aside, if I had a clear way to secure my bike I'd use that everyday. Robbers are just too damn motivated.

NYC tech employers generally allow bringing your bike into the office. The city requires buildings to allow bicycles in if tenants want it: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2016/09/14/three-bills-enhancing... You can also consider buying a folding bicycle like a Brompton, which tidily fits under a desk and can be fitted with a cover to disguise its bicycle-ness, bicycles being mysterious anathema to many office buildings:…

Maybe offices are secure enough, but I've read many report of bike stolen in private yards, buildings. Secured or not.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#374

Post by bhandziuk » Wed, Feb 21, 2018, 1:22 AM UTC

u801e wrote: post #371

bhandziuk wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think about what you're saying. You'd rather it be your skull to get hit directly. Why?

If car seat belts were designed and tested in frontal impacts at up to 20 mph, then would you believe that they would make a difference when traveling at 60 mph? Because you're basically saying that bike helmets would make a difference in a collision scenario where the impact force would far exceed their design and impact testing standards.

Yes, absolutely I'd rather be wearing a seat belt designed to to a 20 mph spec in a 60 mph crash than no seat belt at all. I'd take anything at all to slow down my body/brain from coming to a complete stop.

The sudden stopping is what kills. If the only thing slowing down my brain is my skull then that is worst case scenario, unless of course, my skull shatters, then I guess my brain slows down at a more acceptable rate as it spills onto the road.

I'll take anything at all between my brain and a hard object trying to rapidly impart some force unto it. A helmet does this very well.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#375

Post by u801e » Wed, Feb 21, 2018, 1:38 AM UTC

bhandziuk wrote: post #374

u801e wrote: post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If car seat belts were designed and tested in frontal impacts at up to 20 mph, then would you believe that they would make a difference when traveling at 60 mph? Because you're basically saying that bike helmets would make a difference in a collision scenario where the impact force would far exceed their design and impact testing standards.

Yes, absolutely I'd rather be wearing a seat belt designed to to a 20 mph spec in a 60 mph crash than no seat belt at all. I'd take anything at all to slow down my body/brain from coming to a complete stop. The sudden stopping is what kills. If the only thing slowing down my brain is my skull then that is worst case scenario, unless of course, my skull shatters, then I guess my brain slows down at a more acceptable r…

> I'd take anything at all to slow down my body/brain from coming to a complete stop.

Except that in this case, the belt just comes off its anchor points and doesn't slow you down at all. Just like a bridge rated for a 10,000 lbs load will collapse when a fully loaded 80,000 lbs tractor trailer drives over it.

If something is going to work, then it had to be designed and tested for it. You can't simply believe it's going to work in situations that it wasn't designed and/or tested for.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#376

Post by wila » Wed, Feb 21, 2018, 1:42 AM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #303

wila wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 fragi…

Yes, but it does demonstrate show that armoring up bike riders isn’t the only sane option (we could improve our bike infrastructure and give them more priority).

Yep, there are more ways as just one correct way. I doubt that armoring up would ever work down here. There are of course fatal casualities, but they are rare.

Riding a bicycle is embedded into our culture, another example is the dutch reach [0].

[0] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/the-dutch-reach-how-o...

Re: One year of cycling to work

#377

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Feb 21, 2018, 1:44 AM UTC

[deleted]

Re: One year of cycling to work

#378

Post by Retric » Wed, Feb 21, 2018, 1:48 AM UTC

jakecopp wrote: post #363

Retric wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just be aware that heavy exercise near significant car exhaust is fairly bad for your lungs. If you go a moderate pace it's not that bad, but if you like going all out a face mask is a good investment.

I wonder how the health trade off between breathing emissions while cycling vs. lack of exercise while driving and obesity risk works.

I suspect it's age dependent as cycling before 35 is unlikely to extend your life significantly, but adds risks. Some bike heavy countries don't have unusually long lifespans which IMO supports that line of thinking. With age exercise becomes increasingly important, so it probably flips at some point.

However, like a bike helmet an air filter is at most a minor inconvenience.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#379

Post by nogbit » Wed, Feb 21, 2018, 1:58 AM UTC

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 :/

I did this for 2 years, 10 miles in and 10 miles back. There was a shower directly above my office. Everything was super convenient, lost 20 pounds and felt great and rode fast.

Back to driving now, so fed up of the weather here in Seattle to do this during the winter, put the weight back on.

But yes, find someplace to shower. Or, bus in and ride home so you can shower when you get home.

Re: One year of cycling to work

#380

Post by DreamSpinner » Wed, Feb 21, 2018, 3:33 AM UTC

sandover wrote: post #132

dominotw wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea I never understood how cyclists are expected to make left turns. If there is a bike lane is in the right corner, how and when are they supposed to get into left turn on only lane. I can't even imagine cyclist making yeild left on red, thats absurd amount of risk to take. Left on arrow are not very common, imagine trying to make a fast turn on your bike while a speeding car is coming right at you. Only safe way to…

There's also the "Copenhagen left". Which is, pull over to the _right_ into the crosswalk of the intersection where you want to go left. Wait for the light to change. (Google it for a picture.)

In Australia, we call this a "hook turn" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hook_turn . Cars must do it in a limited number of intersections to avoid blocking trams. Cyclists are allowed to make a hook turn in any intersection (unless signposted otherwise). Edit - in Australia we drive on the left side of the road - so it's opposite to Denmark / US / Most the rest of the world.