Tiny car, Medium bike, BIG bottom!

http://smartowner.co.uk/albums/assor...2/bikerack.jpg

Hi everyone,
Just thought I would say hi and how glad I am that I found such a friendly and useful forum.
I'm from the UK and there don't seem to be many female mountain bikers in my area so I have to grumble about my cycling problems to the sheep in the park I cycle in! :rolleyes:

Here is a pic of my little car and bike on a rare sunny day in Cheshire. (It's a Smart car and a Stumpy FSR Pro for any gadget geeks out there).
I am hoping that all this cycling will help me lose some lard and get back in shape for the field hockey season.
If only I could find a cheese and wine diet I'd be a size 6!

Happy riding,
Hetty.

Welcom Hetty! Love the car! Looks almost like you could tow it with your bike! :p

Cute car! and I am not a car person ;)

As for the wine and cheese diet...hey I am on that one! As long as one rides at least 200 miles each weekend it works too. Don't forget the ice cream on Sundays. :p

Cute! I love those Smarts. They were all over So. Germany last times I was there. Too bad we can't have them in the States...but I won't even go there about why not. ;)

"Cheese, Gromit!"

gabrielle

Hee hee, great idea Snapdragen - I could burn some extra calories by towing the Smart on my rides!

It really is the silliest car and makes me giggle when I'm flying round the corners. Of course I look completely insane to all other road users and it just gets worse when I get out of the car and they see my cycling outfit.

Who cares eh! I'm 30 next year and my mum has advised me to be as silly as possible from now on so that I can follow in her footsteps and grow old disgracefully. Cheers girls! :p

grow old disgracefully - I love it :D

Welcome Hetty !

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LOL gabrielle, I lent a friend my Wallace & Gromit tapes a couple of weeks ago so we've been exchanging W&G-isms

That's it Gromit...cheeeeeeese. We'll go somewhere where there's cheeeese...

thats an awsome car, when you say smart car do you mean electric hybid some other fuel? it is really pretty
and i like the bike, and growing old disgracfully thats what i wana do, awsome

thats cool, i do some theatrical clowning i could use a car like that in my clowing! but alas i live in the states and fromw hat i hear you can't get them here, it's ok i got my bike and one day i will learn to ride my unicycle

USA Today says the Smart Car will be in the US in 2006.

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Originally posted by trekin'
USA Today says the Smart Car will be in the US in 2006.

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that would be awsome i might actually get a drivers licence and a car if they where/are in my price range, tho the who car insurence thing and gas is still expensive would be nice for taking kitties to the vet and grocery shopping in the rain

Wow, moonfroggy, you must be the only person living in CA who doesn't own a car! (And you're better off, in my opinion)

nooo, moonfrogy's not the only one. I have a car but 3 of my best friends do not own one, I know several other folks but less well who don't drive. In one case it's because the gal has epilepsy and can't drive but all of the half dozen or more I know it's a choice for a more relaxed less stressful life.

The story most have in common is that for some reason or other they had to do without a car for a while such as a complex repair and while car-free found they could easily do without and...."wow, i feel better!" and most just never get a car again.

If I lived in San Francisco I'd join 'em, too hard to park.

Berkeley has a community cars program (forget what it's called) where you pay x ammount and can reserve a car when you need it. great for those who mostly use public transportation/bike but sometimes need a car for trips to costco or vet (it's funny to imagine taking a cat carrier on a car, I've seen dogs and dog trailers but cats? noooooo)

we have a neighborhood tom that is really cute. all black with white spot on his chest. his name is Bouncer and will come when you call his name. running down the block to you. the mr. was out doing maintainence on the bikes one day and here comes bouncer and jumps on the bike, sitting on the top tube with paws on the handle bars. he's ready to ride! i thought this was just a once thing, but he's done it several times, even when we start off on our rides. he's really cute, but i think Trek420 is right.......kitties and bike rides would not mix.......

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Originally posted by trekin'
Wow, moonfroggy, you must be the only person living in CA who doesn't own a car! (And you're better off, in my opinion)

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i know lots of people who don't drive cars, it is one of the reason i don't when i was in highs chool one of my favorite teachers had never owned a car in her life, and she had two kids just a few years younger than me, she really inspired me to want to live my life car free, tho i might eventually get a car, i also live in the san francisco bay area and cars are really not needed here, we have awsome public transportation and there are bike boulivards everyplace so i can get wherever i am going very easily

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Originally posted by syklnsoph
we have a neighborhood tom that is really cute. all black with white spot on his chest. his name is Bouncer and will come when you call his name. running down the block to you. the mr. was out doing maintainence on the bikes one day and here comes bouncer and jumps on the bike, sitting on the top tube with paws on the handle bars. he's ready to ride! i thought this was just a once thing, but he's done it several times, even when we start off on our rides. he's really cute, but i think Trek420 is right.......kitties and bike rides would not mix.......

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i have a special back pack cat carrier i use to take my cats to the vet, if more than one cat is going i take the bus, the backpack carrier also has wheels and i can roll it liek a stroller, the vet is close enough to me that i have done this befor, and with my lighter cats i just walk, it is only a mile and a half, with my big 15 pound echo bean cat i prefer to roll him take the bike or the bus

:D I just had this visual of froggy on a bike with a big cat squirming in a backpack while shes trying to ride down the street! - or cuter yet - kitties head out the backpack looking round while zooming down the street! ya'll are seriously tempting me to ditch the truck and go vehicle-less..........

Maybe Bouncer was taught how to ride by his human... See if he stays on on a pedal round your street. You never know - you might need to get him a kitty helmet and Kit-oakleys.

I really admire those who can do without a car. With our rubbish public transportation I just don't know how I would get home from work without my car, especially in the winter when it is dark and the village I live in is only accessible by narrow winding roads. I don't think I would be alive for very long using my bike to commute.

Moonfroggy if you do are forced to join "the dark side" and get a car then I have found my Smarty really cheap to run.
It does 50-60miles per gallon if you drive it sensibly (so I get 40mpg!). I'm not sure how insurance works in the US but in the UK cars are classed in groups from 1 (cheapest) to 20 (crazy expensive Ferraris) and the smart is only in group 2 so is one of the cheapest cars. My car cost £6500 which I think is about $12,000? but the UK is one of the most expensive places to buy cars so they might be even cheaper when they go to the US.

The best thing is that the body panels can be removed in about 2 hours so you can swap with other people if you fancy changing the colour for a while!


http://smartowner.co.uk/albums/frazf...klands2002.jpg :p

they look like those German roaches we've got in my state. OK...colourful roaches but they still look like bugs! I was fascinated by the removing of the panels tho - what keeps someone from just switching my panels for his/hers when I'm not around?

It's true they do look like bugs! I just got back from a really muddy lunchtime ride and realised I left my towel by my desk in the office. Had to do the walk of shame past my colleagues looking very like some kind of dung beetle myself!

It think it takes about 2 hours to remove the panels so I guess that puts most thiefs off. I don't think they would be able to sell them either without proof they owned the car they came from. Hope so anyway - would look even more silly naked. :eek:

a muddy lunchtime ride should Never induce a walk of shame - rather a walk of pride and accomplishment and make those co-workers just drool that They didn't think of it! better yet ------- ask Them to get your towel for you as your ride (and say it loudly and proudly) left you muddy and you don't want to get them dirty! ;)

That's exactly what I was thinking but didn't have time to post!

V.

Hey, Trekin ..... saw a smart car outside my favorite Chinese restaurant in Connecticut last year!! It was owned by a guy who runs an import car business. Seek and you shall find!!!

Almost as good -- the Honda Fit ... superb gas mileage. I know a guy who works for Consumer Reports auto test track, and he loves the car. He showed me the most excellent feature -- back seat folds UP and BACK leaving room for your bike!! Remove the front wheel and you can stand your bike up in the back. Maybe two bikes. YEAH, BABY!!!

:cool: