More people riding their bikes than driving their cars?

[GLC1968]

It's interesting. I see a ton of people on bikes. TONS...every day. I'm sure this is partly due to being in the Portland metro area where bicycling is hugely popular to begin with...but I'm sure part of it has to do with gas prices. I find myself thinking about the 'wave to other cyclists' debate and now I see how there could be too many people on bikes to make waving at each one utterly impossible. It's a very different cycling world here from what I experienced in NC!

I will say that while I see way more cyclists here than I ever did in NC, I also see many, many more of them riding without helmets. It was a very rare occurance to see a cyclist without a helmet in NC, but here it seems fairly common place. I wonder why the difference?

[Grog]

I will say that while I see way more cyclists here than I ever did in NC, I also see many, many more of them riding without helmets. It was a very rare occurance to see a cyclist without a helmet in NC, but here it seems fairly common place. I wonder why the difference?

Portland DOES have a whole lotta cyclists. Vancouver, BC, has lots of commuters, but I noticed when I first visited Portland last December, and again just recently, that the Portland ones seem more numerous, and more dedicated, too. And they have much more cool gear (like YELLOW fenders).

I think the helmetlessness (!) you observe may be similar to that seen in many European commuter cycling meccas like Amsterdam. Just like driving, for North Americans, is not perceived as something that's dangerous (despite enormous evidence to the contrary!!), cycling also feels less dangerous when there's a mass of people practicing it, when it's practiced daily, and when there are some proper infrastructures to practice it.

Whether or not it is true that it's safer is a complex statistical matter. My own take has been to wear a helmet for commuting and road riding here in my corner of the continent. However if I was riding a Dutch bike in the middle of Amsterdam, I'm not sure what I'd end up doing. Our social mind plays tricks on us...

On the thread topic: I have just started commuting in my new area so it's hard for me to make an enlightened observation, but my father-in-law who's been road riding (not for commuting) for years on a few of the local bike routes says he's never seen so many cyclists around 4 p.m. on that route...

[Jolt]

I've been seeing more people on bikes here in Worcester lately, although I wish a lot of them would learn to ride properly in traffic (and I'm not even talking about the ones who ride on the sidewalks instead of the road). Today a guy was riding on the wrong side of the road right toward me (I was running errands on my bike) and recently as I was riding down a really busy street some MORON was not only on the wrong side, but weaving in and out of traffic going the wrong way and could easiily have ended up hitting me head on!! I like to see more people out on bikes, but I don't like having to dodge them when they're not where they should be. Maybe somebody should do a class in this area on riding in traffic.

[Crankin]

Jolt,
Did you get a RN job yet? Just wondering...
Robyn

[Jolt]

Jolt,
Did you get a RN job yet? Just wondering...
Robyn

Working on it--the market is really tough for new grads here right now (and in Boston too). I've been doing my darndest, applying at every hospital in the area, but most of the positions are only hiring experienced nurses. That said, I had an interview last week (on another floor at the hospital where I had worked as an aide last year--the floor I worked on didn't have any positions available) that went really well and I am supposed to be hearing something by Friday. So, hopefully I get that job--it's a general surgical floor, which would be a good place to start out, the schedule would work with school, and it's extremely close to where I live. Stay tuned...

[lauraelmore1033]

I used to see a handful of hardcore roadie commuters here in Everett, but I've been seeing more and more people on mountain bikes and hybrids navigating the sidewalks around retail centers with extremely heavy traffic, like Everett Mall way (not even the hardcore ride on Everett Mall Way, but then the Interurban trail does go right to the mall). I have NEVER seen any other bikes in the rack at my grocery store in the year or so since I started making grocery runs by bike, though. People used to look at me like I was insane when I first started, but now people will come up and ask questions about the bike or the panniers, or they will comment about how "that looks handy". I've never been yelled at while hauling groceries, as I have been while out on the road bike. I guess it looks like I'm doing something productive...