More people riding their bikes than driving their cars?

[KnottedYet]

Weeeellll... this is the bike that currently lives in the dining room. I figure there is enough room along the wall to accommodate the extra length of an Xtracycle.

or there's always the bathtub. 23 3/4 of the day it is the idea bike storage area!

[Becky]

Maybe I can get a BOB trailer and connect it to my mountain bike? My husband thinks I am crazy but my real reason is I want to park near the exit.

Get the BOB! We love ours! We just did a grocery store run with it the other night, and packed so much stuff into it. They're building a grocery store that's right on our commute home from work. This time next year, we'll be able to take the BOB to work one day a week and shop on our way home. (Though I don't know how well ice cream will fare...)

[Trek420]

Refrigerated Bob Trailer?

[Blueberry]

Soft sided cooler for the ice cream??

[runner2]

I have been commuting since there is light out in 7am, like everyone else I am still trying to find out why the gas price is sky high, and as you know most of the reasons are out of our control. I will commute to work even the price is 99 cents per/g, because a easy morning run and commuting are the best way to start my day, and I live close to the office.

And I would like to see more commuters on the road, that means less cars around me.

Be safe all.

[TahoeDirtGirl]

I find when I ride in the morning I can deal with the rest of my day better.

I notice people riding in the a.m. but I'm not sure they are commuting though. I live in a rural area of Mass and if I see someone wearing a bike jersey I'm not sure if they are commuting.

You know, when people start complaining about the gas prices, I say there is a silver lining- people are more mindful of what they buy now, they don't waste food because heck, you can't afford it and they are taking to the roads by walking or riding. More exercise means people might be a little more laid back, and less crappy air too!

[mimitabby]

wow, today riding home i went the long way because i had to go to the library.
I passed an invisible cyclist going up the hill (he was on the sidewalk), and a couple of school kids on bikes (walking their bikes up the hill) then i went left a couple miles to the library, did my thing and continued home, where I passed the invisible cyclist again, still riding on the sidewalk. While passing him I was passed by a younger woman on a bike (no helmet) barreling through traffic. As i passed a bunch of stores, I saw yet another cyclist, a 60 something man, looking very happy on his bike on the sidewalk. That's a lot of bikes for a commute day!!

[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...

[shootingstar]

Hard to know if there are alot more cyclists now in our area compared to several years ago..unless I ask for statistics.

I live downtown and already live in an area where there are already on-road and off-road bike paths and routes.

However methinks that people respond to me on the idea of bike commuting more positively when they see me in my gear with more general acceptance and not totally strange (but still we're abit rare) compared to 10 years ago when I commuted by bike.

Their positive attitude is more on becoming fit/more healthy vs. saving gas money...so far.

I still think there is a huge difference between volume of regular cyclists in downtown core area vs. the sprawling suburbs. Where I work in the suburbs, it's highly unusual to see a cyclist on the road vs. bobbling on the sidewalk. Of course, I don't cycle in this area because my commute is too long already, but also there are too many transport and construction trucks and heavy equipment swinging around/speeding along.

In fact, the cycling advocates representing the suburbs in our area, really have a much tougher time on improved cycling facilities and routes. It's a serious uphill battle for them ...to convince municipal council.

[Trek420]

And in other news: Portland outbikes Copenhagen

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-...MtMjAwOC03LTEx