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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    WA, Australia
    Posts
    3,292

    Talking

    Cant wait to see a picture of your car loaded up with bike it just looks too small for that.

    Makes me laugh when I thought about cyclists doing the bell ringing thing, it would be nice over here because maybe you would get an unsuspecting car driver out for a stroll and return the favour for all that honking and rude gestures.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Traveling Nomad
    Posts
    6,763

    All these stories make me want to pack my bags...

    ...and move across the pond. Being an avid cyclist is so depressing to me at times, living in the southeastern part of the US, where the SUV is king, and there aren't even shoulders on the roads. My husband and I biked to the farmer's market and then the natural foods market on Saturday for groceries (filled up his four panniers and both our rack packs), and we were such a minority. I'd love to be in the majority for a change and live in a place where cycling is just expected and doesn't label you as a freak. Where I live, biking to run errands is virtually unheard of. People drive down to their mailboxes in the rural south!

    We don't have kids so aren't tied down that way, but we both have living parents, so I just couldn't imagine moving so far again as long as they are still with us. We want to see them as much as we can while there's still time.

    I sure have fantasies, though! Maybe someday.... I hear great things about Davis, California too wrt cycling infrastructure and number of cyclists per square mile, but real estate is so expensive there, and we don't want to pay that much. I want to retire at 50 so we can have more fun and adventures... sigh!

    Emily
    Emily

    2011 Jamis Dakar XC "Toto" - Selle Italia Ldy Gel Flow
    2007 Trek Pilot 5.0 WSD "Gloria" - Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow
    2004 Bike Friday Petite Pocket Crusoe - Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    4,516
    Quote Originally Posted by emily_in_nc
    ...and move across the pond. Being an avid cyclist is so depressing to me at times, living in the southeastern part of the US, where the SUV is king, and there aren't even shoulders on the roads. My husband and I biked to the farmer's market and then the natural foods market on Saturday for groceries (filled up his four panniers and both our rack packs), and we were such a minority. I'd love to be in the majority for a change and live in a place where cycling is just expected and doesn't label you as a freak. Where I live, biking to run errands is virtually unheard of. People drive down to their mailboxes in the rural south! Emily
    Emily-

    I have to second this! my DH and I also biked to the farmers market and whole foods on Saturday and on the way home (with both of my panniers full to bursting of fruits and veggies, plus a b-day present for my grandmother) had another one of those annoyingly bad car experiences. The guy weighed about 350 pounds and was driving into bojangles in a huge car. He stopped, blocked our lane of the road, leaned out of his window and screamed at us to "ride somewhere else." Ahhh...the land of fast food and big cars/SUVs. Won't keep me off my bike for a half a second but these things happen with great frequency around here. *sigh* Time to start dreaming of the Netherlands too.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Flagstaff, AZ
    Posts
    251
    We have a "bike library" in town where for $20/yr a person can borrow a bike; if they promise to ride it as primary transportation they can keep it.
    The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart. ~Iris Murdoch, The Red and the Green

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Philadelphia
    Posts
    144

    Drool ....

    THIS is where I want to live next. Close to the family in Stuttgart (closer than Philly), bikes everywhere, easy trip distance to so many European cultures ... Anyone looking for a nice web/database programmer with a good command of American English?

    To heck with Stuttgart and London, the Netherlands it is! (And Dutch is close enough to German that the language shouldn't be a problem.)

    I'll just drool for a bit longer. And commit to biking to the local farmer's market this weekend. It's all of a mile but better than nothing, and maybe I can inspire someone else.

    --SJ

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Flagstaff, AZ
    Posts
    251
    Not to dash anyone's impressions, but it has been interesting to talk to Dutch people recently about what is going on there following the killing of Theo Van Gogh and some of the other things that have been happening. These events are really challenging their sense of safety and freedom, and the friend I talked to this summer said that they are still not sure how this will affect their society, and their attitude toward immigrants, especially from Muslim countries. I have to think (and hope) that they will find a way through this crisis in their intelligent, creative Dutch way, maybe in ways that don't limit freedom, as seems too often to be happening here. Just my .02.
    The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart. ~Iris Murdoch, The Red and the Green

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Traveling Nomad
    Posts
    6,763
    Quote Originally Posted by CA_in_NC
    Emily-
    I have to second this! my DH and I also biked to the farmers market and whole foods on Saturday and on the way home (with both of my panniers full to bursting of fruits and veggies, plus a b-day present for my grandmother) had another one of those annoyingly bad car experiences. The guy weighed about 350 pounds and was driving into bojangles in a huge car. He stopped, blocked our lane of the road, leaned out of his window and screamed at us to "ride somewhere else." Ahhh...the land of fast food and big cars/SUVs. Won't keep me off my bike for a half a second but these things happen with great frequency around here. *sigh* Time to start dreaming of the Netherlands too.
    CA ~ So sorry you had that experience! We were very lucky not to have any bad car encounters on our trip to Carrboro on Saturday. Carrboro is busy, but at least quite bicycle friendly, as southern towns go. That's great that you and your DH also did the farmers market/whole foods ride, though! It sure was hot....

    Emily
    Emily

    2011 Jamis Dakar XC "Toto" - Selle Italia Ldy Gel Flow
    2007 Trek Pilot 5.0 WSD "Gloria" - Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow
    2004 Bike Friday Petite Pocket Crusoe - Selle Italia Diva Gel Flow

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Nebraska
    Posts
    1,192
    I just took a better look at the Smart Car picture. I want one.

    And then I thought about my bike - you know, the looonng recumbent. My bike is, indeed, quite a bit longer - and maybe just bigger - than the car. Hauling the bike would be beyond funny.

    One other thing, those panniers look neat. Do you like them?
    Give big space to the festive dog that make sport in the roadway. Avoid entanglement with your wheel spoke.
    (Sign in Japan)

    1978 Raleigh Gran Prix
    2003 EZ Sport AX

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Albuquerque, NM
    Posts
    3,099
    ROFL Mom: if you strapped your bent on the smartcar just right it would look like the bent was carrying the car!
    Thanks for that visual!!!!
    Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, champagne in one hand, strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming: "Yeah Baby! What a Ride!"

 

 

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