The bicycle is probably the perfect modern machine because, in spite of constant efforts to "improve" upon it, the modern bicycle recognisably contains 99.99% of the DNA of the early safety bicycles of the 1880s, from which it is descended.
...If you live in a city, never need to travel very far or arrive undishevelled, and you're not disabled or tall or short or heavy or trying to carry things or...
Bicycles are great and need better support, but the only problem they solve is abled people traveling short distances without a car.
👋I
-am tall (6'2") and
-travel long distances (90+ miles/day pedaling, hundreds more if I roll the bike onto a train) to
-rural places (farms, campgrounds) while
-hauling heavy things (groceries, camping gear, my 40-lb dog) and also
-arrive at work by bicycle undisheveled
I also have friends who use bicycles (one uses a trike) to get around in part because they have disabilities that make it difficult or illegal for them to drive.
If you have a specific disability that makes it more convenient for you to drive you can just talk about yourself instead of generalizing!
Also trains aren't bicycles, but they are part of the broader range of solutions we need in order to accommodate everyone, so thank you for supporting my point.
Nearly everything you wrote is incorrect. No one is going to make you bike if you don't want to, but repeating fossil fuel talking points is not the way forward.
Interesting that you assume saying bicycles don't work for everyone means I want fossil fuels. I mean, I even said bicycles are great and need more support. 🤷♂️
No, I said you are repeating their talking points. Cars don't work for many people either- those with impaired vision or other disabilities; cars cost a lot of money, are expensive to operate, insure and maintain. But there isn't a chorus of "cars don't work for everyone" due to motornormativity.
Cars don't work for everyone and I never said they did. My only argument was that the OP is inaccurate. Bicycles do not solve a wide range of complex problems, they solve a single problem for a limited number of people. For that problem and those people, they're a good solution.
what, because cargo bikes haven't been invented? E-bikes? Bikes for tall people, short people, heavy people? Good gravy man, electric cargo bikes have been around for years now. Studies show that most trips are under five miles. Bikes work for many more people in more situations than you think.
You have been informed by others that your talking points parrot oil interests. You also have been told there are options for cyclists of different ages, sizes, and disabilities.
This message wasn’t for you and you should just leave it be. Your voice in this debate only amplifies resistance
Have you considered that the problem isn’t necessarily the limitations of the bicycle but the unrealistic expectation of a 300 miles per day unrestricted personal travel radius?
There are far more people who are unable to drive than unable to ride. Even among the disabled. Being tall, short, heavy, or carrying things, in no way prevents someone from riding a bike. I don't mean to offend but this is a very ignorant comment.
I'm going to guess that you're not particularly tall or short or heavy, you're not disabled, and you've never tried to carry groceries for a family for a week over ten miles balanced on your handlebars. In any case, I never said bicycles are useless, only that their use is restricted.
The average American lives 2.2 miles from the nearest grocery store but travels 3.8 miles to their "favorite" grocery store. If folks have to travel 10 miles one way to the store, that's an intense food desert and we should fix it.
I carry a week worth of groceries for my family by bike. The biggest barrier to bikes working as transportation is the forced car dependency of our zoning and street design, which creates unsafe riding situations for those on bikes. We should fix that so those who can & want to ride, are enabled to!
I'm disabled, and ride carrying my groceries. Everyone has pointed out your bad faith argument already. Take the hint, learn the lesson and do better! cars,bikes,trains,walking,etc are all great for some & not for others!
I 100% fully disagree with your argument! "The bicycle is a simple solution to SOME of the world's most complicated problems" The fact you can't recognize that tall, short, heavy disabled, people who ride long distances and others find it a perfect solution is why people are bagging on you.
I appreciate your comments, it is a nuanced discussion and being heavier or more disabled does make it more difficult if the terrain isn't flat etc. electric cargo bikes would mostly just fit a couple days of groceries for a couple people. But bikes should be used more than they are now.
Interesting, nothing I had seen was that large. I'd still refrain from saying it's an easy answer for everyone, but that is the most convincing I've seen.
Well, no. I travel far, I transport groceries for a family and two dogs. I have chronic back pain. I have two jobs. I work in another city. I have no car. It's been 11 years.
Do we have a solution re how to replace microplastic from tires. Until we do not, bikes are not the solution. Local plant-based production & consumption is.
My favorite commute method is by sea along the coast. So I live near the coast. Once I get into central, I like to eBike. If the weather is bad, I'll eBike- train- eBike to work.
Right on.
In -15 to -20C, we use our e-bikes to commute. 🥶
It’s too cold to ride hard in snow and ice. Pedal assist lets us layer properly and not exert ourselves too much in the cold.
Comments
https://bsky.app/profile/jdavey.bsky.social/post/3lhduc5najc2d
Bicycles are great and need better support, but the only problem they solve is abled people traveling short distances without a car.
-am tall (6'2") and
-travel long distances (90+ miles/day pedaling, hundreds more if I roll the bike onto a train) to
-rural places (farms, campgrounds) while
-hauling heavy things (groceries, camping gear, my 40-lb dog) and also
-arrive at work by bicycle undisheveled
If you have a specific disability that makes it more convenient for you to drive you can just talk about yourself instead of generalizing!
https://bsky.app/profile/aninehartmann.bsky.social/post/3ligtgbiowc2p
Also trains aren't bicycles, but they are part of the broader range of solutions we need in order to accommodate everyone, so thank you for supporting my point.
This message wasn’t for you and you should just leave it be. Your voice in this debate only amplifies resistance
So yeah, bikes have solved a ton of problems for me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15-minute_city
Do we have a solution re how to replace microplastic from tires. Until we do not, bikes are not the solution. Local plant-based production & consumption is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_Cities_of_To-morrow
I want to ride my bike
In -15 to -20C, we use our e-bikes to commute. 🥶
It’s too cold to ride hard in snow and ice. Pedal assist lets us layer properly and not exert ourselves too much in the cold.
https://youtube.com/shorts/jeQq7oQXW5M?si=pHk2YxKiS_rWiRMR