apparently my city literally literally banned public rail funding, and people online love jerking off about how good biking is, so i figured might as well try. I have come up with:
pros:
- good for mental health / exercise / endorphins
- arguably quaint
- feel like an old timey guy taking his wares to market
- feel european
- can annoy others
- less of a police state around them vs cars
- more flexible parking, routes
- capacity to be peaceful
- nice in summer
cons:
- look like an annoying dork (esp w neon - which also hurts the quaint factor)
- have to wear a helmet (^)
- getting sweaty, potentially “unpresentable” for work
- still have to find safe parking
- still takes a while
- have to find new routes to places
- can’t listen to music or might die
- little meaningful protection against severe injury
- can only carry so many groceries/etc
- sucks in winter
Bikes are popular in Seattle, but I’m not sure I’d call it a bike-friendly city. Tons of rain, tons of hills, tons of bridges, tons of crappy roads. We put bike lanes in a bunch of places, but a lot of them still have to go through confusing intersections or only cover part of your commute. Add on the new trend of no-hands driving, it’s still pretty dangerous.
Have you ever been to the Alps? That’s cycling heaven for most people apparently
Not really for casual cycling and commuting.
Surprisingly yes it is, cause big cities are in valleys which are flat (valleys were flattened by massive glaciers), and there is a lovely bike infrastructure.