This is a place to share greentexts and witness the confounding life of Anon. If you're new to the Greentext community, think of it as a sort of zoo with Anon as the main attraction.
Be warned:
If you find yourself getting angry (or god forbid, agreeing) with something Anon has said, you might be doing it wrong.
Cop pulls you over on a bicycle:
"Drivers License and registration please"
"I don't need those, I'm not driving this bicycle, I'm travelling on it officer. Private conveyance. I don't contract with DMV."
"Right you are sir, have a nice day!"
Why haven't the sovcits cottoned on to this loophole?!
Cars are the ultimate symbol of freedom because you just get in and go wherever to do whatever.
Pick nanna up? sure. Go buy her groceries? Sure. In the pouring rain? Ok. Pick up her dog from the vet? Yep. Drop by the garden store and grab 50kg of fertilizer? You bet.
You can do all of those things with out any planning or notice. You just get in and go wherever the day takes you.
I'm a bit bonkers about bikes. I have a cargo e-bike. It absolutely could do all of these things in separate trips. Doing all of them together would be a challenge but I am 100% here for that so long as nanna is. The main difference is planning. You need different gear, like a bike trailer for example. You're also probably going to pick the right time of day, like early before it gets too hot or too windy, provided that it's not raining.
That freedom comes at quite a cost. Both to the driver and society. Riding a bike puts the "free" in freedom
Taking a vacation road trip from Florida to the Grand Canyon with three kids with only bikes also comes at quite the cost. Bikes are great, but in many practical scenarios they are slow. Not all of us live in Manhattan, or a dense city, or even a well connected and safe to traverse suburb.
Bikes cost time.
Sure there are situations where bikes aren't suitable.
Bikes cost time. You have to think of the time it has cost you to earn the money to buy, run, and maintain a car.
Where are you all buying bike that don't hurt your wallet to replace? I guess there are Walmart bikes but I've literally had a huffy fall apart while in motion.
Used bikes can be had for like 20 bucks. You even find them for free on the side of the street, but you just need bolt cutters.
My city has extreme height changes on almost every road -- you'd have to be a seriously beefy rider to commute with a bike
Pedal assist bikes exist, source am heavy ass bike commuter that has to go uphill to work.
Lol same. You can't jog in my neighborhood, well some can. Even walking around is quite difficult going up some streets.
Ebike?
Green Mario's most loyal companion
Princess peach? or are you meaning companion as "friend" rather than "paramour"?
Make no problem with bikes in Florida, when you arrive you are so drenched in sweat you are no longer presentable and stink to high heaven.
Biking to work if you have an office job is out of the question.
Biking to my gym or KungFu school.... Perfect.
Just need the right tool for the right job.
In europe most modern offices have showers is this just not a thing around you?
offices in cities frequently do. maybe larger complexes in suburbs do, but yeah, it's not universal, and it can frequently be tied in with fees associated with a fitness center, etc.
Anyone who has ridden in rain and adverse weather would know one reason cars are more popular.
Danish citizens cycle in rain with no issue.
Of course the workplaces accomodate for that.
You just need the whole society to revolve around bike transport, and it will become normal to ride in the rain.
Yeah… pretty sure Denmark doesn’t get regular thunderstorms or hail storms.
Picking up a week's worth of shopping for a family, whilst taking your baby with you, in the pouring rain, and you live up a steep hill, and you have joint pain, and a sudden work meeting across the other side of town in an hour...
I'd love a city designed round bicycles (Cambridge, UK is quite good like that in the centre) but man, despite the downsides cars are amazing things.
car go further faster, and car more useful when not in big city.
You'd be surprised how far you can travel on a bike. As long as you cycle within your ability/fitness level and eat enough you can basically cycle forever. I cycled 300km in one day last year and it wasn't even that hard. I just made sure to eat enough carbs and stick to a sustainable pace. It took some determination, but it was not difficult physically. Humans are built for endurance.
You cycled for 300km for fun. You didn't cycle 240km to another city with a 10kg boardgame hanging off your back, taking your dog and gf with you, while it was -15c and snow drifts in winter. And you had to get back home by a certain time in the evening for another thing.
I did this described trip with a train and I won't do it again without a car. Public transit is only as good as its schedule is frequent and stops are closeby.
Yes, but have you considered this extremely selective list of positive features for bikes?
For this, bike friendly cities have good public transport (bus/tram/metro) and bike shares