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International bike to work day


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10 replies to this topic

#1
Merco_61

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Today was bike to work day. Even though I nearly always get to work and get around by bike as I live car-free, I chose to do a small series around that theme.

 

It is clear that there were fewer cars about than usual. Here it is usually bumper to bumper already at a quarter past 7.gallery_1251_413_170162.jpg

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Commuters

gallery_1251_413_415106.jpg

 

The staff bike racks at the city library

gallery_1251_413_204928.jpg

 

gallery_1251_413_73417.jpg



#2
Thumper

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Great series!!   I need to ride my bike more.   With summer almost here, I need to start commuting to work on my bike.  

 

 

 

The seat on the bike in the first photo does not look very comfortable.   :lol:



#3
Merco_61

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Those Ritchey saddles are surprisingly comfortable. The idea is that as there is so little skirt, the saddle flexes under load. They are a bit of an acquired taste, but they don't chafe on longer trips like softer saddles do.



#4
Thumper

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Ah, that makes sense.

 

So with you being in the more southern region of Sweden, you have a longer riding season, I am assuming.   Are there days that make it difficult to ride?  (I am admittedly ignorant of the seasons of your geography). 

 

 

Also, I notice a lot of fenders on the bicycles.   Is that to keep water, mud, and other debris from flying up at you when you are riding in not-so-dry conditions? 



#5
Merco_61

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We have ice and snow from mid-December to late March. With studded tires in the winter, I can usually get around by bike about 360 days in the year.

 

The reason for the fenders is that few commuters wear bike-specific clothes unless the commute is over 30 km or so, and we don't want a skunk-stripe from the rear wheel or a face full of dirty water in the wet. Another good reason is that most bikes have a rear rack and keeping spray off the lunch box or attaché case is nice... If you look at some of the step-through bikes, they even have skirt protectors.



#6
Thumper

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That is what I had assumed.  Thanks for the info!   We don't have as many bike commuters here in my city, so I don't see a lot of finders or rear racks.  Our city is notorious for really poor drivers (inconsiderate and dangerous), so it is kind of scary to ride bikes in this city.  There is a bike specific lane down the street that I live on, however, I have seen people try to pass slower cars in that lane and almost kill people on bicycles (children included).   I used to ride a motorcyles (for 15 years), but I won't ride one anymore.  At least, not while I live here.  Your city seems to have a much better bike culture as well as a bike friendly culture.    My office is downtown, and rush hour traffic is downright scary.  If I were to start riding my bike, I would to get to work early, and I would leave late so as to miss the rush hour traffic. 



#7
Merco_61

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Uppsala is a city where everybody rides a bike. The trouble is that, unlike Amsterdam or Copenhagen, the infrastructure is laid out without using active cyclists as focus groups so we get multi-use paths that are on the sidewalks and bike routes around some roundabouts that go clockwise. This leads to a total anarchy as people-who-ride-bikes, as opposed to cyclists don't care about the rules after not being noticed by other traffic *because* you are where you are supposed to be, being doored by passengers exiting cars and nearly colliding with a leash or two on the MUP... To get to the closest Evangelical church from my home legally, I have to cross the same major thoroughfare 5 times in the 3 km trip as the bike lanes are one-way some blocks and change side where they are bidirectional between the one-way parts. 

 

Even with the stupid infrastructure, I get around faster than I did by car as there are bike racks nearly everywhere but parking spaces are few and far behind. As I have 2.7 km to the city centre, I get there about as fast as I walk to the nearest bus stop, 3 blocks away and wait a reasonable time for the bus.



#8
Ron

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Peter, your predicament seems similar in some ways to what we have in Miami (and surrounding Dade County), Florida. There are lots of bike riders here but no coordinated plan for bike paths between communities. As such, getting around on a bike can go from being a fairly safe and enjoyable endeavor to total hell in just a few moments. A fair number of bikers have been killed by automobiles, often with the car driver leaving the scene.

 

--Ron



#9
Thumper

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Is there much problem with bike theft there?  I would assume that most people apply some sort of lock when they put their bike into a rack, but that is an assumption made because of living in the US and not having exposure to life in Europe.  

 

 

 

 

 

Peter, I do apologize for hijacking your topic, but I do greatly appreciate you indulging my curiosity and questions about your bike culture and traffic systems there.  



#10
Rontography

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Peter, I do apologize for hijacking your topic, but I do greatly appreciate you indulging my curiosity and questions about your bike culture and traffic systems there.  

 

 

Me too. It's been very interesting. The pictures are great but it's always entertaining and interesting to see how things are done in other countries. 



#11
Merco_61

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Shane, the lock I have on the Parkpre MTB is typical for better bikes. Those ABUS, OnGuard or Kryptonite compact U-locks are enough of a pain for the would-be thief to get open that they look for something easier to steal. A more modern, and therefore easier to sell MTB of higher value would use two locks of different kinds, for example a U-lock and a chain and padlock for the insurance to be valid. My brother has had over 20 bikes stolen, I have so far only lost 1 to theft and 1 written off as an inept thief damaged the seat stays without getting the lock open. Standard sit-up-and-beg citybikes are usually locked with a framemounted ringlock and sometimes a steel wire as well.

 

There is no need to apologize, topicshift is to be expected and the different viewpoints from different cultures widens the horizons for us all.

 

Ron, there are very few cities that have good infrastructure for bikes in the world but thanks to people like John Forester in the US and the Copenhagenize crowd in Denmark, the politicians are at least aware even if they don't do much because of budget constraints and constant lobbying from the car industry.