cross-posted from: https://jlai.lu/post/17684914
Roads and highways would be perfectly fine cycling infrastructure, if we just got the giant motorized death machines off of them.
I liked your comment, but there is a lot more space that could be regained for pedestrians as well if we cyclists took only the space we needed. Car infrastructure is easily converted into one, but not into the other and asphalt causes heat islands.
Plus, roads are important for the people who can’t walk or cycle as well as for emergency services. Goods can’t all be transported by bike, either. Of course, that doesn’t require multiple lanes. Part should be kept, part turned into small green spaces to compensate for the environmental effect of the road, and part should be used for separate cycling and walking spaces. It becomes a bit more complex with streets that aren’t big enough for all that, of course.
And with decreased car use comes increased accesibility and speed for emergency vehicles and essential transport. And if we remove street parking, there will easily be enough space for cycling and walking space. Did you know all parking spaces in the US take up the same surface as the whole of connecticut?
Sure, but I was replying to a comment thread about replacing roads and highways with cycling infrastructure.
They were piggybacking off you, saying there’s even more space to be gained once the usage of cars goes down
I’m autistic and always grateful for comments like this, thanks! Sometimes I genuinely don’t get it.
Unfortunately I live where its cold and raining 99% of the time. They are trying to build a line from where i live to where I work though so it might be bearable to bike the distance to the station in the rain
Summer was unbearably hot, and I decided to commute via a bus with AC instead of a bike, but in september I started using a bike and didn’t stop unless there was pouring or there was snow on the ground.
I even in mild rain I just took my bike. First winter season I used a bike at all, not to mention riding in a full face cover, leather or ski gloves with a ski jacket.
I also researched some motorbike rain pants but we’re in a decade long drought, so far didn’t need them.
One thing tho. If it’s raining you better have disk breaks, the clampy ones just slip on wet wheels. I had to re-learn how to stop safely.
Being waterproof is probably the biggest thing I miss from upgrading to an ebike from an old acoustic bike
Kinda depend on the manufacturer, but the motor should be waterproof. Throttle, the screen, and the connector though, might not. I’m using a conversion kit on my bike and the equipment is those no name cheapo one, but other than the screen condensation after riding through heavy rain, it’s still going strong. You could identify the stuff that need waterproofing and do it yourself though.
I just did my first ebike ride in moderately light rain and so far so good
Acoustic bike sounds so wonderful.
It makes pleasant sound when you pedal it.
Ebikes should handle rain just fine though (I know mine does). Just don’t ride it into the river.
Riding into a river isn’t a great idea on an acoustic bike either, of course. The main reason is that you don’t want to be swept away by the current. The secondary reason is that you’ll have to clean and re-pack your bearings etc. (especially axles and bottom bracket) afterwards.
Bicycles just aren’t suitable for cold places. They only work in places with warm, sunny weather. Like Norway.
I saw a lot more electric cars than bicycles in most of norway.
I have the opposite problem. If I tried to bike home from work in the summer, I would literally die of a heat stroke. I biked to college and even when I had a 7am class, I would arrive drenched in sweat and have to do a paper towel bath in the restroom.
The netherlands, a huge cycling country, is also known as a dreary place where it rains more than the sun shines. You just put on a good waterproof outfit and you’re good. Cycling heats you up as well, so as long as you have good clothes I would say its doable up to and including freezing temperatures, depending on the road surface.
Where I live it’s either cold and burns my lungs to do any outside exertion or hot and saps all my energy, with a brief tolerable window between.
I found masks can help with the cold air if you don’t have a scarf
It also helps when your office has showers and indoor parking. This is part of bicycle infrastructure that is normalized the more we ban cars.
The Netherlands is also flat as fuck.
Netherlands also has constant eleventy mph winds that try to blow you back to where you started, so there’s that.
Hills are why bikes have gears and there are plenty of chilly hilly places with strong bike infrastructure and culture. Not Just Bikes goes off on this subject frequently. Check them out on nebula or youtube for a laugh and some good information.
Maybe
I get mild frostbite super fast though because my circulation to my fingers are nonexistent
I also unfortunately live in the lands of cars, in the part of the washington where theres no real bike lane and I have to share the road with cars
Please think of putting pressure on your local councils to improve bike infrastructure. GCN recently mentioned that more people are in favor of increasing bike paths (in uk and us studies) but carbrains complain louder, so let yourself be heard!
Good luck. I hope there isn’t too much wind. I find it the worst part of bad weather cycling
I live in Denmark and despite wind and horrible weather still we manage to bike everywhere for most of our needs.
I live in a similar climate and use rain pants.
Rain pants and rain overshoes. It’s a bit annoying to take them off after you arrive, but that’s a small
Although I am privileged enough to just take the bus or WFH if the weather is truly terrible (like freezing rain).
Cycling and walking are also far healthier options since they count for the whole “if you walk at least 30 minutes a day your chances of heart conditions drop by 70%” thing.
Even better, the fewer the cars around, the better it gets for everybody who walks and cycles (due to decreased pollution and less danger on the road).
Even electric cars and even if 100% of our electricity was from renewables still pollute due to the micro-particles produced by the tires when rolling on the road (and heavier vehicles make this worse).
I think cardiovascular disease risk drops more than 70% if you dont eat meat, which is another critical requirement for softening climate catastrophe too
You can eat meat and stay perfectly healthy
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I suppose you felt like sharing this information because it confirmed whatever weird biases you have but you’re obviously wrong but you still haven’t deleted your comment so I think you are a republican
I think if you think that saying that US needs more remote work, affordable housing near where we work, and investment in transit makes one a Republican you must not be very familiar with Republicans. I think you should probably rethink your entire perspective on life.
On the narrow roads where I live in the UK I also doubt the number of cars having to slow down and then accelerate to overtake is saving energy. I’d love to see a study that looked at the rural roads in the UK because I’m sure it’s less efficiebt and more polluting.
Obviously this changes if there are dedicated cycle paths, but they are a rare thing or here in the sticks. Also there idiots on road bikes who refuse to use cycle lanes when provided. I think the highway code needs updating to stop this.
I’d also ban racing bikes from the road, if you can’t cycle over a drain or a pothole then your bike isn’t built for UK roads.
I’m sure I’m going to get down voted to hell and back for this post.
Note sure why this would be downvoted
I’m not surprised. It shouldn’t be controversial. We have similar rules for cars in relation to the tyres to ensure minimum data braking distances in various weather conditions. It’s common sense that you shouldn’t have to swerve into traffic to avoid getting a puncture. It’s something the should be discussed in a civil way
The efficiency part is just logic when every 4-5 seconds during rush hour a car is overtaking you. That has to be more poluting than just having another car on the road.
I’m a cyclist, I’ve only ever owned mountain bikes as racing bikes are too dangerous and slide too easily in the wet. I used to cycle 10 miles to work every day and I hated how cars would accelerate past me and I always questioned how much pollution must be created when they do. I didn’t have a car and had no other option at the time and I’m surprised that I’ve never seen this considered.
My opinion changes massively when there are dedicated cycle paths.
…yet city in the US been looking at this and found out biking is not as dangerous as people think, and facilities being build for cyclist is increasing.
https://www.axios.com/local/seattle/2025/03/19/traffic-safety-2024-pedestrian-cyclist-deaths
It is exactly as dangerous as people think as you can clearly look at the miles biked and driven and see that the deaths per mile are massively higher. What you are posting is that its possible for it to be less dangerous than before mediation not that it is sanely possible to make mixed use as safe as cars.
as you can clearly look at the miles biked and driven and see that the deaths per mile are massively higher.
Two thing:
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so does walking. Pedestrian death is significantly higher than bicycle death in US. Does that mean you should stop walking? :D
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cyclist doesn’t ride 200miles to visit their grandma, and more often than not the trip tend to be short per day. Car driver tend to live further from everywhere(look at suburb), that mean in a single day they travel more, so of course car could rake up more non-incident mile than pedestrian and bicycle. Even in Netherlands, the cycling haven, in 2023 the death per billion km is 15.6, despite having 270 cyclist death in the whole country, and despite cycling being a part of their life there.
It looks damning if you only know how to take the statistic on face value, but in reality? It’s not. And let’s not talk about where the danger come from.
What you are posting is that its possible for it to be less dangerous than before mediation
DUH, you’re the one that saying bicycle is a laughable solution, yet city has been trying that way, so let’s not shift the goal.
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Yeah biking is extremely deadly where I live. You really don’t see bikes at all. Sometimes they’re left on the roadside where someone died on one. You can’t walk, either.
The government should ban cars to make cycling safer
Yep, meanwhile my country built bike highways. I’m at work after 35 minutes of cycling. (15 km)
I live outside of a city, so I can choose between multiple cities where I wish to work. It’s pretty convenient.
I simply don’t feel like accepting a job offer that has a bad commute.
The biking is a huge stress reliever, I come fresh at work and freshly home.
Seems it works out great for you but I don’t think it is a great solution for Americans who on average live far further from their work in inhospitable climates and are less healthy.
What is such a inhospitable climate? They should aim to be healthy
Often times being pushed so far from their work because their city downtown is 60% parking lots and it illegal to build any new buildinga unless they are luxury condos or mcmansions.
If the city still had decent density, they could easily live closer to work.
Precisely. Claiming that biking is more dangerous than driving because car-supremacist land use patterns force cyclists out into suburban sprawl is essentially disingenuous victim-blaming.
Claiming that biking is MUCH more dangerous than driving is just reality. It’s a function of dividing deaths by miles traveled. Individuals live in the real world as it is now and must make decisions based on actual reality not what you imagine might be fare in a more reasonable world than we live in whilst making positive change for the future.
You aren’t a victim and nobody is blaming you by understanding actual reality.
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Great but we have to deal with the world as it is whilst improving it when we can. This means that we should build denser more walkable spaces going forward whilst realizing that we need trains and busses and electric cars not instead of better options but instead of gas cars.
Bicycle commuting reduced all-cause mortality by almost 50%. All-cause. That’s with the risk of getting murdered by a driver priced into the figure.
Source? Notably bike enthusiasts are self selected from those willing and able to do what they do. It is notably not useful to say that a 20 year old commuting 10 miles a day is more healthy than grandma in her walker.
https://bmjpublichealth.bmj.com/content/2/1/e001295
I encourage you to save methodological speculation until you’ve actually read the study
All I need now is the knowledge, sense of balance, and confidence to ride a bicycle
do you have a bicycle?
Had one as a kid, with training wheels that weren’t on right, and I never felt safe on it. Constantly felt like I was going to tip. Gave it away to a friend years later.
Bought another one about 10 years ago, never rode it, my wife did something with it idk.
As a kid I mostly did scooters, also had a razer scooter a few years back that I would use to commute when I lived near work, but these days arthritis in my knees makes that less fun.
I tried one of those electric scooters, and didn’t feel safe on it, decided to walk instead. Which I’m a pretty fast walker, even still now with the bad knees.
Wish they’d make narrow trikes, which I think I’d do better on, but most of them are like 2-3 feet wide in the back which is way too big for most purposes.
My country runs courses for adults to learn how to bike - maybe yours does the same?
The more you ride, the better you get. Try include cycling into your exercise, and within a year you should be better with it.
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If you have enough balance and leg strength to walk
That’s factually not true. I know you try to cheer them up and telling them, you don’t need special abillity or to be fit and sportive to bike, which is true, but what you are saying is not true. They is people with disabilities that affect balance that can walk but not bike at all.
If you’re in need of some inspiration; Tom Scott on YouTube made a video of himself learning how to ride a bike. Seeing someone else learn something can be useful, and there’s a lot of little things in the video one can pick up on to avoid common mistakes.
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Where you can take your bike with you. The two modes of transportation combined is almost perfect.
Yes! Fuck this individualistic “you should cycle instead of taking the car” language. We need collective investment in mass transit, because not everyone can bike to work, and even less people want to do it in the rain.
I cycle almost every where, at every weather, but at distances above 30km, it’s just taking too long to be viable for every day tasks or visiting friends and family.
Public transport is neccessary.
I used to cycle out of necessity but after a while i just got sick of it from either not wearing enough and being too cold, wearing too much and being too hot, and having to guess correctly whether it’ll rain or not but be miserable even if I prepared for it.
I always have my rain poncho with me. I love when it rains because it feels like sitting in a tent where your head sticks out.
I always get too hot under anything waterproof no matter how cold it actually is outside, especially if I’m exercising. I hate how they eventually feel like they’re sticking to your skin
who do I need to kill to get the infrastructure going?
You can start with politicians like Doug Ford in Ontario, Canada. He passed bills letting him rip out fairly new bike lanes from Ontario’s largest city’s downtown, banning the entire province from building new bike lanes without his approval, and hidden in his bill is legislation that lets him build highways without doing any environmental assessments.
All while Canada is in a economic and housing crisis, a time where bicycles and bike lanes can lower cost of living and support denser housing developments.
he’s been on my list since that wind farm thing
Whoever rules Prague. I travel to a lot of European cities and that one is continuously throwing a middle finger at pedestrians, especially given the size and planning of the city center.
I was surprised to see even Berlin and Munich doing much better.
The emission savings from replacing all those internal combustion engines with zero-carbon alternatives will **not **feed in **fast enough **to make the necessary difference in the time we can spare: the next five years. Tackling the climate and air pollution crises requires curbing all motorised transport, particularly private cars, as quickly as possible. Focusing solely on electric vehicles is slowing down the race to zero emissions.
Ah thank god we still have 5 years. Now the climate scientists just need to advise the general public to start shooting all the cars through the motorblock because it has been scientifically proven that is the one way we’ll make it.
Published: March 29, 2021 10.59am EDT
OH MY GOD!!! WE ONLY HAVE A YEAR LEFT TO MURDER ALL THE CARS??
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Actually a better idea is just dumping 2-3 cups of sugar in the gas tank. Will muck up the fuel injection system and put it out of commission pronto.
Haha well that could cause serious accidents. And I sort of expected like two decades ago in my naivete that we’d see “electric car conversion shops” spring up. Take out the motor block and tank and replace it with standardized electrical motors and special adapters and just put some lithium battery block in the trunk.
I think something that gets regularly overlooked is scooters. They can be gas or electric and they will drastically reduce emissions. ICE scooters can do 100 mpg and the manufacturing emissions are going to be a sliver of what a car or truck would be.
Make one that doesnt go BrrrrAAAP ! And I’m onboard:-D
On a serious note, electric; bikes, scooters, cargo bikes, small utilitarian vehicles, busses are the future of the city IMO.
There are some very cool electric ones now.
Buy a Japanese brand and it’ll probably be a 4 stroke. The 2 strokes (most of the cheap Chinese bikes) are dirty and noisy, and pollute a lot more. IMO, 2 strokes shouldn’t be allowed on the road anymore.
A part of the prevalence of two stroke engines is ofc they’re cheap and light and easy to service, but another reason people like them is they produce more power for a specific cubic centimetre, and insurance often works with just engine size not type or power.
I recently bought one that does ~40km on a single charge and doesn’t go above 25km/h and honestly I don’t get why anyone would need more (people living in the hellscape distopya commonly referred to as “the US” need not reply).
I used to cycle 7 km to work, but now, after moving to suburban village, there is no way to go other way than car. Especially with small kid. Unless you are fit enough to do 25 km every day by bike and risk your life (and potentially kid’s) on the street between cars. So no, there is not realistic to “fuck cars”. I am speaking from European perspective, probably US has the car things much more fucked up.
risk your life (and potentially kid’s) on the street between cars
I dunno, boss, seems like a plenty good reason to say “fuck cars” to me.
Yes, I can be pissed by cars for that reason, but will this make them disappear or make less needed? Sure, many people could go by bike not the car and they are just lazy bastards, but some just need a car
Did the 2x12km for theee years, only got ran down once.
I did have beast legs though :-)
I had to fix the tyre tube every week (cost similar to LPG fuel) until I started to pump for almost maximal pressure. It was fucking frustrating, also without proper infrastructure, riding a bike is not fun at all
Did you have those slim “racing” wheels? Up the tire size just one size and you’ll be way better off.
I got myself an old mountain bike, works wonders in the city with all the potholes and crap.
Not racing, but trekking tyres. I suppose the mountain bike tires are far better (the city crap bike roads can be worse than mountains I think).
I don’t think you realise how much you’ve been fucked by car. I presume you move out to the suburb not because the city council decided to exile you and never let you stay in the city, you move out because you have a car and can drive 20+km toward your destination, which then mean everything is so out of your way you have to use car to do everything. So no, you’re the one that got fucked by motonormativity and yell “cum inside”, you don’t get to then deny everyone a better solution.
I moved out by rent prices and because no one wanted to rent a flat for family with two small kids, not because of car 🤦🏻🤦🏻🤦🏻this is one of dumbest hypotheses I’ve ever heard
dumbest hypotheses
most people that prefer suburb did just that.
Your argument basically just boiled down to “it doesn’t happened to me so it shouldn’t be the case for everyone”, what kind of self absorbed argument is that even?
I don’t think you realise how much you’ve been fucked by car.
So it wasn’t for me?
Idk, you decide? Not sure why you’re here against the idea when it’s not even about you.
no shit sherlock!
They always ignore the rest of the world. Sure you can bike ride in yor little university town built from riches pillaged from the world but the rest of the world? You want India and Africa to ride bikes? Did they include the absolute infrastructure update in their calculations?
Do indian and african not ride a bike?
Its not the optimal choice. Motorbikes for one are much more viable because the winters are easy and the terrain can be too difficult for muscle powered bicycles. Also Motorbikes can carry a lot compared to a bike. The rest is filled in by public transportation - busses, trains, rickshaw, converted pick up trucks.
I’ve been living in Asia for almost 20 years now and bicycle is not it trust me. It’s only viable for rich small diatance well developed countries and anyone who says otherwise really needs to get out more.
Its not the optimal choice.
It’s totally not for long distance, no one is claiming that.
Motorbikes for one are much more viable because the winters are easy and the terrain can be too difficult for muscle powered bicycles.
You speak like as if in winter country people doesn’t bike? Also bicycle maintenance is way cheaper though.
Also Motorbikes can carry a lot compared to a bike.
most of the time people doesn’t carry much anyway. Kinda like bicycle ehh.
The rest is filled in by public transportation - busses, trains, rickshaw, converted pick up trucks.
Bicycle is pretty good for last mile transport too, it’s free to boot.
I’ve been living in Asia for almost 20 years now
It’s not really a flex as you think it is, maybe you should listen to me because i’m here 35 years.
bicycle is not it trust me.
Because there never a good infrastructure for it? And people tend to ride motorcycle/car because it’s easy and they live far, and they live far because they have motorcycle/car. See the issue? Let’s not mention those who drive 500m just to buy something.
What about kids? In my time, kids bike to school, it gave us the sense of freedom and independence. They still do these day but less of them do now, you wanna know why? Cars, because there’s so much car on the road nowadays and 0 bicycle infrastructure for them to do it safely, and no one have the brain to build it 20 years ago, so now there’s even less people cycling there’s no reason for those elected to believe it’s helpful.
I’ve seen bus companies gone bankrupt because ridership is shrinking once economy is turning better for people, i’ve seen neighbourhood torn apart as highway cut through in the middle where you need to cycle/walk extra kilometers to get to the other side or play frogger. Are you really, truly sure bicycle is not it or is it because no one decided to develop the infrastructure for it to be safe to do so?
It’s only viable for rich small diatance well developed countries
China were once ruled by bicycle before and they’re not rich at the time. Once their economy advanced, they all turn to car. Guess where they’re slowly going now. Also are you saying everything is a sprawl in Asia? I don’t get your point, it seems like you’re insulting Asia just to proof your point, as if we doesn’t have a city/town with stuff in walkable/bikeable distance, which, in my life living here, isn’t the case.
anyone who says otherwise really needs to get out more.
Idk seems like you need to touch grass more.
U sound angry lol
Oof, where’s that “i liVE iN aSIa fOr AlmOSt 20 yEArS” confidence goes? It’s as empty as i guessed.
Ok dude have a good day!
K
It’s not like poor Chinese, Vietnamese or Indian people would ever use bicycles. The very idea, how ludicrous. Haha.
They use motorbikes 🤦♂️
Wat?
I’d guess they’re stating that the semi-developed countries with high density populations and high rates pollution may not consider cycling infrastructure on their list of city planning priorities
India’s cities are jammed up with car traffic. It’s one of the major sources of pollution. That’s what this professor is addressing. Africa is a whole, huge continent. containing many countries with greatly varying levels of economic development. The poorer ones don’t even have much of an infrastructure base. And lots of people there do ride bicycles. All that considered, my question stands.
Yes but cycling is not a valid option either. Public transportation and motorbikes is clearly the answer and all of these countries are moving towards them.
The article is giving “white man knows better”
“Cars are more accessible for poor people” is certainly a take that someone could have.
Cycling and related infrastructure are orders of magnitude cheaper.
Ah yes cause there’s only cars and bicycling! /s
You know there are other forms of transportation right?
Feel free to make a point if you have one.
Sure I’m paraphrasing my other comment:
Bicycle is just a poor vehicle choice for these regions and I’d argue most of the world in general and I say that as a recreation e-bike lover - its just not a good transporation method for mass adoption.
Motorbikes for one are much more viable because the winters are easy and the terrain can be too difficult for muscle powered bicycles. Also Motorbikes can carry a lot compared to a bike just look up some photos like this one https://i.imgur.com/t4aWcFx.jpeg - that’s a 500-1000usd motorbike doing your job for years. Minimal maintenance and fuel use and relatively low polution. You couldn’t even get a decent e-bike in europe for this.
The rest is filled in by public transportation - busses, trains, rickshaws, converted pick up trucks, minibuses, ferries etc.
I’ve been living in Asia for almost 20 years now and bicycle is not it trust me. It’s only viable for rich compact well developed countries and anyone who says otherwise really needs to get out more.
Cool well this sub is called “fuck cars”, not “fuck everything that’s not a pedal-powered bicycle.”
Like sorry, but you’re arguing against something that just hasn’t been said.
Cars are bad for motorbikes too. Bikes are still way better than cars.
But also, walkability and bicycle friendly infrastructure isn’t out of the reach of south east asian countries. That’s not a feature of wealthy countries - like I said, it’s very cheap.
I don’t have the details to hand, but usually when poorer nations have bad infrastructure, it’s mainly down to structural adjustment policies stopping them from investing in their own people’s welfare to keep them more desparate and easier to exploit as cheap labour.
Anti-car people in general are going to want to end poverty in general, which means the squalid conditions of a lot of these places would change. It’s not a matter of changing one thing and leaving literally every other variable untouched. Anti-car advocacy is part of a wider a holistic change in society.
Like I’ve spent time in Ho Chi Minh City, and yeah, the place is a sea of motorbikes. It’s a health & aafety disaster. But it’s a flat city. There’s nothing to say bicycles couldn’t be used there.
Tbh I have no idea what you’re talking about so have a nice day I guess
Cool story, you’ve got loads to say but no ability to listen. Thanks for wasting my time.
Colonial extortion built the cycle infrastructure…
Oh, goodie. Lemmy always delivers, lmao.
I have an EV and I still agree with this. An EV is better than an ICE vehicle but it is no substitute for designing cities around people - footpaths, cycle lanes, recreation, public transport etc.
what do you use your car for? like piano transportation?
I am actually considering getting an EV for transporting my Cello :/
It’s unfortunately not possible to reliably transport it by bike (strong winds, icy conditions on my rather hilly ride to the city). Makes me miss out on re-joining an orchestra.
Everything else (groceries, work,…) would still be by bike, just… That.
instrument transportation is a legitimate usecase for a car
What you need is a trailer that you can attach to your bike when you need to haul something large. It works great. I use one that even folds and doesn’t take much room when not in use (it can also be used by hand by adding a little wheel at the front).
To do things. Drove my kid to school 8km at 0610 today for a school trip, then a 20km drive to work, then later to get groceries etc. I wish I could cycle but my personal circumstances don’t allow for it. Doesn’t mean that my situation applies to everyone or that towns & cities shouldn’t be designed with cyclists & pedestrians first, cars second to lessen the need for cars because I think they should.
Smh I put my piano on my bike racks. It’s the timpani that go in the car - the rain ruins the skins.
but they’re not handicap friendly… public transport serves a purpose… edit: I’m not saying keep using cars, I’m saying get more trains and rail… and then free up space for more bike lanes whatever
I can’t see this taking off in my city. It’s tropical here and during the colder months it’s in the 80s.
People are not going to cycle to work because they will be drenched in sweat by the time they arrive.
Been there, done that. Only time I actually sweated was when waiting at intersections, rest of the time the wind from riding kept me dry.
when you cycle regularly, a commute doesn’t make you sweat.
Lol no
This depends on ambient temp and humidity
When it’s that hot, just existing makes me sweat. It’s barely 15°C in the UK and I’m down to shorts and T shirt already.
This is not true in my experience cycling in 32°c to 34°c and 75% to 90% humidity environment. 😅 I used to commute daily to school at early dawn and i drench in sweat everyday.
But there’s way to avoid that and people tend to commute to work in the morning and evening, where it isn’t as hot as noon.
It depends on whether you know how to pace yourself, which I seem to never be able to learn. I can only go full blast every time, and hence I always arrive sweaty.
Luckily, I only have 5.5 km to go to work, and with my current speeds, that doesn’t get me sweaty enough to be unable to air-dry out. Previously, when I had a longer commute of 14 km, I was luckily able to use the showers offered at work.
Just going to point out that it’s kind of an unreasonable expectation that people will not be sweaty when it’s that hot outside.
There’s probably a balance somewhere. When it’s that hot, you can sweat walking, but sweat only a little more when biking calmly because you get an extra breeze while doing so.
I’m not a smart person though, maybe theres a place on earth where you wouldn’t feel any breeze while biking.
People aren’t walking instead they are stepping out of their homes with AC and riding in cars and busses with AC to their jobs which have AC…
Biking is reasonably strenuous exercise. Breeze or no breeze if its hot outside you are going to be sweaty as fuck and after you marinade in that sweat you are going to stink.
It’s the same everywhere though, and people who commute to work tend to have facility in their office(if they work there) to help with that. Else i heard some people wipe it down with baby wipe. If they work blue collar like me then what’s to worry?
Also ebike(class 1) help tremendously and also help keep you healthy.
That’s why you need it in combination with public transit. Even if it’s 90-100 degrees I can go for a bike ride for at least 10 minutes as long as I can keep moving and keep the air blowing on me. And I’m not even really in good shape. So as long as you can bike to a bus or train stop in a fairly short time, then hop on that where there’s air conditioning, then ride for a while, and eventually take another short bike ride to your work, then it should be fine. Of course during heat waves having a car as back up is definitely good or just to use during the hotter months also works and would go a long way to reducing green house gas emissions from either driving an ICE car or from the energy you use for your electric car.
If you are going to be on the bus you mostly need more busses not more bikes
But bikes solve the last mile problem that people tend to have with busses and trains. Plus they’re useful for shorter trips that wouldn’t really make sense for a bus or train. So giving better infrastructure to encourage that would definitely help even in a situation where you’re taking other forms of transit. As well as with how suburban America is it allows people to get out of the suburbs at a fairly good speed to get to public transit hubs or to stores.
I used to live in a county that solved that problem by having in effect a connecting bus for rural riders it operated a bit like a free taxi you had to schedule. Unlike an uber there was a longer wait as it had to serve many folks so you had to plan on leaving early and waiting but it did work out pretty well and it was anything but a rich county.
Yeah I think they have something similar where I live but I think you have to be an older person or have a disability to be able to use it. Which I think is great for those groups as they are the groups that would have more trouble with biking. But I feel like for a lot of other people if you’re not in super rural areas biking is probably a better solution both for the environment and for your own health.
Thats why we need EVs…
Electric bikes are a big help on hilly or hot commutes
The problem with that is they are pretty expensive for people in third would countries.
That’s why there is electric scooter.
Well, we’re comparing them with (electric) cars here, which are much more expensive.
Given how popular bikes used to be in Vietnam, which is positively scorching most of the time, I don’t think this narrative had any credibility.
Besides, with e-bikes being a thing, this take is even less valid
Most places I worked at had showers available for those who cycled a long distance or enjoyed a lunch activity such as running.
Sadly that’s not very common in the country where I live.
