Comments cyclelicious has made

  • I recall a discussion on The Oil Drum website a few years ago where we discussed transportation after "Peak Oil" and a few people wondered how in the world will we ever get around on our bikes if there's no affordable petroleum available to manufacture and ship polystyrene bike helmets?On Ask Umbra on bike helmets posted 1 month, 1 week ago 12 Responses
  • Re #1 (driving supports terrorism) -- I've and others have tried that in earnest with people outside of the environmentalist echo chamber. The general response is anger that anyone would accuse them of supporting terrorism. They just don't make the connection. There's a video on Youtube somewhere where a professor is testifying in a state legislature on the importance of energy independence. I wish I could find the video, but he makes a reference to the "If you ride alone you ride with Bin Laden" book cover and one of the representatives threw a hissy fit about because she didn't like the implication that her selfish act of riding alone might actually have consequences for other people.On So what if global warming is a hoax? posted 1 month, 1 week ago 35 Responses
  • Thanks for the attribution on my photo! I think you'd expect a parking industry group to say more parking is needed for transit. In my area (SF Bay Area), the suburban stations are indeed surrounded by monstrous parking structures, but there are other, lower impact ways to get people to transit. In San Francisco, for example, most people WALK to and from BART and Muni stations. Systemwide, 35% of BART riders drive to the station, while in the suburban areas that number is more like 80% and above. What parking does is enable transit oriented suburban sprawl. I guess it's less evil than just building more highway lanes, but it's still encouraging the type of development patterns that resulted in the great real estate bubble of 2008.On For public transportation to survive, we all need to ... drive more? posted 1 month, 1 week ago 4 Responses

  • Skirt guards in the USA

    Chain guards are very widely available and can be fitted to many bikes. Ask your bike shop to check their distributor catalogs. If they give you a hard time, find another bike shop.

    Skirt guards a little more problematic -- I don't know of aftermarket skirt guards in the United States, though I haven't looked in the catalogs yet. If you don't want to go the DIY route suggested by Umbra, you can always buy a new bike equipped with a skirt guard. The two models available in the United States are the Electra Amsterdam & Batavus Personal Bike AT. On Umbra on biking in a skirt posted 1 year, 6 months ago 22 Responses

  • That's unexpected

    But then it was Nixon who created the EPA and the Clean Air and Water bills into law. California Governor Schwarzenegger is about as progressive as they come among U.S. governors when it comes to pushing "green" initiatives. Go figure.On Republican convention will go green posted 1 year, 8 months ago 10 Responses

  • transit use

    Oil from tar sands becomes profitable not because of new technologies and processes, but because $100+/bbl makes these expensive resources profitable. That's a direct corollary to peak oil.

    In the San Francisco Bay Area, I've seen a big increase in the number of people riding Caltrain every day. I'm also used to seeing bike ridership drop to almost nothing during the winter -- it dropped some this past winter, but not nearly as much as in the past.

    Regarding more efficient cars  -- don't forget about Jevon's Paradox! The more efficiently we can use a resource, the more available it becomes to a wider population and the faster we'll use it up.On Americans reduce gas consumption as prices continue to rise posted 1 year, 8 months ago 12 Responses

  • Cycle Clips

    Regarding something to hold your pants away from the chain, is this what you're looking for?.On Bike commuting fashion tips posted 2 years, 8 months ago 52 Responses

  • No wonder nobody bike commutes

    The article starts with promise "A commuter should be able to step off the bike and head straight for the coffee machine" but then is followed with eleven paragraphs of special gear you need to make it work.

    Why stop at an electric bike if you want to reduce effort? Here's an innovation: A completely enclosed metal cage with glass "windshields" so you don't even need a helmet to muss your hair. And use a gasoline engine so you can get to work even faster. Install air conditioning and music for greater comfort. And a heater so you don't even need gloves or mittens or headbands. (Not that Seattle ever gets cold enough for mittens, sheez.)

    Seriously, if you don't want to sweat, just slow down. If you don't want grease stains on your clothes, roll up your pants or get a proper commuting bike with a chainguard. Where I now ride in California, women cycle in skirts all the time.

    And don't ride your bike into potholes, water filled or otherwise. If you don't know how to dodge these without getting smacked by traffic, figure it out or take a class, after reporting the pothole to the city, of course.On Bike commuting fashion tips posted 2 years, 8 months ago 52 Responses

  • I missed the train...

    I was in the South Bay Area (San Francisco) today for a job interview, just barely missed a connecting train because the first train I took was about a minute late, and so I missed the local samTrans bus and ended up walking 3 1/2 miles to my job interview in Menlo Park and got there 15 minutes late which looks really really bad and reflects poorly on me.

    I could've been late if I rented a car and got stuck in traffic on 101, but getting stuck in traffic is more socially acceptable than saying "I missed the train."On Is convenience the drug that salves commuting guilt? posted 3 years, 8 months ago 6 Responses

  • UK News article

    Here's an article from the Times and Kjonaas and company.On 'Eco-terrorism': Careful with that website, Eugene posted 3 years, 8 months ago 25 Responses

  • Legislated sprawl

    "suburbs are less designed than legislated," but the legislation occurs because the public says they want that kind of development.

    In my city, there's a vocal group of residents who fight the good fight against big boxes and sprawl. In our last city council election we had a number of good candidates -- for each seat (including the one for mayor) there were pro-sprawl and anti-sprawl candidates. Although the anti-sprawl crowd make themselves known, write letters to the editor, and attend city council meetings and appear in the news and television, the pro-development candidates were the clear winners by large percentages.On Why isn't there more new urbanism? posted 3 years, 8 months ago 28 Responses