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Bike commuting: slackers welcomeWe really mean it — wear whatever you want.
The slacker’s guide to bike commuting provoked an interesting response. A lot of old hands offered up a lot of good advice, but the tone of the advice was a bit…prescriptive for a blog post whose central point was that new bike commuters can come as they are. In particular, the photo of a Dutch cyclist provoked a lot of snickers. People seemed to think the image is a stock photo or model shot. Or maybe a cycling safety public service announcement: don’t be like this guy if you want to live past the next stop sign. But no. This is a real bicycle commuter in Amsterdam, really wearing a suit and tie, really checking his text messages as he pedals his sit-up-and-beg style commuter along a Dutch street, a bag draped over his handlebars. There’s a decent chance that much of his commute is on segregated bike lanes that are fully protected from cars, and he’s probably biking quite slowly by American speed-racer standards. This is what a strong bicycle commuting culture looks like. Obviously this guy isn’t practicing ideal safety standards, much as those of us who drive around while talking on a cell phone aren’t being as safe as we could be. Regardless, Americans have pretty much nothing to tell the Dutch about how to get around on bicycles. For the most part, Dutch people don’t wear helmets. They don’t wear special cycling clothes. And they don’t ride expensive specialty bikes. Yet they seem to managing pretty well. Same goes for China. In China, you’ll see old ladies and rumpled businessmen on bikes. Fashionistas in high heels. High school students jabbering into cell phones. Dogs riding in handlebar baskets. Most people are pushing cheap, single-gear clunkers, and absolutely one wears a helmet. Why would you, when you’re cruising along slowly in a river of bikes? It’s about as dangerous as walking. Now, obviously the moral here isn’t that we should all stop wearing helmets so we can be more like the Dutch. Safety is important, and the key safety device on any bicycle is the rider. So ride smart, and please don’t talk on your cell phone while doing so. But biking is also a lot less complicated than we sometimes make it out to be. By all means, get the equipment that makes your ride more enjoyable, if that’s what moves you. But mostly just get started riding. Image by Dana Underwood. Comments10 comment(s) on this post. Leave your own!
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Good point....a great commuter bike is the Danish brand Velorbis (www.velorbis.com). You can Read more about the Danish cycle culture at http://copenhagengirlsonbikes.blogspot.com/
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I just got back from my first trip to China (Beijing and Xian). I would hardly describe cycling there as "cruising along slowly in a river of bikes." With cars and scooters clogging up the roads and not seeming to follow any rules, cycling seems chaotic and incredibly dangerous. Of course, walking did too.
That doesn't seem to stop anyone from biking, and I never saw anyone wearing helmets. It was definitely refreshing to see people just biking and making it work with whatever and whomever they needed to transport. I especially loved how so many parents transport their kids to school on the back of a bike, even high school students. And there are all manner of jerry rigged bikes to transport the elderly or cargo or livestock. It's definitely a whole different cycling culture than here in the US.
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In Stockholm we saw many people on bikes dressed in ordinary clothes, riding along and talking on their cell phone headsets. Most ride very old bikes to reduce the risk of them being stolen. (So says my brother, who lives there.)When I saw this pic, I thought, yeah, that looks like the Europe I saw.
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I live in Key West FL, a small flat island, where we ride alot like the Dutch. The typical bike is a cruiser with a fat cushy seat, high handle bars and an upright riding posture. It's rare to see helmets and usually on the tourists. Many of us commute almost exclusively by bicycle and use all manor of baskets, bike trailers and other home made bicycle gear. People ride talking on cell phones, talking pictures, carrying dogs, igunanas, and anything else you can imagine. Auto speed limits are low and bicycle accidents are rare. I love the bike life.
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I am glad more and more Americans are looking at bike commuting as something enjoyable and normal to their lives, instead of as the end of civilzation as we know it. However, virtually every large city in America (especially the South and Southwest) needs safer roads for bikers before it will become more wide spread and practical.
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it also helps that in Amsterdam the cyclists have the law on their side; cars are terrified of hitting cyclists because if they do they are automatically at fault and the consequences are severe. i wish American drivers were as respectful of cyclists, even if it begins from fear of the law.
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I recently started bike commuting on my old mountain bike. I couldn't imagine doing it on a fixed-gear bike, even though it's only a 10-mile round trip. I start and end up at pretty much the same elevation, but have (averaged out) 230ft of elevation changes, some of them pretty steep. It takes me 25 minutes or so to go 5 miles, and I get sweaty (I'm not a girl who just glows), so I wear wicking workout gear on the ride, and change when I get to work and again when I get home. I am fortunate enough to have a garage to park my bike at work and at home, and a shower if needed at work.
I think I'm getting pretty fit, even if this puts me in the "racing to work" category of people. I've logged about 180 miles on my bike so far, which makes me feel good that those miles are not on my car. I'm also looking for another part-time job, and one of the requirements is that it is in biking distance :).
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I'd like to encourage anyone who's thinking of commuting by bike to give it a shot. It takes some planning, but you get to work feeling like you did something useful.
An extra incentive: I take the miles I would otherwise be driving and add them to my actual driving miles to come up with something you could call Effective Miles Per Gallon (empg). My example: In the last 4 weeks I've ridden to work every day (15 miles round trip). 20 work days times 15 equals 300 miles. In the same period I've driven 72 miles. My (sorry) 1998 Ford Explorer gets about 15 mpg. Figure I've used 5 gallons of gas to go 372 miles, so my empg becomes more than 70. And each time I bike that number goes up, so I'm more likely to bike next time.
Fun with numbers, good for me, benefit the planet.
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WHat is the deal with all the "Ya, no helmets" comments? Is this post all about they joy of not wearing helmets? You should always wear a helmet, no matter how fast you are riding! The number of head injuries from biking and rollerblading accidents in the US is staggering. You can die instantly while "cruising slowly through a river of bikers" if you get bumped, or hit a rock, etc. I have actually seen a guy, right in front of me have a serious head injury. He was crossing a street on his bicycle, very slowly, hit a hole, fell over, hit his head first. ON a bike you don't have the luxury of sticking out your hands in front of you. IF you are moving slowly, you will probably fall to the side, good luck stopping yourself with your hands. He hit his head hard, could not stand up. Cars had to screech to a halt and swerve to avoid hitting him. The cars were only travelling at 25-30 mph. He could not get out of the street until the ambulance came and picked him up. THIs was really bad, and it was slow moving in a relatively safe traffic area. I repeat ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET! I bike commute, and i wear my helmet, and it never messes up my hair. I usually can brush it out, or put it up once I get to work.
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@ Michelle, the point here is not to say do NOT wear helmets, but to let people choose for themselves. Besides, you failed to get the point that it is not the US, trust me, I really believe everyone who says that cycling is very dangerous in the US. But over here in the Netherlands there is no danger from cars, as someone else pointed out, cars are by law responsible in a crash, the only way not to be presumed at fault is to prove that the cyclist (or pedestrian for that matter) delibirately stepped in front of the car.
Apart from that, every motorist is also a cyclist. There is no devision between 'cultures'. There is no 'bicycle culture', people just ride. Motorists know cyclists are there, and watch out for them, you'd fail your (very expensive) driving exam if you don't watch out for cyclists.
This (and a number of other factors, including traffic awareness classes for every child of aprox. 10 years old) means that cycling is safe for toddlers and their grandparents and everyone in between. On seperated paths, in a safe environment.
The likelyhood of being hit by a car is there, obviously, but it is very small. Just like it is possible to be attacked by a lion in the centre of Amsterdam, but you still don't bring cages, guns and hunters with you, so why should you bring a helmet when the chances of a collision are so small.
For info on bicycle culture (very tongue-in-cheek) see: http://www.copenhagenize.com/2007/11/18-ways-to-know-that-you-have-bicycle.html
For info on bicycle helmets with research and facts but without the "you'll die and I know a person, whose grandmothers' nephew's neighbour had an accident and nearly died!" rants. See: http://www.magma.ca/~ocbc/hfaq.html
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