Half of all car journeys in Europe are shorter than 5km, which takes 15-20
minutes on your bike. As I tell people how great cycling is as a form of
daily transport, I hear all kinds of silly excuses. It's just like 10-15
years ago when I told people about how cool the internet is and how they
should give it a try.
People told me the internet is too difficult to use, what's the point,
it's only for nerds, I can use a telephone, what about the elderly, bla
bla bla. Well, now everybody uses the internet all the time, and I read
somewhere that elderly spend more time on the internet than other people.
So I think cycling is going to go the same way as the internet. You might
counter that bicycles are an older invention then the internet, but
bicycles are undergoing a quick development. I've read that London has had
a big increase in folding bikes, while cargo bikes are proliferating in
Copenhagen. The classic Christiania cargo tricycle is actually no older
than the Brompton. The latest thing is the longtail bike, like the Yuba
Mundo, Kona Ute and Surly Big Dummy.
For those of you who fear hills and cold are bad for cycling, find out
about Basel, Switzerland and Trondheim, Norway. These are towns where
hills, cold and bikes all love one another.
http://www.copenhagenize.com/2007/11/debunking-flat-countrybike-country-myth.html
Erik Sandblom
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Oil is for sissies
I get the impression that cycling is on the up too, and you could be
right, but I'm not sure if it's just that I take a lot of interest in
it and so spot the news articles etc. If I was into model boats or
water-colour painting I might think they were about to take over the
world too. There's also the phenomenon of chronocentricity to
consider.
So what's going to push cycling into exponential growth the way porn
did for the internet?
> So what's going to push cycling into exponential growth the way porn
> did for the internet?
how about this???
http://www.campyonly.com/images/modbikes/2006/naked_cyclists.jpg
i'd look at finding examples with greater than 5-7% as is not much
steeper than the old railway my folks house is near.
even in flatish greater london there are hills knocking on 15% such as
some of the hills to richmound park, which you see cyclists.
did you mean 1 in 5 rather than 5%?
roger
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www.rogermerriman.com