Comments on: “Bike to Work Day”? http://whereswalden.com/2009/05/14/bike-to-work-day/ Mozilla, politics, economics, law, backpacking, cycling, and other random desiderata Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:00:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Corey Burger http://whereswalden.com/2009/05/14/bike-to-work-day/comment-page-1/#comment-134275 Corey Burger Fri, 15 May 2009 04:35:06 +0000 http://whereswalden.com/?p=725#comment-134275 Mardeg, I admire you for your almost-carbon neutral segway (it did require resources to construct and those batteries are not going to last forever). However, be aware not only are you driving your segway on trails that you likely cannot legally be on, the spurious argument about breathing in traffic fumes has been shown to be false. ie. the positive benefits from exercise well outweigh the negatives of the pollution. [I doubt Segways are so likely to be illegal on bike paths, myself. As for pollution, I agree, cars don't put out anywhere near enough for it to matter if you bike around them.] Mardeg, I admire you for your almost-carbon neutral segway (it did require resources to construct and those batteries are not going to last forever). However, be aware not only are you driving your segway on trails that you likely cannot legally be on, the spurious argument about breathing in traffic fumes has been shown to be false. ie. the positive benefits from exercise well outweigh the negatives of the pollution.

[I doubt Segways are so likely to be illegal on bike paths, myself. As for pollution, I agree, cars don't put out anywhere near enough for it to matter if you bike around them.]

]]> By: Robert O'Callahan http://whereswalden.com/2009/05/14/bike-to-work-day/comment-page-1/#comment-134265 Robert O'Callahan Thu, 14 May 2009 21:19:05 +0000 http://whereswalden.com/?p=725#comment-134265 I walk to work. Who's more righteous? [Heh, dunno. I'll note, however, that my next largest regular travel is five miles once or twice a week to church, and while that's certainly walkable it's not walkable without sacrificing an awful lot of time — so the bike is more righteous than the foot because the foot simply can't happen.] I walk to work. Who’s more righteous?

[Heh, dunno. I'll note, however, that my next largest regular travel is five miles once or twice a week to church, and while that's certainly walkable it's not walkable without sacrificing an awful lot of time — so the bike is more righteous than the foot because the foot simply can't happen.]

]]> By: Chris Jones http://whereswalden.com/2009/05/14/bike-to-work-day/comment-page-1/#comment-134264 Chris Jones Thu, 14 May 2009 20:40:44 +0000 http://whereswalden.com/?p=725#comment-134264 > Also worth noting: my bike has a smaller carbon footprint than your hybrid. This isn't always true. It's subtle, but when you bike you expend energy that is supplied by food. That food is supported by an infrastructure that releases carbon. And since the hybrid uses its "food" more efficiently than you do yours, there are cases when the hybrid wins. (Wish I could remember where I saw some numbers worked out ...) [I'm <em>extremely</em> skeptical the impact of the marginal amount of food I have to eat to bike rather than drive outweighs the rather more significant amount due to burning gas to travel the same distance, especially with a metabolism that's as efficient as mine that doesn't really need to consume any extra food to do said biking. In any case I really don't care about the footprint at all, it's just pure taunt. Biking rather than driving is all about enjoyment and cost for me.] > Also worth noting: my bike has a smaller carbon footprint than your hybrid.

This isn’t always true. It’s subtle, but when you bike you expend energy that is supplied by food. That food is supported by an infrastructure that releases carbon. And since the hybrid uses its “food” more efficiently than you do yours, there are cases when the hybrid wins. (Wish I could remember where I saw some numbers worked out …)

[I'm extremely skeptical the impact of the marginal amount of food I have to eat to bike rather than drive outweighs the rather more significant amount due to burning gas to travel the same distance, especially with a metabolism that's as efficient as mine that doesn't really need to consume any extra food to do said biking. In any case I really don't care about the footprint at all, it's just pure taunt. Biking rather than driving is all about enjoyment and cost for me.]

]]> By: Mardeg http://whereswalden.com/2009/05/14/bike-to-work-day/comment-page-1/#comment-134263 Mardeg Thu, 14 May 2009 20:01:23 +0000 http://whereswalden.com/?p=725#comment-134263 I got rid of my car after getting a Segway. The carbon footprint is also neutral since I choose to have my electricity coming from green sources, an option by my provider. Also it gets me to work every day without the need to shower and change after arriving at work, and for a few weeks recovering from combined ankle sprain knee ligament damage, it got me to work fine when cycling would have been hell. I still cycle/swim/other exercise in my own time, just as those I pass on my way to work in gridlock sitting in their cars would do. One thing I can't help thinking about is the amount of heavy breathing going into serious bike riding amongst the pollution of traffic, and I wonder why bicyclists prefer the road for speed when I glide entirely on bike paths which thankfully are mostly not near traffic, without needing to breathe as heavily on my segway. The constant need to keep going for momentum's sake sees about 90% of bicyclists go past me through red lights while I'm content to be stationary on my self-balancing device. I got rid of my car after getting a Segway. The carbon footprint is also neutral since I choose to have my electricity coming from green sources, an option by my provider. Also it gets me to work every day without the need to shower and change after arriving at work, and for a few weeks recovering from combined ankle sprain knee ligament damage, it got me to work fine when cycling would have been hell.
I still cycle/swim/other exercise in my own time, just as those I pass on my way to work in gridlock sitting in their cars would do.

One thing I can’t help thinking about is the amount of heavy breathing going into serious bike riding amongst the pollution of traffic, and I wonder why bicyclists prefer the road for speed when I glide entirely on bike paths which thankfully are mostly not near traffic, without needing to breathe as heavily on my segway.

The constant need to keep going for momentum’s sake sees about 90% of bicyclists go past me through red lights while I’m content to be stationary on my self-balancing device.

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