Things That Can Be Carried On A Bike (#150)...with a few comments

A new ceiling exhaust fan.


This is my 150th post of Things That Can Be Carried On A Bike and I have a few thoughts going on in my head. One is that I really feel a lot of things can be carried on a bike...most of the things that can be carried in a car, but I bike it's way more fun. At least I think so.

Another thought is how easy it is to do...especially with the nice weather rolling in. My newest toy is the odometer on my handlebars (pictured below). I haven't had one of these in years and it's a lot of fun. And after running some errands today I was surprised to see that I logged on almost 15 miles. I know that's not a lot to some, but just doing basic errands around the city and not having to move my motorized vehicle I think it is a lot...and I was able to carry everything I needed (comfortably) on the bike. It was a beautiful day and doing errands on bike was no doubt way more fun than sitting on a couch in a metal box with a gas pedal.

The last thought is a little disheartening, I think. And it's really more of a question than a thought. The question is I'm wondering if poor treatment against cyclists is getting worse or is it just my imagination. On this blog I try mostly to focus on the positive rather than the negative...but it just seems lately that I've been yelled at out car windows on a weekly basis (and even threatened once last week). Specifics aren't necessary because I don't want this to be an "us-against-them" conversation, and nor am I always proud of my reaction/response to these shouts/threats.  I just had to get this off my chest. Is this just me, or has it been worse lately. As mentioned in many previous posts I am not entirely car-free, I own a small pickup truck (which I don't use that often), but I personally believe there are simply too many cars on the road today...there's not enough room. My point is, I believe, that if my bike is my major means of transportation, and in many cases I pedal as fast as the car traffic shuttling from light-to-light, shouldn't I have the same rights?

Comments

DanT said…
Joe, you will find that most of the angry folks will have been in their vehicles for hours a day and a basically feeling frustrated.

Every minute they spend is costing them gas money and time lost. They are earning less per hour in income and spending more per hour on gas. No wonder they are frustrated. I suspect that more rage is happening in general these days because of the stress that most folks are under.

Keep biking!
John in NH said…
Actually I just posted a long post on the same topic of the "anti-cyclist" coming out of the woodwork, Its weird I don't know how to explain it other than with more cyclists about they have to pay attention a bit more and hate doing it, where as I was basically the only long distance guy on a bike in the winter months.

ohh and odometers are sweet!! I love mine, I actually didn't realize I was doing close to 17miles on some days from biking from my Co-Op to the uni and around campus on top of my ~11 mile round trip commute.

I will get a link to your post on mine, but it proves my theory a little actually...