[Sosfbay-discuss] Green Bikers

[Bob Alavi]

Hi All, This was [not bilke commute friendly ] in Chronicle of Aug 5:
   
  " 
  TED LOEWENBERG  San Francisco 
  
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    Bicycle commuting is a dead horse 
  Editor -- Your frequent advocacy for bicycle commuting has made me rethink the idea. An experienced rider can probably maintain 20 mph for a reasonable distance in bike clothing. A commuter, dressed for work, would be hard pressed, especially in traffic and with crowded bike lanes.   When I rode 8 miles to my dental office on a good bike path, on a warm day, it usually required about 25 minutes of riding, and 30 minutes of drip dry, as there was no shower available. Schlepping a change of clothes back and forth is not a viable solution.   For most people, this is ridiculous, and to keep suggesting such a method as reasonable is to continue beating a very dead horse. Get real. Society requires subsidized transit for all in the Bay Area.   "
   
  I guess the "5 letters" were in response to this.  Since about the beginning of the year, I have been commuting with a bicycle.  I think it has been tremendously helpful in my case.  My commute is about 15 miles, one way.  But some of the items noted in the letter as problems of commuting with a bicyle, seem reasonable to me.  I just didn't like the tone of that letter.  To be specific, I think 20 MPH for a bike is way too fast in most city streets.  I feel I'd be going dangerously fast when I go over 12-15 MPH.  But that may be my problem.  Oh yes, sweating is a problem, but if I ride Light Rail for part of that commute, I hardly break a sweat.  Proper clothing is completely a different area by itself.
   
  We as a society have invested over 100 years to develop "automobile traffic friendly" system and roads.  If we invest a fraction of that into a "bicyle friendly" system, we -- that's all of us, will do a lot better.
   
  ba
   
  
Fred Duperrault <fredd at freeshell.org> wrote:
  Gerry, Tian, Cameron, Drew, Dana and other Green bikers - OR BIKERS TO 
BE, There are five "Letters to the Editor," in today's (Aug 12) SF 
Chronicle, under "A happy gaggle of bike commuters," that you might be 
interested in. Either get it on line or pick up a Chronicle today. The 
letters are on the "Opinion" page, Section B, Page 4.

Fred D.

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