On Feb 22, 2018, Paul Schlyter wrote
(in et):

On Thu, 22 Feb 2018 11:24:12 -0800 (PST), Quadibloc
wrote:
On Thursday, February 22, 2018 at 12:06:58 AM UTC-7, Chris.B wrote:

A pleasant cycle ride with all the known health and economic
benefits in some countries.

In the event of hills, an electrically assisted cycle might be an
option.
At least until you become reasonably fit.

Your mileage may vary.

Ride a bicycle to work?

I know you are not the only person to suggest this, but my
immediate reaction
is: are you kidding?

There are two kinds of work. One is physical labor, in which case
tiring oneself
out by the physical exertion of riding a bicycle to it is not a
good idea. The
other is office work. In general, offices don't include showers and
changing
facilities, so one is not advised to work up a sweat by the process
of getting
to work.

In any case, this is all very well, but when it is raining, windy,
or the
temperature is well below freezing, again, riding a bicycle is an
unattractive
choice.

In any case, this is retrogression. The correct movement away from
the cars of
today is towards flying cars, not towards bicycles. That is
progress!

Ever heard about the electric bicycle?

Regarding bicycling in cold weather: physical exercise keeps you
warm.

When I first got out of the Navy I lived in Oakland, CA, just south of Lake
Merritt, I worked in downtown Berkeley just about 6 miles away. At the time I
did not have a car so I either rode a bicycle, took the bus or took the BART.
If I took BART I also had to take a bus first to get to the BART station.
Taking the bus and/or BART took me close to an hour, riding the bike took me
28 minutes unless it was raining then it took me 25. I guess I was faster in
the rain. I kept a change of clothes at work plus a clean towel. I rode
almost every day, I did not have a problem with sweat even in the summer, I
did not push it that hard. Heck, it took me longer to drive there than to
bike, plus no hunting around to find a parking spot.

Later I moved to Missouri and still rode a bike to get to work, the ride was
shorter, but northern Missouri actually does have real weather. I personally
hate cold weather and snow and ice are not fun to ride in, but it was much
cheaper to ride than to buy a car at that time plus I actually enjoy riding a
bike, I should get one again now that I am retired.

The weather is also pretty much the same in NE Kansas where I now live, and I
rode a bike here for years as well.

I rode pretty much every day for 35 years even when I owned and drove a car.
It was, most times, a faster, easier way to get to work, it certainly woke me
up and got the blood flowing. I even got to work faster than my boss after an
ice storm, though I did have to do part of it using the bike as a walker it
was so slick though part of town.

A bike is good exercise, can be a lot of fun and sure makes it easier to find
a parking spot. It was also rather handy while I was in the Navy, even on
shipboard. Carry it on or off the ship, go just about anywhere. At sea I had
a set of rollers so could even ride while at sea. Much safer than dodging
planes on the flight deck or hanger bay trying to jog. I kept the bike and
rollers in one of our equipment spaces, pull them out, turn on the music and
a book and put in an hour or two. Pull into a port and off you go.

I never rode an electric bike, but I did once have the loan of a early 40’s
bike with an equally old gas engine, I think it had something like the power
of 25 enraged chickens. It was actually a lot of fun to ride for the week I
had it. It belonged to my landlord at the time, he wanted me to fix it up for
him and to test it out. I did and it was fun.

--
Harry F. Leopold
The Prints of Darkness (remove gene to email)