A typical Xtracycle journey: business meeting in the next town, and Beautiful Wife asked me to pick up some shopping on the way back. I took five minutes to restock calories on the way home; the Xtracycle made a good footrest.
Sometimes people get quite concerned about our family and how difficult it must be for us without a car.
“We cope somehow” I tell them.
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October 19, 2011 at 12:10 pm
Kim
I have been finding it harder to cope without a bike than I did without a car, when moving from car to bike after I sold my last car 1994.
October 19, 2011 at 5:19 pm
Andy in Germany
I know what you mean: I felt lethargic and trapped when I was in Japan: all that lovely mountain to explore and no way of getting out there…
I think I’d feel trapped and stressed if I used a car now. What I love about a bike is that I don’t have to worry about the cost of every single journey, whereas if I was in a car I’d be watching the fuel gauge as it burned money…
October 19, 2011 at 3:31 pm
Oldfool
Coping like that is one of my better accomplishments.
October 19, 2011 at 5:16 pm
Iain Robinson
I admire you for your refusal to compromise. When I lived in Glasgow, it was easy to use the bike all the time, or use public transport. The city traffic didn’t seem as if it was personally trying to kill me. Now in deepest Snowdonia, every journey by bike is a suicide attempt as carnage crazed caravan towing holidaymakers and log trucks hog the road. I just know that you would say “to hell with them, I’m going out” in true British fashion. I’m just not that brave. This from a man who explores old mines for a hobby…
October 19, 2011 at 5:26 pm
Andy in Germany
@OldFool. You mean the cycling or the relaxing on the way? Either way I intend to keep practicing.
@Ian Robinson: I do not forget that I’m in a relatively good place for cycling: even though I whine about Ostfildern.
The picture above is taken on a ‘Feldweg’ literally a surfaced trail for the use of farmers getting to their fields and also pedestrians and cyclists. You’re unlikely to see anything like it in the UK, which is why there are so few cyclists. What exists in the UK is often silly, like the annoying ‘cycle lane’ in the Brittania Bridge crossing.
Secondly but importantly, the law is on my side here: If a driver crashes into me, unless I’m obviously doing something stupid like running a red light, then he is responsible. Even if I made a mistake the driver is considered to be in the wrong because they should be able to stop safely to avoid collisions. That’s the law as it was explained to me when I leaarned to drive in Germany.
In the UK it is the other way around: the law in on the side of the motorist and it shows. I’m probably going to come to the UK next year and I’d like to bring my bike because it’s convenient but I’m not sure about dealing with UK trafric again.
October 19, 2011 at 5:57 pm
Iain Robinson
Thanks, Andy. That’s very interesting…and shocking!
October 22, 2011 at 3:17 pm
ben
Plus, cool shoes! Make and model?
October 23, 2011 at 9:46 am
travis
You might fancy this. I found this while surfing the web. Cheers from Cali!
October 23, 2011 at 9:46 am
travis
http://vimeo.com/4629570
October 24, 2011 at 10:12 am
Andy in Germany
@Ian: Isn’t it? it is the reason so many cyclists are killed in the UK, yet so few drivers are proesecuted. Last year the government rejected a petition to change this, as part of “Ending the War on the Motorist”
@Ben: Thanks for the complement… I’ve no idea, my wife bought them for me as I have no fashion sense whatsover. I’ll pass your comment on though.
@Travis: Thanks for the link, I’d forgotten all about that project. It’s good to hear from you…