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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 14, 2013 3:40:35 GMT
Ohhhhhhhhh, Lola!!!
Somehow missed seeing your lovely and lyrical answer. I'm so happy for you.
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Post by tod2 on Jan 14, 2013 6:18:01 GMT
Oh wow Lola! You have my admiration - I longed to give it a go but just kept putting if off. There were two Velib stands below our apartment and one block away was the Canal St Martin. I'm mad with myself now
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2013 7:15:17 GMT
I still use Vélibs almost every day. I have the annual subscription for 29€. However, due to the weather, these last few days I have only taken trips that lasted..... 2 minutes. That's because there is a bike station next to the nursing home and another one next to my apartment.
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Post by anshjain97 on Jan 14, 2013 14:56:34 GMT
There were thoughts about making Bangalore more cycle-friendly, but even if it happens (ha ha), bike lanes are unimaginable- we first need proper footpaths! Besides, the mentality of drivers towards existing cyclists.
Most people who cycle today are people like newspaper deliverers, milkmen etc. Few people do it as an exercise- but I've occasionally seen some. Me, I used to do it in my apartment area but stopped it now.
Compared to the likes of Paris, Munich and Salzburg, Bangalore has a LOOOOOOOOOOONG way to go...
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2013 15:06:08 GMT
Well Paris started from just about zero. The first little attempts about 30 years ago were laughable -- it amounted to painting some green arrows on the pavement just to indicate "this is where bicycles should be." Everything that finally happened later was copied from other cities, mostly Strasbourg, which proved that a city can be made cycle friendly and also be a viable means of transportation, and Lyon, which invented the modern electronic system of bike sharing.
Now apparently Paris is the model for bike sharing systems across the world (and we have the same system for electric cars now), but it still isn't as bike friendly as it needs to be. Then again, I don't that any really big city can be, because even when you manage to have complete separate lanes for bikes, there are always plenty of careless pedestrians to make things go wrong.
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Post by anshjain97 on Jan 14, 2013 15:10:21 GMT
Interesting, had no idea, thanks.
Indian traffic conditions are likely to remain the way they are. Hey, what are those while lines appearing periodically in the road meant for? To control traffic flow?! Oh, the horror! What ideas our stupid municipal corporation has!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2013 21:15:22 GMT
I was reading that there is a major debate in Geneva at the moment between the pro and anti municipal cycle advocates.
The city would like to implement the Montréal Bixi system with 2000 bikes in 150 stations but right wing factions do not want any foreign system to be used. The right wing claims that the cost per bike is $4000 instead of the official $1062. They will just have to fight it out to determine what the truth is.
Meanwhile, there are currently 29,000 Bixi bikes on the road in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. However, London is the only European city that uses the Bixi system (8000 bikes).
What really strikes me is the cost of annual subscriptions in certain cities. London has just changed the rate from $70 to $140 and Barcelona has gone from $60 to $130. When I think that my Paris subscription started out at 29€ and has never changed (except for going down sometimes when they offered 14 months for the price of 12), I am aghast at these other prices -- but I would pay those rates anyway if I had to, because it is still a fantastic deal for getting around a city.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2013 20:20:16 GMT
The Geneva (right wing dominated) municipal council sent the whole project back to the financing commission today. No hope for any bikes soon even though the government cost is only 700,000 francs.
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Post by lagatta on Jan 26, 2013 19:30:55 GMT
They just want more room for their cars, I guess. Don't seem to realise that more cyclists would mean fewer cars and more room for remaining cars.
Or perhaps they just don't want anyone to have fun. Shades of Calvin!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2013 14:30:42 GMT
Things are different today at the French Riviera. For millions of Euro was built in the past along the coast, between the beaches and the street, a special way for bikes. It start (or end) near the harbor in Nice and end (or start) after the town Cagnes s/mer. Someting of nearly 20km. But in Cagnes it's written on both sides of the track Speed limit 10km/h and the police check with mobile speed cameras if you are quicker. The fine is today 7€.....!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2013 14:59:30 GMT
I don't have the slightest idea how fast I go on my bike -- not very fast, I think -- but some people certainly go too fast. They are the same ones who never stop for traffic signals because they hate ever stopping their bike.
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Post by bjd on Jan 30, 2013 15:52:59 GMT
10 kph is not very fast on a bike. At that speed you are just about pedalling to stay upright.
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Post by lagatta on Jan 30, 2013 16:21:20 GMT
It is extremely slow. I usually go above that - about 15kph - and I'm a middle-aged non-athlete on an old Raleigh Sprite, and not trying to speed.
Speeding cyclists can be a problem (in particular in school zones and other sensitive areas) but I don't think a limit of lower than 15kph (which is really not fast) is workable. Sounds like a money grab, or as if it was written by someone who knows absolutely nothing about cycling.
Sometimes I do cycle extremely slowly, as a balance exercise (useful as one ages). Hard to sustain over long periods.
There are slow races - the last person to arrive at the end wins, but he or she must not put foot down or tip over!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2013 13:16:41 GMT
"it was written by someone who knows absolutely nothing about cycling." How do you know lagatta?
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Post by lagatta on Feb 4, 2013 17:03:16 GMT
I don't "know". Please re-read my sentence; it was clearly an opinion.
However, it is very difficult to cycle that very slowly, unless you are on a tricycle.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2013 18:09:53 GMT
The only way I could ride that slow would be if I was up against a stiff wind. That's work enough as it is.
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Post by rikita on Feb 4, 2013 21:17:03 GMT
I don't have the slightest idea how fast I go on my bike -- not very fast, I think -- but some people certainly go too fast. They are the same ones who never stop for traffic signals because they hate ever stopping their bike. hm, around here it often seems the opposite to me (though i suppose you can't generalize) - a lot of people going slow but ignoring traffic lights, as if they that way want to make up for the lost time...
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Post by lagatta on Feb 4, 2013 23:25:50 GMT
I had the impression that Berlin traffic police were fairly strict about that sort of thing.
I don't usually go very fast but 10k an hour is EXTREMELY slow.
Guess it will be a bit until you get back in the saddle. Do parents in Berlin have cargo bikes (for children and shopping) as in Netherlands and Denmark? We've started to see a few here.
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Post by fumobici on Feb 4, 2013 23:42:25 GMT
10 km/h is impossibly slow on a bicycle. If people actually rode below that speed they would be wobbling and falling over trying to stay upright.
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Post by lagatta on Feb 5, 2013 0:03:57 GMT
Yes, as I said earlier on, cycling at 10k or slower is a difficult balancing exercise. And you do wobble.
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Post by rikita on Feb 9, 2013 14:42:23 GMT
really? i never saw the police doing anything about people going over red lights... maybe it depends on the district though...
not sure what a cargo bike is... people either have kids seats on their bikes, or trailers, or some have like a big thing in front of the bike that the kids sit in. some also cycle with their kids in a baby sling or similar on their front, but i find that really dangerous...
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Post by lagatta on Feb 9, 2013 17:07:33 GMT
The cargo bike has the big thing in the front that children sit in, and one can also carry a lot of groceries or other items. bakfiets.nl/de/ In Dutch it is a bakfiets. I see Lastenrad and Cargobike in German descriptions. Of course a Lastenrad / Cargobike /Triporteur etc can also be a much heavier human-powered vehicle - there is a house moving firm here that moves furniture and appliances by cargo bike. Yeah, the baby slings always make me nervous too...
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2013 18:06:06 GMT
I don't like to see babies on bikes, even when their parents have put helmets on them.
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Post by rikita on Feb 9, 2013 18:15:41 GMT
yeah, we have some of those lastenräder here then, but they aren't that common - not that rare that the sight of one is surprising either, though... well, on baby seats on the bike, the child has to be able to sit very securely, then i suppose it is fine... for the time before that (and after, when she's still pretty small) i am planning to use the trailer my dad promised to give me (he bought it back when my brother was little), though... something like this: though even for this i will wait until she is a little bit older...
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Post by lagatta on Feb 10, 2013 0:59:11 GMT
Why, Kerouac? It is common practice in the Netherlands, and the accident rate is very, very low. Probably considerably lower than that of "babies in cars" in other countries.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2013 13:27:01 GMT
I would be a nervous wreck with a child on a bike sitting behind me,. I would be constantly looking behind me and therefore creating a hazard for all involved.
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Post by htmb on Feb 10, 2013 13:46:54 GMT
When each of my daughters was small I rode them around on the back of my bicycle. I had a chair seat that extended down so it even covered the backs of their legs. I also had a plastic screen that covered the upper part of the rear tire to keep little fingers away from the spokes. My younger daughter had a helmet. I don't they were available during my older daughter's time.
The seat had a shoulder and lap harness and the baby was so close to my back that occasionally I would have a little head resting there. It would not have been possible to turn around and see a child without totally stopping because the child was extremely close, but I was able to reach one hand back to touch them and give them a little pat.
My daughters loved riding in the bike seat. I usually rode on bike paths separate from roads. I'm not one to feel comfortable riding alongside heavy traffic anyway. When my youngest was little we made a memorable ride to a University of Florida outdoor area to hear Bill Clinton and Al Gore speak during the first presidential campaign. My daughter even had her own built in perch.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2013 23:35:14 GMT
Why, Kerouac? It is common practice in the Netherlands, and the accident rate is very, very low. Probably considerably lower than that of "babies in cars" in other countries. I simply feel that babies are extremely fragile and that bicycles do not provide sufficient protection. Both the metro and bus systems provide excellent safe transportation for babies.
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Post by lagatta on Feb 10, 2013 23:44:03 GMT
Well, the Dutch and Danes who do that have separate bicycle paths or lanes anywhere there is significant traffic. Rikita will correct me, but my friends in Germany say the dedicated paths, while much better than in most countries, vary a lot between cities and regions.
It is good that bike paths are developing in Florida, where you can ride all year long (though in the hottest months you would want to avoid noon and afternoon until the shadows are longer).
My my, they are young adult women now. Do they cycle?
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Post by htmb on Feb 11, 2013 1:33:44 GMT
;D ......my daughters? One would if she could, but her daughters attend school a very long distance away from their home so she drives to and from the school every day. There is also no public transportation available. It is a very wonderful school and the drive is the ONLY drawback. The other daughter takes two forms of public transportation to and from work every day in a large metropolitan area. Riding a bicycle would be impossible. I never mentioned my two sons..... They were born 27 months after the first daughter so their rides on the back of my bike were slim and none. Because we are a university town with 40,000 students on campus, not to mention instructors and staff, many people park cars in lots on the edge of campus and either ride a bike or take the bus to school. I attended college for many years and always rode my bike. There just was nowhere to park even if you could get on campus. In the city we have a lot of bike lanes farther away from the university, but we also have a long way to go towards becoming a bike friendly town.
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