Comment by paulcole
4 years ago
You can always come up with a million reasons not to do something. Plenty of people bike safely in NYC, SF, and Seattle.
You don’t have to wish for an alt-transit solution that’s not a bus. Bikes exist. The more people who ride them the safer and more normalized they get.
I’ve bicycled (conservatively) 7,5000 or so urban/downtown miles over the past decade or so in Portland, OR. I get wet, I get sweaty, I get tired, I get into the occasional close call with cars, I get scared.
My biggest tips are: don’t buy a bunch of gear at once. Buy 1 thing at a time once you figure out what you might like. Ride slower, it’s not a race. If you get too scared, pull of the road, walk your bike, and take a break — I still do it even after a decade of riding.
> Plenty of people bike safely in NYC, SF, and Seattle.
Oh i know and power to them. Personally, i'm very clumsy and not very balanced, so i don't feel like i'd be comfortable riding in the city. I've rode a bike around silicon valley a bit, and it was fine.. most of the time.
I used to bike a lot in youth, (mostly on bike paths for fun), and for sure i know that a mostly-bike/ped environment feels much safer.
> The more people who ride them the safer and more normalized they get.
This is why i've been keeping an Ebike in the back of my mind (and hoping for alternatives to emerge). I'm hopeful for a future where cars are second-class citizens on urban streets.
Maybe i'll try biking around my neighborhood this spring, and see if I can get used to it.
(BTW thanks for the tips :) )