Assumptions.....

[Trevrev]

I've been cycling to work for four years now, people still say to me......" what, everyday? Even in the rain? "
The same people that see you walk through the door drenched.

 

[Hip Priest]

Lass in work: How far do you cycle in?
Me: Four and a half miles
Lass in work: God, how long does that take you?
Me: About 20-25 minutes.
Lass in work: I don't know how anyone could do that AND do a day's work*

*We work in desk jobs

 

[400bhp]

Our entire culture revolves around the car and a peculiar liking for it. Somewhere in my past I missed out on this and as a result I'm too often viewed as being a strange, suspicious and possibly subversive person!

It'scalled Capitalism, the American model.

"They" haven't figured how to oil the wheels of the economy without complete reliance of the motor car.

 

[400bhp]

Why can't people understand that I don't find cars objects of desire, do find bikes desirable and drool over them, that I don't enjoy driving, and when I buy a car I don't care whether it's fashionable, cool, or whatever, I just want it to meet a list of functional criteria, have a low cost of ownership over 15 years (difficult to find a figure for that) and be the cheapest that meeets those requirements???

Why can't people understand that I buy cars new and then run them for about 15 years/ 250,000 miles/ until they fall apart, that it doesn't bother me that my car isn't usually the latest model/ new/ shiny? Why can't they understand that I don't want to get credit to buy a newer/ bigger/ faster one, and that I squirrel away the expenses I get from employers/ HMRC allowance to buy a new one eventually and that any left over buys me a new bike?

Lots of people understand, it's just not that cool to talk about it.

 

[sabian92]

Lass in work: How far do you cycle in?
Me: Four and a half miles
Lass in work: God, how long does that take you?
Me: About 20-25 minutes.
Lass in work: I don't know how anyone could do that AND do a day's work*

*We work in desk jobs

This is a shocking realisation of how lazy this country has become.

4 and a half miles isn't even enough time to work up a sweat, even I can bike that distance at nearly 17st in under 45 minutes and arrive reasonably fresh.

 

[BentMikey]

You buy a new car? Why not just buy a second hand one and let someone else pay for the big depreciation hit? That big hit is going to be far more than any maintenance increase, assuming you choose wisely when buying a car.

 

[Arch]

It'scalled Capitalism, the American model.

"They" haven't figured how to oil the wheels of the economy without complete reliance of the motor car.

OT, but I heard Jimmy Carr on a radio 4 show the other day. He was talking about his career before he got into comedy, he was in marketing for an oil company. He said he came to realise how pointless his job was because

"well, you drive, right? You have a car? And it has a little gauge to tell you how much fuel you have left? That did my job for me..."

Nicely self aware, I thought.

 

[leroy]

As it happens, I posted one answer to this question only this morning:

[media]
]View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9c4saYAdwA[/media]

AHA, the M60 madness of Tuesday. I left the house 20 minutes after the mrs and past her about where your video ends.

 

[benb]

Nice, have you got the link to the original photostream on Flickr, so I can fave it?

 

[BrumJim]

You buy a new car? Why not just buy a second hand one and let someone else pay for the big depreciation hit? That big hit is going to be far more than any maintenance increase, assuming you choose wisely when buying a car.

+1

There is no logical reason to buy a new car in the UK. It's just vanity, especially given how well cars are built these days, and how long you would expect the engine to last. New prices are artificially high due to the large numbers of fleet buyers (company cars) getting them at very good prices. Hence Joe Public buying a new car is exploited for his desire to have something new.

 

[BentMikey]

...coming from Africa, where I used to think a 15yo car was pretty new!

 

[CopperCyclist]

Lass in work: How far do you cycle in?
Me: Four and a half miles
Lass in work: God, how long does that take you?
Me: About 20-25 minutes.
Lass in work: I don't know how anyone could do that AND do a day's work*

*We work in desk jobs

I've had a similar conversation.

Them: You cycle in right?
Me: Yep
Them: How far is it?
Me: Just over six miles
Them: That's not _too_ bad I suppose...
Me: It's too short really, that's why I come through [nearby countryside] to lengthen it up to twelve miles when it's not dark.
Them: Why the hell would you do that?

They couldn't get over the concept that there's 'no point' cycling further than necessary!

 

[2Loose]

This is a shocking realisation of how lazy this country has become.

4 and a half miles isn't even enough time to work up a sweat, even I can bike that distance at nearly 17st in under 45 minutes and arrive reasonably fresh.

And walk it in about an hour. On a nice morning it is sometimes even preferable to riding the bike. Honest...sometimes.

 

[mickle]

As it happens, I posted one answer to this question only this morning:

Brilliant, but what we really want to know is how many cars did you pass?

 

[Arch]

And walk it in about an hour. On a nice morning it is sometimes even preferable to riding the bike. Honest...sometimes.

I walk sometimes (only a mile and a half through town for me), often when I'm more tired. Walking is more relaxing sometimes, you don't have to mind the traffic so much.

Since they put a new bridge in over the Foss, it's less taxing to cycle than it was, as most of the route is very light traffic or traffic free.

I took to walking in for a month or more over last winter, when it was icy - just much less to worry about, and at the end of the day, I didn't feel alert enough to ride anyway.