I See Bicycle People.

Posted on: June 22, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Author: Gnome
Categories: Bicycle Advocacy
Comments: 37 responses

Thanks go out to Phil for the enlightenment. Dig it.

37 Responses to “I See Bicycle People.”

T. J. Mora Says:
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Nice, Smart people on smart bikes without helmets. Who needs them when everyone is smart abut how they ride. I love the Dutch. Must visit soon. Thanks for the great post.
nyhc00 Says:
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:21 pm
that was very refreshing actually. I can say definitively that I will never see that in the Northeast. Never say never you say? I say Never!!
skunk_cabbage Says:
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:27 pm
that was the most enjoyable 4 minutes i have spent in a while- thanks. the action in this vid gives a whole new meaning to the word “flow”.

i also observe two hallmarks of a highly advanced civilization: trains and bikes being used everywhere.
Turkey Says:
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:37 pm
And that makes Phoenix, AZ a hardly advanced civilization.
Very cool video! Makes me wanna ride, so, I’m going to go ride.
bikesgonewild Says:
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:08 pm
…gnomer…you are truly an awesome classic…when you say “chill”, you fucking mean ‘chill’…i love it…

…bikes, people, snow in a nice winter transpo’ scenario…civilized, soothing, intelligent cooperation…message received…
ColonelSandersRetired Says:
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:14 pm
Ugh. I hate riding in winter.

Me + snow = crash.

It’s like I have some weird voodoo curse or something.
mitch Says:
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:35 pm
if littlejar isn’t packing his bags after seeing this little snippet i don’t know what to tell the kid…

lotsa bikes and plenty of chit to fix there…
Gnome Says:
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:57 pm
Yea, and nevermind how beautiful everyone seems. And at zero fucking degrees! Killa!
bobejin Says:
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:05 pm
put me in a Zen like calm
littlejar Says:
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:08 pm
Johnson, VT, 2002: Snowbanks so high you could play king o’ the hill, temp hovering around 0. I rode down a steep hill to get to school most days and invented a shifter/derailleur system (in my mind) that didn’t freeze up in the slush. Trek with studded tires; 3/8″ screws. You don’t ride on the side of the road, you go to the left or right depending on where a car is (usually a Subaru or a plow truck) and get the fuck out of the way (hug/climb a snowbank) when there are cars coming from both directions. 15 watts on the bar saved my ass, too. I love snow. I love ice. It’s the cold that sucks. You see black ice on a hill, I see playtime. At least twice in a year you should say: “Today is a good day to die” when you start your ride…. and mean it. I was born in February in Massachusetts. I have a personal rule I call the 20/20 rule: If it’s over 20 degrees out, I can do over 20 miles. Stuck with USA, Mitch. They don’t want us in Europe taking up jobs.
snake hawk Says:
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:43 pm
i would totally fuck that up somehow, i’m certain. like maybe by motorpacing the introoder scooter @ :45.

i’ll dream about that video.
Grit Says:
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Am I the only one wanting to see some dude with a shoulder bag rip a huge powerslide? Looks like RAGBRAI with slush. I’d love to be unemployed there! Later!
One_Track_Mind Says:
June 22nd, 2010 at 11:46 pm
Call me superficial but I didn’t see a single fat person in that whole clip… hhhmmmm… cars=fat, bad. Bikes=skinny, good. Seems clear enough…
Barry Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 4:32 am
great video! I was in Umea in NORTHERN Sweden in February and everyone was rocking around on bikes similarly with cycle paths separated from the street, and plowed out. everyone taking it easy getting where they want to go, it was inspiring.

and OTM, your observation is correct, the lack of huge people is very noticeable, on bike paths and otherwise in most of Europe.

and LJ if you want to go there are ways to do it…working holiday visas, language study visas and the like to get your foot in the proverbial door.

+1 on the powerslide
Tony Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 5:16 am
How come these people aren’t rushing around like lemmings, honking, swerving, flipping off anyone who slows them down? And why aren’t they driving big gas guzzling cars, trucks and Hummers?

Oh, maybe it’s because they’re civilized.

Some would describe paradise as a sunny hot climate, beaches and palm trees. Give me Dutch blondes, cold beer and bike racks.
emerge Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 5:26 am
Amazing!
Gildas Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 7:16 am
Most bars have bike racks here…
Most roads have bike paths – real ones…
Most people ride.
Most girls are slim.
Most of their mums are too.
Most of drivers respect riders, because they ride too
Most people ride pavé without a care.
Etc.

Welcome to Gent, Belgium.
big jonny Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 1:55 pm
I’ve been overseas once, for all of four days. And I watched sights like this in amazement. People yield, merge and pass without any of the bullshit I’m so used to seeing in the U.S. Lots of people carrying children, either in the typical child seat we’re used to seeing, or simply in what could pass as a milk crate.

No helmet laws. No mandatory head lamps. No reflectors.

Just miles and miles of bike lanes. Well constructed, maintained, graded, signed, wonderful bike lanes.

When are going to wake the fuck up in this country? Drill here, drill now? Get over yourself. There are very few fat/obese folk over there. You know why? Because if they want to get where they’re going, they either have to walk or ride a good part of it. None of this curb-to-curb in my big ass SUV nonsense. People power.

Man, I love it.
steve Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Yep. I dig it. Its not just americans who are amazed – there is nothing like this in UK
joetheelectrician Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 3:19 pm
So how long is the average commute in Belgium? Mine is around 50 miles. Bike that, whydontcha?
ColonelSandersRetired Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Yea. I agree with joe.

Biking every where in Belgium is like biking every where in Rhode Island.
Serenity Now Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 4:22 pm
It’s not Belgium Joe, it’s Netherlands, and no-one is forcing you to commute 50 miles each way. I’ve just moved from Holland to the US, and chose where to live based on my bike commute. It’s gone to 2 miles each way to 15 each way, but still do-able.

Oh and just to burst everyone’s bubble if you saw how full the freeways were in Holland and what you pay for gas you’d understand why people use the Train and bike. Still way too many people driving cars unfortunately. A lot more than 10 years ago.
Gnome Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 4:54 pm
What can we say? Cars happen. I think the idea is to simplify, centralize, and socialize.

Adipomerica may be too far gone for this.
mikey Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 5:47 pm
“So how long is the average commute in Belgium? Mine is around 50 miles. Bike that, whydontcha?”

Joe— people crate their own gasoline-dependent nightmares.
littlejar Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 7:33 pm
The vast majority of people in America are lazy, and I see people driving cars and trucks and big turbo diesels less than one mile. I’m a rare, rare bird in this typical miserable American small city because I do what? Ride a bike.

Joe – people in other countries aren’t as fucked up as in the US in that they don’t set life up to commute 50 miles. So, live closer to work, duh! I consider it insane to drive 100 miles a day to make a living. You drive 50 miles each way every day and you hate life – this is why you have nothing better to do in your spare time than downgrade everything everyone else says on drunkcyclist. Why don’t you go to typicalamericanbullshit.com and bring your yes man Col. Sanders with you. Y’all ain’t cyclists, you don’t drink, so whyfuckyahere? Ya step on every beautiful thing. Who planted you?
mikey Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 7:58 pm
LJ— a swing and a miss, dude, Mr. Elctric, I believe holds his own on the bourbon-beer vector.
ColonelSandersRetired Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 9:00 pm
We should all chip in a few bucks to buy lj a one way ticket to his European nirvana.
bikesgonewild Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 9:47 pm
…hell…i’d prob’ly be accused of trying to instigate something, were i to point out the glaringly obvious flaws i see the logic of one of the above comments so in order to help precipitate a calm, peaceful & loving drunkcyclist, i won’t do that…

…tonight…
Hurben Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 10:07 pm
Fuck it LJ,

You really need to back off & deal with some your issues mate.

Don’t hit the ‘Seek & destroy’ mode all the time.

Yep, Issues, we all have them, Mine, they’re beating down the door as we speak..

I see nothing in this thread that justifies your attack. We should not let feelings from old threads spill over, I prefer to deal with them in isolation.

Deep breaths guys, like it or not, we’re all that we have & we’re all in this together ultimately.
littlejar Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 10:18 pm
Yep, I do feel bad about the recent flame I made against the poor guy who has to drive 50 miles each way every day. It sucks, and I feel bad for him. However, it is accepting this as OK and normal that is killing the Earth, killing me spewing diesel filth into my air space, killing the man behind the wheel as he spends countless hours doing it. I know – it’s nice to come home after a hard day’s work.
I just get so sick and damn tired of the same two or three people naysaying and being contrary to every positive or decent thing that someone posts – like this one. In a sane world, driving 100 miles a day is something you don’t share with others readily, because it should be and is *shameful* but who am I to point that out? Who the fuck am I, but an arrogant, self righteous bicycle rider, who someday some driver will see fit to wipe me off the road with his truck, because I ain’t got a right to HIS road. I get behind the wheel of one of my motor vehicles, and suddenly I’m OK Joe.
God bless Americka, let’s roll, never forget POWs, and all that. Fuck.
Gildas Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Setting aside our petty differences (personally after 200km on the bike, I have all the symptoms of being drunk, and a exeptionnal brew can be called upon, the rest of the time, I don’ drink) Belgium and Holland are alike AND have bike laws:

A small bell all the time, front and rear light at night are mandatory. And it does not matter if you ride a 1910 gas pipe or a 2011 Carbon Aero bike. That’s about it.

And I’m doing my drivers license here, and the basic idea is “principe de convivialité”, it writen all over the book. Compare that to France where it seems to be “Kill All The White Men” and also “Anyfuckingbody else in my way”…

Did I tell you that in Gent we have TWO indoor cycling tracks – in wood? I should’ve.
Hurben Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 10:45 pm
HiYa Gildas,

yep, it’s the difference between the ‘old’ world & the ‘new’ world.

Old world reached capacity centuries ago, so common sense prevailed, no new land so let’s make the best use of what we’ve got.

New world, (USA, OZ, NZ, Africa, South America), we’ve got shitloads of land, no infrstructure, isolated pockets of civilization so what’s the quickest means of selfishly joining them ?

Yep, motorised transport.

Whoo Hoo !!

Note the use of selfish, rail is good, NZ is constantly trying to resurect it’s rail system but not spend too much money on it.
Hurben Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 10:52 pm
LJ,

know what you’re saying, but ulitmately, if you have dependents, you do what you can to see that their basic needs are met.

China, there are are father’s who see their family once a year because they are going where the work is.

After I got dumped by my American employers during the Dor.Com crash, (here’s 2 month’s salary, goodbye), I ended up working in Darwin, Australia for 3 months while my family was in NZ because it was the only wotk that I could get.

Darwin, fucking magical place, I loved it. They offered me a permanent position but the family did not want to know. Another time that I should have said, ‘I’m the boss here’

Just a few random thoughts.
Turkey Says:
June 23rd, 2010 at 10:58 pm
Joseph H. Crimony Gnome you sure know how to tame a beast. That video was a great thing for us DCer’s. Thanks and look what it created…You’re the Fruit Man!
gildas Says:
June 24th, 2010 at 12:03 am
The light law thingy, Big Johny, here it is not only so cars can see you, there are soo many bike here, that at dusk/night it’s hard to guess that what you are seeing the back of a rider up front or the front rider overtaking another rider thus on impact trajectory with you.

Think of it as photon based “please and thank you” for cyclists. Civilised stuff.

And most roads are lit till 12pm / 2am (I mean out of the cities).

G
joetheelectrician Says:
June 24th, 2010 at 12:26 am
Yes, littlejerkweed, you’re right. I suppose I should just get a rolling shitbox to live in and park it on the job site.
Tucson Bike Lawyer » Blog Archive » Is there some way to make this a screensaver? Says:
June 24th, 2010 at 1:35 pm
[...] Stolen from Drunkcyclist. [...]

I See Bicycle People.

37 Responses to “I See Bicycle People.”

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