Chronicon

don't have cashapp but do have bump

with attention spans being so terrible that anything that has decent pacing is now considered a "slow burn"

I watched Oppenheimer recently on a plane and was astonished that the whole movie basically just felt like a montage, jumping around every 3 seconds. Admittedly I didn't quite finish the movie so maybe it gets better at the end. And I'm sure this was an intentional choice, but I didn't really like it if it was.

I just looked it up, apparently the average shot length was 3.2 seconds.

ebike!

even the lower power ones will make hills way easier unless you're hauling a lot of weight/cargo

I have got to pick up some new tires. the no name summer tires that came with my bike pick up glass fairly readily (despite having some sort of protective weave and supposedly being puncture resistant). never been stranded though, I just carry a patch kit

So so much this

I live in a place with brutal winters most years and studded tires are worth every cent

Yeah. I'm extremely lucky that there's a lot of options where I am that aren't a painted bicycle gutter. I still end up on those roads all the time, but it'll usually be less than half of my trip distance so when I'm in one its easier to keep my guard up. I'm also just getting really comfortable riding in mixed traffic on calm side streets tbh, because there's enough critical mass of bikers where I am that outright rage at a cyclist "in their way", on streets that aren't main streets or highways, seems to be uncommon. But where possible I do love a good separated path or lane. We have a variety, some totally off street, some on street but 2 way and parking-protected, or curb-protected. Some are at sidewalk level, especially in the CBD, which I have mixed feelings about but is great protection from drivers and doors. And of course lots of legacy painted bicycle gutters too

Like yesterday I had to go across town to pick up a package from an unusual pickup location. I went like:

• 3 blocks in my neighborhood (2 with a basic bike lane, one without),
• got onto a sort of unofficial trail (technically private property but is widely used as a walking/biking connector due to its prime location), took that half a mile,
• connected up to a walking/biking trail (with its own bridge), another half mile,
• got on a curb protected 2 way lane, took that a few blocks,
• spent ~3 blocks on regular side streets with no lanes,
• got on a rail trail thingy that took me another mile and a half,
• got off onto a stroad with a painted gutter, took that 1-2 blocks
• pulled into the enormous shopping center parking lot, locked up my bike and went in.

3-4 miles total. And the most dangerous bit in that entire journey genuinely might have been the parking lot at the end, though the side streets between the bridge and the rail trail are pretty bustling (but very low speed).

Plenty of journeys are much worse than that example (venturing into most suburbs is a mixed bag) but like, the whole metro area is honestly much better than the national average and I still get people here acting like its suicide. I'd rather live with the risk than let my (un)happiness be dictated to me by amorphous, ill-defined fear. I know so many people with chronic injuries (whiplash, concussion, back problems, etc) from car accidents, but they don't just stop driving cars, even though they've been hurt by them and know how bad they are for the planet and society. It's dictated by social norms and going with the flow much more than most people like to admit, so they rationalize. It can be exhausting going against the flow, but its worth it

yeah honestly there's a lot that can go wrong and give a person a bad experience biking. unmaintained shitty old bike? probably is a harder to pedal and horrible rolling resistance. Bad gearing? either super slow or super hard to pedal. frame too big or small, or seat not properly adjusted? that's gonna suck

So if you never get into it as a kid, and can't really do it even just for fun, its kinda no surprise.

I think most people in the US don't think about it and go with the flow of "I'm an adult with a job of course I need a car", and if prompted why not try biking they just go "that seems like a pain in the ass/unsafe/not going to work in X weather". Even for ones that like biking recreationally. And I do empathize with not particularly wanting to bike commute every day in rain or snow or whatever. A lot of people have very inflexible work environments/schedules that wouldn't allow any exception for bad weather, so why take the chance (and it will be viewed especially negatively by bosses if they see it as "you're late because you choose to ride that stupid bike in instead of driving like a normal person")

And genuinely, not having a car in most US cities does limit your options geographically, economically, and socially.

• One of my friends just got denied a job (that had nothing to do with driving), for not having a car actually. It was just on the application like "Must have valid drivers license and proof of car insurance" or something like that. He did have one for a couple years but he hates driving and wants to move long distance soon so he sold it and bikes/walks everywhere (he also can still borrow a car from his housemates when needed which helps).
• I often have issues getting to things like poorly planned social events on time ("surprise! we decided to go somewhere 10 miles further away at the last minute, see you over there in 10-15 mins right?") This is just inherent to living anywhere that is saturated with cars. People literally feel bad for me and offer me rides whenever we plan something, and I have to tell them no, I'm not a helpless child (and children aren't helpless either, except that we make them so), I just need a tiny bit more notice in order to get across town on time. I enjoy getting around without a car, its one of the primary benefits of living in a city, but my social circle is 90% not on the same page. At best they think its cool in theory but never hop on a bike themselves.

I actually was a car guy from like age 16-21. I owned multiple cars, maintained them mostly myself, drove almost everywhere I went, gave people rides, etc. But day to day all that gave me was poor health, exposure to dangerous situations on the road, and a residence too far from the city center to reasonably visit any other way. It sucked. The only thing it was really good for was long distance travel, but when everyone you know still has cars that isn't as much of a factor. I wasn't doing a ton of solo road trips anyhow. I moved back into the city and kept my cars, but consciously tried to get around more and more with walking, transit, and eventually biking (due to the aforementioned poor health biking wasn't a primary way of getting around again for me until I got an ebike). I just enjoy those modes more, I feel more "in the world" that way. Eventually I realized I didn't need or particularly want the cars.

I do think people are bad at estimating this risk (both over and under estimating it at times), and frankly the data on it isn't the best. My city has pretty good infrastructure and culture around biking, but the stats are still not great I imagine. What is my risk level if I stick to the high quality paths and calm side streets? Is it better for the people that just bike down sidewalks and don't follow the separated lanes and paths? I don't know. I do the former and it feels pretty safe, but there's still a ton of cars around that could maim me any day. I assume the majority of the injuries are happening off of the dedicated bike infrastructure (not to say they deserve it at all, just that one can probably lower their risk by being cautious and staying away from busy roads with poor to no bike infra)

You can put that zero up to a one though. I've biked much of my life, give or take a few years of car dependency, and not been injured by a car yet. I think I have a lucky horseshoe up my ass or something.

In most parts of the US its defs hazardous, but as someone living in one of the better places for biking as transportation in the US, people still act like it's instant death out there, so I'm becoming less and less receptive to the safety argument, as I think it's mostly used here at least as a thought terminator by people who haven't tried it and don't want to. Same with weather in some ways.

how come every bicycle gets stolen? Scrap metal value?

Nah. my area isn't so so bad for theft (still wouldn't leave anything outdoors overnight) but it's generally either easy money resale or because the thief wants to use it to get around. Even if you only get 1/4 of what the bike is worth, its so trivially easy to cut a cable lock, and not all that hard to cut most U locks either, and then sell it for cash the next day. Its easy money and people are destitute.

ebike with a trailer or cargo bike could almost make that base commute tolerable, but yeahhhh it'd be a sacrifice for sure. Especially the chicken barns, god poultry farming is foul. And 50 mile round trip to get groceries is also pretty non-feasible unless you really commit to some craziness lol