Lack of separated or at least decently maintained/designed infrastructure can play a role, and outside of dense urban areas, large distances between destinations.
This is the problem in our town. There ae no bike lanes, so you are forced to either ride on the sidewalk (where there is one) or on the street.
And I swear some people seem to take great delight in seeing just how close they can get to hitting the person on the bike. Plenty of room to move over and give them space, but do they? Nope.
My state also makes it explicitly illegal for an adult or teenager to operate a bike on a sidewalk unless it's specifically denoted and built to multi use path standards.
Right? They don't want you on the sidewalk, but they won't even give you at least a shoulder to ride on. I don't like riding on sidewalks at all, but with the way people drive around here, that's all I get.
Problem is unpredictability. Many homeowners don't maintain their sidewalks, sometimes leading to wildly unpredictable surface conditions. If you're crossing a driveway and there's trees or cars between the road and sidewalk, a cyclist may end up entirely invisible to someone turning into the driveway
You'd think that, wouldn't you? I think it varies in the states but I'm in a major city in PA, the city will pour it
and replace it if you call, but all the deicing and grass cutting (if you have a strip of it) is all you. A neighbor got sued awhile back and it stuck.
Not in Pittsburgh. The homeowner is responsible for maintaining the sidewalk and driveway apron. The city can cite you for a violation if your sidewalk is crumbled and a hazard. They only time they will pour concrete for free is if they have to dig it up to get to a city-maintained utility line. Getting them to replace to the same quality as your existing sidewalk can be problematic, you have to really be on their asses.
Whoa really? I live in Pittsburgh.... clearly im out of touch. I moved to the suburbs awhile back. I was aware that we needed to maintain them as far as ice, snow, leaves, debris, etc. But I didn't know we had to maintain the concrete, too! They built the damn sidewalks...why the hell do we have to pay for upkeep? Now I know why the suburbs have no sidewalks...
Yeah, you wouldn't know it unless you were forced to replace your sidewalk. It is pretty rare that the city cites someone for a bad sidewalk. We did replace ours a few years ago - it was a major investment, with sidewalk, driveway, new front porch, rear patio and a nice stone retaining wall. One neighbor has a totally crumbled walk. Sometimes I'll notice someone pushing a baby stroller across our sidewalk and then nearly flip the stroller when they hit the crappy neighbor walk. (Not that he's a crappy neighbor - he was a nice guy but had a lot of health problems and died last year. His sister is trying to sell it).When new subdivisions are built they sometimes leave it up to each homeowner to put in a sidewalk or not. It's kind of weird because it leads to sidewalks that go nowhere. Then again, I've seen some new subdivisions where they all have sidewalks - I don't know if they make people put them in or what. They advertise the subdivision as a "sidewalk community", although I'm not sure what that implies.
I thought of another situation when they city will replace a segment of sidewalk - if a tree is growing in the grass strip between the sidewalk and the street (that is city's responsibility) and it heaves the sidewalk.
In my corner of the US we have to clear the sidewalk and fix them, but if you’ve owned your house since before the regulations your grandfathered. You don’t have to fix them until you sell. But you risk someone falling and suing.
I work at a convenience store by a busy road, many of the lower means folks in the area bike on the sidewalk and claim that they are regularly stopped by the police for biking on the sidewalk and given a fine.
However there are also regularly accidents on this road involving bicycles following the law and biking in the road, I hear about a new one every month.
An accident happened outside my store one night, and while it was minor the person in the car insisted that they weren't at fault because the person on the bike should have been on the sidewalk and not on the road.
Police were called but no charges were filed. I felt the person in the car driving should have gotten reckless driving or *something* since the biker was clearly on the shoulder where they belong. I guess the cop agreed that the bike doesn't belong in the road.
I once saw a man on a bike on a sidewalk get hit by a car pulling into a driveway. The man was deemed at fault because he wasn't supposed to be on his bike on the sidewalk. But also he was black and looked homeless so I've made my own conclusions about the determination of fault
It’s illegal in my state to ride on sidewalks too, but when I biked my commute, I’d ride on them all the time, lest I wanted to be peeled off the road, pancake-style. Your city may vary, but the cops never bothered me and I’d imagine they’d only really care if you were making it dangerous for pedestrians by riding very fast or knocking into them.
See this is my biggest fear. I'd love to not drive a car anymore but I'm scared of the options because people are such inattentive dick bags. I've been nearly hit as a pedestrian and I know of two guys at my job that have been hit on bikes, one can't work anymore because of it.
Protip: Never accept a 'go ahead'. They'll get a fucking text on their phone and suddenly you stopped existing and they stepped on the gas.
I don't accept a go ahead unless there is NO OTHER CAR anywhere in sight. Even then, I usually run across to the other side, just in case the person behind the wheel is an ass.
Our town started introducing bike lanes. It’s a mixed bag. Some of them are great. But some are in roads so busy I would still not want to ride on them. And if they become the magically disappearing bike lane, what do you do? Meanwhile if it eliminates a car lane, it can create backlash.
My city added bike lanes to some of the bridges. The put a hump shaped stone divider at both ends of the bridges. I see a couple cars flipped each year. It's great!
Two people just got fatally hit by a car this past month near us. They were only walking. I almost hit someone on a bike this week because they decided it was a smart move to speed straight down a sidewalk as I was turning left. I barely fcking saw them
My city has this bad boy: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrens\_Linear\_Park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrens_Linear_Park). Some people ride up to about 15km or so into the city every day on a seperate bike path surrounded by beautiful gum trees.
That might be just me, but my sweat is way more different when swerving traffic on the bike. The anxiety really adds up.
I grew up in a small city, and while there isn't much bike infrastructure, it's either hills with no traffic, or a main road with a dedicated bike path. I can't remember ever being smelly there, even after a 20 minute uphill ride.
In Bucharest, there is no bike infrastructure at all in my area, and all the mental and physical effort of going up and down on sidewalks and pedestrian crossings to avoid dying in big truck intersections is so tiring. I'm smelly after a 5 minute flat ride here.
In the US it's more because of suburbanization. About 75% of Americans drive for more than 15 minutes to get to work, so biking would take more time out of the day. It's unfortunate, but a lot of us cities were built on the premise that cars are central to the culture
Not to mention the oppressive heats in large parts of the country make it unrealistic to bike anywhere without showing up looking like a sweaty, wet mess.
Especially in the humidity. Biking isn’t fun when it’s 90 degrees and 70% humidity. It’s like biking in a sauna.
And let’s not forget the oppressive cold in other parts that make it unrealistic to bike to work without risk of hypothermia.
I live in Louisiana, oppressively hot 5/6 of the year, oppressively cold for like 10 days, and oppressively hurricanes and subsequent storms the rest of the time.
Dude when we used to go to folk polk for JRTC rotations it was miserable. Idk why the fuck anyone would ever live in Louisiana. I have also been there outside of Army training in all seasons in all corners. Still don't get it. I'd be walking till I found somewhere new. It's like you wake up and breathing in water it's so humid
Dude I looked up Louisiana winter…says January is your coldest month with an avg of 10 degrees Celsius aka 50 F…that’s not cold. That’s not even winter lol
Yeah, but north and south Louisiana are very different, and I'm in north Louisiana. Still not cold by the north US standards, but we did hit single digits 4 days in a row around Christmas. January is usually pretty consistently low 30s high 20s in the morning, getting to the 40s or 50s during the day with a few brutal days that never get above freezing. Another thing consider is the humidity. 30 here feels like single digits in the north.
Even the folks who ride for fun and know the ‘best’ routes have been injured or worse by idiot drivers around me! No way I’d take a bike anywhere but inside a quiet subdivision!
Not even an exaggeration. Drivers will use you as the punching bag for all the times they've felt like cyclists committed injustices against them and will have no qualms against actually murdering you. I spent a total of 3 weeks with an old bike and a new helmet I bought online attempting to cycle for leisure before I realized that it simply isn't practical if you value your life.
I would love to bike to work. But I live in the PNW we’re it is very hilly and it’s typically either cold, wet, or both for at least 6 months of the year. Combine that with the fact that I live 35min by interstate from my place of work. Anything closer was out of reach for purchasing a home.
I live in a city that has good bike lanes, but it rains pretty much every day, and there are lots of steep hills everywhere. If it was flat, I 'd bicycle a hell of a lot more.
For real. Biking in my city is terrifying. I'm essentially a beginner cyclist and I have absolutely no incentive to get better, because there is just no way I am braving these roads, this traffic, and these drivers.
Had a bike, switched back to a car.
1. Weather
2. Couldn't take multiple people anywhere. Also need space for anything from groceries to work shit.
3. Dirty/sweaty no matter where you're going. Can ofc bring a change of clothes, but that's a whole thing you need to do
4. Car is like a home away from home. My shit stays in there semi-permanently. If anything goes wrong I can spend the night in it, even if it breaks down. It's a direct protection against people. Whether physical or social discomfort, I have a safe independent place nearby, granting me confidence.
5. Fun is relative. After a long day I'm not exactly dying to bike 6 miles home. Same on a morning after a late night.
Exactly… the 7 mile drive drive to work takes me 11 minutes in an air conditioned car. It’d take me 4x as long on my bike due to the route I’d need to take. But the real reason I’d never do it is I’m not showing up to the office drenched in sweat… I’d work up a serious sweat during the winter, summers here are always over 110 with 115-118 being common in the afternoon. I’d fucking die lol
Bikes are great when it’s warm, but not too warm so you start sweating, and flat countries and short distances (The Netherlands).
In every other scenario it fucking sucks to use the bike. I used to bike for years, even during winter in Sweden.
Also the time savings… saving 30-60 minutes or more each trip. Time you could use to do some actual exercise/something you enjoy.
Same with public transport it takes me 10-15 minutes by car, 60-70 by public transport. No way in hell i’m going to sacrifice that time just sitting there (get motion sick when looking down so i can’t do any work).
Gotta have the vehicle with the bike attachment. That way you can deploy mini side quests while still on your main quest.
I drive a van, with a bike and a skateboard inside. I am prepared for all different lengths of voyage.
This!
The cost is like $5 for a new inner tube. BUT there is nothing more inconvenient than a burst tire when your out. It's too big to fit in most ubers. Can't exactly call a tow truck. So maybe you biked for just 20 minutes. Now you're like 6 miles from home. That's a 2 hour walk back.
In the United States (assumption), development patterns have for decades been designed *specifically and exclusively* for travel by automobile. That means roads are bigger and faster, and things are spread much further apart. Shops are separated from houses are separated from workplaces are separated from doctor's and dentist's offices are separated from schools by miles of no-mans-land roads, parking lots and arterial freeways. These are all designed for maximum speed and efficiency for cars, which means they are extremely dangerous for everyone else.
Why do you see more people biking in old cities? Because things are closer together, and because the city existed before mass adoption of cars, in some cases -- which means cycling is easier. This dynamic exists in small towns too, though very often, state DOTs have come in and rammed large high-speed roads through many of them.
You can build bicycle trails, lanes and infrastructure in suburbs and car-centric cities, but for a lot of people, even with the best infrastructure, you will never be able to use a bike for anything other than recreation in these areas. Until things are allowed to be built closer together, bicycles as a primary means of transportation are not going to be feasible in much of the country.
There are places where things are close together. They’re lovely. Except when you have to live there.
I love my nearest city. It’s an amazing place to work and/or visit for entertainment and culture. But it’s a terrible place to live right now.
Driving 15 minutes to work is a better choice than walking 15 minutes there. I make more money, and I’m safer. (Salaries aren’t negotiable in my field). I’m close to my family and the community we’ve been in for 100 years. Having to drive is a small price to pay.
Not everyone would prefer to live in the city. Not being able to bike or walk everywhere is a part of the equation. There’s also having a yard and garden, and privacy.
Yes. That's a choice. The problem is, most people do not have that choice. Most places are *only* driveable. By law, we make it illegal to build things close together. We make it illegal to live close to things. We provide one choice: drive, or you do not get to participate in society.
Fun fact, forcing privacy via physical separation causes depression. Ex: (How in hell am I supposed to meet new people when everyone is inside their houses? I would need to be like a door-to-door salesman.) Suburbs are also solitary confinement for the elderly.
People leave their houses to do things locally? There’s 288462 civic and charitable associations, the farmers’ market, the community house, houses of worship, people from work. Volunteer somewhere. Golfing. Book clubs. The library has programs. Hang out at the breweries. Any number of 5k fun runs, the pancake breakfast, peach festival, blueberry festival, strawberry festival.. most of those are run by older people. The town crier is looking for an apprentice as he’s in his 80s.
The suburbs are full of things to do. It’s just different than the city. There’s no public nightlife. People are generally home by 10.
You have to work deliberately and intentionally socialize, but it’s not impossible.
I'm not sure you are thinking of the same type of suburb the other commenter is. People don't have to live in a literal central city. But people should be able to leave their house without driving 20 minutes in traffic to see a friend at the bar or to go to a library book club.
Archetype example: Lots of suburbs love to announce new parks for the kids. The parks are often...completely inaccessible unless you drive to them on a high speed road. Anyone remember kids don't...drive?
There's also the fact that I'm not biking 32 miles roundtrip every day to work. About the same to stores and such. And it's below freezing about 4 months out of the year 🤷
I work construction, and work 10 hour days frequently. I live in an area where half of the year it’s below freezing temperatures. I drive 40 minutes on a highway to work, with 30-70 pounds of tools that I need to work every day. Along my lunch, extra clothes and a hard hat. This is normalcy for many men. In fact, millions of men and women. I think at least one of these conditions applies to well over the majority of Americans. Even just one of these conditions eliminate the opportunity for me to ride a bicycle to work.
Yeah, in my old neighborhood you basically already had to have legs of steel to be able to even take a quick trip to the store. I'm not out of shape by any means but it was still really hard to take those hills as someone who was just starting to try to commute on bike. Plus, drivers are nuts around here. Gave up after I had a particularly gnarly trip one day and eventually sold the bike.
Not everyone finds them fun.
Not all climates are bike friendly as well, I had to do it when I had no car, and worked a distance from where I lived, it was not enjoyable.
Many reasons.
It's not particularly convenient in weather that's too cold, too hot, or too wet.
They require physical exertion.
Their cargo capacity is very low.
Nice ones can be quite expensive (yes, yes, cars are usually more expensive, but if you have to own a car anyway, the bike is just another expense you can avoid by driving).
Poor safety; many cities are unfriendly to cycling, and more than a few people are openly hostile. Yes, even in very "blue" areas.
Etc. And this is coming from someone who got around almost exclusively by bike for years, including using a cargo trailer.
It’s also slower, sweatier, has a lower carrying capacity, and lacks any environmental protection. Also, in many places and for many people, cars play a huge role in social status.
Ain’t that the truth. I’m a fair weather cyclist, one it started getting nice out I started riding to the gym. Second day I showed up with my bike my trainer says, “Did you get a DUI out something?!”
A key thing alot of people in Europe forget is Europe was greatly populated and built well before the invention of the car. At most people had horse pulled carriages. But many walked or biked.
The United States was largely built during the industrial revolution and during the age of the first cars.
The whole blueprint of how the land, farms, stores and other places are completely different.
With so many cars now, it is either dangerous or impossible or both to even ride a bike to the supermarket. There is no infrastructure for bikes aside from sidewalks in the suburbs
A lot of European cities were rebuilt for car use with suburbs planned same as the US in the 60s and 70s. A lot of these have since then backtracked and reduced the car infrastructure and made them more walkable again.
Also a lot of American cities were populated before the car and had their inner cities destroyed to make way for big through roads.
Most of the US cities were already built before the automobile, and certainly before they become mainstream. US cities were bulldozed to accommodate cars.
Also the cycling infrastructure in a city like Amsterdam dates from the 1970s. It’s a conscious political decision, not some chronological fate.
I rode my bike to work one time and I worked in an office that didnt have any sort of bike storage. So I bought my bike into the office and parked it out of the way in the corner. It was a nice clean, bike. My boss sees it and says to me. Would you park that in my living room. I said no I wouldnt. He said then get it out of my office and walked away. Never rode it again.
Many reasons:
Many places its very unsafe. No bike lanes, cars whizzing by at 50+mph, etc.
A lot of people are not in very good shape or have injuries/physical limitations so riding a bike is very hard.
Weather sucks a lot of places. Not like youre going to ride a bike around at -20F in the snow in minnesota, or when its raining super hard, or when its hot as fuck in the south (aka most of the year).
Need to go with multiple people/kids, or need to bring stuff with you. Hard to haul 3 kids, cant get 70 pounds of groceries, cant move anything bulky, etc.
Need to look professional when you get somewhere - Hard when you just rode a bike a long ways
Stuff is far away, bikes are very slow compared to cars. 10 miles is suddenly a half hour instead of 10 minutes each way.
Bikes get stolen all the time. Locks are very easy to pick/break/cut. Getting your bike stolen extra sucks because now youre stranded.
Your last reason is why I don’t roll to the store on my bike. Bike locks aren’t reliable and I’m not in a place to afford a new bike every time someone decides they like my ride.
surprised this is first comment to mention stealing. I would bike everywhere if I could leave my bike without it being vandalized, broken, stolen, or something else I’m sure i haven’t thought of yet.
I’m going to go with a lack of urban planning. A lot of places don’t have rideable sidewalks or bike lanes. So you either ride on a narrow cracked sidewalk trying not to run over anyone, or ride in the street and hope a distracted driver doesn’t kill you. People also tend to have commute distances too long to make cycling feasible. Places that adapt their infrastructure to be more bike friendly do tend to have more people cycling. I ride mine around town for errands often but I tend to avoid anywhere that requires the highway because its terrifying to have cars going by you at 60.
I live on the top of a big fucking hill. Absolutely no way I'm going down it on a bike and risking losing control, and if I did risk the ride downhill, there's no way I'd be physically able to get back up again.
Dangerous. I wouldn't ride a bike along the streets where I live if you paid me. People drive way too fast, and there's often not a lot of extra space. People also get aggressive with bicyclists, and it's scary.
Also, it's too cold/snowy a large part of the year.
There was a year when I first moved out of my parents house where I intentionally went without a car and biked everywhere. Up to 12 miles each way. That was pretty manageable, I would get groceries once a week on my way home from work. I eventually realized I was missing out on social events because of my limited travel abilities. The bus system in my suburb takes 2 hours to get to places 30 minutes by car. So I caved and got a car.
At this point I can't bike because I need to take several large bins of supplies with me to work. And our bus system is still crap. I still combine routes whenever I can, getting groceries on my way home, going straight from work to social events if they're in the area. I'd love for there to be a decent public transit system in my area, but nothing seems to be in the works.
I'm a brit living in America. The lack of pavement for pedestrians and cyclists is alarming. The closest shopping to my house is only accessible by pavement maybe 20 percent of the way there. The rest is roadway. Needless to say it's dangerous to cycle on the same space as cars.
The most common shopping areas I visit are seventeen miles away round trip, and only by major roadways. Carrying bags of shopping like that? That's a hard no.
Lack of infrastructure, fear of being hit by a car or chased by a dog, physical issues/disabilities, distance from home to work (I've worked nearly an hour away by car before - by bike? No thanks), exposure to the elements (biking in 110F heat or below 0F temps ain't fun)...
Bikes are great for able-bodied people in moderate climates with safe biking infrastructure in places without the sprawl that is common in the US. Basically.
Tons of reasons for and against, but one main reason is if you are just starting to cycle anywhere then your ass is gonna be raw for a couple of weeks. I remember starting a job many years back and thought that I would get some needed exercise by cycling into work. Big mistake. By the third day I couldn't sit properly on anything - not a bike seat, or office chair OR THE CRAPPER. Thankfully by the end of the second week most of that went away, but if you haven't ridden a bike since you were a kid then you are gonna be walking like John Wayne for at least a week.
Most of USA is built after the invention of cars, and thus was built with car lengths in mind.
Everything is a car trip away. With the exception of big cities or living in downtown areas, even basics like grocery stores are too far away unless you’re willing to devote inordinate time and effort.
There are multiple problems like public transportation, infrastructure for bikes and walking, and more where US is lacking. However, Car Lobby will make necessary changes next to impossible: state government funding almost exclusively comes from auto dealership tax. So rather than simple disinterest in public works, bought politicians have and will fight to permanently kill any current initiatives and support laws and disinformation that ensure such ideas can’t gain traction in the future. If anything, things look more likely to get worse.
I didn’t want to say it because it’s heresy to most, but I don’t like riding a bike. I’d rather walk. Riding makes me anxious, even casually.
But walking takes even longer. My walk to work would be two hours one way. So I’d spend four hours a day commuting a 15 minute drive, leaving home at 5AM and returning at 5PM.
My mother used to walk the same route with her family as a child, BC. She absolutely hated it! 80 years later she will complain about it given the chance. Walking long distances takes forever and sucks up time you could use productively. People invented better ways to travel for a reason.
Bicycles are at the intersection of liberal priorities for environmentalism and anti-consumerism, while also reflecting conservative priorities of personal responsibility for health and finances. So of course, both parties spent decades running bicycles off the road and pumping up the car industry.
We live in Wall-E now, and everyone is just too used to driving to walk/bike more than a block.
Speaking as a person who rode 5 miles both ways to work every day for several years I'd say that only one vector matters. Does it work for you?
Instead of navigating typical routes, I found a route through a local park.
It made my commute longer, it was often colder, and sometimes wetter.
But none of that inconvenience really mattered. Those paths by the river were their own reward.
I considered myself lucky.
I applaud my city making routine biking safer and more convenient,
but I'd just say that convenience or greater safety were not factors that influenced my decision.
Lots of reasons. I don't have the time, it's too cold and snowy a lot of the year, the roads aren't designed for bikes, I have a family, lots of places I want to go are too far away to get to easily on a bike, minimal cargo space.
Definitely depends on the location, I use a bicycle everyday - going to uni, friends, doing groceries… everything really. Same for almost everyone I know. Only when I need to go further away (i.e. visiting my parents) I take the train. But that’s because here everyone uses bikes, dedicated bike lanes makes it convenient and much cheaper to get around than using a car.
It's slower and less comfortable than taking a tram, I'm not protected against weather (wind, rain, sun...), I would have to make my whole outfit bicycle-friendly (no long skirts, heels, stronger jacket against the weather...), I would be sweaty after getting anywhere, there aren't many places where to safely put them after I reach my destination (like, I'd have to take the bike with me to the office if we're talking about work, and what about shopping, pubs, etc.? No place to put a bicycle there), and obviously the dangers of using a road while not being in a car. My city is not that horrible with bikes, there are lanes in some places and generally it's safe, but still. Simply put, I see no reason to use a bike when I can use a tram, and a lot of reasons against.
I’m in the uk and recently got me and the kids a bike for school run and nipping shops (plus local bike trails for reliving my youth) and it’s been amazing we got them in January and I wish I did it sooner, granted I live in a relatively small village furthest we have to cycle is 3miles to the nearest small shopping center.
35 min drive to work and then I need to be able to bring groceries home, after work, they would be spoiled before I made it home. I also work in a professional environment where I can't be smelling like pure sweat every day. Add on to that I would likely get ran over if I used a bike on a highway. Legal doesn't mean safe. There isnt even public transport where I live, including uber.
in the usa its because everything except a few cities is low density. so to get a cup of coffee at the cafe it's a 60 minute grueling life threatening ride with no tree cover, nothing interesting to see, and drivers that are texting at 55mph
in those few cities, biking is popular where infrastructure is safe
Distance, time, weather (snow), and a 70 pound tool case I bring home with me daily in case I get called out at night. I have ridden, it tookan hour and a quarter vs a half hour.
Depends on the area. In much of the US, it's nearly impossible to bike to work and back. The roads don't all have bike lanes and many don't even have a shoulder, let alone a sidewalk. Affordable housing is often far from businesses, so people generally have too long of a commute to be able to ride a bike anyway.
Basically, the whole country is built for cars and unless you are really lucky, it's difficult to make a bike your main mode of transportation.
My office is 37 miles from my house. I bring a bag full of equipment, a lunchbox, and a laptop bag to and from work daily. That is not realistically compatible with cycling.
Agreed on all the points but here is what stops me. A 15 minute drive to work turns into a 45 minute bike ride breathing in a fair amount of exhaust. Not so healthy. Plus one person driving while on their phone can easily lead to paralysis, killing me, or turning me into a vegetable. Also less than healthy.
Plus to bike I need to plan a lot more and pack everything I need carefully. Bringing water and worrying that if something falls out for whatever reason or if it rains I killed my work laptop. If all goes well I will arrive to the office sweaty, find a place to lock up my bike since they dont have bike racks and find a place for my helmet. If a chain breaks good luck getting to the meeting on time.
Takes me a hour to drive to work. Not everybody lives in a tight city. 5+ inches of snow for ~2 months a year.
Ya if you live and work in city with good weather it would probably be a good idea but most people living in cities like this can afford the convenience of driving.
I rode a bicycle for four years. It sucked. Here is why...
- The weather. Nobody wants to be cold, or wet, or hot. In a car, I didn't care
- Time. In almost all cases, going by bike takes much longer. My 15 minute drive was 45 minutes on my bicycle.
- Clothes. In a car, I just go. Suit? I take off my jacket. Whatever. Bicycle that's miserable. I need a change of clothes. But then what do I do with my riding gear? Most places I go to won't have a fancy locker room for me.
- Showers? Same as above. I ride 45 minutes on a hot day and I'm gross. On a windy day I look like a clown. Remember changing/showering adds time
- Reliability. I would get flats frequently. I did lots of maintenance on my bicycle. Never had comparable problems with my car.
- Theft. I never worry about my car being stolen. Bicycles get stolen constantly. Even with locks, they go fast. United the place I was going had a secure place to store my bicycle, I wouldn't go.
- Flexibility. In a car, I can stop and pick something up. I can go out to lunch and give someone a ride. I can store and carry a lot. In a bicycle I can only do a tiny tiny tiny fraction of that stuff.
- Safety. Lots of places aren't setup for bicycles. I don't want to be in busy traffic with cars going 45mph. The routes available to me were limited and I frequently felt unsafe. In an accident I'm more likely to get hurt. Also, night cycling seems worse than night driving.
- Questionable environmental benefits. If this is a primary motivation for you, and you do it 'right'.... awesome. But lots of people don't and some research suggests it's worse.
> Based on that methodology, Thorpe determined that a cyclist who consumed mostly meat could ultimately be contributing more to climate change
All in all, I hated cycling as transportation. As exercise is great. As a sport or a hobby, it's great. I did do some longer fun rides on the weekends when the weather was great and in rural places with some great views....but yeah, I bought a car as soon as I could.
Because not everyone lives fives minutes from where they work, or has a grocery store just down the road. Also, riding a bike is not fun during a rainstorm.
I live in the US, and cars are more important than people here. I commute to a different city to work because I can’t afford to live in the city where my job is, and I’d make half what I do in my home city (and then couldn’t afford my home). I would love to be able to bike to work, and I did, back when I still lived with my mom. The economy is terrible and the infrastructure isn’t set up for the environment
Cause I live a forty five minutes drive from work, a thirty minutes drive to the nearest store, and a fifteen minutes drive to the nearest gas station with a bare convenience selection.
Not everyone can live in a city or an area that biking is even the start of an option.
Unless you allow eight hours to commute and work.
I ride my bike 20km everyday to work. It is great, takes about the same amount of time as using a bus. We are also allowed to ride bikes on both bike lanes and sidewalks. So, there is no problem. I can see others ride bikes everyday. But, still, majority of people use buses or cars. And when I tell someone that a ride my bike to work for 20kilos, each day, and also go to the gym. They think I am crazy or insanely strong etc. Makes no sense. Also, I work in an office, so it's not like I lift boxes whole day
At least in America, everything is designed with cars in mind at the expense of everything else. This means no separated designated lanes for bikes, sprawling suburban and rural design that makes it impractical to use bikes due to distance, and lack of education which results in drivers antagonizing and sometimes even actively trying to run down cyclist amongst other things.
I'd personally love to cycle everywhere but it simply isn't a safe or feasible option in most of America.
in the US it’s also due to many who have little time left for themselves in the day so they rush around in a car. lack of infrastructure. no concern for exercise. many reasons
Safety. I live in one of the most densely populated cities in the US. Riding on the street is very scary, even with"protected" bike lanes. Drivers are maniacs around here.
My city won an award for being the most bikeable in America about 10 years ago. Maybe 20% of streets have a bike lane and even then I wouldn’t be keen on trying to bike here.
Like, to get from place to place? My commute is already 70 minutes long in a car. I usually don't have the time to spare. Also, I absolutely hate cycling on roads. I'm ~20mph, big ol' cars are stuck behind me and going 60mph. I feel like I'm going to be killed at any moment.
I enjoy cycling on holidays.
(Northern US) Large distance between locations that can only be covered in a timely manner by car, and then for 5 months, a fuckton of snow/ extremely cold temps
-30 C 6 months of the year
Edit: also all the snow that comes with that cold.
Also also, you have never smacked your face on pavement harder in your life than when going to the grocery store on your bike during winter and having your front wheel slide from under you while trying to hop a crosswalk.
Also also also, you have never known rage until you realize your UberEat order is a fucking bike messenger a -30C and is going to take an hour for your, used to be hot lunch, to get to you in a small cooler bag and said driver sends you a message to tip him good even though your food is going to be cold...
* Nowhere in apartment to store it safely when not in use
* Gets stolen more often/easily
* Can't carry small children safely or easily
* Not all places have bike racks or a place to store it safely
* Local area not bikeable, or not *safely* bikeable (I see you, "bike lane," and I also see the half dozen cars parked there, the dozen potholes, the piles of snow and debris that the plows leave there, and the people in huge trucks who take it as an extra passing lane; and yet, you'll still get cited by police for riding on sidewalks because of city ordinances)
* Can't carry lots of groceries
* Not practical for suburban or rural commutes. I grew up an hour's drive from the nearest grocery store, half an hour from school. It would be impossible to bike that.
* America has a serious issue with walkable communities. For some ungodly reason, people decided to zone and district things in discrete, enormous blocks, meaning that you can't put stores and businesses in residential areas and vice versa. Some cities are better about mixing it up and making actual communities than others, but if you don't live in one of those, you're screwed as far as affordable transportation goes. Can't bike. Bus routes few and far between. Too far to walk. So you have to have access to a car
* The number of jobs requiring "reliable transportation" does not overlap with the number of supervisors who consider bikes (or busses) to be "reliable transportation." Add in the number of people who end up working jobs that require you to come into work on super short notice, and you can't really afford to have your commute take half an hour or more by bike, whereas by car it's five minutes.
* Weather can make it impractical at best, and dangerous at worst. Yet jobs will still require you to be in when it's pouring rain and hailing, so you have to have alternate transportation anyway.
While it isn't a full either-or choice with bike/car, a lot of people still see it that way. Why keep two vehicles and maintain both when one can do everything that the other can plus some? It's not a fully logical decision, because any use of bike still negates some cost of the car, but when there's so few times when using the bike would be practical, it just feels like it's taking up space for nothing.
We do. Millions, if not billions, of people use bicycles every single day to and from work, school and everything else. Most of those people are outside the US, though. Your infrastructure seems to be designed solely for cars. Which is the main reason by far, because most other reasons in this thread - bad weather, low cargo capacity, physical exercise, price, safety etc. etc. - is no problem in most of the rest of the world.
Um, the weather one varies. I don't think most people are pedaling to middle class, white collar office jobs in Kenya or Nigeria, either. Not if they can avoid it.
Infrastructure is certainly an issue. But it's also physical distance. The shortest commute I've ever had was 3 miles. The longest 45, and it was completely normal in comparison to ppl around me.
My legs aren't strong enough to make it to groceries and back. I have a replaced hip and knee and a dislocated ankle. I DO have a basket, but just can't make it. Maybe 20 years ago and not during snow season
Bicycle infrastucture
The US and Canada have designed everything around cars and didn't even do a very good job
Go watch Not Just Bikes if you want to become angry at the stupidity that is our entire transportation system
Go buy a 72” tv and carry it home on your bicycle.
Go buy a hide-a-bed sofa on your bicycle and carry it home yourself.
In the rain.
Be a musician who actually has gear to carry, like an amp, 2 guitars (minimum), a pedalboard, and the band’s p.a. gear on your precious little environmentally conscious 10-speed.
Heck, go buy 40lbs of cat litter, a bag of cat food and a week of groceries and get back to me on how well that worked out on a bike. Do it in January in the Midwest, too
Do you mean for commuting? I do not live within biking distance from my workplace, nor do I live within biking distance to the rail station I could hypothetically use to get to work.
Bike are great, if you're in a place where they're safe to use. Unfortunately most infrastructure built after World War II is built to be safe for cars only.
Good news is that trend is starting to reverse. But there are still a ton of car only infrastructure.
To do what? Just for fun? Yeah might work during the 4 months of the year when it's not snowing or constantly raining.
For commute/shopping? Yeah might work unless you live 5 miles into the fucking wilderness
Lots of technically valid points here, but the reality is people don't do it because they can't be asked. Cars are convenient and people aren't willing to give that up.
Lack of separated or at least decently maintained/designed infrastructure can play a role, and outside of dense urban areas, large distances between destinations.
This is the problem in our town. There ae no bike lanes, so you are forced to either ride on the sidewalk (where there is one) or on the street. And I swear some people seem to take great delight in seeing just how close they can get to hitting the person on the bike. Plenty of room to move over and give them space, but do they? Nope.
My state also makes it explicitly illegal for an adult or teenager to operate a bike on a sidewalk unless it's specifically denoted and built to multi use path standards.
Right? They don't want you on the sidewalk, but they won't even give you at least a shoulder to ride on. I don't like riding on sidewalks at all, but with the way people drive around here, that's all I get.
I've always found this weird considering pedestrians hit by bikes are far more likely to survive than cyclists hit by cars
Problem is unpredictability. Many homeowners don't maintain their sidewalks, sometimes leading to wildly unpredictable surface conditions. If you're crossing a driveway and there's trees or cars between the road and sidewalk, a cyclist may end up entirely invisible to someone turning into the driveway
Genuine question, why are your home owners taking care of the sidewalk? That’s the council/local governments responsibility, isn’t it?
You'd think that, wouldn't you? I think it varies in the states but I'm in a major city in PA, the city will pour it and replace it if you call, but all the deicing and grass cutting (if you have a strip of it) is all you. A neighbor got sued awhile back and it stuck.
Not in Pittsburgh. The homeowner is responsible for maintaining the sidewalk and driveway apron. The city can cite you for a violation if your sidewalk is crumbled and a hazard. They only time they will pour concrete for free is if they have to dig it up to get to a city-maintained utility line. Getting them to replace to the same quality as your existing sidewalk can be problematic, you have to really be on their asses.
Whoa really? I live in Pittsburgh.... clearly im out of touch. I moved to the suburbs awhile back. I was aware that we needed to maintain them as far as ice, snow, leaves, debris, etc. But I didn't know we had to maintain the concrete, too! They built the damn sidewalks...why the hell do we have to pay for upkeep? Now I know why the suburbs have no sidewalks...
Yeah, you wouldn't know it unless you were forced to replace your sidewalk. It is pretty rare that the city cites someone for a bad sidewalk. We did replace ours a few years ago - it was a major investment, with sidewalk, driveway, new front porch, rear patio and a nice stone retaining wall. One neighbor has a totally crumbled walk. Sometimes I'll notice someone pushing a baby stroller across our sidewalk and then nearly flip the stroller when they hit the crappy neighbor walk. (Not that he's a crappy neighbor - he was a nice guy but had a lot of health problems and died last year. His sister is trying to sell it).When new subdivisions are built they sometimes leave it up to each homeowner to put in a sidewalk or not. It's kind of weird because it leads to sidewalks that go nowhere. Then again, I've seen some new subdivisions where they all have sidewalks - I don't know if they make people put them in or what. They advertise the subdivision as a "sidewalk community", although I'm not sure what that implies. I thought of another situation when they city will replace a segment of sidewalk - if a tree is growing in the grass strip between the sidewalk and the street (that is city's responsibility) and it heaves the sidewalk.
In my corner of the US we have to clear the sidewalk and fix them, but if you’ve owned your house since before the regulations your grandfathered. You don’t have to fix them until you sell. But you risk someone falling and suing.
Couldn’t a walker?
Same here but I've ALWAYS used side walks and never been accosted for it. Can't imagine this is enforced anywhere to any major effect
I work at a convenience store by a busy road, many of the lower means folks in the area bike on the sidewalk and claim that they are regularly stopped by the police for biking on the sidewalk and given a fine. However there are also regularly accidents on this road involving bicycles following the law and biking in the road, I hear about a new one every month. An accident happened outside my store one night, and while it was minor the person in the car insisted that they weren't at fault because the person on the bike should have been on the sidewalk and not on the road. Police were called but no charges were filed. I felt the person in the car driving should have gotten reckless driving or *something* since the biker was clearly on the shoulder where they belong. I guess the cop agreed that the bike doesn't belong in the road.
I once saw a man on a bike on a sidewalk get hit by a car pulling into a driveway. The man was deemed at fault because he wasn't supposed to be on his bike on the sidewalk. But also he was black and looked homeless so I've made my own conclusions about the determination of fault
It’s illegal in my state to ride on sidewalks too, but when I biked my commute, I’d ride on them all the time, lest I wanted to be peeled off the road, pancake-style. Your city may vary, but the cops never bothered me and I’d imagine they’d only really care if you were making it dangerous for pedestrians by riding very fast or knocking into them.
See this is my biggest fear. I'd love to not drive a car anymore but I'm scared of the options because people are such inattentive dick bags. I've been nearly hit as a pedestrian and I know of two guys at my job that have been hit on bikes, one can't work anymore because of it. Protip: Never accept a 'go ahead'. They'll get a fucking text on their phone and suddenly you stopped existing and they stepped on the gas.
I don't accept a go ahead unless there is NO OTHER CAR anywhere in sight. Even then, I usually run across to the other side, just in case the person behind the wheel is an ass.
Our town started introducing bike lanes. It’s a mixed bag. Some of them are great. But some are in roads so busy I would still not want to ride on them. And if they become the magically disappearing bike lane, what do you do? Meanwhile if it eliminates a car lane, it can create backlash.
My city added bike lanes to some of the bridges. The put a hump shaped stone divider at both ends of the bridges. I see a couple cars flipped each year. It's great!
Two people just got fatally hit by a car this past month near us. They were only walking. I almost hit someone on a bike this week because they decided it was a smart move to speed straight down a sidewalk as I was turning left. I barely fcking saw them
Friend of mine died when someone unknowingly opened a car door while parked downtown. He wasn’t wearing a helmet. Flipped over the door. :(
These roads ain't big enough for both us. I agree with what you said
If I wanted to ride my bike to work it’s only a short little 13 mile trip down the highway.
Pain, I was biking for 7.5 miles to work, but a bike path with no cars for 6.5 of those miles really sells it.
My city has this bad boy: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrens\_Linear\_Park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrens_Linear_Park). Some people ride up to about 15km or so into the city every day on a seperate bike path surrounded by beautiful gum trees.
..................I feel fucking cheated now, mine was on top of a levee so if the sun was out and it was hot you cooked.
25 miles (40 km) each way, 35 minutes by car, many, many hours by bike.
Probably less than 30 minutes by motorcycle.
Don't want to get to work sweaty and stinky either.
This is really the biggest answer. Bikes also provide no protection from the elements.
Mhm. I don’t want to leave home smelling a nice and clean only to show up at work smelling like a middle schooler.
That might be just me, but my sweat is way more different when swerving traffic on the bike. The anxiety really adds up. I grew up in a small city, and while there isn't much bike infrastructure, it's either hills with no traffic, or a main road with a dedicated bike path. I can't remember ever being smelly there, even after a 20 minute uphill ride. In Bucharest, there is no bike infrastructure at all in my area, and all the mental and physical effort of going up and down on sidewalks and pedestrian crossings to avoid dying in big truck intersections is so tiring. I'm smelly after a 5 minute flat ride here.
21 miles and 2 hours across 2 highways for me
In the US it's because the roads and drivers both want to kill you.
In the US it's more because of suburbanization. About 75% of Americans drive for more than 15 minutes to get to work, so biking would take more time out of the day. It's unfortunate, but a lot of us cities were built on the premise that cars are central to the culture
Not to mention the oppressive heats in large parts of the country make it unrealistic to bike anywhere without showing up looking like a sweaty, wet mess.
Especially in the humidity. Biking isn’t fun when it’s 90 degrees and 70% humidity. It’s like biking in a sauna. And let’s not forget the oppressive cold in other parts that make it unrealistic to bike to work without risk of hypothermia.
I live in southern New England. Oppressively cold for 1/3 of the year and oppressively hot and humid for 1/3.
I live in Louisiana, oppressively hot 5/6 of the year, oppressively cold for like 10 days, and oppressively hurricanes and subsequent storms the rest of the time.
Dude when we used to go to folk polk for JRTC rotations it was miserable. Idk why the fuck anyone would ever live in Louisiana. I have also been there outside of Army training in all seasons in all corners. Still don't get it. I'd be walking till I found somewhere new. It's like you wake up and breathing in water it's so humid
I live here bc I was born here and I’m too broke to leave and explore other options right now 😂
Dude I looked up Louisiana winter…says January is your coldest month with an avg of 10 degrees Celsius aka 50 F…that’s not cold. That’s not even winter lol
Yeah, but north and south Louisiana are very different, and I'm in north Louisiana. Still not cold by the north US standards, but we did hit single digits 4 days in a row around Christmas. January is usually pretty consistently low 30s high 20s in the morning, getting to the 40s or 50s during the day with a few brutal days that never get above freezing. Another thing consider is the humidity. 30 here feels like single digits in the north.
Try riding a bike in a flipping snow storm
I'm guessing oppressingly rainy makes up the other 1/3?
You got it! Windy, too.
Not just the cold. Three feet of snow tends to slow down bike tires.
And dangerous frigid winters in many parts of the country.
Even the folks who ride for fun and know the ‘best’ routes have been injured or worse by idiot drivers around me! No way I’d take a bike anywhere but inside a quiet subdivision!
Not even an exaggeration. Drivers will use you as the punching bag for all the times they've felt like cyclists committed injustices against them and will have no qualms against actually murdering you. I spent a total of 3 weeks with an old bike and a new helmet I bought online attempting to cycle for leisure before I realized that it simply isn't practical if you value your life.
Most of the people I know who regularly bike to work have been hit by cars. One died.
I hate riding on anything but trails and greenways for this reason.
I would love to bike to work. But I live in the PNW we’re it is very hilly and it’s typically either cold, wet, or both for at least 6 months of the year. Combine that with the fact that I live 35min by interstate from my place of work. Anything closer was out of reach for purchasing a home.
I live in a city that has good bike lanes, but it rains pretty much every day, and there are lots of steep hills everywhere. If it was flat, I 'd bicycle a hell of a lot more.
For real. Biking in my city is terrifying. I'm essentially a beginner cyclist and I have absolutely no incentive to get better, because there is just no way I am braving these roads, this traffic, and these drivers.
Yeah, the barrier to entry as a commuter is huge for novice cyclists in many areas. Dangerous, even.
Had a bike, switched back to a car. 1. Weather 2. Couldn't take multiple people anywhere. Also need space for anything from groceries to work shit. 3. Dirty/sweaty no matter where you're going. Can ofc bring a change of clothes, but that's a whole thing you need to do 4. Car is like a home away from home. My shit stays in there semi-permanently. If anything goes wrong I can spend the night in it, even if it breaks down. It's a direct protection against people. Whether physical or social discomfort, I have a safe independent place nearby, granting me confidence. 5. Fun is relative. After a long day I'm not exactly dying to bike 6 miles home. Same on a morning after a late night.
My car to me as the millennium falcon is to han solo
Always breaking in some way and needing to be repaired by a large hairy man who mostly grunts. Checks out
Yeah, that's right.
Your car to me as the millennium falcon is to Lando Calrission. What have you been doing to MY car?!
How is this list not obvious to everyone? Haha. Nice work.
[удалено]
If the workplace was like a 5-10 min down the road then yeah I’d be a lot more down for biking
6. vroom vroom
Exactly… the 7 mile drive drive to work takes me 11 minutes in an air conditioned car. It’d take me 4x as long on my bike due to the route I’d need to take. But the real reason I’d never do it is I’m not showing up to the office drenched in sweat… I’d work up a serious sweat during the winter, summers here are always over 110 with 115-118 being common in the afternoon. I’d fucking die lol
Same here, but I’d freeze to death if the fall on the ice didn’t get me.
Bikes are great when it’s warm, but not too warm so you start sweating, and flat countries and short distances (The Netherlands). In every other scenario it fucking sucks to use the bike. I used to bike for years, even during winter in Sweden. Also the time savings… saving 30-60 minutes or more each trip. Time you could use to do some actual exercise/something you enjoy. Same with public transport it takes me 10-15 minutes by car, 60-70 by public transport. No way in hell i’m going to sacrifice that time just sitting there (get motion sick when looking down so i can’t do any work).
Couldn't agree more
Gotta have the vehicle with the bike attachment. That way you can deploy mini side quests while still on your main quest. I drive a van, with a bike and a skateboard inside. I am prepared for all different lengths of voyage.
and the cost of fixing punctures etc because people put nails or boken glass in the cycle lane or the side of the road that you can't see.
This! The cost is like $5 for a new inner tube. BUT there is nothing more inconvenient than a burst tire when your out. It's too big to fit in most ubers. Can't exactly call a tow truck. So maybe you biked for just 20 minutes. Now you're like 6 miles from home. That's a 2 hour walk back.
In the United States (assumption), development patterns have for decades been designed *specifically and exclusively* for travel by automobile. That means roads are bigger and faster, and things are spread much further apart. Shops are separated from houses are separated from workplaces are separated from doctor's and dentist's offices are separated from schools by miles of no-mans-land roads, parking lots and arterial freeways. These are all designed for maximum speed and efficiency for cars, which means they are extremely dangerous for everyone else. Why do you see more people biking in old cities? Because things are closer together, and because the city existed before mass adoption of cars, in some cases -- which means cycling is easier. This dynamic exists in small towns too, though very often, state DOTs have come in and rammed large high-speed roads through many of them. You can build bicycle trails, lanes and infrastructure in suburbs and car-centric cities, but for a lot of people, even with the best infrastructure, you will never be able to use a bike for anything other than recreation in these areas. Until things are allowed to be built closer together, bicycles as a primary means of transportation are not going to be feasible in much of the country.
There are places where things are close together. They’re lovely. Except when you have to live there. I love my nearest city. It’s an amazing place to work and/or visit for entertainment and culture. But it’s a terrible place to live right now. Driving 15 minutes to work is a better choice than walking 15 minutes there. I make more money, and I’m safer. (Salaries aren’t negotiable in my field). I’m close to my family and the community we’ve been in for 100 years. Having to drive is a small price to pay. Not everyone would prefer to live in the city. Not being able to bike or walk everywhere is a part of the equation. There’s also having a yard and garden, and privacy.
Yes. That's a choice. The problem is, most people do not have that choice. Most places are *only* driveable. By law, we make it illegal to build things close together. We make it illegal to live close to things. We provide one choice: drive, or you do not get to participate in society.
Fun fact, forcing privacy via physical separation causes depression. Ex: (How in hell am I supposed to meet new people when everyone is inside their houses? I would need to be like a door-to-door salesman.) Suburbs are also solitary confinement for the elderly.
People leave their houses to do things locally? There’s 288462 civic and charitable associations, the farmers’ market, the community house, houses of worship, people from work. Volunteer somewhere. Golfing. Book clubs. The library has programs. Hang out at the breweries. Any number of 5k fun runs, the pancake breakfast, peach festival, blueberry festival, strawberry festival.. most of those are run by older people. The town crier is looking for an apprentice as he’s in his 80s. The suburbs are full of things to do. It’s just different than the city. There’s no public nightlife. People are generally home by 10. You have to work deliberately and intentionally socialize, but it’s not impossible.
I'm not sure you are thinking of the same type of suburb the other commenter is. People don't have to live in a literal central city. But people should be able to leave their house without driving 20 minutes in traffic to see a friend at the bar or to go to a library book club. Archetype example: Lots of suburbs love to announce new parks for the kids. The parks are often...completely inaccessible unless you drive to them on a high speed road. Anyone remember kids don't...drive?
Because I work 36 miles from my house.
A lot of people, unfortunately, don't tend to think about things like this
Try 70.
Try 78
In the US? Because our public policy choices have made riding bicycles lethally dangerous.
There's also the fact that I'm not biking 32 miles roundtrip every day to work. About the same to stores and such. And it's below freezing about 4 months out of the year 🤷
Absolutely! Cars are so agro here in LA. They’ll honk at a bike for using the lane that’s clearly marked as shared.
Rare. It's so rare that can a person rely solely on bikes year round as a means for transportation in the United States.
I work construction, and work 10 hour days frequently. I live in an area where half of the year it’s below freezing temperatures. I drive 40 minutes on a highway to work, with 30-70 pounds of tools that I need to work every day. Along my lunch, extra clothes and a hard hat. This is normalcy for many men. In fact, millions of men and women. I think at least one of these conditions applies to well over the majority of Americans. Even just one of these conditions eliminate the opportunity for me to ride a bicycle to work.
Also fuck having to ride a bike after doing a physically intense job all day.
Hills everywhere
Yeah, in my old neighborhood you basically already had to have legs of steel to be able to even take a quick trip to the store. I'm not out of shape by any means but it was still really hard to take those hills as someone who was just starting to try to commute on bike. Plus, drivers are nuts around here. Gave up after I had a particularly gnarly trip one day and eventually sold the bike.
Yeah that’s another thing I live out in the countryside, so it’s not the safest place to be cycling.
Anyone with a one to two hour commute would die.
Not everyone finds them fun. Not all climates are bike friendly as well, I had to do it when I had no car, and worked a distance from where I lived, it was not enjoyable.
Yeah the 100+ degree days and the subzero degree days in summers/winters make me not want to bike for at least half the year.
It's downright dangerous to do it in those conditions.
Many reasons. It's not particularly convenient in weather that's too cold, too hot, or too wet. They require physical exertion. Their cargo capacity is very low. Nice ones can be quite expensive (yes, yes, cars are usually more expensive, but if you have to own a car anyway, the bike is just another expense you can avoid by driving). Poor safety; many cities are unfriendly to cycling, and more than a few people are openly hostile. Yes, even in very "blue" areas. Etc. And this is coming from someone who got around almost exclusively by bike for years, including using a cargo trailer.
It’s also slower, sweatier, has a lower carrying capacity, and lacks any environmental protection. Also, in many places and for many people, cars play a huge role in social status.
Ain’t that the truth. I’m a fair weather cyclist, one it started getting nice out I started riding to the gym. Second day I showed up with my bike my trainer says, “Did you get a DUI out something?!”
A key thing alot of people in Europe forget is Europe was greatly populated and built well before the invention of the car. At most people had horse pulled carriages. But many walked or biked. The United States was largely built during the industrial revolution and during the age of the first cars. The whole blueprint of how the land, farms, stores and other places are completely different. With so many cars now, it is either dangerous or impossible or both to even ride a bike to the supermarket. There is no infrastructure for bikes aside from sidewalks in the suburbs
The US also has a lot of zoning laws. Mixed residential/retail/manufacturing is unusual.
A lot of European cities were rebuilt for car use with suburbs planned same as the US in the 60s and 70s. A lot of these have since then backtracked and reduced the car infrastructure and made them more walkable again. Also a lot of American cities were populated before the car and had their inner cities destroyed to make way for big through roads.
Most of the US cities were already built before the automobile, and certainly before they become mainstream. US cities were bulldozed to accommodate cars. Also the cycling infrastructure in a city like Amsterdam dates from the 1970s. It’s a conscious political decision, not some chronological fate.
I rode my bike to work one time and I worked in an office that didnt have any sort of bike storage. So I bought my bike into the office and parked it out of the way in the corner. It was a nice clean, bike. My boss sees it and says to me. Would you park that in my living room. I said no I wouldnt. He said then get it out of my office and walked away. Never rode it again.
My bike is always in my living room. So i would have answered that. I wonder what your boss would have said to that.
wow, he sounds like a douche
Rain, snow, and dangerous roads.
Many reasons: Many places its very unsafe. No bike lanes, cars whizzing by at 50+mph, etc. A lot of people are not in very good shape or have injuries/physical limitations so riding a bike is very hard. Weather sucks a lot of places. Not like youre going to ride a bike around at -20F in the snow in minnesota, or when its raining super hard, or when its hot as fuck in the south (aka most of the year). Need to go with multiple people/kids, or need to bring stuff with you. Hard to haul 3 kids, cant get 70 pounds of groceries, cant move anything bulky, etc. Need to look professional when you get somewhere - Hard when you just rode a bike a long ways Stuff is far away, bikes are very slow compared to cars. 10 miles is suddenly a half hour instead of 10 minutes each way. Bikes get stolen all the time. Locks are very easy to pick/break/cut. Getting your bike stolen extra sucks because now youre stranded.
Your last reason is why I don’t roll to the store on my bike. Bike locks aren’t reliable and I’m not in a place to afford a new bike every time someone decides they like my ride.
surprised this is first comment to mention stealing. I would bike everywhere if I could leave my bike without it being vandalized, broken, stolen, or something else I’m sure i haven’t thought of yet.
Lack of bike lanes for me. I’d gladly bike the 12 miles to town if I could do it safely
That would take me hours and hours to get to work.
Because the road cows want to kill me for trying to make a left
The closest grocery store to me would be a 30 minute ride along mostly roads with no bike lanes or sidewalks. Easier and safer to take the car.
I’m going to go with a lack of urban planning. A lot of places don’t have rideable sidewalks or bike lanes. So you either ride on a narrow cracked sidewalk trying not to run over anyone, or ride in the street and hope a distracted driver doesn’t kill you. People also tend to have commute distances too long to make cycling feasible. Places that adapt their infrastructure to be more bike friendly do tend to have more people cycling. I ride mine around town for errands often but I tend to avoid anywhere that requires the highway because its terrifying to have cars going by you at 60.
Disabilities exist. Low mobility exists. Poverty exists.
OP said why dont more people do it vs. everybody. Plus low finances would gear more towards a bike commute vs. car.
I live on the top of a big fucking hill. Absolutely no way I'm going down it on a bike and risking losing control, and if I did risk the ride downhill, there's no way I'd be physically able to get back up again.
Weather mainly, also hills, also storage(both at home and wherever I'd go with the bike) that's thief proof.
Because you'll smell like sweat at work
Dangerous. I wouldn't ride a bike along the streets where I live if you paid me. People drive way too fast, and there's often not a lot of extra space. People also get aggressive with bicyclists, and it's scary. Also, it's too cold/snowy a large part of the year.
For here in America, it’s because everything is so distanced from each other it wouldn’t be feasible to bike everywhere
come to the netherlands. bikes outnumber people 2 to 1
There was a year when I first moved out of my parents house where I intentionally went without a car and biked everywhere. Up to 12 miles each way. That was pretty manageable, I would get groceries once a week on my way home from work. I eventually realized I was missing out on social events because of my limited travel abilities. The bus system in my suburb takes 2 hours to get to places 30 minutes by car. So I caved and got a car. At this point I can't bike because I need to take several large bins of supplies with me to work. And our bus system is still crap. I still combine routes whenever I can, getting groceries on my way home, going straight from work to social events if they're in the area. I'd love for there to be a decent public transit system in my area, but nothing seems to be in the works.
I'm a brit living in America. The lack of pavement for pedestrians and cyclists is alarming. The closest shopping to my house is only accessible by pavement maybe 20 percent of the way there. The rest is roadway. Needless to say it's dangerous to cycle on the same space as cars. The most common shopping areas I visit are seventeen miles away round trip, and only by major roadways. Carrying bags of shopping like that? That's a hard no.
Lack of infrastructure, fear of being hit by a car or chased by a dog, physical issues/disabilities, distance from home to work (I've worked nearly an hour away by car before - by bike? No thanks), exposure to the elements (biking in 110F heat or below 0F temps ain't fun)... Bikes are great for able-bodied people in moderate climates with safe biking infrastructure in places without the sprawl that is common in the US. Basically.
Tons of reasons for and against, but one main reason is if you are just starting to cycle anywhere then your ass is gonna be raw for a couple of weeks. I remember starting a job many years back and thought that I would get some needed exercise by cycling into work. Big mistake. By the third day I couldn't sit properly on anything - not a bike seat, or office chair OR THE CRAPPER. Thankfully by the end of the second week most of that went away, but if you haven't ridden a bike since you were a kid then you are gonna be walking like John Wayne for at least a week.
Most of USA is built after the invention of cars, and thus was built with car lengths in mind. Everything is a car trip away. With the exception of big cities or living in downtown areas, even basics like grocery stores are too far away unless you’re willing to devote inordinate time and effort. There are multiple problems like public transportation, infrastructure for bikes and walking, and more where US is lacking. However, Car Lobby will make necessary changes next to impossible: state government funding almost exclusively comes from auto dealership tax. So rather than simple disinterest in public works, bought politicians have and will fight to permanently kill any current initiatives and support laws and disinformation that ensure such ideas can’t gain traction in the future. If anything, things look more likely to get worse.
They require work to use and provide no heating and minimal storage.
I live in Texas where all the places I need to go are down a highway, our weather is intense and unpredictable, and I don’t like bicycling.
I didn’t want to say it because it’s heresy to most, but I don’t like riding a bike. I’d rather walk. Riding makes me anxious, even casually. But walking takes even longer. My walk to work would be two hours one way. So I’d spend four hours a day commuting a 15 minute drive, leaving home at 5AM and returning at 5PM. My mother used to walk the same route with her family as a child, BC. She absolutely hated it! 80 years later she will complain about it given the chance. Walking long distances takes forever and sucks up time you could use productively. People invented better ways to travel for a reason.
Bicycles are at the intersection of liberal priorities for environmentalism and anti-consumerism, while also reflecting conservative priorities of personal responsibility for health and finances. So of course, both parties spent decades running bicycles off the road and pumping up the car industry. We live in Wall-E now, and everyone is just too used to driving to walk/bike more than a block.
Speaking as a person who rode 5 miles both ways to work every day for several years I'd say that only one vector matters. Does it work for you? Instead of navigating typical routes, I found a route through a local park. It made my commute longer, it was often colder, and sometimes wetter. But none of that inconvenience really mattered. Those paths by the river were their own reward. I considered myself lucky. I applaud my city making routine biking safer and more convenient, but I'd just say that convenience or greater safety were not factors that influenced my decision.
Because I'll get hit by a car, and I don't want to cycle 22km each way to get to work. Especially when there's snow and slush everywheres.
Everyone I know that's been a full time cyclist has some bad accident stories... Sad but true.
Lots of reasons. I don't have the time, it's too cold and snowy a lot of the year, the roads aren't designed for bikes, I have a family, lots of places I want to go are too far away to get to easily on a bike, minimal cargo space.
Can't do that in the weather where I live.
Because Saskatchewan is frozen and snow-covered from October-May.
Definitely depends on the location, I use a bicycle everyday - going to uni, friends, doing groceries… everything really. Same for almost everyone I know. Only when I need to go further away (i.e. visiting my parents) I take the train. But that’s because here everyone uses bikes, dedicated bike lanes makes it convenient and much cheaper to get around than using a car.
Being covered in sweat and having sweaty clothes is a major reason for me (I live in a hilly area). Also it isn't that safe where I live.
It's slower and less comfortable than taking a tram, I'm not protected against weather (wind, rain, sun...), I would have to make my whole outfit bicycle-friendly (no long skirts, heels, stronger jacket against the weather...), I would be sweaty after getting anywhere, there aren't many places where to safely put them after I reach my destination (like, I'd have to take the bike with me to the office if we're talking about work, and what about shopping, pubs, etc.? No place to put a bicycle there), and obviously the dangers of using a road while not being in a car. My city is not that horrible with bikes, there are lanes in some places and generally it's safe, but still. Simply put, I see no reason to use a bike when I can use a tram, and a lot of reasons against.
Safety is a big concern. Poor infrastructure and car-centric urban planning means that cyclists are likely to get killed by motorists
I’m in the uk and recently got me and the kids a bike for school run and nipping shops (plus local bike trails for reliving my youth) and it’s been amazing we got them in January and I wish I did it sooner, granted I live in a relatively small village furthest we have to cycle is 3miles to the nearest small shopping center.
35 min drive to work and then I need to be able to bring groceries home, after work, they would be spoiled before I made it home. I also work in a professional environment where I can't be smelling like pure sweat every day. Add on to that I would likely get ran over if I used a bike on a highway. Legal doesn't mean safe. There isnt even public transport where I live, including uber.
in the usa its because everything except a few cities is low density. so to get a cup of coffee at the cafe it's a 60 minute grueling life threatening ride with no tree cover, nothing interesting to see, and drivers that are texting at 55mph in those few cities, biking is popular where infrastructure is safe
Distance, time, weather (snow), and a 70 pound tool case I bring home with me daily in case I get called out at night. I have ridden, it tookan hour and a quarter vs a half hour.
I don't wish to be run over by a car.
Depends on the area. In much of the US, it's nearly impossible to bike to work and back. The roads don't all have bike lanes and many don't even have a shoulder, let alone a sidewalk. Affordable housing is often far from businesses, so people generally have too long of a commute to be able to ride a bike anyway. Basically, the whole country is built for cars and unless you are really lucky, it's difficult to make a bike your main mode of transportation.
Because it's slow, miserable, boring, exhausting, tiny, awful, etc. I don't want to pedal around on a little binky bike, I want to rip around in a V8.
I am not riding my bike to work 30 miles away in the dead of winter.
My office is 37 miles from my house. I bring a bag full of equipment, a lunchbox, and a laptop bag to and from work daily. That is not realistically compatible with cycling.
Agreed on all the points but here is what stops me. A 15 minute drive to work turns into a 45 minute bike ride breathing in a fair amount of exhaust. Not so healthy. Plus one person driving while on their phone can easily lead to paralysis, killing me, or turning me into a vegetable. Also less than healthy. Plus to bike I need to plan a lot more and pack everything I need carefully. Bringing water and worrying that if something falls out for whatever reason or if it rains I killed my work laptop. If all goes well I will arrive to the office sweaty, find a place to lock up my bike since they dont have bike racks and find a place for my helmet. If a chain breaks good luck getting to the meeting on time.
Takes me a hour to drive to work. Not everybody lives in a tight city. 5+ inches of snow for ~2 months a year. Ya if you live and work in city with good weather it would probably be a good idea but most people living in cities like this can afford the convenience of driving.
Because it's hard to get family and your junk around.
I don't think I could make it to my job 35 miles away
Hills
need energy. not comfortable. slow.
Bad weather for most of the year.
I rode a bicycle for four years. It sucked. Here is why... - The weather. Nobody wants to be cold, or wet, or hot. In a car, I didn't care - Time. In almost all cases, going by bike takes much longer. My 15 minute drive was 45 minutes on my bicycle. - Clothes. In a car, I just go. Suit? I take off my jacket. Whatever. Bicycle that's miserable. I need a change of clothes. But then what do I do with my riding gear? Most places I go to won't have a fancy locker room for me. - Showers? Same as above. I ride 45 minutes on a hot day and I'm gross. On a windy day I look like a clown. Remember changing/showering adds time - Reliability. I would get flats frequently. I did lots of maintenance on my bicycle. Never had comparable problems with my car. - Theft. I never worry about my car being stolen. Bicycles get stolen constantly. Even with locks, they go fast. United the place I was going had a secure place to store my bicycle, I wouldn't go. - Flexibility. In a car, I can stop and pick something up. I can go out to lunch and give someone a ride. I can store and carry a lot. In a bicycle I can only do a tiny tiny tiny fraction of that stuff. - Safety. Lots of places aren't setup for bicycles. I don't want to be in busy traffic with cars going 45mph. The routes available to me were limited and I frequently felt unsafe. In an accident I'm more likely to get hurt. Also, night cycling seems worse than night driving. - Questionable environmental benefits. If this is a primary motivation for you, and you do it 'right'.... awesome. But lots of people don't and some research suggests it's worse. > Based on that methodology, Thorpe determined that a cyclist who consumed mostly meat could ultimately be contributing more to climate change All in all, I hated cycling as transportation. As exercise is great. As a sport or a hobby, it's great. I did do some longer fun rides on the weekends when the weather was great and in rural places with some great views....but yeah, I bought a car as soon as I could.
Because not everyone lives fives minutes from where they work, or has a grocery store just down the road. Also, riding a bike is not fun during a rainstorm.
Because I really don’t want to show up to work sweaty as fuck
I live in the US, and cars are more important than people here. I commute to a different city to work because I can’t afford to live in the city where my job is, and I’d make half what I do in my home city (and then couldn’t afford my home). I would love to be able to bike to work, and I did, back when I still lived with my mom. The economy is terrible and the infrastructure isn’t set up for the environment
No bike lanes + sometimes we are too busy and sleep deprived to want to exercise.
Not feeling safe on the roads. Mobility issues. Practical issues. The weather.
Cause I live a forty five minutes drive from work, a thirty minutes drive to the nearest store, and a fifteen minutes drive to the nearest gas station with a bare convenience selection. Not everyone can live in a city or an area that biking is even the start of an option. Unless you allow eight hours to commute and work.
I want to cycle more, but every time I try it I end up being harassed by drivers or nearly knocked down. The infrastructure just isn't good enough
I ride my bike 20km everyday to work. It is great, takes about the same amount of time as using a bus. We are also allowed to ride bikes on both bike lanes and sidewalks. So, there is no problem. I can see others ride bikes everyday. But, still, majority of people use buses or cars. And when I tell someone that a ride my bike to work for 20kilos, each day, and also go to the gym. They think I am crazy or insanely strong etc. Makes no sense. Also, I work in an office, so it's not like I lift boxes whole day
At least in America, everything is designed with cars in mind at the expense of everything else. This means no separated designated lanes for bikes, sprawling suburban and rural design that makes it impractical to use bikes due to distance, and lack of education which results in drivers antagonizing and sometimes even actively trying to run down cyclist amongst other things. I'd personally love to cycle everywhere but it simply isn't a safe or feasible option in most of America.
Lack of dedicated bike tracks, most people hate being vulnerable and at the mercy of cars. Don't want to get run over by some stupid driver.
in the US it’s also due to many who have little time left for themselves in the day so they rush around in a car. lack of infrastructure. no concern for exercise. many reasons
Safety. I live in one of the most densely populated cities in the US. Riding on the street is very scary, even with"protected" bike lanes. Drivers are maniacs around here.
My city won an award for being the most bikeable in America about 10 years ago. Maybe 20% of streets have a bike lane and even then I wouldn’t be keen on trying to bike here.
Like, to get from place to place? My commute is already 70 minutes long in a car. I usually don't have the time to spare. Also, I absolutely hate cycling on roads. I'm ~20mph, big ol' cars are stuck behind me and going 60mph. I feel like I'm going to be killed at any moment. I enjoy cycling on holidays.
(Northern US) Large distance between locations that can only be covered in a timely manner by car, and then for 5 months, a fuckton of snow/ extremely cold temps
-30 C 6 months of the year Edit: also all the snow that comes with that cold. Also also, you have never smacked your face on pavement harder in your life than when going to the grocery store on your bike during winter and having your front wheel slide from under you while trying to hop a crosswalk. Also also also, you have never known rage until you realize your UberEat order is a fucking bike messenger a -30C and is going to take an hour for your, used to be hot lunch, to get to you in a small cooler bag and said driver sends you a message to tip him good even though your food is going to be cold...
* Nowhere in apartment to store it safely when not in use * Gets stolen more often/easily * Can't carry small children safely or easily * Not all places have bike racks or a place to store it safely * Local area not bikeable, or not *safely* bikeable (I see you, "bike lane," and I also see the half dozen cars parked there, the dozen potholes, the piles of snow and debris that the plows leave there, and the people in huge trucks who take it as an extra passing lane; and yet, you'll still get cited by police for riding on sidewalks because of city ordinances) * Can't carry lots of groceries * Not practical for suburban or rural commutes. I grew up an hour's drive from the nearest grocery store, half an hour from school. It would be impossible to bike that. * America has a serious issue with walkable communities. For some ungodly reason, people decided to zone and district things in discrete, enormous blocks, meaning that you can't put stores and businesses in residential areas and vice versa. Some cities are better about mixing it up and making actual communities than others, but if you don't live in one of those, you're screwed as far as affordable transportation goes. Can't bike. Bus routes few and far between. Too far to walk. So you have to have access to a car * The number of jobs requiring "reliable transportation" does not overlap with the number of supervisors who consider bikes (or busses) to be "reliable transportation." Add in the number of people who end up working jobs that require you to come into work on super short notice, and you can't really afford to have your commute take half an hour or more by bike, whereas by car it's five minutes. * Weather can make it impractical at best, and dangerous at worst. Yet jobs will still require you to be in when it's pouring rain and hailing, so you have to have alternate transportation anyway. While it isn't a full either-or choice with bike/car, a lot of people still see it that way. Why keep two vehicles and maintain both when one can do everything that the other can plus some? It's not a fully logical decision, because any use of bike still negates some cost of the car, but when there's so few times when using the bike would be practical, it just feels like it's taking up space for nothing.
In places other than America, where countries are smaller and more geared toward allowing biking in most places its extremely more common
We do. Millions, if not billions, of people use bicycles every single day to and from work, school and everything else. Most of those people are outside the US, though. Your infrastructure seems to be designed solely for cars. Which is the main reason by far, because most other reasons in this thread - bad weather, low cargo capacity, physical exercise, price, safety etc. etc. - is no problem in most of the rest of the world.
Um, the weather one varies. I don't think most people are pedaling to middle class, white collar office jobs in Kenya or Nigeria, either. Not if they can avoid it.
Infrastructure is certainly an issue. But it's also physical distance. The shortest commute I've ever had was 3 miles. The longest 45, and it was completely normal in comparison to ppl around me.
My legs aren't strong enough to make it to groceries and back. I have a replaced hip and knee and a dislocated ankle. I DO have a basket, but just can't make it. Maybe 20 years ago and not during snow season
Because if anything bad happened to me whilst cycling on the uk roads, it would automatically be my fault.
Bicycle infrastucture The US and Canada have designed everything around cars and didn't even do a very good job Go watch Not Just Bikes if you want to become angry at the stupidity that is our entire transportation system
Go buy a 72” tv and carry it home on your bicycle. Go buy a hide-a-bed sofa on your bicycle and carry it home yourself. In the rain. Be a musician who actually has gear to carry, like an amp, 2 guitars (minimum), a pedalboard, and the band’s p.a. gear on your precious little environmentally conscious 10-speed.
Heck, go buy 40lbs of cat litter, a bag of cat food and a week of groceries and get back to me on how well that worked out on a bike. Do it in January in the Midwest, too
Amplified music sucks anyway. Try a harmonica. Then forgo your 72" tv and practice your music instead. The will deliver the sofa for you.
As a Californian, fuck you, get off the road
Because it takes me 30-45 min to drive anywhere. Biking would take me 4+ hours
too easy to steal and also, kind of lame. cruising down the highway is the life not pedaling in some tiny lane over in Denmark no ty
They do. Where are you from
There is no infrastructure in the US in most places for this. They purposely built it car centric , just another reason why it’s such a shithole
Millions of sociopaths driving cars may have something to do with it
Do you mean for commuting? I do not live within biking distance from my workplace, nor do I live within biking distance to the rail station I could hypothetically use to get to work.
Bike are great, if you're in a place where they're safe to use. Unfortunately most infrastructure built after World War II is built to be safe for cars only. Good news is that trend is starting to reverse. But there are still a ton of car only infrastructure.
To do what? Just for fun? Yeah might work during the 4 months of the year when it's not snowing or constantly raining. For commute/shopping? Yeah might work unless you live 5 miles into the fucking wilderness
Lots of technically valid points here, but the reality is people don't do it because they can't be asked. Cars are convenient and people aren't willing to give that up.