Entirely unashamed anti car propaganda, and the more the better.

[Spymaster]

And cycling is not like biking, feels completely different.

2 wheeled transport for children and incompetent adults.

 

[sleaterkinney]

The road space isn't there for everyone to drive to work anyway, plus you're just spewing out more pollutants and weakening the lungs of people trying to cope with covid.

 

[Clair De Lune]

When I want to do that I do it a motorbike.

One of us OneOfus ONE OF US

I rarely cycle tbf but saul is really selling the idea to me so I may take it up again

 

[Proper Tidy]

2 wheeled transport for children and incompetent adults.

Road cycling is the riskier of the two so don't agree on the issue of competency but it's alright. I understand you're scared of trying new experiences, it's ok, no judgement here pal

 

[sleaterkinney]

Of course, they're not "poster children" for a car-free city. They're examples of places where the continued James May mentality as shown by some on here has literally ground to a halt.

In fairness to James May, he is a keen cyclist:

The mixtures were full of sh*t

The bicycle is living in troubled times. Cycling, once merely a means of transport for the poor and those too small to operate cars safely,

drivetribe.com

Riding a bicycle feels good.

 

[Clair De Lune]

I sometimes want to do it a motorbike too mind.

 

[Saul Goodman]

I don't understand how anybody who drives isn't already convinced of the need to reduce or eliminate car reliance tbh, having to battle across a roundabout or spend half an hour trying to find somewhere to park, and there is nothing shitter than being stuck in traffic. Its bollocks. Too many fucking cars everywhere

You need to move. I have none of those problems.

 

[Proper Tidy]

Driving can be fun at times, biking is fun, but cycling gives the same fun of speed etc with the endorphins or whatever it is that kick in when you exercise, it's like double dropping

 

[Spymaster]

Road cycling is the riskier of the two so don't agree on the issue of competency but it's alright. I understand you're scared of trying new experiences, it's ok, no judgement here pal

Lol, as I say, it's a competency issue. I'm perfectly comfortable on two or four motorised wheels but I completely understand why someone like you would rather stick to a pushbike.

 

[Proper Tidy]

You need to move. I have none of those problems.

Again I don't really understand this, there is no magic trick, you either need to go from a to b at a certain time or you don't. It's just driving on a road mate, it's not an art or even that hard is it

 

[Proper Tidy]

Lol, as I say, it's a competency issue. I'm perfectly comfortable on two or four motorised wheels but I completely understand why someone like you would rather stick to a pushbike.

I barely cycle and until lockdown drove every day. Necessity. Would like social changes that ended or reduced that necessity.

 

[Spymaster]

I barely cycle and until lockdown drove every day. Necessity. Would like social changes that ended or reduced that necessity.

As Saul says, you need to move then if that's really what driving is like for you. I think you're exaggerating though.

 

[Proper Tidy]

As Saul says, you need to move

What does this mean though

 

[Saul Goodman]

Should genuinely try cycling btw spy, if you think being sat in your car is fun then you will shit your pants with joy to be whizzing past cars with your blood pumping and the wind in your ears

Driving can be fun at times, biking is fun, but cycling gives the same fun of speed etc with the endorphins or whatever it is that kick in when you exercise, it's like double dropping

Really?
I might have got a thrill from it when I was a kid, but once you've topped 200mph on a grown-up's bike, going back to pedal power just doesn't cut it anymore

 

[Proper Tidy]

I might have got a thrill from it when I was a kid, but once you've topped 200mph on a grown-up's bike, going back to pedal power just doesn't cut it anymore

Should try a carbon frame

 

[Saul Goodman]

Should try a carbon frame

How fast will that take me round the Isle of Man?

 

[Marty1]

Driving can be fun at times, biking is fun, but cycling gives the same fun of speed etc with the endorphins or whatever it is that kick in when you exercise, it's like double dropping

I know what you mean - flying down a steep winding incline on a mountain bike definitely gets the blood pumping and sharpens your alert.

 

[Proper Tidy]

I know what you mean - flying down a steep winding incline on a mountain bike definitely gets the blood pumping and sharpens your alert.

Relative isn't it, have done 60+mph coming down hills on a road bike and feels like the speed of light, pure thrill, with an engine it would just feel average. Mind you if you hit a pebble at that speed cycling on two inches of rubber then you're fucked so there is that

 

[Hollis]

Probably because most of the time it's absolutely nothing like that and even on the occasions when it is you're sat there in big comfortable seats and air conditioning, listening to tunes or a book, doing a bit of work or catching up with mates in other countries. I like being sat in the car chilling out. To listen to you lot anyone would think British roads are gridlocked 24/7 and only 3 parking spaces exist. It's pure fantasy, and I'm in Central London!

Hmm, taken from 'fleetworld' the average driving speed in Central London in 2017 was just over 5mph.

Average driving speeds plummet in UK’s major cities

 

[Spymaster]

Hmm, taken from 'fleetworld' the average driving speed in Central London in 2017 was just over 5mph.

Average driving speeds plummet in UK’s major cities

Well that's because an average is errr, an average. If you don't drive along Embankment at 8-9am, the North Circluar ever, and a few other roads in rush hours, that all goes out of the window. Sure you're going to get caught every now and then but it's usually avoidable in the main. Obviously we also use our cars outside London. We are not forced to stay within the M25!

 

[NoXion]

I did some driving on the public roads for the first time in my life a few years back, when I managed to get some free lessons for completing a course I got sent to by the Jobcentre. I don't recall it being bad on the roads for a newbie like me.

Can't say that I'm at all fond of this notion of eliminating personal motor vehicle usage, whether it's coming from the small-world cyclist nutters or the creepy Silicon Valley lot and their automated cars. Since the latter have more money and influence than the former, I have a terrible feeling that the next few decades is going to see some unholy fusion of the two in which the latter steals the rhetoric of the former to make the world that extra bit more fucked up and anodyne.

Thankfully if some clever-dick comes up with a way of manufacturing batteries that provide Lithium-Polymer performance or better without requiring Rare Earth Elements (graphene is looking promising), then it's more likely that the less batshit and weird views about personal locomotion will prevail.

 

[SpookyFrank]

We are not forced to stay within the M25!

You've not been reading a lot of newspapers lately I take it.

 

[Spymaster]

You've not been reading a lot of newspapers lately I take it.

If you mean this lockdown nonsense, the traffic in Central London had been whizzing around for the last 8 weeks. I've had some great drives straight through the city and it's been like a ghost town.

 

[scifisam]

I sometimes want to do it a motorbike too mind.

To? With? On?

 

[Marty1]

Probably because most of the time it's absolutely nothing like that and even on the occasions when it is you're sat there in big comfortable seats and air conditioning, listening to tunes or a book, doing a bit of work or catching up with mates in other countries. I like being sat in the car chilling out. To listen to you lot anyone would think British roads are gridlocked 24/7 and only 3 parking spaces exist. It's pure fantasy, and I'm in Central London!

Wow, you really love being in your car.

Ive never heard of anyone loving chilling out in their car tho.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Well that's because an average is errr, an average. If you don't drive along Embankment at 8-9am, the North Circluar ever, and a few other roads in rush hours, that all goes out of the window. Sure you're going to get caught every now and then but it's usually avoidable in the main. Obviously we also use our cars outside London. We are not forced to stay within the M25!

Around 20 years ago, I used to drive 60 miles to work in Galway city centre. It used to take me as long to complete the last 5 miles as it took to travel the first 55. Then I decided to do it on the bike, and it cut the journey time in half.
I certainly don't envy anyone living and driving in a city.

 

[Spymaster]

Ive never heard of anyone loving chilling out in their car tho.

That's because you probably only know utility drivers (people who drive to get from a to b and simply use their cars as tools). There's a whole other group of people who drive for the love of cars and driving as well as all the other stuff.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Wow, you really love being in your car.

Ive never heard of anyone loving chilling out in their car tho.

Really? There's nothing more comfortable than sitting in proper nice seats in a proper nice car, and if you add open roads and decent music to that, it's a joy to behold.

 

[Clair De Lune]

To? With? On?

Oh..I was mocking spy

 

[Saul Goodman]

Relative isn't it, have done 60+mph coming down hills on a road bike

I once had a speedometer like that