There is no public transportation
> where I live. Why should driving my car
> be made as uncomfortable, expensive, inconvenient as possible for me
> Leigh?
There's alot that needs to be done... more than 2 bikes on a bus would be a good place to start for most bike riders here, but as long as it's convienient to just drive instead, people will ...just... drive.
In regard to your personal situation, you need a car, more than want one. There are situations where you HAVE TO have a car, and for some, it's a constant neccesity, You're Ford 460's a nice old thing.
I don't hate cars, I just think our perception gets distorted too often to replace "want" with "need", and automobiles are the worst possible place to misrepresent or rationalize the need.
When I lived on the back side of Watsonville raising kids (early 90s) it was a 64 International Travelall, 12mpg after the overdrive blew up, 18 previously & an 83 Chevy s-10... 8mpg... that's right, That IH tank got better gas mileage than the S-10(last year for carbs) in top tune.
We won't discuss particulate matter in the 64's exhaust, or that the fume recovery system was one step removed from a "road draft" tube.
You could take the PCV valve apart and clean it... routine maintanance. I could still get parts for the IH, but the S-10... not much from the dealer.
But, and here's the BIG "but", I don't live there anymore, and although I have a minor upper back problem from falling off the top step of a truck(most accidents happen getting in and out or working alongside), I can still pump a bike like a 20something (better than alot).
Point is, my circumstance changed, so I changed my mode of transport.
If you lived in NYC, you'd put the 460 up on blocks and be "happy" with a ...prius... for transport? If you agree with this, then we're in the same ballpark, The problem as I'm seeing it, is that people aren't changing as circumstances do.
Moreso, there's resistance to that change by folks that oughta know better.
I also haven't noticed any
> hyperalert motorists anywhere I've been. Oblivious to their
> surroundings is much more common. Certainly
> hyperagressiveness is not in short supply.
"Oblivious" is what happens when you are always hyperalert. Your brain needs to sleep, even if *you* don't.
Too Much Information! It's why babies can get grumpy when exposed to a lot of "external stimulus"(bleh, terminology!), and then they fall asleep. What happens to an adult who's not going to (or can't) take their "nappy" when they feel tired?
They "zone".
>
> Unlike Jordan, with very little exception, most of the cyclist I have
> known and ridden with all over North
> America were more "professional" in their approach than most drivers.
> There is an unfortunate tendancy
> among some to blow through lights that I think should be curbed
> however. Not wearing a helmet does not
> affect the operation of the bike and, while I think it's pretty dumb
> not to wear one, it doesn't belong on the
> list of operational issues. Holier-than-thou attitudes exist for
> motor vehicle users just as much as cyclist and
> both are certainly counterproductive. I cannot count the number of
> times I have been deliberately run off the
> rode, hit while at an intersection, had trash and urine thrown at me
> and guns pointed at me while cycling.
> Not one time has anyone thrown a cup of piss or empty bottles, spit
> on me, or opened their door into me
> while I was driving. I have a pretty easy time relating to cyclist
> who don't want to wait at an intersection for
> some jerk to do the same thing one more time to them. It happens to
> cyclists with a frequency thousands of
> times greater than it happens to motorists so it affects behavior.
> Your risk of injury is astronomically higher
> on a bike in the US than in a car or SUV.
I try hard to cooperate with people in cars when riding my bike, and I believe it just confuses them because so few bikers actually follow even the simplest of traffic rules.
Here's one observation, regarding why bikes need to maintain traffic laws. If I don't stop at a sign, and there's a car next to me... the car is so much more likely to roll thru than if I stop. With a ped in the Xing I could easily get by, but the car would squash the ped.
Similar note, if you ever wonder why a truck will slow for a ped in an Xing, but not want to stop, just roll slowly thru, its because if he stops, and some car goes blasting around him, you're gonna get squashed. I can't count the # of times that I had to lay on the horn when a ped was xing right in front of my truck to prevent a REAL tragedy before I just stopped stopping.
I'd stop if the ped really insisted... but I never liked to.
>
> I haven't tried a $5 boner pill but I really do own a musclewagon. A
> 1960 Ford Country Sedan with a 460
> that gets about 12 MPG. Obviously not my daily driver, just a hobby
> for someone who likes mechanical
> things and has absolutely zero musical ability.
>
You mean you can't tell if it's running lean or rich by the exhaust note?
That's music!
Leigh