THE Bicycle and 'Cycling Thread pt 2 (merged)

[seahorse3]

Rode 79 miles on Saturday, group ride, small, about 6 people, average was 19mph.

[Beery1]

I do think Berry misses the utility by overly restricting mileage, 10 miles is really nothing, even at a very efficient pace, and conveniently enough, 10 miles is enough to make suburbia (in most places) limp along.

I'm not 'restricting' anything. Hey, if you want to drive 20 or more miles a day, more power to you. But I'm just suggesting a reasonable distance for the average person to ride. Most people, whether we are living in a car-free future or not, are not going to be spending every day going more than ten miles. If they are, they will soon find ways of reducing the distance they must ride. Just look at modern drivers - they 'could' easily drive 30 or 50 miles every day, yet their average trip is 3 miles, their average commute is something like 10 miles. We are not a species that likes taking multi-hour journeys, no matter what vehicle we can use to do it.

nb... "drive" is probably the better word, but I think "ride" is now good and stuck in the English vocabulary with regard to bicycles. Fighting language evolution is next to hopeless.

Again, I'm not fighting anything. Lots of integrated cyclists use 'drive' because that's what we do - we drive our bikes. It's a different method than 'riding'. Anyone can 'ride' a bike. Driving one takes skill.