[Cyclopath]

I'm posting a podcast that's only tangentially related to this conversation. Mostly I'm posting it because it's a good listen and I think some of the people in here will enjoy it. We're all hikers and that means having a lot of time to pass on the way to and from the trail. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/work-2-0-the-obstacles-you-dont-see/id1028908750?i=1000540414546 They describe force and friction, and make the argument that people intuitively understand problems in terms of how much force we need to apply to solve them. Sometimes it pays to try to make the problem easier instead. They use swimming as an example, bikes are a more obvious one. Adding 100 watts to the motor or removing 100 watts of rolling resistance in the tires get you exactly the same speed and hit on the battery. Best of all is that you can do both.

[Cyclopath]

This is worth a read. It's making an argument that cities should provide free eBikes for everybody who wants one. Link (NYT). I was told that's behind a pay wall, it came up for me. Might depend on how many you've read so far? One of the arguments they use is that cities pay to maintain roads, which are damaged by the weight traveling on them. Just by converting however many people want to use a free and fun eBike for their groceries and commute during good weather, cities will save much more than the bikes cost on road maintenance. Traffic and parking problems would be alleviated, and it would improve the health care situation, among other reasons. There's one more which has sometimes caused controversy on this site so I won't mention it here.

[treeswarper]

That's all nice except in this area, folks seem to be only interested in driving. Manly men drive noisy diesel "trucks" around. Wimpy folks and tweakers ride bikes. In East Lewis county, there was also bicycle stigma. Only people who had their licenses suspended rode bicycles around. Then, I got a Radmini and started a bit of a fad. Guys saw it and started talking about accessing areas for hunting. Don't know how popular that turned out. Omak has NO bike infrastructure. I have thought about starting a crusade, but I fear it would just be knocking my head against the wall. I complained about one road, and the city figured that cutting the brush back was enough. Was told that no constructing a shoulder could be done due to underground stuff. The pavement drops off to an eroded ditch, vehicles ignore the 25mph speed limit. I've never seen a cop enforcing speed limits on that road so it is a free for all as are most roads, 'cept on the reservation side. That's where the city cops enforce speed limits. Go figure....or not as it will get political. I think there is an opportunity missed by the communities here but they seem to have no interest at all in any change. Oh well. It's a fairly cheap place to live. I offered to give away my 12 speed to a kid that was putting on weight and pre diabetic. Her mom wanted a treadmill. She said it was too dangerous for kids to ride bikes. Bikes are a hell of a lot more fun than a treadmill. I do need to add that I've had people in diesel trucks stop and ask if I needed help when I pulled off for a water break. It's not all bad but like other places, since the pandemic, traffic seems to be ruder. It's a far cry from Up Nort Wisconsin where I saw Goonies type groups of kids bicycling around town and no helmets on at that. Here, they are ferried around in cars because "it is too dangerous to ride a bike."

[Tom]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-04/-900-e-bike-tax-credit-possible-in-build-back-better Sounds like the latest iteration of Build Back Better would cap the ebike tax credit at $900 (30% of the first $3K) and exclude bikes costing more than $4K.

[treeswarper]

[treeswarper]

I guess you can in the Seattle area. I don't like to ride on snow and ice or getting splooshed on by passing cars.

[RumiDude]

[treeswarper]

Rumi, I don't bike in the snow because of having to share with cars and having to put different tires on my bike, which can be complicated on the Gazelle. I also don't think the local bike guy likes ebikes so a trip to the Methow would be in order to get different tires, if different tires were available. Perhaps studded tires? IF we people of Okanoganistan had some bike lanes or trails, and IF they were plowed decently and clear (folks here leave garbage cans and also park cars on the few sidewalks we have) I would try it. This will not happen in my lifetime. The county commissioners and city government don't like change.

[RumiDude]

[treeswarper]

I don't think Gazelle makes it anymore. It is a Gazelle Arroyo that I splurged on. It's a Dutch style but is pretty darn tough. I rode it partway up the Methow trail that goes to Mazama and on the trail around Perrigin Lake plus gravel and dirt roads around here. Then it goes on short jaunts for shopping. What I don't like about it is that I need a lesson on how to change the rear tire and two bike shops have told me it is too hard for me to learn. One bike shop in Wisconsin said that if I moved there, they would take the time to show me. Apparently there is a tricky clip and then a dismantling of the hydraulic brakes that has to be done. So, I will always keep good tires on it. It came with Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires which the two bike shops claim are bomb proof. So, let that be a heads up. I didn't check how user friendly my bike was to work on. I do love how it rides. I call it Dutch Nerd style.

I also own a clunky Radmini and a Trek Acoustic Mountain bike. The latter got me up a terribly steep hill but that was 20 years ago. I was a bike commuter when I could avoid highway travel.

[treeswarper]

Before I noticed all the big chunks of bark on and along the highway, I did ride a bike to work there. It was the time of several lumber mills going and lots of log trucks. Those weren't scary, except when I thought about the bark chunks. They expected me to be on the road and were kind. The scary part that spelled the end of my highway bike commute was the RV traffic. Those people were clueless and there were a lot of RVs once the snow melted at Mt. St Helens. I loved it when a line of empty log trucks flew by when going uphill. For some reason, and empty log truck has a different kind of air displacement that give a good push from behind. Several in a row are a big assist.

[Randito]

[RumiDude]

[Malachai Constant]

You can add the San Juans to the list the locals are cool but the tourons can be crazy especially when racing to catch a ferry.

[Randito]

A big wide shoulder makes a difference. I have found that the biggest factor in how it feels is the attitude of the nuts behind the wheel. Unfortunately Washington is pretty bad in this regard. A good percentage of Seattle drivers seem to expect to drive 10 over, be yakking on the phone with one hand , drinking a Starbucks with the other, steering with their knees and believes that if they have to steer or brake to avoid a collision its a crime against humanity. Riding in rural areas the attitude varies, it it is a truly rural area I've found drivers to not be in such a hurry that slowing and passing safely in their well used farm truck doesn't piss them off. Hobby farm country is another matter , this is where I've had the most "coal burner" encounters, where a driver in a highly customized pickup truck will slow , match speed and when their exhaust pipe is just in front of me, punch it , emitting a huge cloud of black smoke. My best experience was in Spain, we were touringup a very narrow mountain road, with no shoulders, a rock face on one side and a cliff on the other. A box truck appeared behind us, but stayed back far enough that we didn't feel encroached upon as we climbed slowly we looked for any sort of wide spot, but there were none. After about 10 minutes we reached the top of the climb and country opened up and there was a wide spot and we pulled over. As the truck passed, they gave us a big smile and a thumbs up.