Hjólaþjófum

líkt og hestaþjófum ætti ekki að vera sýnd nein miskunn. Rakst á þessa grein á Eye Weekly um þennan andskota:

To catch a thief

July 23, 2008 12:07

In the old west, a special kind of derision was reserved for horse thieves. A horse was not just another possession, and not even just another animal - to steal a man's cattle was to steal some small part of his livelihood; to steal his horse was to take away his means of transportation, the engine that drove his work, his very freedom. A woman might have developeded a relationship with her horse, as it became tame and learned to respond to her commands just so. Horses were not interchangeable and easily replaceable, and to be without a horse was to be left with virtually nothing.

Horse thieves were among the very lowest, mangiest, least-­tolerated kinds of criminals. When they were caught, they were hanged.

Not to draw a parallel between a hunk of metal and a living animal, but we hold a similar disregard for bike thieves. Those who ride bikes to navigate the city are performing all kinds of social goods - they pollute less than motorists or transit users, they ease gridlock, they pose no real threat to anyone else on the road and, in a way, they even ease the price of gas by lowering the total pool of demand. It isn't that all of them have chosen to be martyrs for the greater good - cyclists are also, very often, among the least affluent members of society, unable to afford to drive a car or hold a Metropass. Cyclists develop relationships with their bikes, tune them up and learn their quirks and - as we were reminded at the Toronto Cyclists Union's recent screening of the epic film Pee-wee's Big Adventure - become quite attached to them.

Theft of any kind is pretty despicable, but to take from those who often have so little, those who in their daily commuting or errand-running inflict so little burden on the rest of us - there must be a special circle of hell reserved for such scum.

(...)

- (feitletrun mín)

Critical mass

í dag var hjólaferð um bæinn til að vekja athygli á hjólreiðamönnum í umferðinni. Fólk safnaðist saman við háskólann og hjólaði svo stóran hring um bæinn og tók yfir sumar göturnar. Þetta var mjög gaman. Er víst gert á mánaðarfresti hér og víðsvegar í stórborgum hér.

snidugt

 

Bikefast

morgunmatur á hjólinu...Philip Drexler

Annars rýk ég bara á fætur, og af stað á hjólinu, og fæ mér morgunmat í vinnunni.

 via Swissmiss

fyrirmyndar hjólaborgir

 (klikka á mynd)

Bandaríkjamenn eiga 4 af 11. Amsterdam er no.1.

Það fyndna er að tveir vinnufélagar ætla að fara að hjóla í vinnuna líka...hehe, þau sjá hversu healthy ég er og hversu mikið ég er að grennast...Gott mál.

ég er að gera mitt

til að minnka notkun bensíns hér í Ameríku og til að stemma stigum við offitu; ég hjóla.

Nokkrir kostir þess að hjóla

More Than Forty Good Reasons For Bicycling

1. Bicycles Increase Mobility For Those Who Don't Have Access To Motor Transport.
2. Bikes Increase Mobility For Those Who Don't Qualify To Drive A Car.
3. Bicycles Increase Mobility For Those Who Can't Afford Motor Transport.
4. Bikes Increase Mobility For Those Who Don't Want To Drive Motor Vehicles.
5. There Are 28 Miles Of Bike Trails In The City of Seattle.
6. Bicycling Is The Most Efficient Form Of Transportation Ever Invented.
7. You Get Exercise From Bicycling
8. Save Travel Money By Biking
9. Reduce Stress
10. Biking Is Therapeutic For The Mind & Spirit
11. Cycling Is Therapeutic For The Body
12. Your Commute Will Be The Best Part Of Your Day Instead Of The Worst Part Of Your Day.
13. Cycling Improves Self-Esteem
14. Save On The Membership To A Health Club, Get Your Exercise Bicycling To Work
15. Cycling Is Low Impact On The Body
16. Cycling Is Low Impact On The Environment
17. Bicycling In Your Neighborhood Is A Great Way To Meet Your Neighbors
18. Camaraderie of Cyclists Makes It A Great Way To Meet A Nice Stranger With A Similar Interest
19. Bicyclist Can Ignore the Traffic Reports
20. Feel the Self-satisfaction Of Biking Past A Traffic Jam In The Bike Lane.
21. Predictable Commute Time
22. Easier Parking
23. Cheaper Parking
24. Leaving Your Car At Home Provide A Parking Space For Someone Less Fortunate
25. If You Are Lazy, Your Bicycle Provides Door-To-Door Transport (You Don't Have To Walk Across A Vast Parking Lot)
26. Reduce Demand For Parking Lots
27. Reduce Energy Consumption (see below)
28. Reduce Air Pollution -- Bicyclist Emit Few Gases
29. Reduce Water Pollution -- Bikes Don't Drip Brake Fluid, Anti-Freeze, Transmission Fluid, Etc.
30. Reduce Noise Pollution -- Even Without A Muffler Bikes Are Quiet
31. Reduces Road Wear -- Even If Cyclist Feel Like They Have The Weight Of The World On Their Shoulders.
32. A four mile bicycle trip keeps about 15 pounds of pollutants out of the air we breathe.
33. 40% Of All Trips In The U.S. Are Within Two Miles Of Home.
34. Prevent and protest the sanctioned murder (homicide by motor-vehicle) of responsible citizens.
35. Bikes Small Profile Reduce Congestion
36. Motor Vehicle Emissions Cause More Than Half Of The Northwest's Air Pollution.
37. Reduce Need To Lay Additional Asphalt And Concrete
38. Easier to Vary Your Route By Bicycle
39. Bicycling Improves Cardio-Vascular Health
40. Better muscle tone, bone mass improvement, clearer skin
41. Healthier People Have Lower Health Care Expenses
42. New bicycle commuters can expect to lose 13 pounds their first year of bicycle commuting. (Jibbí!)
43. The Exercise Increase Your Productivity At Work
44. Increased Bike Uses Generates Bike Facilities Which Increase Property Values
45. Bicycling Gives You More Fresh Air Than A Sauna And You Can Still Sweat And Clean Your Pores
46. Bike Commuting Is A License To Dress Weird And Still Feel Smug
47. Urban Cycling Keeps You Humble
48. Biking Is Virtually Life Long Activity
49. Bicycling Can Be Enjoyed In A Wide Variety Of Topography
50. Cycling Can Be Enjoyed In A Wide Variety Of Climates
51. Bicycles Are A Great Means To See The World
52. Bicycling is cool.
53. Biking Is Fun.

að hjóla

ég hjóla allt sem ég fer hér því ég hef ekki keypt bíl. Er að forðast það í lengstu lög. Daglega hjóla ég um 6 km fram og til baka í vinnuna og er um 15 mín.aðra leið. Svo hjóla ég allt annað sem ég fer. Þetta er mjög heilsusamlegt augljóslega og ég finn mikinn mun á mér eftir 2 mánuði á hjólinu.

Verður hugsað til Koben með sér hjólagötur, það er frábært. Hér er veðrið enn gott, reyndar ansi kalt á morgnana en getur verið um 18-23 stig á daginn. Her er líka allt slétt, engar hæðir þannig að þetta er mjog hentugt til að hjóla. Nema í sumar þegar hitinn fer í 38 c gráður þá verður það örugglega fekar óþægilegt.

 Koben.

hjólastæði í Japan.