From Fear of Bikes to (Almost) Carlessness – BionicOldGuy

This is about a fun YouTube video I just watched. The “active cities” host talks to Tatiana in Carmel, Indiana. He had a bad fall from a bicycle as a child and became afraid of bicycles as an adult. Since her husband was a cycling enthusiast, she wanted to try it again. The video shows his progress, from shy riding in the parking lot, to a confident cyclist who uses an electric cargo bike in all his activities and travels. Since her husband drives everywhere again, she says they haven’t driven their car in months (that’s why I said “almost” the car is gone). They were staying in Minneapolis at the beginning of this trip, which is a bike-friendly city by North American standards. They then spent time in the Netherlands enjoying cycling there, so when they returned they decided to move to Carmel, Indiana, a city of just over 100,000 about 20 miles north of Indianapolis. Carmel is one of the most bike-friendly cities in the US. Worse, city planners hired Dutch experts to help them rebuild urban transportation infrastructure, and they didn’t make the mistake many US cities make of trying to “reinvent the wheel” and not fix it.

Carmel has some winter weather challenges, despite Tatiana and her husband riding year-round, stacking up when needed.

Without good infrastructure. The main thing I took away from the video was the importance of bike fit for the nervous beginner. It really helps if you can put your feet on the ground without leaving the seat, which is not possible on most bikes. The exceptions are upright bikes like the cargo bike above, cruisers, or Dutch bikes.

I am still a “car-lite” myself. I do most of my errands in Morgan Hill by bike. But so far I usually cheat and use the car in heavy rain. If others can ride in very cold weather and snow, I am motivated to try harder in our next rainy season (especially winter). Also, my wife and I have a second car that is rarely used, other than taking it out for a short trip once a week to keep it serviceable. It is 26 years old, and we decided to retire it soon without changing it. Looking back over the past few years, there are almost no times when my wife and I need a car at the same time. If something comes up I can always hire. I asked Gemini to evaluate the economics of renting a few times a year versus owning for this discussion. It seems that even with a paid car, renting vs. driving saves about $10K a year in the US. No brain!