Comments on: Status Symbol? Or Pt. “A” to Pt.”B”

By: Doohickie

Doohickie — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 17:53:04 +0000

Oh, and for the record, the Elantra is a hatchback. Not quite the utility of a pickup, but better than most compact cars.

By: Doohickie

Doohickie — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 17:50:06 +0000

Re: Hyundais. They are getting to be very nice cars indeed. I have a 2005 Elantra. I’m a Ford guy from way back, but the Elantra just plain beat the Focus in every way; a much nicer car for the money. It may be a one-time thing and I’ll go back to Ford, but in 2005, Hyundai was the better car.

As far as riding to work goes, I’m pretty lucky. I started riding when I started working at a new office that was only 7 miles from home. During the two years I was there, I rode to work more than I drove (preserving the warranty on the Hyundai . I recently moved to a different office and my one-way commute is now 17 miles. But the new site does have its advantages. I can’t drag my bike into a closet like I did at the old place, but access to the parking lot of this building is guarded, and there are three or four bike racks, one of which is located right next to the showers/locker room. Access to a shower at work means I can just hop on the bike and ride to work in the morning and get all cleaned up once I get to work.

By: andrewp

andrewp — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 19:34:39 +0000

Eric: I’m with you. I own a truck, and it has been the second-most practical vehicle I have owned.

By: Kevin Love

Kevin Love — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 12:11:15 +0000

Dear Tom,
Does the owner of the bike shop own a car?

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 02:42:35 +0000

I was a car driver full-time for many years, despite having used bicycles as primary transportation into my later teens. I returned to college when in my early thirties, and had the epiphany that I could go out my apartment door, ride a bike to school, lock the bike to a handy light post and be in the classroom in less time than it took to walk to that classroom from any of the parking lots for which I could buy a permit. This did not count the time it would take to drive to that parking lot from home and find a parking place, so it was demonstrably faster for me to ride rather than drive.

Ever since, I’ve tried to find ways to ride to work instead of driving. A few times, I’ve hit “pay dirt,” and had places to keep my bikes while at work and employers who tolerated if not encouraged my doing so.

Some employers still don’t get it. A recent one didn’t understand that the extra fifteen minutes it took me to get from one worksite to the other by bike actually saved them money in the long run. They tolerated it, wondered why I would ride when I could drive, and were amazed at the feat of physical endurance riding twelve miles each way represented to them (several of them were smokers…).

Oh, well. I don’t have to work for them now. I work in a bike shop. I think the owner still fails to quite get it when I talk in utility bike terms rather than fitness/racing/club ride terms.