PowerSwitch

couldn't find a post on this but I think the transport of the future is going to be walking, road transport has no future because the roads will be in too bad a shape .
things like cars and tires and spare parts comes from a high fossil fuel use industrial society .
you may well have horses and some carts for areas that have roads but otherwise most travel will be done on foot or by water .
in the past and in much of the developing world people walked far greater distances than we do today .

want to go to london you will likely have to walk there, most of the horses will belong to the well to do or highwaymen

are you ready to walk vast distances

The danger is I'll sound like a famous Monty Python sketch . . .

But my grandmother said she often walked 5 miles to get into town when she was young.

It's not really a surprise that obesity has grown into such a problem; unlimited cheap food that you don't have to grow yourself, a house full of labour saving devices and cars making it largely unnecessary to even walk down the road any more.

Well I biked 14 miles today on my office commute... Hacking through Bristol's rush hour traffic, I really wished more people biked! To give you an idea, it takes me about 25 minutes on the bike to cover the 7 miles. It isn't faster in the car. I wonder how many of the drivers know that.

clv101 wrote:Well I biked 14 miles today on my office commute... Hacking through Bristol's rush hour traffic, I really wished more people biked! To give you an idea, it takes me about 25 minutes on the bike to cover the 7 miles. It isn't faster in the car. I wonder how many of the drivers know that.

I would love to do this - and I will when domestic circumstances allow! (save going to the gym and the gym fee)

Cycling 7 miles to work with two kids, the wife, several bags and a pram attached to my back is a real bummer!

clv101 wrote:Well I biked 14 miles today on my office commute... Hacking through Bristol's rush hour traffic, I really wished more people biked! To give you an idea, it takes me about 25 minutes on the bike to cover the 7 miles. It isn't faster in the car. I wonder how many of the drivers know that.

It must be said though, driving is a lot more comfortable.

Cycling against a head wind with your arse killing you and your knee joints grinding themselves to dust is not a pleasant experience. Then, as soon as you get off you are dripping with sweat (or I am anyway).

I cycled to Cambridge a couple of times during the summer (13 miles each way) but there is no way my body (or my soul) could take that on a regular basis...

Also don't dismiss running as a mode of transport. Even if roads were in a pretty bad state I'd rather cycle 10 miles than walk it.

I look at the amount of stuff my kids often have to take to school and I dispair. They can leg it because it's only about 500 yds, but I can see why people get tempted to just load the:

kids
sports kit
swimming kit
cookery ingredients (including pans and dishes: I'm not joking!)
musical instruments
dinner money
shepherd costume
artwork (3-D) that they had to take home to finish

...into the car.

RenewableCandy wrote:I look at the amount of stuff my kids often have to take to school and I dispair. They can leg it because it's only about 500 yds, but I can see why people get tempted to just load the:

kids
sports kit
swimming kit
cookery ingredients (including pans and dishes: I'm not joking!)
musical instruments
dinner money
shepherd costume
artwork (3-D) that they had to take home to finish

...into the car.

Indeed the logistics of getting to school is truly phenomenal some days. I fear whenever it is my turn, and usually demand a (very long) list,


Peter.

re wrote:Also don't dismiss running as a mode of transport. Even if roads were in a pretty bad state I'd rather cycle 10 miles than walk it.

I did do that a few times last summer, 7 miles takes me almost an hour though, considerably harder work than biking, more time heavy breathing in fumes... but the real problem was not being able to carry a change of clothes and shoes easily, not to mention other bits like wallet, mobile phone etc.

Running always required some considerable planning to make sure suitable stuff was already waiting for me at the destination.

My bike on the other hand has a pannier so clothes, shoes, papers etc are no problem at all.

I find it hard to believe when people say they get sweaty/tired/sore after only 10 miles, I'd only just be getting warmed up by then My humble [road] bike is my only transport though, so I suppose it's different for me. There's been more people cycling recently though which can only be a good thing .

RenewableCandy wrote: cookery ingredients (including pans and dishes: I'm not joking!)

I've a horrible feeling you're going to tell me this is due to hygiene/health and safety regulations - please, tell me I'm wrong...

Junkie wrote:I find it hard to believe when people say they get sweaty/tired/sore after only 10 miles, I'd only just be getting warmed up by then

Wow, Superman.

For me, the sweating only becomes noticeable when I get off the bike and the evaporation stops. It's not because I'm unfit, either - I swim most days. I guess I'm just a sweaty bastard, OK?

Not everyone has your stupendous stamina. For a while when I was younger I swam a mile a day. I had to stop because my joints couldn't take it - they didn't get time to rest. Didn't make any difference how long I did it - the aching in my joints didn't stop, in fact it got worse.

The same was true when I cycled daily. I actually got slower at cycling over time, because of the strain on my joints.

Target Pavement Cyclists, say MPs

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8319630.stm

Unbelievable. I'd rather collide with a cyclist than a Chelsea Tractor anyday.

MPs pointed out that there was a "perception that anti-social behaviour of some cyclists increases their risks and makes other road users feel unsafe".

At a ward meeting recently they invited along a speaker from the Polis. He started going on about pavement cyclists. At "questions" at the end I put up my hand and said, I don't mind pavement cyclists at all. I don't regard them as a problem, let alone a crime. I suggested they instead target the anti-social bit: I mean, you can walk in an antisocial manner, just as you can pavement-cycle in a considerate manner, just like they do all over the Continent. Then some old b***er put his hand up and said they scared him. I wanted to ask what this abject chicken was doing with himself during WWII but I came over all Diplomatic. It happens sometimes.

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