Thank You for helping Portland be what it is today! Though I don't live there anymore, I always, proudly, say I'm from and how much of an example Portland is to the rest of the world. I currently reside in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I commute by bike everyday, and I consider it to be my main means of transportation. I do get tons of odd looks from people still, but I reckon things are changing here too... For the better... Thank you for the inspiring story Mia!!
This idea is unique! I love cycling! How good it would be in the cities to reduce cars and people to move ... just like that! We will reap a good harvest - fresh air ... I live in a regional city. Sustainable development has built many kilometers of pedestrian alleys, encircling almost the entire city - a real joy ... And people are actively using them!We are moving towards making sense ...
I ride a bike in the Philippines. The country has no bike lanes so one has to ride within the horrendous traffic. I found a way to "surf" traffic as i keep my focus and attention to vehicles around me. Jeepneys and taxi will cut you off in an instant so you have to be on your toes. What an awesome challenge and i have a fun time.
Autos are an ADDICTION! Once you "buy" a car - you PAID that money UP-FRONT, you don't want to lose your "investment" (despite the fact that it depreciates anyway the moment you leave the auto dealership), so you must "buy" auto insurance - every year, and spend more $$$ every year to maintain it. Then, of course, with all that $$$ already sunk into that petroleum vehicle, are you going to let it sit in your garage while you bike to work? No, you must perpetually "buy" tons of petroleum and maximize its use by driving it everywhere! Which is why you're so fat like everyone else, who are clogging all the roads bumper-to-bumper! In contrast, biking + mass-transit is PAY-AS-YOU GO! You can take it, or leave it - and whiz by all the traffic! That's FREEDOM!
+Jeffrey Tong I appreciate biking, I have used a bike as my only means of transport. But having a car, or a car sharing program, is very convenient. Sometimes it is not possible or far to inconvenient to bike somewhere. So, I bike to work (6 miles each way) most days, but sometimes I drive. Also, insurance cost can be lowered according to your monthly mileage. I have done that.
We in Asia, used to cycle, maybe still, no fuss, no concern for weight loss, cancer, diabetic, no fancy outfit etc...It is just the way we do it, woot, woot!
Kinda hard taking someone seriously that promotes helmet use. The Dutch managed the last 40 year just fine without them. In fact by promoting the helmet, they actually saw riders decrease. Mikael Colville-Andersen did a wonderful talk about this.
Doug Russell , show me the study that proves this? Show me that you ran the same accident again without a helmet and the outcome was death. I think you mean, in your opinion it saved you. you have no proof.
harshbarj No in my doctors opinion as well as mine. I wouldn't have died maybe but the big gash and crack on the side of the helmet would have been my head. Show me a study that shows less injuries falling on your head without a helmet as opposed to having one on. I don't care if you don't want to take care of your head but I like mine. Give some good reasons not to wear a helmet.
Doug Russell I'm familiar with that site. their data is flawed (too simplistic and do not take cyclist types into account). Many recent studies show anything from no benefit to either helping or harming minimally. Then all I have to do is point to countries that have made helmets mandatory and they saw no statistically significant change in the rate of head injuries. That last point is all I need to say every study on the site you listed is bunk. If those studies were even partly true, we should have seen a noticeable drop, even a small one. Yet that did not happen. From the European cyclists federation "A well respected literature review states ‘When the risk of injury to head, face or neck is viewed as a whole, bicycle helmets do provide a small protective effect. This effect is evident only in older studies. New studies, summarised by a random-effects model of analysis, indicate no net protective effect.’ (Elvik 2011)" www.ecf.com/wp-content/uploads/Elvik2011_helmet_reanalysis1.pdf
Riding a bike to work, to shop, etc., sounds great. If you try this around Atlanta, however, you will find it to result in an unpleasant, and short, experience of social and cultural activism. You and your bicycle will wind up in a ditch. Paved bike paths and office parks will be a better choice for riding, although, you will need to drive 20-30 minutes to find a safe place to ride your environmentally-smart bicycle.
Mia ditch that helmet, it's a lot saver to ride without one and it looks a lot better. Portland has still a long way to go. It's not only solved by just putting a bike lane on the road, it must also be a save bike lane. Simple and dangerous with those cars parked near a bike lane. They trow there door open as a bike passes and you have a crash. Cars drive away or park without watching and an other crash. Bike lanes that are also lanes for predestinations will make that those 2 crash. As you really car for savety, ditch the helmet. Just look ad the numbers and see that people that don't wear a helmet, have less accidents than people that wear a helmet. You want the right thing, only the execution is terrible. There are examples enough on how it works and is also a lot saver, just look ad the Netherlands and Denmark and copy that instead of this terrible infrastructure. It's a start, but a start with mistakes that are solved already.
If you could get San Antonio a lil push we were getting bike lanes and lights because we be came a world class City by the Vatican as soon as they found 80 by a quarter mile of a roll of land middle downtown supposedly having broken pottery at artifact belonging to the animal I was never seen before it all came crashing down now there's many bikes and Roots especially here to the medical center where I live in I don't know where it starts and where it ends but if they could find a way to place bike Lanes where they should have bus lanes awesome to most people who ride the bus walk or bike to the bus things would be so much cooler I myself bite because I'm tired after work I need to get to my destination a little quicker you're going to have to carry a little less groceries I'm smarter about my pics and smart about my money when I get to the grocery store that's a plus I'm not a young buck anymore so I need my exercise I'm just rambling letting it out or City needs more bike. Love...
I consider myself a Libertarian who leans to the right. She may be(I have no idea) and the city may be full of liberals, but I whole-heartedly agree with her and them about bicycles.
Thank You for helping Portland be what it is today! Though I don't live there anymore, I always, proudly, say I'm from and how much of an example Portland is to the rest of the world. I currently reside in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I commute by bike everyday, and I consider it to be my main means of transportation. I do get tons of odd looks from people still, but I reckon things are changing here too... For the better... Thank you for the inspiring story Mia!!
This talk makes me so happy to be living in Portland!
Mia We Love You and are so grateful to be bicycling every day!
How can you love someone you dont know?
This idea is unique! I love cycling! How good it would be in the cities to reduce cars and people to move ... just like that! We will reap a good harvest - fresh air ... I live in a regional city. Sustainable development has built many kilometers of pedestrian alleys, encircling almost the entire city - a real joy ... And people are actively using them!We are moving towards making sense ...
Mia Birk rocks! This such an exciting time for cities!
I am a big car enthusiast, but I get more joy riding my bike then the stress of driving my car and dealing with idiots and traffic.
Massachusetts needs all of that. it is so hard to cycle here. A 27 years old woman was killed last Thursday.
I ride a bike in the Philippines. The country has no bike lanes so one has to ride within the horrendous traffic. I found a way to "surf" traffic as i keep my focus and attention to vehicles around me. Jeepneys and taxi will cut you off in an instant so you have to be on your toes. What an awesome challenge and i have a fun time.
1h of commuting burns 500 kcal btw.
1h of training burns 700-900 kcal
1h of driving a car burns $10 in gas.
That was good, great info. Thank you.
I would love to do most of my errands and commute to work by bike.
What a lovely woman and inspirational and a mover, too.
I live in Connecticut, unfortunately you will never see a bicycle infrastructure around here.
Autos are an ADDICTION! Once you "buy" a car - you PAID that money UP-FRONT, you don't want to lose your "investment" (despite the fact that it depreciates anyway the moment you leave the auto dealership), so you must "buy" auto insurance - every year, and spend more $$$ every year to maintain it. Then, of course, with all that $$$ already sunk into that petroleum vehicle, are you going to let it sit in your garage while you bike to work? No, you must perpetually "buy" tons of petroleum and maximize its use by driving it everywhere! Which is why you're so fat like everyone else, who are clogging all the roads bumper-to-bumper! In contrast, biking + mass-transit is PAY-AS-YOU GO! You can take it, or leave it - and whiz by all the traffic! That's FREEDOM!
I'm so glad someone else gets it. I can not believe the number of people I come across who don't understand this when I tell them biking is better.
+Jeffrey Tong I appreciate biking, I have used a bike as my only means of transport. But having a car, or a car sharing program, is very convenient. Sometimes it is not possible or far to inconvenient to bike somewhere. So, I bike to work (6 miles each way) most days, but sometimes I drive.
Also, insurance cost can be lowered according to your monthly mileage. I have done that.
We in Asia, used to cycle, maybe still, no fuss, no concern for weight loss, cancer, diabetic, no fancy outfit etc...It is just the way we do it, woot, woot!
Lol when people complain about the delivery, and not the message....”this is America”
Kinda hard taking someone seriously that promotes helmet use. The Dutch managed the last 40 year just fine without them. In fact by promoting the helmet, they actually saw riders decrease. Mikael Colville-Andersen did a wonderful talk about this.
My helmet saved me two weeks ago when I was hit and thrown to the ground. Will always were one.
Doug Russell , show me the study that proves this? Show me that you ran the same accident again without a helmet and the outcome was death. I think you mean, in your opinion it saved you. you have no proof.
harshbarj
No in my doctors opinion as well as mine. I wouldn't have died maybe but the big gash and crack on the side of the helmet would have been my head. Show me a study that shows less injuries falling on your head without a helmet as opposed to having one on. I don't care if you don't want to take care of your head but I like mine. Give some good reasons not to wear a helmet.
harshbarj here are some studies.
www.helmets.org/stats.htm
Doug Russell I'm familiar with that site. their data is flawed (too simplistic and do not take cyclist types into account). Many recent studies show anything from no benefit to either helping or harming minimally. Then all I have to do is point to countries that have made helmets mandatory and they saw no statistically significant change in the rate of head injuries. That last point is all I need to say every study on the site you listed is bunk. If those studies were even partly true, we should have seen a noticeable drop, even a small one. Yet that did not happen. From the European cyclists federation "A well respected literature review states ‘When the risk of injury to head, face or neck is viewed as a whole, bicycle helmets do provide a small protective effect. This effect is evident only in older studies. New studies, summarised by a random-effects model of analysis, indicate no net protective effect.’ (Elvik 2011)" www.ecf.com/wp-content/uploads/Elvik2011_helmet_reanalysis1.pdf
Who cares if she is annoying or not. Her ideas should be what prevail.
I love you mia
Riding a bike to work, to shop, etc., sounds great. If you try this around Atlanta, however, you will find it to result in an unpleasant, and short, experience of social and cultural activism. You and your bicycle will wind up in a ditch. Paved bike paths and office parks will be a better choice for riding, although, you will need to drive 20-30 minutes to find a safe place to ride your environmentally-smart bicycle.
The future of transportation is bikes. Reno NV is the worst place to ride bikes... Yet,,,,, it's home to thousands of cycling enthusiasts..
34K views in 8 years :(
38K views in 9 years.
but people would rather drive in their metal coffins going nowhere fast while releasing carbon
Mia ditch that helmet, it's a lot saver to ride without one and it looks a lot better.
Portland has still a long way to go. It's not only solved by just putting a bike lane on the road, it must also be a save bike lane.
Simple and dangerous with those cars parked near a bike lane. They trow there door open as a bike passes and you have a crash.
Cars drive away or park without watching and an other crash.
Bike lanes that are also lanes for predestinations will make that those 2 crash.
As you really car for savety, ditch the helmet. Just look ad the numbers and see that people that don't wear a helmet, have less accidents than people that wear a helmet.
You want the right thing, only the execution is terrible. There are examples enough on how it works and is also a lot saver, just look ad the Netherlands and Denmark and copy that instead of this terrible infrastructure. It's a start, but a start with mistakes that are solved already.
If you could get San Antonio a lil push we were getting bike lanes and lights because we be came a world class City by the Vatican as soon as they found 80 by a quarter mile of a roll of land middle downtown supposedly having broken pottery at artifact belonging to the animal I was never seen before it all came crashing down now there's many bikes and Roots especially here to the medical center where I live in I don't know where it starts and where it ends but if they could find a way to place bike Lanes where they should have bus lanes awesome to most people who ride the bus walk or bike to the bus things would be so much cooler I myself bite because I'm tired after work I need to get to my destination a little quicker you're going to have to carry a little less groceries I'm smarter about my pics and smart about my money when I get to the grocery store that's a plus I'm not a young buck anymore so I need my exercise I'm just rambling letting it out or City needs more bike. Love...
her points are valid but she still sounds like and is speaking to hippies. It turns the average person off immediately.
I went to Portland one time. What wierd town. People are very strange there. I think they are all liberals.
I consider myself a Libertarian who leans to the right. She may be(I have no idea) and the city may be full of liberals, but I whole-heartedly agree with her and them about bicycles.