The Chainlink

Dreaming that this was "OUR CITY" !


What if Chicago looked like this? What if this could be the perfect City? What if there were no cars? Would we still have a beef?




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Permalink Reply by Andrew Bedno on May 20, 2010 at 8:38pm
For the record, I'm pretty sternly pro-helmet (certainly >99% of my biking hours), partly to never disappoint Kathy Schubert, and partly from two concussions in decades past. In inline skating we joke, anything else you can break and heal, your head you can only break once.
My thought was that in this context, low speed and low mass, it's reasonable to at least postulate that head injury rates would be vastly lower. And I did qualify ("don't need helmets *SO* much"). I also like the culturally entrenched better skills argument.

As to the original question, WHAT IF, this looks blissfully Utopian to me, and a CERTAINTY here eventually, but maybe not in my lifetime. Another certainty of the future is little to no beef, for too many strong reasons to jot here.

(PS. Hi Adriana, saw you on the path this evening?)
Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on May 20, 2010 at 9:15pm
Where did you find a picture of me?

Moc Artsy said:

Permalink Reply by buddaa38 on May 20, 2010 at 11:10pm
Your absolutely right Howard,

In Europe bike is the first means of transportation. With that, they're vast superior in riding than we. How we can get to their level of riding is by taking some cycling classes. Such as safety, etc... For more information contact Albany Park Bikes.

H3N3 said:
Anti-helmet folks (not saying Andrew is one per se) looooove to procliam that there are no head injuries in Holland.
But typically the argument goes something like "they learn to ride bikes early in life so they have better skills" rather than relating the amazing phenomenon to the presence (or lack) of cars.

Tank-Ridin' Ryan said:
Ok, I'm going to take the high road on this one and not be sarcastic.

Andrew, you seriously can't believe that helmets are much less important when cars aren't present, can you? Have you ever watched bike racing? Riders go down in the middle of the pack all the time (and there's nothing around them but other bikes - and they're PROFESSIONAL riders).

What about riding in bad weather? I had my wheels go out from under me on Christmas day heading down to CCM while going over a bridge. No cars were around me, the wet metal bridgework caused my wheels to lose their grip. I didn't even see a car in my lane for 15 seconds after I fell.

I'm not really sure what reality you're living in, but I don't think it's the one the rest of us are living in. Many more things than cars can cause a crash.

Andrew Bedno said:
...shiny happy people riding bikes...
don't need helmets so much when there's no f*ing cars
Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on May 20, 2010 at 11:44pm
I didn't explicitly include my own opinion, and I hope I don't spoil your fun too much by providing it, but it's that the "skills" argument is as ridiculous as claiming there are no head injuries in Holland.
Permalink Reply by r3tr0b0t on May 21, 2010 at 1:45am
I dont think a world full of bikes is for me. I enjoy being the minority, and I also enjoy the danger that vehicles pose. The unpredictable nature of a road not made for a biker adds a certain thrill to my commutes and joy rides.
Permalink Reply by Andrew Bedno on May 21, 2010 at 6:32pm

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