@grammasaurus asks:
Q7a. Are rising gas prices helping any of your friends take cycling more seriously?
Q7b. Have you (or your bike group) discussed how cycling fits into emergency preparedness planning?
I feel some urgency about both of these issues.
#BikeNiteQ #BikeNite #BikeTooter #Cycling #MastoBikes cc @bikenite
@grammasaurus @bikenite A7a. I am curious about this but have not really brought it up. I do enjoy how gas prices are not (directly) an issue I have to consider.
A7b. Yeah, and I am kind of mad about how emergency preparedness, in the sense of egress in case of fire, is used to argue against the building of already-approved bike lanes near a school and retail district.
Anti-cycle people (specifically those opposed to a cycletrack on Hopkins St, in Berkeley) argue that the cars won't have any space to travel if protected bike lanes are built. I recall seeing stories from the Palisades fires, where residents fled by bike, and were only able to visit their property afterward by bike. Hopefully I'm remembering that right.
@ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite
#BikeNite A7a. I wish. It's been heatwave combined with gas prices, so unclear if it's changing behavior. And we live in a car-dependent suburb. Even I am not out much during the day because when it's 90F+ outdoors, not great cycling.
A7b. What is a "bike group"? LOL. I believe bicycles have a huge role in emergency preparedness, or could. The example I will give is the folks (here on the Fediverse) who used bicycles to get around Asheville, NC after Hurricane Helene... really a much more efficient means of transport when other transport is not possible, IMHO.
@genex @ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite
There are a bunch of these... This is a cool one where a kid was helping distribute supplies for the Salvation Army after the disaster... using his bike.
"An Unlikely Hero Emerges after Helene: The Story of a Boy, His Bike, and His Community"
Buncombe County, NC (October 11, 2024)–If you travel through the mountains northeast of Asheville, you might catch a glimpse of 11-year-old Connor pedaling furiously up the mountainside. You could say he’s a man on a mission—a mission to check on his neighbors and deliver much-needed supplies and hot meals to people whose power has not been restored. Many of the roads leading up the mountain remain blocked by fallen trees or are completely washed out, making vehicle travel almost impossible. Connor’s daily delivery service has become a lifeline for many.
Connor has a basket on the front of his bike, but to expand his carrying capacity, he keeps handy a cardboard box and some bungee cords to put on top. He visits The Salvation Army mobile feeding unit stationed in his community several times a day to pick up hot meals and cold drinks, which he delivers to his neighbors on the mountain and to workers helping rebuild the community.
“We have gotten to know Connor during the week we’ve been serving here,” said Barbara Still, a disaster relief worker from The Salvation Army of Greensboro. “In addition to being a great kid, he’s a son, a hunter, a fisherman, and an awesome big brother to his sister. We have added one more title to his name—Hero. He’s out here working tirelessly, riding his bike through these trails to help his neighbors.”
....
@genex @ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite
"...Thousands of volunteers have flocked to western North Carolina to help the region cover from Helene. WFAE’s Tommy Tomlinson, in his "On My Mind" commentary, says their actions cut through all our normal differences.
They came on mules. A group out of Rowan County called the Mountain Mule Packers went over muddy trails and through the woods to deliver help to those recovering from the storm Helene.
They came on bikes. A friend told me the other night about folks living in the mountains who organized a bicycle brigade to get supplies to places where cars and trucks couldn’t go...."
@ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite A7a. I don't have any friends 😞 but I, personally, am going to try to bike as much as possible this summer. Almost anywhere I need to go regularly is within 10 miles, which is nothing on an e-bike.
A7b. When the Big One hits Portland and gas stations go dry within a few days, we will rely on bikes and llamas to move people and goods around. And even if the power goes out, e-bikes can be charged with a portable solar panel and a camping battery.
@ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite #BikeNite A7. So far, I have not heard from anyone that gas prices are impacting them, but we are only 3 weeks into this foolishness.
I don't talk much with others about emergency preparedness. Bicycles are always useful for getting around. I've been entirely car-free in Vermont for 5 whole Winters plus.
I haven't bought vehicle fuel since Summer 2020. Hoping heating oil prices drop before October 2026, but I doubt it. Next Winter is going to be miserable.
@ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite That being said, I would highly recommend putting up a few extra bicycle wear parts, like tires, tubes, brake pads, chains/belts, lubes, if you can afford to do so.
Everything is going to go up in price, thanks to this ill-considered war and its impacts on all global supply chains.
@ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite A7a: Have not, except obliquely within the household. We mostly bike now anyway, so we don't have to care what gasoline costs. $20/gallon wouldn't affect our mobility and I _have_ mentioned that a few times to people, who don't react much to it but I hope they think about it.
A7b: I've thought about it and am I prepared to charge my ebike off solar panels? Yes, in fact, I am.
@ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite
Absolutely my bike is my post disaster vehicle! Assuming I can stay in town. My go bag is an IKEA wheeled grocery bag, which is identical to my friend's ultra lightweight folding bike cart. And certainly I intend to pull it with my bike
@CliffsEsport @ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite
It has a handle at the top. I can bungee that handle to my rear rack
@ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite @ai6yr
CERT groups I have worked with have included bicycle transport for after disasters where fuel is limited or roads are blocked.
With preference for mountain bikes that can go off of pavement.
(And, here in Minnesota, replaced by snowshoes / skis / sleds in the winter.)
@michael_w_busch @ascentale @bikenite @ai6yr I’m glad you mentioned CERT, because I vaguely remember reading about them training teams of people using bikes as transport, but I don’t remember what state that was in.
I know firsthand that it’s impossible to evacuate a large city by car, and if/when roads become gridlocked or severely damaged, i hope a lot of people have bikes
@grammasaurus @ascentale @bikenite @ai6yr
In California; the default scenario for CERT is the next large earthquake, where roads may be blocked to cars but bikes may be able to get through - and where fuel may be scarce for a while.
Here in Minnesota; they show up more for situations like "what do we do if we need to go along narrow trails in the woods faster than someone can safely run?".
@bikenite @grammasaurus @ascentale My family of 4 (including 2 adult children who have moved out) have 10 acoustic and 2 e bikes in the rotation, so we’re almost ready for #BikeapolypseNow. We could use a fat tire bike though. My car is an EV that costs about $0.018/mile to fuel, so gas $ not a concern.
Fossil fuels are still too cheap relative to the damages inflicted at every stage (extraction, refining, distribution & combustion). A7. #BikeNite
@ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite A7a. Maybe. But I think better infrastructure would help far more.
A7b. Not terribly seriously, though I have told my wife that if things really went south and we needed to get out of the city, bikes would be a better option than cars to avoid the inevitable traffic.
@ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite
A. For where I live and what travel my family's lifestyle calls for gas prices don't meaningfully impact my cycling. Gas really has to get into 1970s levels of shortage before it'll make a meaningful impact in my travel costs
B. Where I live the biggest emergencies I'm likely to face are flooding, tornados and snow storms, and a bike would only be helpful if the flood/tornado doesn't directly hit my home but does cause a sustained power outage and disruption. In a snow storm my own two feet are far more effective transport than any wheeled vehicle. If for some reason I needed to evacuate quickly I could see where bikes would more enable that than individual cars but that's not a realistic scenario that I face and likely other specifics would make a bike a less preferable choice of transport
@ascentale
A7a: we are still at "idling my engine in front of the school" stage so I guess it will take some crazy shock for people to unplug the car brain
@grammasaurus @bikenite
@ascentale
1/3
Sheesh!
This one triggers me in so many ways. This will be a threaded reply.
A7a
this is a 'sooner or later' inevitability. not a 'price shock' as in the past. This is long-tail. & folks writ-large won't react well. nuff said.
A7b
begs in part to prior 1st aid q.
This frustrates me to where I want to bite myself.
Simple stuff:
ems 1st responders pair on cargobikes neatly pack aed, o2, trauma kit, etc can 'get there' traffic, etc so-what?
(cont)
@grammasaurus @bikenite
@ascentale
2/3
with a trailer? can even transport *To* a waiting full service ambulance that *can't*.
Disaster response?
cargobikes again
chainsaws, food rations, water, med supplies,
Can get there when large equip can't.
decade back, there was some interest here in the US, but it seems to have faded.
folks worked really hard on exhibition fun stuff, 'Disaster Relief Trials' to demonstrate capability, but got little to no traction.
(cont)
@ascentale
3/fin
So many thoughts over so many years, nearly all my life as I came up in an evangelical/end-times household. Despite everything, this colours my thoughts.
Particularly poignant for me now as local govs are seeking input on disaster readiness & planning.
I know a lot of the folks, even like/have worked with a few, and they are incapable of thinking outside the (metal) box
@cpm @ascentale @bikenite Thank you for all this!
I remember the Disaster Relief Trials….we should have kept that going.
My current thinking is that we can prepare people without alarming them simply by getting them used to riding their bikes more, encouraging them to buy an ebike instead of a car (or 2nd car), getting them used to cargo bikes, etc.
We’re far too slow building bike infrastructure here in the US, so we have to work around that.
@ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite A7. Around here, people probably don’t in factor fuel costs (other than moving to an EV). I have one friend that to up cycling to our climbing gym, partially because of me, partially because he had just returned from a trip home to Germany and was reminded how easy it was to get around on a bike. Three other friends who also climb in the gym, only recreate on their bikes (historically 200+ miles on a weekend, although one can’t go that far anymore), and another who overdid the recreating and has backed way off.
But I did see this recumbent trike at the grocery store yesterday on my way back from the gym. #BikeNight
@ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite A7. Continued, I just remembered, on my way home from the grocery store there was a guy standing in front of a gas station with a handheld sign complaining about the high California gas taxes. I think $3.85/gallon.
Something like “California gas taxes are $3.85/G, vote smarter”
I almost rode back and to say I agreed, they should be $5/G, but then I thought, is that high enough?
This is part of a campaign with plenty of signage deploring high gas taxes at Chevron stations. Really bugs me (along with the signs sticking way out from the pumps, right where the driver door often is). #BikeNight
@ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite A7a. Not really since prices aren't high enough for most. As an example, one of my neighbors are still messing about with lawn mower engines on bike frames. He trashed his ebike by abusing it and is now just futtering with the other kit.
A7b. Yes to a degree. Hurricanes are an issue here so if we get a big enough one evac by bike may be necesary. Or evac by car with bikes to return.
@ascentale @grammasaurus @bikenite
A7a: means "fuck!" in Egyptian Arabic: https://playaling.com/a7a-egypts-word/
In any case most of my friends bike or take public transit for the vast majority of their trips but the people I know in more suburban areas nearby seem to be complaining about it without any actual plans to change anything
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