Wednesday, September 16, 2009

A bijillion MPG

So I'm down in southern California for a week of relaxing and hanging with family... And I've been riding around town a lot on a beach cruiser bike.... This is awesome! Riding a bike makes you feel like a good person, doesn't it? You're getting excercise, and not using any gas. In my mind, there are a room full of earth-muffins applauding every time I hit those pedals.

Yesterday Jess and I cruised around the beach and checked out all the million dollar shacks that line the beachfront. So that's why people bike here... They spent all their cash on a 400sq.ft. apartment. Oh wait, there's a Mercedes in the driveway. Nevermind.

It sucks that Tennessee is so unfriendly to bicycles. Everything is so far away and it's never really biking weather. Either it's too humid and hot, or it's raining. No gracias. Plus, there are no bike lanes. If you try to bike to starbucks from my house, you WILL get wrecked by a mom in a minivan who's late to her son's soccer practice.

So here's what I'm thinking.... I'm resolving (at least in my own idealistic little mind) to move somewhere more biking-and-walking-friendly before having kids.

Do you guys walk or bike places in your towns? Is it practical where you live? I wanna hear what you think of your town!

Break me off some information!

23 comments:

Ida Lou said...

This blog made me smile..

You could bike in my town a lot of people do. we are 2 hours from A LOT of big Cities and I would tell you what they were but that would give out my location which you never do on the internet. :( But people are bike friendly where I live, but if you want to get to Starbucks from my house its about a 15 minute drive. But if you live in the county capital your good. (:

Heidi said...

I live in a place where you can bike and walk anywhere you want. All the stores are in about the same area so if you are riding your bike you can easily get to all the places you need to and theres usually not a lot of traffic so you dont have to worry about those moms. :) Oh and the weather is usually 75 degrees so its great biking.

abbi said...

seattle is the place to be if you bike!

Thomas said...

My town's cool (ATL) but definitely not for bikes where I live. It's cool though.

Jonni said...

well... i could bike places, but i dont have places to go very often..
i did have a really bad bike crash about a year and a half ago though... i was riding down a really steep hill, and at the bottom of the hill there was a barb wire fence. well, odviously, i did not want to hit that, so a slammed on the breaks, and my bike flipped.. it was VERY painfully, but thankfully i only sprained my wrist, nothing too serious :)

Anonymous said...

No. It is not very practical to bike in Tulsa. Everything is so spread out, unless you live by the mall.

Christine said...

ok, so where you are right now sounds like my idea of perfect. of course, the story i'm writing totally takes place in such an area (southern cali, main character lives in "shack" (tiny house) in a row of them lining the beach, can walk or bike to everything, etc etc). where exactly in southern cali are you atm? i want to live there.
as for my own area... you can prolly bike around some... idk, cuz i don't do it lol. but there is this area with like food places and stores that i might walk to to meet a friend tomorrow (i could bike.. but i dont like biking, lol. nor do i like walking, tho, ha). all in all tho, i dun like it here. its kinda dumpy in places... and creepy in places.. and just plain boring. no palm trees. nothin. there is a starbucks tho at that area i mentioned :P

Regina said...

I live in Tennessee as well [East Tennessee that is] and I know what you mean about it not being good biking weather. Thankfully, where my house is located I can walk to a park, to the mall, the grocery store, and a couple little restaurants. The only problem is here in my town, people drive like 8 year olds and I've almost gotten hit a couple of times. But still, I do love riding my bike and I wish this town was more bike friendly.

Michelle said...

I live in south Georgia and some places are good to bike at. We have a biking trail and stuff to go on. Lots of people ride bikes around town, its not a very big town so its not far to go but its not very safe at some of the intersections cause there are some crazy people.

graciegirl said...

Kentucky has a few parks that ah realy good for biking :)
da roads arent the BEST for biking on... i mean i guess you could if you really wanted to... we have some really nice parks to ride in though.
[especially in Louisville ;)]

Janet V. said...

Of course its practical here in Oregon! Most places in the Portland metro area are great for bike riding and walking. You should definitely consider moving here. Portland was the 2nd most bike friendliest city in the world last year, and probably still is:)

Anonymous said...

This is a true story...

I was the first born female from over protective immigrants. They sheltered me like no other. One of the things i was forbiden to do was ride a bike. They said i couldn't side a bike because i would flal down and break my arm, thus, I never learned.

One day in the third grade I was a friends house. She too was the first born female of immigrants, but her parents were nowhere near as overprotective as mine, so both her and sister had bikes. So, she decided to try and teach me,a nd I said yes.

Well, of course, i was on the bike for a total of 5 seconds when i fell down...and yes, as luck would have it, I broke my arm.

Of, you bet that we lied and told my parents I fell from the top of the stairs.

So, to this day, this 25 year old has never learned to ride a bike.

Now, my baby brother, he had a bike and a motorcycle,a nd one of those little electric jeeps. Now how fair is THAT?

Arielle said...

Chesapeake isn't the best city to bike in, but it can be done without getting hit by a van :) I live about 5 minutes from a Wal-Mart and a Food Lion, what else do you need?!

Stephanie said...

In town a lot of kids bike and walk places but more and more people are buying mopeds and electiric scooters. There used to be this old dude with a pink one that would wander around and pick up pop cans during the day. It's acutally geting kind of wierd, but then again we hold festivals celebrating flowers, line up at 5am to get a doughnut from the bakery, and our slogan is "Feel the Zeel." There's gotta be something in the water.

Tdaniel.bryant said...

I leave one state down and we have the ultimate biking town. You can ride all over town and out into the Alabama countryside with ease. It's a family raising town. We got everything from musical get togethers to rocking out in the local music shops. I'll email a link so you can get the idea of the layout of the town.

Anonymous said...

Well, where I am is pretty great. We have a large number of bike paths which is really nice. There are a few places that are really dangerous to bike. YOu can bike down by Johnsons Beach which is really a great site!

Barrie , Ontario.... need I describe it any more ? :D If you do come, that would be so great! I have yet to meet you...I attend Cutting Edge but joined only a year ago ... so I missed the whole time that you were there.

Christine said...

Janet V... really? ok, i didn't know that. i know it's so """""green""""" here that everyones obsessed with the idea of biking, but i didn't know it was that big (of course, i live right outside portland)
however i would never, ever encourage anyone to move here. if you're gonna be biking you would want to actually enjoy WHERE you're biking.
oh but right.. jonathan likes portland i think. so i guess that would work.
personally, i HATE portland... lol. it's so.... yukkii. IMO.
but it'd be cool to live near a member of hawk nelson, anyway :P
lulz
i guess it all comes down to personal tastes. my personal taste is california, and i guess that's partially hawk nelson's fault :P i got obsessed after watching that awesome music video... still my fave music vid ever, altho their new one comes close xD
off topicccc.
my personal dis-taste (haha) is here. but obviously other ppl like it so my opinion is worthless :P
and i manage to make every comment into a whole, like, blog post

Emily said...

It's possible to ride your bike to certain places in Charleston. I like to ride mine in my neighborhood! Also, downtown Charleston is such a beautiful place to ride your bike or walk. I would definitely recommend it if you're ever in Charleston, SC!

Anonymous said...

No one rides bikes in Walla Walla, WA. Everyone just longboards! (:

Jennifer said...

Not exactly where I am now. I am currently going to college in Atlanta, the WORST place to ride your bike! :) But where I'm from you definitely could. I live on the mainland of a beach so there are a lot of people who live on the island that ride their bike everywhere.

Riley Smiley said...

Definitely The Woodlands, TX

it's north of Houston and it's a very happy "bubble" because there are bike paths everywhere and everything is basically contained in a bikeable/walkable distance.

people are always on the paths exercising and being fit

it's just super hot in the summer, but during winter it feels good (it's like in the 60s or 70s at the lowest)

the people here are really nice too :)

Anonymous said...

if you live where i do, it's an off day if you don't see some wannabe gangster skateboarding with his 'gangster' friends, or a person biking to coborns or something. the weather is usually pretty good, only if you can handle 80 with 90% humidity. oh well, that's what lakes are for..

Mary-Kate said...

Atlanta is not made for cars, pedestrians, or bicycles. I'm not sure who it was designed to suit, exactly...