Imagining the bicycle.

Well, that was a first time adventure - writing a blog.

Over the years, riding my bike daily to and from work, shopping and even raising a family, I've watched others do their things as well through walking, driving an automobile, taking a bus (as I drove a transit bus and school buses) and biking. I watched the rise of the exercise gyms for the non-bikeriders. There is not a memory of a biking person needing a gym workout.

Anyway, as I watched others, myself and my family on bikes it was with the thought of how could we do this better? My new wife came with a bikecart, an aluminum Burley. Now, that was one piece of equipment which saved us so much effort, and eventually, the life of our newborn son.

People, even in the Minneapolis area are somewhat spoiled by the personal vehicle environmental controls. They seemed to have lost something of themselves in the process. For instance, when one is traveling to and from the grocery store in the dead of winter when it is thirty below farenheit with your infant in the bike cart, people try and stop you, especially if you're a man, and try and find out if they can possibly call child protection on your behavior. They have no concept of existing out of doors and dressing for the weather. As I used to spend my work time in the oilfields from the Canadian border to the Mexican border out West, I know a little something about having to live and work in extreme environments. But, most don't have this experience and when they see just you out there, they just think you're some kind of nut. When they see you out there with an infant, they want to intervene and have your child taken away. We went once in daylight on a bright winter's day and after that experience of being besieged in the parking lot once on arrival and then again on departure, we went in the cover of darkess. Invisibility can have dividends.

Plus, when you live off of your bike and you have a family, you plan accordingly with the weather in mind. By the time the inclimate weather hits, you and yours are ready to just enjoy the moment.

However, having lived this way, and knowing enough of manufacturing and material science to get into trouble, one can't help but try and imagine what-ifs and why-nots as to this problem or that problem. You know, the challenges.

For instance, ever have trouble in thirty-below weather of pulling up to a stoplight and just when you start to get the green light, your goggles fog up? And, just trying to breathe sometimes in the frigid weather without the right type of coldweather mask is a real problem. Then, try it behind a clear fairing. Not too bad except for the fogging problem when the wind is just right,,, or not.
Rain, always a problem if you don't have the right gear if the weatherperson was wrong. Or, if you don't always carry it with you? If you have an HPV and it rains/snows, trying to see through it? Another fun thing along the same line is getting muddy water, freezing rain or oily water on the windshield and trying to clear it without tagging on the machine an electric motor.

Two wheeled biking in winter versus three wheeled biking. Upright versus recumbent. Sliding on ice. Twenty inch wheels versus twenty-seven or more. Slicks versus off road. Long wheel base versus short on recumbents. Fairings versus none. Enclosed systems of HPVs versus open air. Bike shoes versus other.

Challenges - and how to meet them head-on with a better than even chance of overcoming them.
I guess if you've never tried these adventures and were thinking about getting into biking here or elsewhere, the challenges would be daunting.
The World of Bicycles has opened up and while the upright safety bike was the anchor for over a hundred years, every anchor has a chain. Time to let go.