Urban Assault Vehicle
Posted on May 14, 2007
Filed Under Uncategorized |
After letting it languish all last summer, I finally got around to patching the hole in my bicycle’s rear tire. I took her out for a ride shortly after and, while I think a tune-up is needed, it felt good to be out on two wheels again. I’ll have to take it in for a tune-up before I even think about riding to work, but that’s something I should do anyway. Just like a car, a bike should be tuned-up every spring. (Speaking of which, I’ve got to get my car in sometime soon, too.)
It’s too bad that this city isn’t more bicycle friendly. In a lot of ways, a bike is much more practical for urban travel than an car is. Of course, we live in the Great White North, so it only works for half the year (unless you’re a die-hard). Still, even riding for just a few months out of the year could make a big difference as far as environmental impact.
Having said that, I’ll never be that guy. I will ride my bike to work on occasional, but I’ll never be the guy who does it everyday (unless I actually manage to find a job that’s close to where I live in the future). It’s a matter of convenience and, as bad as it may be, driving it just way more convenient.
For what it’s worth, I’m hoping that my next car will be a hybrid.
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4 Responses to “Urban Assault Vehicle”
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After working at Ford and knowing why we didn’t sell hybrids it’s just not a feasible alternative for those for those of us who don’t have an extra $9,000 - $11,000 for a new battery after 100,000 kms of driving. I would love to have a prius but just can’t afford the replacement battery. Environmentally we should all drive hybrids but in the city the gas consumption is no less than a regular vehicle the benefits come to play only on highway driving.
I’ve done some research, though, and that’s not true. Hybrids are slight more efficient in the city. In fact, it’s at slower speeds (i.e.: the start/stop of city driving) when the electric engine kicks in.
As for the replacement battery, I’m not sure if that’s true of the newer models. Also, from what I’ve seen, there is a special warranty on the hybrid parts (i.e.: the battery, etc.) that is actually longer than the warranty on the “standard” parts, so I believe that would be covered.
Again, I still have more research to do, but from what I’ve seen they’ve come a long way from where they were even just 12 months ago. Plus, 100,000km is a long time. My car is 20 years old and only has about 250,000 on it. So, 100,000km can take a long time to rack up, depending on how often you drive.
I like the _idea_ of being a full-time cyclist (completely self-reliant transportation and all that), but I don’t know if I’ve got the muscle for it. We’ll see.
I feel the same way, Mike. I suppose it’s something that comes with time, though. If you’re willing to dedicate yourself to it, and to making a habit of it, eventually you’ll have no trouble with it. It’s the getting started that’s the real hurdle.