#bikemaxxing

…When oil affordability really drops off a cliff – and it will – bikes will suffer too. But because there is a lot less to maintain, and because they are mechanically simple, they’ll remain viable longer. For how long, who can say. But the age of the automobile is dying. It just doesn’t know it yet #bikemaxxing #bikeTooter

…Diesel is what the modern economy runs on. When there is heavy work to do, it’s done with diesel. The recent spikes in its price will be assumed to be a temporary blip precipitated by Donny Dumbfuck. But diesel production has probably peaked and is already in decline: https://mastodon.social/@urlyman/116334360613944158 Which means rationing of oil products is in our future. With that comes a contraction of every supply chain. Which means the cost of maintenance will rocket too. Less to maintain wins #bikemaxxing

I just encountered #bikemaxxing as a phrase and am happy to peddle it. Bikes use a tiny fraction of the resources that go into a car: by weight relative to an average European car, in the region of 1/100th. With a human onboard they have an impact on the road surface that is by weight about 1/20th. As the oil economy descends into a pit of unaffordability in years to come, bikes will be a way to extend the use of roads. There will come a time where they are the most important mode of travel

bicycles have always struck physicists (e.g. me!) as almost miraculous. they are simultaneously: • dynamically elegant, • mechanically simple, • energetically near-optimal, and • extraordinarily cheap, as a conveyance. YES I DO LOVE BICYCLES. so should everyone, tbh. with the added proviso that not everyone can ride a bicycle and that's OK. humanity will always need other transportation options. we just aren't anywhere close to bikemaxxing yet and we should be. #BikeMaxxing