h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

As parking spaces become rarer, I hope cars will shrink enough to redraw the lines to make room for them.

I think one of those electric assist bicycle motors might be nice for the commute. I've got a rather tall bridge between home and work. It takes about an hour to ride there and for most of the year that would leave me rather sweaty.

An electric motor might make that a bit quicker and less .

There's a three-wheeled bicycle with solar collectors and a battery-powered engine. It's pricey: more than $4,000.00

Possibly not advisable in Dublin.

The solar bit, I mean.

A fellow Texan friend of mine was pedaling his Brompton folding bike around Dublin a few weeks ago. You can convince ailines to let you take then as a carry-on luggage cart/mobility device. I'm tempted to get one before visiting the UK again. Bromptons aren't the most comfortable bikes for long distance riding, but they're quite nice for riding city streets while traveling.

Nad case of tablet thumbstuttering... and not getting better in this post either, I see.

Bromptons are serious bikes. They win races. But if you want comfort then a recumbent's your only man.

I can use Mrs G's Brompton. That's one of my possibilities.

Yeah, I love my recumbents, but their ain't no way I'm bringing one of them on a plane.

From what I have observed, cycling distances can't be much fun in either Ireland or the UK. Cycle paths are practically non-existent, and the larger cities aren't much more cycle-friendly either. You'd do better on mainland Europe where cyclists are catered for rather better.

Even when I was a kid, I remember being amazed by the coast road in the part of Belgium we sailed to - and that was in the early 70s. There was a pedestrian path, a cycle path, a lane or two for cars, then a tram line running along the middle and repeat in reverse again on the other side.

Nowadays you can cycle from Prague to Paris and along all the main waterways.

My husband is still wrestling with how to get from Toulouse to Santiago de Compostela, however, especially the logistics of transporting one's cycle home again afterwards.

Sorry for derailing the thread. I cycle to work as most people here would know, and, apart from days when I have to dash to an appointment after work, or have a lot of stuff to transport, when I do ask permission to take the car* I would recommend it as the ideal method.

Cost - minimal
You can cycle practically up to the door, and don't have to park miles away and walk.
In a city, you will be able to at the traffic
You come and go in your own time and don't have to wait for buses, etc
If it rains, it's actually quite fun, provided you have a towel and a change of socks in your desk at work.

*My husband is dead against driving the car such short distances, and, of course, I have to check he doesn't need it for a doctor's appointment or a funeral or to go and buy some sacks of cement or mulch or something heavy.

I wrote an entry about my Dad's folding bicycle, you can see a picture here: A87763666
I want it I want it I want it! The most uncomfortable thing I've ever ridden, but great fun.

Wouldn't trust it on a plane or train, though.

<BB<

Cycling in Dublin is not bad at all. There are some cycle tracks that help, and some that don't much. But the distances are much less than say London, and the terrain is not too hilly. Motorist behaviour (the main factor in safety) has improved enormously over the last fifty years. Numbers of cyclists are rising too, which helps your safety a lot.

I would add to TC's list of the advantages of cycling to work:

Unless you live and work near train or tram stations, cycling is the second fastest method (the fastest way around town is still the motorbike).
You can rely on your normal travel time; extra traffic doesn't hold you up.

I count on getting most places I want to go in Dublin in ten or twenty minutes cycling, but then I live close enough. My son is half an hour out in the suburbs.

To prove Bluebottle doesn't have the monopoly on collaborative Entries, I have decided to take up Dmitri's suggestion in Post 10 Here's a thread in Ask if you would like to take part! F19585?thread=8317154 http://h2g2.com/forums/A148907/conversation/view/F19585/T8317154

I'm singing in the National Concert Hall tonight, so I had to lug a lot of extra stuff to work. I didn't fancy carrying it on a 65-minute walk, so I took the bus.

There was a crash in front of us, so the journey took longer than expected - 2 hours from door to door. I'm more and more inclined to adopt the 90-minute route with the 65-minute walk as my normal journey to work.

And think of all the Pokémon I'll catch on that journey each day!

Perhaps you should treat yourself to a taxi from work to the Concert Hall to make sure you actually get there.

Traffic depending, of course!

We visited our son and his girlfriend and our granddaughter in Bonn at the weekend. The journey home yesterday afternoon (Sunday) was an oddysey - One train was cancelled completely, all of the trains were delayed.

Not only ours, but others, including those going to Frankfurt airport. Some of the announcements were made in English, but not those relevant to airport travellers. We had to translate for a worried Chinese gentleman with a large suitcase who was obviously going to the airport, confirming that his flight was delayed by 35 minutes.

There's actually a free shuttle-bus which should get me close to the National Concert Hall, so I'm not worried about the journey this evening. There's a rehearsal before the concert so the worst that will happen is that I miss some of it.