A bicycle or a lawn tractor?

[zzvyb6]

What about kayaks. Attending flea markets, small farming operation, horseback riding ? Biking will wear one of you out. Possibly even getting one of you hurt considering the attitudes, abilities, intoxicants, and texting sins prevalent everywhere now. If you are both reasonably fit, take a couple's dance class. You will sweat more than you ever imagined, AND you can stop when you get tired, and don't have to ride back to your home position.

A tractor of any kind, size, or cost is a good way to get away from someone for a while.

I do both.

 

[ning]

What about kayaks. Attending flea markets, small farming operation, horseback riding ? Biking will wear one of you out. Possibly even getting one of you hurt considering the attitudes, abilities, intoxicants, and texting sins prevalent everywhere now. If you are both reasonably fit, take a couple's dance class. You will sweat more than you ever imagined, AND you can stop when you get tired, and don't have to ride back to your home position.

A tractor of any kind, size, or cost is a good way to get away from someone for a while.

I do both.

I used to ride bikes a lot, and got a strange kick out of "battling traffic" in the town I used to live in - but there the traffic could do at most 35 so an aggressive biker could easily keep up with traffic much of the time and other times catch up to it in slow places and pass it. Thrilling in a stupid "I'm young and fast!" way.

Any more, even with local laws requiring 3' clearance when passing bicycles and people generally being decent about it. Biggest problem I usually see is timid drivers catching up to a bike, slowing down behind them, then deciding it's ok to pass - the idea was courteous but they end up passing so slowly that the danger time is greater and what happens if they're in the other lane and a car comes around the bend? that new car will see my lane as empty and hit me, or the passer will swerve to the right and hit me, no thanks. So, I ride less and less.

If you have lots of bike trails that don't cross car roads & streets much, superb. Otherwise if you're rural with mostly empty roads that otherwise seem safe till someone comes by at 50, I doubt the wife will enjoy it that much.

When we're not wearing outselves out "gardening"/land improving, we like hiking. Watch for snakes; not much else dangerous, and they're barely there or dangerous. If I was on the lake, I'd definitely do kayaking or paddle boarding, those seem like fantastic warm-weather exercise!

 

[JasperFrank]

If just getting in to bikes and your main routes are along canal paths, or other flat areas, I would recommend a crusier style single speed. Bikedirect as these for $200. I would add fenders and a front side pull caliper brake. These are super simple to maintain. They have very comfortable seats, an up right riding position, and slower steering, longer rake, than other styles.

 

[dodge man]

I’m sure riding a bike is more dangerous than sitting in a chair watching tv but I wonder if people are doing things that are more dangerous, such as motorcycles, wood cutting, running farm equipment etc.

I also see people passing me being the problem. Often this seems to put them in more danger than me. They pass when they should wait or they pass and wait to long to pull back in their lane.

 

[tacticalturnip]

I've got a gorgeous Japanese bicycle with so many different gears that I'm lost on it; it's a great display piece I'll never get rid of because they're so expensive to replace, and one day I'll figure out how to use it.

 

[Captain Dirty]

. . . In the NL, they have side walks for people, roads for vehicles and paths for bikes. It really makes it easy and safe to ride a bike, and they do ride bikes over there. There really are no hills, just ramps going over rivers and canals but they do have wind. . .

Alas, the United States is not the Netherlands. The Netherlands have decided, bicycle-enhancing advantages.

1. It is a small country 200 mi N-S, 160 Mi E-W. Distances are nowhere near as great as in the US.

2. As dmccarty noted, there are separate ways (paths or roads) for pedestrians, cyclists, and automobiles. Other infrastructure includes separate traffic controls for each type of traffic, a dense rail net, numerous small ferries to cross canals, etc. Suburban 2-lane roads have a half-lane bicycle lane on each side and one center lane for automobiles. Should a motorist encounter an oncoming vehicle each driver, yielding to any bicyclists present, occupies the bike path to pass and resumes in the center lane.

3. Everybody cycles. They start as toddlers and continue into old age. When touring in 2019 I came upon a "school bus". Led and trailed by an adult aide, a double column of about 20 elementary school children rode in good order separated by about a foot within a bike lane approx. 4' wide. I also was overtaken by a 60+ matron in skirts on a heavy utility bike. This lifetime avocation hones riding skills, and inculcates situational awareness, not to mention physical fitness. I witnessed assertive, but not reckless riding.

4. Fact #3 means bicyclist have considerable political power. In a bike-automobile incident, the motorist is presumed to be at fault. That is not likely to happpen in the states, an auto-centric society in which many American bicyclists ride (behave) poorly.

 

[dodge man]

Of course there is a forum for e bikes that I frequent. Someone posted “How is the Bike Infrastructure in Your Area“? There are parts of the United States that have a lot of bike trails and multi use paths. Where I live the nearby town has some bike paths, which is just a painted line on the street, and a little bit of multi use paths but not much.

 

[ericm979]

A while back I went to Boulder CO to visit family and compete in a bike race in the area. While there I rode around town and up in the mountains. It's so nice riding there! They have some bike paths but not a lot, so I was mostly on the roads. The best thing is that the drivers know how to ride around bikes. They're not overly aggressive or timid. I don't think it takes infrastructure (though that doesn't hurt), it just takes being around bikes enough to get used to them.

 

[bigtiller]

Do you like riding in groups? https://ragbrai.com/ may be for you.

Meet up in Sioux City Iowa on July 22 and spend 7 days riding to Davenport Iowa.

Party, with live bands every night.

They are expecting 100,000 riders on the Ames to Des Moines leg.

 

[groundcover]

But... bikes suck in the water !