Llamedos

Good read from Dmitry, I really like his blog:

http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/2012/01/perfectly-comfortable.html

Bicycles work great...as long as you have a mostly flat, paved road.  On gravel, with a hill, (like the road I live on), not so much.

You know, when I was a kid, I lived on a hill.  A big one.  And my driveway, all 3/4 mile of it, was gravel.  Every winter, my dad would go get more gravel to fill the potholes.  Anyway, there is no problem riding a bike on a gravelly hill.  I would know, because I did it in order to bicycle to school (uphill, both ways, in the snow, blah blah blah).  The trick is, you don't get a nice road bike.  The first bike I got was a handmedown from my two older brothers, and I remember breaking the frame.  Oops.  You get something more rugged, wider tires, and you bicycle in the muddy gravel.

 The Ho Chi Minh trail was definitely not paved.

The Ho Chi Minh trail was definitely not paved.

And it was jam packed with bicycles carrying loads.

The bike I was speaking of is a Trek (old enough that the frame was steel) mountain bike.  The hill I live on is so steep that I had to walk it uphill, and so bumpy that I had to ride the brakes to hold it to walking speed going down.  Granted, the road sucks (we built it ourselves with my neighbor's bulldozer, and nobody in the neighborhood has the time or money to fill the holes that wash out when it rains), but a bicycle just isn't practical.  Quite the disappointment, 'cause I used to ride a lot and even had a set of Cannondale saddlebags to camp out of when I lived on the mainland.  I gave the Trek to my son to use while he was in college, and it's out in his barn somewhere.

In a situation that bad, I'd suggest a horse.. 

I'll stick with the diesel tractor for now, but the long term plan includes milk cows and oxen.

Then all you need is tack and a saddle..

"I especially like mine, which I bought second-hand, from a friend, for something like $150. That was about 20 years ago." - Orlov

Same here, except I paid $15.00 each for my favorite bicycles.  One of which was in very dismal shape.  The dismal bike took around two years to rebuild to forty year old bike perfection.  Both bikes are the subject of many compliments.

I also built my dream bike.  This is a Specialized S-Works compact frame.  The bike is built for speed and climbing.  It's very demanding and unforgiving.  I don't dare check out the mountains or women when using this bike.  There have been a few extra scars added to my old body from from riding this bike.  I almost never use the damn thing.

What Dmitry forgot to add/note re: his dislike of cars is the complete and total forfeiture of your Constitutional rights the second you slide behind the wheel. The cops can basically pull you over for ANY reason, search your car for ANY reason (w/out a warrant), force you to blow into a breathlyzer at a random "checkpoint," etc. Not to mention nanny state nonsense like seat belt laws, no cell phone laws,- hell, a few years ago some NJ legislator introduce a bill that would ban cigarette smoking in private vehicles! I think in some states it is already illegal to smoke in a car if a minor is on board.

One thing I REALLY despise is the now-nonstop "seat belt reminder" that will ring every 20 seconds if you don't have the belt fastened. Used to be they only rang when you started the engine, then they stopped even if you didn't "buckle up." I'd like to find the ninny who mandated the endless seat belt chime and pound a fucking claw hammer into their brainstem.

Funny how the most beautiful cars of all time were the Depression era tin, like the '34 Ford V8. The sweep of the running boards, the V-grille, the ducktail rear/trunklid - just beautiful, an absolute work of art. What a shame that the few originals left are "pimped" into street rods and other nonsensical trash. Chopping a car like that into a garish custom is like a graffitti "artist" tagging the Mona Lisa w/ spray paint.