>><< Sold it, bought the corolla ($AUS1500) and a hand built recumbent bicycle ($AUS3000), and pocketed the difference. >> >Regardless of the value difference between Ozzie and US dollars, you ARE >telling us that your bicycle cost you twice as much as your car, aren't you! >And they say the Yanks are funny! What's funny about spending twice as much on a bicycle as a car? I'm absolutely serious. Spending the equivalent of a small house or a cruising yacht on a noisy polluting machine, that in the UK alone accounts for the bloody slaughter of some 3000 people each year isn't even funny its insane - and the millions of blinkered people who do it every year have no comprehension of the practicality or joy of owning a hand built bicycle. Would you think it mad to spend twice as much on a handbuilt kayak as a jetski? Nothing peculiar about spending twice as much money on a recumbent as a car in my books. Quite the opposite. Cars do have their place though (on the streets of towns and cities just isn't it in my books), and I feel honoured to have owned/own the two ultimate shuttle vehicles - a 1978 2 litre VW bay window camper, replaced last year by a 14 year old Landrover 110 V8 CSW. As far as I know you yanks are unfortunate that 110 inch wheel based landrovers (NOT to be confused with Discovery/RangeRover/earlier series leaf sprung landies) weren't exported to the states, so Americanos you'll just have to take my word for it that it is the ultimate shuttle vehicle. VW busses and Landies have rain gutters and therefore can use cheap strong racks designed to carry stuff, not the fashion accessories adorning the roofs of many a shiny new suv. I attach my boats to them with J-cradles supplied by KCS (http://www.kayak.co.uk). Very secure. No bow or stern lines needed for long distance cruise at 80mph. 4 sea kayaks on the roof at once with ease. These cradles fit any rack system, using bracket technology developed for the engineering industry - nuts and bolts! http://www.kayak.co.uk/doc/sp3-8.htmand - they are as they say 'the dogs bollocks'. Cheers Colin Calder 57º19'N 2º10'W *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Oct 27 1999 - 06:43:23 PDT
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