Car fit?

[Dirt]

I’ve done an extensive study of the relative comfort of different car hoods and bumpers. If you’re going to get hit by a car, I strongly suggest a 2008-9 Toyota Corolla. There is just enough give in the hood to make the initial impact almost cushy and the transition from hood to pavement when the driver slams on the brakes is smoother than most. The windshield wipers are also slightly recessed, so they’re less likely to jab you in the shoulder or arm if you slide up onto the windshield.

Vehicles to avoid being hit by: 1980’s full-sized Chevy Blazers are awful… as are pretty much anything made by Land Rover.

You should have sat in the back seat. It was quite comfortable.

PS: You forgot to list the one count of littering.

Love,

Pete

[txgoonie]

Always uncomfortable on long trips. Let’s face it – we were not meant to sit that long. No idea if this is related to your issue, Tim, but it seems like a lot of passenger car seats have been set up by somebody to be really slack, like a lounge chair, and have zero lumbar support which inhibits good posture. When your pelvis and shoulders roll forward in a lazy posture like that, it is bound to affect your lower back. I’m terrible at remembering this, so putting something like a rolled up t-shirt (or a for-real lumbar pillow) behind my lower back forces me to sit up and engage the abs. Takes more energy but ultimately results in less discomfort.

I also have super tight hamstrings and sciatic issues, so I’ll bring a tennis ball (or TP Massage Ball if you wanna be fancy) with me to sit on and do a sorta mini ART massage of my legs.

[vvill]

I use a lumbar cushion for long trips when I can. I don’t like sitting in the driver seat because you can’t vary your seating position all that much. Generally I like the steering wheel as low as possible (and I steer using the bottom of the wheel for long trips), and the seat reclined a bit more than most people, although sometimes the steering wheel will then interfere with my view of the dashboard…

When I lived in London I had an old Rover that had an adjustable lumbar section for the drivers seat. That thing was awesome.

Btw, that’s great that the justice system prevailed. The last time I talked to a cop about a cycling incident he warned me it was getting more and more dangerous to ride these days :rolleyes: and that unless I was actually hit there was nothing he could do.

[DaveK]

@Tim Kelley 19684 wrote:

So yesterday I was headed down to La Plata, Maryland in a car with Blacknell and Dirt (it’s really a great story of heros, villians, three counts of second degree assault, and a justice system that occasionally works out in a cyclists favor…) and I found myself quite uncomfortable sitting in the passenger seat.

Has anyone else noticed that, after not using a car very much, on longer road trips you just can’t get comfortable in a car? Is it the car’s seat height? Should I try moving it forward or backwards? I mostly felt it in my lower back, but I didn’t feel like I was over extending myself. Any thoughts?

It could be that car seats are designed for those of us within the bell curve… you should send this question to Shaq or Yao Ming.

[eminva]

@DaveK 19698 wrote:

It could be that car seats are designed for those of us within the bell curve… you should send this question to Shaq or Yao Ming.

I was gonna add insult to injury, and say maybe one of the relative youngsters amongst us is getting old!

Liz

[KLizotte]

When I lived in London I did not drive *at all* for almost three years. I took a taxi a few times but other than that it was feet, tube, trains, and buses (in that order).

I was rather dismayed to find upon returning to the US (and buying my own car) that I got nauseous anytime I was in a passenger seat, esp the backseat. Over three years have passed since my return and I still get carsick easily. It seems as if being away from the movement of automobiles somehow erased my ability to tolerate the movement. Since I drive only 3,500 miles a year it probably won’t fully go away.

One more good reason not to drive!

And yes, I find car seats to be intolerably uncomfortable in most vehicles, esp for the lower back.

[Dirt]

@eminva 19700 wrote:

I was gonna add insult to injury, and say maybe one of the relative youngsters amongst us is getting old!

Good point, Liz. Tim isn’t getting any younger.

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