bicycle culture

[Cassandra_Cain]

Mimi - thanks for sharing your anecdote and well done. Especially for making the extra effort to ride your bike when you could have easily driven.

Ironically, I've seen both ends of it....car culture vs. a much stronger bike culture. Then I didn't come to the US till I was 11, so that's the reason behind it.

Talking about this makes me miss the "Rocket" and good restaurants in Toronto...

[BeeLady]

I'm doing more and more errands on my bike. The more fit I am becoming the easier it is to ride my bike even if I have to take a longer route to avoid the heaviest traffic.

A lot of little details had to come together to make the transition easier: riding skort/skirts and riding shoes with recessed cleats so I can wear comfortable for-cycling clothes to ride in and still feel comfortable in the store/bank/library; panniers so I can just have my groceries bagged straight into them; good lights for nite riding and a bracket to hold me cable lock so its not a hassle getting to it.

Recently added a VERY lightweight German-made mirror that really works well.

I want to help change the culture where I am -- thanks for the links and we can all do our bit. Part of it for me is also having biking appear "normal" and do-able -- I guess the word I'm searching for is actually "conservative" rather than bicyle culture appearing like some left-wing liberal Al Gore plot (I'm in a very blue state, folks!).

[Trek420]

BeeLady "I want to help change the culture where I am -- thanks for the links and we can all do our bit. Part of it for me is also having biking appear "normal" and do-able -- I guess the word I'm searching for is actually "conservative" rather than bicyle culture appearing like some left-wing liberal Al Gore plot (I'm in a very blue state, folks!)."

Disclosure: I'm unapologeticly progressive, radical to most, in a Blue State and a Dike on a Byke to boot but I know what you mean. Bike culture here must look different from most other countries and probably must look different to succeed.

I'm not a sociologist, maybe my sis who's on the board and is one will weigh in on this. I feel the predominant car culture seems tied up with not just 'the freedom of the open road" but also with how we feel about strength, atheticism, power and ultimately masculinity.

Isn't it silly when a truck pulls up along side you and revs it's engine?

But when they puposefully spew smoke, noise and buzz you as they pass?

Or yell at you and or throw things?

I've been called a "f*ggot" by drivers while riding more than any other situation place and time in my life. In case you're wondering I'm not obvious from any viewpoint still or moving much less from a bike. But in this Bluest Spot in the Bluest of Blue States (uh, moron drivers, get the gender right at least )

When I can discern what they yell....thats it!

Our TE guys endure this and more because a man is simply not a man in lycra, right?

We can't be athletes, athletes do one of 3 (and only three) sports which have balls in them. Athlete jerseys have numbers on them. We're not athletes.

It's not transportation, they see it as lack of transportaion. Not a positive thing being "car free" or strong and transporting ourselves by our own muscles, they see it as "we are car'less"

It's about power, who has it, who doesn't I think. Well.....off to watch football.

And as if to prove my point oh look, there's the Dodge Caliper advert. ;-)

[BeeLady]

Trek - I get it!

I think the REAL culture is big money behind the oil biz and the road contracts. Social changes seem like they're easier when a lot of rich folks don't have their billions on the line.

I'm a sweet lil ol' housewife, on the boards for charities (or was til I saw how meaningless much of that was) and generally a reformed hippie who married well and was propelled into the conservative thing.

My liberal/radical side is again showing itself now that my son is away at school and I no longer have to role model "fitting in."

Having been on both sides (so I like to think), making cycling a smoother fit with the Blue State way of thinking will help gain cycling more acceptance more quickly. Cycling is morally superior to air pollution, green house gases, depence on foreign oil, etc. and any thinking person has to see that. The easier we make it for people to change, the better.

[Trek420]

Many don't give a hoot about global warming, could care less about energy independence or *any* issue but they ask me "you're 50!! I don't believe it "

"It's the bike (that and I chose good parents, genetics)" I say.

People will do stuff that makes them look/feel better.

Heh, whatever works.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

There are some good chapters in the book The Art of Urban Cycling which discuss how America came to be a nation of automobile worshippers, and how the cities, housing developments, and roads evolved over the decades to be purposely designed in such a way as to actively discourage any transportaion method other than cars and trucks. It was no accident. There was Big Corporate Money involved in making this design plan become a reality. It also discusses why people in cars feel more "anonymous" and feel they can be way more aggressive than people face to face. They are almost completely insulated and feel devoid of accountability for their actions.

There are bigots, racists, chauvenists, aggressive motorists, and just plain stupid people everywhere. Nothing will ever completely change that fact. The more bikers of all kinds speak out, stand up for themselves and each other, organize, and demand their rights as citizens, the more Stupid People will realize that bullying will not make the people they dislike "go away" and in fact may get them into serious trouble.

[mimitabby]

All i know is that in most cities, they can only widen the roads so much and the number (and size of) cars keeps growing. this means worse traffic, and THAT means, more of us are going to just realize that it's actually easier to get from point A to point B on a bicycle.

Since the pResident of the USA is a bicyclist, you'd THINK that would help our cause, he even rode with Lance!! but unfortunately, that does not translate down to us on the streets competing with more and more cars, bigger and bigger cars, and worse and worse streets.

[KnottedYet]

I just want to ride my bike whenever and however I want, eat nice food, breathe clean air, say "hi" to people I encounter, and get happily l@id on a regular basis.

My bike can get me most of that, but for all of that I need other folks to participate.

Bike culture has a place with car culture, and it all comes under the Golden Rule. Unfortunately, we live in a culture of empire (with all that entails) not a culture of Golden Rule.

I've come to the somewhat disheartening conclusion that the best i can do is follow the old cliche and "be the change you want to see in the world."

I get an inordinate amount of pleasure from having some pedestrian smile and wave when I holler out "Good morning!" on my commute to work. Or having a driver do the same thing when I wave and shout "Thank you" to the car who gave me the right-of-way (even though I legally had it anyway). Just change-mongering my way through my day.

[Trek420]

mimitabby ...."the number (and size of) cars keeps growing...."

and cars are bigger because people are bigger because we are sedentary and so on it goes ...

"Since the pResident of the USA is a bicycling, you'd THINK that would help our cause, he even rode with Lance!! but unfortunately, that does not translate down to us on the streets competing with more and more cars, bigger and bigger cars, and worse and worse streets."

I'm noooooo fan of the pResident one thing that he did, well two things:

the donotcall list is a good idea and...

he put some real teeth and money into ICETEA (is that the acronymn?) and targeted it to transportation and urban use.

I'm glad he rides! If you're a fan of the President you're glad he rides, he is one of the healthiest Presidents ever....if you're not then hey, the more he rides the less work he gets done.

Tailwinds, Pres, ride like the wind, ride long, ride hard, it's all good.

Sometimes it's a statement; pedal power vs. oil power, building community vs. sprawl, nice food vs. junk, get happily l@id on a regular basis vs....oops wrong bulletin board sorry, how'd that get there.

Mostly while I feel strongly about those things I ride just to ..... uhm ride.

It's fun, makes me feel good, helps me to deal with my sucky job just to see my bike shoes below my desk.

But most of us here would ride anyway. With few bike lanes we seek them out. find the routes and share them with others and advocate to improve the routes, with few bikes that fit women we find the ones that do, we figure out how to ride to work and still look fabulous with helmet hair.

There's lots of folks who would like to ride in theory but can't/won't deal with the obstacles.

Make it easier for them and we'll see a difference.

[Kitsune06]

I dunno, Trek, with more and more big business leaning on vehicles that run on the blood of dead iraqis, more warmongering and ultimately still more oil consumption, this entire administration is subtly nudging more and more people to become one with Bike Culture.

MWBR... the pendulum is still swinging...

[mimitabby]

this entire administration is subtly nudging more and more people to become one with Bike Culture.

MWBR... the pendulum is still swinging...

one would hope~!

yes, i wish the pResident and all of his men would all get on bikes and go into the hills and not come back.
GREAT idea!

[Trek420]

I don't think our Veep would make it up a hill.

Maybe if world leaders got together on this bike they'd be more peaceful:

http://www.conferencebike.com/web.mov

[bikewriter]

Hi! New to the forum and so glad I found you all!

Lisa S.H. ...There are some good chapters in the book The Art of Urban Cycling which discuss how America came to be a nation of automobile worshippers...

I recently started Asphalt Nation which takes a more in depth look at how the car took over the road (and how we can reclaim it). I also recommend How To Live Well Without Owning A Car which really helped me make the decision to go car-lite (and eventually - fingers crossed - car-free) through a combo of cycling and bus riding. The book has a Car Cost Calculator that my bf put online that lets you calculate how much your car costs you (or conversely, how much you can save by relying on your bike for transportation!).

[mimitabby]

Hi! New to the forum and so glad I found you all!

Lisa S.H. ...There are some good chapters in the book The Art of Urban Cycling which discuss how America came to be a nation of automobile worshippers...

I recently started Asphalt Nation which takes a more in depth look at how the car took over the road (and how we can reclaim it). I also recommend How To Live Well Without Owning A Car which really helped me make the decision to go car-lite (and eventually - fingers crossed - car-free) through a combo of cycling and bus riding. The book has a Car Cost Calculator that my bf put online that lets you calculate how much your car costs you (or conversely, how much you can save by relying on your bike for transportation!).

Welcome to the forum! we have a spot for you to tell us about yourself!
"getting to know you" please do stop there and tell us. I am most curious about your "nome di plume" so to speak.

[pooks]

What a wonderful thread.

I'm a bit of the backward chick here, because I became truly motivated by reading a friend's blog (http://nobody-knows-anything.com/) and being inspired by her desire to ride more for environmental reasons (she has an xtracycle, too) and by her bloglist, where I found many of the bike blogs I read regularly now, including Oil is for Sissies (http://blog.lib.umn.edu/thil0020/carfreelife/) and Minus Car (http://minuscar.blogspot.com/).

So when I got my bike (for health reasons) and was so horribly out of shape, I found it easier to motivate myself to go on short trips to the post office, etc. than to simply get out in the heat and ride for the sake of riding. Thus I've accumulated a fairly nice number of "green miles" but no ride longer than 11 miles!

I just figured out a new 6 or 7 mile ride for me that goes largely on good streets that get very little traffic during the day (unless it's rush hour or time for school carpools) but haven't quite motivated myself to try it. Instead I've done a few 2-mile loops in the immediate 'hood. But now that the weather is FINALLY more pleasant I hope to get back into riding the way I did in July and August -- where I'm on and off my bike two or three times a day. At least once to just get some miles done, and then for errands as needed.

I did make it a point to ride to Starbucks, to the grocery store (and took my bike in to pick up my prescription), through the bike drive-through, and into the doc's office to schedule an appointment. Each little challenge was fun.

So thanks for this thread. I needed it to goose me a little. I've been too distracted lately to be as motivated.

Oh yeah -- Geonz -- I have already linked to the sojourner's entry because I saw it on your blog, and now I'll add the friends one. Thanks!