[*BCM*] Open letter to the Cycling Community
TSmith4918 at aol.com
TSmith4918 at aol.com
Thu Jul 31 07:59:28 EDT 2008
sorry but I have to say that this is the attitude that repels people and
does little to attract riders to any kind of active biking movement...people
won't ride because they "should", they have to want to out of self interest
(whether for global/green issues or local/health/economic/recreational reasons).
this viewpoint does not want to share the roads and why would someone want
to scare drivers since it only puts the rider (and the rest of us) at terrible
risk. "if everyone rode like us" sums it up: no room for compromise or other
ways of seeing things.
by definition all bikers experience the same terror on the road and live
with the risk with dooring, cut-offs, verbal abuse-- not a commute/ ride goes
by without wondering if I'm gonna make it to work/home safely--yet most of us
keep biking because the risk is worth the benefits. I doubt much is likely
to change in terms of the car-bike relationship unless more people bike.
While a confrontational approach may be fun and stoke feelings of superiority
(and i confess to such), it ain't gonna instruct or display to drivers why
biking is a good, fun, smart, beneficial thing to do.
I'm not young either, in fact quite old(50)and have been biking/commuting
longer than some folks here have been alive. Makes me no better in any regard
except being able to say that I have had to share the road from the 60's thru
the 00's, and it hasn't got any better due to the sheer increase in the
number of cars on the road. I think getting people to switch has to be based on
their self interest: one silver lining, perhaps, of the higher energy costs.
Other than that, we might be limited to showing folks the simple joy that
most of us take in riding ( and leave the moral superiority with the car
keys at home. )
the proposal for a courteous mass could be a good one: if it's safe, fun,
and respectful of fellow citizens --most of them aren't monsters-- stuck in
their cars (most of us feel that way in traffic), I think it may do more for
winning hearts/minds than the current approach.. (the word "courteous",
however seems not quite right)
my 2 cents
----------------------------------------
In a message dated 7/31/2008 3:42:54 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
symboliceon at hotmail.com writes:
i think that i've decided to stop caring. there are just too many goddamn
viewpoints on something so horribly simple that i don't really see the point.
people are horrible. no shit.
i'm gonna keep hauling ass through traffic because i know how to, because i
can, because more of you should.
there are others out there like me and if everyone rode like us these
streets would be ours. shared properly.
i'm not that young. i'm 27. i'll be scaring the shit out of drivers tomorrow
on the way to work.. they should be on bikes anyway.
ob-vi
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