This isn't just a passing fancy...
John Forester...
"...cycle-commuting is a real test of whether a cyclist has it all together: cycling every day, through heavy traffic in all weathers and lighting, whatever the hopes or disappointments of the day... In another sense, after a while it becomes so natural to you that you wonder why so many cannot do it as easily as you do. Then you have arrived - managing your bike has become as natural as walking.
Your riding style will become careful but forceful. You know what you are doing and why you do it, and you make sure that you do it right every time.
This is not like Sunday riding - you are riding among people who do the same thing every day.
...
By the same token you expect cooperation from them - and you will usually get it."
I think Doohickie, PM, Rat Trap, ChipSeal, Bikesnob, other gobs of non-DFW people, Bike Friendly Oak Cliff , and too many others to list come together on this. I also think the MSM will never understand. Until they really do it...
It's more than a photo op. It's about getting from pont A to B on a bike - and more than on a LAB-designated day/week/month.
It's something I aspire to and it's the best I can be AS a cyclist. I respect those whom amongst I ride, even if I don't agree on all details. We've got more in common than we sometimes observe.
'Nuff sed, even amongst all you in Dallas County and other eastern locales...
13 comments:
Yes, I own a floor pump. No, I don't HAVE to ride my bike...
We got any decision out of you easterners yet?
I don't understand the idea of "cycling to make a statement". I ride a bicycle first and foremost because I love it. The journey IS the destination!
I do not have an expectation that many people will take up cycling for transportation. The reality is so different from the imagined.
Like car advertisements. The reality is bumper to bumper, not empty meandering roads and mountain top parking.
For the cold-turkey bicycle commuter, little used muscles are sore for the first three weeks! If he persits that long. At my age, sore muscles are a way of life. (A surprise even for me!)
That flat trip to work is a lot steeper than you thought, for instance. Especially when you begin back-to-back commutes.
You never noticed the wind direction before, and you are now irritated with weather forecasts that leave wind speed and direction out!
Unless one is very committed, or really likes cycling, they will not become a Transportational Cyclist.
Hey ChipSeal,
Your comments:
For the cold-turkey bicycle commuter, little used muscles are sore for the first three weeks! If he persits that long...Unless one is very committed, or really likes cycling, they will not become a Transportational Cyclist.Got me thinking...
While I think your comments are true for Dallas, they might not be for other places. The nature of the built environment really makes a big difference. When I lived in NYC my commute was about a mile-and-a-half each way. A short walk or a really short bike ride. That was a short commute even for Manhattan, taking Manhattan as a whole (and even the "close in" parts of the other burroughs), there is almost no barrier to using a bike as transport, and no sore legs to worry about :) Of course I rode my bike for the same reason that you do--it's fun! It was also the fastest way to get between those two points--faster than walking, the subway, a bus, or a cab, which meant that from a time standpoint, cycling was a benefit.
Here my commute is more like 14 miles each way (plus another 7 or 8 if I take my daughter to school). As much as I *think* I would like to do this by bike, given my schedule I don't feel that I can afford the time it would take me (it's a high net cost in terms of time).
Sure, the bike to work week probably won't make VC commuters out of most of the folks that participate, but my hope is that, at least for a few, it will remind them how much fun it is to ride a bike, and also help them realize the great extent to which the choices we make in developing our built environment and where and how we live shape our lives and our lifestyles.
As we develop and re-develop this city, that's the sort of awareness we need.
It was a stiff wind riding home today, that's for sure. My 30-35 minute ride took much closer to an hour traveling south into the wind.
The Forester quote "Your riding style will become careful but forceful. You know what you are doing and why you do it, and you make sure that you do it right every time." (page 391, Effective Cycling, 6th, 1993).
This is the difference between a "Person on a bike" and Cyclist.
Bike to Work Day/Week/Month is a marketing idea
danc put it about as simply and elegantly as one can..
I guess I don't get it. I just see people on bikes, admittedly displaying varying degrees of riding skill, hubris, and self-satisfaction. Pardon the prickly tone, but the zen-master, Cyclist-as-hero Joseph Campbell stuff is a turn off to "guy on a bike" like me.
If we want to talk about marketing and branding, then it would seem to me that "Forester" "VC" and "ECI" are much stronger brands than "Bike to Work Week." The VC crowd sports some brand evangelists that put even the most fervent Apple fan-boys to shame (though admittedly I have yet to see any Forester tattoos ;).
Of course "Bike to Work Week" is a marketing idea, and a pretty good one, at least I prefer it to the apparently more frequently celebrated "Bike-Free Streets Week."
The "I am a commuting superman" story doesn't seem to have broad appeal. Perhaps the superman story is the truth for Dallas and the notion of a larger bike-share is doomed from the start. While it may be partially true for this city, I don’t fully accept it and think that Cyclists and "plebs on bikes" need some good marketing to help the MSM understand, keep our bikes on the streets, spur positive (re)development (and of course to cultivate elite, new Cyclists;)
Going back to ChipSeal's comment, it IS like a car advertisement--people are buying into and working to realize a dream, an identity, a lifestyle. Scenes of traffic don’t sell many cars, but that sinuous road to the top of Maslow’s mountain sure does. Some may seek that self-actualization through the heroes’ journey of, “cycling every day, through heavy traffic in all weathers and lighting…” but many more will seek it without the heroes’ journey.
Take the popular Copenhagenize or Copenhagen Cycle Chic for example. They are selling cycling as an “everyman” activity--the height of normalcy, particularly for those who are socially adept and desirable.
It’s brand positioning much like that used by the Japanese motorcycle companies when they came into and quickly dominated the US market in the 1960s. In a market where a motorcyclists were essentially viewed as “bikers” and on the social fringe, Honda hit the market with moped-sized cycles and the tag line, “You meet the nicest people on a Honda.” As the motorcycle.com history of advertising puts it, ”The ads depicted housewives, a parent and child, young couples and other respectable members of society, riding Honda 50s for a variety of purposes. To many who would have previously rolled their eyes at the very mention of the word “motorcycle,” it legitimized the little Hondas as a means of casual and convenient transportation. By 1964, various forms of the “Nicest People” ads had made a major impact on American society, and were credited with actually winning recognition for the motorcycle as a socially acceptable product. For the first time in history, motorcycles, especially the little 50cc Hondas, even became a hot-selling Christmas gift.”It is marketing, and consumers have a choice. In a democracy, sometimes others choose for you. I hope the choice is for the bicycle as a legitimized, casual and convenient form of transportation.
In Dallas, when it comes to cycling to work, ChipSeal may be right when he says, “Unless one is very committed, or really likes cycling, they will not become a Transportational Cyclist.” It may be too much to ask folks to swap their cars for bikes on their work commutes. But what about that short grocery store run, Sunday brunch at the neighborhood joint, or your kid’s 8 block trip to school? You don’t need to be a Cyclist to do this, and we all benefit, plebs and Cyclists alike. But we have to make it happen.
Steve's right--we do have more in common than we sometimes observe. I hope we can get better at building on that commonality for the greater good.
I could use some advice for dealing with tricky traffic. The worst part of my commute is North bound on Oak Lawn, passing under I35 and turning left. There are three lanes currently marked like this:
Left-Left/Straight-Straight
(I just checked StreetView and it looked different so it must have changed with the recent construction.)
Since I am turning left and then immediately right into the parking lot, I get in the center lane. The problem is that cars will sometimes pass me on the left in order to continue going straight on Oak Lawn (using the turn lane). I'm sure this maneuver is illegal but that doesn't do me much good. No close calls yet but it is a little unnerving.
Is there anything I should do to dissuade drivers from making this risky move?
Saith Stuart: "Is there anything I should do to dissuade drivers from making this risky move?"-
At what point are the motorists doing this? While you are under Stemmons?
And where in your lane are you positioning yourself (right-center -left)? You are probably already doing this, but I'd position myself in the left side of the lane, signaling that I am turning left pretty much the whole time I was under Stemmons. This might encourage a straddle-lane pass on your right, but that's better than one on your left.
Yes, while under Stemmons. I was probably in the center of the lane. I'll try moving a little to the left next time. Thanks.
Stuart, by dividing your lane into thirds, and riding in the left third (roughly where a cars left wheels would be), you subtly blocking vehicles from trying to pass you on that side. By signaling your turn vigorously (and for several seconds), the motorists will almost always allow you to proceed in your maneuver, as it makes more sense to them to not take the extra risk. Oddly, the thinking of a motorist is that by passing you on the left, they are putting danger (you, the unknown element) behind them. By making your intentions well known (and showing confidence), the motorist feels more confidant in letting you proceed.
It was later in the morning when I got to this intersection so there was little traffic and I hit the green so I didn't have a chance to put this to the test today.
The problem I have with riding in the left wheel track is it means that your are putting *yourself* closer to the cars you are trying to avoid. When the lane is narrow and there aren't other conditions that cause me to feel the need to actively control my lane, I will generally ride in the center.
In this case, the cars are giving me plenty of room on the left so that's why I didn't think of moving over. It is when they cross in front of me that I get concerned. I don't like the idea of them passes on the right either. The whole problem is that the right lane is already full so they would have to take up pretty much all of my lane. I should probably signal my left turn better though.
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