[*BCM*] Open letter to the Cycling Community

[TSmith4918 at aol.com]

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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