Bike Culture C/D S/D

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_bicycle_grief

A sense of persecution, a righteous attitude, and an obsession with a fashionable object? All identifying features of the bike tribe.

not feeling it. or maybe as a non scenester im just not in the tribe? i just like to ride my bike around a lot and hope to do it safely and w/out drama for anyone.

haha:

In an old newspaper column about New York City's bike lanes, American Spectator founder R. Emmett Tyrrell described the urban cyclist as "generally a crank, either profoundly antisocial or hopelessly narcissistic and following the strenuous life in hopes of achieving immortality or a legendary sex life."

i think the first one is true w/r/t the people who will sell their fixies as soon as the next trend pops up and then spend all their money on holga cameras or something.

there's a difference between cyclists in oakland talking about people literally riding them off the road near fruitvale and the need for more bike lanes (or respect from the cops who also participate in this activity) and the scenesters in LA who act all cool because they put up that "bicycle village" (or "bicycle district," or whatever it said) sign outside the bicycle kitchen.

i think what it boils down to is that anyone who has ridden a bike for any reasonable amount of time in a city has felt persecuted by drivers, but the recent hipster urban trend has made voicing that persecution a badge of honor in some circles, whereas in the past people would just tell you to shut up and get a car.

sorry long, and also probably taking the topic too seriously.

no, im serious too.

anyone who has ridden a bike for any reasonable amount of time in a city has felt persecuted by drivers, but the recent hipster urban trend has made voicing that persecution a badge of honor in some circles, whereas in the past people would just tell you to shut up and get a car.

well, i mean, i ride about 4k mi a year commuting into downtown denver. i truly dont feel persecuted. ppl are really rarely rude or intentionally dangerous to me. or maybe im truly clueless. when drivers are jerks, i mean, im no angel about it, but things are usually good. i would not commute otherwise.

there is a possibility im freeriding on the hard work of bike activists-- i mean maybe their work, agitation and complaints have made my rides so much easier, in which case, maybe i should go to meetings like the one that spun off this article. but if the ppl are annoying and likely to make me annoying-- maybe not.

A sense of persecution, a righteous attitude

Critical Mass anyone?

I don't even own a bike but I'm basically pro-critical mass - I mean, what's the alternative? the sense of persecution doesn't come out of nowhere imo and the righteous attitude can be contrasted w/ every driver in america feeling like they have a god given right to nice roads / cheap gas / etc.

I'd own a bike and ride it everywhere if I weren't afraid of getting hit by a car, fwiw

i ride about 4k mi a year commuting into downtown denver. i truly dont feel persecuted. ppl are really rarely rude or intentionally dangerous to me. or maybe im truly clueless. when drivers are jerks, i mean, im no angel about it, but things are usually good. i would not commute otherwise.

This is exactly my experience in London (I managed 4,026 miles last year). Very rarely you get some arse who won't let you filter, or who overtakes badly, or calls you a cunt, but that's people for you. I get mad with other cyclists much more often than motorists (and most of all with peds who JUST DON'T HAVE A FUCKING CLUE how to cross a road).

ytth, if you're in fruitvale, a bunch of friends and i are doing this Tour de Taco ride this upcoming saturday
http://www.ebbc.org/?q=node/4950

http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/1783/taco.jpg

cyclists in oakland talking about people literally riding them off the road near fruitvale

no shit, but this happened today. riding on fruitvale ave and this fucking asshole thuggy teenager swerved into w/in inches of 4 of us as he passed all of us. one after the next.

not sure where to put this, but i've never visited the site below without being wowed, if not by a bike, then by the photography.

ttp://www.ecovelo.info/