Cycling made the paper in Cincinnati...
 

Here is a link to an article in our daily paper (Cincinnati Enquirer) I heard about this but am unable to do it because of work. I wish the article would have said more about cycling and commuting but at least it gets the word out.


Cycling Article

Good article! I hope it sparks some more interest in cycling.

Dobroszi made an important point: there's a need for kids to get interested in cycling. I've seen enthusiastic groups of kids (some of them not so young!) on trick bikes in Kansas City, but very few under-20's riding regular bikes for transportation.

I wonder what it would take to get the bicycle somewhat glamorized: so that it would start to look as appealing as a motor vehicle. One person on the Forums suggested a need for celebrities to "come out" and show that they ride bikes. If they could do this in a serious way, I think it would do wonders.

Another thing that would help, at least if initial enthusiasm could be cranked up among kids, would be for some savvy manufacturer to produce the biking equivalent of the VW bug: a low-cost, few-frills, catchy, dependable basic bike.

(I almost compared to iMac as well as VW, but am not convinced about "dependable." Sorry, Mac lovers everywhere. :D )

You are exactly right on getting kids interested in cycling, There is just too much other competition out there to do other things.

The cycling club that I am in does the best it can to help bring in new people and young as possible.

Nice article.

Regarding getting youngsters involved and prising them away from their Playstations - I cannot agree more. But what about the overall view of cycling in general? I think it will take more than your average celeb to drag the potatoes away from their couches.

But what about the reputation of doping in the worlds largest cycle race for instance? Before it has even started, it has been already overshadowed by how 'clean' all the riders are. It should'nt be this way. It has a detrimental affect on peoples view of cycling in general.

Who knows what goes through the 'non-cycling publics' minds when they see just your average rider out on normal training kitted out in his replica gear - "oh look, there goes another one of them druggies".

Mud sticks. Cycling needs to be promoted as a way of life in fact THE way of life. It is Healthy, environmentally friendly, cheap (virtually no running costs) and should be the first mode of transport that comes into peoples minds when thinking about A to B (except of course if B is on the other side of the country. But then again, who's stopping you)?

And whats more, everyone would then know that you don't need performance enhancing drugs as fuel to get you to the shops.

If only for a perfect world.....:)

I agree with every word of your post, Weasel.

Cycling is in a peculiar position: it's both a sport (both amateur and professional), a casual recreation, and a serious means of travel. I can't think of any other activity that occupies so many "niches" at once.

Too bad the drug association--common to all professional sports now, and taken as a matter of course--will inevitably taint the non-professional sport aspect of cycling, and no doubt the travel aspect too (see Lycra, think drugs).

I do think raising the price of gasoline in the US to, say, $10 a gallon, would do wonders to popularize cycling as transportation. Anybody know how to accomplish this? :) Maybe the price could be kept lower for essential services (police, fire, ambulances, and some delivery trucks.)

see lycra, think drugs

I like that.

You are dead right. This problem is not just limited to cycling or any one country. The problem is global and is seeping into every level of sports.

Who was it on the Olympic Committee who this week said "The war against doping cannot be won. We can win a few battles, but not the war". Maybe someone out there can quote it better.

On the subject of fuel prices, the US and Europe are poles apart. Its a good job our cars have engines that are only a fraction of the size of your monsters, otherwise we would have no money to feed ourselves. Maybe that is the solution! We swap our piddly little "yerpean cars" with your 5 litre economy pickups (there's a conradiction in terms). Then that way, no one over here will have enough money left to half-fill the things. They would have to use their bikes more and get off their ever-growing fat backsides.

And everyone stateside would then be chugging along in our environmentally-freindly flowerboxes. That way you could get away with raising the price of 'gas' or whatever you call it, because you would still be able to do a trillion miles on one "yerpean" tank, and it would cost a fraction of what you pay now.

Or maybe not. Just a thought. God is that the time!

A couple of years ago, I was riding the bus home one night, and the driver had to make a detour downtown, near the convention hall. Cars everywhere, bumper-to-bumper, creeping along...

"What's all the traffic about?" I asked.

"It's the auto show," said the driver.

Nobody could find a place to park.

I'd say it's probably gonna happen eventually anyway, with basically no need for government intervention. Just wait until the world's petroleum resources get depleted enough, and look forward to some great freeway cycling.

Chris

Cool! I say ban the cars to the bike paths, and we get the Freeways!!! :D

Now that is a good idea! I would love to have more room when riding!

Wow, imagine an article about bicycling in this town!!! Most of the time I get the impression that this town is so far behind on everything and phobic about it from the hills, to write about cycling. Yes, in Hyde Park, you have you road racing types who venture out on country rides. Sometimes they even drive out of town to get there. Commuter cycling has been ailing here for some time. I hardly ever see anyone. Either they get their bikes stolen or just give up after a while. Urban sprawl has dramatically increased the number of cars on the road. A trek to Richwood, KY (they have a wonderful flea market there) showed me that they are tearing up farmland 20-30 miles south of here (on US 42) to build luxury homes. These all seemed to have new SUV's in the drive. I came away particulary annoyed due to the fact that SUV's and 2 lane country roads don't mix. They complain about how much room we take up!? The shoulder of the road was grooved, to wake up sleeping drivers and to torture cyclists, apparently. Vibrating hands, anyone. Atleast the horses really seem to get a kick out of me. On just turned his face, following me to watch me pass. I swear to god, it must have been thinking, "I have to trick my owner into getting one of those!"