Bike Advocacy From the NRA Playbook
01-18-12, 06:45 PM
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Bike Advocacy From the NRA Playbook
Tom Bowden's latest article is a gem:
https://www.commutebybike.com/2012/01...-nra-playbook/
It needed to be said, and heard!
https://www.commutebybike.com/2012/01...-nra-playbook/
It needed to be said, and heard!
01-18-12, 06:58 PM
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I'm certainly not the NRA's biggest fan but the article makes some interesting points. It's really nothing new, though. Advocacy via normalization is one of the oldest plays in the book, right behind eroticizing and fantasticizing a given concept. I think advocacy that emphasizes the simplicity and enjoyment of cycling is the way to go. It's not like riding a bike is all that radical anyways, even if some of us are.
01-18-12, 07:23 PM
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He nails it with this list:
It was a nice read, even if I don't agree entirely with his premise.
- Bikes are good for America! Let people make their own assumptions why.
- Bikes solve problems! Just let people decide which ones they care about.
- Bikes are fun! But let the riders decide how and where they like to ride.
- Bikes are healthy! And riders can decide if they are interested in weight loss or improving their half-ironman times.
- Bikes are safe! And let people make their own judgment how much protection they need based on the riding they do.
01-18-12, 07:41 PM
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I agree with the fact that the cycling community is not defending or promoting itself very well. Too many people are allowed to look at bikes as toys. The bike advocacy groups simply need to do a better job of promoting cycling. The OP has a good point. The NRA does know how to sell itself. If the cycling community promoted itself as well as the NRA does, we would all be better off as cyclist.
01-18-12, 07:50 PM
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While the methods on achieving legitimacy of said activity could be gleamed from the history of the NRA. The one failure is, gun ownership doesn't have a comparatively equal alternative. Bow hunting is the closest to gun ownership. Since both could be used for hunting and defensive purposes. But bow hunting doesn't provide a 100% equal alternative to hunting with a gun.
Despite speed either in terms of speed limits on certain roads(and all highways) and the speedometer speeds on motorized vehicles, biking provides a healthy alternative. Both for the cardiovascular system, and the environment at large.
Despite speed either in terms of speed limits on certain roads(and all highways) and the speedometer speeds on motorized vehicles, biking provides a healthy alternative. Both for the cardiovascular system, and the environment at large.
01-18-12, 07:59 PM
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The gist of the article is that we need to stop portraying cycling as a "special" activity with weird clothes and safety gear and $10,000 price tags. This is a good message. What that has to do with the NRA remains unclear, though. Maybe just a good attention grabber for a headline.
01-18-12, 11:52 PM
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One challenge to cyclists in adopting NRA style tactics is that we have so many organizations. The NRA, whether by luck or design, was pretty much the only game in town at a national level, to my knowledge. That helps them control the message and the debate. Cyclists have the League of American Bicyclists, Bikes Belong, the Alliance for Biking and Walking, (For guns I guess the equivalent would be the NARAB — the National Alliance for Rifles and Aboriginal Blowguns), NORBA, USA Cycling, Ultra Marathon Cycling Association, and others. Not exactly monolithic. I think that’s a problem for us.
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01-19-12, 09:38 AM
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Interesting message... first it requires that cyclists all act together... look at the responses above and you'll see different attitudes exhibited by different cyclists with differing viewpoints.
Second, it would really help if there was some well known bike "amendment to the constitution" that could be pointed to and discussed... as it is, many cyclists barely know their local state laws, and the rest of the road users barely know the laws at all... too many road users just play "follow the leader" in our "slot car-like" designed well lined and signed roads. Take way the lines, signs and lights and watch people falter at intersections when they face other traffic.
Second, it would really help if there was some well known bike "amendment to the constitution" that could be pointed to and discussed... as it is, many cyclists barely know their local state laws, and the rest of the road users barely know the laws at all... too many road users just play "follow the leader" in our "slot car-like" designed well lined and signed roads. Take way the lines, signs and lights and watch people falter at intersections when they face other traffic.
01-19-12, 11:18 AM
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I agree, and too often I see cycling portrayed as exactly the opposite of that list.
Sure, most will agree that cycling is healthy, but then they will say that the risks that come with riding a bike outweighs the health gains and that keeps them from riding in the first place.
Sure, most will agree that cycling is healthy, but then they will say that the risks that come with riding a bike outweighs the health gains and that keeps them from riding in the first place.
01-23-12, 10:54 AM
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I like the list. There are many kinds of people. And every person could have more than one bike, different kinds of bikes. Each bike is suited to a particular kind of riding. There are many different kinds of roads, width, speed limit, traffic volume , steepness of grade, straight or winding; and many cyclists ride off-road.
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