Southern California - Why can't they do this here?

London is likely to become one of the most cycle-friendly places in the world, with a series of two-wheeler superhighways cutting a swath through traffic and congestion. Plans for the super-cycleways will be unveiled next week as part of an initiative to stimulate a 400% increase in the number of people pedalling round the capital by 2025. At a cost of £400m, the 12 routes are intended to be the motorways of cycling and are likely to be emulated by other cities across the UK. Londoners without bikes will be able to use one of the city's free bicycles.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/transport/Story/0,,2254962,00.html

This is America. **** Yeah!

First we need to change the bicycle=toy mentality.

After that ^^^, we have to change the car=necessity mentality.

After that ^^^, we need to change the couch=happiness mentality.

After that ^^^, we need to change the couch=happiness mentality.

+1,000,000 I think often people harbor contempt for those who do what they don't want to do...exercise. Whether you commute, race, ride recreationally, take spins around the block, whatever - it is all a form of exercise and many just don't want to do it or be inconvenienced by having to do it. Sad but true...

After that ^^^, we need to change the couch=happiness mentality.

The couch is boring. There are lots of other ah...activities...you can do on the bed.

Wait, you can do those on the couch too. Never mind. ;)

I love London! I really like watching all the cyclists move through traffic. Quite the variety too, with lots of folders, hybrids and fixies.

Yeah, the winter weather is kinda cold (fall / spring), but after that, great place to ride. Or, really, I should say it looks like a great place to ride, never having had my bike when I've been there. Maybe next time I'll rent a DaHon folder . . .

And from that article, it looks as if it will soon be even better for Londoners. Sounds great to me!

Oh, back to the OP, actually they could do it here, and probably will someday. It's just that it will take so long that we'll all be dead by then. But hey, our great-great grandkids will have a fine time with it!

Rick / OCRR

+1,000,000 I think often people harbor contempt for those who do what they don't want to do...exercise. Whether you commute, race, ride recreationally, take spins around the block, whatever - it is all a form of exercise and many just don't want to do it or be inconvenienced by having to do it. Sad but true...
+1 Most of the rude, hostile, or homophobic comments I get are from overweight or slobby looking people.

+1 Most of the rude, hostile, or homophobic comments I get are from overweight or slobby looking people.

Based on what I've experienced, I think that anti-cyclist hostility goes even deeper than laziness, since in America, adulthood and responsibility is linked with driving a car. If you're not following the American ethos (like normal people), you're basically doing something "immoral", or counter to the accepted societal standards.

I guess that's why I'm not surprised that you would get homophobic comments - I'm sure some people see homosexuality and cycling as equally threatening.

Based on what I've experienced, I think that anti-cyclist hostility goes even deeper than laziness, since in America, adulthood and responsibility is linked with driving a car. If you're not following the American ethos (like normal people), you're basically doing something "immoral", or counter to the accepted societal standards.

I guess that's why I'm not surprised that you would get homophobic comments - I'm sure some people see homosexuality and cycling as equally threatening.

This is why I worry about my dad cycling in Fried Chicken Land (the south) as the rednecks seem to really feel the most threatened and view cyclists as gay men riding steel tubes. There are more cyclists there now than before, but it isn't as accepted as it is here. And no way would I, as a woman, ride solo on some back country road near the home I grew up in. But that's a whole other topic.

Based on what I've experienced, I think that anti-cyclist hostility goes even deeper than laziness, since in America, adulthood and responsibility is linked with driving a car. If you're not following the American ethos (like normal people), you're basically doing something "immoral", or counter to the accepted societal standards.

I guess that's why I'm not surprised that you would get homophobic comments - I'm sure some people see homosexuality and cycling as equally threatening.
Funny, I always thought the homophobic comments were inspired by the tight clothes we wear.

Funny, I always thought the homophobic comments were inspired by the tight clothes we wear.

Men who play football wear tights and touch each other's behinds but men in this country love that sport. I think there is some truth in it...it's hostility no matter where it comes from.

Men who play football wear tights and touch each other's behinds but men in this country love that sport. I think there is some truth in it...it's hostility no matter where it comes from.
Good point. Ya think if someone started a full contact cycling league, we'd get more respect?

Nevermind, I just envisioned a full contact race on a wood velodrome and had flashbacks of Roller Derby.

But seriously, even my students ask me why I wear "those gay pants". It's all about the shorts!

But seriously, even my students ask me why I wear "those gay pants". It's all about the shorts!

I think it's all about the padding in the shorts and the wildly colored jerseys personally. Oh, and the dork elf shoes.

Oh yeah, that too. I frequently wear my school bus yellow jersey to work because I want to be seen while riding La Tuna on a weekday morning and afternoon!

Funny, I always thought the homophobic comments were inspired by the tight clothes we wear.

Or maybe it was just you. :D:D

PS. It would be heaven on earth if they had freeways for bicycles here.

The couch is boring. There are lots of other ah...activities...you can do on the bed.

Wait, you can do those on the couch too. Never mind. ;)

+1 Every piece of furniture, or location, has creative potential. :D

I was thinking about how we could have a bicycle freeway system here the other day.


The only problem I see (for those of us here in the west), are all the hills. Joe Schmo doesn't want to ride up hills...on the rare chance he gets on the bike.

Joe Schmo better get his lazy ass in gear, then.

If Southern California, with all it's hills and geographic diversity would have people commuting by bicycle every day, we'd have an incredibly healthy, fit, and energetic society. One thing leads to another - and getting people into shape is the beginning of so much more... heck, world peace? Sure, it's down the line.

...and I won't have to pay for someone else's health problems.

I want to see pictures of what that would look like...

I'd dress like a downhill mtn. biker... A highway of Freds on free bicycles in the rain??

Why not?

Kaiser Permanente had a commercial in their "Thrive" advert campaign in which cyclists replaced cars along the 110 Fwy up into Pasadena.

I'll see if I can find it.

EDIT: Here you go. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGEnAFBWPVM)

Why not?

Kaiser Permanente had a commercial in their "Thrive" advert campaign in which cyclists replaced cars along the 110 Fwy up into Pasadena.

I'll see if I can find it.

EDIT: Here you go. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGEnAFBWPVM)
Sweet!!!

Or maybe it was just you. :D:D

PS. It would be heaven on earth if they had freeways for bicycles here.
Hey now, just because I know the words to most of the songs from West Side Story... :D

I was thinking about how we could have a bicycle freeway system here the other day.


The only problem I see (for those of us here in the west), are all the hills. Joe Schmo doesn't want to ride up hills...on the rare chance he gets on the bike.

They've already thought of Joe Schmo in Europe. :)

http://www.trampe.no/english/

video on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryCWIjdVF0g)

Anyone said bicycle couch???

64948

They've already thought of Joe Schmo in Europe. :)

http://www.trampe.no/english/

video on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryCWIjdVF0g)
Do I hear Vance weeping?

Why not?

Kaiser Permanente had a commercial in their "Thrive" advert campaign in which cyclists replaced cars along the 110 Fwy up into Pasadena.

I'll see if I can find it.

EDIT: Here you go. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGEnAFBWPVM)

Oooh cool indeed. Except the apples would be terribly bruised if they popped out of vending machines like that. :p

The bike lanes around my area are as wide as the ones in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYajXN4pPHI

Sadly, unlike the video, I'm usually the only one traveling up and down them, and I see fellow cyclists only once or twice a day. If half the kids in the HS rode bikes instead of driving or being driven to school, the bike lanes would be as lovely and full as the ones in Copenhagen.