Advocacy & Safety - If more people were cyclists...

...our roads would be more cyclist-friendly.

We cyclists are misunderstood because too few people actually know what it's like to ride today. If they only knew firsthand, our roads would be more accomodating to us.

Most everyone I know has a bicycle or two in their garage. If we could only get them to pump up the tires and spin 'em around, we would make progress.

A lot of people seem to be brainwashed by the advertising propaganda that suggests everyone needs to own at least two or three cars. Heck, today I had one hell of a ride, but those drivers in Surfers Paradise, sitting in their ultra]hot metal boxes, missing out on that sea breeze just wouldn't have a clue, would they?

Originally posted by Chris L
A lot of people seem to be brainwashed by the advertising propaganda that suggests everyone needs to own at least two or three cars. Heck, today I had one hell of a ride, but those drivers in Surfers Paradise, sitting in their ultra]hot metal boxes, missing out on that sea breeze just wouldn't have a clue, would they?

And how.

We don't have any nice sea breezes where I live, but I got to ride through a flock of birds yesterday, and it really made me think about what all the cagers are missing...

And no, I didn't get bombed, but I can reliably say that a flock of pigeons flying about six feet above the ground can do a respectable 25 mph.

If more people were cyclists...

Maybe there would be more peace and harmony in the world.I'm going through a very stressful time in my life right now but bicycling helps to maintain my inner peace.

Paige, isn't that true! Every time im stressed, or having a bad day, I get on the bike... I can ride around the block, or around the city. I always return home with a clear mind and better attitude, nothing like riding a bike. :)

I feel exactly the same way, and need to ride desperately. But it's like 937deg. below zero right now. :eek:

Originally posted by Paige
If more people were cyclists...

Maybe there would be more peace and harmony in the world.I'm going through a very stressful time in my life right now but bicycling helps to maintain my inner peace.

I can certainly attest to that! Earlier this year I went through a particularly stressful time at university (computer exploding in the middle of assignments, some tosspot stealing my wallet, job interviews and being forced to move house during final exams). I think riding was all that kept me (what passes for) sane during this period.

Originally posted by Pete Clark
We cyclists are misunderstood because too few people actually know what it's like to ride today. If they only knew firsthand, our roads would be more accomodating to us.

This is definately not true in China. A country that was once very bike friendly is now designing its roads more and more for cars.

http://china.scmp.com/lifestyle/ZZZ75E7TNVC.html

Friday, December 28, 2001

Car-crazy mainland risks a wrong turn

JASPER BECKER, South China Morning Post

This year, we bought a car, a Volkswagen Jetta,'' said Mrs Wang
casually.
For years, the middle-aged woman has wielded a pair of scissors at a
state-run barber shop without getting noticeably wealthier.

A week earlier, the office cleaning lady also turned up in her family's
new car, a second-hand Jetta, although she kept pretending she had
borrowed it.

Even so, almost everyone I spoke to in Beijing seemed to have bought
one - or to be seriously considering doing so. What is going on? It
always seemed inconceivable that working-class Beijingers could ever aspire
to own their own transport beyond a bicycle. And not just because it
ought to be beyond the means of workers in a city where the average
monthly wage is about 1,000 yuan (HK$943).

Densely populated China does not have the roads or parking space, and
its over-stressed environment could not stand the strain.

In Beijing, the air pollution is already terrible because the roads are
choked with slow-moving traffic.

Looking back on 2001, this is the biggest change I've noticed in China.

Winning the Olympics or getting into the World Trade Organisation is
important, but greatly overshadowed by evidence of a complete and radical
change in lifestyle.

China is clearly on its way to becoming a mobile and mechanised society
like the United States. There were 1.5 million cars on Beijing's roads
in 2000, six times as many as in 1986.

This could be a horribly wrong direction for China. The United States,
equal to China in size, now has five times as many cars, and six times
the productive capacity. But if every second Chinese owned a car as
Americans do, it would support 600 to 800 million cars by 2050 when the
population hits its peak of 1.6 billion. This is equal to the world's
entire car population at present.

Well over one million people have been forced to move out of Beijing's
centre in the past few years. Mrs Wang's old work unit housed her in a
run-down hutong in Dongsi, but this old district has been demolished.

Instead, she and her husband bought a flat in a high rise in a distant
satellite town. ''By car, it takes half an hour to get to work; by
public transport, over an hour, sometimes much longer,'' she said. ''I
can't live without it.''

Many Beijingers now have to take out huge mortgages to buy a flat -
property prices are the highest in China. From that, it is quite a small
step to affording a car.

Many are spending 500,000 yuan on new housing and 60,000 yuan on a car.
And when they buy a car, it is clear many families have a lot more
money than anyone suspected.

The hairdresser's relatives and former Dongsi neighbours are now
scattered around Beijing, making her car essential to keeping in touch.
Suburban life is not possible without a car - for work, shopping and
leisure.

The narrow streets of central Beijing are being demolished, making it
easier to get around and park, especially under the huge shopping malls
and office complexes going up. All the big factories are being moved
out, and the jobs with them.

A large network of motorways is being thrown around Beijing. The fifth
ring road is being finished at astonishing speed, part of massive road
construction across the country.

Road-building is central to the Government's infrastructure spending, a
big part of the tax-and-spend policy that is helping to shelter China
from the world economic downturn.

This year, some 32,000km of new highways were added to the existing
1.43 million kilometres. Spending on roads was up 23 per cent, and China's
Communications Minister, Huang Zhendong, spent an all-time high of 260
billion yuan on communication infrastructure.

Work on eight key inter-provincial highways started in 2001, and roads
backed by chains of petrol stations are helping make motor transport
bigger than rail for long-distance travel.

Building new roads is key to plans to spur the development of western
China, with a target of 350,000km in new roads over the next decade.

Asphalt is being laid on small local roads to put China's 45,000
administrative villages into the network.

In Beijing, the excessive reliance on the car has its downside.
Comparatively little is spent on public transport. The city, like others
around China, has put off projects to build a network of light railways
linking satellite towns. There are far too few underground lines to make
any real difference to getting around the centre.

This means that when the flow of road traffic is halted, the whole city
grinds to a halt. A fall of light snow on a Friday afternoon three
weeks ago was enough to prompt gridlock disaster. Roads quickly iced over
and became unusable. The steep access roads to motorway flyovers and
crossings became ice rinks.

Huge traffic jams spread across the city. Changan Avenue, through the
city centre, was blocked with traffic until the early hours of the
morning. And one friend said he passed a dead pedestrian by the side of the
road.

Some say up to 100 people were involved in car accidents across
Beijing, although this was not confirmed. However, the figure does seem
credible.

More than 260 people die in road accidents every day in China on
average, and a total of 71,000 people died in 594,000 car accidents between
January and September this year.

Bicycling around where I live is for the most part, quite dangerous.
It's not all that bad of area, just that there's so little road you'd have to ride right in the middle of the lane. Top that off with everyone doing an average of 20mph over the speed limit, a pub nearly every 1/2 mile and winding blind curves. Don't let me forget the fact that anyone riding a bicycle is an obstacle that absolutely must be passed before it finishes crossing the street. :rolleyes:

I only ride in the midst of the forest now. I find the occasional drug dealers, shattered glass bottles and ATV's to be slightly more bearable.

Originally posted by ViciousCycle

This is definately not true in China. A country that was once very bike friendly is now designing its roads more and more for cars.


Looks like they haven't learned the lessons from the west yet. Given that China is the world's most populous country, one wonders how this trend will affect the global supply of oil in the future.

If the Chinese ever get on the American oversize SUV kick, the planet is in deep $#!^.