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cyclezealot
 
I grew up outside Detroit. I used to like to go to the car shows, We all once thought the Edsel was the car of the future.
Guess, we get burned out over the years. Cycling has been my stress reduction program. Turning against cars, think the commute up Temecula's Winchester Road, on way to work- just sours me of driving. Rude and crude- idiots- use words carefully here, so as not to add to censorship thread.
Ever bike adjacent to busy roads. you can hear comments of those frustrated by traffic. The expletives, most often caused by nothing; other than not being in the lead to the next red light. The auto cultue is nuts. I have just completed first chapter of "Asphalt Nation." Couple of issues like to see everyone's reaction.
* 80 million American's are prisoners to the "drive-fly-or-rot."syndrome. Every day we are worried will my car get me to work. Example- Houston Student 30 miles from school, put 78,000 miles on his truck( 2 1/2 years old), worn out and he has been nowhere. Marco Polo's travels were half the 78,000 miles.
** The Asphalt Nation has eradicated the public realm. The privacy of the car has " the call to community formed by an intimacy with one's surroundings and neighbors dwindles and civic values to fade." So why do the Amish refuse to use cars.
"The Amish believe that cars pull people apart, and that a car distorts its onwner's sense of self-importance in the world."
*** The car has encouraged standarization of our neighborhoods into the sterile "pit stop eatery" row, with its standarized foods accustomed to 'one hand eating.' Of course these foods have better consistency with lots of grease.
**** "The world through the windshield and the world through the television window alike isolate us from our surroudings," How much of modern culture is crap.???
***** I agree " The automobile culture has resulted in the ' degradation of the landscape and cityscape, the debasement of our environment and health, the erosion of our personal and national economy."
Yes, I resent those who want to deprive me of my tie to sanity, my cycling. Which is more rewarding. Connecting with my Saturday ride group or watching kiddie cartoons on TV. I take heed in the civil rights groups of the 60's. Try to Take away my right to cylce and you have a pretty militant cyclists here.


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LittleBigMan
 
I guess replying to your post, Cyclezealot, is like trying to eat all of my favorite foods at once. I'll have to go for the "meat:"

We are proving that the automobile is not the idol some have made it out to be. We have found a "tunnel" out of the "prison camp."

(Did I ever mention how much cash I'm saving, how much happier I am, how strong my heart/legs are, how much younger I look/feel, etc.?)

:)


Matadon
 
Wow. So much good stuff. I'll give the standard Californian enthusiastic response:

"Dude!"


cyclezealot
 
OK. what smart a did this to my thread?? it is cute.


LittleBigMan
 
Welcome to the "Twilight Zone," Cyclezealot! :)


Oxymoron
 
I'm glad you're looking at "Asphalt Nation" cyclezealot. You should give us updates on what you observe in each chapter as you read it. When I started the whole "A.N." discussion I was hoping to add more to it, but my semester took off with mid-terms. I wish I had the time to read back over the book more thoroughly b/c it has been a couple years. The class I read it for was called Culture and Technology. We would read a chapter of the book and then discuss it in class--very useful. The class was a gerneral discussion of ALL the technologies that have changed our lives and how they have done so: clocks, cars, biotechnology, furnaces, plumbing, computers, TV, etc.

One big thing about cars and high speed transportation in general that I want to point out, and that is rarely noticed by most, is the change in our concepts of time and distance. What was a very long walk to the neighboring town is now a reasonable bike ride or a brief car ride. Months of travel on foot are now covered in days by car and hours by plane, etc. I think this is why motorists are impatient. Their sense of time is skewed. When I used walk everywhere I enjoyed the 45 min. walk it took to get across town. Now that I bike I expect to get there in 15 min. The thing that frustrates drivers is that they expect their car to be a teleporter. Cars make one feel like distance (at least in the city) doesn't exist. If you're not going far it shouldn't take much time right? The thing is: 1) these people ARE going far, 2)reality still exists between point A and B, and 3)it will exert itself on you. Ten miles is nothing to sneeze at. Just ask a biker or a pedestrian. We see the reality that exists between two points, and don't expect it to cease for us for our own convenience. Time and space (on this earth) exist the same for everyone, and it is just how one perceives them that influences expectations of how they are experienced.

Sorry, must be the carbon monoxide speaking...


John E
 
Slightly off-topic, but today I saw a stretch limo built from a Lincoln Navigator. City street fuel economy must be in the single digits.


cycletourist
 
I know someone who has a stretched Lincoln Navigator, we used it as our RAGBRAI team vehicle in 2000. Lots of room... lousy fuel efficiency.


Feldman
 
A STRETCHED Lincoln Navigator? Has Osama ben Laden sent them an honorary Al Qaida membership yet?


Anastasia
 
I GOTTA READ ASPHALT NATION!!!!!

I agree with all the points in this thread started.

I have been yelled at , and honked at by many an idiot in this state.


Oxymoron
 
Anastasia,
Did you check out the original Asphalt Nation thread?--Probably, but I just thought I'd mention it. ViciousCycle also commented on the book some time back in another thread about books like this:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2195&highlight=asphalt+nation
I found a lot on a search of "Asphalt Nation" on this forum.


Anastasia
 
Oxy -

I will look up the original thread. Thanks.

PeacePedals


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