Originally Posted by
sggoodri
I've used the term "avid cyclists" a number of times in discussions with politicians, transportation planners and engineers, in order to replace the more awkward terms that they were using. These politicians, planners and engineers were lamenting those cyclists who disliked the sidewalk-type bike paths that were being planned and built,
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Once the local government accepted the fact that the "avid" cyclists weren't going away, the government started making plans that accommodated cycling on the roadways in addition to the designated sidewalk paths. The government's sidewalk cycling engineering program was then targeted at novice cyclists while the education and enforcement efforts in town embraced roadway cycling.
English vocabulary can offer inherent problems in that words don't exist to describe specific situations or else are nondescript and prone to overuse.. So, how do we express what we mean always.. Anyway.. Americans are prone to not take commuters seriously , since bikes are obviously toys for kids or week end jaunts about some park.. Making them believe we are for real and won't go away will help us to get the bike infrastructure we all deserve.. And to prepare America for an energy future that awaits America.. .
The problem with setting off cyclists aside to pathways , in America they will never lead in all directions as they do in say, Germany.. Yet, when we commute by bike, we go in all directions.. . We might not agree upon the merits of the word, serious.. But, if we bike commute regularly in unpredictable directions, that is what we are..