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Old 10-15-12 | 11:23 PM
  #9  
B. Carfree
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,037
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From: Eugene, Oregon
Originally Posted by hagen2456
Well, if the aim of "advocacy" is to make cycling "normal", I think that stories like this, however fine a morale they may have, will never be what it takes to make schoolkids, elderly and most other people ride a bike. People want themselves and their kids to be (and feel) safe when they ride.

The Dutch didn't revitalize their cycling by telling pretty stories.
Well, Davis, CA created a culture of cycling that had a modal share over twice what any Northern European city has ever achieved, and it was done largely with "pretty stories" like the one in the OP. As the cycle-specific infrastructure went in, the rate of cycling fell off until it nearly disappeared.

Different cultures may well require different methods of advocacy.
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