Originally Posted by
Chicago Al
Gene, with all respect, this thread would not even exist if Forester 'just said' that Dutch cycling infrastructure would not work in the US. That would be a defensible position. But Forester routinely misleads about how Dutch cycling works, apparently to make his own methods look better by comparison. And he is one of the loudest voices in 'cycling advocacy' in the US. (Though it's a funny kind of 'advocacy' in that he apparently would prefer fewer people cycling than are doing so.) That's worthy of attention and correction.
Hagen, while no doubt a fine fellow, is just a commenter on this forum, has no wider influence, and does not pretend to the title of 'cycling transportation engineer.'
I have to fully agree with you... and your comment on Forester is why some here believe he has done more to harm cycling advocacy in the US then to actually foster it.
But again, I still find it ironic that neither of these two parties has spent any time at all "sitting in the saddle" of the other's bike. Couple of armchair quarterbacks yelling across the pond at each other.
At least some folks here on BF have actually experienced riding bikes in various countries and have seen first hand what works and what doesn't.