Originally Posted by
RubeRad
If you don't care what these poor cagers think of you, do you care at all what they think of themselves? Would it be any better for you (us) if you (we) could do things that would help to enlighten more of these poor bastards and get them out there on bikes with us, creating more demand for cycling infrastructure, and more public understanding of and tolerance for cyclists on the road?
I agree with your overall point, but I believe the author of the article focused on the wrong things that could create demand for cycling, better understanding and tolerance for cyclists on the roads.
People don't ride because they don't like to mingle with cars, and there aren't enough bike paths to make their commute happen. Also, people may live too far, by being priced out or just by happenstance, to cycle commute effectively.
I think those 2 forces are far more damaging than wearing spandex and riding ultra-lightweight roadies that are way out of people's price range.
If we the existing cyclists want to encourage more people to do it, and the only barrier is the spandex and the pricy bikes, then leading a ride in casual clothing and helping people to maintain their bikes for easier performance (e.g. change out knobby tires for smoother ones) should create a giant spike in commuting.
It should be obvious that those aren't the only barriers.
The harder problems remains as to how to convince people that riding on the road is ok (and getting drivers used to sharing the road with us) - that might be solved with people doing their parts leading novices to gain confidence. As to getting people to live and work close enough, that take a lot of resolve - I took the conscious step to live close to work and close to groceries, enough that driving daily isn't exactly cost effective for me. But that's because I'm a single guy that doesn't do the school run.
We might be able to alleviate the distance issue by having dedicated bike paths that are not interrupted by traffic and cuts across the city, but that depends a lot on the geography and existing road networks (Ottawa for the win for this one). I can maintain speed on the bike paths without stop and go, and I'm can match a bus pretty well because of it.
That still doesn't address the needs for families with school runs, which leads to other things like how to take groceries for family of 4 by bike (can be done, but takes dedication)
If the issues are as simplistic as trading in spandex, helmets and aggressive road bikes to get 25% more people bike commuting, I think most of us will do that.