Originally Posted by
john m flores
Funny what happens when you spend 75 years building a world that prioritizes cars over everything else.
That said, as a Warm Showers host near enough to NYC to get requests from folks either heading cross country or down to Florida, most of my guests have been young riders. That gives me hope. They may not do it in the same numbers (demographics and all) but it seems like every generation has folks that ask, "what's over there?"
I host as well - key community on the PPP Route that I worked with ACA to develop.
So I get lots of folks when I'm home in the summer. Some young, some older.
Not surprisingly, very few middle-aged folks, but that has always made sense.
Bicycle touring isn't egalitarian.
First off, it costs money - money for the tour and money not made when touring.
Also, far more dangerous - yes, dangerous - for women, minorities, queer folk.
Most of those nice empty roads are in deep red counties.
I am pretty obviously gay. (Despite my best teenage efforts to hide it.)
I've been called "f@33ot" lots of times and was assaulted and nearly killed.
My
puertorriqueña friend, Maria, was threatened in east Tennessee and feared for her life.
So, I know, firsthand.
I would love to see all that change overnight,
but much of the disparity lies in deep cultural patterns in American society.
An organization as small as ACA isn't going to alter that significantly.
It certainly doesn't mean to do nothing,
but ACA's primary mission should be cycling.
I believe that if you work to promote the magic of touring - - for all,
if you work to make touring cheap for young people with limited funds,
if you work to stitch together empty roads that GPS often fails to do,
than you can bring more people - of all shapes and colors - to touring.