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Ethnicity and cycling

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Old 04-10-09 | 10:19 PM
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Ethnicity and cycling

Everytime I ride my bike, either to work or just leisure, or whenever I am outside, I observe how many other cyclists there are like me. While noticing them, I've noticed something else, based on race and ethnicity. For some unknown reason, most cyclists I see (at least in Toronto where I live) are white. If I see a person of asian or african descent cycling, for some reason it is a rare occurence while I see people who are white on their bikes all the time. Do you notice this as well in your area? And what do you think is the reason for mostly white people riding bikes? It is something that kind of confuses me.
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Old 04-10-09 | 10:24 PM
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Originally Posted by BikeLover1989
Everytime I ride my bike, either to work or just leisure, or whenever I am outside, I observe how many other cyclists there are like me. While noticing them, I've noticed something else, based on race and ethnicity. For some unknown reason, most cyclists I see (at least in Toronto where I live) are white. If I see a person of asian or african descent cycling, for some reason it is a rare occurence while I see people who are white on their bikes all the time. Do you notice this as well in your area? And what do you think is the reason for mostly white people riding bikes? It is something that kind of confuses me.
Depends on the area. When I'm at work I see more African-Americans and when I'm close to home, Hispanic. I f I go ride in Memorial Park (I'm in Houston, Texas BTW) it's white dudes on MTBs and Road bikes.
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Old 04-11-09 | 09:11 AM
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Check this out. Maybe you answers can be found?
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Old 04-11-09 | 09:48 AM
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Funny, I read a Taiwanese fellow who thought most cyclist were Taiwanese! And a San Antonio fellow who thought most were Hispanic! And biking in Rome, you'd swear cyclist were most Italians!

..........pointless
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Old 04-11-09 | 10:16 AM
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It's entirely possible that there simply are more white people where you live and that's why you're seeing more white cyclists.
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Old 04-11-09 | 10:22 AM
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Originally Posted by MadCapsule
It's entirely possible that there simply are more white people where you live and that's why you're seeing more white cyclists.
I've heard Canada contains many white people. I've also heard quite a number of these white people are able to ride bicycles. This is all hearsay, of course.
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Old 04-11-09 | 12:20 PM
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Originally Posted by BikeLover1989
Everytime I ride my bike, either to work or just leisure, or whenever I am outside, I observe how many other cyclists there are like me. While noticing them, I've noticed something else, based on race and ethnicity. For some unknown reason, most cyclists I see (at least in Toronto where I live) are white. If I see a person of asian or african descent cycling, for some reason it is a rare occurence while I see people who are white on their bikes all the time. Do you notice this as well in your area? And what do you think is the reason for mostly white people riding bikes? It is something that kind of confuses me.
https://www12.statcan.ca/census-recen...B1=All&Custom=

Let's take a gander at 2006 demographics. Although i'm not sure whether to disagree with you or not (i'm asian), I usually see maybe a dozen asian cyclists on the donut out of a 100. And like maybe the one token black dude.
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Old 04-11-09 | 03:31 PM
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I see a variety of enthicities depending on Where I am at the time, roughly corresponding to neighborhood demographics as you'd expect.

I will note however, that all the superheros are white (except for the one token black superhero), and all the guys on 'mart bikes with shopping bags hanging from the handlebars are hispanic, and the beach cruisers and fixies are mostly ridden by white-ish college studens.
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Old 04-11-09 | 05:14 PM
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Around here, non-whites are under-represented in the roadie crowd, but they are out there. When you get into the non-roadie people, cyclists tend to be of the same ethnicity as the neighborhoods they're riding in.
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Old 04-11-09 | 05:39 PM
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Originally Posted by BikeLover1989
If I see a person of asian or african descent cycling, for some reason it is a rare occurence while I see people who are white on their bikes all the time. Do you notice this as well in your area? And what do you think is the reason for mostly white people riding bikes? It is something that kind of confuses me.
i had the same confusion last time i rode in beijing, although it's all chinese instead of white folks i saw
i wonder why
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Old 04-11-09 | 06:48 PM
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In Reno a very mixed bag. I have met bikers of every color and race including a local Sikh cyclist. Everything from Lycra clad roadies to the anglo bum bicyclist who tried to cadge 50 cents from me while I was loading up my shopping panniers at the food store earlier today.

If the bike is totally the wrong size and the seat height is 6" or more too low it will usually be a hispanic riding. FG and SS riders will be college age to 30s anglos typically. Roadies mainly anglo saxons in a wide age range. Commuters a mixed bag.
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Old 04-11-09 | 07:23 PM
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When riding in the city of Detroit I am likely to see African-American cyclists. I belong to a local club in which the majority of the members are African-American women. However, when going on organized tours I am usually one of two African American people on the tour. The exception was during the Underground railroad tour with Adventure Cycling.


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Old 04-11-09 | 08:54 PM
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I'm just North of you in an Asian ghetto.

Surprisingly the only Asians I see on bikes are commuting.

If it's a mom/dad/both riding with their kids, it's both Asian and Caucasian. I really like seeing parents spending time with their kids.

If it's one of those people decked out in uniform riding on the speedster bike, it's mostly white people. I have seen one Asian person hauling ass on a bike before... definitely looked like he was doing it for the workout (younger, in shape man). I've also seen a couple of Negroid riders. A couple of really in-shape guys. They looked a little strange riding around in bright blue jerseys in a very Asian community.

Other than that, it tends to be older white men and women (50/50).

Another thing I notice is that the people on road bikes tend to be 30+ and the people on mountain bikes tend to be under 18.

I happen to be one of the rare types who rides both and is 18.
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Old 04-11-09 | 09:31 PM
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Originally Posted by mantszchun
i had the same confusion last time i rode in beijing, although it's all chinese instead of white folks i saw
i wonder why
Showing you know absolutely nothing about Toronto and it's surrouding GTA in terms of demographics. Stop posting.
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Old 04-11-09 | 09:56 PM
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Originally Posted by Zan
I'm just North of you in an Asian ghetto.

Surprisingly the only Asians I see on bikes are commuting.

If it's a mom/dad/both riding with their kids, it's both Asian and Caucasian. I really like seeing parents spending time with their kids.

If it's one of those people decked out in uniform riding on the speedster bike, it's mostly white people. I have seen one Asian person hauling ass on a bike before... definitely looked like he was doing it for the workout (younger, in shape man). I've also seen a couple of Negroid riders. A couple of really in-shape guys. They looked a little strange riding around in bright blue jerseys in a very Asian community.

Other than that, it tends to be older white men and women (50/50).

Another thing I notice is that the people on road bikes tend to be 30+ and the people on mountain bikes tend to be under 18.

I happen to be one of the rare types who rides both and is 18.
Did you really just say "negroid"?
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Old 04-12-09 | 02:26 AM
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Non white here, saw a black dude with dreads here in Austin. Cyclists here usually don't speak to one another, but he asked directions. I think he just wanted to talk to another non-white cyclist. We are few and far between.
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Old 04-12-09 | 04:10 AM
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It's regional then. In the bay area... it's every walk of life along with every race. It's a beautiful thing, really.

The only thing I can conclude is that whitey LOVES recumbents. The ratio on those is 100% white.
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Old 04-12-09 | 07:16 AM
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Originally Posted by operator
Showing you know absolutely nothing about Toronto and it's surrouding GTA in terms of demographics. Stop posting.
And I see you know a fair bit about being polite.
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Old 04-12-09 | 08:11 AM
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Originally Posted by Zan
I'm just North of you in an Asian ghetto.

Surprisingly the only Asians I see on bikes are commuting.

If it's a mom/dad/both riding with their kids, it's both Asian and Caucasian. I really like seeing parents spending time with their kids.

If it's one of those people decked out in uniform riding on the speedster bike, it's mostly white people. I have seen one Asian person hauling ass on a bike before... definitely looked like he was doing it for the workout (younger, in shape man). I've also seen a couple of Negroid riders. A couple of really in-shape guys. They looked a little strange riding around in bright blue jerseys in a very Asian community.

Other than that, it tends to be older white men and women (50/50).

Another thing I notice is that the people on road bikes tend to be 30+ and the people on mountain bikes tend to be under 18.

I happen to be one of the rare types who rides both and is 18.
'Negroid' is a word used in rather outdated notions of racial classification. You may wish to avoid the term, as it has the potential to label the user as someone who isn't quite up on modern terminology.

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Old 04-12-09 | 08:14 AM
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Originally Posted by operator
Showing you know absolutely nothing about Toronto and it's surrouding GTA in terms of demographics. Stop posting.
Perhaps if you said, 'Please'?

Being polite doesn't hurt you, and may help the other members in forming a more flattering view of you .

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Old 04-12-09 | 10:18 AM
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You can add up all the bicycle riders in the world and they cannot outnumber the riders in China. They might ride because of necessity, nontheless.
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Old 04-12-09 | 10:56 AM
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Originally Posted by East Hill
'Negroid' is a word used in rather outdated notions of racial classification. You may wish to avoid the term, as it has the potential to label the user as someone who isn't quite up on modern terminology.

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Or harbors some sort of off-the-wall agenda...
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Old 04-12-09 | 09:20 PM
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oh my honest mistake. I thought that was the "technical" term that fits along with Asian and Caucasian. So... what's the (current) singular word used to describe a person of African descent?

I double checked in the dictionary. Didn't say it had any negative connotation... so is it that it's just outdated?
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Old 04-12-09 | 09:29 PM
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I wikipedia-ed it. Is "Congoid" supposed to be the current substitute?

The problem with the term "Negroid" is that it classifies a race by color of skin rather than from original location. If you say that's the reason why the term shouldn't be used... "Asian" shouldn't be used either at it groups people from many regions into one big category.

I try to refrain from saying "white," "black," "brown," "yellow."

What word would you have me use?
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Old 04-13-09 | 08:33 AM
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Originally Posted by Zan
What word would you have me use?
How about people?
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