Bike Participation is Increasing While Reputation is Decreasing
road rage is not cool
What do a construction worker and Time magazine have in common? No it’s not a bad joke, just a bad analogy. Today, while I was out test-driving a new toy (God I love my job.), I stopped to talk with some construction workers who were working on a stream mitigation project near the trail. After explaining the project, one of the workers said it was good to see a biker actually using the trail. He then went on to tell me about some of the bad incidents he has had with bikers on the roads. He said that in his work he sees miles and miles of bike trails all over the state, but they are often used very lightly while bicyclists clog the streets and often aren’t very nice about sharing those streets.
I let him know that he was preaching to the choir on that one. We were both baffled why more bikers didn’t use the trails and why so many bikers on the roads were impatient and unfriendly, to say the least. Then, when I got home, I read an article in Time magazine. Here’s one excerpt from the article:
“…even in the most pedal-friendly cities, cyclists can still feel they’re biking against traffic, legally and culturally. It’s as if just enough Americans have started cycling to prompt a backlash–call it a bikelash–as drivers and pedestrians ally against these rebels usurping precious traffic space.”
via Pedal Push – TIME.
Bryan Walsh, the author of the article believes that bicycling has become increasingly popular in the United States, but not quite popular enough. There are now more bicyclists out there, but there are still not enough of them to be considered part of the mainstream like they are in places like Denmark. It’s really a nicely written article that is well-researched; it has some interesting facts about biking worldwide and also some common-sense suggestions.
One of the main points of the article is that, even though many people feel threatened by bicyclists, “…cyclists are far more threatened than threatening.” The article goes on to cite some extremely frightening statistics about the dangers of biking in the United States. Of course, pretty much all the bicycle dangers mentioned in the article are dangers of riding on the roads, not the bike trails.
So what do Time magazine and construction workers have in common? They both seem to point to the common sense notion that it is much safer and saner to ride bikes on the trails than on the roads… except for those fast, reckless and rude bike riders. Let’s encourage them to either a.) stay off bikes completely or, if that doesn’t work, b.) go ahead and stay on the roads. Lets keep the trails a safe and sane place for the rest of us. And for those car drivers who get sick of the rude bicyclists, you’re welcome to join us on the trails… but leave your cars (and cares) at home.
3 comments
First let me say again , I enjoy your site… I got a different take from that Time article (I was planning on sending it to you, make you aware of it, there is one today in the times also….. (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/nyregion/manhattan-court-sends-erring-cyclists-to-remedial-class.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120724 ) I, like you are a fan of biking without traffic ie Greenways… however there are many who enjoy 60 mile rides, or commuting , they have spandex and tiny tires, they are forced to compete on the roads… these guys don’t like greenways cause they don’t go to the job they work at, or home, then the surface , cracks , walkers and strollers… we just have a big conflict on roads , where many drivers feel bikers have no business.. drivers commuting to work are already uptight and impatient.. it is not a pretty sight when a 2000lb auto conflicts with a 25 lb bike … when I am on the road , I just try and stay out of the way as best I can.. till I get to a quiet street or trail where I relax and enjoy again. this is from that article….. “Spencer Aste, 47, an actor who lives on the Upper West Side and rode his bike to the class last week, said he had been cited after being forced off the road by traffic and clattering to the pavement in a crosswalk.
“I’m on my face, bleeding,” he said. “When I got up, the cop was writing me a ticket.”
didn’t know where to put this next comment.. and its really only for you, so not here… I noticed that under Va you show the huckleberry trail as 16 miles…. its not…. it just became 6.1 mile… guess its because it was from a Garmin workout… probably the biker did the trail and more and back..
I just feel that until there is a wiki type trail site , like Wikipedia, we will never have a up to date forum for trails.. too many things happen Like last week we had a wind storm and most trails in area are impassable because of tree’s down. with a wiki and thousands , and local riders there would be good up to date information , like a detour route.
even trail link which continues to improve; is slow and not current.. and they have funding, and many many years behind them.. where Wikipedia in just a few years out performed hundred year old encyclopedia companies.
Thanks for your great articles , site , and interest
Author
John,
Thanks for your comments. I just discovered them this morning. Usually WP notifies me when there are new comments, but not in this case.
I love your idea about the trail wiki. In fact, if I had the know-how, I would do something like that w/ Trailsnet. I’ve always envisioned it as a place for trail lovers to share information about trails.
Thanks also for the information about the Huckleberry Trail. I’ll get the trail length changed right now.
I enjoyed hearing from you. By all means, continue viewing Trailsnet and adding comments. Thanks.