Triumph, Agony and Sorrow

Posted on April 18, 2013 by IsolateCyclist

Male Runner

Before bicycles the main form of human powered transportation was feet. No vehicles existed. They had not yet been conceived of. So humans relied on their feet for travel and safety.

Many millennia ago, when humans roamed the plains, they walked for miles in search of sources of food. While out in the open, they were easy prey for predators who might have seen them as a tasty meal.

In addition to any weapons they may have fashioned to protect themselves, the early humans had their feet. If they could not fight, they could flee.

Although none of us will ever know for sure, they must have been able to run pretty fast. Not being able to run swiftly would, at times, have meant certain death. This made running an essential part of human existence.

Centuries passed. Humans settled into villages and towns, formed countries and generally set themselves up in a such way that they could stay in one place and still have enough food to eat. Once this change occurred, running became less necessary for survival.

Permanent dwellings and superior weaponry made it easier for humans to defend themselves against wild animals, and each other. But the need to run remained a fundamental part of who humans were. It was in their blood. For this reason, running became a contest.

People ran from one place to the next to see how fast they could get there. When running against oneself was no longer satisfactory, people set up races to see who could run the fastest compared to others.

Running became racing. And to run the fastest meant to cross the finish line in triumph.

It didn’t take long before different types of races were established. Short distances, medium distances and long distances tested different running strengths. Short distances required bursts of speed, while long distances required pacing and stamina. For some, long distance races became a test of human endurance, both physical and mental. And so the concept of the marathon was born.

Early on, such races drew a limited number of competitors who seemed devoted to the idea of proving that they could run the fastest over a long distance. After a while, the idea of running a marathon became popular with ordinary people who wanted to challenge themselves to run a long distance just to see if they could finish.

The Boston Marathon, a race run each year on Patriots Day, became a home to those runners. When the starting gun goes off, they run alongside elite athletes, and one another, engaging in a personal struggle against their own bodies, their own fatigue.

Around the world this event is watched and admired. It has become a tradition that has grown outside its borders. For many, it is the marathon to run. Finishing the Boston Marathon connotes a personal victory, a lifetime achievement and the right to say one was there.

All of that changed on April 15, 2013. On that day, a cowardly act of extreme anonymous aggression disrupted the race and deterred the slower runners from finishing. No doubt, they were disappointed. Long hours of training were wasted, and for some there might be no second chance. Still the biggest disappointment was to come later when they discovered the reason why the authorities had stopped the race.

Near the finish line, two bombs had blasted ferociously into a group of innocent, stationary humans, with ear shattering force. Carnage usually only seen in times of war ensued.

Everyone was stunned. In the blink of an eye, life and limb were lost, senselessly. Spectators fled in all directions, dazed and uncertain which way to go. There wasn’t enough time to figure out what had happened and where. Running away from the noise was the best the spectators could do.

Among the losses of the day was the loss of the sanctity of one of the greatest races the world has ever known. Despite this loss, the race will continue because the agony of the moment is always short lived.

When the terror and shock wear off, they will be replaced by sorrow — a sorrow which will hang over the marathon for many years to come. For in the wake of a desire to hurt someone an institution was maimed.

Each year going forward, every inch of the Boston Marathon course will serve as a reminder of the brave souls who perished or were wounded in a moment of great celebration. No detonation will ever destroy their presence or erase their indestructible footprints.

Every runner will run beside and for the victims in peace, harmony and solidarity because the human spirit cannot be crushed by hatred, violence or fear. Humans were meant to run. And they will run no matter who tries to stop them because running will always be a fundamental feature of human survival.

Posted in Other Modes Of Transportation | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Separate But Equal Revisited

Posted on April 15, 2013 by IsolateCyclist

Bicycle Traffic Lights

Traffic laws are a sticky issue for cyclists. Whether to obey traffic laws or not has been a topic of hot debate. And neither side can manage to see eye to eye with the other.

I’ve written about this topic before. And doing so has struck a nerve with cyclists who don’t want to obey the same traffic laws as cars.

They see bicycles as “different” from cars. Bicycle sare vehicles but not vehicles simultaneously. That’s all well and good if your goal is a discussion of semantics. But if your goal is to gain respect for cyclists or to keep order on the roads, then you can’t have it both ways. You can’t be separate but equal without causing confusion on the roads.

Last time I said this a couple of cyclists who don’t want to obey the traffic laws came along and went on a tirade about how bicycles are different from cars and how they should have their own set of rules. I found their comments very discouraging because, while this idea may be more convenient for some cyclists, it comes at a cost.

Decreased safety and decreased respect are the price cyclists pay for maintaining such an attitude. When I said this, they retorted by citing examples of large trucks which had different rules than passenger vehicles. These rules did not include the right to run red lights or stop signs. The rules were designed for safety, and in some ways reminded me of bike lanes, whose purpose is to accommodate different vehicles on the same road.

These cyclists didn’t see it that way. They wanted to believe that only cars should have to obey traffic signals. For cyclists, they argued, traffic signals should be optional.

Even when I pointed out how dangerous  it would be for all cyclists to ignore traffic signals, they were adamant in their position. Knowing this made me feel less safe on the roads.

Seeing many cyclists running red lights would make drivers resent cyclists even more and they would be less certain how a given cyclist would behave. This made me particularly nervous when I had to stop at an intersection with a car directly behind me.

I worried that the car wouldn’t stop because the driver would expect me to run through the red light. In essence, my greatest concern became getting rear ended by a motor vehicle.

Thoughts of being struck from behind and thrown head first over my handlebars began to preoccupy me when I was riding in traffic. I do use hand signals, but in my experience, many drivers are unfamiliar with the hand signal for “stop.”

I almost felt as if I was being forced to run through the lights just to avoid getting rear ended. As one who always obeys the traffic laws, whether on my bike or in my car, I didn’t like the idea of having to run red lights or stop signs — and I didn’t. Instead, I stopped and cringed.

After a couple of exchanges on my blog with the separate but equal crowd, I began to think that most cyclists shared their views primarily due to the number of drivers who claim that all of the cyclists they encounter run red lights. This made it seem like a large number.

Over the winter months, I didn’t see enough cyclists on the roads to determine whether more cyclists were disregarding the rules or not. But, once spring arrived, I was able to spend more time on the roads and watch the increase in cyclists that always accompanies milder weather.

Recently, I’ve noticed an influx of young male riders in the suburbs just outside of Boston. These young males have been riding in small groups. Some of them are dressed in full kit. Others are dressed in cycling specific attire. And still others are dressed in street clothes.

When I first noticed these young males, I expected to see a lot of reckless riding and red light running because they fit the stereotype of the irresponsible cyclists. What I saw instead surprised me.

Most of these young men stopped and waited at red lights. All of them slowed down together and stood at the red light chatting.

The first time I saw this, I thought it was a fluke. It didn’t seem possible that young males would ride bikes this way. Stopping at traffic lights didn’t look macho or cool. Yet the next few times I rode in that vicinity, I saw the same thing.

Even more remarkably, I saw several young men wearing reflective vests for night time visibility. This was in stark contrast to what I remember seeing a couple of years ago. At that time, I noticed a large number of young people, male and female, riding bikes without lights, without light colored clothing and without reflective gear.

I still see people who ride that way. But their numbers seem to be dwindling in comparison to the people who have begun to obey traffic laws and consider visibility and safety.

It’s still too early to get excited about this trend. I see it as a good thing. However, I expect to see push back from cyclists who do not want bicycles to act like cars. They, of course, will not see such a trend as a good thing.

As nice as the idea of separate but equal may seem, it can’t work when mutual cooperation and safety are paramount. Fighting traffic laws is a losing battle.

Maybe we should look at this as a temporary thing. If there were to come a time when roads were designed with bicycles in mind, separate signals might exist for cars and bikes or a design could be implemented to allow bikes to slow down and yield in places where cars would come to a full stop.

Such designs are probably very far off. And they may be little more than a pipe dream. Still, redesigning roads is a much better way to accommodate differences among vehicles than allowing some vehicles to disobey the laws while requiring others to obey them.

No doubt, some cyclists will disagree with me. But for the sake of cyclist safety, I hope they come to their senses before innocent cyclists begin to pay the price for what drivers see as scofflaw behavior and an attitude deserving of punishment.

Posted in Cycling | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Is Consuming Food And Beverages On A Bicycle Part Of Bicycle Infrastructure?

Posted on April 11, 2013 by IsolateCyclist
Bicycle Drive-In

Credit: PSFK – psfk.com

Cyclists must be harder to understand than I first thought. Even though the idea of accommodating a growing number of cyclists has come to the forefront in many countries, how to do that still remains a mystery.

City planners and assorted government officials realize that they must do something to address the needs of people on bikes. Most often, they install bike lanes or bicycle parking, both of which fall into the category of common sense.

Cyclists want to use the roads and they want to be able to park when they arrive at their destination — or do they? To some people the answer is “no.” Cyclists, they believe, don’t want to get off of their bikes and park, they want to engage in activities normally done in a chair while on their bikes.

I hadn’t thought of this because I usually get off of my bike for chair-oriented activities. Take grabbing a coffee or a bite to eat; this is something I do when off of my bike.

I do this for three reasons. First, because it is more comfortable to eat and drink while seated in a chair. Second, because it gives me a chance to rest my sit bones, which can become a bit sore when I’m on my bike for extended periods of time. And third, because it is easier to digest food and beverages when you don’t have to balance yourself on a narrow saddle.

Apparently, to some people none of these things matter. In Zurich, for instance, the city counsel has installed Velokafi, otherwise known as a drive-in for bicycles. They installed the drive-in on the outdoor terrace of a popular cafe.

Wooden stations with table tops allow cyclists to pull in and order food and drinks without dismounting and parking their bikes. The stations are designed to hold a bike steady while the cyclist eats.

This endeavor is “part of the city council’s Stadtverkehr 2025 program, which aims to accommodate the growing cycling community, improve the infrastructure, and reduce traffic flow.” Improving bicycle infrastructure and reducing traffic flow are excellent goals. However, it’s not readily apparent how bicycle drive-ins contribute to those goals. And, it’s even less apparent why the idea of a drive-in was something a cyclist would need to travel by bike.

Was someone on the city council afraid that cyclists would start eating and drinking while driving, the way motorists do? Was the drive-in concept devised as a way to prevent accidents? Or was it an idea for how to make it easier for people to travel by bike?

I don’t see what pulling into a drive-in while on your bike would do to make it easier to travel by bike. Putting a bike rack near the cafe could accomplish the same thing. This would also make it more convenient for a cyclist to stop and get a bite to eat.

While there’s nothing wrong with creating conveniences of this type for cyclists, it shouldn’t come at the expense of more important items such as bike lanes. As I thought about this event, something else crossed my mind. Is it a good idea to encourage cyclists to associate riding a bicycle with eating?

One of cycling’s positive attributes is its usefulness in helping a rider to maintain a healthy weight. Is encouraging eating while cycling a good thing to do?

Further, what will happen if this idea catches on? Will we see fast food chains like McDonald’s opening bicycle drive-ins to entice cyclists into eating fattening and unhealthy foods? This may not be the direction we want cycling to take.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not opposed to a little novelty and creating conveniences for a specific group of people. Such things add a touch of importance to the group being addressed and can serve to make them feel more welcome. So there is an upside.

But what I’d really like to know is whose idea this was. Was it conceived by a cyclist who thought it would be cool and fun to eat astride a bicycle? Or was it a car-oriented council member who thought that food was something cyclists needed as encouragement to ride more?

Something makes me think it was the latter. Part of my reasoning is based on the knowledge that when this venture launched, they offered free coffee to cyclists who tried out the stations. There’s nothing like “free” to get people to try something new.

For all we know, bicycle drive-ins are the wave of the future. Once you mount a bicycle, you’ll be able to eat, drink, shop and travel, all without dismounting. That may be too ambitious, but at least people are trying to use some imagination to build a bicycle-friendly environment. I can’t wait to see what they think of next.

Posted in Cycling | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Building Bicycle Infrastructure Must Be Either Temporary Feel Good Politics Or Permanent Change

Posted on April 8, 2013 by IsolateCyclist

Road Wear

Riding a bicycle in the Boston area is precarious business. Boston’s horrendous traffic and legendary reckless drivers are only part of the problem. The other part is the roads themselves.

After a long, snowy winter, many of the roads look like a mine field. Fissures and gargantuan potholes abound.

No matter how careful a cyclist is, at some point a car will be too close for comfort and he will have no choice but to ride over a pothole. With any luck, a cyclist might have the time and the room to hop over the pothole. But doing so requires a fair amount of athleticism, and even if one is capable of it, it isn’t always possible.

Potholes seem to be particularly prevalent towards the side of the road where bike lanes or sharrows are located. This makes staying in the bike lane extremely difficult. And swerving out of the bike lane into the traffic lane makes drivers furious. They can’t understand why cyclists don’t stay in their own lane.

As if this weren’t enough, either due to severe weather or natural wear and tear, many bike lanes that were installed within the past few years are fading away. The painted lines have deteriorated to the point of appearing intermittent or have faded to the point of near invisibility. All of their former glory has evaporated. Only people who are familiar with these streets would ever be aware of the presence of bike lanes. Others would have few visual clues to enlighten them.

This raises an important issue. Are American cities and towns installing bicycle infrastructure simply as feel good politics or do they intend to make the infrastructure a permanent part of the roads?

Judging from the condition of many roads with bike lanes, it’s hard not to conclude that they were installed as a one-time gesture, with no intention of maintaining them. Plans were made to create the bike lanes, but such plans omitted a maintenance schedule. Or if there was one, it hasn’t been adhered to.

The crumbling bike lanes aren’t unique. Massachusetts has many roads which are in terrible condition. Extreme decrepitude makes them horrible to use. And no one does anything about it. Road maintenance clearly isn’t a priority in Massachusetts; it seems to be at the bottom of the list when budgets are being created and cut.

What will this mean a few years down the road? At the rate we’re going much of the bicycle infrastructure that has been installed in recent years will no longer be functional. Roads will remain unpaved and bike lane lines will remain unpainted.

Road patching methods present another problem. Crews come along and fill any holes with asphalt or other road patching compounds. Patching roads in this manner leaves bumps and unevenness on the road’s surface. Naturally, such unevenness makes it harder for cyclists to comfortably ride on these roads.

A lot of time and effort has gone into fighting for bicycle infrastructure. Less time and effort has been devoted to ensuring adequate funds exist for maintaining this bicycle infrastructure.

If Massachusetts roads are any indication of what’s going on with bicycle infrastructure nationwide, then we’re in serious trouble. The idea of a network of bike lanes to accommodate cyclists who want to use bikes for transportation will not become a reality because, unless we make some changes, existing bike lanes will vanish as quickly as new ones are installed.

One could make the argument that once a bike lane has been installed, it exists, whether the paint can be seen or not. This is true. Yet, it will be difficult to make an invisible bike lane a functional and safe part of the road.

Spring is definitely here, and like many cyclists, I’ve started to increase my cycling mileage. Riding with fewer layers of clothing feels great. Additional hours of daylight in the early evening is also a plus. However, such things are overshadowed by constant braking, swerving and pothole jumping, not to mention getting out of the saddle to absorb the shock of bumpy roads.

Due to such conditions, I sprained my wrist. I couldn’t completely clear a giant pothole and my front wheel landed partially on the far edge of the crater. An unbelievable jolt rippled through my hands and into my arms.

Later, I felt it in my wrist. The pain was a reminder of how bad the roads have become and how far cyclists have left to go to obtain parity with drivers.

It may be an uphill battle, but it is one worth fighting. This specific battle may be easier to win than some others because it benefits drivers as well as cyclists. Better quality roads are easier to drive on and cause less damage to cars.

Here is an opportunity for cyclists to reach out to drivers to partake in a mutually beneficial effort to improve road maintenance while at the same time designing those roads to accommodate all vehicle types. Let’s not pass it up.

Posted in Cycling, Livable Cities | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Can Cycling Cure The Obesity Problem?

Posted on April 4, 2013 by IsolateCyclist

Free Bikes Stand

The current trend towards obesity, if left unchecked, may become one of the biggest problems facing societies going forward into the 21st century. Globally, obesity rates have doubled since 1980.

This problem is no longer the sole province of wealthy nations. As developing countries begin to adopt the same habits as their more developed counterparts, the problem of obesity is increasing there as well.

Since obesity is associated with a number of health problems including cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer and diabetes, it will result in increased health care costs and may result in increased mortality. The cost to society will be enormous.

Our modern lifestyles are primarily to blame for this trend. Most people consume large quantities of processed foods and fast food has found its way to many parts of the world. Couple this with a decrease in activity caused by modern technology and you have a recipe for disaster.

Widespread cardiovascular disease is the most likely consequence of obesity. If something is not done soon, many preventable deaths will occur.

Campaigns have been underway to educate the public about the health risks associated with obesity. While many people are receptive to messages about eating a healthy diet and exercising to lose weight (and avoid gaining it back), some people are resistant.

Heavy people often feel fine. Their cholesterol and blood sugar levels fall into the normal range. So they believe they can be healthy at what is considered an unhealthy weight.

They have a point: overweight individuals face discrimination in many facets of society. The media portrays heaviness as unattractive and unhealthy. Obesity is also perceived as gluttony, even though we know that some people are genetically predisposed to be heavier than others. Still we blame obese people for their condition, even if there is a genetic component to it.

Overeating is also common in Western countries. Portions are designed to fill one to the gills. And people often munch on foods such as potato chips and cookies. Such foods qualify as comfort foods. They are part of a common social ritual whereby people eat while doing something else, like watching TV.

So far, no solution beyond asking people to modify their food intake and be less inactive has been proposed. It’s all well and good to tell people to be more active. But, modern life doesn’t afford many opportunities for activity in daily life.

Preferred transportation in a modern world is door to door, which has made walking and public transportation obsolete. Part of this phenomenon can be attributed to laziness and part of it is time consumption. Our lives are busier today than the lives of people were thirty years ago. Shaving a few minutes off of a commute can mean more time to do something else. Therefore, we exchange time.

As far as a widespread solution goes, maybe introducing people to specific physical  activities which can be incorporated into their day would make more sense than making vague recommendations of increasing physical activity. Left up to their own devices, most people will make few changes. They won’t know where to start.

Walking has been proposed as a simple way to get people moving. It is often recommended as a way to stay fit and to lose weight. However, normal walking doesn’t really burn very many calories.

Activity charts show that cycling at a moderate pace can burn twice as many calories as walking at a moderate pace. This means that the exerciser can burn more calories in the same amount of time, which is a plus for people who don’t like to exercise.

Riding a bike is also something that most people can do. Virtually everyone learns to ride when they are a kid. And riding a bike is more fun than walking, particularly when the walking is done as exercise and not to go somewhere.

In view of these positive benefits, a global initiative should be implemented to encourage people to ride bikes. The idea could be sold by pointing out that cycling would be a good way to combine the modern, car-centric concept of traveling door to door with burning excess calories.

That’s where the fat comes from — taking in more calories than are burned. As an added bonus, getting more people onto bikes will reduce traffic congestion and air pollution. Cleaner air also contributes to better health.

While cycling alone cannot completely cure the global obesity problem, it can make a dent in it by changing habits as well as lifestyle. If we are going to reverse the obesity trend, modern lifestyles must evolve into higher levels of activity and less ingestion of processed foods.

Reaching such a goal will be a monumental undertaking. Modern conveniences make life easier. Convincing people to make more effort in their daily lives will be the main challenge. However, as more people start succumbing to obesity related illnesses, fear may inspire people to live differently. Hopefully, this will happen before any significant loss of life occurs and before health care costs become unsustainable.

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Life Inside The Door Zone

Posted on April 1, 2013 by IsolateCyclist

Street In Australia

 

The door zone is a scary place for cyclists who know what it is. Not knowing gives one peace of mind, but increases one’s danger.

Now that spring has arrived, and people have begun to emerge from their winter hibernation, thoughts of car doors flung open by oblivious automobile occupants fill cyclists’ minds. It is the season of egression for both flora and automotive fiends.

In this environment, I set out to take a typical early spring ride. This year I’m not as fit as I would ordinarily be due to injuries which reduced my cycling time over the winter. Consequently, my recent rides have been followed by sore muscles and an occasional touch of stiffness.

Such a condition does not make one want to have to dodge moving objects, let alone endure the harsh jolt of falling from one’s bike onto unyielding asphalt. Not that there is ever a good time to crash a bike, but strength and flexibility make it easier to tolerate, should the unexpected yank a cyclist out of the saddle.

With longer days, I’ve been riding in the evening. Theoretically, less traffic should fill the roads at this time of day. This does not always hold true, particularly if one is riding in the Boston area, where traffic seems to develop at the oddest times, almost out of nowhere.

My destination was the suburbs. Narrow roads plagued by SUVs are the norm in these areas; taking the road is a necessity.

I rode through Brookline, Massachusetts with tense attention to the traffic around me. Brookline seems like a civilized place until you mount a bicycle. Then you notice the open season on anyone not encased by a car.

Cars pull out from all sides without looking. Drivers dart across two lanes in an attempt to secure a parking space. Red light running is the norm. Or more accurately, yellow light accelerating is the norm.

A cyclist doesn’t dare stop on a yellow light in Brookline, or anywhere near Boston for that matter. But, none of this is specific to the door zone, which has a life of its own.

Early spring door zone riding is fraught with peril. Roads may still be wet from melting snow. Mounds of salt, reminiscent of mid-winter snow removal efforts, line the sides of streets, making braking on a dime more difficult. Overall, bike handling is a precarious affair.

Taking the lane, in many places, is next to impossible. Spring impatience overwhelms drivers who lay heavy hands on deep sounding horns. The sudden booming sound is enough to drive any cyclist out of the way. And that away is to the door zone.

Staring intently into every car window is the only defense against getting whacked in the door zone. Preparation for swerving without falling into the path of passing cars is a must.

Squeezed in between moving cars and parked cars, waiting for a moment to try to take the lane can seem like an eternity. So little space exists in that no man’s land.

Just as a driver drops his foot onto the road, I call out to alert him. He doesn’t even look in my direction. Hey, bicycle on your left, I yell out again, with more clarity this time.

I watch him look around as if a deity is summoning him from the heavens. He is as clueless as they come. Someone like him doesn’t belong behind the wheel of a multi-ton machine.

Quickly, I turn my head to take a peek behind me. My brakes are responding to a gentle press of the levers. For once, luck is with me and the oncoming driver slows in response to the situation.

With his eyes on my back, I make my move. I pull out quickly and boldly into the driving lane, away from the car door and the clueless driver. His rear end is now protruding into the road as he pulls an undisclosed object out from the interior of the car.

Vibrations from the engine of the approaching car inch up my back. The driver sees me so I hold my course. In a moment the lane will be mine, and I will be out of the path of the unpredictable doors.

A bit of poetic justice unfolds as a passing car blasts the horn at the driver who nearly nailed me. His door is still wide open because he is too foolish to unpack his car from the passenger side.

Part of me wishes that a car would take off his driver’s side door. It would teach him a lesson about the door zone. But such things rarely happen unless one driver deliberately assaults another in an act of unmitigated road rage.

Not today. I have the lane. My early spring legs have lost their stiffness from the constant peddling. They are growing stronger with each passing day. And soon, my door zone instincts will also be back up to par, in readiness for summer car door dodging.

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Bicycle Fundraising For Bicycling

Posted on March 28, 2013 by IsolateCyclist

Bike Route Street Markings

Many charities use cycling as a way to raise funds. They chart a course and enlist cyclists to complete the course in exchange for pledges from donors. The more pledges a rider has, the more money he or she will raise for the charity.

This idea has been popular for many years. It incorporates individual accomplishment into a group activity.

Each rider plays a small but significant role in raising money for whatever cause the event focuses on. And, in the end, when all the small contributions are tallied, a substantial sum of money can be obtained.

Bicycles are good for this purpose because they combine transportation and the athleticism required to participate in a charity run. In this manner, a participant can travel from one end of the course to the other, with modest breaks in areas where the bike can coast. This makes it easier for less fit or less experienced cyclists to participate.

With the popularity of such events, it’s surprising that no high profile cycling events exist to raise money for cycling accommodations and infrastructure. Instead, one state after another proposes to impose fees or taxes on bicycles with the intention of making cyclists pay for their use of the roads.

What’s most amazing about this imposition of taxes and fees on cyclists is that the only roads where anyone pays a use fee are toll roads, and in most, if not all places, bicycles are prohibited from such roads. Yet, government representatives feel compelled to make cyclists pay to use all roads.

Cyclists do pay to use roads through general taxes, just like everyone else. But since cyclists don’t pay for vehicle registration, those who do resent them.

All of this could easily be rectified if cyclists produced a voluntary contribution to roads and bicycle infrastructure. It wouldn’t have the same personal impact as a fee or tax, which everyone must pay. But, it would raise money in a voluntary fashion.

Instead, a week could be set aside each year for cycling oriented road and infrastructure improvement fundraising. Across the country, events could be scheduled with a view to raising awareness about alternative forms of transportation.

How the money would be spent would be determined ahead of time. Ongoing road projects with slim budgets could request funding or startup projects might apply for a grant to get their feet off the ground.

Regardless of how the money is used or who determines its fate, using cycling fundraising events to raise money for cycling is an approach whose time has come. If something like this caught on, cycling could become self-sustaining. It would exist through a cycle of self growth and self renewal.

In this way, cycling could flourish. Without the usual animosity between drivers and cyclists,  borne of an unending rivalry for money, cycling would be free to take on a life of its own.

Astonishingly, cycling advocates, who spend so much of their time trying to get the government to allocate money for bicycle infrastructure, haven’t tried the bicycle fundraising approach. While it probably won’t fully fund all necessary infrastructure, by paying a portion of it, cyclists will be on stronger ground to ask the government to make up the difference.

We should eagerly await the first annual bicycle fundraising for bicycling event, for it marks  the beginning of self-sustenance for cycling and the end of petty bickering over who pays what taxes and fees.

Posted in Cycling, Livable Cities | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

When Riding A Bicycle To A Match Is Newsworthy

Posted on March 25, 2013 by IsolateCyclist

Cyclists In Copenhagen

 

Under normal circumstances, I don’t read the Boston Herald. Most of the time I only land on their website when I’m searching for something specific and land on one of their pages.

Yesterday, I was looking for some cycling information and I happened to stumble upon an interesting new report about a well known tennis star. Even though she’s the number one women’s tennis player in the world, her tennis accomplishments were not the focus of the news.

The headline read: “Serena Williams rides bicycle to match.” I had to check this out to see what had happened.

My first thought was that she had been in some sort of accident or that she had been spotted engaging in a traffic violation. After all, the Herald has never been kind to cyclists. And only something negative about cyclists ever seems to grace their publication’s pages.

The report was brief. It focused on the horrendous traffic in Key Biscayne, Florida. Apparently, her tennis match was scheduled for 8:00 pm and the main road was at a standstill, clogged with motorized traffic.

She was only eight minutes away from the tournament location, but she had no way to get there. She did have the presence of mind to ask for alternative transportation. But her first thought was to ask for a different type of motorized vehicle, a golf cart.

It’s unclear how she intended to get through traffic with a golf cart. Riding it on the sidewalk is probably illegal, and it’s unlikely that there was enough room along the side of the road for the golf cart to fit.

The hotel staff members she was speaking to offered her a motor bike. She declined their offer, which was a wise move since riding such a vehicle in heavy traffic is even more dangerous than riding a bicycle. Finally they offered her a bicycle. Her response was “’I really don’t do bicycles, but I will today.”

I’m not sure how to interpret such a comment. If someone doesn’t “do bicycles” does this mean that she wouldn’t be willing to ride a bike to a tournament or that she doesn’t ride bikes at all? I would really like to know.

Riding a bike to the tournament may not have appealed to Serena initially, but due to necessity, she discovered that she enjoyed it. She was quoted as saying “It was fun. It was probably one of my best memories I think ever, riding a bike to a match. That’s pretty cool.”

Why did it take necessity to make this gifted athlete discover the benefits and joys of riding a bicycle as transportation? Cycling would be beneficial for rounding out her training regimen. And it could have been employed to help her come back from the injuries she has sustained during her career.

Since this came to the Herald via the Associated Press (AP), it was also widely reported among other news outlets. If the AP found it newsworthy, so must newspapers throughout the country.

This is evidence, albeit limited evidence, of how novel the idea of riding a bike as transportation still is in American culture. Using a bicycle to get through gridlocked traffic makes perfect sense.

A bike can fit alongside traffic. In a pinch a cyclist can ride for a while on the sidewalk; in some places this is legal. Most importantly, a bicycle can keep moving when cars have nowhere to go.

Unless a sponsor picks up on this story and offers Serena money to promote their bikes and bike riding, it’s unlikely that this will happen again. As an isolated incident, it was newsworthy, but long-lasting change rarely comes from such events.

One interesting observation I made was that none of the Herald’s usual cycling bashers came out of the woodwork to leave nasty comments on the story. In fact there were no comments left at all.

This could be interpreted as either a good or bad sign. Commenters may not have been able to find fault with Serena so they didn’t bother attacking her cycling activities. Or they have begun to lose steam in their relentless attacks on all things related to cycling.

If Serena or copycat tennis players started riding bikes to either matches or practice sessions, it might help to make cycling more mainstream. We’ll have to hope for a stroke of luck in this regard, and if it doesn’t pan out, we’ll have to look to other high profile people to take up the cause.

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Unjust Deaths Lead To Inadequate Gestures

Posted on March 21, 2013 by IsolateCyclist

Old Bike With Front Wheel Removed

Untimely death and injustice often go hand in hand. This is particularly true in societies where minority groups are assigned less value than their majority group counterparts. Cyclists, in American society, can be considered the former.

As a distinct minority, cyclists face unusual scrutiny when they are killed by a motor vehicle while cycling. Drivers, who form a vast majority, may feel saddened by a cyclists death, but they often qualify this sadness with blame.

Cyclists are outsiders on roads which are perceived as belonging to cars, and as such, often face blame for the unfair things that happen to them. A prime example of this can be seen when a cyclist is killed by a motor vehicle.

A high profile case of this type occurred in the town of Wellesley, Massachusetts. There, a 41 year old cyclist was struck and killed by a truck. Despite the best efforts of the Wellesley Police, a grand jury decided not to indict the truck driver — so his grisly deed when unpunished.

Both cyclists and friends of the victim were outraged by the grand jury’s decision. It was clearly a case of prejudice against cyclists. Overwhelming evidence of the driver’s negligence existed, including a video of the moments prior to the impact.

Even so, the grand jury, most of whom were sympathetic to the driver, felt a cyclist’s life was expendable. The loss of it wasn’t enough to warrant any punishment of the man who was responsible for the death.

The majority will always see the plight of a single majority member through their own eyes. They will see that person as they would see themselves. And anything they wouldn’t want to see happen to themselves, they won’t inflict on him.

While this approach might make the majority feel better, it leaves a feeling of emptiness in the hearts and minds of those who either identify with the cyclist or know him as family or friend. Such a sad state of affairs cries out for some form of action. Yet there is nothing anyone can do to mitigate the loss of life or the injustice of an arrested prosecution.

Under such conditions, people look for ways to make amends. Nothing short of bringing back the deceased will suffice, but this doesn’t stop people from trying.

For instance, Wellesley’s executive director, Hans Larsen was recently quoted as saying:

“Every time somebody is injured on our roads — particularly when someone dies — the selectmen take it very seriously; obviously, the police take it very seriously. It calls into question, you know, is there something else we need to do? Or is there something we should have done differently? We don’t want this to happen again, and what do we need to do to avoid that?”

He goes on to talk about the trade-offs that go along with creating space for bicycles. It will mean taking something away from cars, which may not go over well with some Wellesley residents.

Wellesley’s leaders are planning to establish a dialog. This will, no doubt, cause conflict. But maybe remembrance of the recent death will encourage selectmen and residents to put aside their differences and work on finding a way to help drivers and cyclists peacefully and safely coexist on the town’s roads.

As nice as this gesture is, it’s a sad commentary on our society that someone has to die before anyone makes even the smallest effort to change the problems that enabled the senseless death. We see danger all around us. And rather than address it, we avoid it.

We avoid danger physically. We avoid danger mentally. We avoid danger culturally until it causes an unbearable problem which we all regret. Then we do too little, too late — just to make ourselves feel better.

Whether we feel better or not, what we’re doing is merely a gesture, not a solution, because what happened in Wellesley will continue elsewhere, irrespective of the outcome of their bike lane debate. Ideally, we would anticipate disaster and address it prior to a loss. But, unfortunately, only hindsight is 20/20, so we will have to satisfy ourselves by effecting change one death at a time.

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Testing Pedestrian And Cyclist Trust While Driving

Posted on March 18, 2013 by IsolateCyclist

Old Crosswalk

Something about driving always inspires me to conduct informal experiments. The boredom, the lack of mental stimulation and the intolerable waiting for the sea of cars in front of me to move motivates me to look elsewhere to mitigate my unpleasant circumstances.

In that vein, I decided to conduct an experiment to see how much pedestrians and cyclists would trust me when interacting with me as a driver. It must be kept in mind that I had no intention of frightening anyone or of putting them at risk. I was merely interested in their own perceptions of how I was going to behave in various scenarios.

As I headed out from a parking lot driveway into late rush hour traffic, I decided to test the reactions of pedestrians crossing the road where I was driving. A little background on this road: it is a four-lane road which rarely has any police patrols due to territorial issues. In other words, it is a Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation road, which means that it is the responsibility of the Massachusetts State Police.

Since it is not in a high accident area, as some of their other roads are, they believe it is not necessary to patrol the road. The local police don’t bother either since it is not within their jurisdiction, even though it is within their town.

Most locals know that the road is police-free so they drive 20 miles per hour over the speed limit and don’t stop for pedestrians on the two crosswalks near the residential portion of this road. My experiment included the crosswalk closest to the condominium developments along the road.

I have walked along this road myself, and I have tried to cross the road at this crosswalk. Even when the walk signal is lit, the cars don’t stop. They think the red light doesn’t apply to them, which is what cyclists are always accused of.

Like most pedestrians in that area, I stare down the lead driver to make sure that he or she will stop before I step into the road. Usually, this works, but not always. Once I stepped in front of a car that was slowing down at the red light only to have the car steer around me and continue through the red light.

As luck would have it, I was the first car in line when the light turned red. To the disgust of the car behind me, I put my foot on the brake at the first sign of the yellow light.

Two pedestrians were standing on the side of the road waiting to cross. When the Walk signal lit up, neither one stepped off of the curb, despite the obvious slowing of my car.

They both scrutinized me as if they could tell by my looks how I would act. I don’t look particularly menacing. Nor do I drive like a maniac, so I thought that they would trust me.

Wrong.

Neither one was willing to risk walking in front of my car. One pedestrian, a tall woman wearing a fashionable coat, stared at me as if I were a serial killer. The piercing, mistrustful look in her eyes was a sad sign indeed.

Only once my car was completely still, with no sign of movement on my part did the pedestrians begin to cross. The only problem with their life preserving strategy was that the Don’t Walk light had already illuminated before they reached the halfway mark. This caused the cars in the opposing lanes to have to wait for them after the light had turned green.

Much horn blowing ensued as the drivers on the other side of the road were inconvenienced for thirty seconds while waiting for the pedestrians to make it across. I concluded that these pedestrians had been conditioned not to trust drivers on this road, so no matter how the first driver behaved they were going to assume the worst and stay put on the sidewalk. The term I devised for this phenomenon was “learned pedestrian helplessness.”

Granted, it’s not very original, but this is what it reminded me of. The pedestrians had lost their ability to make judgments in specific situations and just defaulted to a mistrustful state, even if it was unrealistic.

Having concluded this part of my experiment, I continued on my journey. I had to stop at a a supermarket to pick up something to eat for dinner. As I often do when I’m running late, I stopped at the Trader Joe’s in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Regardless of how one feels about Trader Joe’s — apparently, one either loves it or hates it — its difficult to deny the ease with which a hurried person can find an edible microwave ready meal there. I don’t know what I would have done if the microwave hadn’t been invented. It, and Trader Joe’s, keeps me from starving to death.

But, back to the experiment. After an eternity of fighting traffic through a stop and go hell I finally turned into the street behind Trader Joe’s. Despite the hour, well into the evening, a queue had formed to enter the parking lot.

I opted to turn into the bank’s parking lot to avoid the chaos in the official Trader Joe’s parking lot. Cars, pedestrians and cyclists always cross between these two adjacent lots.

Just as I was entering the lot, I saw two cyclists heading for the posts which separated the two lots. The first cyclist was a young woman on a broken down bike. Although she could have been anyone, given the location and the number of college students who live there, I thought of her as a student.

If I hadn’t been a cyclist, I might not have realized that she was going to ride between the posts and cut through the bank’s parking lot. She would have been better off exiting to the street from the Trader Joe’s lot, as most drivers would not expect to encounter her at this location.

Fortunately, I was prepared. I slowed down to see where she was headed. As she passed between two posts, barely three feet in front of my car, she suddenly realized that she was about to ride in front of a car.

She panicked. I saw her put one foot down onto the ground to supplement the poor braking power of her decrepit bike. The fear on her face made me pity her. I could see that she believed she was going to get hit by a car and she was afraid of getting hurt.

By the time she stopped in front of my bumper, I was already stopping and did not hit her. She stopped and stared at me in a daze. It was almost as if she couldn’t believe that I had stopped and she was safe.

A moment or two passed before she composed herself and started to ride off with her companion following behind. Even though she had made a mistake in how she rode her bike, it was clear that she had learned to mistrust cars. She had been conditioned to assume the worst.

This was another case of car-induced fear. After finishing my shopping, I got back into my car to contemplate the results of my experiment.

It dawned on me that as ingrained as cars are in our culture, many people have come to fear them. Or, maybe it’s that they fear the people behind the wheel. Or maybe it has become impossible to distinguish between the two, driver and car.

They have become a unit in the minds of pedestrians and cyclists and no matter how you look at it, the combination can cause great harm. It’s healthy to fear that which can harm you. But, it’s not healthy to idolize that which you know is harmful, the way our culture idolizes cars.

With this strange dilemma in mind, I drove home vowing to think more about this experiment on another day.

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