Today Show: Bike Use Soars With Gas Prices

Matt O'Toole

Bike commuting has been featured a lot in the mainstream media lately but
we know it's on everyone's radar when it hits the Today Show:

http://www.vabike.org/today-show-bi...ith-gas-prices/

Now that we have everyone's attention, the time is ripe for bike advocates
to deliver our message. Let's get busy, whether we're working
nationally, statewide, locally, or person to person.

Matt O.

Mike Jacoubowsky

"Matt O'Toole" <mattotoole@letterboxes.org> wrote in message
newsan.2008.05.30.20.15.17.99067@letterboxes.org...
> Bike commuting has been featured a lot in the mainstream media lately but
> we know it's on everyone's radar when it hits the Today Show:
>
> http://www.vabike.org/today-show-bi...ith-gas-prices/
>
> Now that we have everyone's attention, the time is ripe for bike advocates
> to deliver our message. Let's get busy, whether we're working
> nationally, statewide, locally, or person to person.
>
> Matt O.

Matt: It's a double-edged sword. People are bringing junky old bikes, often
product that, in the industry, is referred to as a BSO (Bike Shaped Object),
and thinking that it has useful value as a utility vehicle and, since it
cost virtually nothing initially, it shouldn't run much to repair it. You
don't have to spend a fortune to have a decent bike to commute on, but you
cannot expect a 45 pound Magna dual-suspension BSO to hold up to routine
use, be easy to pedal, or inexpensive to repair.

There are some shops that have such low overhead (rural areas where rent is
cheap and the various costs of business much lower than in major cities)
that they can make a living repairing such bikes, but that's not,
unfortunately, a reasonable expectation in the very areas that are most
suited for bike commuting.

This is an incredibly self-serving thing for me to say, but we need to get
the word out that people need to put their money where their priorities are,
and in the past that's been with their cars, and if they're going to move to
cycling as a way of getting around, it may be appropriate to spend a bit of
money there as well. Or, to put it another way, if you're going to move
beyond the realm of bike-as-toy, and want something functional, you might
have to spend $300 or a bit more, instead of $110 at *Mart.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

Matt O'Toole

On Fri, 30 May 2008 15:27:10 -0700, Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

> "Matt O'Toole" <mattotoole@letterboxes.org> wrote in message
> newsan.2008.05.30.20.15.17.99067@letterboxes.org...
>> Bike commuting has been featured a lot in the mainstream media lately
>> but we know it's on everyone's radar when it hits the Today Show:
>>
>> http://www.vabike.org/today-show-bi...ith-gas-prices/
>>
>> Now that we have everyone's attention, the time is ripe for bike
>> advocates to deliver our message. Let's get busy, whether we're
>> working nationally, statewide, locally, or person to person.
>>
>> Matt O.
>
> Matt: It's a double-edged sword. People are bringing junky old bikes,
> often product that, in the industry, is referred to as a BSO (Bike
> Shaped Object), and thinking that it has useful value as a utility
> vehicle and, since it cost virtually nothing initially, it shouldn't run
> much to repair it. You don't have to spend a fortune to have a decent
> bike to commute on, but you cannot expect a 45 pound Magna
> dual-suspension BSO to hold up to routine use, be easy to pedal, or
> inexpensive to repair.
>
> There are some shops that have such low overhead (rural areas where rent
> is cheap and the various costs of business much lower than in major
> cities) that they can make a living repairing such bikes, but that's
> not, unfortunately, a reasonable expectation in the very areas that are
> most suited for bike commuting.
>
> This is an incredibly self-serving thing for me to say, but we need to
> get the word out that people need to put their money where their
> priorities are, and in the past that's been with their cars, and if
> they're going to move to cycling as a way of getting around, it may be
> appropriate to spend a bit of money there as well. Or, to put it another
> way, if you're going to move beyond the realm of bike-as-toy, and want
> something functional, you might have to spend $300 or a bit more,
> instead of $110 at *Mart.

Mike,

That's my point -- with so much attention being lavished on biking now,
relatively speaking, now's the time to get your message out.

As long as you're looking out for your customers' best interests, and I do
believe you are, it's fine to serve yourself a bit too.

Matt O.

Mike Jacoubowsky

| > This is an incredibly self-serving thing for me to say, but we need to
| > get the word out that people need to put their money where their
| > priorities are, and in the past that's been with their cars, and if
| > they're going to move to cycling as a way of getting around, it may be
| > appropriate to spend a bit of money there as well. Or, to put it another
| > way, if you're going to move beyond the realm of bike-as-toy, and want
| > something functional, you might have to spend $300 or a bit more,
| > instead of $110 at *Mart.
|
| Mike,
|
| That's my point -- with so much attention being lavished on biking now,
| relatively speaking, now's the time to get your message out.
|
| As long as you're looking out for your customers' best interests, and I do
| believe you are, it's fine to serve yourself a bit too.
|
| Matt O.

Matt: There is another side to this too... which is that the high fuel
prices are going to be causing a lot of economic dislocation and suffering,
and there needs to be a certain amount of sensitivity to that as things get
worse. How much worse can things get? MUCH worse. I have yet to see any
projections for the cost of fuel oil for heating that so much of the East
Coast (your part of the world!) depends upon. Here on the left coast, aside
from gas for the car, we're pretty much separated by six degrees from most
of the direct effects of the increasing oil costs, and you're not going to
read about people dying out here because they can't afford to heat their
homes.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com


"Matt O'Toole" <mattotoole@letterboxes.org> wrote in message
newsan.2008.05.31.01.02.54.999562@letterboxes.org...
| On Fri, 30 May 2008 15:27:10 -0700, Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
|
| > "Matt O'Toole" <mattotoole@letterboxes.org> wrote in message
| > newsan.2008.05.30.20.15.17.99067@letterboxes.org...
| >> Bike commuting has been featured a lot in the mainstream media lately
| >> but we know it's on everyone's radar when it hits the Today Show:
| >>
| >> http://www.vabike.org/today-show-bi...ith-gas-prices/
| >>
| >> Now that we have everyone's attention, the time is ripe for bike
| >> advocates to deliver our message. Let's get busy, whether we're
| >> working nationally, statewide, locally, or person to person.
| >>
| >> Matt O.
| >
| > Matt: It's a double-edged sword. People are bringing junky old bikes,
| > often product that, in the industry, is referred to as a BSO (Bike
| > Shaped Object), and thinking that it has useful value as a utility
| > vehicle and, since it cost virtually nothing initially, it shouldn't run
| > much to repair it. You don't have to spend a fortune to have a decent
| > bike to commute on, but you cannot expect a 45 pound Magna
| > dual-suspension BSO to hold up to routine use, be easy to pedal, or
| > inexpensive to repair.
| >
| > There are some shops that have such low overhead (rural areas where rent
| > is cheap and the various costs of business much lower than in major
| > cities) that they can make a living repairing such bikes, but that's
| > not, unfortunately, a reasonable expectation in the very areas that are
| > most suited for bike commuting.
| >
| > This is an incredibly self-serving thing for me to say, but we need to
| > get the word out that people need to put their money where their
| > priorities are, and in the past that's been with their cars, and if
| > they're going to move to cycling as a way of getting around, it may be
| > appropriate to spend a bit of money there as well. Or, to put it another
| > way, if you're going to move beyond the realm of bike-as-toy, and want
| > something functional, you might have to spend $300 or a bit more,
| > instead of $110 at *Mart.
|
| Mike,
|
| That's my point -- with so much attention being lavished on biking now,
| relatively speaking, now's the time to get your message out.
|
| As long as you're looking out for your customers' best interests, and I do
| believe you are, it's fine to serve yourself a bit too.
|
| Matt O.
|

Tom Keats

In article <pan.2008.05.30.20.15.17.99067@letterboxes.org>,
Matt O'Toole <mattotoole@letterboxes.org> writes:
> Bike commuting has been featured a lot in the mainstream media lately but
> we know it's on everyone's radar when it hits the Today Show:
>
> http://www.vabike.org/today-show-bi...ith-gas-prices/
>
> Now that we have everyone's attention, the time is ripe for bike advocates
> to deliver our message. Let's get busy, whether we're working
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Hear, hear!

And I figure the best way of delivering the message that
Practical Bicycling can indeed be viable is by, well,
simply doing it -- by simply being an example to others.

I think it helps to dress in normal workaday clothes
which look nice but are also cycling-friendly.

It also helps to maintain a happy-go-lucky demeanour.

All of that demonstrates that riding needn't be a
burdenous extra chore in one's life, and that riding
can in fact mitigate what would otherwise be drudgery.

Heh :-) My Leggero Max[tm] cargo trailer absolutely
astonishes SUV pilots at my local laundromat. It folds
down to a bike trailer, and folds up into a shopping
cart or laundry hamper. Or I can fold it flat and use
it like a luggage carrier, or scootch it up flat against
the laundromat's wall so it's out of the way.

The trick is to entice people into it. You surely know
how proselytive phrases that begin with: "Y'know what you
should do?" go over like lead balloons. But if you display
your 'product' actually working at its best, without any
extraneous razmatazz hype, it sells itself. Then,
word-of-mouth takes hold among the populace, followed by
the Keeping-Up-With-The-Jones's effect, and trendiness
ensues. Make it seem like an "underground" thing, and
everybody will want in on it. (I should've been an
advertising exec, but I only use my powers for good.)

Anyways, if we're gonna promote Practical Bicycling,
we have to do Practical Bicycling ourselves, in such
a manner that puts a bee in people's bonnets, and
gets them to thinking about it for themselves.

Lemme put it this way: showin' people works way better
than tellin' 'em.

Bicycling practically /should be/ advocacy enough.

However[!]:

there are a number of shops down the street from where
I live, that sell Electric Power Assisted Bicycles.
Every day I get to encounter customers of those shops
test-riding their wares. Where I live, Electric
Power Assisted Bicycles are legislatively considered to
be ... bicycles, as long as they don't exceed certain
maximal limitations as to power output & speed (IIRC,
750W, 30 kmh.)

I intuit people who lack confidence in their physical
ability to drive a normal bicycle, or too greatly fear
motorized traffic, will look to those things as options
to PO(motorized)Vs first, before considering normal bicycles.

That fear of motorized traffic & lack of confidence in
physical capability are the things that really need to
be addressed.

Those are the things that hold most would-be riders back.

People are so enamoured w/ motors.

> nationally, statewide, locally, or person to person.
>
> Matt O.


sh'lom (& g'night,)
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

Jeff

Tom Keats wrote:
....snip...
> Heh :-) My Leggero Max[tm] cargo trailer absolutely
> astonishes SUV pilots at my local laundromat. It folds
> down to a bike trailer, and folds up into a shopping
> cart or laundry hamper. Or I can fold it flat and use
> it like a luggage carrier, or scootch it up flat against
> the laundromat's wall so it's out of the way.
....snip...

Hey Tom.

Where did you get your Leggero Max? I checked out their website and the
trailer looks interesting but my German is not that good and I cannot
find a link to Canadian distributors (well, any nonSwiss distributors).

Tom Keats

In article <lBa0k.919$t07.493@newsfe22.lga>,
Jeff <no_answer@pegguru.com> writes:
> Tom Keats wrote:
> ...snip...
>> Heh :-) My Leggero Max[tm] cargo trailer absolutely
>> astonishes SUV pilots at my local laundromat. It folds
>> down to a bike trailer, and folds up into a shopping
>> cart or laundry hamper. Or I can fold it flat and use
>> it like a luggage carrier, or scootch it up flat against
>> the laundromat's wall so it's out of the way.
> ...snip...
>
> Hey Tom.
>
> Where did you get your Leggero Max?

I lucked into it via my across-the-lane-ikah neighbour,
Marc, who's a bike shop wrench.

> I checked out their website and the
> trailer looks interesting but my German is not that good and I cannot
> find a link to Canadian distributors (well, any nonSwiss distributors).

Okay, there's this Vancouver-based guy named Andy Hunter
who will provide riders with all kinds of nice trailers,
including (AIUI) the Leggero Max. He's a nice guy.
I tried Googling-up some hits for you, but for some
reason I miserably and regrettably failed. But then I've
just done a week of afternoon shift, and my exhausted
brain (and body) is a pile o' mush.

Anyways, Andy Hunter of Vancouver BC can probably fix
you up with a Leggero Max. It's a lovely trailer
that makes Practical Bicycling even more practical.

I'll leave it up to you to look him up on the Web.
I know he's out there, somewhere. In the meantime,
I'm afraid I've just gotta get some shut-eye.
But tomorrow I'll see what the Web coughs-up, and
get back to you.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

Doc O'Leary

In article <0b%%j.2444$uE5.572@flpi144.ffdc.sbc.com>,
"Mike Jacoubowsky" <MikeJ@ChainReaction.com> wrote:

> This is an incredibly self-serving thing for me to say, but we need to get
> the word out that people need to put their money where their priorities are,
> and in the past that's been with their cars, and if they're going to move to
> cycling as a way of getting around, it may be appropriate to spend a bit of
> money there as well. Or, to put it another way, if you're going to move
> beyond the realm of bike-as-toy, and want something functional, you might
> have to spend $300 or a bit more, instead of $110 at *Mart.

You need to take a page from the book of the diamond cartels and start
pushing something akin to their "2 months salary" strategy. Allow me to
suggest that the bicycle industry takes this opportunity to start
suggesting to people that they should be willing to spend on a bike
1/10th of what they spent on their car.

--
My personal UDP list: 127.0.0.1, 4ax.com, buzzardnews.com, googlegroups.com,
greatnowhere.com, heapnode.com, individual.net, localhost, ntli.net,
teranews.com, vif.com, x-privat.org

Andy

which for me would be $100 :-)

On May 31, 8:47*am, Doc O'Leary <droleary.use...@2q2008.subsume.com>
wrote:
> In article <0b%%j.2444$uE5....@flpi144.ffdc.sbc.com>,
> *"Mike Jacoubowsky" <Mi...@ChainReaction.com> wrote:
>
> > This is an incredibly self-serving thing for me to say, but we need to get
> > the word out that people need to put their money where their priorities are,
> > and in the past that's been with their cars, and if they're going to move to
> > cycling as a way of getting around, it may be appropriate to spend a bitof
> > money there as well. Or, to put it another way, if you're going to move
> > beyond the realm of bike-as-toy, and want something functional, you might
> > have to spend $300 or a bit more, instead of $110 at *Mart.
>
> You need to take a page from the book of the diamond cartels and start
> pushing something akin to their "2 months salary" strategy. *Allow me to
> suggest that the bicycle industry takes this opportunity to start
> suggesting to people that they should be willing to spend on a bike
> 1/10th of what they spent on their car.
>
> --
> My personal UDP list: 127.0.0.1, 4ax.com, buzzardnews.com, googlegroups.com,
> * * greatnowhere.com, heapnode.com, individual.net, localhost, ntli.net,
> * * teranews.com, vif.com, x-privat.org

Tom Keats

In article <pan.2008.05.30.20.15.17.99067@letterboxes.org>,
Matt O'Toole <mattotoole@letterboxes.org> writes:
> Bike commuting has been featured a lot in the mainstream media lately but
> we know it's on everyone's radar when it hits the Today Show:
>
> http://www.vabike.org/today-show-bi...ith-gas-prices/

There was a local TV news item today, about a
bunch of gas theft (syphoning) going on.

It's a sorry state when carheads will turn to
crime instead of bicycles.

I've associated with a number of non-recitivist
ex-convicts who've edified me as how it works on
the Inside. The whole idea of carheads ripping-off
carheads is highly reminiscent to me of their stories.

Gasoline like hard narcotics makes prisoners of
its victims. And then they behave as such.
That's why I've always been scared-off from driving.
It's much better to be free, and apart from all that
nonsense.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

Pat

>
> And I figure the best way of delivering the message that
> Practical Bicycling can indeed be viable is by, well,
> simply doing it -- by simply being an example to others.

Well, I know I spend a lot of time explaining my Bike Friday to people every
time I ride it. I recently went on the Amtrak and when people saw me
unfolding it in the parking lot and then the reverse when I returned, I had
a crowd around me. Sheesh! I don't mind telling people about it, but I
have noticed a lot more interest recently.

Pat in TX

It's Chris

Anybody here remember the seventies? This is neither new nor suprising,
nor will it last any onger than it takes for people to realise that it
actually requires work. At which time they'll all go back to using their
cars anyways, complaining about how expensive it is, getting more obese
and dying from the very diseases that putting out a little physical
exertion would have solved in the first place.\

JMHO.

- -
Compliments of:
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

If you want to E-mail me use:
ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

My website:
http://geocities.com/czcorner

r15757@aol.com

On May 31, 2:42 am, tkeats2...@hotmail.com (Tom Keats) wrote:

> Hear, hear!
>
> And I figure the best way of delivering the message that
> Practical Bicycling can indeed be viable is by, well,
> simply doing it -- by simply being an example to others.
>
> I think it helps to dress in normal workaday clothes
> which look nice but are also cycling-friendly.
>
> It also helps to maintain a happy-go-lucky demeanour.
>
> All of that demonstrates that riding needn't be a
> burdenous extra chore in one's life, and that riding
> can in fact mitigate what would otherwise be drudgery.
>
> Heh :-) My Leggero Max[tm] cargo trailer absolutely
> astonishes SUV pilots at my local laundromat. It folds
> down to a bike trailer, and folds up into a shopping
> cart or laundry hamper. Or I can fold it flat and use
> it like a luggage carrier, or scootch it up flat against
> the laundromat's wall so it's out of the way.
>
> The trick is to entice people into it. You surely know
> how proselytive phrases that begin with: "Y'know what you
> should do?" go over like lead balloons. But if you display
> your 'product' actually working at its best, without any
> extraneous razmatazz hype, it sells itself. Then,
> word-of-mouth takes hold among the populace, followed by
> the Keeping-Up-With-The-Jones's effect, and trendiness
> ensues. Make it seem like an "underground" thing, and
> everybody will want in on it. (I should've been an
> advertising exec, but I only use my powers for good.)
>
> Anyways, if we're gonna promote Practical Bicycling,
> we have to do Practical Bicycling ourselves, in such
> a manner that puts a bee in people's bonnets, and
> gets them to thinking about it for themselves.

Couldn't agree more with this.

> People are so enamoured w/ motors.

Hiram Maxim said that when the bike came on the scene, it sparked a
demand that it couldn't satisfy.

Robert

Tom Keats

In article <6904-4842CF0C-837@storefull-3233.bay.webtv.net>,
dedendaddy4spammers@webtv.net (It's Chris) writes:
> Anybody here remember the seventies? This is neither new nor suprising,
> nor will it last any onger than it takes for people to realise that it
> actually requires work.

Actually, the 70s gave a lot of folks in Vancouver the kickstart
they needed to take up practical cycling. Yes, some fell by the
wayside. In fact that's how I accumulated my fleet of Apollos --
people bought 'em, decided they didn't like riding, and
gave/traded/sold 'em cheaply to me.

But many of my fellow citizens carried on, and continue to
this day to ride both recreationally and practically.
I daresay we have a thriving bicycling culture here which
is due in large part to the Energy Crisis. Even more so
in Victoria, B.C.

The seventies' so-called Energy Crisis was just a temporary glitch.
I sense we're now on the brink of something much more serious.

> At which time they'll all go back to using their
> cars anyways, complaining about how expensive it is, getting more obese
> and dying from the very diseases that putting out a little physical
> exertion would have solved in the first place.\

Biofuel to the rescue! (... maybe.)

Maybe biofuel could be made edible, or at least potable.
It could be advertised as "Good For Man or Machine or Beast."
I could make good use of a decent fractionating column, myself.
Not for vehicle operation, though.

I've noticed lately how publicly-available bike racks are
getting a lot more use. We need more of 'em.
Sheltered bike parking areas would be nice.

At any rate, I figure a lot of people are gonna learn
the hard way, the difference between "/can't/ adapt" and
"don't wanna adapt."

Of course the West (and the [Far] East) could always try to
subjugate Russia, to access all that Siberian petroleum.
But that would be irrational, and as we all know, we humans
are never ever irrational, even when everybody else is ;-)


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca