The Cycling Commute Gets Chic

Dane Buson wrote:
(snip)

Quoted message said:

I could see the back-stripe extending into your hair
if it was long enough. I've never gotten mud/crud on my head, as in
anywhere a helmet would cover.

--
Dane Buson - [email hidden]

Oh yeah ... "road poo" (thanks, Claire) all over - not just in hair - whenever I
get caught in the rain. The vehicles I'm behind throw it up. The vehicles that
elbow around me and pull in five feet from my front wheel *really* lay it on. I
try to avoid riding on streets (too many poor drivers out there) but sometimes I
just can't avoid it.

--
Michael

"Peter Cole" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Richard B said:

Good article.
I found the above section interesting.

The author of the article points out how dangerous cycling is by stating
that there were "724 (cyclist deaths) during the decade that ended in
2004" but does not mention the 30,000 deaths _per year_ from automobile
accidents.

No, but the article does express the fatality rate in relative terms (12x
the rate per mile). While also balancing that off against overall
health/death consequences.

Richard, note the 724 is in a year (i.e. the deaths per year fell 10% to 724
in the last year of the decade).

The correct comparison is therefore 724 versus about 30,000
OR
the death rate per distance Peter mentions
OR
a death rate per hour

On the whole, the WSJ did decently on this one. Even on this newsgroup we
don't agree on the proper metric.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Claire Petersky said:

From the Wall Street Journal

The Cycling Commute Gets Chic

^^^^

I suppose one could substitute 'Chic' with 'Gentrified'.

.....

Quoted message said:

In a trend reminiscent of previous public-health fashions, affluent
professionals seem to be leading the charge of commuters on bikes, just as
they were among the first groups to embrace organic food, to stop smoking
and to return to feeding babies healthier breast milk rather than formula.
"So far, it's a white-collar movement," says Dave Growacz, a Chicago biking

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Heh :-) Maybe some day it'll trickle down to us working class folx.

Quoted message said:

official and author of the book "The Urban Bikers' Tricks & Tips."

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

Tom Keats said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Claire Petersky said:

From the Wall Street Journal

The Cycling Commute Gets Chic

^^^^

I suppose one could substitute 'Chic' with 'Gentrified'.

Indeed. Because only affluent people "commute." Everybody else just
goes to work.

There are a lot of working-class people who use bikes to get to work
around here.

-Luigi

In article <[email hidden]>,

Luigi de Guzman said:

Tom Keats said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Claire Petersky said:

From the Wall Street Journal

The Cycling Commute Gets Chic

^^^^

I suppose one could substitute 'Chic' with 'Gentrified'.

Indeed. Because only affluent people "commute." Everybody else just
goes to work.

There are a lot of working-class people who use bikes to get to work
around here.

-Luigi

From what I've seen, gentrification just spoils & ruins things.
It stems from money-grubbers trying to capitalize popularity.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

(Tom Keats) said:

"Claire Petersky" <[email hidden]> writes:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

"So far, it's a white-collar movement," says Dave Growacz, a Chicago biking

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Heh :-) Maybe some day it'll trickle down to us working class folx.

I can imagine a few contraposed dynamics driving this sort [white-collar] of
thing, either related to the physical locations of WC v. BC jobs or the
sociology of the workplace.

I'm thinking of the contrasts between working in the Loop in chicago vs the
Caterpillar plant in Montgomery, some 40 miles west. Can you imagine
showing up fully spandexed to a UAW assembly plant on a road bike with LQQK
pedals?? :-)

i used to bike to my job making plastic bottles, 22 years ago.

..m a x

max said:

(Tom Keats) said:

"Claire Petersky" <[email hidden]> writes:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

"So far, it's a white-collar movement," says Dave Growacz, a Chicago biking

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Heh :-) Maybe some day it'll trickle down to us working class folx.

I can imagine a few contraposed dynamics driving this sort [white-collar] of
thing, either related to the physical locations of WC v. BC jobs or the
sociology of the workplace.

I'm thinking of the contrasts between working in the Loop in chicago vs the
Caterpillar plant in Montgomery, some 40 miles west. Can you imagine
showing up fully spandexed to a UAW assembly plant on a road bike with LQQK
pedals?? :-)

True. But then again, in a previous era, cycling to the factory meant (in
many parts of the world) an all-steel, Nottingham-built, rod-braked,
Raleigh roadster.

The "chic" cyclocommuters are cyclocommuters by choice; they choose to
commute by bike because they can get to work and get their exercise hour
out of the way at the same time. Thus, you see them decked out as they
would be for exercise.

The guys who are just going to work are...just going to work.

-Luigi