Earth Day Bike Action -and- Critical Mass

"Jym Dyer" wrote in message
...

We can all be proud because biking is up 20% in NYC and will
continue, in large part because of you and your participation in
Critical Mass

Absolutely untrue.

a.

In article .net,
"andrew smith" writes:
"Jym Dyer" wrote in message
...

We can all be proud because biking is up 20% in NYC and will
continue, in large part because of you and your participation in
Critical Mass

Absolutely untrue.

I wouldn't be surprised if CM was a tourism draw.
And if tourists find they can cycle around a city
and get acquainted with it, they might be inclined
to return and do it again. Maybe even move there.

Maybe car use historically proliferated because they
had their own "Critical Mass". History can repeat
itself w/ other transportation modes.


- Tom

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| We can all be proud because biking is up 20% in NYC and will
| continue, in large part because of you and your participation
| in Critical Mass.

(I should mention that that's boilerplate text from TIME'S UP!)

Absolutely untrue.

=v= New York does indeed seem to be following a pattern I've
seen in other cities: a Critical Mass reaches critical mass,
then within 3 years you get an energized bike activist community
and a bunch more people on bikes. An alternative argument has
been made that the greenways are putting more people on bikes,
but for me that leads back to the energized bike activists.

=v= So, no, not absolutely untrue.
_Jym_

"Tom Keats" wrote in message
...
In article .net,
"andrew smith" writes:
"Jym Dyer" wrote in message
...

We can all be proud because biking is up 20% in NYC and will
continue, in large part because of you and your participation in
Critical Mass

Absolutely untrue.

I wouldn't be surprised if CM was a tourism draw.
And if tourists find they can cycle around a city
and get acquainted with it, they might be inclined
to return and do it again. Maybe even move there.

I see it now...someone sitting at home thinking, "I sure would like to go to
Manhattan. I wonder if Critical Mass has proven that you can ride a bicycle
in Manhattan? Well, they probably haven't, so I won't go there."

Maybe car use historically proliferated because they
had their own "Critical Mass". History can repeat
itself w/ other transportation modes.

What has that to do with a bunch of folks making enemies by intentionally
snarling traffic?

a.

"Jym Dyer" wrote in message
...
| We can all be proud because biking is up 20% in NYC and will
| continue, in large part because of you and your participation
| in Critical Mass.

(I should mention that that's boilerplate text from TIME'S UP!)

Absolutely untrue.

=v= New York does indeed seem to be following a pattern I've
seen in other cities: a Critical Mass reaches critical mass,
then within 3 years you get an energized bike activist community
and a bunch more people on bikes. An alternative argument has
been made that the greenways are putting more people on bikes,
but for me that leads back to the energized bike activists.

=v= So, no, not absolutely untrue.

The area I live in has a good number of bikers, is adding bike routes, and
lanes, and a bunch more people on bikes.

What is doesn't have is a bunch of jerks intentionall clogging traffic.

So, yes, absolutely untrue.

a.

From somewhere in cyberspace, "andrew smith" said:

What has that to do with a bunch of folks making enemies by intentionally
snarling traffic?

The traffic snarl is unintentional. The real purpose behind the Mass is
to get on your bike and have fun. Which you should probably go out and
do, given the grumpy tone of your post above.

Besides, I can report to you that traffic in Manhattan that Saturday
was mostly unaffected by the Critical Mass. The front of the Mass
poked its nose through several nasty traffic snarls on the way to
Central Park - they were provoked by other things, like the
construction on 3rd Ave that we squeezed past. It seems to me that
Manhattan traffic is capable of snarling itself up without assistance
from an occasional roving crowd of bicyclists.
--
eravin@ | Grief can take care of itself; but to get the full
panix.com | value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.
| -- Mark Twain

In article , says...

I wouldn't be surprised if CM was a tourism draw.
And if tourists find they can cycle around a city
and get acquainted with it, they might be inclined
to return and do it again. Maybe even move there.

Anyone who needs CM to ride the streets of NYC, shouldn't!
If you know the rules of the road and how to behave in traffic
you don't need a bunch of other cyclists to do it with you.
---------------
Alex

Alex Rodriguez wrote:
In article , says...

I wouldn't be surprised if CM was a tourism draw.
And if tourists find they can cycle around a city
and get acquainted with it, they might be inclined
to return and do it again. Maybe even move there.

Anyone who needs CM to ride the streets of NYC, shouldn't!
If you know the rules of the road and how to behave in traffic
you don't need a bunch of other cyclists to do it with you.

OTOH, it can be a liberating experience. My first experience
cycling in the city was a Times Up! Moonlight ride in Central
Park (not CM, but not too different). The ride itself was
off-road, but getting to the ride made me realize that I could
ride my bike in NYC. Up until then I just assumed that it
wasn't possible. (But that's just what THEY wanted me to
think.)

--
Steven O'Neill
you know who THEY are, don't you?

Anyone who needs CM to ride the streets of NYC, shouldn't!

=v= Faulty premise. Nobody said anyone *needs* CM to ride
in NYC streets. It just makes it more fun by attracting more
bicycling and more bicycling community.

=v= That said, rides in safer contexts are an ideal set of
"training wheels" to get people ready for the streets.
_Jym_

P.S.: The streets of NYC aren't actually so bad to ride on.
Unlike other U.S. cities, the surface is ruled by pedestrians,
not cars.

In article , says...
Anyone who needs CM to ride the streets of NYC, shouldn't!
=v= Faulty premise. Nobody said anyone *needs* CM to ride
in NYC streets. It just makes it more fun by attracting more
bicycling and more bicycling community.

It's no fun riding with folks you can't be sure know how to ride
properly. This weekend should be interesting to watch all the
folks who take their bikes out once a year crashing into each
other. Let's hope no one gets seriously hurt.

=v= That said, rides in safer contexts are an ideal set of
"training wheels" to get people ready for the streets.
_Jym_

That's fine, practice in the areas where there is little traffic.


P.S.: The streets of NYC aren't actually so bad to ride on.
Unlike other U.S. cities, the surface is ruled by pedestrians,
not cars.

True, but those pedestrians can be a real pain. Many, many times
I have had pedestrians walk out right in front of me when they have
a red light and I have a green. It's as if they didn't see me
coming down the road.
---------------
Alex