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I'm all for cycling, but as a former bike messenger this take feels a bit extreme. The obesity crisis is real and people should get out and be more active. No

I'm all for cycling, but as a former bike messenger this take feels a bit extreme. The obesity crisis is real and people should get out and be more active. No matter how many concessions are made, most people are just unable to get over the lack of inertia and start cycling. Even if we allow for a hypothetical safety utopia, comments here will cite sweating as a deal breaker. I understand and empathize with beginners who are not acclimatized to cycling on a busy road. However it doesn't change the fact that you have to start somewhere and build your comfort levels. Pragmatically, this is the more important self-fulfilling dynamic. If you don't start building your skills and instead blame drivers... There are hostile drivers out there. After decades of riding (sometimes wildly irresponsibly) I can only count on one hand motorists who were actively trying to run me over. In those cases the sentiment was mutual and we had already exchanged words or otherwise escalated. Would have been easy to avoid. Contrast this to the cultural/class rhetoric against pickup-truck drivers. As a self-appointed expert in the domain, this doesn't ring true for me. It fits better with the theme of Internet hyperbole and media alarmism.

bdauvergne 5y ago
What exactly is the problem with sweating ? The rest of the world sweats without thinking about it.
- aww_dang 5y ago
  Whatever problems may exist can be easily resolved by showering and changing clothes. They can be further minimized by dressing appropriately.
- analog31 5y ago
  Somehow it's perceived as a norm that you can't arrive at work, a restaurant, or the store, with any amount of sweat on you. There's a bit more to it than this, of course. Most American cities have more extreme climate, longer commutes, and more hills, than in the northern European cities that are held up as the gold standard of cycling culture, but people ride bikes in southern Europe too. In turn, this makes it "necessary" to wear special cycling garb, change, and shower when you arrive at work. Vanishingly few workplaces provide a convenient place to shower and change. But I ride my bike to work year-round in a city that gets (for instance) about 10 degrees hotter than Amsterdam, and I manage it.
datavirtue 5y ago
I got acclimated and the incidents involving aggressive drivers piled up to the point where I made the decision to stay off the roads. During the summer we have a steady stream of experienced dead cyclists here. Usually a hit and run.
TimonKnigge 5y ago
> After decades of riding (sometimes wildly irresponsibly) I can only count on one hand motorists who were actively trying to run me over. I don't see how this is a good thing? I've been riding my bike since I was a little kid (in the Netherlands) and I've had zero people actively try to kill me, I'm not sure why any nonzero number is not a big deal.
- aww_dang 5y ago
  The point being that there are people out there who might be provoked, but as you observe it certainly isn't the norm. It isn't as prevalent as comments here would suggest. Bicycling is safe, despite all of the alarmism. Hope this helps.

bdauvergne 5y ago

What exactly is the problem with sweating ? The rest of the world sweats without thinking about it.

aww_dang 5y ago
Whatever problems may exist can be easily resolved by showering and changing clothes. They can be further minimized by dressing appropriately.
analog31 5y ago
Somehow it's perceived as a norm that you can't arrive at work, a restaurant, or the store, with any amount of sweat on you. There's a bit more to it than this, of course. Most American cities have more extreme climate, longer commutes, and more hills, than in the northern European cities that are held up as the gold standard of cycling culture, but people ride bikes in southern Europe too. In turn, this makes it "necessary" to wear special cycling garb, change, and shower when you arrive at work. Vanishingly few workplaces provide a convenient place to shower and change. But I ride my bike to work year-round in a city that gets (for instance) about 10 degrees hotter than Amsterdam, and I manage it.

datavirtue 5y ago

I got acclimated and the incidents involving aggressive drivers piled up to the point where I made the decision to stay off the roads. During the summer we have a steady stream of experienced dead cyclists here. Usually a hit and run.

TimonKnigge 5y ago

> After decades of riding (sometimes wildly irresponsibly) I can only count on one hand motorists who were actively trying to run me over. I don't see how this is a good thing? I've been riding my bike since I was a little kid (in the Netherlands) and I've had zero people actively try to kill me, I'm not sure why any nonzero number is not a big deal.

aww_dang 5y ago
The point being that there are people out there who might be provoked, but as you observe it certainly isn't the norm. It isn't as prevalent as comments here would suggest. Bicycling is safe, despite all of the alarmism. Hope this helps.