Bike Rants
Posted By Sean Bonner On June 6, 2008 @ 8:33 am In Biking in LA | Comments Disabled
While scanning some blog recently I couldn’t help but notice some fellow LA bike riders bitching and moaning about things that had I thought of first I would have happily bitched and moaned about myself. That said, rather than rehash, I thought I’d just point you in their general direction. First off Mikey Wally points out [1] how lame many of the city sponsored bike rides are, and how they are filled with people paying to pretend to be cyclists:
Why pay $39 before May 15, or $49 after May 15 to get a t-shirt and bibs you’ll never wear again and ride with a bunch of recreational spandex newbies on expensive carbon bicycles they don’t know how to ride or fix themselves when you can hit the streets everyday? Maybe I’m missing something, maybe I’m already in the future?
It’s funny that he mentions the future, because over on WestSideBikeSide [2] Mihai is complaining [3] about just that, or at least asking why the cities keep citing bikes as an important part of future plans but then completely ignoring them in the moment. Or worse, actively discouraging them:
Why does a Beverly Hills police officer think it’s a good idea to turn off his lights at night, point his SUV at us, and speed up towards our group in order to teach one of the three of us a lesson about not having a headlight (License plate #1098193, short blond hair, medium build)? Why does the Santa Monica Police Department harass cyclists without even knowing the California Vehicle Code? Why do you robotic, peon police officers harass us when we ARE the F’in future?…
…Why do I always beat the Metro Rapid and Big Blue Buses on my way to work? Why does that Blue Line driver talk smack to me every Saturday morning when I bring my bike on board?
The contrast to that is, perhaps because of the rising gas prices and people looking for other options, there are definitely more people on bikes on the streets [4] these days which is a good thing. I can’t wait for gas to hit $10 a gallon!
Related posts:
Article printed from Los Angeles Metblogs: http://la.metblogs.com
URL to article: http://la.metblogs.com/2008/06/06/bike-rants/
URLs in this post:
[1] Mikey Wally points out: http://mikeywally.wordpress.com/2008/06/04/lacbc-river-ride-only-for-the-rich/
[2] WestSideBikeSide: http://www.westsidebikeside.com/
[3] Mihai is complaining: http://www.westsidebikeside.com/can-i-live-los-angeles/
[4] more people on bikes on the streets: http://la.metblogs.com/2008/06/05/theres-something-happening-here/
[5] Santa Monica Wins Bike Friendly Award. Local Cyclists Call Bullshit.: http://la.metblogs.com/2009/06/04/santa-monica-wins-bike-friendly-award-local-cyclists-call-bullshit/
[6] L.A. Marathon Kicks Bike Tour To A Date To Be Determined: http://la.metblogs.com/2009/08/26/l-a-marathon-kicks-bike-tour-to-a-date-to-be-determined/
[7] Bike co-op film shows the power of the bike community in LA: http://la.metblogs.com/2008/12/24/bike-co-op-film-shows-the-power-of-the-bike-community-in-la/
[8] Is This Actually “Safer”?: http://la.metblogs.com/2009/07/28/is-this-actually-safer/
[9] LAPD Chief Recommends Discontinuing Bike License Program: http://la.metblogs.com/2009/01/09/lapd-chief-recommends-discontinuing-bike-license-program/
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