'We All Can Ride': turning gang culture into bicycle culture

[TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher]

On Apr 25, 1:35 pm, "TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher"
<nolionnoprob...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Apr 24, 12:27 pm, Billy <wildbi...@withoutta.net> wrote:
>
> > In article
> > <b378a946-43fe-4819-b081-90272d5ad...@s27g2000yqd.googlegroups.com>,
> > "His Highness the TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher"
>
> > <comandante.ban...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > > On Apr 2, 8:57 am, datakoll <datak...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > > > > Hoodies tend to hide your face and shouldn't be worn with casual
> > > > > disregard for other people's reaction. Maybe a hoodie is OK but
> > > > > wearing the hood around is not.
>
> > > > TM lives in Miami
>
> > > > yeah Yahoo pubbed a Martin/hoodie photo and at 6' if he attacked me I shoot
> > > > him:
> > > > a leg or shoulder would suffice bjut thus isnot always possible.
>
> > > > good photo example, tilting away from Martin as innocent.
>
> > > > photolineups are a PITA for 'people' like Zimmerman who is obviuosly a fat
> > > > pig creep waiting for sonmeoine to screw uo so he can establish his manhood
> > > > by shooting, killing a PERP.
>
> > > > Baretta was a good example. Obviously looking at Baretta, he's innocent,
> > > > but TV residue locked him up.
>
> > > > Milly Cyrus walks right ?
>
> > > > I wear long hair and beard. I am. But the rig is warm, I do animal
> > > > communications research, birds see me as a bird.
>
> > > > The Right often sees me as a hippie criminal, specing the Right's
> > > > brainwaves as criminals look like used car salesmen and tough jocks in the
> > > > motorcycle club mode.
>
> > > > Obviously a hoodie in Lincoln Nebraska....
>
> > > > Same for cycle clothing...DO IT !...specs you as a harmless nutto athletic
> > > > affording expensiver clo.
>
> > > Talking about communicating with animals, gang members are "pack
> > > animals" and you need to same strategy.
>
> > > Interesting that in the UK a hoodie is the bad guy himself...
>
> > > Mr Grayling denied that his plans amounted to a reversal of David
> > > Cameron¹s so-called Œhug a hoodie¹ campaign and shrugged off the
> > > suggestion that the new Tory stance was more like Œmug a hoodie¹.
>
> > > And this is an interesting comment...
>
> > > This really is financially prohibitive and impractical nor does it
> > > resolve why teenagers behave this way and it's about time we had some
> > > radical/lateral thinking punishments that at least have some
> > > possibility of working. The root of the problem is fairly fundamental
> > > - put a group of youths together on any street corner and, as with any
> > > animal pack, they automatically believe that corner and the streets
> > > around it are their territory and therefore they can do whatever they
> > > want in their own designated area. So how do you deal with this? Every
> > > pack has a leader, police identify that individual and each time the
> > > youths are known to be responsible for any anti-social behaviour make
> > > the leader carry out community work. Sweeping the streets,
> > > whitewashing graffiti from walls anything that improves the local
> > > environments. Yes this will cost manpower resources, yes it will need
> > > to be monitored, but hey the law abidding community is losing this
> > > battle no matter what the statistics say!
>
> > > Read more:
> > >http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1217989/Mug-Hoodie-Tories-pro...
> > > 000-jail-clear-Britains-streets-thugs.html#ixzz1qtHIpYz9
>
> > > ***
>
> > > I find it interesting because then the streets won't be full of shit
> > > as they are now. And this conforms with the Wisdom of the Jungle. But
> > > that's only my humble opinion.
>
> > You've really jumped the tracks on this one Monk. Where to start? First
> > off, in your post of April 1, you let slide a reference in a publication
> > that datakoll posted, "Z, a cop and M a negro is a classic American
> > problem". First off there are no negros, just people with varying
> > amounts of melanin. If you wanted to be very picky, I suppose you could
> > divide the world between those from sub-Saharan Africa, and everybody
> > else. When everybody else left Africa, they encountered Neanderthal man
> > (our cousin who was somewhat conceptually challenged) and picked up some
> > of his chromosomes (1% - 4% for everyone, except the sub-Saharans).
> > But I digress. White people, and People of color (black, or brown
> > People) are the appropriate terms because there are NO sub-species for
> > Homo sapiens.

>
> There are a number of issues that I see here. Firstly, a hood makes
> you a dangerous people in the eyes of many people. Why wear it outside
> the right context? Secondly, the racial issue works two ways.
> Zimmerman is part of a minority as well. Thirdly, the gun culture
> creates this vigilante mentality. It happened in Florida where "stand
> your ground" is the law of the land. Fourthly, gated communities have
> lower tolerance for gang members, so the paranoia is fed by separating
> people. Fifth, why not give other options to youths other than
> assuming the identity of a gang? Where's the space to ride a bike and
> keep them off violence?
>
> So, I think they were the wrong people in the wrong place.

This is the kind of culture we should be promoting. Not gang culture,
but bicycle culture:

'We All Can Ride started in the summer of July 2010 when Egbevado
Ananouko and Charles Robertson went on a bike ride out to Powell
garage lost and found. Charles had lost his keys and they were out
there to pick them up. As Egbevado stopped at Mccoy park to wait for
Charles to get his bike from his house, he played soccer with some of
the kids he worked with at the boys and girls club. When Charles
Joined Egbevado they rode off and noticed kids on bikes had followed
them. The children wanted to bike ride with the two men and Egbevado
said maybe next time while Charles promised them a bike ride the
following week. The kids stopped following them an as Egbevado and
Charles were on the road, Egbevado asked Charles "why did you promise
those kids a bike ride next week?" "Are you able to lead the bike
ride?" Charles replied "No, Egbevado you are the one who works with
kids so you will lead the ride." Once returning from the Powell garage
Egbevado started to plan and come up with a name for the ride, he
decided on “We All Can Ride" and the journey began.'

http://weallcanride.org/

Around here only pro cyclists will ever dare ride on the road. That
usually means affluent, white people ride bikes in lycra suits on
weekends with speed and confidence to match. But that sometimes turns
tragic too as the recent hit and run of a cyclist proves. He will have
a memory ride, but minorities don't even get that. Minorities need a
positive program such as We All Can Ride to prove themselves. It
sounds to me like kids are bored and they simply have the wrong role
model to follow.

So it that the city of Portland is taking the lead while we ignore the
reality of the jungle. I guess we only know how to build gated
communities to keep hoodies out, but they sometimes find themselves in
the wrong place. Beyond justice there's a need for solutions. But
that's only my humble opinion.



---------------------------------------------------------

http://webspawner.com/users/BANANAREVOLUTION

[His Highness the TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher]

On Apr 25, 3:53 pm, "Is JohnJohnsn Mentally Ill?"
<jls1...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> On Apr 25, 2:17 pm, "TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher"

> Last time I rode on a city street an old woman driver nearly
> assassinated me, and I have ridden all over Western North Carolina and
> Southern California, and then places where I could find a field to
> land on, take my bike off the plane, and ride the town, such as
> Townsend, TN, and Mountain City, TN, and Elizabethton, TN, and
> Clemson, SC.
>
> So now I ride the sidewalks in town and out of town the greenways --
> Asheville, NC; Greenville, SC, and every once in a while the Blue
> Ridge Parkway when traffic is thin. Because drivers just innately
> hate bicyclists, I avoid being in MV traffic. Next greenway to ride:
> Knoxville, TN.
>
> And here is a great movie to watch where a motorist does a hit-and-run
> on a bicyclist and is caught red-handed. Watch this, it's mucho fun!
> --->
>
> http://videosift.com/video/Driver-Attemps-Hit-and-Run-Gets-Blocked-in...
>
> Notice that Pennsylvania has changed its laws to encourage bicycling,
> but it doesn't encourage me all that much.
>
> When I lived in Southern Cal. for a few short months I rode the
> bicycle trail, along the beach, all the way from Rancho Palos Verdes
> to Santa
> Monica. I miss that. That was a great ride, and when bicyclists
> crossed public roads they had the right-of-way.
>
> Now back to bitch-slapping an illiterate git from the texecution state.

Back to the jungle, huh? Same here. They are doing a bit here and
there but nothing THEY would ride. When I see the engineers and
politicians ride those bike lanes and sharrows (bike painted on
traffic lane), I'll follow. People simply struggle on sidewalks
because nobody wants to die. And hit and runs are the norm not the
exception.

Portland though is taking those changes seriously, or so it seems.

[TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher]

http://videosift.com/video/Driver-Attemps-Hit-and-Run-Gets-Blocked-in-By-Other-Drivers

Awesome. This video also proves my point that we need LIVE CAMERAS all
over the place to catch those criminals.

And then they need to be handed down a harsh sentence to serve as
example.

[Simon Mason]

On Apr 26, 2:55 am, "TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher"

> http://videosift.com/video/Driver-Attemps-Hit-and-Run-Gets-Blocked-in...

>
> Awesome. This video also proves my point that we need LIVE CAMERAS all
> over the place to catch those criminals.
>
> And then they need to be handed down a harsh sentence to serve as
> example.

I showed you that case two weeks ago.
The driver was convicted of a driving closer than four feet law
brought out at 0001h on THAT same day.

--
Simon Mason

[TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher]

On Apr 26, 12:28 am, Simon Mason <swldx...@gmail.com> wrote:

> > And then they need to be handed down a harsh sentence to serve as
> > example.
>
> I showed you that case two weeks ago.
> The driver was convicted of a driving closer than four feet law
> brought out at 0001h on THAT same day.

But was the sentence anyway? And suppose the driver never hits the
cyclist but comes closer than 4 feet?

[TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher]

On Apr 28, 12:08 pm, Billy <wildbi...@withoutta.net> wrote:

> > The prison industry needs the gun culture and the gang culture. It
> > also needs the War on Drugs, etc.
>
> But most of us don't need an oligarchy, racism, or prejudice based on
> fashion. It doesn't further us to encourage the few, and suppress the
> majority.

But it is my contention that this "fashion" is forced on the poor by
Hollywood and they establishment. It's been glorified and exported as
a valuable drug for the masses. And they are able to tell them apart.

A fashion where the bicycle is the key item is the perfect way to lift
up the poor. I think by now gang culture is synonymous with American
culture.

By contrast the Rasta fashion is also a minority movement, but it's a
deeper social movement. And Hollywood may be afraid to spread
revolution around. But that's only my humble opinion.

[Wes Groleau]

On 04-28-2012 12:41, TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher wrote:
> A fashion where the bicycle is the key item is the perfect way to lift
> up the poor. I think by now gang culture is synonymous with American
> culture.

So watch lots of Chinese movies, and encourage your friends to see the
good ones. Lots of bicycles in some of them.

--
Wes Groleau

Words of the Wild Wes
http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/WWW

[TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher]

On Apr 28, 2:20 pm, Wes Groleau <Groleau+n...@FreeShell.org> wrote:
> On 04-28-2012 12:41, TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher wrote:
>
> > A fashion where the bicycle is the key item is the perfect way to lift
> > up the poor. I think by now gang culture is synonymous with American
> > culture.
>
> So watch lots of Chinese movies, and encourage your friends to see the
> good ones.  Lots of bicycles in some of them.

I must have been missing them. I've seen Jackie Chan do motorcycling,
but no bicyling kung fu. It makes feel to see them fighting back
though.

[TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher]

On Apr 26, 1:38 am, Billy <wildbi...@withoutta.net> wrote:
> In article

> <a733fd31-7f4a-4827-8d85-668465d71...@i2g2000vbd.googlegroups.com>,

> "TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher"
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

> > > > > Cameron1s so-called ‘hug a hoodie1 campaign and shrugged off the
> > > > > suggestion that the new Tory stance was more like ‘mug a hoodie1.

>
> > > > > And this is an interesting comment...
>
> > > > > This really is financially prohibitive and impractical nor does it
> > > > > resolve why teenagers behave this way and it's about time we had some
> > > > > radical/lateral thinking punishments that at least have some
> > > > > possibility of working. The root of the problem is fairly fundamental
> > > > > - put a group of youths together on any street corner and, as with any
> > > > > animal pack, they automatically believe that corner and the streets
> > > > > around it are their territory and therefore they can do whatever they
> > > > > want in their own designated area. So how do you deal with this? Every
> > > > > pack has a leader, police identify that individual and each time the
> > > > > youths are known to be responsible for any anti-social behaviour make
> > > > > the leader carry out community work. Sweeping the streets,
> > > > > whitewashing graffiti from walls anything that improves the local
> > > > > environments. Yes this will cost manpower resources, yes it will need
> > > > > to be monitored, but hey the law abidding community is losing this
> > > > > battle no matter what the statistics say!
>
> > > > > Read more:
> > > > >http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1217989/Mug-Hoodie-Tories-pro...
> > > > > 000-jail-clear-Britains-streets-thugs.html#ixzz1qtHIpYz9
>
> > > > > ***
>
> > > > > I find it interesting because then the streets won't be full of shit

> > > > > as they are now. And this conforms with the Wisdom of the Jungle. But

> > > > > that's only my humble opinion.
>

> Central planning for recreation?

If the government doesn't promote exercise and healthy activities, who
will? It doesn't require central planning, but EDUCATION and proper
BIKE FACILITIES are helpful.

>
> Minorities are under attack. Why wouldn't they identify with that? Do
> you have any idea about the power of the media?

I think THE POOR as a whole are under attack. Under Globalization they
are the losers. Blacks and Hispanics can live in Gated Communities if
they got the dough.

> > positive program such as We All Can Ride to prove themselves. It
> > sounds to me like kids are bored and they simply have the wrong role
> > model to follow.
>

> Minorities? Aren't bike riders a minority? Aren't barbeque devotés a
> minority? Slice and dice, and you will find that you are a member of a
> minority,

Well, cyclists can lay claim to a moral superiority given by their
frugality. Even vegetarians should be accommodated to fit their
healthier lifestyle and minimal impact on the planet. Barbecue
devotees better become vegetarian before they can claim superiority.

>
> "THEY CAME FIRST for the Communists,
> and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
>
> THEN THEY CAME for the Jews,
> and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
>
> THEN THEY CAME for the trade unionists,
> and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
>
> THEN THEY CAME for the Catholics,
> and I didn¹t speak up because I was a Protestant.
>
> THEN THEY CAME for me
> and by that time no one was left to speak up."

Many people learn to go with the flow in order to survive. It may be
the wrong strategy but people is afraid to take a stand, even in
democracy. The system succeeds when they are afraid.

>
>
> > So it that the city of Portland is taking the lead while we ignore the
> > reality of the jungle. I guess we only know how to build gated
> > communities to keep hoodies out, but they sometimes find themselves in

> > the wrong place. Beyond justice there's a need for solutions. But

> > that's only my humble opinion.
>

> Ghettoes are a jungle? Where do ghettoes come from?

The jungle is the perfect metaphor for ghettos. Black American have
used that language to describe. Even Marley noticed that fact:

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bob+marley/concrete+jungle_20021669.html

> > "THE REVOLUTION IS ABOUT SOLUTIONS" says the motto.
>
> Every commissar has a solution, and a 5 year plan. It's not a revolution
> I would find acceptable.
>
> Our mission statement reads,"We hold these truths to be self-evident,
> that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator
> with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and
> the pursuit of Happiness. ‹ That to secure these rights, Governments are
> instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
> governed, ‹ That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of
> these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and
> to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles
> and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most
> likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

Slavery flourished under those statements. And we have trashed the
country in 2 centuries. The last Indians roamed free a long time ago,
and not even pedestrians and cyclists are safe. They can go to a Gated
Community, so they say.

Now we enjoy ECONOMIC APARTHEID, but it's not called apartheid, so
everybody seem to be happy with the status quo. Of course, those who
are unhappy have no voice.

Bob Marley was a great voice for them. I guess he got the right
revolution:

(lyrics)

It takes a revolution (revolution) to make a solution;
(doo-doo-doo-doo)
Too much confusion (aaa-aaah), so much frustration, eh!
I don't wanna live in the park (live in the park);
Can't trust no shadows after dark (shadows after dark), yeah-eh!
So, my friend, I wish that you could see,
Like a bird in the tree, the prisoners must be free, yeah! (free)

http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Revolution-lyrics-Bob-Marley/7EF8B6F14AFDFB6248256945000CE264

[TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher]

On Apr 29, 8:50 pm, BeamMeUpScotty
<ThenDestroyEveryth...@blackhole.nebulax.com> wrote:

> On 4/29/2012 8:36 PM, TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher wrote:
>
> > If the government doesn't promote exercise and healthy activities, who
> > will?
>

> It will be the doctor and the Sports equipment manufacturers and the
> retailers....   as it should be.

The sports industry doesn't have as much advertising power as the
SUVs. And the doctors won't want you healthy. That's the biggest
industry in America, right?

>
> > It doesn't require central planning, but EDUCATION and proper
> > BIKE FACILITIES are helpful.
>

> Propaganda requires central planning.

And so does war. We can use propaganda for good and evil.

[Wes Groleau]

Are you talking about Chan's Hollywood comedies? They're funny, but
they aren't Chinese movies.

One example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_%282007_film%29


--
Wes Groleau

I've noticed lately that the paranoid fear of computers becoming
intelligent and taking over the world has almost entirely disappeared
from the common culture. Near as I can tell, this coincides with
the release of MS-DOS.
— Larry DeLuca

[TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher]

On Apr 30, 1:54 am, Wes Groleau <Groleau+n...@FreeShell.org> wrote:
> On 04-29-2012 12:34, TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher wrote:
>
> > On Apr 28, 2:20 pm, Wes Groleau<Groleau+n...@FreeShell.org>  wrote:
> >> On 04-28-2012 12:41, TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher wrote:
> >>> A fashion where the bicycle is the key item is the perfect way to lift
> >>> up the poor. I think by now gang culture is synonymous with American
> >>> culture.
>
> >> So watch lots of Chinese movies, and encourage your friends to see the
> >> good ones.  Lots of bicycles in some of them.
>
> > I must have been missing them. I've seen Jackie Chan do motorcycling,
> > but no bicyling kung fu. It makes feel to see them fighting back
> > though.
>
> Are you talking about Chan's Hollywood comedies?  They're funny, but
> they aren't Chinese movies.
>
> One example:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_%282007_film%29

I understand the Chinese still have a bike culture, but it's on the
way out as hardcore capitalism sets in and cyclists are seen as the
proles.

It's not at all the case of Northern Europe, where many people don't
really care about a car.

[TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher]

On May 1, 9:43 pm, John B. <johnbsloc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 1 May 2012 12:57:53 -0700 (PDT), "TibetanMonkey, the Beach
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Cruiser Philosopher" <comandante.ban...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> >On Apr 30, 4:53 pm, Billy <wildbi...@withoutta.net> wrote:
> >> In article

> >> <47de34d3-7a86-475a-8244-dd7aa6e81...@g38g2000yqh.googlegroups.com>,
> >>  "His Highness the TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher"

>
> >>  <comandante.ban...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> >> > If the government doesn't promote exercise and healthy activities, who

> >> > will? It doesn't require central planning, but EDUCATION and proper
> >> > BIKE FACILITIES are helpful.
>
> >> You missed the point that bike lanes are already allocated due to local
> >> political pressure.
>
> >They are provided in such a way as to be useless. They don't want the
> >public to wean the car and start getting healthy. Maybe in another 200
> >years...
>
> >> >http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4718823191_589d493a94.jpg
>
> >> Is this in Santa Monica? I looked at that street with Google Earth and
> >> see no reason why not to use the road.
>
> >I lived in LA over 20 years ago and I remember struggling to ride a
> >bike as much as here in Miami. There's a path next to the Long Beach
> >Freeway, but glass and drunks were part of the obstacles along the
> >way.
>
> >I don't know the specifics of this street, but it sounds like the
> >bike
> >lanes we have around here and don't connect anywhere. They are
> >perhaps
> >placed there waiting for some master plan to come along and change
> >things. But I think we'll trash the planet before that happens. At
> >this rate of development it would take some 200 years to complete a
> >comprehensive web of routes. In the meantime, we can say they lead
> >nowhere.
>
> >> Gangs exist because of cultural exclusion.
>
> >Could be. It may also be because there's no other culture around. We
> >may also say that they could go into cycling or playing soccer. These
> >activities are free and healthy, but not promoted.
>
> Why must things be "promoted"? Are you too dependent on being told
> what to do that you must wait for someone to tell you to "play ball"?
>
> Why wait for some "Master Planner" to miraculously appear on the road
> to Damascus (or Coral Gables) and solve your problems?
>
> Why not solve your own?

Sorry, bicycles are promoted in Holland and Denmark. Without it there
would never a significant ridership. I don't need to be pushed but
some people do. I'm not lying...

In 1990, the Netherlands, a pioneer of bicycle policy, launched the
“Masterplan Fiets”, a nationwide plan. Financed by the Transport
Department budget until 1997, this programme saw the Dutch gain huge
cycleable zones, which are efficient and sustainable. Today, the modal
share of the bicycle in all journeys exceeds 50% in Amsterdam city
centre. And there are more bicycles than inhabitants in the country
(1.1 bicycles per inhabitant)!

Another paradise for the bicycle is Denmark, where policy has been a
local affair for many years. This has not prevented the country from
building an extremely concentrated cycleable network across 4,433 km
of national roads, 5,874 km of regional itineraries and 2,298 km of
local cycle paths. As a result, bicycle use represents 16% of all
journeys in the country (and 55% in the centre of Copenhagen), and
there is a target of 50% by 2015. To reach this, a €134m (£116m, at
current rates) credit line was recently added to the national budget,
specifically for the bicycle.

Germany also put a plan in place - the “National
Radverkehrsplan” (NRVP), inspired by the Dutch model - to encourage
bicycle use over the 2002-2012 period. The State thus committed to
doubling the budgetary funds for the building and maintenance of
bicycle paths, and also granted large sums to finance R&D projects.
This led to the creation of the “Bicycle Academy” in 2007 (in order to
train council staff and to provide public information) and to the
promotion of the “Call a Bike” self-service rental bicycle system,
which should spread to 80 towns around the country.

http://www.sustainable-mobility.org/month-issue/decoding/the-bicycle-king-of-sustainable-mobility.html

[Simon Mason]

On Apr 30, 6:19 pm, "TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher"

<nolionnoprob...@yahoo.com> wrote:

> I understand the Chinese still have a bike culture, but it's on the
> way out as hardcore capitalism sets in and cyclists are seen as the
> proles.
>
> It's not at all the case of Northern Europe, where many people don't
> really care about a car.

We do care about cars here in Northern Europe, but we do not worship them
like in the USA. They are OK for travelling long distances and getting back
home in one day and lugging stuff around, but as a vehicle for commuting at
peak times they are about as much use as a brontosaurus in a hospital
corridor. That said, I will be travelling to 11 European countries in my car
next month.

--
Simon Mason

[SMS]

In China, the main reason the bicycling has declined is because of a
huge increase in mass transit. The first time I went to Guangzhou and
Shanghai in the 1980's there was no subway system at all and bicycling
was often faster and more pleasant than taking a bus, now they have an
extensive subway system. Beijing had a tiny system, now it's extensive

[Malcom "Mal" Reynolds]

In article <4fa3c7c4$0$16161$742e...@news.sonic.net>,

sorry, but while that may be true and contribute, the real reason for the
decrease in bicyclists is that as the economy gives more and more people rising
incomes, cars have become the status symbol. if you can't afford a car you are
seen as poor and no one wants to be seen as poor. additionally, bicycle lanes
are being co-opted for vehicle lanes.

It should also be noted that chinese motorists have little respect for some
traffic laws, such as right turns and the frequency of vehicle on
pedestrian/vehicle on bicycle accidents is increasing.

In short, china is becoming increasingly a difficult place to ride a bicycle

you can find out more about these tidbits by searching NPR on 3 May 2012 for a
rather large segment on just these issues

[TibetanMonkey, the Beach Cruiser Philosopher]

And there are cars and SUVs. They've gotten past the tyrannosaurus
mark on this side of the Atlantic, to the point that mundane cars look
similar to the mammals in the Jurassic Period and people and cyclists
are just insects.