Great picture! This is a great idea to complement ped/bike counts. Like a balcony census!

My problem with tone is that I don’t think there’s a “correct” way of using a bike. If you get from point A to B, you’re doing it right. It has a lot in common with walking.

I’m working down in Orlando, at the moment, and most of the people on bikes are minorities and men. The weather is fine. No one is invisible. I’m sure most people would rather have a car for the big distances between things down here. No one is throwing a pity party. People are just going about life.

I don’t think its too much to ask or to reach out to the less fortunate who ride a bike out of need and help them with getting lights on their bikes. First, its the law and second, the person who will be helped the most is the bike rider him/herself! It’s not about being in the “club”.

Also, how is helping the less fortunate or trying to bring the topic to forefront offensive?

Simple.

1. Legislate — and actually ENFORCE — laws that protect bike-riders.

2. Stop the govnerment/private collusions that create huge subsidies, and in the process hide many of the true costs of owning and driving a car.

3. Re-design cities so that everyone can live closer to meaningful, sustainable jobs and enjoy smaller, more local economies of scale.

4. Require the very rich — who benefit the most from the private development that drives our capitalist economy — to pay the lion’s share of the costs to effect this kind of change.

Nothing real will happen until these things can be MADE to happen. Lobbying, agitating and demonstrating for anything less is simply a waste of time and energy.

So much for an education helping you to get ahead (yeah, I’m bitter).

I totally agree about how riding a bike is perceived. I often have to refuse rides from well meaning people because they feel sorry for me. Then they really freak out when I tell them about the rare and somewhat exotic sports car that I own but now only drive 2 or 3 times a month. They can not fathom why I prefer to ride when I own such a nice and luxurious car. They’ll never understand the joy they are missing out on.

I also wonder what the social perceptions are amongst the cultures that are most represented by our marginalized immigrants. Unlike us from European backgrounds that have cultural references to rich nations where bicycling is celebrated, I don’t think immigrants are ever exposed to such ideas.

Anyway Susan, stay safe up there in the Bronx.

I get scolded all the time for riding my bike by well-meaning folks outside of the “bike people” I know. Just the other day a guy from my building worried that “if you ride your bike to your job your students will lose respect for you and think you are poor.” This made me laugh…

But, you know what, he’s right in some ways. So, I just have to deal with these things on my own terms and I don’t blame anyone for caving in to the social pressure. There’s a lot of it.

Now, what is the source of all of this social pressure? It’s two fold: one is irrational– it’s just the cultural notion that having a nice car means you are a success…vroom vroom so having a bike is like … being a washed up failure. But, then there is the other layer: biking is dangerous. I know people will try to argue with me about this. But, I have gone over the Madison Ave. bridge 100s of times and I thought I was going to die every single one of them. You would too– it’s terrifying.

Also, in (especially the Bronx) drivers have no respect for people on bikes they honk at you for no reason, cut you off, box you in, run you off the road and on to the side walk. And that’s when they see you. It’s very hostile. There are not enough bike lanes and not enough intersections planned with bikes in mind. So, not only do people think of you as 2nd class but you really are 2nd class.

Now, if you have some friends who are in to biking too they will say nice things and cheer you up. But, that isn’t making me feel any better about the fact that when I’m on the road I hardly ever feel safe. So no wonder some folks I know are totally mystified. What kind of idiot takes a worse alternative when they can afford better?

So, I guess what I’m saying is the best thing we can do about this divide is work to make biking safe. The fact that the least expensive form of transportation is the lest safe says a lot about who is being taken care of. We should bring this up whenever anyone dare to call bike infrastructure programs elitist. And while were at it let just check that they aren’t elitist.

If delivery bikes and “no-choice” commuters together are a majority of traffic then the infrastructure should focus on serving their needs. Not just making more park paths for weekend riders.

They frequently ride the wrong way on one-way streets, violate street lights and other laws (indeed, illegality seems to be the running theme here), and I have seen a good three or four collisions with pedestrians in the last year and a half.

The businesses that hire these people are criminal and, as my own increasing rate of food-sickness attests to — often in violation of health regulations; how can you pass a health inspectorate test when you can’t even hire workers legally?

So, yes, there are lots of illegal aliens on bikes in New York. They seldom pay attention to the rules of the road, frequently hit pedestrians, and result not only in Americans not having work but in health-code violations at restaurants across New York. This is a large part of why I’m seriously considering moving to London, Toronto, Sidney or other diverse, thriving cities where immigration is legal, normal and not leading to massive social and economic disparities as is happening in this country.

I ask these questions because of personal experience. The latest fad among Chinese deliverymen in NYC is electric bikes. These things are expensive – probably between $1,300 – $2,000. Yet, I notice that despite having the money and a massive battery, they almost never have any lights on their bicycles. Even in cases when the lights came stock, they’re turned off.

The other cyclists I see are out for leisure or fitness (with their spandex of course)

These two groups, hispanics and young students are ignored by the government, media and advocacy groups because they do not or cannot take the time to advocate for themselves. If they’ve just worked a 12 hour shift cleaning dishes, they’re not going home to blog about it. While language may be an issue for recent immigrants, I think a lack of information on the process is a big part of it.

In Mexico, blogging about your route to work will not get anything done. My grandmother lives in mexico city and her sidewalk was built 60 years ago….and hasn’t been touched since. Nobody complains to the city about the uneven blocks that have been lifted up by trees because nobody expects anything to be done. And so nothing is done.

Fortunately here, government is more receptive to local concerns. You might complain about how it takes 2 years to get in a bike lane, but it gets done. Potholes are generally fixed and sidewalks are even.

So these immigrants do not talk to the media or their local government because they were never taught that doing so was anything more than a waste of time. Meanwhile, the government officials, which are generally wealthy, do not have the personal experience of biking to work by necessity. And as far as they know, nobody bikes to work because the people they hear from don’t.

Cristobal was far more gracious in his response to these obviously well-intended people than I would have been. Hopefully that couple took away a little personal growth from the encounter along with the feel-good vibe from gifting the lights. If people like Cristobal have been “invisible” I’d gently suggest you guys take a look in the mirror first. This city is chock full of well-intended white people, which is certainly better than the alternative but still extremely limited and therefore limiting when it comes to community organizing. It’s natural for humans to gravitate to people who are like ourselves, but true community activism happens when people step outside that comfort zone to build bridges with others in their communities, deliberately and constructively spanning ethnic and socioeconomic differences.

Why are these ethnic groups an under-represented demographic within the cycling/advocacy community? Same reason they’re under-represented when it’s time to testify or participate in public dialogues about disparities in education, workforce development, housing, immigration, and health care. It’s more of an economic/class thing than a purely ethnic thing, but the two generously overlap in NYC. Numerous Hispanics (myself included) are already politically active and working for change, including change for safer streets. Look around – you’ll find us. Last, significant responsibility for speaking out remains incumbent on Hispanics to organize ourselves and work the political angles on this issue.