I am tired of Eric changing the subject line. You can't follow any thread, subject matter or discussion.
-- Michael Rewey Madison, WI cell 608.698.6673 home 608.249.6673 ---- Eric Westhagen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Dear Kirk, > > Good try to show that bicycle advocacy crosses all boundaries and the > "rights of others." Certainly advocacy groups tend to work in that > way. Particularly when all the members and the purpose is of "one > mind." Advocacy groups are not concerned with the questions of "other's > rights" or whether or not their "minority" should hold sway. After all, > that is what a "pressure group" is all about. But, once again, that is > effective when the "pressure goup" is of "one mind." > > Maybe the BFW IS OF ONE MIND. Certainly most who write about this > question here are much of one mind in that "they ride bikes" and the > world had better "shape up." Maybe the group should "promote bicycling" > to others who do not bicycle. I contend that bicycling in the rural > areas has been on the decline for years. For seventeen years while I > have assembled and run a "totally free" annual time-trial race, called > the LOUIS REED TEN MILE TIME TRIAL, only a handful or two bother to > come. It is a race for everybody on any kind of bicycle and where a > person "only races himself." The few years I have tried to promote this > race on "bikies" nobody from Madison or the list has come. We hardly > have more riders that the corner guard volunteers in numbers. I don't > claim that this alone points to the decline in the road bicycle, but I > simply do not see any bicycles when I am out riding in the countryside. > > Certainly an "advocacy group" has a mission to advocate with the power > structure as it exists. It is silly to point fingers at my comments and > suggest there is STATE control in most advocacy directions and is part > of advocacy. We must deal with reality and the power structures as > they exist. But I point out that is not the same as advocating controls > against one group at the expense of another. BFW should not pit their > "city cousins against their country cousins" over land rights and > broader issues. And this is particularly true when the issue has no > direct bicycle connection, but merely addresses one's view on > interpreting, "quality of life." > > Working for "top-down" STATE controls in the hopes that will encourage > bicycle use is putting the horse before the cart. If more people ride > bikes, bike friendly communities will AUTOMATICALLY follow. Of course > there should be bicycle infrastructure "in reason." And that will > encourage children to ride bicycles more and longer. It has been > pointed out that consumers of houses are hasty and don't demand in their > own interest. Well, educate them on the advantages of bicycle trails > in their neighborhoods and they will demand them. Right now consumers > of new houses in most cases don't even demand sidewalks. Children are > driven to activities. If their parents are "shown" how sidewalks and > bike trails could contribute, such would be universally demanded of and > offered in new development. > > After people do populate a "cul de sac" community without even > sidewalks, and then they BECOME BICYCLE CONSCIOUS, they will demand that > their local politicians build with their "tax pie" bicycle > infrastructure. > > Regardless of our drumbeat about how "unhealthy" Americans are, we are > still in an age where personal health and exercise resonates with most > adults. It is to this "market" a bicycle advocacy group should direct > itself. There are only so many ways to exercise and if given a choice > most might choose the "bicycle" over other means--that was the case with > me. And in cities, the advocacy promotion subset is work commuting, the > primary issue in Madison. > > Eric > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
