http://www.theatlanticcities.com/commute/2013/01/you-dont-have-be-superhuman-commute-bicycle/4508
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Commuting
"You Don't Have to Be Superhuman to Commute by Bicycle"
(42 posts)-
Posted 11 years ago #
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anyone else have the urge to say 'but it helps'? Story is a bit unfocussed, but I love the pic at the start.
Posted 11 years ago # -
"But after a morning like this, you will feel like one."
Posted 11 years ago # -
I rather like the story, it is quite nicely balanced and a change from the usual guff about how keen cyclists are single handedly preventing anyone else from ever riding a bike by riding a bike.
Posted 11 years ago # -
"love the pic at the start"
From here, (plus others) -
Posted 11 years ago # -
Indeed, what SRD says, having read, then re-read the story, I'm not sure exactly which side of the fence the author is trying to come down on. Or perhaps they are trying to flop right across it.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I think the point is you can be on the fence. If people want to ride 40 mile each way in high tech gear, great. If they want to ride 1 mile in a suit, also great.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I'm not sure if the author is on the fence. There's pretty good arguments to be made either way.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Fence? There is no fence. The author is saying that any kind of cycling is great, and it's lovely to see more of it. And don't worry if you're not super-fit and super-rich, you can still cycle anyway.
Posted 11 years ago # -
"don't worry if you're not super-fit and super-rich, you can still cycle anyway"
Good 'message'.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Without that headline, would any of us have had a clue where the article was heading? I don't think so. I'm pretty sure the author knows exactly what she wanted to say, but the structure and argument was missing. It is more a stream-of-consciousness reflection. Which is fine. Except that the headline suggested a manifesto, which it wasn't.
Posted 11 years ago # -
You Don't Have To Be A Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist To Advocate Cycling.
Posted 11 years ago # -
As someone who sits firmly in both "camps" (this morning at PY with my Brompton I was joking about being the person who looked least like a cyclist; tomorrow I intend to don my lycra (and warm layers) and do my 16 miles each way version of my commute on my road bike) I do get a bit annoyed by this sort of thing. Why the need to categorise?
I agree with cc and chdot
Posted 11 years ago # -
I agree with Insto & cc & chdot :)
Posted 11 years ago # -
To elaborate, what I really didn't get about the article was it felt for the first 3 or 4 paragraphs it was yet another monotonous "lycra's bad, mmmm'kay" article. Then it kind of lost its way and decided perhaps lycra wasn't so bad after all, just a minority fetish. And then it sort of wandered into "cycling's all good" territory. It spent a good half of the article having a rather thinly-veiled swipe at the lycra-clad, carbon-spaceship-riding supercommuter, then didn't trouble itself to elaborate on or further explore the other 98% of commuters it was holding up as everyman.
Perhaps the problem with the article is that it is just a rather poorly thought-through piece of writing, immaterial of the subject matter.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I'm with Min, cc, chdot and fimm. The headline is relating back to an article in the New York Times, so it's an 'answer' piece really.
And this is the crux:
"But everyone who bikes in New York or any other city has certain things in common. The Type-A strivers on their carbon-fiber steeds; the skinny-jeans-wearing fixie riders; the elevator repairman in work clothes on his anonymous hybrid; the fashionable businesswoman on her folder; the 82-year-old photographer on his cruiser. All of them benefit from an increased recognition that bicycles are a legitimate way to get from one place to another, and that you don’t have to be some kind of a freak to use them"
Simple, straightforward.. Reminds me of something like... "No matter what you ride, as long as you do..." ;)
Posted 11 years ago # -
I mildly object to the implication that being able to ride 20 miles each way a couple of times a week makes one "some kind of a freak".
There's nothing freakish about a couple of hours of moderate exercise a week.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Lycra's bad?
"The article profiled a number of high-achieving riders who definitely qualify as outliers" Well c'mon, a 40 mile commute at 17mph average, twice a week, getting up at 4.40am to do it is outlier territory.
"Long-distance commuters such as Edstrom and the others interviewed for the piece – including a 20-strong group from Ridgewood, New Jersey, that rides in a pace line at around 22 miles per hour – are fun to read about"
Okay, so there is this line: "pedaling a custom-built bike worth thousands of dollars over icy predawn roads, is off-putting to most ordinary folks" but it's hardly cycle chic territory, and I was just happy she didn't write 'peddling'.
Not sure I see it as a weak piece.
Intro - mention of article in NY Times on 'extreme' commuters (and they really are);
Middle - explanation of who makes up the majority of commuters in NY;
End - They're all (the 'extreme' and the norm) on bikes, isn't that cool.
Posted 11 years ago # -
"I mildly object to being able to ride 20 miles each way a couple of times a week being described as "some kind of a freak"."
"who ride as much as 40 miles each way"
And nowhere does she call people who do that 'freaks'.
Posted 11 years ago # -
The 'freak' reference (also quoted above) is simply about bikes (you'll notice she has in that list the carbon fibre brigade, the fixies, the folder etc etc etc so the reference to 'freak' is about Joe Bloggs thinking cycling is in and of itself freakish).
Posted 11 years ago # -
I come away from the article wanting to know more about the lady in the picture in her civvies, with a store-bought kind of a bike, with her child, but the article doesn't take the trouble to even mention her name. It spends 3 out of 9 paragraphs focussing on the image of the road warrior in space-age gear and the only real focus on the average people on average bikes is on the author themselves.
Posted 11 years ago # -
It's like a compressed version of the kind of long-form story that is common in The New Yorker. The sort of thing Malcolm Gladwell does. It starts with a human story, moves out to give a broad, often statistical overview and then comes back in to the personal story again, making some general point along the way. It suffers from the compression. For a web article, it's much shorter than it needs to be.
But she's not taking a swipe at the lycra-wearing cyclists. She's having a swipe at the New York Times for focusing on this elite group of long-distance commuters and trying to show how atypical they are. It could certainly have been better structured. A Gladwell would probably have started with the counter-example - the woman in the picture - as the lead in to arguing that the focus on extreme commuters is not helping to build cycling as an everyday option for most people making short journeys.
Posted 11 years ago # -
I assumed the picture was of the author.
The first few paragraphs are setting the scene based on that NY Times article. Without that there the article is simply 'yay, ordinary people ride bikes' in a sort of disconnected Cycle Chic way (which doubtless people would complain about).
The author sets the scene of there having been a lot of coverage of cyclists as 'extreme' commuters; balances that with mention of those who won't be subject to a NY Times article because they're 'man on the street'; and finishes by saying that all cycling is good...
Honestly, I really am totally non-plussed by the dislike for this piece. It's positive about cycling of all kinds!?!??
Posted 11 years ago # -
If people want to ride 40 mile each way in high tech gear, great. If they want to ride 1 mile in a suit, also great.
But maybe not a good idea today......
Posted 11 years ago # -
"There's nothing freakish about a couple of hours of moderate exercise a week."
You sure...
No obesity problem then?
I think you mean 'shouldn't be seen as odd/unusual'.
But it is.
That doesn't mean that those who do are "freakish" - even if other people think so.
That '3 minute intense exercise' programme was on telly again last night.
I think basic message was not even about type/intensity/frequency of "activity", more that the basic 'sitting at a desk for hours on end' is a REAL problem for a lot people.
SO if you've been staring at this screen for an hour - time for a walk.
Posted 11 years ago # -
Ah, have seen the author pic at the bottom of the piece, so the lead picture is not the author. Still neither here nor there (in my opinion).
Posted 11 years ago # -
"who ride as much as 40 miles each way"
And nowhere does she call people who do that 'freaks'.
My mistook. I read it as a 40 mile commute, so divide by 2 to get the each-way figure.
Perhaps what I've overlooked is this article is written by an American journalist, so every time she's actually throwing an olive branch ("a round of applause to...") I've taken as being a hearty does of acidic British sarcasm.
I note that her comments aren't immune from chipwrapper-type trolling;
Well, if a bike had its own climate control, could carry up to five people and/or hundreds of pounds of cargo, and was capable of speeds of up to a hundred miles per hour, I'd consider spending $30,000 on it.
(according to googling, highest speed limit in New York state is 65mph, but never mind).
Still want to know more about that picture at the top.
Posted 11 years ago # -
The picture on top is from #BikeNYC thatchdot linked to earlier, half a mo' and I'll find it...
Posted 11 years ago # -
Posted 11 years ago #
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Still want to know more about that picture at the top.
Meet Cynthia and AdamPosted 11 years ago #
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