Gregory's Server@jwz non-cyclists that are confused by activism think that activists are attracted to cycling, when the reality is that becoming a cyclist very quickly radicalizes one into becoming an activist. Nothing crystallizes strong opinions as being frequently threatened with death by at best indifferent and at worst aggressive and antagonistic people.
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46 comments
I just wanted to bicycle back and forth from work. Resent that I pretty much had to become an activist because I was being hassled by police for bicycling legally and they kept making up their on laws I was supposedly breaking. Opened my eyes to a lot of other problems that I didn't ignore, but my privileges kept me unaware of.   @cainmark @marcprecipice @ekuber @jwz The one bike lane in my neighborhood has three parking spaces right next to it, but twice now I've seen all three empty with a car blocking the bike lane just ahead of them... I guess the car driver didn't want to walk across the bike lane...? I wonder if they can get tickets or if they face zero consequences for needlessly blocking traffic  @semitones I see this constantly with delivery trucks -- pulling over into an available parking space right in front of them is too much of a hardship. @jef posts examples of this kind of thing all the time.  @jwz @semitones I wish more people in this country understood "can't be arsed" because that's an exact description of their thought process. @jwz @jef Yeah exactly. Thanks for linking to Jeff's account -- this picture is almost exactly what I'm talking about (but with passenger cars) https://flic.kr/p/2pWTh31  @semitones @cainmark @marcprecipice @ekuber @jwz Reminds me of the situation in Germany. Here it's basically pointless to call cops in many cities, even if they see it they it there rarely are real consequences. Recently the public learned about unofficial police orders in many cities to go easy on car drivers parking illegally. Or the other time a driver faced no consequence at all for killing a cyclist because they couldn't possibly see them from within their oversized SUV at that angle. @cainmark @marcprecipice @ekuber @jwz like: People wonder why I wear so much armor when I ride my bike. Partially for cars and collisions, partially for defense. People are like allergic to bikes out here. I purposely got an ebike that looks like a motorcycle just because it does so well in the snow and because cars don't bat an eye at it. Playing chicken with lifted Ram trucks isn't very fun. Neither is "stray" bullets on rural back roads. By the way, those people shoot like stormtroopers. Everything you said is spot on. Here in the Netherlands activism isn't associated with cycling because the activists won long ago. I see cyclists abroad on roads full of cars and I feel intense fear. @divclassbutton @ekuber @jwz like rice screaming at water for getting through the sieve first  @divclassbutton @ekuber @jwz Basically yes. Although less overt here in the Netherlands.  @divclassbutton @ekuber @jwz @quixoticgeek Cars are marketed as signifiers of personal freedom. Just turn on the TV and watch the ads, look for car ads that show the drivers commuting to work in heavy traffic … you won't find them, will you. Instead it's all winding roads in beautiful countryside and no other vehicles! more perversely are the ads presented in an urban setting, with few if any pedestrians, cyclists, stop signs or signals, but most especially other ~~cars~~ light trucks, let alone enough to constitute "traffic" @ekuber @jwz @temptoetiam How many do have spikes and others hazardous equipments on their bicycle(s) ? How many are happy with stupidly made cycling ways because « at least, they did one » ? @gduchaussois @ekuber @jwz This is why I always kept my bike lock in my belt loop. I broke *many* car mirrors off in the bay. Actually did one on the way to my first anger management group meeting and gave the guys a chuckle. There were 8 of us, 4 were cyclists.  @jgordon @ekuber @jwz This is why I really like the MSP metropolitan area! I like how being able to bike to every part of the whole metropolitan area is mostly pretty decent. The ability to do that makes it where I don't only survive but thrive without a car. I don't feel hemmed into the pocket of the city I live in. I had jobs in the past ask if I wanted to move to a couple of other places and the added expense of a car and housing wouldn't offset the increased pay so I declined. And then there are all our parks. MSP is a pretty amazing place thanks to some visionary city planners back in the 19th century. St Paul has lagged MPLS but recently we are coming on strong. MPLS is #1 nationally but #4 ain't bad. @ekuber @medley56 @jwz I DEPEND on my bike for transportation as I travel by boat throughout the US and Canada. But no matter how much I ride, I will NEVER be the kind of anti-car/truck activists I see on Mastodon every day. Some of these people really need to get a grip. Not everyone can bike instead of drive for a lot of reasons. Yes, push for bike lanes. But stop trying to get people to stop driving. It ain’t gonna happen. |
@ekuber @jwz thiissssssss