Cycling Has An Image Problem

Cycling Has An Image Problem
For the last five years the bicycle has been my sole means of transportation, and I happen to feel pretty good about that. Sure, it means my carbon footprint is smaller and I save money on gas and insurance, but what really matters to me is that cycling keeps me in shape and is fun, and I love the beauty and technology of bicycles. In fact, when I complete my masters degree and start earning more money, my hope is not to be able to afford a Mercedes, but rather a carbon fiber race bike. Unfortunately, for most people the bicycle is something you use for transportation until you are successful enough to buy a car; that the bicycle is not seen as a sexy, technologically advanced machine worth aspiring to tells me that cycling has an image problem.

This image problems crops up in numerous T.V. shows and movies. One example is The 40 Year Old Virgin, where Steve Carell, in the role of a loser, rides his bike everywhere. The message that is constantly conveyed is that not only is cycling for transportation inconvenient and dangerous, it's also a sign of failure. It isn't surprising, then, that people aspire to purchase a better, faster, sexier car: that's what signifies that one is moving up in the world. What's more, any 'Ten Things You Can Do for the Environment' list will invariably include cycling, which turns a simple bike ride into some sort of heroic act instead of what it is: fun and good for you. And, as I pointed out last week, people don't want to be heroes, they want to work for a better world by having fun and using their creativity and talent to solve problems (think of a kind of Google workplace for saving the world).

Electric and Hybrid Cars: Sexy and Low Emissions
Now there's nothing wrong with sexy cars. For example, the Tesla Roadster is sleek, aerodynamic and can silently accelerate from 0-60 in 4 seconds thanks to its electric motor and advanced lithium ion battery pack. The problem, then, is the kind of sexy car we have traditionally idealized: loud, powerful and polluting. Fortunately, gas prices and awareness of climate change have helped to establish a new ideal: the hybrid, exemplified by the Toyota Prius. This has been a great development both because not everyone can or wants to ride a bicycle, and because hybrids and electric cars typify the kind of technological advancement that inspires and excites.

The Bicycle is Worth Aspiring To
But while hybrids have dramatically altered the image of the vehicle, the bicycle is still seen as a backward, slow toy that is better suited to starving college students and racers than to adults with errands to run. Yet bikes today are more comfortable, light and advanced than ever before: carbon fiber, titanium, hydraulic disc brakes, LED headlights and GPS units are things one expects to find on fighter jets, race cars and the family sedan, yet they are becoming ubiquitous on $2,000 bicycles. And there are myriad bike racks, trailers and panniers (saddle bags) that can enable one to do anything from shop for groceries, to commute to work, to haul a fridge. The fact that one can get into bicycling with a $200 investment in a Wal-Mart bike, and move on up to a top-of-the-line, $6,000 race bike, means that cycling is accessible and meaningful to anyone from a Wal-Mart employee with no car to a Wall Street executive with ten cars.

Change the Image, Change the World
So as gas prices rise and hundreds of millions of people around the world become wealthier and aspire to car-ownership, let's keep a few things in mind. For one thing, there's no reason why car-ownership has to be a problem, provided that the public demands--and the automakers build--exciting, affordable, efficient vehicles. But if we can change the way cyclists are perceived we can create a paradigm shift in what individuals do with increasing wealth. Just imagine hundreds of millions of people in China, India and America happily riding carbon fiber bicycles alongside carbon fiber plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Sure, getting there will require a lot more than a change in values: we need policy changes and the infrastructure to make cycling safer and more convenient, as well as a renewably-powered, electrified transportation system. However, as long as cyclists are seen as losers, the bicycle will lose out to the hybrid. And given the scale of climate change and the geopolitics of oil, that would mean that we all lose.

More on Cycling
Recumbent Bicycles High on Comfort, Gawkers
China Eats the World: How America Learned to Bike and China Learned to Drive
HyperBike: Hype or Hope?
World's Most Energy Efficient Vehicle? A Bicycle
Winter Tips for Summer Bicycle Trips
Mercedes-Benz to Market an Emissions Free Vehicle

More on Electric and Hybrid Cars
The Tesla Roadster: The Electric Car that Redefines "Power"
Toyota Unveils Plug-in Prius
Mercedes-Benz to Produce Hybrid with Lithium Ion Battery
McCain Proposes Government-Sponsored Prize for Development of Better Battery Technology
The Future is Here: Aptera's Prototype Unveiled

Comments

[vipersdad]

What would help... is an industry group that advocates for cycling (translation - lobbying).

There are a lot of grassroots groups that advocate at the local level, but I'm not aware of any real effective group that works at the national level. Someone needs to "stitch" these all together and get the manufacturers and retailers to pony up to help fund the efforts.

There needs to be a "national association of bicycle retailers and manufacturers" type organization that's working on things like:
1. Advocacy for infrastructure improvements
2. Legislation to increase cycling safety (or advocacy to undo legislation that is hindering the advancement of cycling)
3. Driver and Rider Safety education and overall awareness programs
4. Events to promote cycling as a mode of transportation.
5. Funding for bikes for disadvantaged kids and adults who can use the bikes to get to/from work.

If you talk to the average "joe" or "josephine," and ask them what it would take for them to ride to work/school/store, their objections are easily worked through.

The big challenge is to get them to think about getting on their bike at all. It's all about changing the inertia of the equation. We need advocacy to do that on a large scale.

[avicenna]

The problem - at least where I'm from - is that local transportation issues is not dealt with at the federal level - it is the responsibility of the municipality and, to a lesser extent, the Provincial gov't to ensure that public transit, roads, and bicycle routes meet the needs of the public. This is why there are such huge disparities between cities and their transportation infrastructure. We (in Vancouver) have a fairly decent advocacy group ( http://www.vacc.bc.ca/home.php - a decent resource of biking information in Vancouver) that has ensured we have bike storage places at most public buildings, dedicated bike routes built (one of the longest in Canada), and our transit system can accommodate taking bikes on board. There is a city council public advisory committee that focuses on needs of bicyclists as well, and it has become a major form of transportation for many - especially since the additional carbon tax on gas was implemented yesterday.

[dgscol]

trying to get my wife out there on a bike, doing her grocery shopping seemed almost impossible, but I got her started!!

[dgscol]

I would like to remind people that Lance gets around pretty well on his bike, and he has only one testicle.

Besides, you do not have to wear a safety belt.

[avicenna]

You're kidding! I only bother giving a second appreciative glance to guys that ride bikes - and only give second glares to Hummers that crowd the corner on a right turn (although they are a rare regressive sight in Vancouver). And the bike riders will end up with a bigger bank account starting tomorrow when the provincial carbon tax kicks in - making BC the most expensive place in Canada to fill up the tank. I ain't complaining.

[MrBadExample]

Andy--
the image change is already in the zeitgeist. I'm in New York and I commute from Brooklyn to Manhattan. For three years I pushed for bike parking at my day job. We got it two months ago. the partnership recognizes that having a bicycle program helps them sell themselves to overseas clients. One of the partners now rides in at least two days a week. No more laughter about biking clothes or helmets in the elevator.
Old work paradigm: Bicycling commuters are free thinking pains in the a** who can't adjust to corporate culture.
New work paradigm: Bicycling commuters can get here when the guys in the cars are stuck and the transit system is on strike. Cyclists are healthier than their non-cycling counterparts, meaning fewer sick days and smaller health insurance footprints.
Old government paradigm: cyclists are hobbyists and just clog up 'real' traffic.
New government paradigm: A cyclist saves the city and state $4 in transit subsidies a day. Cyclists help the government put off the billions in capital expenses for new roads and transit facilities we'd need to build to deal with increased population.
I'm not saying it's all there yet. But I'm seeing many more bicycle commuters now than I did in 2005. And here in NY, the culture is changing toward bicycle commuters in a way that wasn't forseeable even five years ago.

[ToeJamSam]

Unfortunately, in the Western world bike riding (except for kids) is viewed as effeminate. If you want to change your image, get a motorcycle.

[vipersdad]

I think you just made the authors' point for him. Motorcycles are not very fuel efficient as a rule when you look at the p/w ratio. They should be getting 200 miles/gallon but they typically get much less. Plus - you are not getting exercise and you're still burning gas and you have to get insurance, etc....
A bicycle is still the best bet.

[plebeianswillrevolt]

The loser tag is true but it's changing. Cities could help. Just last week my idiot neighbor parked on the curb, sat there for a few minutes listening to a cd, and opened his door right into the path of a cyclist.

What I'm saying is the idoit should have lost his drivers license just as certainly as running a red light into a kid pedestrian. Instead, he was looking at his door damage while I attended to the young man lying in the street in a sprawl.

The shocked young man with the damaged bike refused help, And embarrassedly walked his bike away from the scene, I watched as he got back on a few blocks later and wobbled off into the sunset.

Any bets that he dumped the bike and took the car to work the next day?
'

[WIpatriot]

Any chance he returned late at night and let the air our of the tires of this guy's vehicle??