On selling utility cycling

I often link to Copenhagenize.com. I enjoy reading Mikael's comments. I think he is right with many of his opinions regarding how to sell cycling as an alternative to motoring. Mikael's view is that he rides because it's quicker than driving. Riding, for him, is done in whatever clothing he's wearing at the moment, or with minimal changes to what clothing he's wearing at the moment. Riding, to him, is done in street shoes, on flat pedals (at least a lot of the time). It's even--gasp!--easier to ride than to drive.

On a recent post, he quotes one of his readers who put forth a slightly different view. Brian Glover's point is that cycling for transport isn't perceived as being sexy enough. He goes on to say that "sexy enough" varies by location, and that what is perceived as a great reason to cycle in Greenville North Carolina may not work in Washington D(istrict of) C(oncubines), or Seattle, or Louisville KY, and that "selling" utility cycling in disparate areas requires more awareness of the nuances of the specific areas.

I happen to agree with both of them. As a cycling advocate, I like the idea of telling folks I ride because I prefer it over driving. I enjoy that I get where I'm going as quickly (or sometimes more quickly) than if I were to use a car. I am certain that if more high-profile folks in our area would ride bikes instead of driving cars, the followers would take notice.

One problem is that there would be a certain percentage of people who would simply write off the popularity of those high-profile people and call us losers. As Brian Glover points out, "Even when cycling clearly is the fastest, most convenient way to get somewhere, they won’t do it, and they’ll look with disdain on anyone who does."

My workday commute, at twelve miles each way, takes me longer on a bike than in a car. I still prefer to ride, but I recognize that I'm a bit eccentric by the standards many use. I use a bicycle to get around close to home (within four or five miles) because it is easier and quicker (or at least about as quick). I get to park closer to the door of whatever store I'm patronizing. I like myself better when I'm not at the wheel of a car (I have far less patience with other road users when I'm in a car. See: Motor Mania).

In short, to get more folks to ride instead of driving cars, we as cyclists need to recognize that folks will act in what they think is their own best interest. My commute takes longer by bike than by car. I ride a bike whenever I can (I have weather minima, and sometimes am hauling stuff that I can't haul readily with a bike). It's still in my own perceived best interest to ride--I feel better about myself, I get some exercise, I get to re-allocate the funds I would have spent on driving...

My errand-running is also done by bicycle, for the same basic reason: It's in my own best interest. I can tick off observable benefits to my self--physical and emotional--that I gain by cycling instead of driving.

That I see a non-mainstream activity as being in my best interest makes me something of an oddity. I'm comfortable with that. I embrace that, in fact.

Brian discussed a survey (since ended, so no link found showing results) that asked why folks ride bikes for utility. The question Brian wanted to see asked, with answers that were decidedly not overly polite, was:

“Why do you choose to do something that, in the eyes of 95% of your society, marks you as a freak and a loser?”

No one will say this out loud, of course – it’s not polite – but it’s the truth. And no one will answer this question honestly, either, but if they did, the choices would look like this:

A. I am too poor to get around in any other way. I have no choice. I
am abject.

B. I have had my rights as a citizen stripped from me because of
repeated, unforgivably bad behavior (i.e. drunk driving
convictions). I am an outcast and a pariah.

C. I think most mainstream people are idiots, and I actively seek
out their disapproval. I am a rebel. If the majority of people
around me start biking, I’ll hate that too.

D. I genuinely don’t care what other people think of me. I am an
independent thinker. I also have enough job security and social
status that I can afford not to care what other people think of me.
I am either uncommonly strong, or uncommonly privileged.

My own answer is pretty close to (D) on this one, even though I don't consider it an accurate description of me. Job security in this day and age is ephemeral for too many. I have a job that is a good fit for me, but it's a small store, and we always want to have more revenue than we have. Social status can be a point of contention with me--I admit to falling into the trap of reverse-snobbery too easily. I may be uncommonly strong in some way--willingness to be different than the norm, for example--but don't see that as a strength so much as merely a trait. I hardly consider myself privileged, until I look at what I have compared to folks with less income or mobility or fewer family/social ties or whatever other scale one measures wealth and realize that I am quite privileged.

Yep, I have the privilege of living in such a way that I can ride a bike to work on a regular basis, ride one bike or another to accomplish much of my errand-running, can walk to do some things, and otherwise leave the car in the driveway. It's in my self-interest to live this way, as I get to allocate my earnings into things more enjoyable than car payments, gasoline bills, car parts and higher insurance premiums in favor of better-tasting food, a nicer place to live (lower utility bills being part of what defines "nicer"), more comfortable clothing (kilts aren't as cheap as jeans, although a kilt will outlast several pair of jeans...), and so on.

I also have the privilege of acting in my own perceived best interest, and that means riding a bike to work a majority of the time instead of driving.