I has a conversation with a friend this morning about what will encourage more people to ride bikes.

People focus a lot on reducing your carbon footprint through cycling, but we thought more people might be interested in the health benefits.

It seems like more people care about their waistlines that their carbon footprint.

Should that be the method used to encourage more people to ride?

The Tuesday Night Bike Ride has been strong
the past few weeks and it is a real community
event. It may have a bit of a wild reputation,
but it’s not so much. We get positive response
from drivers and spectators alike..even when
blocking an intersection (which we don’t always
do). One regular participant even led us to a
small wine, cheese and refreshment buffet the
week before last that had been set up at a cut-off
dead end.
Maybe getting people into group situations so they
can get that it’s not so scary is a good approach.
Maybe the Hotel Congress would like to host a
destination event some week.

Define pricey.

We need to get this out of this mentality that spending $1000 on a Surly that will last practically forever is too much money, but spending $20,000 on a pickup truck is patriotic, dammit.

The oatbran reasons all are obvious. Let’s talk about the joy!

I don't know – – judging from the size of the
parking lot at L.A. Fitness…..and this is a
most puzzling thing. There were a lot of
people out today. It seems the current cycling
population is so avid, with a lot of cycling
clubs and groups. And the facilities serve that
quite well. But how to get to the non-self starters
of bicycling is a real mystery.
I did an after dark return from Lowes on Oracle a
couple nights ago using Roger and Mountain to
the University. I was thinking who could need
more than this. Only two or three dozen cars the
whole way. Very pleasant.

>>>>Define pricey.<<<<
pric·ey
–adjective, pric·i·er, pric·i·est.
expensive or unduly expensive: a pricey wine.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pricey

Alan at Ecovelo tends to review and feature expensive bikes and expensive bike stuff for whatever Alan reason. That skew may deter some visitors from utilizing bikes as commute devices. Hence the Red Star caveat. Ecovelo has many buried gems of info for making a transition.

>>>>We need to get this out of this mentality that spending $1000 on a Surly that will last practically forever is too much money, but spending $20,000 on a pickup truck is patriotic, dammit.<<<<

Red Star understands the emotions and sentiment and doesn't disagree. It's an open question, however, of what is the price point and product configuration that will draw people out of automobiles and onto bikes in any significant (and profitable) degree. The manufacturers have every incentive to figure this out. Meanwhile there are other complex issues at play such as infrastructure, price of gas, direct and indirect costs of traffic, laws and law enforcement, perception, inertia, etc.

A Surly properly sized, configured, and maintained is a good multipurpose bike.

Or, consider mainstream folding bikes (putting aside Bromptons and Bike Fridays)

http://www.thorusa.com/dahon/current/iosxl.htm

Which one is pricey?

Perhaps Rivendale's Atlantis will get the job done. But it comes in at $3500.00+ so, perhaps not. We'll see.

http://www.rivbike.com/products/show/atlantis/5…

Cheers!

>>>>Define pricey.<<<<
pric·ey
–adjective, pric·i·er, pric·i·est.
expensive or unduly expensive: a pricey wine.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/pricey

Alan at Ecovelo tends to review and feature expensive bikes and expensive bike stuff for whatever Alan reason. That skew may deter some visitors from utilizing bikes as commute devices. Hence the Red Star caveat. Ecovelo has many buried gems of info for making a transition.

>>>>We need to get this out of this mentality that spending $1000 on a Surly that will last practically forever is too much money, but spending $20,000 on a pickup truck is patriotic, dammit.<<<<

Red Star understands the emotions and sentiment and doesn't disagree. It's an open question, however, of what is the price point and product configuration that will draw people out of automobiles and onto bikes in any significant (and profitable) degree. The manufacturers have every incentive to figure this out. Meanwhile there are other complex issues at play such as infrastructure, price of gas, direct and indirect costs of traffic, laws and law enforcement, perception, inertia, etc.

A Surly properly sized, configured, and maintained is a good multipurpose bike.

Or, consider mainstream folding bikes (putting aside Bromptons and Bike Fridays)

http://www.thorusa.com/dahon/current/iosxl.htm

Which one is pricey?

Perhaps Rivendale's Atlantis will get the job done. But it comes in at $3500.00+ so, perhaps not. We'll see.

http://www.rivbike.com/products/show/atlantis/5…

Cheers!

There is a lacking of connector streets
in that region…Never tried Plummer
into the airport, though.
The feeling of safe doesn't come first.
Confidence from doing it may not make
an unpleasant route more pleasant, as
Redcyclist-Penny notes, but one can learn
to deal with the feeling of higher-risk
situations as it seems she does. I agree,
though, a greenway to the airport would
be ideal..to avoid a lot of ugly intersections
and distance us from bad motorist behavior.
What is this driving around with no hands
on the steering wheel, anyway.

I started bike commuting when several motivators came together. I wanted to help my planet, even if only symbolically and to set an example, I wanted to be healthier, and I wanted to save money. I don't know if a single one of those desires would get me on a bike, but the three together are impossible for me to resist. I have fun on my bike, but that's just a bonus I discovered after I got started…but others will mention fun as the SINGLE reason they ride! I don't think we should pick any one reason to ride and push that while neglecting to push other motivators. Let's keep talking about ALL the benefits all the time because you never know what idea will move someone else to get on a bike.

There are a lot of great ideas and thoughts in this thread. Maybe the idea is to target the particular message to different segments of people.

Messages about the health benefits or targeted at doctor offices and gyms.

The benefit to the environment message is targeted to another set of people.

Although, the thing that seems to hold a lot of people back is that they don't feel safe. Perhaps the real focus should be on educating people on the safe-riding classes.

I've also often thought that is you can get them started on a bicycle path, many people will start to consider riding on the streets too.

For me (an aspiring architect and urban planner), the worst thing about the automobile is the road. There are virtually no successful, vibrant, happy cities with roads like we have in the western united states. We all have to choose an angle to attack the problem, weather it is through policy, bike parking, safety, or infrastructure. Bike communities like we have here allow us to tackle more sides of the problem and not just look like a lone hippie/hipster!

I think that there are unfortunately too many factors to even hope for a really rapid increase in ridership. Everything from the lack of bike parking outside of most things important, to policies in place that have been accumulating since wartime that encourage sprawl and subsidize the use of the automobile. Small changes are probably conceived by the public as a waste of money, and big changes will definitely frighten them. I'm really curious as to where the middle ground for Tucson exists, or if cities like Portland just have a different enough base.

Forgot to mention that the thing that got me riding was the sheer joy of it, too. A beach cruiser on the flatland of California reminded me it was a blast to ride a bike.

The hills reminded me I needed cycling to increase my fitness!