On 2018-02-22 19:40, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 22 Feb 2018 12:53:24 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 2/22/2018 11:06 AM, Joerg wrote:


When neighbors hear about Green Valley Road and my
suggestion to join me for a ride the reactions are between "No" and
"Hell no!". When it's trucking the bikes to a trail head the answer is
often an enthusiastic "Yes". Trucking is something I personally do not
like, I prefer to ride from the garage and not use a car at all if
possible.

Those are the cold hard facts and sticking the head in the sand about
them isn't helpful. Yet that's what some folks do. Luckily few enough
that smart city leaders aren't influenced much by them.

Yet you try to refute the fact that riding bikes has been found time
after time, by study after study, to have benefits that GREATLY outweigh
its tiny risks. IOW you are literally safer riding a bike than not
riding a bike.

Do you give those facts to your neighbors? Of course not. Instead, you
perpetrate the "Danger! Danger!" myth every chance you get.


Nonsense. I have written many times that I tell them that Green Valley
Road is quite safe because it has a wide enough shoulder along most of
it. However, they won't have any of that. They absolutely refuse to ride
there. Many of them because they remember gruesome accidents on that
road such as a fatal one where a cyclist got rear-ended at full speed.


But Frank, given the dangers of riding a bicycle think how manly and
brave one appears when doing it. Why all the neighbors likely stand on
the edge of the road and applaud "the brave one".


No kidding, that is indeed the case. Not along the road though. A few
weeks ago I stopped at my usual pub. This time it was unusually crowded.
Someone asked "Who rides that vintage bike out there?" ... "That's me"
.... "So how far do you still have to go?" ... "Cameron Park, only about
7mi" ... "But not on Green Valley Road, right?" ... "Sure, otherwise I
would be late" ... Almost everyone turned around and looked at me in
disbelief. Then came comments like that I must be a fearless dude and so
on. I told them it's not so bad, except it's almost all uphill. They
insisted that I must be a tough, no matter how much I emphasized that
it's not a big deal.

I have personally met hardcore mountain bikers who do serious jumps that
I'd never attempt yet they said they'd never ever ride Green Valley
Road. They truck their bikes to the trail head.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/