"Whites Only"?

On Fri, 4 Mar 2005 18:28:52 -0500, (Chris Zacho "The
Wheelman") wrote:

Wow, would you look at that, I actually started a lengthy thread, and it
didn't fall in "flames" after seven or eight posts! LOL Glad to see the
great input and opinions.

And to the one that implied that I was trying to "start something",
you're right, and it seems I did. What inspired it up was a discussion I
heard at the bike shop by a customer who was under the impression that
bicycling was somehow like baseball in the pre-Jackie Robinson days.
That we, as cyclists, simply didn't welcome blacks.

Provocative or provocation such a line and not always obvious, just wasn't sure
where you were looking to go. I've seen so many of these discussions go
straight to hell I was sorta hoping this one might be worthwhile. To my mind
indignation never helps.

Anyway, I see blacks on the paved trails and roads, mostly cross training, some
MTB action. Lower than the percentage in the community but not notably absent.

It is an awfully "white" sport.

Ron

In article .com, Bill H.
says...
I think every sport, in fact,
tends to be played by one group more than the other. I don't think
this is bad - just the way things are.

True and it varies over time. At on time boxing was dominated by Jews, followed
by Christian whites, blacks. Currently Hispanics are well represented.

: Could overlap with social class issues. Possibly in poorer neighborhoods,
as
: in poorer countries, bikes are used as transport because people do not
have
: the option of cars. So when they become upwardly mobile, they eschew what
: they see as symbols of poverty. Among social elites, instead, the bike is
: seen as ecological, intellectual and aware. People take it for granted
that
: they _can_ afford cars, and therefore the bike is the conscious choice of
: the green and handsome and fit and hip.

Hell, I can't even get my sons to ride bikes. One of them said, "You do
know that cars have been invented, right?"

Pat in TX

"Chris Neary" wrote in message
...

You're right that most cycling clubs demographics skew heavily Caucasian
(FWIW, I suspect Asians are also underrepresented).

I see lots of people of East Asian background cycling in the Seattle area,
but then again, there's a pretty high population to draw on. If I were to
further generalize, the most common sub-eth of this broad category is
members of the Japanese-American sensei and yonsei generations. George, the
guy I did a one-day STP with a couple years back is in this group, as is my
old cycling friend Lester.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

"Peter Cole" wrote in message
oups.com...

The people I know who do physical work seem to prefer non-physical
recreations (like fishing). Almost all the cyclists I know have
non-physical (desk) jobs.

I would also add -- people who do physical work for their jobs are also
people who prefer motorized versions of the non-motorized sports that desk
job people like. Think: snow mobiling vs. cross-country skiing; motorcycling
vs. bicycling; paddling vs. jetskis; sailing vs. motor-boating. It makes
sense, really.

The few black club cyclists I know are all
like me: middle-aged, middle-class, college-educated, desk-jockys.

Ditto. When I first started riding here in Seattle, I rode with a group in
which I was the only white person, and still everyone was in that catagory
above.

I'd also note that I think that cycling is associated with poverty in many
black communities -- something you did because you couldn't afford a car. As
a result, cycling is an anti-status activity.

As long as I'm in the process of generalizing -- a friend of mine has this
theory about riding in rural areas of Washington State. He believes that in
areas where the predominate economic activity is logging, motorists treat
cyclists badly. Where the predominate economic activity is agriculture,
motorists do not treat cyclists badly. Does this theory bear out in your
experience? If so, why do you think it is?


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

Buck wrote:
I think it is important
to discuss the issues so we can understand *why* these things happen
and perhaps do something about it.

Excellent post. Seriously.

And since you're not the president of Harvard, you may get away with
it! ;-)

"Brendon M. Troy" wrote in message
...
"Gooserider" wrote
Where are all the black riders? What is it about our sport
that makes it
so unappealing to an entire race of people?

3) Our sport is very expensive. $2000 bicycle is far more
expensive than a
basketball and a pair of Nikes.

Are you KIDDING me??? Did you, not an apparent troll, really just
say that in a public forum?

Are you actually going to argue that black people do not have an affinity
for basketball? Have you seen a basketball game? Basketball is the favorite
sport of black people by a large margin. Its popularity is no doubt due to
the fact that it is very inexpensive to play, and regardless of your
hypersensitivity, a disproportionately large number of black people are
economically disadvantaged. What is your problem?

Chris Zacho "The Wheelman" wrote:

Where are all the black riders? What is it about our sport that makes
it
so unappealing to an entire race of people?

Anybody have any theories?


Let me ask about one dark possibility.

To become proficient at cycling, one has to spend a certain amount of
time doing it alone, unless you've got a close friend or spouse to
accompany you all the time. You generally can't even start with club
rides; most people won't keep up until they've logged some miles.

Is there a chance that black folks feel too vulnerable out on the road
alone? FWIW, I once lived in an area of the country where that might
have been reasonable. (That's one of the reasons I left.)

I've heard women complain about the same problem, and even some male
posters here have expressed a surprising amount of fear of hostile
attacks.

I'm a pale male, myself, so - like the president of Harvard - I'm just
speculating.

"Chris Zacho "The Wheelman"" wrote in message
...
(Gooserider) wrote:

snip
3) Our sport is very expensive. a $2000
bicycle is far more expensive than a
basketball and a pair of Nikes.
/snip

Sorryt bout the double post, my finger slipped.

Who needs a $2000 bike ? Maybe if you're seriously into competition,
perhaps considering going pro, maybe, but you don't need to go overboard
for an ordinary club ride. Hell, I've done fine for years, pulling off
single, double, and even triple centuries on a Schwinn valued at _maybe_
$400-$500.

Hey, I ride a $600 Schwinn, too. But have you been to a bike shop lately?
There is definitely a snob factor evident in cycling. I see far more
affordable hybrids in my LBS than affordable road bikes. The affordable road
bikes are made, but they're not huge sellers. People tend to get all hopped
up on Lance and buy what he rides.

As for the "status factor", I would think that being able to fork out
$2000+ "just for a bicycle" would qualify very nicely.

I am considering ordering a custom Rivendell. It's going to be $3500-$4000,
but it will take two years to build, so I can do it in installments. When I
tell non-cycling friends they're flabbergasted. There is no status in having
an expensive bicycle---except to other cyclists. If you spend that much on a
bike you're considered a weirdo. :-)

"Roger Zoul" wrote in message
...
Chris Zacho "The Wheelman" wrote:
I have been riding for over 30 years now. I've been the member of many
clubs, large and small, on both coasts and in the middle. I've been to
and done many organized rides (short, long and "are you nuts?") and
bike rallies boasting attendances ranging from the hundreds to the
thousands.

Yet at any one of these organizations or events, I could count the
total number of "Afro-American" riders with the fingers of one hand.

One hand? Dang!

The portion of South Carolina where I live now, according to the
latest census, has a population that is about 60% black. Yet the
local club, which has nearly 100 members, to my knowledge has only
one black cyclist. Hardly an accurate representation of the
population at large.

You must be down in the low country. I'm in Upstate SC. Sadly, the
numbers
here aren't much better (should be ever lower, though). On organized
rides
up here, I've seen maybe five (at most) other black folks, and one was a
girl. Two guys I saw seemed to be pretty skilled riders, whereas I'm a
noob. I saw one guy (who claims to have a twin brother who rides, but I
think he was pulling my leg) on different charity ride events.


In fact, I'll be willing to bet, that out of all the posters on this
board, only one, maybe two, max. are black.

Dang! Does that mean I'm just about the only black poster here?

If indeed anybody here is.
Where are all the black riders? What is it about our sport that makes
it so unappealing to an entire race of people?


Anybody have any theories?


Well, I don't claim to have any answers beyond the obvious: Be like Mike.

I personally have no interest in organized team sports, other than
cycling,
which I discovered only recently.

I see lots of black guys playing golf on a course along one of my riding
routes. Of course, lots of black guys go to the gym to lift weights and
play basket and racquetball.

I predict that the numbers will increase, though. I'm a regular on the
roads around here and I got my last girlfriend into it. Maybe I can draw
my
current girlfriend it, but she's pretty committed to running, so maybe
not.
The LA thingie will draw some more in, too, maybe.

Hey, you better watch it, Roger. You keep making generalizations about black
guys liking to lift weights and play basketball and Brendon's going to
insinuate you're a racist. :-)