"Whites Only"?

On Sat, 5 Mar 2005 07:48:07 -0500, "psycholist"
wrote:

"Roger Zoul" wrote in message
...
wrote:
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 have to admit that these kinds of thoughts always creep into my head on
my
solo rides. I just ignore them and keep going.


Roger,

I have some black friends in Clemson and Anderson who are nervous about
riding IN A CAR through the rural areas of many South Carolina counties.
To be perfectly honest, I would understand completely if you didn't feel
comfortable riding on the roads down here where I live. There are plenty of
really sweet folks. Unfortunately, there are also still plenty of Bubbas
with rebel flags, too.

That's what I was thinking. If black people in nice cars are getting
stopped by police on the way from work, imagine black people on nice
bikes in the country.

Gee, and I thought that now that Arabs and middle eastern types are
being hassled, black people would be left alone! On a tangent, i know
someone who was actually hassled by law enforcement because of her
last name which sounds arabic but is actually israeli and she's
jewish! It was actually her married name. Sigh...

On Sat, 05 Mar 2005 08:46:39 -0700, Mark Hickey
wrote:

"Roger Zoul" wrote:

wrote:

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 have to admit that these kinds of thoughts always creep into my head on my
solo rides. I just ignore them and keep going.

Good for you... I once lived in an Asian country where (for various
reasons) there were spikes of anti-Western sentiments. I too had to
consider the possibility that someone might feel it prudent to reduce
the Western population in that country by one with a twitch of the
steering wheel, but didn't let that stop me either.

The way I look at it, if prejudice keeps you from doing what you want
to do, the weenies win, and we can't have that! Sadly, we live in a
world where we can legislate equality (which is a good thing), but we
can't legislate the attitude of the individual. Hopefully those who
are truly warped will die off and not pass along the behaviors to
their offspring.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

That's a very good point. Letting social pressure dictate your leisure
activities is counterproductive. This isn't the third reich! The truth
is you're much more likely to have a stupid crash on the railroad
tracks or slip on a slick painted line than get mowed down by some
racist idiot. We don't let the possiblity of falling and hurting
ourselves stop us from cycling and that's much more likely.

On 5 Mar 2005 07:26:47 -0800, wrote:


Gooserider wrote:


Frank, I'm as white as they come(well, tan in the summer...) and I've
had my
share of abuse and scary moments. Brushed by cars, hit with beer
cans, wolf
whistles from rednecks, chased by pit bulls, you name it. It's not
just
blacks and women who have problems out there. You've cycled thousands
more
miles than I have, so surely you've seen it also.

I've gotten a little of that, of course, but in my experience it's
rare. In a 2500 to 3000 mile year, I might get yelled at ten times
(big deal), but even a tossed beer can comes only once every five years
or so. IOW, these things are rare enough that I just don't let them
bother me.

My point was this: To most motorized yahoos, I'm just another guy on a
bike - in their minds, deserving a catcall but nothing worse. But if I
were black or female, I might fear that they'd be more physically
aggressive.

Of the readers who are not white males, let me ask: How frequent are
minor harrassments? How frequent are harassments that are really
troubling?

It's funny, but I find that being a woman alone is actually quite
safe; it seems that the guys I know get hassled and threatened much
more often, and mostly by other male drivers with testosterone-fueled
cars. I sometimes get leers from horndogs, but big deal, or guys
saying "Wanna go for a ride?" etc. Once last summer I was harrassed by
a threatening guy who got ****ed off at me when I flipped him the bird
after his driver honked and yelled at me. I just went down a side
street. Once in a while someone yells or curses but that's about it.
I find that often people yell nice things like "Go girl" or "allez
allez". However, i must point out that I don't go offroad alone, or on
long rural rides by myself. That's for a number of reasons; if I was
injured or had an accident out in the boonies, more than for reasons
of harrassment.

Last year a friend of mine was almost run over in a rural area when a
van full of yahoos threatned him; then they stopped, and tried to BACK
UP speeding and hit him.He jumped off the road into a ditch.
Fortunately he was okay.

"psycholist" wrote in message
...

I have some black friends in Clemson and Anderson who are nervous about
riding IN A CAR through the rural areas of many South Carolina counties.
To be perfectly honest, I would understand completely if you didn't feel
comfortable riding on the roads down here where I live. There are plenty
of
really sweet folks. Unfortunately, there are also still plenty of Bubbas
with rebel flags, too.

But isn't it a fact that Blacks are more likely to be the victims of crimes
perpetrated by other Blacks than by Whites? I think a solo Black rider
would be safer riding alone in a primarily White area than a primarily Black
area.

Cheto

Cheto wrote:
"psycholist" wrote in message
...

I have some black friends in Clemson and Anderson who are nervous
about riding IN A CAR through the rural areas of many South
Carolina counties. To be perfectly honest, I would understand
completely if you didn't feel comfortable riding on the roads down
here where I live. There are plenty
of
really sweet folks. Unfortunately, there are also still plenty of
Bubbas with rebel flags, too.

But isn't it a fact that Blacks are more likely to be the victims of
crimes perpetrated by other Blacks than by Whites? I think a solo
Black rider would be safer riding alone in a primarily White area
than a primarily Black area.

There are some places in inner-city LA that I'd be afraid to drive through.
Walking or on a bike - no way.

Chris Zacho The Wheelman wrote:
snipped

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

- -

"May you have the winds at your back,
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner


Well I'm black and I really don't know the answer myself. I read
maybe half of the replies and I can only say I agree somewhat with a
couple of things mentioned.

One is cost. Yes you can get cheap bikes. I have no kids and no car
(mostly by choice), but still each of my three bikes is worth no more
than $300. It can be expensive to get decked out for serious racing. I
have a little lycra and I'll probably buy more lycra and a better road
bike or two in the future, but if I had to own a car, that might not be
on the agenda.

Second there is the fact that blacks may be more likely to associate a
bike with being poor. I am married. I sometimes wonder if my wife
would have still been interested in me if she had known I was gonna "go
crazy" and decide I don't need to own a car. Of course, gold diggers
come in all colors, but one typical criteria SOME (not all) black women
will have for her potential man is that he have a car. "He has to have
a car and a job." They don't specify what kind of job, how much money
or what type of car. But you have to have those two things even if
you're still living with your mama. It doesn't seem follow any kind of
logic. Any "true" gold digger would at least specify that the car is a
late model luxury type.

Seems like more black people are riding here in the DC area than three
years ago when I first started riding. Of course, people have always
used them for commuting inside the city. But I've even seen a few black
guys on the trail outside the city this winter. And during the summers
I have seen some black guys riding what seemed to be expensive road
bikes and who were in very good roadbike riding shape. Actually I
wonder if there is a club out towards MD that has a significant
percentage of black members. I ride with a regional recreational club,
and yes, we are a rare sight in this club, but I know I'm not the only
and probably far from the first black person to ride with them.

"Cheto" wrote in message
...

But isn't it a fact that Blacks are more likely to be the victims of
crimes
perpetrated by other Blacks than by Whites? I think a solo Black rider
would be safer riding alone in a primarily White area than a primarily
Black
area.

FWIW, as a white woman, I feel safer riding in urban black neighborhoods
than I do on many rural roads. Young black men apparently find very little
percentage in harrassing me for the sake of harrassing me; somehow in the
woods a young white guy in monster truck will think it's fun to run me off
the road.


--
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

"Claire Petersky" wrote in message
...
"Cheto" wrote in message
...

But isn't it a fact that Blacks are more likely to be the victims of
crimes
perpetrated by other Blacks than by Whites? I think a solo Black rider
would be safer riding alone in a primarily White area than a primarily
Black
area.

FWIW, as a white woman, I feel safer riding in urban black neighborhoods
than I do on many rural roads. Young black men apparently find very little
percentage in harrassing me for the sake of harrassing me; somehow in the
woods a young white guy in monster truck will think it's fun to run me off
the road.

I suppose it all depends on what kind of urban black neighborhood you mean.
If you mean a gentrified area with middle class "buppies" (black urban
professionals) then I'd say you're on the right track. If you mean poor
inner city projects, I would worry about your safety. Of course, I'd worry
about your safety in logging country, or rural Florida, too.

I think we are often seen as having
"green" tendencies by the general public.
Loggers (and whole communities that
depend on logging) may view
environmentalism as threatening their
livelihoods and take their anger out on
cyclists as symbols of anti-logging
policies. And, of course, it's a lot tougher
to safely pass a bike in a logging truck
than a pickup truck.
--
Paul Turner

Is that why I've never had any trouble? Out here in the SC Piedmont,
logging is a big thing (mostly tree farms). My Voyager was "painted"
with a simulated wood grain finish...

http://geocities.com/czcorner/photo/...nia/bnbacl.jpg (913 K)

http://geocities.com/czcorner/photo/...nia/bnfrtl.jpg (877 K)

- -

"May you have the winds at your back,
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

Last year in St Petersburg, Fla, the KKK
held a rally. The turn out of Klansmen,
NeoNaz, fellow travellers,
sympathizers and immediate family was
five (5). That's right, the Klan held a rally
and got five people to show up. There
were about 40 newsmen and 200 some
counter-protesters. Even that was a
historically low turnout since the Klan\
isn't even worth protesting anymore.

Evil really hates being yawned at.

Ron

Well, Bravo for St. Petersburg! Seriously, I would have LOVED to see
that, what an embarrassment! ROTFL!!!

As far aws their needing to be members of their own race, religion,
creed, etc. in a sport to inspire others to join, I would thing the LACK
of would be equally inspiring. Again, look at baseball. Not intending to
sound stereotypical, but the black race is noted as one that tries to
integrate itself where it is lacking in representation.

Now we got Lance sparking interest in another mostly white sport,
following in LeMond's slipstream, why not the same thing? I'm sure black
viewers must have noticed the "pale" aspect of bicycling.

- -

"May you have the winds at your back,
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner