"news" from Chicago

The Chicago Sun-Times ran an online poll today asking, "Which occupant
of Chicago streets is more annoying: bikers, drivers or pedestrians?"
The result? 44% found cyclists to be more annoying than drivers (43%)
or pedestrians (12%). Sounds pretty conclusive, doesn't it. Ah, but
wait- only 264 votes were cast. There are roughly 10 million people in
the Chicago metro area. If only 10% of those drive (a conservative
guesstimate) that is still a million people. 264 out of a million
doesn't sound like a very meaningful survey group to me but some on
either 'side' will point to the survey as proof we need more
legislation, more bike paths, more education, etcetera when all we
really need is to just laugh such silliness off and go ride.

Regards,
Bob

P.S.- And if we happen to be riding in the Chicago metro area we
should try not to annoy the 116 that voted us most annoying. g

Bob Hunt wrote:
The Chicago Sun-Times ran an online poll today asking, "Which occupant
of Chicago streets is more annoying: bikers, drivers or pedestrians?"

"Bikers" are definitely the most annoying, due to the noise a V-twin
with straight pipes makes. One can only wonder why they are not ticketed
more often.

The result? 44% found cyclists to be more annoying than drivers (43%)
or pedestrians (12%). Sounds pretty conclusive, doesn't it. Ah, but
wait- only 264 votes were cast. There are roughly 10 million people in
the Chicago metro area. If only 10% of those drive (a conservative
guesstimate) that is still a million people. 264 out of a million
doesn't sound like a very meaningful survey group to me but some on
either 'side' will point to the survey as proof we need more
legislation, more bike paths, more education, etcetera when all we
really need is to just laugh such silliness off and go ride.[...]

Self-selecting polls are hardly scientific.

Of course, maybe the Sun Times only has 264 readers left?

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007
I am a vehicular cyclist.

In article ,
Bob writes:
The Chicago Sun-Times ran an online poll today asking, "Which occupant
of Chicago streets is more annoying: bikers, drivers or pedestrians?"
The result? 44% found cyclists to be more annoying than drivers (43%)
or pedestrians (12%). Sounds pretty conclusive, doesn't it. Ah, but
wait- only 264 votes were cast. There are roughly 10 million people in
the Chicago metro area. If only 10% of those drive (a conservative
guesstimate) that is still a million people. 264 out of a million
doesn't sound like a very meaningful survey group to me but some on
either 'side' will point to the survey as proof we need more
legislation, more bike paths, more education, etcetera when all we
really need is to just laugh such silliness off and go ride.

What really annoys me is shops who stick much of their inventories
out onto the sidewalk, narrowing the passageway. I bet that
~really~ annoys blind people. Then there are folks who insist
on parking their cars right where driveways intersect sidewalks.

Nuclear arms races are pretty annoying, too. (Pakistan and India
had better smarten up.)

So are people who sit beside me on the bus or rapid transit train
while they're holding an open cup of coffee or a Slurpee.

And y'know what? There's an ettiquette to wielding an umbrella.
At least, there should be.

Then there's the pedestrians who are so absorbed by their music
playback devices, they're lost to the real world. They'd better
watch out for those shops with all their crap out on the sidewalk.
Especially on Vanouver's Main St, lest they accidentally get their
foot stuck in an antique brass cuspidor or aspidastra outside a
2nd hand shop.

Back in the '70s, people could put a tune on, on their high-falootin'
Sound System, and then waste time turning knobs and sliding or
pushing buttons to get The Perfect Sound, and then the tune's over
without even being listened-to. Now people can do all that while
afoot. Good ol' progress. Frobnication for the nation.

I'm almost willing to bet I'm the only person in the world
who wrote the word: "aspidastra" online today. I probably
misspelt it. The word looks like it needs an 'e' or two.

Anyways, humanity is lovable. Even though some of our ranks
disgustingly walk down the street while being fat & jiggly,
and conspicuous-consumptionly cramming quasi-food into their
cake holes. Maybe having to occasionally lean against
streetlights while catching their breath. As I recall,
Chicago is notorious for those big, soft pretzels that
go so well, dunked in the right kind of mustard. We humans
can be so easily tempted. We celebrate various forms of
strength in or popular celebrities, but our weaknesses are
really what connects us. Plus the strength of our caring
for our fellows, even though it doesn't always manifest.

cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

On 2009-06-22, Tom Keats wrote:
I'm almost willing to bet I'm the only person in the world
who wrote the word: "aspidastra" online today. I probably
misspelt it. The word looks like it needs an 'e' or two.

Aspidistra. I only know what one is because it was a crucial plot
element in a high school play I was in.

Top rant, Tom. I enjoyed reading that, and many of the same things
annoy me! But life's too short to go around being annoyed by things
isn't it?

--
John

Bob wrote:
The Chicago Sun-Times ran an online poll today asking, "Which occupant
of Chicago streets is more annoying: bikers, drivers or pedestrians?"
The result? 44% found cyclists to be more annoying than drivers (43%)
or pedestrians (12%). Sounds pretty conclusive, doesn't it. Ah, but
wait- only 264 votes were cast. There are roughly 10 million people in
the Chicago metro area. If only 10% of those drive (a conservative
guesstimate) that is still a million people. 264 out of a million
doesn't sound like a very meaningful survey group to me but some on
either 'side' will point to the survey as proof we need more
legislation, more bike paths, more education, etcetera when all we
really need is to just laugh such silliness off and go ride.

Regards,
Bob

P.S.- And if we happen to be riding in the Chicago metro area we
should try not to annoy the 116 that voted us most annoying. g

What we really need:

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2004...nside-the-box/

"The communications box will contain a digital map of the road network.
To turn it into a road safety device, you need only add the local speed
limits and connect it to the engine management system. When the box
detects that the speed limit has dropped, it warns the driver, blocks
the accelarator and applies the brakes. Local sensors can tell the
digital map when weather conditions are bad, and bring the car’s speed
down to match them."

Bob wrote:
The Chicago Sun-Times ran an online poll today asking, "Which occupant
of Chicago streets is more annoying: bikers, drivers or pedestrians?"
The result? 44% found cyclists to be more annoying than drivers (43%)
or pedestrians (12%). Sounds pretty conclusive, doesn't it. Ah, but
wait- only 264 votes were cast. There are roughly 10 million people in
the Chicago metro area. If only 10% of those drive (a conservative
guesstimate) that is still a million people. 264 out of a million
doesn't sound like a very meaningful survey group to me but some on
either 'side' will point to the survey as proof we need more
legislation, more bike paths, more education, etcetera when all we
really need is to just laugh such silliness off and go ride.

Regards,
Bob

P.S.- And if we happen to be riding in the Chicago metro area we
should try not to annoy the 116 that voted us most annoying. g

If someone liked bicycling, I would wonder why they would choose to live
an an urban area to begin with. It's rather like a professional
snow-skier living in the middle of Death Valley.
~

wrote:
Doug Cimper wrote (in the subjunctive):

If someone liked bicycling, I would wonder why they would choose
to
live an an urban area to begin with. It's rather like a
professional snow-skier living in the middle of Death Valley.

I think that perception ignores why people live in Chicago, which
is
probably to enable employment in a chosen profession. Being a
bicyclist is likely coincidental and less important than earning a
living and employment in a field where useful achievement is
possible.

We certainly don't live here for the climate!

The Chicago Sun-Times ran an online poll today asking, "Which
occupant of Chicago streets is more annoying: bikers, drivers
or pedestrians?"

=v= I hate when newspapers do these thoroughly-unscientific
"polls" on topics that are entirely about emotion. They may as
well ask which race is the most annoying and print the results
without any demographic breakdown.
_Jym_

DougC wrote:
Bob wrote:
The Chicago Sun-Times ran an online poll today asking, "Which occupant
of Chicago streets is more annoying: bikers, drivers or pedestrians?"
The result? 44% found cyclists to be more annoying than drivers (43%)
or pedestrians (12%). Sounds pretty conclusive, doesn't it. Ah, but
wait- only 264 votes were cast. There are roughly 10 million people in
the Chicago metro area. If only 10% of those drive (a conservative
guesstimate) that is still a million people. 264 out of a million
doesn't sound like a very meaningful survey group to me but some on
either 'side' will point to the survey as proof we need more
legislation, more bike paths, more education, etcetera when all we
really need is to just laugh such silliness off and go ride.

Regards,
Bob

P.S.- And if we happen to be riding in the Chicago metro area we
should try not to annoy the 116 that voted us most annoying. g

If someone liked bicycling, I would wonder why they would choose to live
an an urban area to begin with. It's rather like a professional
snow-skier living in the middle of Death Valley.
~

I prefer riding in the city to most other places. High density and short
distances make utility cycling practical, and even for recreational
riding, there are lots more interesting places to go. Any typical
weekend day in the summer it seems, I can't help but encounter some sort
of event or festival, usually several. While I haven't cycled Chicago,
it seems to me it would be a pretty nice place to ride.

In New England we have lots of winding country roads which can be very
pleasant scenery-wise. I have friends who have relocated to other, more
recently developed, parts of the country who complain there's "nowhere
to ride" because secondary roads are uncommon, lots of limited access
roads linking essentially cul-de-sac communities.

The most unpleasant part of my long rides in the countryside is getting
through the suburban belt. Fortunately, here in Boston, it's not quite
so deep as elsewhere, but there's been enough recent sprawl that some
routes are just not worth the effort anymore. A lot of America is just
pretty flat & boring, even where you have reasonable secondary roads.
Cities are always interesting, rural areas sometimes, suburbs never.

In article ,
DougC writes:
Bob wrote:
The Chicago Sun-Times ran an online poll today asking, "Which occupant
of Chicago streets is more annoying: bikers, drivers or pedestrians?"
The result? 44% found cyclists to be more annoying than drivers (43%)
or pedestrians (12%). Sounds pretty conclusive, doesn't it. Ah, but
wait- only 264 votes were cast. There are roughly 10 million people in
the Chicago metro area. If only 10% of those drive (a conservative
guesstimate) that is still a million people. 264 out of a million
doesn't sound like a very meaningful survey group to me but some on
either 'side' will point to the survey as proof we need more
legislation, more bike paths, more education, etcetera when all we
really need is to just laugh such silliness off and go ride.

Regards,
Bob

P.S.- And if we happen to be riding in the Chicago metro area we
should try not to annoy the 116 that voted us most annoying. g

If someone liked bicycling, I would wonder why they would choose to live
an an urban area to begin with. It's rather like a professional
snow-skier living in the middle of Death Valley.
~

I wonder why so many people opt to drive their POV/SOV cars
for short, infra-city trips. So many traffic lights,
trying to find parking spots, so much bulky machinery just
to convey one or two people around. And when it comes to
maneouverability, cars are such awkward, lumbering
mechanical beasts; they hold up the rest of the traffic
when they're being parallel-parked, sometimes it takes a
few attempts. In the city, cars get in the way of other
cars, riders and pedestrians, much more than riders and
pedestrians get in the way of cars. By bike-riding in the
city, one avoids being an impediment to fellow citizens,
while also avoiding being impeded by fellow citizens.
I find it more sociable and civilised.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca