It pains me when people ostensibly on my side are thoughtless.

[sara]

I was liking this opinion piece by Robert Gottlieb, in the LA Times today, about making cities more bicycle-friendly, until I got to this part:

We need to reach out to those who think bicycles aren't for them. Copenhagen has been a leader in prodding women, seniors and others who have not been part of the bike-riding world to make the transition to everyday bike use.

Who is this "we," who'll be reaching out, exactly? Both the people Gottlieb cites who're leaders in making cities more cycle-friendly are, er...women.

*sigh* Women and seniors have been "part of the bike-riding world" for quite some time now, Mr. Gottlieb. No, really. That guy up in my icon, who's now eligible for Social Security? Still puts in fifty miles most weekends.

Comments

[sara]

*nods* Yeah, I have a big set of panniers, and I regularly collect a week's CSA share (which is enough veg to completely fill both bags) and less-regularly buy serious groceries, but...I would have a very hard time doing the household shopping for a family of four without a car. Some of that's because we buy in bulk a lot (we bought a whole ham at the end of last month and are still eating off it, for example), but some of it would be a problem for any household with more than a couple of folks.

ETA in response to your ETA: Yeah, I think it'd be great if we didn't live in a world where women do most of the shopping, but goodness knows that's how it works for most of the households I know, including mine.