Slate article wrapping up the #flightvsbike race

[dragonfly]

http://www.slate.com/id/2299432/

But the moment of folly seemed to provide an aperture for new thinking. In the face of this fanciful idea (a traffic-busting flight!) it became possible to demonstrate that cycling, often taken as a non-serious or marginal or even annoying (to some drivers) form of transportation in the U.S., could seem eminently reasonable: Not only the cheapest form of transportation, not merely the one with the smallest carbon footprint, not only the one most beneficial to the health of its user, but the fastest.

Comments

[sara]

Having grown up biking and riding buses all over L.A. (in the dark ages between the old train system and the absolutely beautiful lines they've built in the last decade) this is such a satisfying story for me.

Icon is my Angeleno cycling uncle, who's been making his way about Southern California on a bike since the late 1940s.

[darkemeralds]

Nicely balanced report.

When I saw on Twitter that the cyclists had won so handily, I cheered. I wasn't exactly surprised, mind you, but I was really thrilled.

Negative comments on this Slate article and the previous one seem strangely defensive, as if people who can and do commute by bike expect everyone to do so under all circumstances. Hoping for better bike infrastructure or better bike safety or more recognition of bikes as a valid mode of transport does NOT mean we want bikes to become as monolithic as cars are now.

Speaking for myself, nothing could be further from the truth. I just like it, and love that other people see its value too.