Talking about Cycling

Noah recently posted in his blog KC Bike Commuting about a public debate concerning bike lanes. He summarized a number of impassioned points showing a range of emotional reactions to carving out some space for cyclists, and then provided his rebuttal for each.

These are opportunities for Talking about Cycling.

The underdog does not hope for victory because this is not a single skirmish that is won or lost. It is the much slower and less visible process of changing the way people think. Little by little, the good information seeps into the minds of individuals, and one-by-one, minds drift toward a more sympathetic point of view.

It's slow and often it is hard to see progress (that's why I celebrate the number of cyclists I'm seeing), but it is worth the effort.

Of course, riding our bikes and being the change that we want to see in the world is honest advocacy. A willingness to respectfully and cheerfully share our point of view carries that advocacy further.