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Category Archives: ecology

Of Blog Posts That Begin with ‘Of’

OK, so I have been riding a bicycle as basic transportation (which means every day there is not ice or snow) in Springfield for nine years. And I swear the number of bicyclists just keeps growing. There is almost never a moment these days, while riding in the urban core, that I do not see [...]

Posted 15 May 2013 † Andy Cline § bicycle culture § bicycle destination ‡ Comments (17) ° Tagged: , ,

Of Advocacy and Stasis

To follow up on yesterday’s post, I want to address the whole discussion thing. I concluded my post with a short list suggesting that there are certain types of bicyclists that I’m willing to discuss advocacy with and certain types that, well, not so much. Now’s a good time to discuss stasis theory. Before one [...]

Posted 15 May 2013 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle culture § bicycle infrastructure § bicycle safety § safety ‡ Comments (49) ° Tagged: , , , , ,

Of Perception, Reality, and Desire

Here are two things you should go read right now: If you want to stop having this debate… Cyclists Aren’t ‘Special,’ And They Shouldn’t Play By their Own Rules I’m not going to comment directly on these except to say that each is important in its own way. Instead, I want to use these as [...]

Posted 14 May 2013 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle culture § bicycle infrastructure § bicycle safety § i am traffic § policy § safety § traffic ‡ Comments (22) ° Tagged: , , , , , ,

Bike To Everywhere Decade

Next week is Bike to Work Week in Springfield. Or, just another week. You see, I’m participating in, and about to complete, Bike to Everywhere Decade. I seriously do not mean to criticize Bike to Work Week or brag about what I do. It’s a good program. But I do have a minor gripe that’s [...]

Posted 07 May 2013 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle culture § news ‡ Comments (8) ° Tagged: , , , , ,

Breaking: Walking Is Good For You

Walking is an “amazing treatment” that can fight a number of maladies — including heart disease and obesity — according to a news release by Citiwire.net. OK, so I’m being a bit cheeky. But the reason that Citiwire is playing up this obvious “news” is that there is a crisis in American walking – at least according [...]

Posted 22 April 2013 † Andy Cline § walking ‡ Comments (10) ° Tagged:

The Bizzaro World of Courtesy

Yes, you do live in an episode of the Twilight Zone. Submitted for your approval, a world where the people who operate large, dangerous machines — automobiles — are given every courtesy, and,  in their mishaps with people who prefer to walk or ride a bicycle, are given the benefit of the “doubt.” The street [...]

Posted 12 April 2013 † Andy Cline § safety § traffic § walking ‡ Comments (13) ° Tagged: , , ,

Mobility: Upwards and Otherwise

So it appears that even with an uptick in the real estate market, the whole home-ownership thing is losing its vaunted position at the core of the American Dream. Add to that what appears to be the end of the American love affair with cars among the Millennial  Generation and you have a potentially massive cultural [...]

Posted 05 April 2013 † Andy Cline § ‡ Comments (6) ° Tagged: ,

IMF Says Gasoline Too Cheap

Check out this report from NPR about the true costs of gasoline as reported by the International Monetary Fund. One problem: We are far too enamored of growth and short-term gain to ever take this seriously — that is until it’s too late. Then we will do the next thing we do best: Look for [...]

Posted 28 March 2013 † Andy Cline § news § policy ‡ Comments (3) ° Tagged: , ,

Inner Space of the Downtown Loft

My wife and I visited our loft yesterday to measure the space that our belongings will occupy. Hence the blue tape you see in the picture. We’re downsizing from about 2,500 square feet to about 1,000 square feet. So, yeah, be watching for the garage sale There will be no bicycles in that sale because [...]

Posted 27 March 2013 † Andy Cline § ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged:

Quotes We Narrate By

Regarding my earlier post today and the beginning of Keri Caffrey’s series entitled The Stories We Tell, here are the essential plots of two very different narratives of bicycling in the United States today: The Stories of the Unsuccessful Bicyclist I’m a second class citizen. I’m at the mercy of others. Most motorists are careless [...]

Posted 19 March 2013 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle education § bicycle safety § i am traffic § traffic ‡ Comments (4) ° Tagged: , , , ,

Culture, Daydreams, and Hypothesis

I drove my bicycle to the grocery this morning. That is a very odd statement. The statement is odd because I’m admitting doing something out of the cultural norm in the United States. It is also odd because I am deliberately appropriating language used and understood by motorists to refer to what they do with [...]

Posted 12 March 2013 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle education § bicycle infrastructure § bicycle safety § cyclingsavvy § safety § traffic ‡ Comments (40) ° Tagged: , , , , , ,

The Whole Money Thing

My wife and I get many different reactions from people when we mention our moving to a loft in downtown Springfield. A few are interested because the same thought has crossed their minds. A few are amused because our move seems the trendy thing to do. Still others are perplexed and simply nod. We were [...]

Posted 05 March 2013 † Andy Cline § ‡ Comments (6) ° Tagged: , , , , ,

Don’t Be Mad At Me

I know nothing about psychology beyond the introductory class I took in college in the 1970s. That said, and given the discussion in my post yesterday about the psychology of motorist anger, I want to propose this: People, in general, do not like being the focus of anger. I believe, with nothing more than anecdotal [...]

Posted 14 February 2013 † Andy Cline § bicycle safety § traffic ‡ Comments (12) ° Tagged: , , ,

Of Motorist Rage and the Free-Rider Bicyclist

The BBC published an interesting column yesterday about the psychology of motorist rage toward bicyclists. The upshot is that, apparently, motorists are upset most because bicyclists are free-riders in traffic: they do not pay for the system, and many do not follow the rules. Here’s the money quote: So now we can see why there is [...]

Posted 13 February 2013 † Andy Cline § advocacy § bicycle education § news § policy § traffic ‡ Comments (10) ° Tagged: , , , , ,

EFTAD: Stuff… Sooo Much Stuff

OK, so I’m having to use the EFTAD acronym for my Escape From The American Dream blog series because it’s just too many words for the column width. And I dislike blog heads running two decks. So, well, yeah … EFTAD. Now that we’ve settled that, let’s briefly discuss something far from settled: what are [...]

Posted 08 February 2013 † Andy Cline § ‡ Comments (4) ° Tagged: