Yesterday, WNPR featured a show on “urban biking.” If you missed it, follow the link for the podcast. It featured some folks from the Beat Bike Blog, as well as a bike messenger and bike shop owners.

While listening, I heard a caller ask what she had to do to begin riding as a form of commuting. On one hand, you go sister! While none of the six guests were women, at least one managed to sneak through the gender barricade via phone lines. On the other hand, while listening, I had my own answer to this. Well, see, you find a bike and stand it up. Then, you place one foot on a pedal, get up onto the saddle, and begin pedaling.

To ride a bicycle, all one needs is a bicycle.

That’s not to say that one may not want other pieces of equipment, or that said equipment is a bad idea. I have made the point before and I will make it again: wanting and needing are two different things. As a society, we too frequently conflate the two. One does not need a car in Hartford. She might want one. She may find it is more convenient or less expensive than taking the bus if she has children to schlep, but she does not need one. Just like I do not need any more shoes or books.

A helmet is not needed to ride a bicycle. It has not play in how the pedals turn or how the brakes operate. I am not wholly convinced that some mass produced wedge of foam and plastic is sufficient to protect my skull, but I wear one about 99% of the time anyway. I think of helmets like seatbelts — it should be up to the adult whether or not she uses them; this action should not be mandated by the law.

Does one need rain gear? Again, no. It does nothing to keep the bicycle on the road. I do not own any, though I do understand why some riders might prefer to deck themselves out in it. Because my commutes are relatively short, I’ll take a drenching over being wrapped in plastic. If my ride were twenty miles in each direction, then I might feel differently.

Here are some pictures of shoes I have worn while riding my bicycle.

My feet are not very tough, so I need some kind of footwear, which is basically the extent to which a special cycling shoe is necessary to me. Sandals work as well as sneakers as well as heels.

I could go on and on, but the point has been made. Thinking about the actual bicycle seems like a better use of time. Is it visible enough for the comfort of the rider? Do you want to obey all laws, and if so, have you equipped the bike with reflectors, lights, and functioning brakes?

Biking has less to do with the “right” equipment and more to do with the rider’s mindset.

Before looking at some comments left on WNPR’s page for this show, I want to briefly revisit the Bicycle Friendly Community Symposium from a few weeks ago. While I absolutely agree that Connecticut deserves its place toward the bottom of the BFC list, I do not believe that means that one can not ride here. Biking in CT, and enjoying doing so, does not depend on having a BFC-attitude. Arguments often made about bicycles are not equally or consistently made toward automobiles. There are plenty of roadways that are dangerous for cars, but people still use their cars to travel on these roads. An example of this is coming. Here are a few comments left by show listeners:

I’d love to ride my bike to and from work 40 miles each way, and am still considering doing it, except it’s dangerous:

  • Many CT motorists think the road belongs to them.  Many motorists are ignorant of the law requiring them to share the road, or understand the law and just don’t care.  Losing a couple of seconds during their commute because of a cyclist in the way is intolerable.
  • People have been attacked by thugs while cycling Hartford streets, or through the parks.
  • The only established bike trails that get cyclists off the streets do not take cyclists to areas where there are jobs.  (Farmington Valley Greenway is awesome, but it takes me to farmland, not Hartford).
  • CT weather is only conducive to commuting by bicycle for about 7 months out of the year (except for the die-hard extremists).

I do not disagree with this person’s assessment of how too many motorists are intolerant of anything that slows their drives. We see this all of the time; however, this alone should not hinder a person from getting on a bicycle. For as many drivers who make obnoxious and illegal choices, there are as many who are respectful of others on the road. If more people ride, then I think the mindset of drivers will change. Bicyclists will not be thought of as this anomaly.

The remark about bike trails is both true and false. It’s a generalization. Do people all work in the same place? No. But the trails do remove cyclists from the streets, which increases comfort level for many, but is not convenient for commuting. Are bike trails intended for commuters? I do not believe they are. Use the nice trails for lollygagging, but do not rely on them for commuting. They are not HOV lanes for cyclists.

People have been attacked in Hartford and elsewhere while riding bikes. People have also been paralyzed and killed while riding in automobiles. People have been mauled by dogs, killed during natural disasters, and lost their lives for a whole slew of unexpected reasons. It’s cool to try to minimize risk, but at the same time, one has to question the degree to which an activity is risky. I read about one person in the past few years who was harassed, while in a park on a bicycle, in Hartford. I know someone else who, at least five years ago, was mugged for his bike. That’s not enough to scare me off my bike or out of parks. When this type of crime reaches the frequency of fatal car crashes, I will reconsider. Making choices because of fear seems sad to me.

The weather, I would argue, is not conducive to cycling for about two weeks out of the entire year. Others could handle it 365 days. If the roads are covered in slush or ice, then I do not feel at ease; other cyclists are able to deal with this. Getting into a car, rather than biking, because the weather is a little chilly is weak. One can put on several layers of clothing, wear gloves/mittens, etc. and be fine except for those very few days when the temperature is too dangerous for people to even be outside. If anything below 30 degrees feels too cold to handle, riding or not, one might want to question his choice of region in which he lives. Someone who is not a “die-hard extremist” could bike every month except December and February. That’s at least ten months.

I would like to get to something in the beginning of that person’s comment: he commutes 40 miles to work. To me, that’s the problem. Work closer to home or live closer to work. Or, live in a place where public transportation is an option. I know someone who commutes from West Hartford to New Haven, but he is able to catch the train from Hartford. That’s not such a horrible option.

But this requires taking a look at our society’s collective mindset, the thought that one should do anything she can to keep a job. I love my jobs. I work each day of the week and on the weekend. With my recent move, my longest commute is four miles. This is possible because I am selective about the type of work that I do and because I want to be a part of the community in which I work/do my work within my community.

Anyway, the show was about urban biking, and not about suburban or rural-to-urban biking.

Does Connecticut have a bike culture?  Not at all.  I have lived in other places where biking is actually embraced and very popular (Munich), and sadly there is no comparison. Can it?  Yes, of course, but there are many complications.  Most of our roads are too narrow and there are many stretches without any shoulder.  There are no dedicated bike lanes. Motorists aren’t used to sharing the road with bikers.

Is there a new one rising up right now?  There are many people who would love for this to happen, me included.  With the awful economy, and the broad and growing desire to go-green, the conditions are definitely improving.

Could you get rid of (or rely drastically less on) your car?  Not really, there is just no safe way to get anywhere from where I live… not even the grocery (busy 2 lane roads, no sidewalks, no bike lanes…).  God I would really love to leave my car in the garage now and then.

I agree that a lot of our infrastructure can feel like obstacles. But the way to get motorists used to sharing the road is not by removing ourselves from it! Legally, cyclists have the ride to be on the road, no matter how narrow it is.

I also agree that things are improving. We are getting more designated bike lanes, sharrows, etc.

Could one drastically reduce use of his car? Yes. Use the busy two lane road. Get friends out there with you.

This keeps returning to the question of priorities. I wonder what it is that people do when deciding where to live. Do they simply look at the quality of school systems and leave it at that?

I love riding my bike…but not in Hartford. I’m a senior at Trinity College and ride my bike around campus, but wouldn’t dare head off campus. The roads are in horrible condition, not to mention that the drivers here are INSANE! I’m afraid of driving my car in this area, let alone riding my bike. Many drivers pass people one the sidewalk, run red lights, and pay no attention to other drivers. I feel like if I rode my bike in my area (Frog Hollow), I’d be dead within a few miles. And I feel comfortable riding in my hometown of Philly and in Manhattan. Any tips for dealing with drivers who just don’t pay attention to traffic laws, let alone to sharing the road with cyclists?

First off, Trinity is in Hartford. I don’t want it to sound like I’m picking on her; I hear college students on various campuses speak as if their college is not actually a part of the city/town that it is located in.

Many of the roads are in horrible condition. Because of our weather, we get potholes. These are not always fixed in a reasonable time frame. I am not sure, though, if this person is concerned with pot holes or something else. “Horrible” is kind of vague.

As for the assertion that drivers pass on the sidewalk, that’s something I have never seen. I do not doubt it, but like the bicyclists getting mugged, I do not know how frequently this occurs. What I regularly see are distracted drivers who run red lights. That’s a danger to all on the road — pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists alike. I assume that this student travels off campus on occasion, perhaps to visit parents. To do so, she must use some form of transportation. That there are so many distracted drivers has not wholly discouraged her from ever leaving campus; even if she takes the train home, she must get to the station somehow, whether it is on foot, by personal car, bike, bus, or cab.

Now, this one I replied to on the site, but I will reiterate some things here that I did not get into because of the space. Having spent considerable time in Frog Hollow before moving here, I have also biked in the area, including at night. The congested area of Capitol and Flower can be frustrating, as can Capitol and Broad, but beyond that, the area is fine. If I want, I can easily reroute myself to dodge those intersections. That’s the beauty of being on a bicycle — maneuvering is easier.

Some drivers do make me nervous. I signal when turning, I ring my bell/honk my horn, and I am not afraid to use my voice. I have done this a number of times to alert drivers. Women are not typically taught to be loud, so it might go against what feels natural. After awhile, yelling “hey” when not sure if a driver sees you will become natural. There’s no sense in being polite if by doing so you end up crashed into.

Anyway, “Ghostship Matt”  left a solid response to the negative comments:

There have already been lots of articles published about going by bike, so all the excuses written here, the bad roads, the weather, the drivers, all the complaining and bellyaching, needs to stop. If you want to ride your bike, you can do it.

At risk of sounding too Horatio Alger, I think that if people really want something, they can usually find a way to make it happen. I’m not talking about becoming a millionaire or famous, but on a regular, personal level, if a person wants to make a change, it’s possible — eating healthier, quitting smoking, continuing one’s education, practicing yoga, and yes, riding a bicycle.