Student blog posts from the Great VCU Bike Race Book

Wilkinson, Carlisle

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VCU Scholars Compass

Virginia Commonwealth UniversityVCU Scholars CompassGreat VCU Bike Race Book Student Blog Posts Great VCU Bike Race Book2015Bicycle Urbanism, Blog 8Carlisle WilkinsonVirginia Commonwealth UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/bike_studentPart of the Higher Education CommonsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA4.0) License.This Blog Post is brought to you for free and open access by the Great VCU Bike Race Book at VCU Scholars Compass. It has been accepted forinclusion in Great VCU Bike Race Book Student Blog Posts by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass. For more information, pleasecontact libcompass@vcu.edu.Downloaded fromhttps://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/bike_student/2911/24/2016 A Better Community: Urban Cooperation & Acceptance | Bicycle Urbanismhttps://rampages.us/bicycleurbanism2015/a­better­community­urban­cooperation­acceptance/ 1/3Bicycle UrbanismPart of the Great VCU Bike Race Book CourseA Better Community: UrbanCooperation & AcceptanceOctober 2, 2015 Student Post dpittPrior to exploring the opinions of the UCI Championship attendees, my perspective of a bicycle-friendly city was one where there were lots of designated, barricaded bike lanes on every street. Ofcourse this can definitely be a characteristic of a bicycle-friendly city, though I learned there is a lotmore to a city in which welcomes bicyclists than just infrastructure.Bike culture can have a large e琠ect on how residents or visitors feel while biking in a city. You may feelcomfortable on bike lanes alone, but when surrounded by others who are using the same transit asyou, you feel more of a sense of community. From observation, biker to biker cooperation and respectis more common than between drivers, and o⁄�en more common between biker and driver. This topicwas a theme among the surveys conducted at the bike race; a mutual understanding of safetyamongst drivers and bikers help both commuters feel more comfortable on the road. Bike culture notonly refers to those on bikes, but also the attitudes towards bikers, especially from those inautomobiles.In terms of advocacy for more bike infrastructure, access, and programs, bike culture can enhance thechances of the execution of these initiatives. For example, Bike/Walk RVA is a large advocacy group,and with the support from Richmond bikers they are able to push for more legislation in favor of bikeroutes and programs. This was also the case with a couple from a rural New York town, whomentioned their biking culture as a primary factor in making the town bicycle-friendly. More bikersand those who are passionate about biking most likely want to share with those new to the activity inthe form of programs and events.One positive attribute of Richmond’s bicycle-friendliness that came up during the surveys, was thatdrivers understand that bikers will also be on the roads. The attendee mentioned her negativeexperience with drivers from out of town, who may not be used to the fact or accept the fact thatdrivers and bikers o⁄�en share city streets.11/24/2016 A Better Community: Urban Cooperation & Acceptance | Bicycle Urbanismhttps://rampages.us/bicycleurbanism2015/a­better­community­urban­cooperation­acceptance/ 2/3Although biking culture can serve as a great contribution to a city’s bike-friendliness, sometimes thatculture will not push for further biking infrastructure because they are used to the current conditions.For example, many advance bikers I spoke with mentioned they felt comfortable on any size roadswith or without bike lanes. Their reasoning included their higher level of experience, but also theyhad already accepted the current conditions, and adapted. This o⁄�en makes it di琠icult for new bikersto enter into that same bike culture, and perhaps even deter them from continuing to bike in urbanareas.In my opinion, biking culture is a huge component of creating a bicycle-friendlycity/town/neighborhood. It takes passion and support to encourage new bikers to take the roads, aswell as push for policy for bikers’ rights on the roads.Submitted by Carlisle4 thoughts on “A Better Community: UrbanCooperation & Acceptance”BrittanyProsiseFirst of all, nice picture, it definitely looks like you’re in the middle of the raceway.One of the things you said that stood out to me the most was how you feel a senseof community when you’re riding a bike and the people around you are as well. It’sweird how that happens, you feel a little safer. I feel like when I’m riding alone andthere are cars behind me, there’s pressure on me to ride faster and move out of theway. It also seems like people are more patient with yielding to people on bikeswhen you’re in the Fan than when you’re downtown.October 2, 2015 at 11:10 pmRachelJordanI agree that it is more common for cyclists to have positive interactions and lesscommon for cyclists with motorists. But how do we reach the audience of driverswho seem impenetrable? How do we get them to understand how we feel whenthey lay on their horn or barely miss us when they pass? Drivers will neverunderstand bicyclists until they get on a bike. I believe this is a multigenerationalproblem we face today and will continue to face for awhile down the road.October 7, 2015 at 11:35 am11/24/2016 A Better Community: Urban Cooperation & Acceptance | Bicycle Urbanismhttps://rampages.us/bicycleurbanism2015/a­better­community­urban­cooperation­acceptance/ 3/3CarlisleWilkinsonRachel–I think that’s a great question. Perhaps more bike infrastructureemphasizes the right that bicyclists have to be on the road. Bike lanes,sharrows, signs, etc. encourage bikers to be on the roads, which might alsohelp change the attitude that roads are car driven (no pun intended). Also, Ithink road design can change this attitude; protected bike lanes, green pathsfor bikers, and lower speed limits. Just like any perspective, our environmenthighly influences how any particular aspect is framed.October 8, 2015 at 3:33 pmJustinGrenzebachHey I too, think that cyclist-culture plays a big role in how smooth bike transit is. Ialso think it is really interesting how you pointed out that average everyday ridersin Richmond are comfortable/content with the current infrastructure, which isn’texactly helpful in the push to advance cycling as transit. I think that zooming inand analyzing the opinions of those individuals who bike much more o⁄�en thanthe average commuter would be beneficial during the planning process of newinfrastructure.October 10, 2015 at 10:19 pm

Bicycle Urbanism, Blog 8

https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1028&context=bike_student

Bicycle Urbanism, Blog 8

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