My brother was right…

Dotrider blog has an older brother that lives in West Philadelphia. He has always kept a bicycle. Typically he goes for a 24 inch Schwinn which is as much like the one he got in 1956 when he turned eight which was the year our father determined it was appropriate for a kid to have a bicycle. He is an urban pioneer, moving to the city in the 1960s and making a life on the edge of the urban decay of the era. Much of my approach to city living was derived from working for him a few summers during college. He has the family activist gene as well, but he’s learned that being an activist doesn’t always yield what you’re looking for. When we talked about being bicycle advocates he spoke strongly and firmly AGAINST anyone promoting cycling. He believed that the law of unintended consequences would take hold and the improvements would wreck his vision of good urban bicycling. He likes the independence he gets from riding his bike sans traffic laws. He argued that riding on the sidewalk has a time and place. That successfully advocating would make bicycling more regulated, thus taking away from the freedom many of us riders derive from powering ourselves around town. He like me believes it isn’t how fast you go on a bicycle, it’s how little you go zero that makes them work in the city. Today the Globe and the bostonbiker posts report that Cops were ticketing bicyclists! We haven’t gotten much in terms of public accomodation or driver and rider education and now we’re being harrassed by Boston police? My brother was right…

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