Recruiting Your Friends

@ShawnoftheDread 45006 wrote:

Everyone I know either vocally thinks I’m crazy, or says “good for you” and quietly thinks I’m crazy.

Bless your heart.

@ShawnoftheDread 45006 wrote:

Everyone I know either vocally thinks I’m crazy, or says “good for you” and quietly thinks I’m crazy.

+1 Sometimes I’ll get the “I’ve been thinking of trying to ride my bike to work” response, only to then get the “I was just saying that to be nice” look when I offer to ride with them or help them actually do it.

At work, I think I’ve gotten some people to at least think about doing CaBi when the weather warms up, mostly because we’re stuck in a corner of DC with lots of CaBi stations and not much else (near State Department).

In my social circles, I’ve had more luck talking to people about the joys of biking around to do errands, especially with kids. My points are: (1) kids enjoy the bike, so “let’s go to the grocery”–> GROAN, turns into “let’s take a bike ride to the grocery store”–>”YAY”; (2) packing kids into the car is a pain unto itself (especially if they don’t want to be packed into said car), getting on a bike is not much harder; (3) parents of kids NEVER* get as much exercise as they’d like – this is multitasking; (4) bike parking in the R-B corridor is SO MUCH easier than parking.

Not that I’ve had a ton of luck so far, but people have definitely perked up at the suggestion, and some have even bought the equipment to bike with kids.

*Tim Kelley excepted

@DismalScientist 45013 wrote:

Everyone’s behavior due to this Freezing Saddles thing isn’t helping matters.

Case in point. (Referring, of course, to your 75.4 mile extended commute home last night!)

@rcannon100 45031 wrote:

I think the biggest thing we did recently to increase the number of cyclists… was get new bike racks (lost the wheel benders, installed inverted Us – and more of them). Build it and they will come.

Hey arlingtonrider, can you talk DOL into getting some real bike racks out front? The ones out there now are TERRIBLE.

I’ve tried in the past, but most of my endeavors resulted in me riding a road bike, fully kitted up, for a very slow 10 miles with one or a few people on “bikes” of varying degrees of dilapidation, punctuated with stops to blow noses or drink water (no real cyclist stops to do those things) or make repairs to hopelessly cheap components. And amongst those people in my outreach experiments were several who were “training for a triathlon”. None were ever interested in getting more serious about riding or doing longer or faster distances. Sometimes I thought some of them were just out for a free tuneup.

So I’ve since relinquished being the Bike Ambassador, offering an introductory hand to road cycling to any who might be interested at no matter what level. If my wife or any of our friends propose a bike ride on a nice Spring day, I’ll diplomatically state that if I’m going for a ride it will be a certain distance at a certain pace. Not that I want to be a jerk, but I put a lot of time and effort into cycling, and I won’t ride for the sake of those who haven’t the same passion for it. My wife and some of our friends like to get together for guitars and singing; it would be akin to me saying I want to take the guitar for every song of the night (I don’t play), and that everyone has to bear with my craptastic non-playing. I pour the wine, sing along when I can and let them do their thing

I am now focusing my efforts on my own flesh and blood; seems like the most promise there. I once met a family — mom, dad, daughter and son — at a rest spot on the Silver Comet trail in Atlanta. The parents had clearly been riding seriously for years, and the kids — teen-aged — looked like they were well on their way, and were probably already junior racers. But most importantly, they were all really into it. I thought to myself that’s what I want when I have a family, so that’s been my cycling dream for my family since. I think learning to pursue that which bigger than oneself — that bigger climb, that longer distance or faster sprint — is one of the most valuable things I can pass to them. It’s ok to dawdle along on a cheap hybrid if you aren’t into cycling, but at least have something you pursue like no one else pursues.

The kids I think I can manage…my wife on the other hand…she still asks me how to change gears, so only slow progress so far. When the kids hit their teens…European Cycling Vacation here we come!