--- jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net wrote:
> affects behavior. Your risk of injury is
> astronomically higher
> on a bike in the US than in a car or SUV.
Nah. As far as anybody can tell (how do you reliably measure the rate bicycle injuries?), per mile it's about the same as car injuries or maybe as much as 1.5x more. A risk, but not a huge one, and it's wildly outweighed by the health benefits. Doctors are delighted when I tell them I get around on bike. But cyclists are definitely more at the mercy of drivers than the other way around, and subject to really bizarre and dangerous behavior. Much worse than keying, God forbid, per John's examples. I figure mad assholes are mad assholes, on/in or off/out of whatever transportation mode.
As John points out there's a bit of divide between people who seem to be into bikes because they hate cars, and people who are into bikes because they like bikes. The latter are much more pleasant to be around and probably safer to ride with, too, per Jordan's examples.
Critical Mass isn't the same everywhere, and it's not all in-your-face. The ones I've been on in Chicago are a lot of fun, more party than protest. Of course they have their share of activismists.
I started a 20-mile round trip commute two week ago and I think I've lost 15#.....
"One More Bike" Andy
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