Re: Anybody read the December Bicycling?

frkrygow@xxxxxxxxx wrote: 
Roger Zoul wrote:

Gooserider <gooserider@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
:> There is an article in this month's Bicycling about the "invisible
:> riders"---those people who are of low income and use bicycles as
:> their sole transportation. The writer, Dan Koeppel, spent time with
:> the undocumented(read : illegal) workers in Los Angeles. The article
:> is well written, and gave me an insight into a world I do not see.
:> That being said, he really hacked me off. There's an incident he
:> mentions of meeting a rider named Octavio who was riding a steel
:> Trek with bar end shifters, a Blackburn rack, and a Brooks. Koeppel
:> deduces the bike is stolen, then says, "Maybe he deserves the
:> bike."? Huh? Deserves it more than the person who actually paid for
:> it? What a moron. Am I supposed to feel sympathy for someone who not
:> only illegally entered the country, but is riding around on a stolen
:> bicycle?

Dood...you're reading Bicycling, or is it Buycycling? What do you expect? 


Actually, while I agree the "deserving the bike" point was VERY poorly
thought out, I was somewhat pleased by the article.

Occasionally - hmmm, make that "rarely", Buycycling puts in an article
that can make a person think.  This one, I think, may have made some
people who post here think about their attitudes - like the one that
there are "real cyclists" and there are "POBs," and the latter don't
count at all.

Probably 90% of the fellow cyclists I see on my commute until I hit the edge of the college campus are lower-income Hispanics...say what you will about "deserving" or "undeserving," "illegal" or "legal," at least in my corner of the world, these are the folks who are keeping bicycles in the public eye as transportation rather than toys, at least in my neck of the woods.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Anybody read the December Bicycling?
    ... > There is an article in this month's Bicycling about the "invisible ... The writer, Dan Koeppel, spent time with the ... Koeppel deduces the bike is stolen, ... Deserves it more than the person ...
    (rec.bicycles.misc)
  • Re: Anybody read the December Bicycling?
    ... The writer, Dan Koeppel, spent time with the ... Deserves it more than the person ... > someone who not only illegally entered the country, but is riding around ... I remember a similar article a few years ago (not in Bicycling; ...
    (rec.bicycles.misc)