How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Hate the Car - BSNYC in Outside Mag

[Burnette]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

I'm sorry you didn't know where jaywalking came from.

I'm sorry you took Bike Snob for journalism. C'mon man, everybody gets that stuff for what it is, don't take it for serious.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by Burnette

I'm sorry you took Bike Snob for journalism. C'mon man, everybody gets that stuff for what it is, don't take it for serious.

I never said it was. Merely as an opinion piece, and he backs up his view pretty clearly and concisely.

Whether you agree with it or not is a whole 'nother kettle of fish, and the only refutation you've given to his view is "I think its dumb cuz I like cars too" which makes his perspective infinitely more considered than your dismissal of it from where I sit.

[Burnette]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

I never said it was. Merely as an opinion piece, and he backs up his view pretty clearly and concisely.

Whether you agree with it or not is a whole 'nother kettle of fish, and the only refutation you've given to his view is "I think its dumb cuz I like cars too" which makes his perspective infinitely more considered than your dismissal of it from where I sit.

OK, I'll try again. First off, you're taking this way too personal. This has nothing to do with you at all. I know you not and simply called the piece what it was, lame. Bike Snob is for entertainment, hence the sensationalism in the posts. Everybody get's the gag, I do too. My dislike from it is that it's poorly written with over the top content. It's a popcorn blog and that's what it's suppose to be and it aims to be provocative to get traffic.

I never said I refute it because I like cars, your words. I said it's rubbish no matter what your inclination.

[gdw]

Pretty lame article and certainly not worth arguing over.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by gdw

Pretty lame article and certainly not worth arguing over.

+1

Threads is like a box of chocolates...but I'm not posting any more with motorist content...

[Burnette]

Originally Posted by gdw

Pretty lame article and certainly not worth arguing over.

I thought everybody already knew what Bike Snob was. Some entries are funny but the one the OP linked in particular was lame.

[Burnette]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

+1

Threads is like a box of chocolates...but I'm not posting any more with motorist content...

Oh Bike Snob can be funny at times but he lays an egg here and there. And again, it's entertainment, this just happened to be a lame one.

For those who don't get his shtick, he says it himself point blank here:

"But I'm extremely fortunate that my most favoritest of guilty pleasures is also part of my job as a semi-professional bike blogger, and it is this:

Riling up the readers of Outside magazine.

By the way, note that I said "riling up" and not "trolling," since it's an important distinction".

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by Burnette

OK, I'll try again. First off, you're taking this way too personal. This has nothing to do with you at all. I know you not and simply called the piece what it was, lame. Bike Snob is for entertainment, hence the sensationalism in the posts. Everybody get's the gag, I do too. My dislike from it is that it's poorly written with over the top content. It's a popcorn blog and that's what it's suppose to be and it aims to be provocative to get traffic.

I never said I refute it because I like cars, your words. I said it's rubbish no matter what your inclination.

I'm not entirely sure you do. He's making a salient point underneath your disappointment at the lack of lulz.

But hey, you're the only one reading it properly, right?

[Burnette]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

I'm not entirely sure you do. He's making a salient point underneath your disappointment at the lack of lulz.

But hey, you're the only one reading it properly, right?

You're interjecting yourself and your feelings into this thread because I found an entertainment blog entry to be lame. Again, this has absolutely nothing to do with you.

[54ny77]

Car vs. bike debate aside......BSNY was played out at least a decade+ ago.

Surprised he's still around.

Was very funny when he first came onto the scene, which was a heavily NYC-centric viewpoint. Fresh, witty, etc.

Haven't read his stuff in ages....until this link. I made it through a few sentences. Yawn.

[Vientomas]

Hating an inanimate object seems pretty shallow to me...just sayin'...

[marciero]

Originally Posted by 54ny77

Car vs. bike debate aside......BSNY was played out at least a decade+ ago.

Has only been around 10 years.

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Those are all his points in the article.

And, uh, he's not wrong about the jaywalking thing, that's accurate:

http://muse.jhu.edu/article/215409

The origin of the rivalry between road users is far older than he states. Read "Roads Were Not Built For Cars" by Carlton Reid.

[54ny77]

Yep. That's about right. And then he got sorta kissy kissy with Lance, which was ironic.

That aside, what is amazing is that he comes up with something every day (or however often he posts) for so darned long, which would seem impossible in bike land. That in and of itself is impressive. But, it's the same schtick and in my opinion only, its tired.

Funny thing is, we had a small handful of his books we tried to sell (my wife has a retail store and one section contains books), placed prominently in the mens gift section among other sports-themed books. Didn't sell a single one. I gave one away and if I recall we just ate the loss & recycled the rest. I would venture a guess that even if I had offered em up here free other than postage (which I hadn't thought about until now), few, if anyone, would care.

So yes, you might say I'm pretty familiar with his stuff.

Originally Posted by marciero

Has only been around 10 years.

[nooneline]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Within the last month here, we've had threads about:

-- Multiple threads about forum members getting hit who define it as "staying lucky for only so long"
-- The increase in bicycling fatalities
-- Stories about others who have gotten hit with the obligatory thoughts and prayers platitudes
-- A driver who intentionally drove into riders on a fondo ride


Yeah, they're trying to kill us. He ain't wrong.

Yeah, they're trying to take over.

Back when public streets were public, there were significant anti-car campaigns as the death toll began to rise with the imposition of the automobile. The anti-car backlash was met by the car lobby with a propaganda campaign to define jaywalking - a clear attempt to push people off the roads.

The car industry pushed for the creation of the interstate network at the expense of inter-city and intra-city transit options. And, in some cities (like minneapolis, where i used to live), car companies bought up and killed extensive streetcar networks.

Stuff like this makes cars the *only* option to a lot of people. The irony being, of course, the many cities that are completely choked by cars... with car advocates insisting that the only way out of traffic is more cars.

I think of the short streets in my neighborhood that have 5 lanes (4 of which are for parking, 1 of which is for travel), or the major through road where people just park in the central turning lane (and the cops turn a blind eye) - that underlines the absurdity of it all.