The New Normal?

 

When I first heard of a town called “Normal” in Illinois, I wondered whether it was, well, normal. That might’ve been before I asked what “normal” means.

I’ve never been to the town, so I couldn’t tell you whether it fits an O.E.D. or D.S.M. definition of “normal.” Actually, the D.S.M. doesn’t so much define “normal” as it dictates what isn’t. In one edition, I wasn’t; in the next—current—edition, I am.

But I digress. The town was named, apparently, for a “normal” school located there. “Normal schools”—which are still so-named in Mexico and other countries—are now known as “teacher training colleges “ in the US.

So why were they called “normal” schools? Well, they were designed mainly to train elementary school teachers and their curricula concentrated on enforcing societal norms of behavior, for the teachers-in-training (almost all of whom were young women) as well as their prospective pupils. 

I don’t know what norms, if any, are being reinforced in today’s Normal.  It has, however, been recognized for practices that will, I hope, become normal. The League of American Bicyclists has acknowledged the town for its efforts to be a more bicycle-friendly city.

Could it be that one day, when a community makes efforts to be bicycle-friendly, it’s becoming Normal—or normal?  I hope so.

No Lump Of Coal In Their De-Feet Socks

Senator Joe Manchin may be doing more than anyone in the United States to perpetuate an obsolete industry:  coal mining and energy.

That's not surprising given that he represents West Virginia, the second-leading coal-producing state in the US.  

What's also not surprising is that in 2008, when the League of American Bicyclists issued its first reports of states' bicycle-friendliness, the Mountain State ranked dead last.  In 2019, when LAB released its last pre-pandemic report, West Virginia had moved up to 34th.

Now it's 28th, right in the middle of the pack.  The LAB rates each state in five areas:  Infrastructure & Funding, Education & Encouragement, Traffic Laws & Practices, Policies & Programs and Education & Planning.  In the first and last categories, WV got a B- and C+, respectively, and a C in each of the other categories.  One area in which the state seriously lags behind others is in the percentage of commuters who bike to work:  It's about half the national average and, at 47th, near the bottom of the list.

Massachusetts was named the most bike-friendly state.  My home state, New York, ranks 13th and, being New York, it ranks very well in most areas but very poorly in others.  In Infrastructure & Funding and Education & Encouragement, the Empire State got an A-.  In Policies & Programs and Evaluation & Planning, it earned a B+. But on Traffic Laws & Practices, it rates an F+. (As an educator, I have to ask:  What's the difference between a D-, which I've given once or twice as a grade, and an F+, which I don't think I've ever given.)  I am not surprised, really:  If the rest of the state is anything like the NYC Metro area, I can say that the state is doing the things policy makers think they're supposed to do to promote cycling:  starting education programs, building lanes and such.  But the laws and, more important, law enforcement, have not kept pace:  We are one of 11 states without a safe-passing law and we don't have the "Idaho Stop," or any version of it. 

Also, I have to say that for all that's been spent on bike lanes, the folks who conceive, plan, design and build them seem to have no better an idea than their counterparts of 50 years ago had about what makes for a good bike lane:  It has to be useful, free of hazards and planned so that it's actually safer than riding in traffic.  None that I've ridden are structured in a way that a cyclist can cross an intersection without having to worry about being struck by a turning motorist.

On the whole, the LAB's rankings don't surprise me much:  After the Bay State, Oregon and Washington rank second and third, respectively. All of the states ranked from 30th to 50th, with the exception of New Hampshire (34th) are south of the Potomac or west of the Mississippi.  

Which state ranks last?  Wyoming, the nation's leading coal producer. 

What If She Gave Hints To John?

Donald Trump has pledged to never, ever ride a bike again.

I don't think he'll break that promise, especially now that we've seen how Joe Biden could "smoke" a lot of young whippersnappers.  

To tell you the truth, I don't think I'd be too unhappy if El Cheeto Grande never mounted two wheels.  I don't feel that way about very many people.

On the other hand, I might actually like seeing Heloise on a bike.  I have absolutely no idea of what she's like as a person (or if she's even real). But at least she is trying to help people become something Trumplethinskin never is: civil.

In one of her recent "Hints" columns, she answered a letter from someone who complained about scofflaw cyclists and wondered whether we should follow the same rules of the road as drivers and other vehicle operators.

"Heloise"

Most of Heloise's answer comes from the League of American Bicyclists' guide.  It's stuff we've all seen and heard before, and makes sense, as far as it goes.  But I don't get the sense she's on a bike since she was a kid, if she ever rode.

If she were to take to the streets, it would be interesting if she could encounter the recently-departed John Forester.   

What Guidance Counselors Really Need To Know

So, what do you consider when choosing a college?

One of the top considerations, I'm sure, is whether it has a good program in whatever you plan to study.  (Never mind that there's about an 80 percent chance you'll switch your major to something else!)  Cost, of course, is another factor.  Then, of course, there are such things as geographic location and the appeal of the campus itself.

As for that last category, one thing that might figure into it (at least, it would for me) is bike-friendliness.  One part of that is safe, secure places to keep your wheels:  College campuses are hotbeds for bike theft.  Another might be whether the college has bike lanes or has other ways of making it easy to navigate the campus from your saddle.

There are also other ways in which a college can encourage its students to ride.  It can offer new students free bike-share memberships or vouchers to spend at a local bike shop--as well as free bike rentals or bike-share memberships to students (or faculty members) who don't bring cars to campus.

By now, you might be wondering whether I'm indulging in substances of questionable provenance. When I heard that there is indeed a college that offers such incentives, I thought I was dreaming.

Oh, but it gets better:  That school has hired a full-time coordinator to oversee its support for cycling.  Sandra Broadus, whose official title is Alternative Transportation Manager, says that this college will soon open its first indoor bike room, complete with shower stalls, lockers, a fix-it station and water bottle fillers.  There will also be a vending machine from which students can purchase parts like inner tubes and chains while on campus.

The school where such progress is taking place is not located in Portland or San Francisco or Seattle or Boston.  Instead, it's in a place known more for its scenic rides than for a hipster bike culture.

Of course she's smiling:  She's riding on the most bicycle-friendly campus in the US, according to a survey!

I'm talking about the University of Kentucky at Lexington.  The League of American Bicyclists has just named it the most bicycle-friendly college in the US.  

It was followed by the University of Maryland-College Park, Harvard University, Dickinson College, University of Utah, University of Vermont and University of Washington.

OK, so the Kennedy School of Government isn't the only reason to attend Harvard after all.   But tell me:  Do they have a full-time cycling coordinator?

Bicycle Report Cards, State-By-State

It's that time of year.

Yesterday, rough winds did shake the darling buds of May. Today the air is calmer but for some--especially my students, not to mention me--it is not a temperate day, lovely as it is.

You see, the semester is nearing its end. Some time after Memorial Day, my students will get their report cards in the same sense that we "dial" telephone numbers and "ship" items.   That is to say, no school or university (at least, none that I know of) uses cards anymore:  Students get their grades online.

In a similar fashion, all fifty states of the US have just received "report cards."  They weren't, however, graded in English or Math or History.  Their grades didn't come from me or any other professor or teacher, and their cards weren't issued by any educational insititution.

Instead, they came from the League of American Bicyclists. The "grades"--or, more precisely, scores--each state received were in categories that included Legislation & Enforcement, Policies & Programs, Infrastructure & Funding, Education & Encouragement and Evaluation & Planning.

This is not CNN's electoral map.  Yes, the states deemed most "bike friendly" are in blue.  But the next-most "bike friendly" are red.  Strangely, the states labelled least bike-friendly are in green!

So, which state finished at "the top of the class"?  That would be the Evergreen State--Washington--which also finished first last year.  So, while the efforts of advocates and planners there are to be commended, the ranking is bittersweet, as the state still scored only 66 out of 100 in both years for "bicycle friendliness".

Its neighbor to the south, Oregon, came in sixth and California eighth. Some of the states you'd expect to be high in the rankings--such as Massachusetts (fourth) and Colorado (seventh) are also there.  Not surprisingly, most of the states near the top of the table are in the Far West or Northeastern parts of the US. 

Also not surprisingly, the most of the lowest-ranking states are in the South, with Alabama bringing up the rear (with a score of 12.4, which was actually worse than their 2014 tally of 17.4) and Kentucky immediately in front of them.

My home state of New York ranked 29th in both years, though its score improved slightly from 33.9 to 35.4.

If my students had scores like those, I'd have appointments with my department chair and a dean--and they wouldn't be for lunch!

May Is National Bike Month

May is National Bike Month here in the US.

I didn't know, until a few moments ago, that May was first designated as NBM in 1956.  It's now sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists, formerly known as the League of American Wheelmen.

The first Bike Month was celebrated two years before I was born.  I don't recall hearing anything about it when I was growing up.  Early in my childhood (the mid-1960s), there were few adult cyclists, at least in my milieu:  blue-collar Brooklyn.  Even when the '70's Bike Boom took off, I still didn't see very many cyclists a decade or more older than I was.  By that time, my family had moved to a small town in New Jersey that was on the verge of becoming the commuter suburb it would be by the time I left for college.

I have been told, however, that in NBM's early years, it was used to promote bicycle safety, mainly in schools.  At that time, some notions about bike safety were, shall we say, misguided.  (Oh, wait:  They are now, too!)  Bike safety films--some of which "The Retrogrouch" has posted on his blog--imparted such pearls of wisdom as riding the door lane of a street and being prepared to "stop a lot".

Putting kids in the door lane?  Hmm....Could it have been intended as a population control device--along with "Stik" shifters on Sting Rays and Choppers?

From The Orange County Bicycle Coalition

Anyway...Bike Month today seems to be more about generally encouraging people to ride, in particular to work or school.  It's become a way to promote cycling as part of a way to make communities more sustainable. My home state of New York has one of the highest percentages of people who cycle or walk to work. Interestingly, Alaska is also, along with "usual suspects" Oregon and Vermont, also among the highest.

Whatever its purpose, I'm all for NBM because I'm all for anything that celebrates cycling.  Then again, I also feel the same way about it that I feel about Black History Month, Women's History Month and all of the other "awareness" days, weeks and months:  They're great, but the people and things they commemorate should always be remembered.

May Day: Comrades Cycle

Today is May Day.  Wheelmen of the world, unite!

All right, that previous exhortation is sexist.  The League of American Wheelmen is, after all, now known as the League of American Cyclists.

Cyclists of the world, unite!  I guess that works.  It sacrifices the alliteration of "Wheelmen of the world" for the assonance of "Cyclists" and "unite".  To tell you the truth, I'd rather hear someone say "Nice assonance!" than "Love your 'literation!"

But seriously...I have just recently learned of something that is appropriate to talk about today:  a worker-owned cooperative bicycle shop.  It's located, appropriately enough, in Chicago and is called, even more appropriately, Comrade Cycles.  As in, "On the fifth day of Marxmas/ Dear comrade gave to me/ A five year plan."

 

I forget how the rest of that song goes.  I haven't heard it in years.  But although I have never considered myself a Marxist, I would go to a shop called "Comrade" on principle.

Apparently, it's a very well-liked shop.  Of course, any shop that's doing well offers any or all of these:  friendly and helpful staff, good repair work, fair prices and a good location.  From the reviews I've seen, Comrade offers all of them.  And it even has a manifesto!

I suspect that one reason why Comrade Cycles is so popular because most people, including cyclists, work for a living and so feel some sense of solidarity with other workers. And, as workers of whatever kind, we want to make enough money to buy a bike and have enough time off our jobs to enjoy it.  Plus, we tend to care a bit more about environmental issues, which affect workers more than those who are living off their labor.

And, even though many of us ride alone, we understand the importance of cooperation.  Most cyclists I've met are helpful and are very conscious of the fact that in helping other cyclists, we help ourselves.
 

More Commuting In Bike-Friendly Communities

Here's something that will surprise no-one:  Bicycle commuting is growing much faster in bicycle-friendly communities.  And it's growing more slowly, or not at all, in communities that aren't bicycle friendly.

So we learn from an American Community Survery, which was reported in the League of American Bicyclists  blog.

Across the United States, bicycle commuting increased 47 percent from 2000 until 2011.  During that time, it shot up by 80 percent in bike-friendly communities and but inched up by 32 percent in non-bike friendly communities.

Some good news is that even the increase in non-bike friendly communities has outpaced population growth.  Still, it pretty much goes without saying that the best way to get more people to commute by bicycle is to create conditions that are conducive and make people safe and comfortable in riding their bikes to work.