World Bike Festivus-Not For The Rest of Us

The World Bike Festival is underway in Changwon South Korea. It is a cycling version of Festivus, open from October 21-24 the event is designed to raise awareness for environmental issues, carbon emissions, host amateur races, parades and a fashion show. I have a problem with this...

Not that the event itself exists, but the principle of the lead part of the events design.  It is called the World Bike Festival.  Not Climate Awareness Fest, or Carbon Emissions Education Soiree.  This is where my big issue with mixing cycling culture with political or social issues.  They are not related.  They have no purpose being mixed.  Why?  Simply because mixing them makes cycling part of the foray and a possible casualty of the issue.  People relate these issues together and depending on the side of the issue, judge cyclists.  It is a reality whether it is fair or not.  Spending so much of cycling resources to focus on other issues is not benefiting the advancement of a cycling culture being accepted or mainstream.  

Oh, but it is important to show the world how cycling helps the environment!  No it's not.  It is more important to show communities the benefits of cycling to them.  How it reduces city traffic, road noise, or improves general health of residents.  With use, a cycling infrastructure will reduce road construction costs; bikes are lighter, smaller and cause less wear.  A city council is less concerned about a global view than they are the local, or at least should be.  A bike offers enough on it's own merits without having to tie it to other efforts.  

That brings me to another point.  Cycling is being used by these other efforts.  Since they have no interest or attractive quality of their own, they latch on to cycling under the guise of similar goals.  Rather than uplifting cycling, it has caused the reverse, and dragged it down into the mire and controversy associated to them.  It isn't a matter of what we agree with or not, but what is best for the long view to cycling.

Some communities have jumped on the bandwagon in fear of the environmental issues.  They have used that fear to cram it down the throats of voters to make expensive and poorly planned "rushed" projects to bring cycling into their communities.  The backlash is that nobody ends up happy with the result.  Voters are mad about the cost, cyclists complain that they were not listened to and the project makes no sense.  Traffic merging into bike lanes to turn, because it's designed that way, bike lanes that end in high traffic areas, and never start again or lanes that are thrown into space that are blocked or dangerous.  It goes on.  Some of these pictures scattered about the blog are examples.

My advice to cycling advocates is to to keep your issues separate.  Mixing your opinions only clouds all of them, and makes none of them clear.