It is now ok to be a bike dork
Posted on 23. Jan, 2009 in Bike industry
As I imagine has been the case in every industry, there’s been a lot of talk in the bike industry about the effect that the new administration will have. Although President (!) Obama hasn’t made alternative transportation a significant point in his platform, he did pledge some support at a campaign fundraiser hosted by SRAM co-founder F.K. Day back in May. Perhaps more important than whatever then-Senator Obama might have promised will be the policies of the incoming transportation secretary, Ray LaHood. His feelings about bikes aren’t well known but Bikes Belong, the industry’s lobbying group, is optimistic.
But regardless of the policies and programs enacted by the new administration, I’m thinking that the Obama era will get more people on bikes through his image alone. President Bush liked his mountain biking, and people in the industry saw that as a good thing. It may have been, but it also perpetuated the idea that the bicycle is just a toy. Even if Obama doesn’t ride, his cerebral, worldly personality will create a new form of American self-image in which it’s acceptable to do what might formerly have been too effete and intellectual for a red-blooded American – like putting on your helmet, strapping up your pant leg, and biking to work.
Before, the bicycle was considered a suitable form of transportation only for children, hippies, and foreigners. As Republican congressman Patrick McHenry said, “a 19th century solution to a 21st century problem.” Now, Barack seems to tell us that it’s culturally ok for an adult who can afford a car to choose a bike for everyday transportation.
photo by senorglory
