Nearly a year and a half ago, a (now former) staff writer, Josh Board, for the San Diego Reader wrote about wanting to attack the cyclists who chose to attend the monthly critical mass rides. In the article and subsequent comments, (which were pulled from the website – the link above is a cached version maintained by a BikeSD reader), the sheer hatred devoted toward cyclists was nothing short of jaw dropping. The fact that cyclists rode on the streets en masse for a few hours once a month on a Friday evening constituted at best, a minor inconvenience. But the venom with which Board and his cohorts devoted to planning to injure innocent cyclists was extremely inhumane.
I along with many others wrote to The Reader decrying the hate speech being promoted by Board.
At some point between the publishing of that article and the subsequent retraction of the article, the writer, Josh Board, was fired as a staff writer.
Now, nearly a year and a half later, The San Diego Reader has a cover story about San Diego’s growing bicycle scene.
And maybe, just maybe, if recent stats can be believed, the time of the urban biker is nigh. According to Kiplinger’s magazine, Gen Y-ers, the biggest generation in U.S. history — 80 million strong — aren’t buying cars as they used to. Drivers aged 21–30 now account for only 14 percent of miles driven, compared with 21 percent back in 1995. They’re more willing to catch the bus or train. But are they riding bikes to work? Back in 2006, SANDAG (the San Diego Association of Governments) estimated that only .03 percent (point three of one percent) of San Diego county commuters were bike commuters. Compare that to Copenhagen, where nearly 40 percent bike to work. Then again, in ’06, Critical Mass attracted only about 35 riders…
The article covers our local “Freddies“, our bike polo scene and the risks and thrills that go with riding in a city that is blessed with perfect cycling weather (despite our current steady drizzle).
I, for one, commend the Reader on both letting Josh Board go and for trying to redeem itself with San Diego’s growing bicycling community. It is nothing but a step in the right direction