Everyone knows that life on a bike aint easy or particularly safe. Us bicyclists complain to whomever will listen about the sorry condition of our roads, the absence of bike lanes, and the lunacy of motorists, but the risks are definitely there. Yet, our persistence in remaining as brightly dressed targets for every sociopath with a driver’s license out there does offer some moral consolation. We are part of the vanguard solution to the urban and environmental woes we see everywhere around us. By making cities around the world more bicycle-friendly, we save lives, save energy, and save a few pounds.
But there is a dark side to all this. Salon blogger, Andrew Leonard, touched on it today. He wrote:
“Bikes are high-tech products manufactured according to the latest advances in metallurgical and plastics sciences in robot-run factories connected to globe-spanning supply chains and taking advantage of the differentials in labor costs between the developed and developing world.”
In other words, bikes (like health care) are a globalized commodity with all that that implies. Leonard opines that the financial connections between bike advocates and bike manufacturers are, well, extremely complicated. Yes–the bike industry is a multi-billion dollar business. And business is business whether it be about bikes, or anything else.
“I’m all for a more bike-friendly world,” says Leonard, “where every road has a bike lane (or at least a wide shoulder) and every city goes the extra mile to welcome bikers with open arms. But let’s not pretend that there’s something simple, or bucolic, about what we’re doing. It’s darn complicated and only getting more so.”
