I can remember the early years of the 1990s, hanging out at a share house in Brooklyn and hearing endless chatter—between high-fiber dinners and debates about composting—on the subject of bikes. You know the script: Bikes good, cars bad. Years later now, the Chicago Auto Show is turning 100, we asked everyone what they were most looking forward to at the event and then discovered... plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Hello, commenter of the day.
Commeter Adidac425 noted that cycling-nuts of the transportation-alternatives stripe are a reliable band of killjoys. Yes, yes, we're well aware that automobiles generate pollution and are gonna have to stop doing so much of that in years ahead. But jeez louise, can ya just let us enjoy our little motor-worshiping shindig in peace? Let's hear Adidac425 tell us what he's looking forward to:
the bicycle brigade (Critical Mass) autoshow protest ride- nothing more entertaining than a bunch of drunken treehuggers bitching about congestion, and pollution to make your car show experience more fun.
I usually just tell them I have 5 bikes to my one car (ala CAFE) so I am already doing my part to solve the problem...
Actually, this jibes with our experience of car lovers and especially car designers, many of whom seem to have a garage jammed full of human-powered two-wheeled vehicles. A pretty big market for bikes, one that Critical Mass, with its protest, seems determined to make feel some pain. (Photo: AP)