Asheville Cycling

Tonight the City Council voted on a comprehensive bike plan to make bike lanes and make it safer and more accessible to ride bikes in the city. There were many of us who wore bike helmets to the meeting to show our support for the initiative. There were experts talking about obesity, money, tourism, and clean air. They had many numbers and studies and were more eloquent than I can be right now.

All but one couple who spoke were in support of the plan that came out of a year-long study. This couple was a farmer (who also mentioned that he was a former marine and had shrapnel in the arm) who didn't want HIS property taxes to go to those hippies/yuppies on bikes (as if they don't pay property taxes) and his wife who, ironically enough, is a PE teacher. She said, "I do want it to be safe for the kids to ride to school and I'm all for a good 15 minutes of exercise a day on bikes, but it costs money." (When they are repaving the roads, I suppose the extra paint to put in bike lanes is just too much.)

Then, one Councilman who did not support the initiative because it was a "fantasy" said, "We have sidewalks that no kids use to walk to school and you know why? Because they have to walk past prostitutes and drug dealers and they are scared. Not of getting hit by a car, but of the neighborhoods they live in. And I think that until we solve that problem, those bike lanes aren't going to do any good." We all were laughing at this red herring when someone muttered, "Geez, his suit alone probably costs more than my bike."

He also said that the cities with great bike options (Portland, San Francisco) are elite. And we don't want Asheville to be elite. Here's some irony to his comments:
*one of the presentations before this one was about tourism and everyone was patting each other on the back when they heard that wealthy empty-nesters were the ones coming here and spending money.
*the city is getting more and more gentrified every year
*most of the people who ride bikes leave near the neighborhoods with prostitutes and drug dealers. and they are still riding bikes. I said, "well geez, if kids are scared to walk, at least they can go faster on bikes to get away..."
* The funniest, though, is that they passed something around $1.25 million to work on irrigation systems on the golf course.

Funny. Anyhow, the resolution passed and we were happy. Neighbor and Roomie and I celebrated after we were quipping jokes in the "overflow" room at the courthouse. I even drank a beer. Maybe I'll go pump up my tires and wipe off the old dirt on my two wheeler.