BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

I didn't catch any reference to BSNYC in there, where did I miss it?

There wasn't any. But Weiss regularly picks on Byrne. I wouldn't expect Byrne to acknowledge Weiss's existence.

I'd otherwise be willing to give Byrne a pass on the article (it was not that good) but it made obvious the problems that Weiss had noticed in Byrne's approach to bicycles. (A request: don't make me read the article again to find examples...)

Oh, the idiomatic expression "has ____'s number" went completely over my head. I thought you meant that BSNYC literally had Byrne's number and they hung out regularly.

What problems? I thought the article was pretty decent... and I always took BSYNCs talk about David Byrne as good natured ribbing, not some sort of condemnation.

Not a regular BSNY reader, just curious, what, briefly and in general, does he have to say about Byrne? Or does he just poke fun at him?

He makes fun of him for being a too self-righteous about not owning a car, but I take it as being in jest.

Here's an example: http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2011/05/its-gift-your-mudflaps-your-message.html

I guess what I mean with all of this is that I'll take David Byrne bragging about not having a car over a bunch of douchebags trying to convince me to buy one.

"Regular readers of BSNYC might be pleased to discover that Weiss more-or-less has Byrne's number."

Did Byrne finally say "Fuck it, I'm leasing a Hyundai"?

He used to take Byrne to task a little more than just ribbing him for talking about how he doesn't own a car. In particular Byrne claims that riding a bike is fun and easy and awesome, and that he easily rides his bike to work, but BSNYC points out he rides a relatively small distance in a relatively wealthy part of manhattan. See this post (start at the photo of Byrne):

http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2010/04/bsnyc-fridaculous-fun-quiz.html

Yeah, that post is certainly not so good-natured. You could certainly level some of the same criticisms at, say, me. I live two miles from work... although I do ride my bike other places and also for fun, I know I don't rack up nearly the amount of miles as some other people do. On the flip side, I don't think having a long commute is some badge of honor that gives anyone moral high ground over someone with a shorter commute. If the goal is to grow the ranks of bike commuters, people with short commutes are likely going to be easier converts.

Plus 1 on the equal value of a short "easy" commute.

For what it's worth, when I read Bicyle Diaries, I was pretty amazed at how much the tone of the writing was just that of some normal guy who travelled a lot and recorded his observations - not a cultural icon and ground breaking artist. I've always percieved Byrne as rather humble for who he is.

As long as Bike Snob (and his apparent lot of followers) remember that he is a humorist poking fun equally at all, and not a serious social critic, it's all good. I remember when Rush Limbaugh was just some funny, ranting guy on the radio.

I don't think BSNYC's point is that a short/easy commute is less admirable, I think it's that it's kind of silly for David Byrne to promote claims along the lines of "no one needs a car" when he has completely different needs than many new yorkers... and Byrne ostensibly regularly relies on automobile transportation himself.

BSNYC inevitably responds to the article:

http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2012/05/out-of-loop-basking-in-victory-basting.html

I always figured people with short and easy commutes were just better long-term planners.

Thanks for sharing the article, I forgot how much I like his writing style.

Funny stuff. Love the cracking on Cippollini. I was happy to see BS key on the "Color Code" thing from BicyclingTM magazine. I also saw that and my brain said "hu?".

Yeah, his shtick is pretty funny (and has managed to somehow not get old even after reading it daily for a few years - there are a *lot* of inside jokes though) and his commentary is pretty reasonable. His books are not at all like the column - I liked the first one better than the second but they're both enjoyable reads.

ejwme - there is some truth to that, but unfortunately society has done so much "planning" for us that it also takes no small amount of luck. It's hard to control where your job is, which I know you know all too well. You do have control over where you live, but of course there are tradeoffs and moving is a pain in the ass.

I know I'm fortunate to have a job in the city - most of the jobs I've had have been way out in Cranberry, Robinson, etc. If I lost my current job I'd unfortunately have to consider commuting to those areas again.

Salty - oi! true-dat.

What's hilarious is that I'm finally changing jobs, and my commuting time will be cut in half. Unfortunately my new workplace is literally a truckstop (New Stanton), and the half hour less time spent traveling (one way!!) is only due to less traffic - the distance is only 1/2 mile closer to our house.

Before the relocation, I'd been considering splitting the distance with Hubby's life by moving to the North Side or Millvale, but there's no splitting the distance to New Stanton (neither of us even know what's between there and Eastern Pgh, I think Kennywood, and maybe a McKees-something)). I think West Newton is darling (ok, I don't know it well, but it's on the GAP!), but that just turns HIS commutes into 1.5 hour traffic jams.

Some day I'll get my 5 minute bike commute back (the only thing about college I actually miss). In the mean time, I'm going to enjoy the after-work GAP jaunts and mysteriously good Chinese food that New Stanton has to offer, while vicariously bike commuting through you guys