挡不住的自行车时代

By Lindsay Abrams

Its hard to deny that bicycles are having a moment. New York City， Chicago， Salt Lake City and Columbus all get bike-share systems of their very own—joining Boston， London， Paris， Dublin， Moscow， Hangzhou， Montreal and many， many other cities throughout the world.1 Increasingly， people are talking about bikes as a replacement for cars （and even trucks）， debating the best ways to design bike lanes and bikefriendly intersections， dreaming up futuristic bike paths and， above all else， taking to the streets on two wheels.2

But bicyclings recent rise to the spotlight isnt just a passing fad， argues writer and bike activist Elly Blue.3 Instead， she says， growing numbers of people are beginning to recognize the tangible4 benefits—to themselves and to their cities—of trading in cars for self-powered transportation. And the research is backing up their experiences. Blues new book， Bikenomics， draws on a growing body of academic work， along with her own involvement with the countrys bicycle movement， to make the economic case for bicycles.5 As for the people who insist， in the face of such evidence， that bike commuters are a scourge on humanity？6 Blue maintains theyre just bitter from spending so much time stuck in traffic.

Blue spoke in an interview about the bike movements recent rise to prominence and the way in which old stereotypes no longer pass muster.7

It seems like the argument youre making is really that a better bicycling culture needs to come from investment in city infrastructure8， bike-share programs and that sort of thing， more than just convincing more people to start riding bikes.

Those two things go together. Youve probably seen in New York City just a huge increase in the amount of bicycles in the street every day just because of bike-share and the new infrastructure. But that stuff happens because theres a popular movement—because people are convinced and eager and demanding more. So I definitely am making the argument that if you build it， they will come， but a prerequisite9 to them building it is us demanding it.

You also write about the perception of bicycling being elitist10. Can you talk about some of the ways in which you found bikes can help people who are living in poverty， and help empower11 minority communities？

Its funny， so many of these stereotypes about bicycling going so unquestioned that people are able to hold them simultaneously12， even when theyre completely contradictory. So you have the dual perception that bicycles are a rich mans toys—everyone knows that stereotype of doctors riding in the countryside two or three abreast， blocking traffic—and then you have the other stereotype that everyone who rides a bike is a broke neer-do-well， maybe with illegal status， or with a DUI， and maybe there are racial connotations that go with that—the idea that these are people who have never grown up.13 Thats the bicyclist that you see in movies—its either the environmentalist14 or the fool that rides the bike， or maybe those two are seen as the same thing.

And， honestly， both those things are true， but neither of them is true. There are plenty of people who buy the most expensive bike they can， and they drive out to the country to ride it around， and then they come back and thats their entire commitment to bicycling. A lot of those people are actually starting to turn into bike advocates. On the other end of the spectrum15， there are a lot of people who ride a bicycle because it beats16 spending three hours on the bus instead of what could be a half-hour bike ride， or they have no other options. For a lot of those folks， if they had the option not to ride a bike—if they had better transport， or the ability to ride in a car—they would. But not necessarily. For a lot of folks， bicycling is just this fun， empowering thing.

I think the thing that often makes or breaks whether bicycling is seen as desirable is access to a bike community. Having friends and coworkers and colleagues that bike， and knowing that theres a bike stable waiting for you when you get to your job site or your office， or being able to take your bike inside， out of the elements， in your apartment complex.17 All of these things that legitimize18 bicycling， I think， are what will help break down those stereotypes. Because for a community organizer living in a poor neighborhood， a bicycle is just as strong a tool as it is for a lawyer whos using bicycling as the new golf. The difference is in who has the infrastructure， who has the legitimacy. And everybody needs it.

You live in Portland now， where in a lot of ways youre seeing the cutting edge of bike culture， and many of those possibilities are opening up. What do you think can help promote more of a bike culture in other places， where theres less of a mindset19 oriented toward it？

I do a lot of traveling—I do this thing called the Dinner and Bikes Tour where we drive around the country with a chef， talking about bikes and feeding people amazing vegan20 food. So what we see—its not like theres a linear progression that looks the same everywhere， but youll start everywhere with the die-hard riders， who are going to commute no matter what—theyre going to take the lane on a busy road， theyre wearing tons of reflective clothing—as this sort of personal challenge.21 And then at some point， a node22 starts to form. Often its a riding group—people riding recreationally23—but just as often its people who are tying bicycling into their other interests.

For example， we went to Mobile， Alabama， and people showed us photos of the chicken coop touring ride and the beer brewery rides they went on.24 It was a lot of adults riding their hybrid or cruiser bikes around Mobile and just having fun，25 maybe having a beer in-between， and just getting to know each other. I feel like thats the most potent form of activism—thats the kind of thing that really sparks the movement，26 because then those people arent just talking about serious things. Theyre socializing and theyre networking with each other， but theyre also becoming experts about bicycling in their city. Theyre learning what specific intersections are needed， theyre educating each other about how to make change happen， theyre introducing each other to the city leaders and theyre building a movement from the ground up.

Thats what I see， over and over again， in cities across the U.S. A small group starts building a movement， and then suddenly becomes a political force. The group Red， Bike and Green that I wrote about in the book started in Oakland27， and now its in four different cities. Each chapter has become a force thats firing up the base， but also， when they go to a planning meeting or a project open house， they cant be ignored， because there are a ton of them， and they know what theyre talking about. Theyre talking about their daily lives， their rides and where they live.

As a casual observer， bike culture appears to be changing and growing extremely rapidly. With everything youve seen across the country， and maybe read about in the rest of the world， would you say that were in the middle of a revolution？

Absolutely， without question. When I started touring in 2010， it was just happening in a few cities， and I questioned whether it was just a trend. But every year its grown palpably28， and by now its national news. Major cities are starting to embrace bicycling， major political leaders are starting to see the bicycle not just as a tool， but as something that people are really passionate about and organized around.29 Theres a kind of energy coming from the bicycle movement， and politicians are of course really attracted to that. But also， its the tangible， positive benefits that bicycling brings to the community， the civic30 moneysaving benefits， and the business benefits， the job benefits and so on. The case for bicycling is definitely becoming a lot more clear， as more people are doing it and as we have more case studies31.

1. Salt Lake City： 盐湖城，美国犹他州的首府和最大城市；Columbus： 哥伦布，美国俄亥俄州的首府和最大城市；Dublin： 都柏林，爱尔兰的首都，也是爱尔兰的政治、经济、文化、旅游和交通中心；Montreal： 蒙特利尔，加拿大魁北克省西南部城市，是世界上仅次于巴黎的第二大法语城市。

2. 人们越来越多地谈论起自行车将如何取代汽车（甚至卡车），争论着自行车道和方便自行车行驶的十字路口的最优设计方案，幻想着充满未来感的自行车行驶之路，最重要的是，大家都迫不及待地踏着两个轮子上路了。intersection：（尤指两条道路的）交叉口，十字路口；futuristic： 未来派的，未来主义的。

3. fad： 一时的狂热，时尚；activist：积极分子，活动家。

4. tangible： 实际的，真实的。

5. 在新书《自行车经济学》中，布卢从大量学术作品中汲取灵感，并将研究成果与自己在国家自行车运动中的参与体验相结合，从经济角度考量了自行车。

6. commuter： 经常乘公共车辆往返于两地之间的人，通勤者；scourge： 禍根，祸害。

7. prominence： 重要，杰出；stereotype： 模式化形象，成见；pass muster： 符合要求，合格。

8. infrastructure： 基础设施，公共建设。

9. prerequisite： 先决条件。

10. elitist： 精英主义的。

11. empower： 增加（某人的）自主权，使控制局势。

12. simultaneously： 同时地。

13. abreast： 并排；neer-do-well：没用的人，游手好闲的人；DUI： 即Driving Under the Influence，指醉酒驾车；connotation： 隐含意义。

14. environmentalist： 环境保护主义者。

15. spectrum：（观点、人、情况等的）范围，幅度。

16. beat： v. 比……更好，赛过。

17. stable： 马厩，牛棚，这里指停车位；elements：[复]天气（尤指风雨）；complex： n.（类型相似的）建筑群。

18. legitimize： 使合理，使正当。后文legitimaty为其名词形式，指合法性，合理性。

19. mindset： 观念模式。

20. vegan： 严守素食主义的。

21. linear： 连续的，线性的；die-hard：死硬的，顽固的；reflective： 反光的。

22. node： 节点。

23. recreationally： 娱乐地。

24. coop： 禽舍，尤指鸡笼；brewery：啤酒厂。

25. hybrid bike： 多用途自行车；cruiser bike： 沙滩越野自行车。

26. potent： 有效的，强有力的；spark： 发动，鼓舞。

27. Oakland： 奥克兰，美国加利福尼亚州北部旧金山湾沿岸的主要城市，与旧金山市隔海相望。

28. palpably： // 易察觉地，可触知地。

29. 各大城市都迎来了自行车风潮，一些重要的政界领袖也开始愈发重视自行车，认为其不仅是一种工具，更是民众抱以热情并乐于组织的兴趣所在。

30. civic： 城市的，公民的。

31. case study： 个案研究。