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Robert
Hurst is a man who knows his bicycles. Having spent years
as a Denver bike messenger, he made his living by speeding
along streets packed with cars in a city that doesn't exactly
have comfortable year-round bike weather. That he has continued
to survive the job is proof that the man knows his way around
the urban cycling life. Beyond simply living through the trials
and tribulations of Denver traffic, Hurst both loves to ride
and recognizes that it is imperative that American culture
begins to take the century-old machine seriously as a mode
of transportation. In The Cyclist's Manifesto: The Case
for Riding on Two Wheels Instead of Four, Hurst attempts
to lay out a rationale for switching to pedal-power.
The word
"manifesto" tends to bring to mind images of wild-eyed, bearded
gentlemen lurking in huts without electricity, producing typewritten
screeds railing against perceived injustices and systems of
government. While the nature of Robert Hurst's facial hair
is unknown by this reviewer, The Cyclist's Manifesto
is far too even-handed and well-researched to be saddled with
the label of "manifesto." Even when considering the dictionary
definition of "a public declaration of principles, policies,
or intentions," this title still seems inappropriate. Thankfully,
there still should be plenty for readers to enjoy once they
get beyond the misnomer.
The book
starts out in a manner befitting its title. Facts are presented:
The world is going through 85,000,000 barrels of oil per day,
America's 5% of the world population consumes 25% of the world's
oil, millions of American dollars go to hostile and undemocratic
"petro-states," and our culture is stuck in a mindset where
everyone feels the need to carry "a few tons of metal and
plastic around everywhere [they] go." Anything called a manifesto
is expected to start out with a shotgun blast to the face
of alarming facts and figures, but Hurst immediately follows
this rousing rally cry with two chapters on the history of
the bike, the racist elitists who ran the sport, and the triumph
of African-American Marshall Taylor in the face of this oligarchy.
This abrupt change seems to derail the argument, unfortunately.
A well-researched description of how biking was popularized
by wealthy, racist assholes hardly seems to be making "the
case for riding on two wheels."
Hurst
seems to be explaining that cycling was once run by an exclusive
club, and then began to be more of an instrument "for the
people." Similarly, there seems to be a subtle connection
between this former elitism and the state of current cycling,
run by the lycra-clad, steel-calved warriors that make the
rest of us feel like we don't know what we're doing. Hurst,
however, is a strong advocate of people biking in their normal
clothes. If more people see normal humans on bikes instead
of aliens wrapped in goofy clothes, the entire enterprise
would seem more approachable and accessible.
While
Taylor's story is interesting and inspiring, it does kill
the momentum of the book's purported theme. In fact, there
are several portions of this book that seem off-topic or counterproductive
to the cause. For instance, a lengthy section on the safety
of bike commuting is too honest to be effective as motivation.
The moral seems to be "a smart cyclist is generally safe,
but an idiot in a car will end you." This advice is also true
of driving, of course, but seems extra frightening when one
doesn't have the benefits of crumple-zones and airbags.
However,
when Hurst is on-point, The Cyclist's Manifesto is
as chilling a call-to-action as An Inconvenient Truth
or as inviting and accepting as a reassuring hug from your
mom. Hurst has done his research into world oil use and clearly
explains the dangers of where the globe is headed in an immensely
readable way. He also succeeds in demystifying bike culture
in an effort to take it away from the Critical Mass or spandex
crowds, giving it to the average person who stands to benefit
from saving money on gas, gym memberships, and health care.
While
the name may be misleading or even flat-out wrong, The
Cyclist's Manifesto manages to stoke the fires of those
getting into cycling, give stats and knowledge to grizzled
vets, supply interesting information for all readers, and
give a push in the right direction for those who aren't looking
forward to paying four dollars per gallon of gas in the summer
months. Hurst's laid-back, non-preachy, and comically cynical
style has the potential to lead many more people into making
the small life change to bike-based transport.
(May,
2009)
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