[ale] Linux Sys Admin needed

[JK]

Jim Popovitch wrote:

>  Charles Shapiro wrote:
>
> > Wow, that thread about commuting definitely hit a nerve. BTW the
> > ATL is the WORST city in America for bicycling.
> >
> > (
> > http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A83637
> > ). Some folks are trying to change that ( Atlanta Bicycle Campaign,
> > Sopo Bikes, Southern Bicycle league). But biking (well,
> > train/bicycling) to work still feels like cheating -- have fun,
> > buzz around the city, get to my desk in the morning refreshed. Heh.
> >
>
>
>  I wish I had a nickel for every cyclist that I see NOT abiding by
>  common traffic laws. I wish more people would cycle, but I must say
>  that the current cyclists have a bad rap for stopping at stop signs,
>  staying stopped at red lights, absent proper hand signals, and worst
>  of all is LEANING UP AGAINST MY CAR AT A LIGHT WHILE TALKING ON THEIR
>  CELLPHONE!
>
>  There is a reason why Atlanta is worst for cyclists, it's because the
>  drivers are fed up with them. :-)

In real bike-friendly cities, cars and cyclists
usually don't have to share the same pavement.
I bike around El Paso (TX) a lot, which is not
particularly bike-friendly, and I try to be polite
to motorists, but motorists don't often return
the favor. If I take off from a red light as fast
as I can, it's still likely to piss off the guy
in the Porsche that has to wait for me. It's a
basic conflict between huge fast cars and light
slow bikes trying to share bandwidth, so to speak.

OTOH, I spent two weeks in Portland OR
last month visiting a client, and rented a bike in
order to avoid turning into a slab of lard.  I
also had a really nice rental car, but it turned out
that in Portland, bicycling was a *much* better way
of getting around the city than driving.  At rush
hour, the 4-mile drive from my hotel to the client
site took about 40 minutes, including finding parking
(which was sometimes impossible); biking took
about 20 minutes, because nearly every single major
street had a lane reserved for bikes; and parking a
bike is never a problem.  Furthermore,
motorists in Portland respect the bike lanes. Plus,
downtown Portland has bike-friendly and *FREE*
mass transit! It was really an excellent experience.
Someone moving from Portland to Atlanta (or El Paso)
would probably feel like they went 20 years backward
in time.

I'm not saying that motorists are evil (I am one
much of the time); just that making bike commuting
practical takes a serious commitment from everyone
involved, as well as money. IMO the improvement in
quality of life for a city that makes that investment
would be worth it, though.

-- JK