Texas Riding Blog
- Thread starter biknut
- Start date
I think you are exactly right.The irony of that fact is hilarious, considering the vast majority of MBs exceed their Priuses (Prii?) in gas mileage.
I'm one of those "save the world" liberals, and that's why I like MBs, purely because of the better mileage.
I'm thinking the heat you're taking is probably more of the 'hipster' factor. If it ain't a motorless fixie painted with clashing colors, it's baaaaaad.
There should be some kind of law that confines them to Austin, or College station, or something like that!
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Speaking as an urban/suburban planning and general urban topics buff, and from my experience living in the urban core of Fort Worth, my theory is that around the mid-90s, as the first real "suburban sprawl" generation were becoming adults, some of them grew bored with the suburban lifestyle and started moving closer in to city cores, for a bit more "excitement". Despite the fact most inner city areas had become ghettos (due to the very sprawl they grew up in) many deemed it more 'fulfilling'.
They moved in and started gentrifying the cities at a breakneck pace. Decrepit buildings get cleared out, new (and expensive) condos/apartments, retail spaces, and civic buildings go up, and the demographics take a much whiter, upper-middle-class swing. The city becomes wealthier and more prosperous, although too often the established residents and cultures get crowded out and looked down upon.
The latter has happened in Fort Worth, actually. When I ride through some of these gentrified neighborhoods, I sometimes get dirty, "do you belong here?" looks, which I find ironic considering that I have been here since before they got the idea to move from the 'burbs', when it was almost all still ghetto and the only people on South Jennings after dusk were prostitutes and extremely lost tourists.
As far as culture goes, it appears to be the "new millennium" version of 1960s/1970s-era hippie culture. Lots and lots of people with acoustic guitars with voices that sound like cats in heat, a metric crapton of Starbucks and yucky vegan/vegetarian food, and 'everything-but-the-kitchen-sink' clothing styles.
There is also, of course, the eco-snobbery, which I will be quick to point out here is not the same as 'environmentalism'. In my view, "eco-snobbery" is the holier-than-thou, anti-meat, anti-anything-with-a-motor-but-hybrids-and-Vespas attitude. "Environmentalism" is caring about the environment with a mature, open-minded attitude. Basically, the whole common-sense "we shouldn't be... *ahem* taking any dumps where we have to eat", to put it figuratively and avoid the S-bomb.
And that's where a lot of that heat that Longshot has been getting is coming from: said "eco-snobbery". Despite the fact that there is a valid argument in MBs being quite eco-friendly due to astronomical mileage, the hipsters see (and hear) engines on bicycles and it offends their lame-brained idea that bicycles should *only* ever be pedaled, or else it becomes an "environmental sin" to them. They are more of the "preachy" type, rather than the "actually living sustainably" type. I mean, shoot, I practically have fried chicken as one of my food groups, but I probably am doing more to protect the environment than a lot of them vegan hipsters are.
They probably moved here from the west coast, chasing promises of organic fruit jobs or computer jobs.
Surely anyone that has been around Ft. Worth Tx knows what a dump downtown used to be before the Bass brothers remodelled it...downtown is quite the showcase now. Having said that I do agree the snobbery that goes with that is rediculous. Downtown Dallas used to be full of bums harassing people, scam artists and pick pockets...not much of that down there any more. Ah the pains of progress. IMO bot central biz districs are way better now...If you want to know when it was both a nice bustling place and not full of snobbery that would be back in the 60's I remember well going to farmer's market it was really cool! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKCnHWas3HQ
The hippster I met didn't seem like he was from here. He was riding a light weight fixie bike. Could have been a west coaster. He came across as having a funny, I'm real cool attitude.
He ask me about the way I was dressed.
You ride wearing those clothes?
Yeah, I don't like spandex. I don't peddle much anyway.
How fast does it go?
35.
The police don't hassle you?
No, never.
I didn't think he liked my bike.
Me and my friends used to skip school, and ride the bus downtown in the
60s. Running down the sidewalk from the truant officer. Those were the days.
Also important to note are a couple of the other related subcultures found in new-millennium gentrified cities:
Yuppies, who, contrary to the name, can be young or middle-aged. They are basically hipsters with more money and more mainstream tastes in clothing, food, etc. Remember, hipsters are basically modern hippies, so anything "mainstream" (like music that's actually well-produced) repulses them.
The main thing that unites them and hipsters is the ultra-exclusivity of their subcultures and the snobbery.There are also what I call the "RIURS (pronounced 'ry-ers')... Rich Urban Snobs. The name speaks for itself. Think the "I live in a $1.5 million condo on the 23rd floor and hardly ever drive myself around" crowd.
And every once in a while, you'll come across residents around here who are actually friendly non-snobs, but good luck finding them more than just once-in-a-while.
I better stop here, I'm having *way* too much fun typing this.
You can tell a huge difference between "old money" and "new money". People who think they just arrived are usually the snobby ones. I used to do security at a high rise condo in a very ritzy part of Dallas most of the millionaires there were very cordial and nice. They were "old money" for sure.
Dallas is full of yuppies, and rich people. Even most of the bikers are rubs. Me and my friends are successful, but none of those. I guess we're too old to be anything except old geezers lol.Also important to note are a couple of the other related subcultures found in new-millennium gentrified cities:
Yuppies, who, contrary to the name, can be young or middle-aged. They are basically hipsters with more money and more mainstream tastes in clothing, food, etc. Remember, hipsters are basically modern hippies, so anything "mainstream" (like music that's actually well-produced) repulses them.
There are also what I call the "RIURS (pronounced 'ry-ers')... Rich Urban Snobs. The name speaks for itself. Think the "I live in a $1.5 million condo on the 23rd floor and hardly ever drive myself around" crowd.
And every once in a while, you'll come across residents around here who are actually friendly non-snobs, but good luck finding them more than just once-in-a-while.
I better stop here, I'm having *way* too much fun typing this.
My brief encounter with a totally stereotypical hipster was about as you describe. His clothes looked clean, but he looked stinky. He was riding a light weight fixie bike, that probably cost a lot, but I don't remember seeing any emblems on it.
Hey, I'm from Austin, and definitely not a hipster!There should be some kind of law that confines them to Austin, or College station, or something like that!
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Well, technically, I'm from a very small town a little north of Austin, but I don't like them much either. haha
I think it's funny. You can wear your pants on the ground, or so tight your voice is raised an octave and be "cool", but if you wear "normal" pants like a sensible human being? lol
Yeah, I'm usually wearing cargo pants, whether I'm riding a bike trail, or riding downtown. I don't even own any bicycle clothes, except a bicycle helmet.
I do have some appropriate black riding clothes for riding my Harley, but I never it ride it anymore.
We need to start a new trend just for MB riders. What about MC Hammer balloon pants. That would drive the bicyclers crazy even more lol.
I do have some appropriate black riding clothes for riding my Harley, but I never it ride it anymore.
We need to start a new trend just for MB riders. What about MC Hammer balloon pants. That would drive the bicyclers crazy even more lol.
It's pretty easy to see why they threw you out of the spandex riders club lol.
Have you had any trouble with the fuel bottles with all of the riding you've done? I'm thinking about doing something similar but think filling the bottles would be a pita with my gas can. I really don't like the tank the kit comes with but I have to mount the fuel tank relatively high.
My fuel bottles have been 100% dependable, and I gotten so used to the way they look, that I don't think it looks right without them.
There have however, been some minor issues. The main issue is, when the bottle rack is properly mounted to the seat post, it won't let the seat ride as low as I want. It's low, but not all the way down. I wanted it all the way, so I had to figure out a way to change the mount. I ended up using a piece of rubber and a hose clamp to clamp the bottle rack to a part of the seat frame.
The only other problem is when I'm filling the bottles I sometimes overfill, and gas spills on my bike.