The second problem with bike planning is that it doesn’t focus on programmatic implementation in a systematic way either.

http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2010/04/best-practice-bicycle-planning-for.html

Too many organizations miss the cultural/race/financial barriers and speak only to the entitled; indeed, some organizations equate the push for cycletracks to the push for ongoing gentrification, which leaves them largely irrelevant. Likewise to a person of limited means, the Bicycling notion of a cheap bike (easily a two grand purchase) is is breathtakingly silly and the bike is often a scaled down sportbike rather than one of general utiliy, but that sportbike paradigm dominates the US market. Professor of Media Andy Cline has rightly called it a case of cultural hegemony of the bicycling market.

Worries by minorities about being singled out by rednecks or the police are likewise a reality in post-9-11 America.

There were several good articles about cycling and the poor–one comes to mind is Dan Koeppel’s article on invisible cyclists in Los Angeles, (http://www.utne.com/2006-07-01/InvisibleRiders.aspx) and a very short piece some time ago by former VeloNews cartoonist Patrick O’Grady.

Keep up the good work, Ms. Graves. In a nation rapidly losing its white bread historical identity, these are important questions.