Cool article Sanesh. I think you captured a lot of important points in the this piece. One thing I’d like to hear more about is the active inclusivity and its relation to your important discussion of qualifications. I don’t go about promoting biking to everyone I know because while I love it and encourage anyone to try it and I’m all about making it cheaper and more accessible culturally, I don’t think everyone should mtb. I will not go out of my way to find underprivileged people at this point in my life and try to bring them to riding. The idea that we love something and it’s brought joy to our lives doesn’t mean it will to everyone. I know you know that, but the logical fallacy that not actively seeking to ‘fix racism or inclusivity’ is racist is rampant and suggested in your article. The main issue with it is that in this scenario you define the terms of equality or the ideal operating society. Which is the same power that others may feel they have. Thumbs are tired, but my point is great article and I am worried that people often get caught in savior syndrome when while there certainly are socioeconomic, cultural, and historical factors at play, often it’s a statistical problem. More women ride bikes now. And more will in the near future. I have exactly one black friend that rides locally to me. But statistically he’s possibly over- representing the population where I live. But his kids, his family, his black friends all add to the riding pop as time goes on. Mtb is such a young sport. I think that we should totally market (it’s a business) to those groups less often seen if you’re trying to make money and share the love. But mtb is just a fun sport. Over time I think it will naturally become diverse. But it would be an absolute shame in my mind that someone would get more opportunity because of the color of your skin regardless of what your pigment is. Sometimes I think that it may be more important for humans to focus on feeding ourselves and providing shelter and love than getting them into an elite sport. Of course not mutually exclusive, but priorities. Thanks for your thoughts and good writing.
Feb. 19, 2021, 10:40 a.m. - Andrew
Cool article Sanesh. I think you captured a lot of important points in the this piece. One thing I’d like to hear more about is the active inclusivity and its relation to your important discussion of qualifications. I don’t go about promoting biking to everyone I know because while I love it and encourage anyone to try it and I’m all about making it cheaper and more accessible culturally, I don’t think everyone should mtb. I will not go out of my way to find underprivileged people at this point in my life and try to bring them to riding. The idea that we love something and it’s brought joy to our lives doesn’t mean it will to everyone. I know you know that, but the logical fallacy that not actively seeking to ‘fix racism or inclusivity’ is racist is rampant and suggested in your article. The main issue with it is that in this scenario you define the terms of equality or the ideal operating society. Which is the same power that others may feel they have. Thumbs are tired, but my point is great article and I am worried that people often get caught in savior syndrome when while there certainly are socioeconomic, cultural, and historical factors at play, often it’s a statistical problem. More women ride bikes now. And more will in the near future. I have exactly one black friend that rides locally to me. But statistically he’s possibly over- representing the population where I live. But his kids, his family, his black friends all add to the riding pop as time goes on. Mtb is such a young sport. I think that we should totally market (it’s a business) to those groups less often seen if you’re trying to make money and share the love. But mtb is just a fun sport. Over time I think it will naturally become diverse. But it would be an absolute shame in my mind that someone would get more opportunity because of the color of your skin regardless of what your pigment is. Sometimes I think that it may be more important for humans to focus on feeding ourselves and providing shelter and love than getting them into an elite sport. Of course not mutually exclusive, but priorities. Thanks for your thoughts and good writing.