Dave, your idea is good but it only really gets the message out to people on campus. What can we do about an entire culture of drivers that are sometimes oblivious of, and overtly discriminatory towards cyclists?
Well... I know what you're saying, but we can't change the world without a stepping stone. And similarly to how people come to colleges to "better themselves and receive an education" (most people anyways
) I think that its a good place to start the education.
Meest, I agree with you also. But remember that we get picked on mostly when we're out on team rides. These bikes are certainly not for commuting. People are making fun of us because we look like idiots. I think alot of people would in fact think that it was some stupid biker. However... the key there is that they would actually think.
I think our advantage would be to have that table there and hand out the flyers. Its really funny how people perceive cyclists. No one thinks of us as some of the most fit athletes on campus. They don't think of us as total losers when they're talking with us. Most people that actually know us would probably never stereotype us as "cyclists". But on the other hand. Something has to be done. Whether it gets us laughed at or not awareness has to be raised. Hopefully our team can put up some good numbers this season and hopefully the DS will cover our results. The most common response we get is "UND has a cycling team?".
People will always hate cyclists. Similar to the way you hate that driver going slow in front of you. We are a part of traffic. People have to deal with it. I hate everything that critical mass stands for, but people are pushing me and Im from NY. Im liable to snap on somebody.