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Home > Pedal Power: The Quiet Rise of the Bicycle in American Public Life
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Pedal Power: The Quiet Rise of the Bicycle in American Public Life
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By J. Harry Wray
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 (8 Reviews)
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Our Price: $19.95 Eligible for FREE SHIPPING on orders over $25.00. Details
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Publisher:
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Paradigm Publishers
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Published:
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December 31, 1969 |
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Binding:
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Paperback
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Pages:
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248
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In an era of steep gas prices, snarled traffic, catastrophic climate change, and a yearning for a higher quality of life, interest in bike-friendly public policies is surging nationwide. A surprising array of political organizations, visionary politicians, and colorful individuals powers this movement and a growing number of bike enthusiasts are taking to the streets. From the night rides of Critical Mass to the dumpster-diving Rat Patrol, this book shows the eccentric side of the bicycling universe even as it illustrates the mainstream efforts of politicians like U.S. Representative Jim Oberstar and plain folks like Biker Mama Jane Healy. Dedicated to the idea that biking is an ongoing act of nondestructive living, Pedal Power shows why the dominance of the automobile is yesterday s idea and edges us closer to a more democratic, multimodal transportation system so essential in the age of global warming. The bike, regarded as irrelevant to the 20th century, is making a comeback in the 21st. Pedal Power takes us there and suggests that the most compelling thing about riding is that it changes the way people experience the world and, therefore, the way they think.
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Customer Reviews:
Add Your Own Review |
 Dr. Wray: a treasure to thousands of DePaul students, January 10, 2008
By Adrian Mcdonald
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For those of us lucky enough to have been one of Harry Wray's students, this new book is enthusiastically welcomed, if not overdue. Wray's insight, wit and humor always shine through in his writing. My only complaint is that the American public is not exposed to more of his writing. He is truly one of the most articulate and colorful social commentators of our time. As a political science professor at DePaul, Dr. Wray and his Discover Chicago: Biking & Politics class (all on bikes of course) are a common sight in the Windy City. For anyone interested in American culture, transportation politics and the environment, among other topics, this is a must own. Oh yeah....bike enthusiasts will also be pleased.
14 of 15 people found the above review helpful.
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An inspiring journey, February 10, 2008
By Terry Lynch (Racine, Wisconsin)
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Pedal Power just took me on a fascinating and uplifting journey into the future. J. Harry Wray shows us that dramatic social change can begin with a simple and enjoyable addition to our everyday lives. Improving the wellbeing of your family, enriching community life, reducing global warming, meeting the ChiTown Cruisers--it's all here in this remarkable book.
6 of 6 people found the above review helpful.
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inspiring, August 20, 2008
By Karen Goodwin (Chico, CA United States)
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This book is a delight to read, not only for the subject of bicycling, but the big picture view of how it integrates into our hope for the future. Anyone who bikes can relate to Wray's perspective of how cycling engages civility and a potential paradigm shift. From the descriptions of individual, group and government involvement, and the inspiring stories he shared, one could have hope that the bicycle is indeed a viable tool for reshaping our culture. The book is full of examples to be replicated and developed for communities across the US. I'm buying copies for my city council and the traffic engineering department, plus friends and family.
4 of 4 people found the above review helpful.
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If your worried about global warming, fitness, and the price of gas,, June 17, 2008
By Traffic Safety Advocate (Portland, Oregon, USA)
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Given the current price of gas, "Pedal Power" should be mandatory reading for everyone on Capital Hill.
"Pedal Power" is a fascinating analysis of society, bicycling and politics. Harry Wray's enthusiastic introspection of cycling in America will convince any skeptic that a relatively small investment in biking infrastructure can have positive effects in a multitude of current American issues.
3 of 3 people found the above review helpful.
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 Too much polemics, August 10, 2008
By 2wheels (Colorado USA)
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This was an interesting read. But while I am huge supporter of utility cycling, I'm also somewhat conservative and I found the author's socialist approach quite off-putting.
The pro-bike movement would be better served if it was more inclusive.
2 of 6 people found the above review helpful.
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 Rambling, inaccurate and sloppy, December 11, 2010
By John S. Allen (Waltham, MA USA)
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Wray must be a very charismatic professor to have such a following among his students. Whether the concepts advanced by such professors hold up when the students are 10 years out of college can be another matter.
What I like best in this book is about one-third of the way through. You could
* follow several Chicago-area utility bicyclists on their daily commutes and errands;
* learn what motivates bicycling advocacy honcho Randy Neufeld,
* visit with a group of counterculture types who ride around Chicago on bicycles and glean most of their material possessions from dumpsters,
* read pocket biographies of politicians who champion bicycling causes, including members of the U.S. Congress,
* Read some useful descriptions of the history and workings of various local and national bicyclists' advocacy organizations.
But Wray's discussion of cultural issues wanders far from bicycling and from hard fact. Culturally-mediated perceptions are so important to him that he literally holds Ptolemaic (flat-earth-centered) and Copernican (round-earth, sun-centered) astronomy equally valid (see page 11). Wray clearly is not cognizant of bicycling research literature, for example he says that special bicycle traffic signals increase efficiency and safety. They increase safety only if they are obeyed. They usually reduce efficiency, and then often are not obeyed. On page 24, he says "I am absolutely serious about feeling less vulnerable to some violent act on a bicycle than in a car." This is transparent nonsense!
Page 30 begins a chapter about Amsterdam, where scofflaw bicyclists, as Wray acknowledges, are the norm. They serve the same traffic-calming function that scofflaw pedestrians commonly do in crowded cities. But Wray doesn't address an important difference, that North American, British and French cyclists more generally expect a climate of equal rights and responsibilities as vehicle operators.
The following chapter covers - take a deep breath - American materialism, individualism, inequality, capital punishment, the lack of guaranteed health care, the weakness of the labor movement, television watched alone, mass consumerism, the Super Bowl as a national religious rite, and the American dream of a house with a fenced backyard with a patio, and car. Wray predicts a resulting "culture storm". Time will tell... In any case, only the last paragraph of this entire chapter is about bicycling.
Then there's the useful stuff in the middle of the book, followed at the end by a couple more chapters about global warming, ill effects of motor vehicle use, and societal benefits of bicycling.
Wray and his editors got on my nerves rather quickly with sloppy writing. This is on page 17: "[S]truggling up the mountain, the smell of pine was unmistakeable and exhilarating" -- this from a tenured university professor! Wray's sloppiness with language can lead to confusion He frequently uses the word "bike" instead of "bicycle" even when misreporting a proper name, for example "Congressional Bike Caucus" and "San Francisco Bike Coalition." He calls the Cyclists' Touring Club (U.K.) the "Bicycle Touring Club".
And so on. Enough. I like Jeff Mapes's book Pedaling Revolution better.
1 of 2 people found the above review helpful.
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Bikes are a well kept secret., June 10, 2010
By Author of, "The Firewall.. (Belleville, IL USA)
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Great book. Lot's of good information. Imagine if we had enough bike paths to get to work and shop. Car payments are always as big as second house payment. Give me a bike and enough savings to pay off my house twice as fast. I'm going to put an electric motor on my cruiser and tackle the hills without breaking a sweat. Forget the fast bikes. Go comfortable. Get a cruiser and take your time.
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 pretty good, April 20, 2008
By night walker (western kansas)
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The book ties politics and bicycle into a good read. Informative and interesting how the two work together
0 of 2 people found the above review helpful.
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