Interesting NY Observer/NYFi article about what happens in NYC to cycling culture as it goes from a niche activity to a mainstream reality.

“The number of people bicycling in New York is doubling every five years,” says Wiley Norvell, Communications Director of the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives. “Pretty soon we’ll have half a million cyclists on the street, a big enough number to drive significant changes in the way cars, cyclists and pedestrians interact.”

Essentially, the massive jump in city cycling is creating new and unforeseen problems, even as the City tries to cast cycling as a legitimate form of transportation.

So the question, maybe, boils down to this: As biking has gained so much ground and so many new entrants so quickly, is the cycling community ready to be a fact of life rather than an outsider advocate for change?

It’s a good read. Because I wrote it.