Troy Bike Rescue

So, no great points for orginality, but I wanted to share this article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/world/europe/10bike.html?partner=perma...

This article looks at the different bike sharing programs in Europe and how effective they are.

Halloween weekend I had a conversation with a man from Holland. We started talking about bikes (shocking!) and I found myself trying to explain bike rescues, polos, and fixed gears despite his limited English and my absent Dutch.

He was trying to figure out why we didn't ride more bikes in the states.

We talked about the pressure in American society to use and own cars, the anti-bike culture that chases cyclists off the road, and how different things are in his home town.

I wonder what it would be like to live in a society where riding a bike wasn't such a foreign concept, literally. Where we would have dedicated bike lanes, more bike friendly mass transit, and people who didn't try and run you off the road when you ride on the street where you were supposed to be.

We'd have a healthier society, a healthier planet, and probably more fun.

Cheers,
Carolyn