BICYCLING FUTURE

What person in America wasn’t thrilled to get their first bike!  It was a highpoint of my life. It gave me freedom and distance and joy. Then, I grew up and got a car. It is interesting to watch China pull away from bicycles as a major mode of travel and opt for the auto while other countries are encouraging bicycling as a reasonable way to travel, and commute. People are tired of traffic gridlock. A bicyclist in cities like Portland, San Francisco, New York, Boston, Cleveland, etc.  can get to work faster on their bikes than a car or train. That’s something to think about.

Bicycles have been engineered to be an entirely different experience then the Schwinn from my childhood. Bicycles are made for speed, comfort and  great ease of  mobility in mind.  Essya Nabbali, one of the women who survived a severe  bike accident last year,  sent me an interesting email about two women who have invented an invisible bike helmet. Sound impossible? Click on the link below to a video about this marvelous invention. It is made like an automobile airbag. It instantly explodes open to protect the biker in an accident.

http://vimeo.com/43038579

It also helps to have municipalities plan cities, or  even retrofit cities to make bicycling more attractive with more than simple  bicycle lanes. How about a bicycle only freeway that can serve commuters?  Check out the following link to see Denmarks Bicycle Interstate. Then look for the 25 Jul 2012 issue at gas2.org. Fantastic.

http://gas2.org/

My daughter commuted for a couple of years on her bike. It made me nervous but with an interstate like Copenhagen’s, and bike friendly cities opening up to encouraging bike travel, things could change for all of us.  For the better, I might add. Its good exercise and fun.

Like us, RVers everywhere we go are seen with their bikes. Jim and I enjoyed biking the canals of Yuma in 2009.

 

BICYCLING AMERICA

I have friends who walked across the United States at 61 and 63.  They came up against the brick-bats of a world made for cars 28 years ago.  Their journey revealed the total disregard for humans over the automobile.  It was evidenced in driveways, street crossings, short cuts, freeway overpasses without pedestrian or bike lanes,  attempting to cross bridges with signs  that warned NO PEDESTRIANS ON BRIDGE. Especially dangerous were freeways, four or five lane highways with no place for a walker or bicycle to cross without walking miles out of their way, and often no meridian center to stand on to make the second half of a crossing.   The highway engineers were basically saying, you cannot cross this river or this highway, or this freeway if you are on foot. And, now, they wall freeways in with huge costly edifices to protect  residents from noise.

This week I learned about the guy who got a $42 fine after killing a bicycler. Then another about a driver (who refused toxicology and breathalyzer tests) who plowed into five bicyclers. Five!  Outrageous. The number of bicycle deaths is unacceptable.  I got a message from Pot Calling the Kettle Black from Delaware who has a blog about bicycling in his state. It seems to me its time to go National with this problem. There must be a bike organization in every state.  In any case, check out his blog at:

http://www.bikede.org/2011/10/19/pot-calling-the-kettle-black/#comment-1397

And BikePortland.org as well. If you are unfamiliar, as I was with the bicycling community, you will learn a lot. My whole perception of bicyclers has been quickened by this accident and has changed me forever. It shouldn’t take an accident.  Previously, I thought of bicyclers as hobbyists, racers, trekkers, exercisers, but not as pursuing an alternative method of everyday transportation and long distance vacation travel, even though my youngest daughter is a bicycle commuter.  It could be your son, daughter, parent or grand child who meets an offending vehicle on a bike.   PLEASE DRIVE SAFELY AND MAKE IT A POINT TO SEE BICYCLES AND PEDESTRIANS.

As I said once before, the words are inadequate.

http://bikeportland.org/2011/10/04/collision-on-hwy-101-north-of-gold-beach-leads-to-serious-injuries-60050

Maybe we should tax vehicles by the mile and more people would  stay off the road or use alternative methods of travel  for short distances, and promote public transportation.

Geez!  All I do is rant anymore. Must be time for me to get back on the road.