Despite reports to the contrary, Americans are out riding their bikes on bike lanes. Sure, there could be more cyclists, and more bike lanes, but I'm not one to harp on the negative. I like to focus on the good in life. Hurray for getting out on bikes!
8 comments:
where is that lovely lane?
That is on Vassar Street in Cambridge.
I love your blog, so many cute people on cute bikes!
But I am a little disturbed by the lack of helmets. When can we decide helmets are cute too? They make them in pink and with flowers and stripes and dots and there are even new ones that you can fit a hat over--can we please make helmets a fashion accessory as well? Because concussions and brain damage, not half as cool.
Hi Eva,
Thanks for stopping by. You came by on a day when there weren't many helmet photos, but trust me - I've made an effort to take them. You can see many of them are labeled, try this link.
We do have to remember that we are spoiled living in in urban area. In the suburbs (most of America), traffic is moving a lot faster, road shoulders are non-existent or strewn with broken glass, and people have to go further just to run basic errands. All good reasons NOT to live in the suburbs, but it really does make cycling there tough.
To my mind, one of the big reasons that cycling for transportation is so much more popular abroad is that in most of Europe, there is a higher level of density and urban development that makes cycling more attractive, and safer, with or without bike lanes.
Keep up the great work- I'm definitely spandex free, and it's great that you promote people cycling as an everyday part of life, instead of a recreational hobby!
Awww Carice, I promote it in ADDITION to a hobby! Cycling is one of my hobbies. Getting out on a bike, just for the joy of it, is one of life's cheap pleasures, and one in which I partake nearly every weekend.
I can tell you there's no place like Paris for broken glass in the bike areas (sometimes a lane, sometimes not). At least they have people whose job it is to wash it down the street each morning. To me the biggest difference is lifestyle choices - in Europe you don't have a people considering living 20 miles from the nearest bakery. Sprawl makes my weekend rides less fun too. In Europe I'd be deep in a forest or a field within a short distance, and passing through towns makes for nice punctuation to the ride. Here in America is just endless suburbia.
As a nation we were founded by farmers and think that everyone needs a homestead, even people who have no intention of growing anything besides a lawn which they detest mowing.
My dad has gotten involved in (sub)urban redevelopment, increasing density in places that are already developed (Southern California). It's interesting work, and I hope it helps curtail this sprawl.
Now if only there were more bike lanes on the sidewalk like that! The horrid death strips along Mass Ave in Cambridge are awful. Is this bike lane on the MIT campus?
It is a public street, but it is around MIT. The "campus" concept is a bit different here, there are university buildings and town buildings very intermingled, actually even rooms within a given building...
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