The road to alternative transportation.

There is no bike parking in this city. Everywhere I go I have to tether my bike to a flimsy pole and feel extremely uncomfortable about leaving it there. There are bike racks in front of the bike shop. I suppose that is helpful.

As a cyclist, do you ever find people look at you like you've got a crying child in your hand when you try to bring your bike in somewhere? All buildings should have indoor bike parking, or at least some type of bike parking.

It annoys me, yes. But not enough to make me stop cycling. We do need more bike racks, though. We constantly build roads, and therefore more people buy cars and drive on them. If we put more bike parking down, more people would cycle. If you ask people why they don't cycle once a week at a time when they would normally drive, they respond that they are afraid to because there is no infrastructure. No bike lanes, no racks for security, I could see how that could make the average well meaning person insecure about switching over to cycling. As we all know, people don't like to be put in danger. And they shouldn't be. A human being should never feel like their life is being threatened for something as simple as traveling from point A to point B. This leaves us at a dilemma, or, as it were, a vicious cycle. People don't ride their bikes because they are afraid because there are too many cars. We need a major grassroots campaign to teach people simple numbers: every time you ride your bike, that is one less car on the road. Less traffic, more breathable air, less danger. Besides, you can actually enjoy your surroundings!
Riding a bike makes a person more alert. Instead of yawning and grumbling, and half heartedly driving yourself somewhere or checking your text messages like you would in a car, when you are on a bike you are constantly aware of what is going on around you. What your next move is, that red light up ahead, those pedestrians to your right, that car coming up behind you. You become so acutely aware of everything that I truly believe that it sharpens the mind. Exercise tends to do that. You may also notice a few things on your way that you had never seen before in your car. Is that a park? Did that music store just open? I didn't realize how wonderful that tree is!

The reason for the lack of biking infrastructure (and I think every bike enthusiast knows this), is that the people in charge don't see people on their bikes, so they think, "no one rides their bikes, and therefore there is no need for bike lanes or racks." But that method of thinking only perpetuates the vicious cycle. So, you know what you need to do? What we all need to do? "Be the change you want to see in the world." It was Ghandi who said that.


So do it!




If more people are on bikes, suddenly there will be bike racks and bike lanes and less congestion, and it would be a revolution! It would be like Copenhagen. That would be a utopia. Except here, right in our own country. We can do it. You can help.

Here is a video of the cycling culture and pedestrian dominated Copenhagen. Isn't it heavenly?