Some of you may have seen this NYT article by Russell Shorto from this past weekend, a paean to the Dutch incorporation of bicycling into their way of life, clearly contrasted with the "Amurrikan" culture of cars Über Alles. Interestingly, the day before, the Post-Dispatch had this article by Cynthia Billhartz Gregorian, without the perhaps obvious "political subtext", about local bicycle commuters. Needless to say, St. Louis is neither Amsterdam nor NYC, as you can see from the wingnut-tinged comments in the P-D article, although in some fairness, the bicycle-friendly comments generally outweigh the wingnuts. So now that you've oiled your bike chain....
In my last job, during non-winter months, I was able to bike pretty easily to work, something like 20 minutes of riding each way. At my current job, it's quite a bit trickier to do the bike commute, because the distance is farther away. It's still doable, however, with incorporation of part of the route on the local light rail system, and generally accepting the relative inconveniences of the extra time involved and, more recently, construction work causing a considerable re-route to get to work.
I'll admit that at times, the extra time and effort involved in bicycling, or to look at it another way, not driving, to work, I kind of wonder why go to all the trouble when rather few other people here seem to do so. I say "rather few" in admittedly some ignorance, although this is ignorance based on the fact that I almost never see other bicyclists on my route to work. In one letter to the NYT after Shorto's article, however, a Dutch biologist resident in Boston, Niels van de Donk, articulates one reason why, if subliminally, it's worth it for me and others to bicycle to work and back:
"As stated, cycling is environment-friendly and reduces traffic congestion. But biking also contributes to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. Several medical guidelines recommend at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity daily."
Maybe in my case, it's more like 20-25 minutes, but what's a few minutes between loser friends? Plus, with each bicycle commuter, that's one less car on the road. Granted, I still have a car, as I do suspect the bicycle commuters all do. But at least we're stretching out the gasoline in the tank farther (i.e. killing the planet more slowly, certainly compared to gas-guzzling wingnuts and teabaggers, who can't apply their obsessions about slashing government spending to being more responsible about the environment - but that's a topic for another day).
I'll admit that I'm not "pure" when it comes to trying to bike, or light-rail/bike, to work every single day, in that I don't always do it every day. Especially when symphony season starts, I'll drive to work that day, since it's not practical to bike to work, then get back home, get changed, and then drive to the concert. Plus, if I actually remember to check weather.com and see that we're going to get nailed by a big rainstorm that day, I'll sacrifice environmental purity for personal safety.
Generally, though, it's heartening to read this bit about local bicycling from the P-D article, in terms of local business as well as bicycling (emphasis mine):
'Randy Bond opened [Randy's Recycled Cycles] eight months ago and says he can't keep up with demand. He's had to hire extra bike mechanics to get bikes ready for sale.
"I've had a lot of people come in looking for used bikes because they want to cut down on driving," he said. "They want them to commute back and forth from work and need to go six or 10 miles. You can come in here and get a decent bike for $150 to $250."
Bond gets used bikes online, at auctions, at yard and garage sales, and from customers looking to trade or sell.
Typically, he said, he and his mechanics refurbish them with new wheels and axles, pack the bearings, adjust and lube the cranks and head sets, adjust the brakes and derailleurs and replace parts that are damaged.
"We recondition the bike so it's safe and ready to ride," he said. "And when we get hybrids, they sell as fast as we get them."'
Proof that environmentalism can be good economically, yes?
For those of you fortunate enough to have traveled to the Netherlands, besides seeing the hordes of people bicycling everywhere, you can see the packed racks of parked bicycles at any train station. One unfortunate sociological consequence of a bicycle-laden world is, of course (sad to say), pervasive bicycle theft (same idea with cars in the US, natch). This is why many Dutch bikes aren't exactly the snazziest things you'll ever see. I've been told that in many cases, the Dutch will get bicycle locks that are more expensive than the bicycles themselves. However, in a country which is below sea level and where the terrain is pretty much flat all the way you go, bikes with fancy multiple gear settings aren't really needed as much.
Oddly enough, in my several trips to the Netherlands, I've only actually bicycled once. It wasn't on a tourist bike tour or anything like that, but rather, I met up with some old friends for dinner, and then we went to a concert. However, the catch was that there were 3 of us, and only 2 bikes. How to solve the problem? Easy enough, at least for my Dutch friends; two of them shared one bike, and they let me use the other for myself. Fortunately, it wasn't a long bike ride, and I'm still trying to remember how they did it without one of them falling off.
Reading Shorto's article, it's ironic enough to see this passage:
"'Back in the 1960s, we were doing the same thing as America, making cities car-friendly,' [Zef Hemel, chief planner for the city of Amsterdam] said. Funnily enough, it was an American, Jane Jacobs, who changed the minds of European urban designers. Her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities got European planners to shift their focus from car-friendliness to overall livability."
That spirit continues in varying degrees, such as in London, with the so-called "Boris bikes", as in Boris Johnson, the Conservative mayor of London, who's pushed commuter bicycling (perhaps the one really good cause he's pushed). You can read about this system here. I've seen similar systems in past years in Copenhagen. I can't imagine such schemes going over in US cities in a widespread manner, if only because of the long distances involved in US commutes generally. But weirder things have happened, I suppose.
With that, time for the usual SNLC protocol below, namely your loser stories of the week. Bicycling may not may be involved, as appropriate :) .