I couldn't agree more. If bikes were taken more seriously, maybe even our ever widening waistbands would take a turn in the right direction. I didn't own a car for the majority of my adult life. I couldn't imagine hoping in my car to drive a mile or less for something like a loaf of bread, or a newspaper. I do, however, understand that people do have things like arthritis and a bike just isn't a viable form of transportation for them. On the other hand, we aren't showing our children what a bike is truely capable of, and in my opinion the schools are too overwhelmed with other things rather then teaching good bicycling practices. Years ago, I wrote a column in the Two River Times about bicycle commuting, and even though I knew I was talking to an unsympathetic audience, it still felt great to promote something I believed in. I was forever changed when I began to spend a majority of my time in Europe, where the bike is extremely well loved and respected. I'll never be able to understand why we can't do that here.
--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > Hey, no need to call me nuts. I can't ride because I have arthritis, but I > can understand the joy of riding, as I am married to a German, and lived > there > for a while, and was able to ride back then and it was great. I did all my > shopping, everything, and went everywhere this way. I never even thought > about > having a car. > > I am just saying that it would be great if cities planned things so that > people would not always have to use cars, so that modes of transportation > such > as walking and biking can be real ways to get places. > > My parents moved to Palm Harbor, FL in the mid-eighties, and since then I > have seen them build the Pinellas Trail which allows people to walk or cycle > from town to town without having to mingle with cars. Some people actually go > to > work this way, and that's a good thing for traffic, not to mention people's > health. > > If bicycles could be used for transportation, not just leisure, it would be > a good thing all around, and if you could not or did not want to buy a car, > you could still have a life. Public transportation has never been a strong > point in this country unless you live in a major city like NYC, and even > then, if > it's like LA where I lived for a few years, you are very limited. > > The widening of roads costs taxpayers money each year, as does the rising > cost of healthcare because of preventable illnesses caused by the sedentary > lifestyle of most Americans. I'd gladly pay for the encouragement and the > ability of people to be more independently mobile, less polluting, and more > healthy > for it. > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Check out the new improvements in Yahoo! Groups email. http://us.click.yahoo.com/6pRQfA/fOaOAA/yQLSAA/Y2tolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
