Would you park a Gazelle...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I love the fact that all those bikes in that garage appear to be real WORKING/COMMUTER bikes, I don't even see one road bike or fancy bike. That is pretty cool- a place where so many people just ride bikes instead of cars.
Where I live, there aren't ANY bike racks on the street to lock your bike to. I have to get creative finding something to lock to in my town.
Perhaps one day bikes will be more commonplace transportation here in the US when gas has been wasted so much that it becomes almost unobtainable?

[withm]

Lisa

Of the thousands and thousands of bikes I saw on this trip you could probably count on one hand the number of road bikes... well maybe 2 hands. Think cobblestones and brick streets for starters, and then you have the flat tire issues with skinny wheels. Most of the bikes were the mixte type or step thru frames, with chain guards. It's true, only the Americans wore lycra. The locals wear normal work clothes, Many talked on cell phones, wore headphones and I even saw several riding, holding umbrellas (YES, UMBRELLAS) up in the rain to keep them dry. When you ride sitting upright you can see a lot more, and be more social - it was not uncommon to see groups of people just chatting while they ride. Yes, they go at a slower pace but then everything seemed to be at a slower pace over there. Coming back to the US was kind of like a rude awakening after that trip.

But even more of a rude awakening was getting back on my road bike when I came home. I was all wobbly! Took a couple days to feel comfortable on it again. Still, I want to buy a hybrid, now more than ever, so I can have a rack and carry panniers and do my errands, pick up the mail and groceries and the like. Something that doesn't cost well over 4 figures so I can feel comfortable locking it on a rack and have it be there when I return. My road bike is almost never left out of my sight, and when I ride to work, it's right there in my office with me all day.

Martha