Look at what happens when half tons of metal aren’t whizzing by 6 inches away. People in the UK DO want to ride bikes like normal Dutch people can, but they CAN’T. We know how to “encourage” car driving: build more roads. So how to “encourage” cycling? Hmm, a knotty problem. Surely there isn’t a country only 100 miles away who had solved this insolvable problem? Mustn’t be. Lets be America instead.
Going on a Skyride is a curious experience for someone interested in increasing the use of bicycles as a mode of transport; both uplifting and dispiriting in equal measure.
It’s uplifting, because seeing thousands of ordinary people out on bikes shows you what Britain could be like. Skyrides demonstrate that the British public really quite enjoy riding bikes, and that antipathy to ‘cycling’ comes purely from the conditions they are usually forced to ride them in; namely, on busy roads, in close proximity to motor traffic. Create pleasant conditions for riding, and people will do so. Skyrides are a clear rebuttal of the tired argument that the British public are too lazy to ride bikes; that when they say they want cycle paths, they are actually coming up with excuses that cover their laziness. Thousands of people battled into the centre of Southampton yesterday for no other reason than the…
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