Let's take Key West as model city and see how bicycles fare
His Highness the TibetanMonkey, originator of the Stop the Bullshit Campaign
culture of its own in which the bicycle has a great role. How dumb is
it to use any other vehicle within a community but a bicycle. Scooters
and EVs also abound and they are certainly welcome. But bicycles are
everywhere, bike lanes or not.
This is an important point as cyclists of different stripes argue
endlessly whether bike lanes are good or bad. The answer is right
there in Key West for all to see: Some streets have bike lanes that
get used, and the rental of the hotel comes with the bike --your
ticket to explore beautiful Key West. But bicycles are everywhere
beyond those bike lanes. The key to success is that, I think, the
authorities have an active role in enforcing speed limits --for real,
not for profit-- and people have a "sense of community." Without those
two factors, we are just fighting for survival.
I just sense freedom down there. Even SUVs are cautious and gentle.
Too many homeless spoil paradise, but that's impossible to fight when
they come from all over the nation. Homelessness is a problem related
to cycling as they often ride bikes and we are taken for one of them,
which is sometimes related to the panniers or trailer we carry.
Even bike paradise --the Netherlands-- has a problem out of control
that Key West doesn't have: bicycle theft. You don't feel paranoid
about your bicycle and someone stealing your tire or seat if not your
bicycle. I see poor South Miami Beach residents removing their seats
while falling into another pitfall they are unaware of: rain goes down
the tube and rusts your bike and bottom bracket.
I'm unusually talkative today, but I must hit the sand with my beach
cruiser, and we must recap the lessons from Key West:
1- Lane or no line we can have a bicycle culture. Often a combination
of the two works best,
2- We must tame traffic,
3- We don't need homeless,
4- We don't need bike theft,
5- Gays bring bicycles to town (not sure about this one, but we must
learn from them that MAKING NOISE and being colorful is a strategy for
survival). ;)
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"May the sun shine upon you today"