Potential Energy

Since the beginning of the year, I've been writing about ABC, volunteers, and administrivia. This morning, while riding my bike to work, I was reminded of what keeps me coming back to bicycles. Bicycles are basically fun. There are many dimensions to cycling and so there's always new things to explore and there are always new routes to ride. Recumbents and uprights, tandems and solos, road bikes and off-road, racing, touring, and commuting... these are just some of the many dimensions available to bike riders.

I've spent some time living and riding bicycles in Europe where cycling is much more of a way of life than in this country. As I was watching the light-rail cruise along Camelback Rd, I was flashing back to a small town in Germany where the "tram" was an integral part of the transportation network. As I was looking out over broad expanse of the Valley, I was reminded of gliding easily across the flat lands of Denmark. The Congressional Bike Ride in Washington DC featured some of the best urban bike facilities anywhere. A few years ago, I rode out of DC on the fabulous Washington and Old Dominion (WOD) Trail , a 45 mile Rails-to-Trails route.

The paths along our canals are awesome accommodations to bicycles. I think they can go toe-to-toe with some of the best that any major metropolitan area has to offer. Our spring riding weather is as good as anybody's. We also get about 4 to 6 weekends in the fall which are pretty close to perfection. But the stuff in between is pretty good too. It may get uncomfortably hot here during a summer mid-afternoon, but the morning and early evening are generally rideable that time of the year. The winter mornings here in the Valley may be cool but by the middle of the day, it's often very nice. We almost never ride in the rain here. Basically, we have a great climate for cycling. Sure, there are hearty souls in other parts of the country who can claim year-round riding conditions because they're not afraid of riding in snow and with lights, but does that really count?

My point is that the metropolitan Phoenix area has tremendous potential to be a world class bike-friendly area. Obviously our climate is conducive to year-round riding. Our terrain is not as demanding as many cities. Our infrastructure here is relatively new and growing. We tend to have fairly wide streets. Valley Metro is making a commendable efforts to integrate bicycles into their operations. Tucson's half million residents are already recognized as living in a top rated bicycle-friendly city. The League of American Bicyclists rated Tucson as a bicycle friendly community at the gold level. Scottsdale and Tempe have both achieved silver status. Phoenix currently has no designation. Could Valley Metro do more? Of course. Could we use more bike lanes? No question. Could Phoenix go gold? Sure!

During the National Bike Summit in March, Andreas Rohl, the Director of the city of Copenhagen's bicycle program, said that this country has lots of "low hanging fruit". He means that if we just do the easy stuff, we'd make huge gains. Let's do the easy stuff! It'll be fun.... just like riding a bike.