I've been fighting off a cold the last week or so. A friend invited me on a challenging ride this Saturday. Default response would be always say yes, but I had visions of streams of mucus slowing things down.... Made me realize I haven't been on a good "ride" in a while.
Made me consider what cycling is. By not going on a real "ride" I mean the long 100-200km weekend rides that were a staple of last year. But that does not mean I have not been riding at all. In Tokyo, we have managed a lifestyle in which biking is the primary transport. A typical day involves:
7:45, ride the shopping bike and trailgator attachment towing my son to the bus stop. Ride back towing his bike and with my daughter's Razor scooter draped over my shoulder.
9:00 (well, maybe later) ride road bike to office. Generally around 10km, although longer if I decide to take a loop around the imperial palace.
evening: cycle home.
random times: quick trips to the convenience store, video store or grocery store are all easiest by bike. There are also a number of museums and other cultural attractions (not to mention Yoyogi Park) within a short biking distance.
There has not been a day when I did not "ride" at all.
The assumption in some US biking literature that cycling is something you do after driving 90 minutes to the trailhead has always seemed strange. Fortunately, that is not the case for us. To be fair, it seems there are finally a number of places in the US that are realizing that cycling is a real piece of a comprehensive transportation network, particularly one that is developed on a more human scale. I would urge anyone to check out the League of American Bicyclists ratings of bike-friendly communities. By spotlighting areas that have gotten things right, they have really created momentum for spreading best practices. Some of which could even be useful here in Shibuya-ku!
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