Still, people are working on It. There was that happy flap about River Road, one of the friendliest bike routes in the area, with miles of bike lane on an often not-very-busy road that can actually get you from here to there (from CB to downtown Wilmington, e.g.). The road was being moved to accommodate a new development, and its status as a bike route was in question. I think that developers kept River Road bike friendly and even improved it for bikers (last I heard).

The Cape Fear Cyclists also maintain some bike routes — maintain both physically, with cleanups and sponsorship, and with maps and information on their site.

Wilmington is certainly not the only American city with this problem. Most urban areas were planned for the almighty automobile, a lack of foresight that has had countless unintended consequences (obesity and global warming among them). We can learn a lot from Europe in this regard.

Berlin, for example, features bike routes that cover virtually the entire city. Many simply follow along roads meant for cars, but the adjacent lanes are clearly identified for bicycles. Local laws so favor bikers that accidents are almost always the fault of the driver. So familiar are bikes in the German capital that even pedestrians must be on the lookout. In addition, bicycles are allowed on many subways, making much longer 2-wheeler trips in that vast city possible.

Bicycling always enjoys a loyal following among bicyclists, of course — among those who are affluent enough to buy high-end equipment, who travel to cycling destinations, who can cycle when others are working. But right now it seems to me like there are more kinds of bikers out there, more people who use and love bicycles without “being” bicyclists.

Bicycles are just too cool to be the sole province of dudes in lycra (and I am sometimes a dude in lycra). And these days they are not. Everybody loves ‘em. There’s an ecosystem of people-and-bicycles. One healthy example you now see at Two Wheeler Dealer and elsewhere is the urban, fixed-gear, emo sub-species, the young dudes in dyed black hair, Ramones skinny pants, and nose rings who build up and tool around on single speed or fixed gear bikes, sometimes without brakes, in whatever passes for cityscape in their area. Too, there are fat tire cruisers with mounted beverage cups, mountain bike posses like sirbikesalot, recumbent bikes, three-wheelers, new bike “SUVs” that you can put all your stuff in.

Bicycles! A person on a bike is the most efficient animal on the planet! Wheels on people, man (voice of Tommy Chong), extensions! Human-powered vehicles that can go across the country in 9 days (RAAM), that can haul groceries and bring people together, help you smell the roses &cetera.