This Sunday is the annual Bike 4 Pie event on Bainbridge Island. Who doesn't love bicycles and pie!
To show our support of pedal power, the Grow Community has put together a team for the family ride! Riding a bike reduces the consumption of fossil fuels, while promoting a healthy lifestyle. That’s what the Grow Community is all about.
Also check out this great New York Times Opinion piece on the Dutch and their commitment to the bike. Although it seems they prefer to bike for bread. Each to his own.
The Dutch Way: Bicycles and Fresh Bread
The New York Time
By RUSSELL SHORTO
Published: July 30, 2011
As an American who has been living here for several years, I am struck, every time I go home, by the way American cities remain manacled to the car. While Europe is dealing with congestion and greenhouse gas buildup by turning urban centers into pedestrian zones and finding innovative ways to combine driving with public transportation, many American cities are carving out more parking spaces. It’s all the more bewildering because America’s collapsing infrastructure would seem to cry out for new solutions.
Geography partly explains the difference: America is spread out, while European cities predate the car. But Boston and Philadelphia have old centers too, while the peripheral sprawl in London and Barcelona mirrors that of American cities.
More important, I think, is mind-set. Take bicycles. The advent of bike lanes in some American cities may seem like a big step, but merely marking a strip of the road for recreational cycling spectacularly misses the point. In Amsterdam, nearly everyone cycles, and cars, bikes and trams coexist in a complex flow, with dedicated bicycle lanes, traffic lights and parking garages. But this is thanks to a different way of thinking about transportation...
