Comment 110502

By mikeonthemountain (registered) | Posted March 25, 2015 at 09:52:07

Thanks for writing this. There is something about travel that widens perspectives and can change a person.

When I was young I loved my car and loved to drive fast (shocking!). My personal change first began in 2004 when Katrina wiped out gulf production and caused our first spike to $1.40. A young employee ain't got money for that. So I bought a Trek and started cycling once or twice a week. Suddenly I saw what life was like on the other side of the windshield. And that pretty much pre-dated any of the cycling infrastructure that exists now. It was hostile and shocking at first.

Fast forward to 2008. My employer send me overseas for the first time. Took some personal leave too, and explored on my own time as well. When a buddy and I got back from our UK/Holland/Belgium tour, I could not sell my car fast enough. Took trains to/from airports, rented a bike for two weeks and got around as naturally as breathing. That life was such a relaxing (and inexpensive) contrast to life back home, I resolved to adopt that lifestyle back home.

Since those first early days of "HOOOOONNNNNKKKKK ... GET ON THE SIDEWALK [EXPLETIVE]!", there has been an outright explosion of cycling infrastructure and even though we are 30 years behind some places, it is well under way. Pearson Airport FINALLY has a train. I had to apologize more than once on behalf of Toronto, when a confused and bewildered European gets off a plane at pearson and has no idea where to catch a bus or how crappy transit actually was.

We will get there. Ride safely, obey the law, but don't apologize when defective and incomplete infrastructure forces you into traffic. We are all citizens and deserve safe passage within our cities.

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