From today's New York Times comes yet another blast of positive publicity for our fair city -- Portland, Portland Style: Touring By Bicycle -- filled with lots of references to familiar places and businesses.
The Hollywood neighborhood, Lucky Lab, Mississippi Pizza Pub, Amnesia Brewing, Alberta Street, Powell's Books and so on....
Even if you're an occasional -- make that very occasional -- bike rider like me, it's pretty easy to appreciate the bike culture here and the attendant publicity that comes along with it.
Consider just two perspectives from the article:
From a bureaucrat:
“Portland is a really easy and comfortable city to use a bicycle as transportation,” said Roger Geller, Portland’s bicycle coordinator since 1994. “There is a lot of energy around cycling right now and it’s not just 20-year-old men racing. I see average people out biking.”From a visiting cyclist:
“The thing about Portland is there are so many world-class rides at your fingertips,” [Bruce] Rogers said, as he prepared to ride with his best friend across the Willamette to Council Crest, said to be the highest point in the city, with a panoramic view of the Cascade volcanoes. “Portland’s pretty much roadie heaven.”
My perspective? Well, it's pretty obvious that the more cyclists, the less congested our roads become, the cleaner the air we breathe, and the healthier we become as a society.
Plus, there are psychological benefits. Case in point: I'm a fair-weather, mostly weekend rider, but every excursion leaves me feeling better about myself -- not just pumping the legs and exercising the lungs, but taking in the sights at a slower pace than if I were driving. With fair weather now upon us, there's no excuse to get out more often and for longer, leisurely rides.
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