Whoops! Another Bike Year has expired and I totally forgot to mark this historic occasion with a post of some kind. In June 2006 I asked readers if I should continue it past the one year mark. An overwhelming surge of public support (five comments) convinced me to continue. But at least I'm doing better than last year, when I waited until the middle of August to acknowledge the passage of another Bike Year. I'm almost a whole month ahead of schedule.If I could identify one trend in my bicycle experiences over the last year, it would be this: My cycling life has become a lot less solitary. Previously I saw myself as existing apart of the rest of the cycling world. As a transportational cyclist, I didn't fit well into the other local cycling tribes.
But I'm no longer a lone wolf.
You see, I've been able to meet more of my fellow cyclists. And by "meet" I mean that I've actually met with them. And ridden bikes with them. And stood around waiting for television reporters with them. This is very different from Bike Year One, when most of my bicycle pals lived on the Internet. Before April of this year, the largest group I'd ever ridden with included three other cyclists (Well, at least as an adult. I remember riding in some large pods of BMX bikes as a kid). Over the last three months I've shared pleasant rides with groups ranging from 30 to 250 others. And there's another ride coming up this Sunday.
What accounts from the remarkable change in direction? Three words: Savannah Bicycle Campaign.
