The Wobbling Sprocket

Caption: Adonia Lugo, a UC Irvine doctoral candidate in anthropology, has dedicated much of her academic and personal life to alternative transportation; everyday, she uses a combination of buses, trains, and bicycling to commute to Irvine from Los Angeles.

I doubt that Adonia commutes in a red dress and yellow panniers, but I do like her style!

My own sense is that things are changing for the good at an ever faster pace for cyclists.   Perhaps the biggest shift is that concern for the environment, health issues, higher energy prices and congestion have caused local governments, as well as the national government, to hire personnel, invest in infrastructure and attempt to tackle the safety issues that arise from using our streets for more than the vehicles they were commonly designed for.

The one downside of the whole thing is that the increased popularity of cycling (and other non-vehicular usage), of course, increases competition for  what is a limited physical resource…..the roads.   The latter can be ameliorated through additional bike paths and bike lanes and better design of new roads but there also needs to be education, enforcement of practical laws and probably, most importantly, an attitude and cultural shift on the part of some elements of both the biking and driving communities that engage in both anti-cyclist and anti-driver behavior.

Good for Adonia!  I give her a thumbs up!

UCI student challenges anti-cyclist attitudes | bike, car, lugo – News – The Orange County Register.