I wonder if America will turn into a nation of bikes.  People need an alternative means of transportation because of how expensive fuel is.  People are being priced out of their cars.  Four dollars of gas is more than many people can afford.  Gas is too expensive for many jobs, especially entry level jobs.

The United States has always been an individualistic culture.  For this type of cultural trait, an individual bike fits a lot better tha a uniform mass transit system.  A bike is the answer to the psychological expression of owning a car.  When you go biking you accomplish many goals; you lower your transportation costs, ypu lower carbon emissions and help the environment, you exercise and help yourself by staying healthy, you may even "stop and smell the roses" on your way to your final destination.  Biking also may hint a move to a simpler way of life.  With a bike you normally go slower than a car.  You also must drive locally.  You can not take your bike on a highway.  As fuel prices go up, people stay closer to home.  Fly less, drive less, and bike more.

Bicyclists also have acted collectively to call attention to the need to make cities more friendly to bicycles.  Critical Mass refers to activities held in different cities throughout the world where many bicyclists take to the streets on a particular day . In some cities tens of thousands may gather as was done in Budapest, Hungary, last month to celebrate Earth Day. 

Personally, I love biking. It makes me feel free.  I remember watching movies whose setting was southern Asia and seeing streets full of bicycles or vehicles propelled by people riding tricycles.  How detached I felt from that reality.  How backward that culture might have seemed to me in my ignorance.  Now I see the powerful all mighty United States of America facing an energy and economic crisis and its people reaching out for solutions that were embraced by many, perhaps belittled by us in ignorance, sometime ago.

I ride my bike. It allows me to tap into limitless energy, and I am humbled by the experience...