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Biking anywhere requires some planning of your day. Here in Bend there are a number of us that ride all the time, all year round. We have many hills here and often in the winter the streets have ice and have snow on them. In fact it is snowing right now. I have studded tires on my bicycle and it has more gears than your basic bicycle. It has racks and baskets for carrying things. I ware layers of clothes in the winter months. I am a 56 years old male and am in better shape (from bicycling and skiing) than many teenagers, but I still get passed everyday by a sixty-five year old guy. L

I look to Copenhagen for inspiration as to what it can be. Twenty years ago they were using cars like we do today. We look to Portland to lead the way. Like many years ago after the Great Depression, America is retooling for the future. Public transportation and use of bicycles is growing.

Conflicts between motorist and bicyclist are due to the lack of the right design of our streets to accommodate both.  Even today here in Bend bike lanes (and sidewalks for pedestrians) are often not even considered in the designs of new streets. Like I said, America is retooling. We will get it right.

Garry Zimmerman

Volunteer for Pedestrian and bicyclist safety.

Bend, Oregon

posted 3 years, 6 months ago
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