I remember back in 1994, I traveled to the Netherlands (Amsterdam) for the first time and was so excited to see that there were bicycles every where. One could take a bike from one spot and return it to another. Back then, it was even free. Sometimes walking is not an option when you would like to really tread some ground. But, are there any downfalls to this growing form of transportation?

According to Mr. le Dous, (New York Times September 14, 2011) who loves to ride himself, said that bicyclist need to “…respect the law.” Believe it or not, it appears that riding the incorrect direction down a one way is in fact against the law. As is running a light. Also on the list is riding through a crowded sidewalk without dismounting. The last one appears to me to be of common sense. The others, well is it that the riders just do not know? I didn’t. I checked on some of the state websites and found these to be true, with riding on sidewalks to be sometimes prohibited.

The only problem that I have with that last one, is that when I am riding with my child, downtown in Cincinnati, I do not want him riding in the road. Sometimes we do, however, if there’s no one on the sidewalks, I prefer him to be out of the traffic ni matter how good a rider he may be. Is that so wrong?

With many more cities around the world promoting traveling to school and work and in general, are there safety courses available? And, what about more bicycle trails and bike lanes? And, what about the pedestrians? Yes, there should be rules for the ones not on the bikes too, like stay out of the middle of the bike lanes perhaps? Either way and as silly as it may seem, bicyclist are required to obey the same rules as vehicles.

Since that first trip back then, I have seen more and more bike rentals and bike share programs in cities such as Paris and Washington, D.C.. Most recently, we were going to rent bikes in Washington, D.C., however the fees simply to borrow these bikes were plagued with a $101 deposit for each bike! That’s $303 for the 3 of us, not including the rental which was very reasonable, although not so much once I add in the deposit and the fact that I wasn’t sure when I would get that deposit back.

It’s more than possible that we could have purchased bikes on Craigslist for less. The problem? What the heck do we do with them when it’s time to go home? I can’t exactly check it as baggage. If I carry it to the gate, could I ‘pink tag’ it?

Here is a list of some of the bike share programs throughout the country. Please let me know if you have any you would like to add.

Washington, D.C. : Capital Bikeshare

Boston, Massachusetts:  TheHubway

NYC, New York: NYBikeShare   Coming in 2012

Minneapolis, Minnesota: NiceRideMN

Denver, Colorado: DenverBikeSharing

For more information on bike share programs around the country, please check out this site that I found here.

Related articles

• New York’s bike share plan is a game-changer | Ken Podziba (guardian.co.uk)
• How to Use a Bike-Sharing Program (fitsugar.com)

Paris. Ah, the city of lights. The museums, the architecture, the amazing pastries. It’s like an affair with the perfect lover.

But, what is Paris to you?

There are times when I enjoy a smaller town for it’s innocence and charm, however, nothing really comes close to the intricacies of this grand city. A place where there are so many different personalities that everyone is bound to find their own passions, even if they didn’t know they existed in them in the first place.

It’s a city that holds business by day and pure unadulterated pleasure by night without lacking passion in either. The French set the standards for what the world should follow.With their ethics and imagination that are never ending it’s no surprise.

No matter how dull life feels at home, when I set foot onto the streets of this glamorous city, I feel as if I can rule the world.