When it comes to bicycles, Baltimore is an all-American city. Meaning that it has no bike lanes, discourages cyclists from boarding public transportation, and regards people who cycle to work as eccentric, underpowered impediments to high-speed acceleration.
Never mind that most European cities, despite older and narrower streets, have found ways to accommodate the bicycle as a means of everyday transportation. The United States, with a few notable exceptions, relegates cyclists mostly to the woods and suburbs, unless one counts the helmeted breed of daredevil known as the bicycle messenger.
So it was that when local organizers of Clean Commute Week held a Bike to Work Extravaganza yesterday, only a handful of takers pedaled out to enjoy the cool, sunny morning on seven routes leading into downtown.
"I suspect that most people don't do this [commute] because they think it would be too scary, there's no place to park their bike, or there's no shower at work," Dan Schaller of the League of American Bicyclists concluded as he welcomed finishers at the end of the line, outside Pickles Pub near Camden Yards.
It's not for lack of interest, he said, citing a recent survey by Rodale Press that found that 21 million Americans would ride their bikes to work if facilities were available to make the trip safe and convenient.
But as it is, even a fanatic such as Bob Carson, 63, a retired teacher who works part time downtown for the cyclists league, generally doesn't commute more than once a week.
His participation in yesterday's event -- leading a reporter and Frank Anders, president of the Baltimore Bicycling Club, into the city from Towson -- left him facing a larger-than-usual dose of riding.
After the trip from Towson, he was due to ride 12 more miles to Pikesville for a 4: 30 p.m. meeting of planners of the Cycle Across Maryland event in July. Then he had to pedal another nine miles or so home, drawing stares and comments on his low-slung recumbent bicycle -- cycling's answer to the Harley Davidson chopper.
Doubtless he was also in for a few angry toots from fidgety drivers and perhaps a harrowing moment or two.
"The road structure is just not set up to accommodate cyclists," Anders lamented at the end of his ride, a symbolic once-per-year commute for him because his office is at home.
