Bicycling is changing the look and feel of cities, small towns and suburbs across the U.S., asserts Jeff Mapes in his new book, “Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists are Changing American Cities.”
Mapes should know. He's a reporter at the Portland Oregonian newspaper and has watched the rise of the bicycle culture in that city. He's experienced much of it firsthand as a bike commuter.
According to reviews and publicity (I haven't read the book yet), Mapes writes about big cities, college towns and Portland to show how cyclists are taking to the streets. He looks at the history of bicycle advocacy and reports on the many styles of people — congressmen, bike messengers, spandex-clad recreational riders — who are behind it.
In the introduction, Mapes writes:
“A growing number of Americans, mounted on their bicycles like some new kind of urban cowboy, are mixing it up with swift, two-ton motor vehicles as they create a new society on the streets. They’re finding physical fitness, low-cost transportation, environmental purity—and, still all too often, Wild West risks of sudden death or injury.”
To report the book, Mapes rides and interviews bicyclists in New York, San Francisco, and Portland, as well as Amsterdam, the world capital of bicycling.
Sounds like a good book for any us interested in trying to understand how bicycling got this popular and what might be in store for the future.
Reviews at BikePortland and the Oregon State University Press, which published the paperback in March 2009.
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