More bikes

In the spirit of Bike Month, I found this to be a very encouraging sign, bike production on a world wide basis is far outpacing automobile production. 13o0 million bikes to 57 million cars.

http://www.earth-policy.org/Indicators/Bike/2008.htm Check out the graph that really illustrates the difference.

Sure, I realize not a lot of this is in the U.S. but I've also seen evidence (at least anecdotaly) that bicycling is increasing in popularity here as well. Bike shops are busier, I see many more bikes on the road, and gas prices have caused more people to consider biking at times.

This is definitely a good thing on many levels! If you're interested in commuting by bike (Jack, I'm talking to you), there are a lot of great resources on the net... start with http://www.runmuki.com/commute/index.html. An especially easy way to start is to bring all the stuff you need the day before, so you don't have to carry too much. Or even start by driving with your bike, leave your truck at the office and ride home then ride back the next day. This way you've split your commute across two days and reduced your ride distance for one day. Either way, I guarantee it will be fun and you'll feel good for the day as well as save a bit of money.