It will be interesting to see how the Velib experiment in Paris works out. 20000 bicycles will be available all over Paris for people to ride – mainly on short journeys. That gets over some of the issues which prevent people from cycling – but not the scary matter of dealing with Paris traffic. Apparently only 150000 people in Paris actually own a bicycle – yet France is bike-mad and when you cycle in France you join a sort of club of signs, nods and gutteral and incomprehensible cyclists’ greetings.
I was reminded of the velosophique stuff by Fr Oliver Crilly’s Lent Book, ‘Is it about a Bicycle?’ He suggested that the spiritual magic of cycling is the combination of solitariness and locomotion. Further report from the saddle of Bamm Bamm’s mountain bike follows shortly.