This is an oddity in my life

[Mr. Pink]

I just moved to a new town, a pretty upscale town in Ct. just close enough to NYC to be rich. The town's rec center is right across the street from my condo complex. I'm going to resurrect an old mtb as a rat bike with racks to go there to work out and elsewhere for transportation, or buy something else. Now, just so you understand, about a mile or two of paved walking/biking/running/whatever trails surround the rec center property, so, like, it's a place for kids to.........bike. And other people who don't bike like you or me, but, whatever. Better than TV, right? Anyway, what's strange is, there's no bike rack. Weird. I asked, sorta dumbfounded, and got a deer in the headlights/zombie look. You have to fend for yourself, find a sign to lock even a rat bike to. I mean, there are bike racks everywhere, right? This is the town rec center. As in recreation.

End of rant, sorta.

[oliver1850]

Tell them that even Wal-Marts in Podunkia, IL have bike racks.

Then ask them if they like the trees. Just read about a tree cut down in Chicago. You guessed it, there had been a bike locked to it.

[Dead Man]

Tell them that even Wal-Marts in Podunkia, IL have bike racks.

Then ask them if they like the trees. Just read about a tree cut down in Chicago. You guessed it, there had been a bike locked to it.

Walmart in Saint Helens, Oregon has no bike rack, and they'll ask you to leave if you walk your bike inside.

[christian]

I think if you call the Parks & Rec department and suggest it, they'll get one there within the week. That's been my experience in upscale NYC burbs.

[dustyrider]

Perfect opportunity for the LBS to get a little advertising!

[kmla320]

Would that town be Ridgefield?

[Mr. Pink]

[homer simpson]uh......maayyyybeeee.........[/homer simpson]

[redir]

I think you mean Springfield Doh!

I've not been up there in 20 years but there was a lot of good riding up there that I remember.

But yeah seems like a rec center ought to have a bike rack. Most people probably think you are crazy to ride a bike on the same streets that they are affraid of driving a car on.

[fiamme red]

Would that town be Ridgefield?Ridgefield doesn't allow bikes on the local rail trail.

[Ken Robb]

letter to the editor of a local paper emphasizing the "green" aspect of reducing the number of automobile trips and encouraging kids to get to the rec center on their own.

[Bradford]

Not so strange. Sad perhaps, but not so strange.

I've lived in a place for 8 years with world-class rec centers that are always full of people. I like to ride my touring bike there when I can. There are rarely bikes on the bike racks other than mine. The parking lot is always full, but the bike rack is usually empty. And this is in a town where you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a cyclist.

For the most part, people don't use bikes for transportation, just for point to point riding. Many folks here have multiple bikes, me included. How many have a bike with racks and fenders and use it for errands? 5%? Take away the commuters and it is probably much lower.

[Tom]

It's an extension of the phenomenon where they drive to the rec center to run on the treadmills.

[67-59]

It's an extension of the phenomenon where they drive to the rec center to run on the treadmills.

There's a great excerpt from an old Bill Bryson book about this. I think he started talking about how beautiful it was walking around his town, but noticed that people rarely did so. Then he discovered that people would drive a mile to go to the health club...to walk a couple of miles on a treadmill. When he asked one woman why she just didn't walk around their beautiful New England town, she just paused then said...but then I wouldn't know how far I had walked.