Editor's Statement

Moving the goalposts. It can seem to take an eternity, but the place of bikes in North American culture has shifted. The bike infrastructure of today is leaps and bounds ahead of a decade ago, and unacceptable by tomorrow’s standards. In many parts of the continent bikes racks were quaint objects at schools, libraries and token bike friendly businesses—today they are sought after municipal installations that are often full beyond capacity. Recreational trails are sprouting vital commuter networks, lanes that not long ago simply didn’t exist are packed and slated for expansion, renegade mountain bike trails are being adopted by city parks departments.

There is room for improvement. Continued infrastructure gains are important, sensible law enforcement is paramount. This isn’t about cracking down on rolling through stop signs, but about the victim blaming mentality that continually sees aggressive and inattentive motorists getting away with murder. With more riders than ever using bikes for recreation and transportation the number of bicycle to car collisions have risen, with the rider near universally coming out on the worse end of the equation. An attitude shift at the top will undoubtably come at the cost of the more or less lawless existence of bikes some of us have taken full advantage of at times, but the trade off seems worth it to reduce the number of riders being maimed and killed without recourse.

It’s a good time for bicycles, and a good time to move the goalposts. The infrastructure ball is rolling, next stop accountability.

Bern