What other people are doing

In some of the world's great cities, municipal efforts (be sure check all the links in that article) and people try to inspire us to pedal. Closer to home, the local daily tells us how foolhardy and dangerous such an approach can be. No doubt there's risk — and risk here — in cycling but if I let that paralyze me before I hit the road I might as well not get out of bed in the morning.

CD's Saturday cycling tip: newspaper cycling blowout!

On this side of the Atlantic, I think we're more likely to see newsroom positions restored and monkeys flying out the butts of publishers before we see anything like the Guardian's cycling extravaganza. This is good, basic cycling stuff for the largely noncycling public. Cycling know-it-alls are already sniffing in online forums that this 92-page section has missed the point. The point the sniffers miss is that when the mainstream press doesn't doesn't ignore cyclists, it often depicts them as, well, eccentric, effete, monocle-wearing sniffers. Jeeeeezus. This section, even if it is from a suspect leftist publication bent on driving cars off the planet, might even get a few more people — sans monocle and nose drip — out on bikes. And with a major newspaper is investing that much in newsprint and Web resources to talk about cycling, it would surprise me if there aren't a few primates aloft in the Guardian offices.

Where's on your list?

The Guardian's online travel section proclaims the Top 10 bike rides of the world. There are a few here I want to bag for my life list: going into Grand Teton National Park along U.S. 287, Lolo Pass and Alpe d'Huez. A bunch of the others sound pretty cool too. For much longer than the three years I've been cycling seriously I've thought biking Norway would be a blast. That could just the call of my Viking ancestors. And there are several others I'd never heard of but now want to learn more about. Inexplicably, my favorite ride, Trail Ridge Road through Rocky Mountain National Park, was not included.