An Amusement & Diversion for The Genteel Cyclist. Daily.

Monday, August 27, 2007

I'll catch my breath when I'm dead



China has long been a great cycling nation, but that has unfortunately started to change, as the Chinese become infatuated with capitalism and its most captivating symbol-- the automobile. On the other hand, the Chinese have not been all that rigorous about silly luxuries like, you know, the catalytic converter. So Beijing is today a city of 9 million bicycles that have either been abandoned or they are lost in the smog.

But with the Olympics bringing everyone to town, including the self-righteous eco-moralizing nations of Western Europe and North America, the city of Beijing is hoping to very quickly turn back the hands of time and get people back on bikes. This fellow is banking on a Velib type of service similar to the Parisian one.

But one funny thing we noticed in the article:



“One-third of all breathable dirt comes from car exhausts so if there were more cyclists this could make a difference to our air."


We weren't aware that any type of dirt was breatheable. And after this weekend's big race, we feel like we're in a position to know [cough cough].

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