Biking in MPLS

What would happen if MPLS had more official bike lanes? There's the Greenway, which is great as long as you're going East to West. But there aren't very many places that people can bike safely and comfortably. It's asually a harrowing experience. At times, death-defying. The nice thing about bike paths-the Greenway, for instance-is that though you must be aware and attentive, you don't have to be unrelentlessly aggressive. If I rode my bike as casually as the average car driver, I'd be dead by now. This isn't entirely the fault of the driver (except for the fact that he or she chose to take the car). Bikers don't share the road with cars, they bike on the street and hope for the best. There are arrows on Bryant Avenue (that remind me of the speed boosters from the old Nintendo game Excite Bike) and a lame reminder to "share the road with bikes." There's a bike lane downtown along Hennepin Avenue which bizarrely disappears around 12th Street. But no serious, efficient lanes for a person who'd like to use his or her bike as a means of cheap transportation. Holland, of course, is famous for its bikes. There's the sidewalk, there's the street for cars and then there's a separately paved lane for bikes. And the NY Times recently reported on a plan in Paris to reduce car congestion with self-service bicycle docking stations and more cycling paths. Maybe we could take bicycling more seriously in Minneapolis? As stated in the NY Times article, "'This is about revolutionizing urban culture,' said Pierre Aidenbaum, mayor of Paris's trendy third district, which opened 15 docking stations on Sunday. 'For a long time cars were associated with freedom of movement and flexibility. What we want to show people is that in many ways bicycles fulfill this role much more today.'" We don't necessarily have to do anything revolutionary, but Minneapolis is pretty flat, with nice straight roads. Whenever I'm on my bike I think, Minneapolis would be an ideal city for getting around by bike if it weren't for all the cars.