To Paris by train

Since beginning of this week I'm in Paris, France. Not for a holiday, but that doesn't matter. I still intend to enjoy it as much as possible :).

I was traveling by train all the way from Vienna, which took me about 12 hours (including a stopover in Frankfurt, Germany). Some might say that this is too long for a train ride and prefer to fly. I love train rides. According to my grandma I already enjoyed my first big train ride without parents at the age of 3 (we moved houses between two towns in Austria). My granny feared that I would start to cry because I would miss my close family, but instead I happily looked outside the window, pointed at sheep and giggled.

IC (Intercity) train of the German railway company DB at Frankfurt train station

Cycling between the fronts

Do you know people who cycle daily because cycling is their job? Who comes to your mind? I naturally always think about bike messengers, mailmen, rickshaw whallas and bicycle taxi drivers, newspaper deliverers, ice-cream sellers and that kind. Recently I also came across cycling policemen in Vienna.

But what about people in very rural areas? There are generally little paved streets and it's tough going. Countrymen use tractors and robust four-wheel drive. Sometimes, however, such vehicles are too big. The military, for example, uses bicycles to patrol at the Austrian border in Burgenland:

A short story about the back pedaling brake

Yesterday I saw a nice video clip about the pros and cons of a back pedaling brake (also known as coaster brake) in one of my favorite programs called Karambolage on my favorite tv channel Arte. Arte stands for Association Relative à la Télévision Européenne and is a quality European culture channel. They broadcast in German and French. Many of their own programs can also be viewed online on arte.tv. Unfortunately I could not find Karambolage. But the text of the clip (here in German and French, by Corinne Delvaux) and the pictures are available on their website. It roughly translates to the following:

Wir sind in Berlin. Das sieht man doch am Fernsehturm im Hintergrund, oder? Gut, dieser Herr ist Franzose und er freut sich, denn seine Berliner Freunde haben ihm ein Fahrrad geliehen, um die Stadt zu besichtigen. Super.

We are in Berlin. That's obvious because of the tv tower in the background, isn't it? Well, this gentleman is a Frenchman and he is happy that his Berlin friends lent him a bicycle for sightseeing. Great.

Upcoming carfree conference and workshop in York

Last October at the "Mobility week workshop" in Budapest (you can read about my experiences in these articles) Sonja and I met a few young and enthusiatstic volunteers who work for the World Carfree Network in Prague, Czech Republic. That's also how I learned about some nice events they organize in York, England, in June and July. But before I will come to that, let my briefly introduce you to the WCN...

Pedaling around Europe (in Japanese)

In the recent winter issue of the "europe" magazine, there was a short summary about bicycle culture and lifestyle in Europe, along with some links to interesting blogs dealing with the subject. Among others, we were mentioned too!

Cycling in Japan's "europe" magazine

The "europe" magazine is the official publication of the Delegation of the European Union to Japan and is published by its Press, Public and Cultural Affairs Section. The principal purpose of "europe" is to give information on all aspects of the European Union, in Japanese, to those interested in the European Union and EU-Japan relations. The magazine is published quarterly and is circulated widely among political, academic, media and business circles. If you're interested, you can read more on their website: Delegation of the European Union to Japan (home, in English) and EUROPE magazine.

Well, all the text is obviously in Japanese. The description of our blog should say something like:

The blog "Cycling is Good for You" is focused on expressing different views on cycling in everyday life across Europe. Young contributers from nordic Finland, continental Austria and sunny Spain post stories according to their cultural background and give diverse insights into biking related issues. Some of them have a professional background in traffic planning and provide technical insight while others relay careful observations from their streets. Thus a variety of personal stories and scientific issues are covered in an easily accessible manner. This provides a somewhat comprehensive insight in cycling culture and lifestyle in Europe. In keeping with the theme of the blog they make a point why and indeed how a bicycle is an ideal mode of transport, despite of or especially in today's bustling world.

We hope you agree :). Besides, "Cycling is Good for You" is more than one year old now. Thanks to my co-bloggers and to all of you for contributing and sharing your opinions. It's good to know different aspects to understand how bicycle culture is seen worldwide.

We also want to know what you like, don't like and if you have any special interests or wishes for the future. We don't make any promises, but we will certainly try to make you happy :).

Snow clearance in Vienna

Currently we have some snow in Vienna. Finally :). I'm very happy about that. I love the white beauty, and also the challenge to cycle in this weather. Snow clearance in Vienna works almost alright. Let me show you some examples.

Most bike paths I used so far have been plowed. Well, if the last clearance was a while ago then they were again covered with snow. That can be very dangerous if the snow freezes. I am always very careful to not ride in some existent tracks. Cyling like that gets quite exhausting after a while. And it makes me slightly angry when I see that both the street and the sidewalk are completely free of snow, but nobody bothered to plow the bike paths for the whole day.

Cycling along one of the major bike paths in Vienna -- the Gürtel: morning (left, center) vs. evening (right)

On the other hand, I certainly have to complain about the bike lanes. Although they make up most of Vienna's bicycle network, they are almost ignored in the winter. In fact they are often used as spare space and filled up with the snow of the car lanes and hence (at least partially) covered in snow, mud or grit. There are very few examples of cleared bike lanes. Still, these conditions are acceptable if I can safely cycle on the road, but it's very annoying e.g. in a one-way street when I have to move into the oncoming lane. It's also dangerous because some car drivers don't respect the circumstances and still overtake in the same way as they usually would (cycling in the middle of the lane is often not an option, because it might also be covered in mud).

It's not only the fault of the snow plows though. This muddy dirty snow is often created by cars pulling in and out of parking lanes beside the bike lanes. These problems, in fact, are closely related to the fact that bike lanes in Vienna are generally designed too narrow.

Rather poor (or simply no) bike lane clearance

Overall I dislike is the priority of the snow plowing in Vienna: all car lanes first, then sidewalks (if not to be done by house owners) and at the very bottom bicycle infrastructure. When I have to see that, e.g. at the Gürtel, car drivers have about 4 (almost dry) lanes in each direction and I have to struggle on a snow- or mud-covered bike paths then I get sad and angry. It's obvious that cyclists are not treated equally by the authorities. I don't even want to imagine the untroubled winter biking conditions in Copenhagen and other, similarly civilized, parts of Europe.

And I can understand people that don't want to use their bikes in the winter. No, cycling in the winter is not dangerous, but more efforts are needed to make it really safe and enjoyable. For those who still cycle in such conditions: don't forget good lighting etc., ride carefully and have fun. I will :).

Side roads often look like that (quite ok since one can choose where to cycle :))

If necessary, how does snow clearance look like in your country? Is your bicycle infrastructure cleared of snow regularly? Do you ride your bike when the roads/bike lanes are not plowed or do you switch to public transport or car? Why (not)?

In for some tropical weather?

Actually I wanted to write about the snow biking conditions in Vienna these days, but my camera just gave up now. You'll have to wait at least till tomorrow for some pictures, sorry :(.

On the other hand, I picked up my visa for India today. Seems like some contrast at first. But it reminded my of a bike story I had read a while back in an Austrian newspaper:

Uwe Walter and Christian Sattelkow planned to spend 10 months on their bikes, starting from Graz in Austria and with destination India. The cycled in boiling heat and rain, conquered deserts and mountains, dealt with breakdowns, communication difficulties, diseases and accidents. Along the way they explored countries they didn't know yet. Altogether they wanted to cycle about 15.000 km. And all they took with them were two bikes and 30 kg of luggage each. They set of in Graz on the 17th of May 2009.

Some of their impressions in Turkey:

Unfortunately, Christian got sick in Turkey and Uwe did not want to ride through Iran all by himself. Still, Uwe decided to fly to Delhi instead and explored some places in Nepal and India by bike. Sounds like some adventure, doesn't it? If you're interested to read more about their journey, then visit their blog on derStandard.at (sorry, only in German): "Mit dem Rad nach Indien".

Another cyclist on the Mahendranagar Highway	Street in Bihar

Still, I won't go to India by bike. Nor anywhere else in the near future. My bike is mostly my local transport, but not my roving vehicle :). Got any (bicycle) traveling plans yourself?

Bicycle calenders for a good start in the new year

Last year I ordered a calender from Copenhagen Cycle Chic. This year there are even more options available. Let's start with the classical one -- the Cycle Chic 2010 Calender:

This time Mikael Colville-Andersen also started another project and produced the Copenhagenize Bicycle Infrastructure Fetish Calender which probably suits someone like me better:

My favorite bike-related calender, however, is homemade :). It's this year's Bike Messenger Calender produced by Andreas Stückl (photographer and messenger from Graz):

On his website botenkalender.meinblog.at he also has other nice things, e.g. a bike messenger memory game (simply click on the picture, print, cut out, laminate and play :)):


For ordering any of these calenders, simply click on the respective pictures. If you know and/or prefer any other calenders then let us know too!

Winter cycling

This year has been snowy and cold everywhere in Europe. I've heard news of snow in Spain and Italy, and Austria received first snow before Turku, Finland. Actually, we don't always get a good snowy and cold winter here either. A couple of years ago there was no termic winter (temperature drops permanently below zero) here at all, but that was exceptional. I have never experienced such a poor winter before, and it really sucked. However, this year has been delightfully snowy and cold, we received permanent snow cover a few weeks back, earlier than usually (I have to mention that in Turku the statistical average for that is in the Christmas Eve :D). So, considering my little winter cycling experiment, the conditions have been ideal. Apart from the raging blizzard outside as I'm writing this.

In the middle: walking on frozen Kallavesi lake, Kuopio; other images: modifications for the winter

COP15 and cycling

COP15, the Copenhagen climate change conference, is trying to find appropriate mitigation and adaptation goals and strategies against climate change. Cycling is a carbon-efficient means of transport that in many cases presents a true alternative to driving a car. Let's take a look at how cycling has been showing in the first week of Copenhagen climate negotiations.

Denmark is a country of utility cycling, which can be an inspiration to both the conference participants and internationally. In Copenhagen, 1/3 of commuters cycle to work or school, but the city goal is even higher. Copenhagen is aiming at becoming the cycling capital of the world and hopes to achieve the cycling commuter rate of 1/2 by 2015. That city knows how to set a positive example!

Animals on bikes

Cycling doesn't have to be serious. Have some fun too!

What about decorating your bike with a duck?
Or a zebra... ehm giraffe? (see also meligrosa's pic of the very same thing)
Butterflies are a quite common too:

In Budapest I even came across a ladybird and a hedgehog...

Well, I've also seen lions, snakes and other exotic animals on bikes. There seems to be no limit to creativity :).

Suburbanization and cycling

Suburban sprawl by David Shankbone 2008

As you may know, I am a geography student, so why not utilize my education? Forgive me if I'm dry, I'll try to be at least informative :)

There are 2 types of suburbanization: British and American. Both mean that people desire to live outside the city center. The British suburbanized in the 19^th century by developing public transit system. The American way was to get to the suburbs by private automobile, which also enables the low density population structure and urban sprawl. Nowadays there the both suburbanization types occur in Europe too. The American type has proved to be particularly detrimental for cycling, because the distances are too long and often the necessary and safe light traffic infrastructure does not exist.

Low density housing in America pretty much destroyed community walkability and light traffic infrastructure, but in those European towns that have managed to invest in cyclist friendly infrastructure the cyclist rates are still very high (Follman 2007). The examples of 20^th century Amsterdam and Copenhagen prove this point but they also show that it is possible to reverse this development and break the connection between suburbanization and lower cycling rates.

In the 1^st half of the 20^th century up to 75% of trips in Amsterdam were done by bike. 75 percent! After the second world war cars took over Amsterdam and the city expanded. This obviously had a massive effect on cycling, and the cycling rate dropped to the all time low of 25% in Amsterdam and 10% in Copenhagen by the 70s. How ever, the city road capacity couldn't handle many cars and the oil crises forced the government to think of measures to decrease oil dependency, so they began aggressively promoting cycling among other things by investing in bicycling infrastructure and enhancing cyclist priority in traffic. They succeeded and nowadays the cities have 35-40% bike trip share. That is impressive! Nowadays the cities are known for their cyclist friendliness and are among the safest cycling cities of the world (Jacobson 2009).

So, usually suburbanization and cycling decline go hand-in-hand, but it does not have to be that way. Suburbanization can also promote cycling if the suburb is not too far, but that would be on the expense of pedestrians or public transit, not cars. It is better to reign in the (mostly the American type) suburbanization a bit by supporting strong city centers and restricting suburban mall-building. E.g Muenster has some positive experiences of that strategy (Pucher and Buehler 2007).

Turku has both American and European type suburbs. Less than half of the households on the closer and denser (British type) suburbs have cars, but 70% of the more distant ones have at least one. The highest cyclist rates coming to the center of the city are from the closer suburb area. Surprisingly the cyclists are not coming to the grid plan center as often as the average cycling rate (11,5% of all trips) suggests. From the more distant “American type” suburbs almost no-one bothers to ride a bike to the center (numbers are from Turku Bustrip self-assessment report 2006, in Finnish).

So, it looks like these suburb theories do fit pretty well on my town. How about you, do you have any theories about the connection of suburbanization and cycling or would you like to share your experience? Is this kinda stuff too boring for you or do you wanna hear more of my academic brain farts?

P.S. Here's a video about the solution to the problems presented by urban sprawl (which is not the same as suburbanization, but closely related to the American type)

First (and second) time cycling in Budapest

As I already mentioned last week, I'm currently attending a Mobility Week Workshop in Budapest, Hungary. It's a meeting of 30 young Europeans from basically 6 different countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Hungary, Spain). After exploring the city center and area around the youth hostel Casa de la Musica, we will set different goals and work on how this area could be improved mobility-wise.

My bike impatiently waits for our departure at Wien Südbahnhof

I. (another girl from Vienna) and myself brought our own bikes along. Unfortunately, this is unnecessarily complicated since bike transport is only possible on the slow regional trains. Apart from the longer traveling time (4 rather than 3 hours) this also includes also other disadvantages for cyclists. For example, we had to change trains twice and always drag all our luggage and the bikes up and down the stairs at the stations (no elevators, not even rails on the stairs for wheelchairs – how do disabled people manage that?). Apart from that we didn't arrive at the main station Keleti in Pest but further outside at the Deli station in Buda.

I. at Györ station: changing trains means draging bikes and luggage up and down the stairs

Such things really annoy me. I don't understand why they discourage people to bring along bikes on long distance journeys. I think the EU should really try to work towards a excellent train network that includes possibilities for bike transport. Nowadays it's almost impossible to bring bikes (except folding bikes) on long-distant trains and the situation actually gets worse and worse, at least in and around Austria after the Austrian railway network ÖBB introduced their new Railjet trains that simply don't transport bikes. Such things just make me sad.

So, after all, how is cycling in Budapest? Before we left, we heard all kinds of stories basically saying that cycling in Budapest is very dangerous and that car drivers are aggressive. I must say that I didn't have that impression at all. Of course, there is a lot of car traffic. The roads and lanes are wide and the motorists get priority over everybody else. But cycling in traffic is not so bad. Car drivers leave a lot of space to the side when overtaking and nobody ever honked at us. With all our luggage (both of us had a 50l backpack and a small one) we found our way to the hostel easily and safely. We only had a problem once after we got on a bike path as this one actually lead us away from the Erzsébet bridge rather than onto it. So we ended up carrying our bikes up and down stairs (again) and crossed the Danube on the sidewalk of the bridge. Well, the view was great and we took some nice pictures :-). Though our first cycling trip in Budapest was actually quite pleasant.

Night view from Erzsébet bridge to Buda, Danube and Pest

The next day we cycled through Budapest on rented bikes from Budapestbike in the whole group of 30 people. That way we could see some of the bicycle infrastructure in the city. There is not much and of course there are many improvements that could be made. Compared to Vienna, however, I quite enjoyed that the bike lanes on the road are so wide here and even have an empty space between the parked cars (absolutely necessary and should be standard anyhow, but Viennese planners apparently don't believe in "dooring"). I didn't like the segregated two-way bike paths so much as they are quite narrow and not so visible from the car lanes (always problems with cars turning right that only see cyclists at the last moment). Still, I liked their clear and straight design and that they had a center line. At some places the surface was quite rough though. Very often the bike lanes are painted red at junctions, but the color already faded away.

Cycling in Budapest: cycling in traffic, on a bike lane and a two-way bike path

What I really miss here are one way streets with contraflow cycling traffic. That is something that works very well in Vienna and that really safes me a lot of time in everyday life. They do try to implement such things here too. As mentioned in one of the talks, they also have one advanced stop lane for cyclists (meaning that cyclists can stop in front of the first row of cars at traffic lights, also referred to as 'bike box') and so-called suggested cycle lanes (simply bike pictograms on the road with no real bike infrastructure – I reckon that they are much more efficient than small signs beside the road saying that this is a bike route, as these are not really seen by car drivers).

Concerning bike infrastructure (and generally traffic and spatial planning), Budapest still has a long way to go, but cycling is possible and safe if one is cautious. Cycling, however, is certainly not pleasant here. Still, cyclists in Budapest already represent 3-5% of the modal split which is quite similar to Vienna (as far as I know we have 5% cyclists, but already 8% in the “summer months”), and the numbers are continuously increasing.

More about other aspects of traffic in Budapest and a flashmob by “radical pedestrians” at the Blaha Lujza square in the next post. Stay tuned.

Information of the whole idea and activities in the Mobility Week Workshop on the official website: mobilityweekbudapest.eu. Have a look at the project diary.

Bicycle Film Festival in town

Although I'm not, the Bicycle Film Festival is again in Vienna. I went there last year for a session of short movies -- so-called "urban bike shorts" -- and some of the excellent fun program in the afternoons (like Tall Bike Jousting, Alleycat etc.). For more information on the program in Vienna this year visit the official homepage. It takes place at the Urania cinema from September 17 - 20.

The Bicycle Film Festival is an international film festival organized by Brendt Barbur after he had been hit by a bus in New York. Now in its ninth year the festival is held in 39 cities worldwide. 250.000 people are expected to attend this year. The description on their webpage is as follows:

"The Bicycle Film Festival celebrates the bicycle in all forms and styles. If you can name it - Tall Bike Jousting, Track Bikes, BMX, Alleycats, Critical Mass, Bike Polo, Road Cycling, Mountain Biking Recumbents - we've probably either ridden or screened it. What better way to celebrate these lifestyles than through art, film, music and performance?"

Find out on bicyclefilmfestival.com when it is close to your location.

For an idea of what kind of movies to expect see "What's a girl to do" (link to YouTube), "There's a flower in my pedal" (link to an earlier post) or simply watch the 2009 trailer and follow the suggestions on YouTube:

How to go shopping by bike and what would make it more convenient

While most people agree that some kind of shopping is possible by bike, not everybody wants to do all shopping by bike. I also don't, to be honest. I transport my groceries (including party supply) by bike. I do my clothes and shoe shopping by bike, and I even transport electrical equipment by bike (e.g., computers, printers, espresso machines, dishes).

But what about refrigerators and closets, someone might ask. Well, small furniture I transport by bike, medium pieces by public transport (taxi or renting a car is also an option if the latter isn't available) and for big stuff I hire a professional transport company anyhow as this is the most convenient and cheapest way to do. Well, there are not many people who move house by car and I rather avoid such experiences after having it done myself.

Not enough transport capacities on a bike?

What's up in Hungary?

Although Hungary is Austria's neighboring country and partner in crime in historical terms (I'm sure you heard about the k.u.k. monarchy), I must admit that I have not been there very often. I remember a rather long visit to Budapest in the early 90s, but apart from that I have only passed trough it a couple of times on my way to the Balkans.

But finally I will pay Hungary a proper visit again. It's all due to the Mobility Week launched in Budapest from 16th to 23rd of September 2009, organized by the Hungarian Cyclists' Club. There will be an international workshop on urban mobility and cityscapes. If you're interested, read more about it on their homepage or at the IG Fahrrad homepage (in German). The project description says:

"The objective of the project is to go over the common and alternative forms of city-scale public and individual means of transport and urban land use along with their ability to remodel the cityscape in negative as well as positive ways. We would like to show directly and clearly, that the direction of these future changes strongly depends on our present attitudes."

Although it was a bit unclear in the beginning, I hope now that I can attend all week, meet nice people and have interesting discussions. Greg Spencer from the Cycling Solution Blog already told me that he will be there and give a talk on the 16th. And seemingly Mikael Colville-Andersen from Copenhagenize.com und Copenhagen Cycle Chic should be there too.

Apart from that, Greg also informed me about the problems they have with the City Hall concerning the Margit bridge renovation in Budapest. Apparently, the orginal costs of 47 Mio. € increased to 77 Mio. €, why they now want to delete a bike path from the project. However, the EU subsides the project with 22 Mio. € including the bike path and there will hopefully be some protests coming from that side now. For more details see Greg's post.

Putumayo and bicycles

Putumayo is my favorite world music record label. But their CDs don't just contain great music, they also have lovely covers that go with it. Here I've picked some of them that feature cyclists and bicycles as an integral part of life. Simple but impressive. I like it.

Putumayo Kids presents music for children.

Overtaking ships, eating bugs

Well, overtaking ships is certainly not something I do every day, but today I cycled from Vienna to Stockerau (and back) to meet some friends. The easiest way to get there is along the Danube bike trail (Velo Route 6), a very famous and popular bike route among tourists. Beside fully loaded tourists from basically all over the world, one rides along families on their weekend bike trips, sporty road cyclists and old ladies on their shopping trips.

It took me about 20 min to get from our flat to the mighty river and another 1 ½ hours to Greifenstein. There I met up with my friend D. and his wife F. for lunch. Later we cycled together to their home in Stockerau. That's very easy cause there is a river power station and cyclists and pedestrians are allowed to cross the Danube there. To get to Stockerau itself one cycles through a floodplain forest – that's where I ate my bug (well, I spat it out and continued cycling with my mouth closed ;-)).

Cyclists in Stockerau

Stockerau is about 30 km upstream from Vienna and a few kilometers away from the Danube. On the way there I had to cope with strong headwind, but on the way back I could overtake some ships, because I also benefited from a light tailwind. Almost back I got caught by a short shower as I went onto the Danube island (but it was already finished when I left it).

All in all I spend a lovely day on a lovely bike route in Europe. If you got interested you can read more about it on Wikipedia, the EuroVelo 6 website (by bicycle from the Atlantic to the Black Sea) or the official website of the Donauradweg in Upper Austria (German). Or have a look at more personal impressions by the Cycle Tourist or by Filigree from Lovely Bicycle.

Reviewing car-free estates

In Vienna Floridsdorf there exists a car-free estate since almost 10 years. Due to the absurd parking regulations here, they had to get a special permit to be able to build less car parks and safe that money for something more useful. Earlier I've posted a video by the Greens about this particular project (German with English subtitles) which explains very well how it works and what it looks like.

Car-free estate in Floridsdorf, Vienna, Austria

Recently I stumbled again across Christoph Chorherr's blog and read that they did an evaluation among the residents to find out what they think about their estate and community. The main results are summerized in these three files (in German): short version (2 pages), medium version (5 pages) and full version (96 pages).

So far I haven't read all of the full version myself, but here are the parameters and main things they found out:

• 244 flats (11.400 m²) but instead of 244 car parks only 25 [according to the Viennese building law the rate "car park:flat" of 1:1 can only be reduced to 1:10 with a special permit]
  
• build between 1997 and 1999
• concept: people that move in have to resign from owning a car (that's even stated in the rental agreement), ecological measures and green areas, no decrease of building costs (which would have been possible because of the fewer car parks) but rededication of the capital
• right before moving in about 24% did own a car
  
• for 53% it was very important and for 21% important to live in a car-free estate when moving in
  
• car-sharing is available but only used by 28% for shopping, about 1/3 of the residents don't use this service at all
• 88% already owned a bicycle before moving in, 7% bought one later
  
• the bicycle is used up to 10 times more than in an average car-free (!) household in Vienna [about 1/3 of Viennese households are car-free]
  
• 56% of the people living there use a bicycle to get to work or school
  
• per household they calculated bike storage for 2.5 bicycles which turned out to be far-off (they actually need storage for 1.5 bicycles per person!)
• the residents are very happy with their estate, which mostly results from joint projects that were carried out from the money that wasn't spend on parking lots: public areas, saunas, gardens, kindergarten, gym, garage etc.
• the communication among neighbors and other residents works well (something which elsewhere is basically nonexistent)
  

Actually I've applied for a flat in that estate one year back, but it's basically impossible to get hold of such sought-after living space. In view of that overwhelming demand the Greens are planning a similar project called Bikecity at an old train station in the north-west of the city. Hope that will work out.

For more reading you can find some information on car-free living on the "Wohnen plus Mobilität" website in German and English (it contains general information and various prototypes in Germany and Austria). Moreover there is a German website on autofrei wohnen and here's an English pendant on carfree cities (with an excellent link list). More on car-free housing estates in Europe e.g. in "Car-free housing in European cities" by Jan Scheurer. Well, the internet is full of information about car-free habitation :-).

Conclusion: car-free is carefree, so enjoy a car(e)free life if somehow possible!

Green Bikes visit Linz

On Sunday at 7 am the Green Bikes Tour arrived at Linz to stay here for a couple of days (I already wrote about the project earlier). Yesterday at noon the tour went on to Vienna where they'll arrive on Saturday. Most of the 25 participants came by bus across the alps, other ones joined the tour in Linz and came from Szopron, Hungary, by bike. After ten days of riding in the rain in Italy and Slovenia, it was rainy in Linz, too. Sorry folks!

My cycling organization helped the tour here in Upper Austria with accommodation, meals, workshop, and all kinds of other stuff. Since I did most of the work I had some busy days (on Saturday, with Anna's help I managed to buy lots of food for nearly 30 people without a car), but I met really nice people, learned some interesting things at the workshops (especially one in a village near Linz on spatial planning, revitalization of rural areas, and re-naturalization of the landscape) and had a lot of fun!

I didn't take any photos by myself, so I may refer to the official GBfP - website. It will be updated soon! And I'm sure Adam, Tomas, and all the other cyclists will be happy about comments!