Bikes and cars

This is not the usual story about the constant battle between bikes and cars. This is a story about a partnership between an auto dealer and a bike dealer. During May, which is Bike Month, Don Beyer Volvo will be giving away a Dahon folding bike with every car that is purchased. We are providing the bikes. We know it would be better if people just bought the bike without the car, but we are realists. Knowing that the cars will be sold anyway, we thought this was a good way to give people an alternative.

Maybe some day those same people will make the decision to use their new bike instead of their car for those many short, local trips that we make each day. Those trips generate a great deal of pollution because cars don't have a chance to properly warm up. It's bad for the car and bad for the environment.

I do wonder what the folks at Don Beyer think when they receive messages from John with his signature line that reads: "We're fighting 'oil addiction' with human powered transportation. Join the fight—park your car and ride your bike."