Man, remember 1998? I sure do. Good times, people. The peak of the greatest economic boom in the history of mankind.  Sky-high presidential approval ratings.  Septuagenarians in  outer space. Forget drawn-out foreign conflicts and and foreclosures. Our biggest concerns were “sexual relations” and “irrational exuberance”. Oh, and gas? 98 cents a gallon.

I guess it’s a bit of an understatement to say that thing have changed since then.  And while it’s easy to think of a lot these of these changes as negative, some fairly good things have come out of them. People are realizing they can’t simply expect a house to gain value just because its a house. As a nation, America is now far more aware of its impacts on the rest of the world. And, perhaps most importantly, people in America are looking for new, and more environmentally friendly ways to get around.

One of the biggest growth areas for non-oil powered transit has been in bicycles.  As the most energy efficient means of transport yet created, bicycles offer tremendous benefits in terms of carbon footprint (despite what a few naysayers might think) and in saving space, especially in urban environments. Not to mention the tremendous improvements in air quality, general fitness, road surface longevity, and reduced dependence on foreign oil they provide.

The problem with bikes, however, is that from a motorist’s prospective, they get in the way. The internal combustion engine, while currently struggling with the obviousness of its own mortality, is still king of the urban roadway, and intentionally or not, it feels compelled to remind cyclists of this on a disturbingly regular basis—even in some of the bike friendliest cities in the nation.

While European cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen have had tremendous success integrating bike lanes into the urban landscape, efforts in America have been—how shall I put this?—somewhat less successful. Part of the problem may be that even cycling advocacy groups can’t seem to agree on how to best implement lanes.  Some say separated lanes are the only way to go, others say they’re inherently more dangerous.

So what’s an eco-savvy cyclist to do? My advice, as a long-time bike commuter is to stay clear of the lane issue. In my experience, anything that tries to make drivers more aware that cyclists are present, and in fact, welcome, on the roads will make motorists more aware of them, if only slightly. The lanes and signs also encourage more citizens to look to the bike as an alternative means of transport. As seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong says, what cycling—and America—needs is a few hundred thousand more bike commuters.

After all, it’s not 1998 anymore.

Photo by Jeff Archer