Interview with Performance Bicycles manager

To finish this expert project, I decided to interview a good friend the manager from my local bike store, Performance Bicycles. I went in to ask him his opinions on the current state of bike lanes in San Diego and his thoughts on the future of biking for transportation.
The first question I had for him was whether he was satisfied with the condition of San Diego's biking lanes, and he told me that although it could be better implicated towards freeways, he is happy about the goals mayor Filner has set forth towards adding miles of new lanes around the city.
I then changed the question towards the future of bike lanes in SD, if the city could improve on it, or if they are doing a good job as it is. He said, "Currently (the San Diego) budget is bankrupt, as it stands now I am grateful to have some bike lanes. If we ever get out this economic drought, I would like to see more bike lanes added and maybe even some bike only roads to be made. Like cars have freeways to get around easily, but what about bikers? Always having to take the longer detour-routes."
I agree with him that it seems unfair at times, but Mayor Filner is apparently hard at work to constitute bike lanes into the budget, and even dedicating certain days to bike only days on select roads.
My friend had to quickly get back to serving a customer, but I appreciate his time. Performance Bicycles is a great place to go to for all your bike repairs, they are friendly and knowledgable.

The Netherlands

According to Expatify.com, the worlds most bike- friendly country is none other than the Netherlands. With over 430 miles of bike-only lanes, it is known as the biking capital of the world.
Most people in the Netherlands using cycling as their primary mode of transportation, its also estimated that some 18 million bikes are within the country. This large community of bikers have brought on significantly positive environmental benefits. Findings from this article show that air pollution from transportation is on the decline, and that the air quality is actually pretty clean.
If more countries had the same number of biking lanes, perhaps we would be on our way to becoming a greener planet.

Costs of Owning Your Very Own Bike

Although its not always the most convenient at times, biking everywhere would save anyone plenty of money within a short amount of time, and pay for itself within weeks. A article posted onto Family Bicycles website gives a comparison between the costs of owning a car and owning a bike.
First off, the average quality bike costs below a thousand dollars, but cars can be ten times as expensive. With bikes, you dont have to pay for anything else besides the rare upkeep, no need for insurance or gas or expensive routine smog checks and maintaining. If you have the means to bike everywhere, I would strongly recommend switching from driving to biking. Not only is it significantly cheaper, its also leaves a green carbon footprint.
Source

Possible Downsides to Cycling?

As a writer, I refuse to be one sided. Although I am biased towards a bike friendly world, I do not want to hide the dangers and downsides of cycling. 

In America, cycling has caused 667 deaths in 2011, and over 61,000 injuries. Despite the large numbers, they only make up for 2 percent of all traffic accidents. Biking is dangerous, but statistically, driving is far worse.

To reduce the likelihood of these accidents, I have a few good tips to follow.

1) Always wear a helmet: It may seem like common sense, but you would really be grateful if you got into an accident while wearing one compared to just your skull!

2) Assume that you're invisible to drivers: Never assume that people in cars can see you, never put yourself in front of a car until you make eye contact with the driver. Also, use lights at nighttime! Its extremely hard to spot a biker in the dark.

Source

Cycling in China, not for the faint of heart

Although China is considered to be one of the top countries in the world for cycling, it is also one of the deadliest. A few decades ago, everyone biked, the streets were littered with bicycles. That was a different time, a time when a car could not be afforded. But with China currently leading the modern industrial age, cars have become more accessible.
Now that numerous Chinese people own vehicles, bike have been bumped down on the "foodchain." It has been reported in a article I read here, that cars very seldomly pay any attention to stop signs or red lights, leaving bikers in quite a dangerous predicament. If you go cycling in China, sure its beautiful, but at the cost of a possible injury or even worse, fatality. My opinion is that China needs all the environmental help it can get, and should not be ostracizing its faithful bikers, but instead setting aside protecting laws.

Economic Benefits of Adding Bike Lanes to Cities

In the article titled, "Bike Lanes May Benefit Small Businesses," NBC news contributor Tanya Mohn brings up the positive consequence of cities adding bike lanes to their streets. Although great effort would have to be put forth to add them, the benefits could prove to be worth it in the long run.

Tanya begins the article by giving insight about small businesses in America gaining more business from bikers. When people commute by bikes rather than cars, they tend to visit local venues, and spend more money on average than car drivers.

I agree with the author when she writes,"In addition to the substantial health benefits resulting from the cardiovascular exercise of cycling, “biking can save individuals up to three months’ worth of salary,” that is used to buy, insure, drive, park, repair, and maintain a car. “It’s a tremendous cost for the average American, about $10,000 a year per car," said Pucher, who is co-author of “City Cycling,” published earlier this year by The MIT Press." When I am out biking, I know how much money I am saving by not paying for gas, and the rare times I have to maintain my bike it typically costs under twenty dollars, making it significantly cheaper than automobiles.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/bike-lanes-may-benefit-small-businesses-1C7488581

Cycling and the Enviroment

Most people with a shred of reason would agree with me when I say that biking is a greener alternative to driving cars. But for those who dont, a article from Bicycle NSW proves my claim. In the writing, it mentions that cycling isn't just good for your body, but also for the earth. Bikes do not put out any smog emissions and actually saves around 1.3 tonnes of the harmful greenhouse gases per year (a tonnes is equal to 1,000 kilograms). In comparison, driving cars results in between 900 and 2000 early deaths per year from pollution alone, and over 4,500 cases of bronchitis in urban settings. If the whole world switched to biking as a way to commute, how much better off would the world be from pollution and global warming?
Source