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.
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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.

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