Chris Writes.

As some of you out there already know, I’ve headed off on a grand adventure this week to race the TransRockies – a 7-day mountain bike race in my birth province of British Columbia, covering 550km, and climbing a few meters shy of 18,000.  The answer to your next question is, of course, “Because it was there”.

My teammate, Mike Cushionbury from Bicycling Magazine, will be providing daily commentary at their site.  Assuming that our internet connections work, you can follow his version of our story here.

I’m planning on doing my own commentary as well, which I’ll post here on the Specialized Riders Club.

As is typical, the smart folks at the economist have wrapped up the whole cyclists-vs-cars conflict in a well-written and impartial way – you can read the whole article on their site here.  But the best part is their summary:

“Managing more cyclists is going to take more than new bike paths or fresh stripes on the roads. It looks as though there is a need, on both sides, for a revolution in manners.”

I couldn’t agree more.  And I’m going to start with me.  For the next month, I’m going to try to respond to drivers with a little more friendly banter, even if they did almost just kill me or flip me off.  I’ll report back then on what happens.