Are small cities leading cyclists forward?
I recently traveled to Albuquerque, and on through north-west New Mexico to Durango, CO, and found myself happily surprised to see bike signs the entire 200+ miles. Albuquerque sprawls, in the manner of most southwest cities, but with wide roads, lots of sun, (relatively) little traffic, dedicated bike roads, and bike routes, it is strikingly bike-friendly. The lonely route north, via US550, is also a “State Bike Route.” There is exactly one dusty Main Street crossroads (in Cuba, NM) between the outskirts of Albuquerque and the northern New Mexico border towns of Bloomfield and Aztec, so any cyclist who actually does this ride is hard-core indeed. But once you get to Bloomfield, you start seeing bike route signs again. And then Durango is an oasis of spandex-clad road bikers and clog-wearing granny bikers. This all made me think that small cities and towns around the United States are in fact quietly, slowly creating a national cycling infrastructure, before visible masses of cyclists
