Flashes of Panic

I did notice pretty quickly that there appear to be more bikes about in Eugene than I’m used to seeing in Amherst. And, parenthetically, I’ve seen more bikes than what seems to me to be usual in Amherst this summer. I think it’s a gas-price thing, because many of the riders have backpacks or panniers (i.e. they’re commuting) and many of the bikes make the sibilant grinding sound that means the chain hasn’t been lubed in two or three years.

Eugene seems to have taken this to a new level, even though they’re not terribly good at wearing helmets. Aside from the Pedal Junkies we met last night, apparently tomorrow one of the features of the Eugene 2008 Festival is going to be the Track Town Power Station: “citizens cycling to create energy.” If I’m reading that right, there’s going to be a bunch of people generating electricity with stationary bikes.

Which is a kinda cool idea, I suppose, but I’m not sure that leg power is really our #1 untapped renewable energy source for electricity generation, you know?