This is great, but isn't that code for "boring, non-fun machines that get you no attention, are un-American, and force you to exercise... yuck."

Actually, getting exercise is very American. But Americans tend to drive a few miles to the health club to run on a treadmill. Or, perhaps, they put on running clothes and go jogging in the park. Exercise is much esteemed, but it doesn't occur to most Americans that they could get exercise on the way to work.

Also... if you want to show your status and your coolness while riding a bike, there are ways to do that, by the way you dress or the kind of bike you ride? I suspect that most guys who ride fixed-gear bikes with no brakes are hoping their choice of wheels will improve their chances of getting laid.

I think it's a good sign that some people use a fixie, instead of an Escalade, to show how hot they are. We just need to make that attitude more common.

This is great, but isn't that code for "boring, non-fun machines that get you no attention, are un-American, and force you to exercise... yuck." Being happy with such things is a pretty foreign concept. I think we need to find ways to make bike riding seem cool, getting you status, and keep your bod hot for the ladies/gentleman!

American environmentalism needs to have and American flavor.

But you need a certain level of trust to start biking in the first place. When I ride my bike on the street, I'm sometimes very aware that I'm putting my life in the hands of every motorist that passes by. Usually this is not a problem (and I'm generally a fairly trusting person), but sometimes I wonder...

I would guess that there was a high level of trust in the Copenhagen atmosphere even before bike transport became universal.