I am writing this from Tokyo, where just about everyone has a bike, and nobody goes particularly fast. Granted, nobody bikes 12 miles (that I can tell) to get to work; most people bike to their nearby station (all stations I've seen have large bike parking garages) and take the train to work. This way really does work the best, because the distances are antithetical to cycling, no offices have showers, and trains are way too crowded for anyone to bring their bikes. And to be honest, as much as it sucks to ride the super-crowded train, I do think this is the best way to go.

If the MTA and NJTransit added serious bicycle parking at their train stations I think we'd see a serious sea change in perception. I wouldn't expect anything like an underground parking level (like they have here) but simply replacing some car parking spots with bike parking would do wonders.

This post is really unstructured but what I'm trying to say with the parking and train commuting is that once people feel they can cycle as a part of their commute without a serious (negative) effect to their personal hygiene (or anything else etc) the perception of bicycling as a loony/hipster activity will disappear.

Personally, I would love to visit Charleston now that I know it welcomes cyclists.

Bikes are like shoes and depending on what your riding/wearing you will act accordingly.

I am the admitted owner of 8 bicycles (4 race inspired bikes, included two high $ custom jobs and 4 different types of 3-speed town/Dutch/folding bikes). The design of the bike often dictates the style and speed of riding.

My first 3-speed townie was a garbage find about 10 years ago. After years of riding only race inspired bikes that old Columbia was a real blast to ride but dictated that you don't try to go too fast. When I let my friends take it for a spin they always came back grinning ear to ear.

Contrary to popular belief, riding slow can actually be faster when commuting to work as long as your ride is under 6 miles. I used to ride a 3.5 mile commute on my race bikes and was able to do in 13 minutes by riding at "Warp Factor 10" and in full race kit. But before I took off to work I would spend at least 10 minutes packing my office cloths and getting into my bike cloths. Once reaching work I would need to spend at least 10 minutes to cool down freshen up and change. All told the whole commuting experience took around 25 minutes, often 30.

Since I discovered slow biking that same commute is now down to 20 minutes max! Riding at a relaxed 12mph I can cover the 3.5 miles in 18 minutes. While this is 5 minutes slower than before, there is no longer a need to pack before I go nor is there a need freshen up and get changed at work which saves me at least 10 minutes at each end of my trip. Yes in Summer I'll wear a t-shirt and then change quickly when I get to work but that's only on really hot days since it is usually cool enough before 9am to ride without breaking a sweat.

So give slow biking a try. You just might like it.

Obvious and true point on single-speed v. multi-speed. To clarify, this tandem is just a beast in terms of weight. Add 80 pounds of 7-yr-old boy who isn't always pedaling as hard as he possibly could, throw in the hill up to Prospect Park, and I'm dreaming about downshifting. Conversely, the thing is geared low enough that on even slight downhills, pedaling doesn't accomplish much in terms of adding speed.

Which is all fine with me. Like I said, I have other bikes that like to go fast.

I can't remember where I heard it, but someone once said that bikes are like shoes...different ones are right for different purposes. If you have room to store more than one ride, you can enjoy all the different styles.

Kidding, though I do ride a single-speed. I'm not quite sure how a multi-gear equates to "fast" riding while fewer speeds equals "slow," as I manage to leave most food delivery guys in the dust on my route regardless of how many gears they have.

When I am on the greenway and have time to kill, I ride more slowly. The road warriors that barrel down that path when it is full of pedestrians come off as rude. It's such a lovely route, why should I rush?

However, when I am in traffic, I like to match the speed of the cars, lest I get honked at or narrowly passed, two things which I despise. I also have a limited time frame to get to work from the ferry (and vice versa), and a (cautiously) quick pace relieves some of the time crunch. Like johnson said, it's possible to ride responsibly or irresponsibly at either a slow speed or a fast one. Nothing is important enough to go so fast that I risk my safety, but so far it seems to be working out just fine.

The bike makes a huge difference. If I ride my road bike then I find it very difficult to ride slow. It just doesn't feel right. If I ride the bouncy mountain bike I ride slower, but more agressively. So I usually ride the singlespeed MTB. It's got offroad gearing so slow is the only possible speed. And the 29er wheels and big fat Schwalb Big Apple tyres eat potholes for lunch... I can honestly say that the commute is the most enjoyable part of my day, and that's even though it's 15 miles of Queens Boulevard. All you anti-slow people need to realise that not everyone is in training for the TdF. Some of us ride because we actually enjoy it and want to prolong the fun.

Here's the catch: all commuting distances were under 2 miles and generally less than one.

In Manhattan, because I live far uptown, my typical bicycle commute is 12 miles or more. It is impossible to cover that distance without sweating, so I pack in my pannier a business shirt for changing into after getting to work. I don't think slow biking is an option for most New York bicycle commuters unless they happen to live in (or near) the Central Business District or downtown, or they do multi-modal commutes where the bicycling portions are only three miles at most.

In the end no one way is better but lets not put down either way.