PELOTON

As much as I would like it to work in the United States, I have my doubts that any bicycle sharing program could work here. The first program of its kind was launched in Washington D.C. early this year with a mere 120 bikes. Hardly what could be considered a confident initial investment.

There are many reasons why I share that lack of confidence in a program of this kind having much success on this side of the Atlantic. Americans have a very different mindset than our European counterparts, many of whom view the bicycle as a viable means of transportation as opposed to a toy or exercise machine.

In the Netherlands, the Dutch have embraced the bicycle for decades, and rain or shine, hot or cold, you’ll see large numbers of the citizenry take to the roads on what most Americans would judge as rickety contraptions. One major difference is that in Holland, cyclists have their own roads, and signalization, equal rights on the roadways, and perhaps most importantly, the respect of those with whom they share the roads. In the United States, if you are brave enough to take to the roads, you are constantly doing battle with tons of steel, and drivers who begrudge having to share their roads with mere bicycles.

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From Wikipedia:

The peloton (from French, literally meaning little ball or platoon and also related to the English word pellet), field, bunch or pack is the large main group in a road bicycle race. Riders in a group save energy by riding close (drafting or slipstreaming) near (particularly behind) other riders. The reduction in drag is dramatic; in the middle of a well-developed group it can be as much as 40%.

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