The Bicycle Diaries: Is it possible to live in America without a car? Uh, sort of.
After two weeks of riding my bicycle everywhere, I'd gotten used to people treating me as if I were somehow not right in the head. Store clerks ignored me, old men gave me the hard stare, soccer moms avoided eye contact. After all, almost nobody in America rides a bike if they can afford a car.
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TheFreedom MachineHer husband had broken her arm twice, three ribs once, her jaw once, and left her body covered with bruises more times than she could remember. He'd prohibited her from leaving the house, earning money of her own, or having friends. The couple had two children, the second of which just left home a month ago. That same week, Barbara took her son's bicycle and panniers, which had been left in the garage, and made her getaway one morning after her husband went to work.
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One week, two wheels"At the height of morning rush hour, you pedal out of your driveway and onto Fresh Pond Parkway to join the estimated 3.2 million Americans who commute to work by bicycle."
Jack Thomas, a Boston Globe reporter, leaves his car at home and commutes to work on a bicycle. Thomas takes this hackneyed topic and produces a chronicle that is easily the best of its kind. Not to be missed. If it asks for a userid and password either register for free or use n@n.com and boston.
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