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The White Plans are back in Europe. These were a series of plans put forth by Provo (no, not the one in Utah) in the mid-1960s. The one that I remember hearing about the most was the White Bicycle Plan for Amsterdam that put out 20,000 bicycles for community use in Amsterdam. It was genius at the time and my parents were responsible for telling me about it again and again all through my childhood. It sounded pretty cool at the time, but naturally faded away, just like a lot of the things from the sixties.       But, it was a good idea and it has come back in Europe as more and more people turn to cars and clog in the inner cities. I first saw it in action in Barcelona with Bicing (official Spanish and Catalan here). That was a cool thing to see in action because it was used by a great many people, since even the hottest day outside is still cooler than any day in the stuffy Metro stations or behind the wheel of a car. The only catch in all of this was the fact that you had to be a city resident of Barcelona to use the program.       Enter Vélib' which is short for 'vélo libre' or 'free bicycle'. This system is genius. Anyone can use it, which means that tourists, yes tourists can hit the streets and attempt to overtake Parisian traffic. This is a feat not to be taken lightly.       Yes, this system does cost something, albeit very little and you have to have a credit card to get access to a bike. But, I think this is a good thing because those who use the bikes pay for them and it gives some accountability for the bikes so that they can't just be stolen in one fell swoop. Of course, I did see two kids peeling around on one who obviously weren't old enough for a charge card and they have probably stolen an improperly locked bike. At some point, I'm sure they would get bored and probably return it, because what's the fun in stealing something that is ubiquitous and mundane? It's like grabbing a rock out of the river and running around going, "Ha! Look at that, I stole me a rock! Yeah! Rock! Yeah... Wait a minute..." Thus the genius of these systems and why the English deploying 300 bikes in 1993 just proved that was the best way to get 300 bikes stolen.       Because of my tight, 2 Day schedule, I didn't get a chance to ride one of these bikes; I was on a walking tour after all. But, given the chance to do so again, I would gladly take it. I will just need to be sure that my private health insurance covers Parisian bicycle collisions.

It was weird going from the coast of Croatia to the inland areas and specifically to Varaždin. You see, on the coast, there are countless moped morons buzzing around all the time. In Varaždin, there are no mopeds. You might see the occasional Austrian on a motorcycle, but that's about it. Varaždin is a city of bicycles.       Everyone rides them, from old men to old women, to mothers with kids, to dads going to work, to farmers running in to town for whatever farmers run in to town for. Even the princesses with their glittery gold purses and shoes ride bikes in to town while sms-ing on their mobiles. As we sat in a square in the old town, it was just one after another that rode by in front of us. All of them blissfully sans screaming little motor.       It's a rather good place to ride a bike as the weather as pretty pleasant year round and the terrain is quite flat. Beyond this, I think it's the only city in Croatia where bike lanes have thoughtfully been provided for. In fact, outside of town, there are lanes all the way to the next biggest town of Čakovec and yes, people use them.       If you can't tell by my tone, I was astounded at all of this. Of course, coastal Croats will point at the continental ones and say, "Yeah, they're just different like that." But what those on the coast don't realize is that they're just smarter like that. You can call it Germanification if you want, but I just call it peaceful. For those who know California, think of it as the city of Davis with 15th century (or maybe older?) city center.

This is a real bummer. Critical Mass has always been a tumultuous, yet relatively benign event in San Francisco. If you read the article, you'll see the reason for the eruption of violence, and while the anger may be excusable, the violence simply is not.       I've had my encounters with high-strung parents driving in this city. One time, I was crossing Columbus at Broadway in the crosswalk on a walk and this woman in a Volvo started honking and cussing at me because she wanted to go down Columbus. To which I responded by standing in front of her car and having the following conversation:       "What?!!"       "Get out of the way!"       "No, what's your problem? You honked, so something must be wrong."       "You're in my fucking way. Move!"       "No, let's talk about this."       At that point she drove out further in to the street and a bit in to oncoming traffic to go around me. The cherry on top of all of this is that she had a little kid in the back seat. Lucky kid. What a role model...       Anyways, my point being that drivers are rarely relaxed in San Francisco, but throwing your bike through the back window of someone's car does little to show cycling as a good alternative.