Honk! Not all coming up roses for cyclists in Paris

Every day you get out there and every day there is this thin line between the sheer joy and efficiency of cycling in the city, and all that lurks out there on the street to possibly ruin your day (and more).

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This eight minute amateur video has been created by a Parisian cyclist with the idea of showing to all you out there that even with more than 400 km.s "protected cycling provision" and 20,000 free public bikes on the street, it is not indeed all roses in the City of Light. We have our problems too. Eternal vigilance and then you are going to be OK. But this shows how much more work is needed even here until we will be able to apply Gil Penalosa's eight-to-eighty rule for safe cycling -- safe for the eight year old child and safe for the eighty year old cyclist.

I find it highly didactic and a useful point reminder of all that needs to be done every day in all our cities to create safe cycling environments. The crucial handshake with law enforcement certainly jumps out at one, as does the process of co-learning and adaptation of all who are out there and moving around in the very mixed, highly charged new mobility environment.

So off we go again. Plenty to keep us all busy for a few more years and certainly no reason to throw in the towel. (Thanks to Eyes on the Street partner Andrew Curran in Vancouver for the heads-up.)

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