Glad to be back. I’ve just been busy, and my computer sank with all hands lost. I made a recent post that might be of interest to you. If you get an opportunity, give it a look.

As to the question qualifier, now I feel like a petulent child who got his way and now feels guilty about it. I just didn’t quite get it at the time. The unfortunate result of not doing the math was that whatever had been written in a comment was irretrievably lost, if you attempted to post, which was rather irritating.

I understand, though, about the spam problem. I would urge you to reinstate the safeguard if it aids you in getting rid of unwanted posts. My recent computer disaster was caused by a virus which ultimately destroyed my operating system. I had to completely reformat and in the process lost around 3 years of my work records. I was not a happy camper.

Is Gregg100 still out there? I lost his URL among a load of other stuff in the process of getting my system operational again.

Hope you and yours are well.

Gosh Speed,

TLS

Your description of the bike trails in Indiana and Chicago sound really cool.

I’ll be doing some research to see what type of bike organizations we have here. Many of the main roads in my town have nice wide bike lanes. But in some places they just disappear. And I’ve never heard of any bike trails that aren’t away from civilization in the desert. I have never heard of any separate bike trails in Mesa that can actually get you from here to there.

Many large cities have become much more user friendly in recent years. My wife and I also used to love the bucolic life in the country. We are now suburbanites, but given the opportunity would jump at the chance to move downtown either here in Indy or perhaps to Chicago (that toddlin town.)

Indy has taken an old canal which was an eyesore and a source of odor and pollution turning it into a major asset with the development of museums, apartments & condos along its banks. We have a walking/jogging and bike path, the Monon Trail, which spans more than 15 miles.

Chicago is just a great city. Nowhere is there a route comparable to Lakeshore Drive with the city on one side, parks and Lake Michigan on the other running from south to north for miles. The many and varied neighborhoods primarily to the north and west of Chicago proper are wonderful, many with great ethnic influences in shopping and restaurants.

Oh, I like Germany, too. But that’s another story.

I’m back.

TLS

On the bike program - I’m not sure if its still the case, but for a long time, free bikes were available in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Now there’s a place where ‘the bike as an alternative mode of transport’ has been tried and tested and found succesful!