>I'm going to have to disagree (at least based on back when I was there). I never saw so many people on bikes as in Holland! It appears to be the national mode of travel :o) I'd wager on average they are much healthier than the average American!

The difference between European biking (my area is also flatlands, so it's not unusual to see 200 bikes parked at the same lot) and American biking is that in Europe it's transportation. You get on a bike when you want to go somewhere, and it's closer than, say, 8km, and you don't need to carry much. This covers most of the groceries, going to work, visiting customers within the city (and with the way the river meanders through my city - and the few pedestrian bridges in key places, bike was actually the faster way to get to some places). You take the car only when you need to carry too much, or go too far, or when it rains too much (I didn't mind the snow or ice :).

In the US, everything's too far in most of the places, and there's no simple way to use bicycle as transportation. The traffic is completely adjusted to motor vehicles. Biking is a sport, you hang the bike on your car and take it somewhere where you can use it.

One of the reasons we're in Va Beach is that it's relatively bike-friendly, being flat and having sidewalks almost everywhere (even though they have the habit to end abruptly :), so I do have the pleasure most of the time. I've already mapped out all the shortcuts through the area.