National bike to work week!

Yamaguchi, Japan makes it pretty easy to bike anyplace by providing covered bike parking.

At the community center where I teach class... it's a lifesaver on rainy Fridays. I have to bike on Fridays, so it's nice to know that I won't have to deal with a soaked bicycle at the end of the day. Just put on my rain coat, pop open my clear, see-through umbrella, and ride single-handed back to the office. (Also helps to have a wheel-friction-powered LED headlight, sturdy metal basket, splash guards, and built-in rear wheel lock as standard equipment on my inexpensive, but solidly-built grandma bike).

Covered bicycle parking outside the central post office...

Supermarket bicycle parking (right in front of the entrance), sharing the lot with cars (but the bicycles are much higher density).

Library bicycle (and scooter) parking.

-Brian