Marilynn,
You just inspired me to go get bikes for myself and for my husband this weekend. I actually gave him a gift certificate for a bike on his birthday back in March. He's Norwegian, and during his university and grad school years, a bicycle was his primary means of transport. It never fails to make me wonder why Europeans are so much “better” at biking around cities than are we Americans. We recently visited Oslo, and I was fascinated by their city bikes stations. Basically, there are bike stations throughout the city, and all you need is an electronic smartcard to use one of the bikes.
Thanks again for writing this post! It left me with no excuses.