Opinion From rails to trails By John Gathright	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
線路跡を自転車コースに変えて 自転車に乗るのが好きな筆者は以前、日本を自転車で縦断しようと試みたことがあるが、途中で挫折してしまった。しかし最近、カナダを訪れた際にあるプロジェクトについて知り、同じようなことが日本でも実現可能なのではないかと考えている。

I am an avid bicycle rider and have ridden all over the world, in all seasons. One of the greatest joys of riding is meeting people and the encouragement that you get from cars and other vehicles as they pass.

So it was with the anticipation of meeting people and seeing some wonderful scenery that I brought my bicycle to Japan. During my first few months in Japan, I pedaled all over. I actually planned to pedal the length of Japan. I was blessed. I met great people and saw some of the most beautiful scenery that I ever laid eyes on. I was also cursed with some of the most aggressive and unrelenting drivers I have ever met.

Narrow roads, busy traffic and stressed-out drivers made life on wheels hellish at times. Driving through the cities, I often felt like a small minnow in a pool of piranhas. The smog and pollution plugged my nose and watered my eyes so much that I relented to taking the train through populated areas. I ended up aborting my "All Japan Biking Plan."

Something that really amazes me is that Japan makes some of the best bicycles and components in the world, sponsors international mountain bike races and has some fantastic courses, but, ultimately, lacks a good pedal-power infrastructure.

Pedal power is recognized as one of the most healthy and enviromentally friendly activities on earth. With the right bike paths, next to walking, biking is one of the most inexpensive and safest forms of commuting on earth.

On my most recent trip to Canada, I was excited to learn about the "Trans Canada Trail." Canada, a huge, sparsely populated country, is creating the longest bike trail in the world. It is a trail from coast to coast, over 17,000 km, that uses old railway tracks, unused logging roads and government land. People will be able to bike all across Canada. Over 1.5 million people have volunteered their time, effort and money to make this possible.

I spoke with a couple of rangers who said that people from all over the world bike the trails, not to mention locals who use the trails to commute to work and school. Little communities, long forgotten after the age of the railway, are now havens for bike tourists. The whole trail is expected to be finished by 2005, but looks like it could be completed as early as 2003.

Why isn't Japan creating a "Trans Japan Trail"? For such a compact country, with one of the world's most extensive railway infrastructures and so many abandoned tracks, it would be an easy task.

Japan, in its effort to become more green and environmentally friendly, seems to be spinning her wheels. Too much money is being wasted on huge highway and road projects that belch out smog and pollution under the guise of economic stimulation and better transportation.

Why not allocate money for trails that encourage pedal power? The following is taken from one of the signs I saw in Canada, and I think that it says it all:

Once a railway, now a trailway, this path serves as a bridge between the world of industry and the kingdom of nature. Protected wilderness is a source of rejuvenation, recreation and revenue.

Shukan ST: June 15, 2001

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