Dear Editor,
I’m just home from a lovely two-week bicycle touring vacation in the chateau-filled Loire Valley of France, confronted with a depressing article about cycling here (“Debating the Bikecentennial Route in Christiansburg” News Messenger, Wed May 20, 2026).
The article explains that 50 years ago, when bicycling enthusiasts planned a route from Yorktown, Va. to Astoria, Oregon, the route through Christiansburg was controversial as soon as the signs went up. Rants included:
“It’s not even a safe place to drive twice a day in a car. It is a very dangerous road to even consider as a bicycle route.”
“Blind curves, blind hills with only room enough for two cars to squeeze by is no place for a bike trail.”
“The Mud Pike is not safe for cars, how can it be safe for bicycles?
“I am against the Bikecentennial bicycle trail. The road is unsafe for motor vehicle; bicycle are, in my opinion, is as unsafe and dangerous situation as cars and trucks.”
On and on. Lots of complaints, no solutions.
In France, things are different. Almost every road has a marked, devoted bicycle lane. Separate bicycle trails are ubiquitous. Drivers are courteous – nobody honked their horn at us – and seemingly everybody rode a bike. People are healthier, fitter, unhurried, and seemingly happier.
Here, not so much.
We’re now 50 years beyond the Bikecentennial designation and other than a short stretch of SR-723, Lusters Gate Road from Lusters Gate to Ellett which has been widened, there have been no other improvements to any of the roads from one end of Montgomery County to the other.
And those of us who love bicycling still feel like outlaws, risking our lives every time we clip into our pedals.
Michael Abraham
Christiansburg
