of approval; jokes were made at sprawling Houston's expense. ("How many people right this moment are stuck in traffic on their way to ride a stationary bike in a health club?") There was enough spontaneous applause to prompt one audience member to exclaim, "Talk about preaching to the choir."

The right to travel on two wheels is at the center of an occasionally violent cultural battle. Law enforcement protested Colorado's Bike Safety Act. ("Don't you just love this time of year, when the birds, boats, and cyclists come out? Well, two out of three ain't bad," quipped the Larimer County sheriff.) A North Carolina firefighter shot a cyclist in the head last July because he was furious that the man was riding with his child on a busy road(the man survived, thanks to his helmet). Last summer in New York City, a Fox News writer carried a cyclist on the hood of his car for four blocks -- and then claimed he was the victim of an attack by a "vigilante." Most recently, bike lanes in Brooklyn have caused conflict between the local Hasidic community, which successfully lobbied for their removal, and the scantily clad hipsters who create a "safety and religious hazard" by using them.

It makes sense that cyclists and bike-friendly policy-makers feel as if they are engaged in a perpetual street fight: guerrillas versus tanks. "Contrary to what some people say, we haven't declared war on the car in Portland, but we've made a decision we're not going to surrender to it," Blumenauer said