Can we break the cycle?

There were a couple of things I wanted to talk about from today too.

Sustrans (government quango for getting more folk to use their legs for more than just walking to and from their car) announces impressive statistic "Number of daily users of the National Cycle Network reaches landmark one million figure". Great, but there are 60m of us in this country, and Sustrans boast that the Network comes within one mile of half the population. Ok, so 30m Brits have the Network on their doorstep but only 0.3% can be arsed to use it... is that progress?

On a not-too-dissimilar vein, I was out hiking yesterday and after an 8-hour hike (and getting lost), we decided to hitch the last few miles back to the car. Out of the 20 or so big 4x4's carrying only the driver that we thumbed for a lift (there were two of us, myself and an attractive young lady), only one stopped to ask where we were going. This kind of mentality is why less than 1% of the population wants to use the cycle networks - a fear of leaving one's comfort zones. Something I obviously am happy to do by going out into the countryside and getting myself lost.

If there's one thing we're learning by the day, its that being tucked up cosily inside our comfort zones is essentially why this planet is in such dire need of help and intervention. The environment's comfort zone and ours are not the same. Get on it World, be more generous with your time and energy, not just your wallets (for those that think they can buy conscience!).

Anyway, more to come...