Another bicycling year begins, and not a moment too soon.

Here's a view of yours truly, Bob, Tim and a local horse, from somewhere in the Ardennes hills of southeastern Belgium, 2004.

Contrary to the largely uncreative imagination of a tiny but thoroughly sedentary segment of New Albany’s population, including at least one councilman, who was last seen exercising something other than his jaw during the latter stages of the Ford administration, there are many good reasons to ride a bicycle around town.

It’s something that need not be undertaken out of necessity owing to the lack of an automobile or, as some have rather maliciously implied, when one’s driver’s license is surrendered to the state after a DUI.

In fact, I have both a truck and permission to operate it, and yet it remains my preference to ride my bike to work and back, and to run errands around town, at least whenever the weather and my schedule cooperate.

Unfortunately, commuting between home and work as often as humanly possible turned out to be one of only two of my 2005 biking goals to be met.

The other was to take both our bikes along with us on our September visit to Belgium, which wasn’t designed to be a biking extravaganza in and of itself, but at least allowed some measure of two-wheeled recreation while there, and affording Mrs. Confidential her first opportunity to see a small part of Europe by bike.

Mileage and saddle time both declined precipitously in 2005, and it’s a situation I fully intend to reverse in the coming year.

My informal biking group is planning another European excursion in late August and early September, and this will provide an incentive to train more rigorously in preparation for loading the panniers and traversing the Prague-Vienna Greenway.

Previously we rented bicycles in Belgium in 2000, and again in 2001 (with an added leg in Germany), and took our own bikes with us in 2003 (Germany to Vienna along the Danube) and 2004 (Trappist brewery circuit in Belgium and the Netherlands).

This year we’ll again be transporting our own equipment, which can be done more easily than you might think with minor disassembly and a hard shell case, and probably beginning the journey in Bamberg, Germany’s greatest beer city, before hopping a train to Prague and setting out for Vienna.

Living in proximity to the Knobs is ideal in terms of training for hills, although we learned in 2004 that the Ardennes are considerably steeper than our local peaks.

At any rate, apart from the daily commute, most of my additional mileage will be devoted to preparing for the two weeks scheduled to be spent riding in Europe. To have the necessary saddle time, I’m going to have to work more efficiently at work and home, not waste any good riding days, and not lose another month to pneumonia, as was the case in 2005.

Yesterday provided the 2006 inaugural, with slightly less than 30 km traveled and a nice climb up into Silver Hills via Old Vincennes Road.

In the future, as New Albany becomes more bicycle and pedestrian friendly, it is my hope that more of the city’s residents come to enjoy the outdoors on a bike or on their own two feet. As many have correctly noted, ambitious future plans to redo the city’s traffic grid should include bike lanes and place for people to walk, with the ultimate goal being the improvement of our quality of life.

Until then, and as the sergeant on Hill Street Blues used to say, “be careful out there.”

Bicycling New Albany’s streets and the roads in greater Floyd County isn’t as dangerous as many seem to believe, but caution certainly is merited. Wear a helmet, stay alert, and follow the traffic rules at all times. If you’re an adult, you should not be constantly riding on the sidewalk, although as many people seem to be as aware of this rule as understand the use of a turn signal while driving their cars.

And if you’re interested in our European bicycle trip later in 2006, let me know.