Is it just the number of mama-chari-bakas that I run into (literally sometimes) in Tokyo that make them seem so exceptionally dangerous? Or is it something brought on by riding one of those mild-steel, heavy clunkers with poor brakes and battleship handling? While reading an article about the Bike Snob in the NYT, I saw this quote:
“In a certain way the Dutch city bike* is the SUV of bicycles,” the Snob wrote. “It’s a little too big, it creates the illusion of safety, and nobody pays any attention when they’re operating one.”
Damn. Is there nothing uniquely unique about this country?
*The classic mama-chari as it is known in Europe and now, the US.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ-2jBCLFq-_9nGgeF37_XiApC7MM9pUJJIQPI5FzAyGxKZFTaAIj2X5GkcBdmDBxRNCVMI-V1Q0irpJ1i9gV6bc6o-Mi3skDE9UUsVo7diNhhym0OV2hIwkFQZrXe6vUsTo9Tlg/s200/2665574701_b25a019b3d.jpg)
(Above) Made by the Dutch Bicycle Company the "conference bike", with luck, should make its way to Japan sooner or later. Excellent for forced group-think. Image from here.
Actually, I think Australia is more uniquely unique if this video is accurate:
(Youtube via Bike Snob.)
Is my Colleague from Down Under in that? J? Was that you when you had real hair?