They like to eat breakfast early!
That was one of the first things Alexis de Tocqueville noticed about Americans.
In 1831, the 25-year-old lawyer came to this country with his fellow barrister, Gustave de Beaumont, to study prisons in the US. They returned to their native France after a year and published their report, which seems to have been written mainly by de Beaumont.
But the lasting legacy of their sojourn came in 1835, when de Tocqueville published Democracy In America. In it, he offered what, to this day, are some of the most trenchant observations made by a foreigner looking at American society. He expressed both admiration and criticism of the New World's ideals, customs, institutions (or, in some cases, relative lack thereof) and economy.
What if he were alive today? And what if he were a cyclist? What would he think of the ways in which Americans ride--and of the environment for cycling?
Those questions came to my mind when I came across this video in which a Dutchman offers his observations of cycling in the USA:
That was one of the first things Alexis de Tocqueville noticed about Americans.
In 1831, the 25-year-old lawyer came to this country with his fellow barrister, Gustave de Beaumont, to study prisons in the US. They returned to their native France after a year and published their report, which seems to have been written mainly by de Beaumont.
But the lasting legacy of their sojourn came in 1835, when de Tocqueville published Democracy In America. In it, he offered what, to this day, are some of the most trenchant observations made by a foreigner looking at American society. He expressed both admiration and criticism of the New World's ideals, customs, institutions (or, in some cases, relative lack thereof) and economy.
What if he were alive today? And what if he were a cyclist? What would he think of the ways in which Americans ride--and of the environment for cycling?
Those questions came to my mind when I came across this video in which a Dutchman offers his observations of cycling in the USA:
