He really said that!
Lance Armstrong will open “Mellow Johnny’s,” a bike shop west of downtown Austin, Texas this May. From Austin 360:
Armstrong said he’d like to see Austin evolve into a place like Portland, Ore., where biking is part of the culture and people pedal to work, to restaurants and to run errands. “Walk outside, and the streets are lined with bikes – because they have a safe place to ride,” Armstrong said of the city long known for its bicycle-friendly amenities and policies.
There’s much more about Armstrong’s plans for his bike shop in Austin at the Austin American Statesman. The downtown, the area immediately surrounding the University of Texas and the streets along the Colorado River are indeed nice to cycle in. North of Austin, though, I’ve also encountered hostile motorists who honk and yell (incomprehensibly) at me as I’ve cycled along the road. The area has a long ways to go to become “bicyclist friendly.”
See more discussion about this at Bike Portland, The Overhead Wire transit blog, and Bike Hugger,
Russ @ Bike Commuters wishes there was a shop like that in his city. Near my home in Santa Cruz, California (population 55,000) there are at least 10 bike shops, all of which cater to utility cyclists to at least some degree. I dropped in at Palo Alto Bicycles in Palo Alto near my work yesterday and I saw they now stock the Strida folding bike and Civia city bikes! Another local bike shop, Menlo Velo in Menlo Park stocks Dutch Batavus bikes as well as other fender and rack equipped bikes for utility use.
The photo is of a commuter bike show at the 2008 North American Handmade Bicycle Show. This commuter was built by True Fabrication Bicycles in Austin, Texas.