I WANT A (SUBSIDIZED) BIKE, TOO!!!!

For a couple of months now, the Spanish Traffic Directorate (DGT) has been offering grants of up to €1000 for 17 to 25-year-olds who want to get their drivers' licenses. While I'm certainly not anti-car (I had a gas-guzzling convertible once, too), it seems a little hypocritical to give money to drivers when the people who don't create pollution don't get squat - in spite of not creating more pollution or circulation problems.

So, too, do the nice people at the Plataforma Carril-Bici de Córdoba, who are calling the DGT out on this discrepancy. They're asking cyclists from all over Spain to download and fill out the PDF file on their website, reclaiming the fact that, no, we're not interested in grants to get us driving - but a bit of cash to get a new bicycle would be more than welcome!

Check it out at: http://www.platabicicordoba.org/bici-dgt.html.

Double Life

Winning a prize like the Salomon Women Will competition is fun, but it's a LOT of work. There are days when I feel really nervous about the fact that there are three and a half months left until we go on this trip; and at the same time, it feels like it'll never get here. Slowly but surely, however, it's getting there. I've started making reservations in youth hostels and campsites, and I've got the route worked out; I just need to make more phone calls, make more contacts, do more work than I've been doing...

The easiest thing will be getting on the bike and riding the route when it finally comes!!!