Berlin is a great bicycle city! Full of bicyclists, bike art, bicycle infrastructure, and unique bikes for a variety of different purposes, Berlin is #7 on this “great bicycle cities” list.

If you go to Germany, you will probably hear some Germans saying how much they love their cars (i.e. Mercedes, BMW, Audi). However, you will probably be surprised to see how many people actually love their bikes. Berlin is perhaps the best example. You can see people from across the class spectrum using the bicycle for a wide range of purposes. Even the postal service and other delivery services use bicycles.

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Germany’s Daimler has teamed up with Essen-based utility RWE on a pilot project in the country’s capital. The project will see more than 100 electric cars on the road and a network of 500 charging stations.  Daimler currently has a pilot project in London, where a test fleet of about 100 first-generation Smart Fortwo electric cars are being used by corporate groups and municipal authorities, including the London Police.

Eva Wiese, a spokeswoman for Daimler, told the Cleantech Group that the new Smart cars in Berlin will have a greater range.

“The London one has 115 kilometers, and we think that with the new battery technology it will be a little better, but we haven’t specified it yet.”

Recent reports have pegged San Carlos, Calif.-based Tesla Motors, maker of the high-speed electric Tesla Roadster, as a battery supplier for Daimler, but the Germany automaker is keeping tight-lipped about its power plans.

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From the 200,000 Germans that showed up to see Senator Obama speak in Berlin, to the press conference he had with a gushing French President Nicolas Sarkozy, it is not hard to understand why one European newspaper referred to him as, “Arguably the world’s most popular politician.”

But during a press conference with Sarkozy, one French journalist asked the politically astute question: “Is it a good thing to be loved by the French in the United States?”

Obama replied by saying both countries have suffered from caricatures — America as unilateral and militaristic, and France as anti-American and soft on security, but that in actuality, “The average American has enormous fondness for the French people,” Obama said. “And I think people in France and people throughout Europe should not underestimate how much interest there is in America in seeing the transatlantic relationship improving.”

Obama’s trip to the Middle East and Europe was designed, in part, to give those who doubted his presidential capacity, particularly in matters of foreign affairs, a glimpse of the junior Senator from Illinois being, well, “presidential.”

And it seems to have worked.

A July 26th Gallup Poll suggests that Obama has actually widened his lead over Republican John McCain while in Europe. Obama’s current seven-point lead over McCain ties the widest since the start of Gallup Poll Daily tracking of the general election in early March. The one other time there was a seven point difference was immediately after Hillary Clinton suspended her campaign for the Democratic nomination in early June.

Let me make this clear, polling is not an exact science, and swings of a couple of points here or there really don’t mean that much. And certainly some portion of the widening gap is attributable to the extra media coverage the trip sparked.

But as the Barack Obama Summer World Tour winds up today in London, it is plain to see the presumptive Democratic nomminee’s rock-star appeal is not bound by the shores of the United States. And Americans have reacted to candidate Obama’s overseas trip quite favorably.

Is it possible that the blinders that kept so many Americans from seeing how the rest of the world actually perceives us are now revealing that they have some holes?

Related Posts:

• “Poll: Americans Don’t Think More Drilling Will Lower Gas Prices”
• “Obama’s New Ad Rejects Gas Tax Holliday”
• “New McCain TV Ad Blames Obama for High Gas Prices”

Image Credits: 1. Obama for President; 2. Gallup.

Biking Through History

Brandenburg Gate

Reichstag (home of the German Parliament)

Image Credit 1: tehf0x via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: Pesterussa via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 3: helter-skelter via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 4: pixelroiber via flickr under a CC license

Bike Sign & Lights

Image Credit 1: welu-berlin via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: swizzled via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 3: Fanny B. via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 4: Schockwellenreiter via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 5: Songkran via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 6: The Infatuated via flickr under a CC license

Bike Sports

Image Credit 1: Ollie T. via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: Ollie T. via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 3: Ollie T. via flickr under a CC license

Bikes for Two or Three Babies!

Bike Buckets for Kids!

Image Credit 1: john-aïves-1946 via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: derpunk via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 3: sualk61 via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 4: Johann C. Rocholl via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 5: Johann C. Rocholl via flickr under a CC license

Group Bikes & Big Bike Taxis

Image Credit 1: boliston via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: -[j á n o s]- via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 3: thomas.ritz via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 4: fredpanassac via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 5: tellmewhat2 via flickr under a CC license

Bike Parades

Image Credit 1: Schockwellenreiter via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: Schockwellenreiter via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 3: Schockwellenreiter via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 4: viernullvier via flickr under a CC license

Strong Bikes & Strong Bikers

Image Credit 1: Baptiste Pons via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: smallcaps via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 3: extranoise via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 4: cloud_nine via flickr under a CC license

Bike Postal Service & Other Delivery Services

Image Credit 1: adamgreenfield via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: Kunstee via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 3: Zachary Shahan
Image Credit 4: Zachary Shahan
Image Credit 5: demimismo via flickr under a CC license

Bike Antique as Bike Planter

Car Heaven is a Bike

Image Credit 1: Andreika via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: elmada via flickr under a CC license

This is a Brand New Blog on Feelgood Style, and I’m one of your Editors, so let me introduce myself. I’m an outsider here on the Feelgood Style blog: male, non-American, style activist rather than fashionist. There’s fashionistas going green and there’s greenies going stylish. I’m from the last category, and there’s less difference than one would think.

Born in The Netherlands, I moved to Berlin, Germany three years ago. I was attracted by the vibrant creative atmosphere, the melting pot of styles and cultures, and the meanwhile legendary party scene. Berlin is a city of design and individual styles. There’s no uniform dress code, generally you can wear anything and feel independent. I don’t have to shave before I buy my croissant. A good beard is even better. In the area I live there’s yuppies, Arabs, gays, punks, hippies, freaks, students and creatives all living side by side. I see more fake than real brands on the streets. I see beggars and hummers. I see Swedish fashionist(a)s Nu-Rave the city. I see young kids spraying their pieces. Just outside my door there’s a park full of parties when the sun allows it. It’s hybrid, rough, edgy, and real. That’s my style.

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