In this episode, I connect with Mark Cramer, who is an American living in a northern suburb of Paris, France, for a discussion about how many years ago he happened upon a fun group of cyclists completely taking over the streets of Paris, with the support and assistance of the police, and how this chance connection led him down the road of becoming a regular bike commuter, traveling throughout the Paris region.

Mark is also the author of the book Old Man on a Green Bike: Chronicles of a Self-Serving Environmentalist and they talk about how to encourage more people of all ages to ride more often.

Now that he's retired, he has taken up exploring the countryside on his beloved green bike and reflecting on how profound an impact riding has had on his life, health, and well-being.

If you'd like to learn more, be sure to pick up a copy of his book: Old Man on a Green Bike: Chronicles of a Self-Serving Environmentalist

Additional Helpful Links:

The Active Towns Landing Page for this episode - For more photos and links

An article about Mark and his book in Cycling Industry News

Mark's interview on the Bike Talk Podcast

The cycling group that Mark mentions: Mieux se Déplacer à Bicyclette

Bike touring near Paris and using trains - an annual pilgrimage Mark makes, to pay tribute to Van Gogh

Active Towns Podcast Episode featuring Alissa Walker

Active Towns Podcast Episode featuring Chuck Marohn, Founder & President of Strong Towns

STROAD definition

Jaywalking Defined - Peter Norton on Active Towns Podcast

John's Active Towns Paris Profile Video

Ryan Van Duzer's Active Towns Episodes #1 and #2 the Video

Ivan Illich, Energy and Equity

John DeGraaf - books why working less is better

Valencia Paseo System

MAMIL - Middle Aged Man in Lycra

Four Easy Steps to Support My Efforts:

1. Become an Active Towns Ambassador by "Buying Me a Coffee" or by pledging as little as $1 per month on Patreon

2. If you enjoyed this episode, please give it a "thumbs up," leave a review on Apple Podcasts, and share it with a friend.

3. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred listening platform and the Active Towns YouTube Channel

4. Pick up some Active Towns #StreetsAreForPeople Merch at my store

Credits:

All video and audio production by John Simmerman

Music:

Various mixes also by John Simmerman

Resources used during the production of this episode:

- My awesome recording platform is Ecamm

- Adobe Creative Cloud Suite

For more information about my Active Towns effort or to follow along, please visit my links below:

- Website

- Twitter

- Newsletter

- Podcast landing pages

- Facebook

- Instagram

Background:

Hi Everyone, my name is John Simmerman.

I’m a health promotion professional with over 30 years of experience and my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization of how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.

In 2012 I launched the non-profit Advocates for Healthy Communities as an effort to help promote and create healthy, active places.

Since that time, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be, in order to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."

My Active Towns suite of channels feature my original video and audio content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.

Thanks for tuning in; I hope you have found this content helpful.

Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2021

Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc. is a nonprofit 501c3 organization (EIN 45-3802508) dedicated to helping communities create a Culture of Activity. To donate, click here.