Bikes not bombs.

• Author: Dowlin, John
• Position: UPFRONT - Letter to the editor

Thank you for John Mitchell's inspiring feature on Ometepe, the little island that time and traffic and even politics forgot ("Oasis of Peace," August 2008).

In the late 1980s, while collaborating with the Boston-based Bikes Not Bombs, we looked at a map of Central America and spotted a remote island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. There was no hesitation: our group of fourteen would explore the island by mountain bike. The quiet dirt roads between Moyogalpa, Altagracia [see photo below], and Balgue and the hospitality of those communities proved to be the highlight of our Nicaragua tour.

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Readers should know that the bikes we used are still in Managua, available as rentals through the Bike Not Bombs shop, and that Ometepe's remarkable coffee is available through the Bainbridge-Ometepe...