One day over lunch, I mentioned to one of the attorneys, who is also on the city council, that the U.S. should promote bicycle border crossings, maybe even with a bike lane. Several advantages: ease inspection for contraband/smuggled persons; help the environment; ease traffic congestion. Many people cross the congested, narrow two-lane bridge on bike, almost skimming the cars, and then they skip to the front of the waiting cars.

The attorney chuckled and told me about a Mexican “corrido” (folk song), that covers bicycle border crossers. According to the lyrics, there was once a man that always crossed the border on a bike and Customs always stopped and inspected him, but never found any contraband. Customs was highly suspicious of the man and they would check the bike frame and the wheels, but they could never find anything.

Finally one day, the customs agent told the man, “We know you are a smuggler, but we can’t figure out how you do it. If you tell us your secret, we will not arrest you and we’ll let you go free, we promise.”

The man replied, “I smuggle bicycles…”