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Showing posts from October 28, 2012

SUNRISE CYCLES: BO99Y’S ROAD BIKE [Culture Cycles]

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[see more at Culture Cycles]

Will Sandy Turn New Yorkers Into Bike Commuters? [New Yorker]

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This week, as the city was dealing with a sudden lack of public transit, I Gchatted with one colleague stuck in Brooklyn, I urged her to get on her bike and get into the  New Yorker  office, in Times Square. “Haha,” she replied, “but no.” My initial response was of dismissive judgment. Why not? The Mayor wasn’t helping, either. In his Wednesday press conference, Bloomberg enacted H.O.V. restrictions in Manhattan, but didn’t say a word about bikes. Cycling infrastructure has been rapidly expanding in the city, and on a day that promised and delivered epic congestion, with lines for gas stretching for blocks on end, it seemed like an ideal opportunity for new cyclists to navigate the city by bike. But, when I set out from Times Square toward my apartment near Columbia University that evening, I was quickly reminded that riding in New York requires savvy, as well as time to build up confidence. I understood why the mayor didn’t urge thousands of New Yorkers onto their bikes. Read m

Spring 2013 Launch Announced for Columbus BikeShare (@MichaelBColeman)

Alta Bicycle Share has been selected to bring a cutting-edge bike share system to Columbus. The project will install a network of 300 bikes at 30 Downtown locations, enabling users to visit any station to borrow a bike, ride for any amount of time and return the bike at any of the 30 stations. Using a swipe card, the automated system will feature yearly memberships, single-day uses, and 3-day passes, all of which can be easily purchased at a station or online. Each time a member uses a bike, the first 30 minutes are free, followed by incremental charges each half hour thereafter. “BikeShare is a low-cost, 24-hour transit system,” Mayor Coleman said. “We’ve taken big steps toward making Columbus one of the best biking cities in the nation, and I’m excited to add bike sharing to the mix.” The specialized 3-speed bikes are designed for users 18 years and older and feature adjustable seats, safety lights, fenders and a basket as well as components to prevent theft and tampering. Alta wil

Lakewood tickets rider of 4-wheeled 'bike' for riding it in the street: Road Rant [cleveland.com]

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View full size Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer Dominic "Vinnie" Latessa bought this quadricycle to take his 10-year-old son, Tyler, for rides. Lakewood police ticketed Latessa for having the pedal-powered vehicle on the street. Dominic "Vinnie" Latessa claims he went for an afternoon bike ride near his Lakewood home Sept. 26. Police and prosecutors? They're not buying the story. They say Latessa rode an unsafe  toy vehicle  on Madison Avenue that day in violation of the law. Police ticketed Latessa for pedaling a bulky four-wheeled contraption along Madison near Ridgewood Avenue. City and state rules prohibit people from cruising down streets on roller skates, skateboards, sleds or toy vehicles. The traffic offense is classified as a minor misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $150. That riding-a-bike defense Latessa wants to use? Forget it, officials said. The law defines a bike as a device with two or three wheels propelled solely by human power.

Moments of Regret: A U-Lock Around Your Neck

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A gender-bending bicycle mechanic training experience to empower women and undo gender stereotypes [GOOD]

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WEBSITE http://www.facebook.com/FenderBenderDetroit?ref=hl THE IDEA Fender Bender is a women and gender nonconforming collaborative bike shop and mechanic training experience in Detroit. We learn intensive bike repair skills, safe riding practices, ride together weekly, and explore ways we can heal and grow from within our communities, using the bicycle to empower. THE SPECIFICS: WHAT WILL THE $2,500 FUND? Bicycles are a key agent to creating accessible and reliable mobility for people in a city that has almost 140 square miles, a dismantled public transportation system, unaffordable car insurance rates, and a high population of formerly incarcerated people. Fender Bender is a transformational agent to provide access to fair, stable, empowering transportation. We would use the money from Empower Women and Girls for the materials and equipment for our mechanic training course. This includes: Bike repair tools Bulk inner tubes Bulk tires Bulk patch kits 10 bike ma

Listen UP @MichaelBColeman! NYC Study Finds Protected Bicycle Lanes Boost Local Business [AmericaBikes]

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The road to recovery is in sight, and it has a bike lane.  The typical city street is a busy place. People riding bikes, walking, driving cars, and operating buses all have somewhere to to go and want to get there safely — and quickly.  But while we normally think of streets as pipelines for people and goods, public streets are about more than just moving from point A to point B. They're also corridors for public life. Streets are places where locals discover new hole-in-the-wall stores and restaurants, where window shoppers duck into shops to peruse, and where children convince their parents to stop — just for ONE second — to buy a cup of hot chocolate. In other words, streets can also grow local economies. A new study from the New York Department of Transportation shows that streets that safely accommodate bicycle and pedestrian travel are especially good at boosting small businesses, even in a recession.  NYC DOT found that protected bikeways had a significant positi

Advice For Post-Sandy New York Traffic: Take the Bike [Bloomberg]

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Source: Google A map of New York traffic. Black lines, like those on the Williamsburg Bridge and the Queensboro Bridge, mean it's virtually impassable. If you’re a New Yorker living in a borough other than Manhattan and you’re thinking about coming into the city, my advice to you: stay home. I, like countless thousands of New Yorkers, didn’t heed that advice this morning, and my normally 45-minute commute from Prospect Park turned into a Gilligan’s Island two-hour tour, requiring two car services, a mile-long walk, and a lot of patience. Sandy left Manhattan without functioning tunnels and subways, leaving millions of  intrepid New Yorkers  scrambling for alternatives. Some observations for those who imagine that for them it will be different: [Keep reading at Bloomberg]

Cycling in Yemen: an uphill struggle against insurgency and ignorance [Guardian]

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Yemen’s National Cycle Foundation in training near Sana'a. Photograph: Joe Sheffer The cyclists have been pedalling through the dusty outskirts of  Yemen 's capital, Sana'a, for just 30 seconds when the first rock comes hurtling at their wheels. None of the seven riders of Yemen's National Cycle Foundation so much as flinch, as the perpetrator, a local shopkeeper, identifies himself. He shouts and waves an arm. "You gays! Cover up!" Dressed in an eclectic assortment of sun-faded Lycra  cycling  attire, and riding an archaic selection of bikes in varying state of repair, the group keeps silent, and together, as they keep on pedalling. Yemen must be one of the few countries in the world where a group of young men, on their morning ride can, and regularly does, attract such anger and ignorance from passersby. Their crime? Wearing shorts and tight jerseys. As the riders approached the first steep climb, their coach, Saleh al-Riashi, emerges from th

Car Culture Rules This Bicycle Street [Copenhagenize]

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I was standing down on Dronning Louise's Bridge this morning, in the midst of the rush hour. I was waiting for a film crew to arrive to shoot a little clip for the  Danish Architecture Center . They were late. Stuck in traffic. When they arrived I could see their film gear could have easily fit onto a cargo bike and I mocked them accordingly - with a smile. While I was waiting I beheld the morning rush hour on the busiest bicycle street in the world. I still am amazed to stand there and watch it. I never tire of it. I started counting the number of bicycle users who were waiting at each and every light cycle. There were at least 120-150 in the peak of the rush hour and they were, as a rule, backed up because of the red light. This is where the otherwise brilliant Green Wave (cycle 20 km/h and hit green lights) dies. At each traffic light cycle there were, on average 2-8 single occupant cars, as well as many busses. In the photo above there is one car waiting for the light

Hurricane Sandy on Bikes in NYC

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Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge Loop Ride 10122012

Bill and I started from Sandbridge, VA and headed west and then south through the countryside. We took a rest break at the Mill Landing boat launch. We stopped for ice cream at the Southern Fried shop in Pungo.  We rode approx 35 miles. Nice scenery with very little traffic. [Don't miss out on the Adventure Ride to False Cape State Park]

Funny Halloween Cyclocross Crusade Costume Race 2012

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Great costume - Happy Halloween

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Zoom Back at the bike shop after the parade. I had some problems during, but nothing too bad. Many people yelling ‘awesome’, ‘Star Wars’ and 2 ‘Y-Wing’ :-) http://origamislayer.tumblr.com/post/34268932690/back-at-the-bike-shop-after-the-parade-i-had-some

Meet The Company That Made Facebook And Apple Bike Friendly [FastCompany]

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How do you get your company on the list of most bicycle-friendly businesses? Talk to Bikes Make Life Better, which will help you change your policies and practices to make your office a place people want to bike to. Half a decade ago, if you said you worked for an "organizational bicycle consultancy," you would have been laughed out of the room. But then, as a wave of environmental-friendliness washed over Silicon Valley, startups and established tech companies started to think about implementing on-campus bikeshare programs and bike commuting initiatives. Two years ago,  Bikes Make Life Better  swooped in to help them--and anyone else itching to start a bike program. Now three of the bicycle consultancy’s clients (Apple, Facebook, Williams-Sonoma) have received  Bicycle Friendly Business awards from the League of American Bicyclists. Guess that consulting really paid off. What exactly does a bicycle consultancy do? In essence, says Bikes Make Life Better Co-Founde

Day in San Francisco – BART, Bike, Ferry and a flat tire.

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Editor: Our friend Molly moved to SF, but she is documenting her move and new adventures Saturday we took the bikes on BART and headed over to San Francisco. We figured we would hop off at Embarcadero and see where the day took us. First stop was Farmer’s Market at the Ferry Building. There is so much good stuff here. We did not linger long though as I knew I would be tempted to buy produce and meat. I did not want to carry too much with me as we were just starting out out for the day. We did get some lunch before heading out. We stayed along the coast and stopped to check out views of the city, the bay and the bridges. [Keep reading at The California Side]

Muddy Hell 2012

Muddy Hell 2012 from Oliver Townsend on Vimeo .

A TRILLION FEWER DRIVING MILES? [US PIRG]

It’s now common knowledge that annual changes in the volume of driving no longer follow the old ways. For sixty years, the number of vehicle miles travelled (VMT) rose steadily almost every year. Predicting more driving miles next year was a foregone conclusion, like predicting that the sun would rise or that computer chips would be faster. The only direction seemed to be up. Then, after 2004 per-capita VMT turned downward, falling 6 percent, and leading to a decline in total VMT since 2007. The most recent data are from July, traditionally America’s biggest month for driving. In July 2012, Americans clocked over 258 billion miles behind the wheel, a billion fewer miles than the previous July despite a slightly stronger economy and cheaper gasoline. In fact, you’d need to go back to 2002 to find a July when Americans drove fewer miles than July 2012. There are good reasons to believe the current slowdown in driving may persist. A  report  by the U.S. Public Interest Research

Infographic: The Many Connections Between Transportation and Health [DCStreetsBog]

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The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation  launched  their “ New  Public Health” website last year with the goal of meeting community members where they are to talk about public health. A lot of those conversations happen online, and they explore the connections between public health and policy decisions related to everything from education to transportation. Last week, they published an  interview with U.S. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood . They also put out a complete and convincing infographic showing why sustainable transportation modes are a key component of any public health strategy — and any healthy and prosperous community. It highlights the positive health correlation between transit and health — and suggests that maybe the walk home from the train station is the best part of your commute. Experts say people are willing to walk a quarter mile to a bus stop and a half mile to a rail station. The more bus stops and rail stations there are, the more people get those healthy 19 minutes o

GoPro HERO3: Black Edition

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Cute and Lovely Dog on Bicycle

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Columbus Pedicab is for sale

Columbus Largest bike taxi and advertising company.Time for me to go on an extended vacation before I start grad school!  Lemme know if you want in on the action! 7 pedicabs, mostly high quality SRAM components throughout, and a good team of workers to back you up...ill show you the ropes to this turn key high profit business!  This also comes with the website which has gotten me some sweet ad contracts including Mc Donalds, muscle milk and tradewinds tea.  Columbuspedicab@gmail.com www.facebook.com/ ColumbusPedicab

Fort Collins uses technology to track cyclist behavior [Coloradan]

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Purchase Image Ray Browning of Fort Collins, rides his bike to work on West Elizabeth Street on Wednesday morning. He is part of a research program about bike traffic by CycleTracks, which helps cities better plan bicycle traffic routes. / V. Richard Haro/The Coloradoan Local cyclists have the opportunity to shape what the future of Fort Collins’ cycling infrastructure will look like by downloading an application on their smartphone and simply doing what they normally do — riding their bikes. CSU, the city of Fort Collins and the Coalition for Activity & Nutrition to Defeat Obesity, or CanDo, are partnering to record Fort Collins cyclists’ transportation and recreation rides using the CycleTracks app. CycleTracks, which can be downloaded for free from the iTunes store, uses an iPhone’s GPS to record the user’s bicycle ride. The data gathered will be used by the city to determine what areas need more bike lanes, trails or signs to help with traffic flow. The app, dev

THIS IS A BIKE PUMP

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Description MADE IN NEW ENGLAND! Why search for that one gas station with the "pay as you pump"  air compressor? There are auto shops and fire stations every few blocks in the city. Guess what? They ALL have air compressors. This is "the missing link"   -  The key chain that allows you to connect and fill your bike tire  with any common type "A" industrial air compressor hose! Here's how it works... Step 1 Simply remove the bike pump from your key chain…  Step 2 connect one end into the compressor hose… Step 3 connect the other end to your  bike tire  and use the compressor gauge to fill to desired PSI! [This is a Bike Pump]

Automatic bicycle pump

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Fill your bicycle wheels with conveniently available pressurized air stored in automobiles. [From Instructables]

New bike trail officially opens after overcoming controversy [Newark Advocate]

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Purchase Image Licking County officials gather to recognize the opening of the Buckeye Scenic Trail in Hebron Saturday. / Zach Gray/The Advocate HEBRON  — The latest component in Licking County’s network of bike trails officially opened Saturday, a project five years in the making that survived multiple legal hurdles and an appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court. Amid gray skies, rain drops and a shivering breeze — not exactly ideal biking conditions — a handful of county park employees and a few others christened the Buckeye Scenic Trail in a brief ceremony. The 4.25-mile paved path runs south from Irving Wick Drive in Heath to U.S. 40 in Licking Township, ending across from Lakewood High School. Officials praised the new addition to the more than 40 miles of trails already in Licking County. [Keep reading at Newark Advocate]

Cyclocross Compilation

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