Columbus Rides Bikes!

Screen capture  Global News Rising Canadian squash star Adrian Dudzicki was murdered yesterday by Aleksey Aleksev, while riding his bicycle to practice in Toronto. The weapon was a 1992 BMW 325; Aleksev has been charged with dangerous driving causing death and criminal negligence causing death. [Keep reading at  Treehugger]

SUNSET HILLS, MO (KTVI) – A cyclist claims the mayor of Sunset Hills ran his car into him knocking him off his bike on purpose. The mayor claims that’s not true and insists the cyclist started it all.  Sunset Hills Police are investigating which has the cyclist’s lawyer crying foul. Randy Murdick has won state-wide cycling races.  Murdick told about what happened Tuesday afternoon, “Literally hit me so hard it knocked the bike out from under me.” Murdick said his achilles tendon was torn, and he was badly bruised plus his $12,000 dollar bike was damaged. He said he was not far from Old Gravois Road and Kennerly Mayor Mark Furrer pulled up next to him in his red Mercedes and yelled at him.  Murdick said “He kept hollering to get off his road.” [Keep reading at fox2now]

The “Solid” bike drew a crowd at the big reveal party Friday night. (Photos by J Maus/BikePortland) What happens when top design firms are paired with expert bike makers and told to create the “ultimate urban utility bike”? Thanks to the  Oregon Manifest Bike Design Project  we now know the answer to that question. Oregon Manifest co-founders Shannon Holt (L) and Jocelyn Sycip. On Friday night, teams from five cities — New York, Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco and Portland — revealed their designs at five simultaneous parties. It was the climax of an eight-month collaborative process that took city bike design and engineering into completely new territory. The organizers behind this competition believe that urban bikes get the short end of the R & D stick in the U.S. bike industry. “We think it’s the most important — yet least evolved category,” said event co-founder Shannon Holt, referring to the low priority city bikes are given (compared to racing bikes) by m

Even if you’re not from Colorado, you are likely familiar with the amount of large mountains that engulf the state. Specifically mountains that reach 14,000 feet in elevation and above.  There are 89 mountains that are 14,000 feet or higher in the United States, over half of those (53) peaks are in the state of Colorado. Even more outstanding is that there are at least 600 additional mountains that range anywhere from 13,000 feet to 13,999 feet in the state of Colorado. People have long enjoyed climbing these peaks, and many people set goals to climb all 14ers in their lifetime. Some people, however, are just not satisfied with simple goals. In the case of adventurer Justin Simoni, he is taking it to an extremely different level. On Friday, July 25th Justin set out on a challenge that will consist of not only  climbing each 14er  in colorado, but doing so self-powered, and self-supported. In laymen’s terms, he is doing it all himself, non-stop until each peak is reached. Ph

Why do some people hate cyclists? Can we collectively ride and drive away from the 'them and us' mentality? Many motorists run red lights and habitually park with wheels on the pavement.  Motor vehicles killed 359 pedestrians  in 2011. In cities, cars that can accomodate three or more passengers tend to carry just the driver, leading to congestion and contributing to high levels of air pollution. Yet, for some people, cyclists are the real villains of the piece and the wrong-doings of the minority are projected on to the majority: "all cyclists run red lights" and "all cyclists ride on the pavement". The sins of a few projected on to the many is one of factors that leads to an irrational hatred of cyclists. You really don’t have to go very far on the internet before finding this sort of stuff. Using search terms ‘cyclist’ and  ‘road tax’  on Twitter, for instance, will bring up lots of unbidden hate, or follow  @cyclehatred  which is a collection of com

This design envisions a bicycle that can be simply assembled or taken apart in 10 minutes. Hope you're good with a socket wrench. If you've ever brought a bike along on a flight or packed up the parts to ship across the country, you know that trying to move a bike around is expensive. It also tends to slightly offset some of the environmental benefits of riding, since a box holding a bulky frame takes up a lot of space on a delivery truck. That's why this new design concept shrinks down a bike so it fits in a backpack. "Conventional bikes are awkward in every way except when you ride them," says  Amit Mirchandani , managing and creative director for  Lucid Design , the India firm that designed the new bicycle. "The Kit Bike is so small when disassembled it fits in a bag you could carry as a backpack. When you assemble the bike, you get a full-size bike that is comfortable to ride." Read on at FastCompany

Late last week, a young woman from Danvers, Massachusetts, tweeted something that had cyclists and non-homicidal people up in arms: Thanks for the emoji visual, @Erikamarquis143. Unfortunately, this tweet is just the latest edition of cycling hatred spewed through social media. Take Emma Way, for example. Last year, the 21-year-old pixie-faced blonde from the UK tweeted this gem: Way had swiped a 29-year-old with her side mirror, “sending him off the bike and into the trees where he was banged up, but wasn't seriously injured,” Jalopnik  reports . Way didn’t stop, and the cyclist only came forward to cops after Way’s tweet went viral. (He didn’t want his girlfriend to worry and  start putting his bikes on eBay .) Way repented—after local police found her tweet and she was suspended from her job. [Keep reading at Outside]

The Pedal-with-Pete Foundation is a community of volunteers who work to raise funds for cerebral palsy (CP) research through bike rides and walks. Established by Pete Zeidner, who has CP, in Kent, Ohio, these events have spread to Columbus, Ohio and Emmetsburg, Iowa. Through these events, grants of approximately $50,000 per year are awarded to researchers to further their work developing treatment for CP, research that is truly making a difference for people with cerebral palsy – 800,000 in the US alone. Since the Foundation is  completely  run by volunteers and works hard to keep costs down through generous donations of supplies from the community,  85% of every dollar  raised goes directly to cerebral palsy research. CP is a neurological condition usually developed during the birth process, when the brain is damaged by a lack of oxygen. Its affects can range from a small hand tremor to someone who is completely bed-bound. In spite of an advanced case of CP, Pete has ridden a rec

This survey is designed for the public to give their vital input on the upcoming Green Memo III. This Memo serves as a comprehensive and active outline of the journey the city of Columbus has taken and continues to take on our way to becoming more sustainable, since the introduction of Mayor Michael B. Coleman's Get Green Initiative in 2005.  It strives to facilitate a deeper understanding of our community’s needs and goals for the present and future preservation of our environment.  We're putting this memo together; below are links to 9 sections of the proposed memo; please look at each section (which contains more details on what the section is about, goals, etc.) and complete the associated survey. Your completion of one, two or all of the 9 surveys, each detailing separate potential relevant approaches to different environmental issues, is deeply appreciated. [Speak Up here]

The Iron Curtain, once the ominous line dividing Cold War-era rivals, is being transformed into a 4,225-mile cycling trail for recreational travelers. European Union  officials interested in boosting bike tourism have set aside $2.4 million to connect and brand existing trails that extend from the Barents Sea, north of the border between Finland and Russia, to the edge of the Black Sea, at the border between Bulgaria and Turkey. Sections of trail already pass by popular historic sites like the remnants of the Berlin Wall. Berlin via  Flickr / Julien European Parliament  Member  Michael Cramer , chair of the committee on transport and tourism, has proposed marking the trail with small blue squares similar to ones already in place in parts of Germany. He envisions the trail as a sustainable way to promote greater unity within Europe. “The Eastern and Western Europeans have very different memories of the border,”  he writes  in the brochure describing plans for the trail. He hopes

Megavalanche Front row action from Pump Battle Events on Vimeo .

Why WOMO? WOMO is available for a number of tech toys and we're adding more all the time. Take a look at our photo library to see if your gear is supported here. Additionally, each product option has mounting instructions that you can download right now. Instant gratification and education to boot. You're welcome. Ordering a mount WOMO is distributed through an exclusive North American partner, Ortlieb USA. And we wouldn't partner with just anyone. These guys will get you set up and take care of any questions you may have. You can click on the link below to find out how to become a registered dealer of WOMO products. If you have any questions about ordering a mount, you can always contact Ortlieb USA at (800) 649-1763 or  info@Ortliebusa.com We're tinkerers WOMO was created by crafty engineers that love to ride. High strength aluminum gets cut and shaped in our Pacific Northwest factory to ensure that you're getting the best mounting accessory tha

PechaKucha – Volume 31, Mia Kahout from Cause+Affect on Vimeo .

Fits the Stanley Flask [King Cage]

The Bicycle Opera Project invades Hamilton, Ont. The young company is debunking the myth of the opera diva, and making an environmental statement along the way. (Deana Sumanac/CBC) It's tough to imagine an opera singer wiping off sweat and bicycle grease before walking on stage, but a new company is all about defying the opera clichés. People in scuba gear sing opera on King Street Check out Bicycle Opera Project's 2014 season Members of the Bicycle Opera Project are bringing the classical art form to cities across Ontario, by bicycle. The freewheeling gang has only one rule: no divas allowed. Three years ago, Toronto-based Koniuk, a soprano, was about to start her professional career as an opera singer. But she wanted to do something different than what the conventional wisdom prescribes for young singers: small roles in big productions. "You have to be OK with cycling through the rain, for example," says the company's co-founder Larissa Koniu

A need for bike parking prompted a Norwegian town to get creative. Like a lot of cities that want to encourage more people to bike, the town of Drammer, Norway, had a parking problem: There just weren't enough bike racks to go around. At the main train station, people locked up their bikes wherever they could find a spot and then worried about theft. So the city built a "bike hotel," transforming an old railway building into secure parking for 134 bicycles, including two spots for cargo bikes and four charging spots for electric bikes. If anyone gets a flat, there's an air pump on hand. Members can unlock the hotel with a mobile app. The building was originally built in 1868 as the main station building for the train stop, and the designers wanted to carefully preserve the architecture--a complicated all-wood mix of French, Swiss, German, and medieval Norwegian styles that celebrated the country's independence from Sweden. "We wanted to take care of

RAGBRAI,  The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa , is an annual seven-day bicycle ride across the state. Heading into its 42nd year, RAGBRAI is the oldest, largest and longest bicycle touring event in the world. In the beginning, no one imagined that RAGBRAI would become the Iowa tradition it is now.  We at The Des Moines Register thank all the riders who have joined us over the years.  We especially wish to thank the thousands and thousands of volunteers in the towns we’ve visited along the way for their tireless work to show RAGBRAI riders the hospitality that has made our ride world famous. We encourage you to follow the application procedures and come along only if you are accepted as a registered rider.  It is crucial that we keep our number of riders at the level suggested by the Iowa State Patrol and the Iowa Department of Transportation for the safety of all riders.  We thank you for your cooperation. For those of you who have never ridden, this rolling

If any of the cyclists who participated in the great bicycle messenger mail route were still alive to tell the tale, it would make the ultimate “when I was your age story.” Picture this: San Francisco, 1894. The Pullman rail strike in Illinois cuts off all rail service west of Detroit, leaving California train-less and thus, mail-less. One “enterprising citizen” and bicycle salesman Arthur C. Banta decides to create a fixie chain gang relay along a 210-mile stretch from San Francisco to California’s Central Valley with eight primary riders. He charges $0.25 for stamps, 10 times the price of standard mail at the time. I can just hear the conversation now: Old-Timer Cyclist:  When I was your age, we didn’t have no Amazon delivery service or fancy-schmancy computers. We wrote letters with pens and paper and put stamps on them. And when the mail system broke down because of a rail strike, we printed up our own stamps and rode our own fixed gear bicycles on unmarked dirt roads in th

DURANGO, Colo.  — On Monday, July 21 st  owners and representatives from six of Colorado’s leading craft breweries will depart on the ride of a lifetime…for the sixth year in a row.  Commencing at Avery Brewing Co. in Boulder, CO and culminating at Ska Brewing Co. in Durango, the annual Tour De BoulDurango is a five day, 426 mile road bike ride through some of Colorado’s steepest and most grueling road terrain. This year’s venture features riders from Avery, Ska, Boulder Beer, Left Hand, Oskar Blues, and Great Divide breweries. Out of the gate the tour will call for a 109 mile ride through Golden and over Loveland Pass before descending onto Breckenridge Brewery. As day one concludes it is likely the riders will reflect on all of the pedaling still to come. “As busy as we all are, I think it’s good to get out in the Colorado hills with some of the state’s brewing pioneers and share a few ideas, as well as a few beers,” says Adam Avery of Avery Brewing Co. “Collectively, we have