Columbus Rides Bikes!

Brunswick to Washington DC. 57 miles. Cold in the morning. Mid-morning breakfast at White's Ferry. Stopped and talked to a cyclist who was at the end of his cross country trip. Visited the Great Falls Park to see the whitewater. Made it to the end of the C&O trail and saw the elusive marker. Rode across town to the Amtrak station. Rolled bikes onto the train with only a few minutes to spare. Relaxed on the Amtrak train back to Pittsburgh. Ate late dinner at Primanti Brothers. 

Hancock to Brunswick. Longest day in the saddle with 72+ miles. 30 degrees in the morning. Started on the Western Maryland Rail Trail and picked up the C&O outside of town. Stopped at a picnic area and had lunch. Saw and explored a number of caves along the way. Passed by Harpers Ferry and stayed in Brunswick at Brunswick Family campground. Since it was end of season there were very few campers around. Hot showers and clean facilities. Small bonfire in the evening.

Cumberland to Hancock. 60 miles. We said goodbye to Doug in the morning in Cumberland. He headed back to Rockwood. Headed through the Paw Paw Tunnel. I broke a spoke somewhere along the way and we decided to ride the Western Mayland Rail Trail into Hancock to limit any more damage. Stayed at C&O Bicycle Bunkhouse where they repaired my wheel. BBQ dinner in town. Big bonfire in the evening. 

Rockwood PA to Cumberland MD. 45 miles. Our friend Doug joined us for the Friday camping and Saturday ride. Lots of train noise at this campsite, otherwise it was decent for the cost. Crossed Salisbury Viaduct and stopped at the Meyersdale train depot museum. Crossed the Eastern Continental Divide and passed through the Savage Mountain Tunnel. Rode up to the depot at Frostburg and watched the train get turned. We stayed at the Ramada in Cumberland and had dinner at Baltimore Street Grille. Toured some architecture and history across the river. Stopped at Curtis Famous Hotdogs for second dinner.

Round Bottom to Rockwood PA. 56 miles. It was chilly and foggy when we started the morning. The sun warmed us up and it was clear by Ohiopyle. Black Hawk helicopter flyover as we stood on the rail bridge. We had lunch and small repair in Ohiopyle. Camped at Husky Haven Campground in Rockwood. Lots of train noise. Campground is trail side and has lots of firewood. Note: Great facilities in town across the river.

Pittsburgh to Round Bottom campground. 49 miles. Lunch in West Newton. Met some other travelers heading south at Roundbottom Campground. Water was non-potable. Rained everytime Phil wanted to setup his tent. Dinner in the shelter. Lots of train noise. Temps were warm.

Morning Ebb And Flow from jim slade on Vimeo .

Everyone knows there are two kinds of people in this world, but did you know there are 12 types of bike commuters?  That’s right. Here they are. You might be, or have been, or know someone who is, one of them. Or more. Or maybe there are more than 12 types. Apprehensive Neophyte Pedals onward despite visible terror Will evolve to other type of bike commuter after 15-20 more bike commutes Righteous Indignatius Commute has higher purpose than the standard just-getting-to-work utilitarianism. Is for fitness, for environmental reasons, possibly enlightenment, for avoidance of psychological fatigue that comes from driving in traffic every day. Still every once in a while is affected by traffic or individual drivers who try to kill him/her, must scream or give finger to cabbie/pizza delivery driver/texting driver drifting into bike lane [Keep reading at Semi-Rad]

Valentine Vanesse You’ve probably seen a ghost bike. Maybe its skeletal white frame, locked to a street sign on a busy corner, blended into the madness of a hustling urban backdrop. Or perhaps the makeshift memorial emanated its phantomly presence chained to a single lamppost along a lonely country highway. No matter the location, ghost bikes turn an indiscriminate patch of road into a solemn reminder: A cyclist was killed here. These bikes represent a sobering reality. From 2000 to 2013, rates of commuting via bike have increased more than 100 percent in some parts of the country. Fatalities and injuries have increased, too. In 2013, roughly 48,000 cyclists were injured.  More than 740 were killed in crashes with motor vehicles . And that’s just accidents reported to the police. Biking, be it in a metropolis or a whistle stop,  can be a continuous flirtation with death  if you’re not careful. Cities aren’t off the hook when it comes to making streets co-habitable for both b

image:  manchestereveningnews.co.uk Let me start by pointing out the obvious: Cyclists DO block the road. It is also true that many motorists find this extremely frustrating, which has led, unfortunately, to terrible decisions being made and cyclists ending up injured or killed. Do bike riders do this deliberately to put themselves in harm's way? I can vouch for most road cyclists that one of the main objectives when heading out on a bike is to arrive home firmly in the land of the living, not the realm of the dead. One popular television journalist likened road cyclists to cockroaches, and we all know what happens to them! (the cockroaches, not the journalists). I implore every road user to ignore this foolish ignorance, but if you wonder,  "if it is so important to stay alive, why do so many cyclists seem intent on blocking traffic by riding in the middle of the lane?",  then read on... [Keep reading at BikeRoar]

 Willo, a former gang member who served time in jail, leads the Hope Street race. Photograph: Noah Smith for the Guardian A golden moon hung over the city, and as night deepened the crowd lounging off Hope Street grew giddy. People swigged beer, marijuana spiced the air, hip-hop streamed from a sound system. It felt like a gritty picnic, minus food. A yell from a guy with a Hawaiian shirt and a clipboard signalled business, however, and the hundred-strong crowd promptly lined the sidewalk, expectant. The race was about to begin. About two dozen riders, many in Lycra, some in jeans, gathered at a traffic light with their eyes fixed on the race marshal, a ragged figure with a raised baton. The contest that followed was noteworthy for several reasons. Some competitors had been among the boozers and smokers. The marshal was a homeless man who sleeps under a nearby bush. There were no traffic cones or markings delineating the route. And most striking of all: this guerrilla bicycle ev

Hunting for Monsters (trailer) from Bjørn on Vimeo .

A buffered bike lane in Chicago, Illinois. Compared to 100 miles of almost anything else a city can build, 100 miles of buffered and protected bike lanes costs  practically nothing  to install. But when you look beyond the budget line items and start to consider what it means to transfer access to part of a city's  most valuable asset  — physical space — a few stripes painted onto previously car-dominated streets can represent a massive investment. When it's wide and comfortable, a buffered bike lane is a big improvement over a conventional bike lane that also opens the door to further change in the future: adding the physical protection, such as curbs or posts or parked cars, that is required to make biking relevant to a much larger share of the population. [Keep reading at People for Bikes]

jennyrotten / Flickr San Francisco has a well-deserved reputation as a city that’s willing to experiment with urban policy. Now that reputation is being put to the test, as legislation that would change the way police deal with cyclists and stop signs makes its way through the city’s Board of Supervisors. The ordinance, known as the Bike Yield Law, would instruct cops to treat cyclists who roll slowly and cautiously through stop signs as their lowest enforcement priority. It would, in essence, permit the so-called  Idaho stop , in which a person on a bike is allowed to approach a stop sign, check for conflicts with drivers and people on foot, then roll through without coming to a complete halt—essentially treating it as a yield sign. The Idaho stop is called that because it’s been the law in that state since 1982. Idaho, including its largest city, Boise (population 214,000), has served as a large, ongoing experiment in how well this practice works, at least in places with relativel

The new 300 South, a.k.a. Broadway. Photos: Salt Lake City. Michael Andersen blogs for  The Green Lane Project , a PeopleForBikes program that helps U.S. cities build better bike lanes to create low-stress streets. Protected bike lanes require space on the street, and removing curbside auto parking is one of several ways to find it. But whenever cities propose parking removal, retailers understandably worry. A growing body of evidence suggests that if bike lanes and parking removal contribute to a street with calmer traffic and a better pedestrian environment, everybody can win. In an  in-house study  of its new protected bike lane, Salt Lake City found that when parking removal was done as part of a wide-ranging investment in the streetscape — including street planters, better crosswalks, public art, and colored pavement — converting parking spaces to high-quality bike lanes coincided with a jump in retail sales. On 300 South, a street that’s also known as Broadway, SLC con

It may come as a surprise to many, but the North American bicycle retail industry is struggling. Badly. Despite many cities shifting public policy towards establishing the bicycle as a regular, everyday form of transportation, U.S. retailers recently reported a  decline in sales  for the 14th consecutive year, while the number of bike shops fell by 18%, and the amount of sales floor square footage has remained essentially stagnant. While many reasons have been given for that falloff, we firmly believe the theory that most manufacturers and retailers are selling “the wrong bikes for the wrong reason.” Nowhere is that more apparent than here in Vancouver, where manufacturers, retailers, advocates, and city officials continue to conflate the worlds of sport and transportation cycling, to the distinct detriment of the latter. [Keep reading at VancityBuzz]

I recently saw a man bicycling smack in the middle of the main travel lane on one of Portland’s busiest streets, with a line of cars trailing behind. In cycling lingo, this is known as “taking the lane” or “controlling the lane.” And it seems to be a growing trend, especially in urban areas. John Brooking “controls the lane” near the Maine Mall in South Portland. He and other bicycle educators say riding near the middle of the road is sometimes necessary for safety.  Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer. Bicycle safety experts say that controlling the lane is the safest way for cyclists to position themselves under a variety of scenarios. Some even recommend it as a default position for those riding in city traffic. This is a controversial idea, because it forces motorists to slow down. It also is counterintuitive to believe that one would be safer riding amid cars and trucks rather than on the road’s edge. As a slow, cautious cyclist, I often feel scared controll

Jim Pennucci / Flickr It’s time to  move beyond  the misguided war between bikes and cars. Doing so requires all parties on urban streets to acknowledge that city mobility is a collective problem without an either-or answer. In the spirit of a healthier such discussion, we’ve culled from  this excellent list of anti-bike arguments that should be put to rest, compiled by  Lindsey Wallace at  streets.mn , as well as a recent longer list from  Adam Mann in  Wired . 1. Cyclists break the rules If breaking the law is a knock against cyclists, then it’s a knock against everyone who uses city streets. Some bike riders do  run red lights  (though it’s often because the signal doesn’t recognize them) or  pop onto the sidewalk (though it’s often because they don’t have bike lanes). Then again, drivers are no strangers to blowing lights—one in 10  run reds  in New York City—and doing so is the most common cause of crashes in U.S. cities. So sure, some  cyclists are just jerks . That’s true o

Inside the Dirty, Dangerous World of Cyclocross It's gnarly, it's muddy, and it's the fastest-growing sport on two wheels. Can you survive cycling's crucible? On the Sunday afternoon when he should be resting, Jeremy Powers instead takes the road to the left, and soon his bike hums over the gently sloped lane, the stunning but foreboding forests of Western Massachusetts crowding the path and humidity curdling the air, until he sees the pavement rise before him, rise and curve and rise again, epically, endlessly. His pedaling slows and then nearly stops—so steep is the incline—and now he’s up off the saddle and pumping, the bike swaying wildly with each downward stroke. He has already this morning done the lunges and box steps and side crunches that he hates, movements that strengthen his comically slim core but will leave him with a soreness that lasts until Wednesday. He has also already gone on a five-mile run. And yet the notorious King’s Highway—the

Case Studies on Transport Policy In May 2014, three school kids in New Brunswick, New Jersey, were hit by a car on Livingston Avenue while in the crosswalk. They were each injured—one seriously—and rushed to the hospital. A cell phone video taken at the scene is pierced with anonymous screams. Fortunately,  according to news reports , the kids recovered. Unfortunately, the trauma they and their families endured is all too common on the streets of U.S. cities. What makes the situation in New Brunswick so much more regrettable is that city leaders knew about the safety hazards on Livingston Avenue but hesitated to change traffic patterns for fear of offending drivers. [Keep reading at CityLab]

INFIRMARY MOUND CX - OCTOBER 17 2015 from Rob Luikart on Vimeo .

Commuting affects your mental health, your physical health, and even the way you think about other people. And these changes are more profound than you might think. The average commuter spends  about an hour a day  heading to and from work, but plenty spend as much as three hours commuting. Those hours we spend in the car can have profound psychological and physical impacts on us. A growing body of research shows that there are far more nuanced problems with driving than the ones you’ve probably heard about.  And as a corollary, more scientists are quantifying how “ active ” commutes, which involve walking, biking, or  off-brand hoverboarding  can make life better. [Keep reading at Gizmodo]