Columbus Rides Bikes!

Highlights 88+ riders 17 miles for the route, longer for others Kegbike with keg full of water Several flat tires, broken rear axle 3 Taco Trucks were ready for the throngs of hungry riders 30+ riders for the after-party at Hal&Al's All the money raised was donated to Yay Bikes!  to raise awareness for bicycling as an alternate mode of transportation. Thanks to all the partners who made it possible to have a great event! And, thanks to all the riders who came out to support Yay Bikes! Columbus Rides Bikes blog http://www.columbusridesbi ​kes.com/   for leading the ride to the trucks. Franklinton Cycleworks http://www.franklintoncycl ​eworks.com/   for providing technical support for the riders. Yelp for providing marketing and product donations http://www.yelp.com/columbus-oh  Columbus Food Adventures for communication with the taco trucks. http://tacotruckscolumbus. ​com/ http://columbusfoodadventu ​res.com/ Hal & Al's for hosting the after...

The Postal Service is doing its part to “Go Green” by providing you with eco-friendly mailing materials and stamps. As part of our Go Green commitment, we’ve designed a series of 16 Forever stamps showing what each of us can do to promote the health of our environment. Some ways you can go green Plant trees.  Besides producing oxygen and removing carbon dioxide and contaminants from the air, trees and other plants provide a habitat for birds and other wildlife. Adjust the thermostat.  Every degree you lower your thermostat in cold weather, or raise it during hot weather, can lower your energy bill by 3 percent and conserve valuable natural resources. Use public transportation.  Taking the bus, train or carpooling vs. driving your own car saves gas, money and reduces pollution. [Go Green Stamps]

Some reminders: Please be at the park at 11:30am so that we can get everybody signed in. We expect around 100 riders so make sure you get there early to get your pint glass because we have limited numbers. While you are waiting for us to leave please be courteous to the walkers and joggers in the park and hang out on the grass. More details here on FB...

Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times Cyclists in Central Park can use roads open to vehicles, but not paths for pedestrians. Some walkers say they fear being hit. By  JOSEPH BERGER Published: July 8, 2011 Bicyclists trying to get legally from one side of Central Park to the other have long faced a challenge: because the park’s pedestrian paths are closed to cyclists, they have to either ride the looping vehicular drive south to 60th Street and then head north again, potentially going miles out of their way, or brave the narrow, crowded transverse roads. [continue reading at NYT]

The potential savings made by not using public transport can often end up going towards bike maintenance and gear Does cycling actually cost more than commuting? What about in rural areas? Photograph: Crispin Hughes/Getty Images Last week, London-based Steve Morgan launched the charming  Cycle to Work Calculator  to tell you just that. He emailed us to ask us what we thought and it got me thinking about the calculation I did when buying a bike four years ago. Like many, I remember balking at the combined £650 cost of a bike and accessories (lock, lights, helmet, jacket – they sure add up, don't they?) and having to remind myself they would pay for themselves. But how long would it take? [continue reading at The Guardian]

House  Transportation and Infrastructure Committee  Chairman John Mica (R-FL) held a briefing on the morning of July 7, 2011 to outline his plan for the new transportation bill. In response, the League's Andy Clarke said: "Chairman Mica and Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) are hell-bent on cutting out funding for anything other than cars and trucks, seemingly oblivious to the disastrous impacts of 60 years of sprawl, air pollution, congestion, dependence on foreign oil and millions of needless highway fatalities. That's out of touch with what American's want and is so deliberate that it smacks of vindictiveness rather than sound policy. The reality is that Americans want choice. At the individual, community and national level we need more people bicycling and walking rather than less. We need fewer people trapped in a system that forces them to make even the shortest trips by car because there are no safe alternatives. We need robust and dedicated funding for transit, bic...

About 26 minutes in you will see the Yay Bikes! float.

Ryan Benyi rode in our float for the Doo Dah Parade. He posted some comments about his experience. Read it here!

Gustaaf Desmet's very original and desirable Westfield Columbia Serial N° MG99828. Note the USAAF sign attached to the upper frame tubes.... US Army Bicycles Genuine WW2 US Army bicycles are amongst the rarest of vintage military vehicles around. Sure, you will see a lot of them at shows but when you have a closer look, hardly any of those are real, complete military production bikes. So few of them are left, especially in Europe, that a bicycle with provable World War 2 US Army use and in any condition is truly a very rare and expensive vehicle. Although the US Army had used bicycles for many years before WW2, none were standardized for procurement before 1942. The Army's official use for these bicycles was: 'To provide Transportation for Personnel engaged in Dispatch or Messenger Service'. Of course they were used for many other purposes. They proved a fast and economical way to get around Depots, Camps and Airfields. The 'Bicycle, Military, Universal' was ado...

Highlights 4 riders (Tim, John, Adam and Bill) Tim's stats: Day 1: 63 miles, 1700 ft of climbing, avg speed 14.2 mph, max speed 33 mph. Day 2: 59 miles, 1600 ft of climbing, avg speed 14.7, max speed 43. Bill's stats: Ride time 10:25:29, Distance 145.09, Average speed N/A, Max speed 45 mph.

The Tour de France is underway. Whether you want to follow the cycling race or do a little riding of your own, these apps can get you on course. Click Here

Highlights Yay Bikes! 35+ cyclists Righteous Mothers Tall Bikes joined our group Kegbike with full keg of water cooled down participants, riders and filled water bottles

Frequent Flyer Frame set 7005 heat treated aluminum construction Custom one-of-a-kind drop outs with hand-tooled hub caps with anti theft hardware Internal brake cable routing for clean lines Integrated rear pannier rack One piece sculpted handlebar with internal routing and custom spacer Components State of the art Shimano Alphine Group set including sealed system 8-speed gearing and front light dynamo XT-quality hydraulic brake system XTR clipless pedals Custom DT Swiss Wheel set Integrated Chain guard Additional info This bike was a project we built for the Shimano Alphine contest. It is one-of-a-kind  and is not for sale. [more Frequent Flyer]

REAR RACKS TO FIT THE MOST OUTRAGEOUS BIKE. YOURS. O ur rear racks offer something for everyone. The  Cold Springs  and  Sherpa  models mount to your axle down below and to brake bosses or our OMM band clamps up above. Our design works with most bicycles out there. These include frames with no eyelets, small rear triangles, disk brakes, and suspension. Our  Red Rock  rack mounts to lower eyelets down below and to v-brake bosses or OMM band clamps up above. The Red Rock does not work with bicycles with disk brakes or 29-ers. [Old Man Mountain]

Imagine yourself shifting into a lower gear on your bike. Now imagine that imagining yourself shifting could actually shift your bike. Confused? Don’t be. Since our last update, the engineering masterminds of Deeplocal have devised a system that lets riders shift the PXP’s gears without using a single one of their appendages. Imbued with the sort of forward thinking that went into the design of Prius, the system lets riders command an electronic shifter with their own brain waves captured by a helmet stuffed with neurotransmitters. [Follow the progress at Toyota Prius Projects]

Yesterday, the Federal Highway Administration informed state Departments of Transportation of another rescission of funds, this time totaling $2.5 billion. A “rescission”, you may recall, is a mechanism by which states return to Washington various unspent amounts of money that they could have spent but haven’t yet done so. The action is taken under the   2011 Full-year Continuing Appropriations Act . This is the   FHWA notice , which includes the total amount of funds each state is to send back to Washington. Not the most entertaining piece of prose you’ll ever read, but hidden within the language is another significant threat to the funds that are available to spend on bicycling improvements. [Bike League]