Columbus Rides Bikes!

[B1 Bicycles website]

Highlights 7 cyclists (Tim, Bill, Dan, John D, John C, Carey, myself) 25+ grade percent max 2600+ feet of climbing Mix of paved and gravel roads Gravel road surface was a mix of snow, slush and mush (slow going) The CareyDactyl made multiple appearances by squawking Route  [from Tim] Started at Mohican MTB trailhead Brinkhaven/Gann turnaround point Passed blueberry farms Passed Landoll's Mohican Castle

Jellyfish Invasion (copyright WallyGPX.com) A man in Baltimore, Maryland, is using pedal power to turn maps of the city into art, tracing pictures of his journeys round the city by using his GPS-enabled phone. Michael Wallace’s works have now been featured in newspapers, websites and other media around the world, and here he shares with road.cc how he got started, the idea of launching a website to showcase his work, and his plans for his biggest piece yet. [Continue reading at Road.cc]

Kiwi Chronicles: Episode 4 - The Forgotten World Highway - PathLessPedaled.com from Russ Roca on Vimeo . In this episode, we experience our first Kiwi Christmas. We also ride the Forgotten World Highway, one of NZ's Great Rides. We have a chat with the team behind the new cycle trail network in New Zealand and Jonathan Kennett, a reknowned bicycle advocate in NZ. For behind the scenes info, check out: www.bicycletimesmag.com For more visit: www.pathlesspedaled.com www.facebook.com/pathlesspedaled

PA Senate PAsses safe PAssing 6 Share Too much with the PA joke? Sorry. Anyway… Big news today out of Pennsylvania. The PA Senate passed House Bill 170, the Safe Passing Act by a vote of 45 to 5. The bill will now go to Governor Corbett’s desk for his signature. Read more about who voted for and against the measure at the  blog of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia . Photo from Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia Read  our previous coverage of this campaign . Link --> League of American Bicyclists

As part of the  Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) update , MORPC has developed a draft bikeway prioritization methodology for the region. This methodology will help MORPC to prioritize future bikeways at a regional level. We are reviewing comments received during the official comment period ending January 18, 2012. We will be considering those comments during the development of the final draft map and methodology, available for comment beginning February 29. Feel free to continue to  submit comments.  We will review for possible incorporation as best as possible prior to final draft map release. Comments can be submitted to MORPC, 111 Liberty Street, Suite 100, Columbus, Ohio 43215 or by email to Andrew Taylor at tplan@morpc.org. To view and download the methodology, please click on the following link:  2012 Draft Bikeway Prioritization Methodology. To view an interactive version of the map, please click on the following link:  2012 Draft Bikeway Prio...

For the  past 20 years , the federal Transportation program has included dedicated funding for biking and walking. Over the course of twenty years and three federal transportation laws, federal support for bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure projects  has slowly ticked upwards . As a result, more and more communities feature safe roads for people who travel on foot or by bicycle and more people are bicycling — there has been a  40% increase in bicycling  from 2000 to 2009 and a surge in  Bicycle Friendly Communities . In 1992, Congress passed  ISTEA , the first federal transportation bill to include funding for transit, biking, and walking. As each consecutive transportation bill passed and continued dedicated funding for biking and walking, funding increased from $23 million for 50 new projects in 1992 to $297 million dollars and 971 projects in 2000, to a record $1.2 billion dollars and 3010 projects in 2009. However, recently there has ...

Creating ‘The Most Bicycle Friendly City in America’ ... In Southern California NATE BERG 8:25 AM ET 1 COMMENT There have been numerous studies that show how adding a new lane to a freeway or road has the opposite effect than what was intended. Rather than easing congestion (which it does only briefly), the new lane merely creates more room for more cars, and quickily induces even more congestion. This same principle applies to bicycle traffic, though in a slightly different way. Few cities – and even fewer American cities – struggle with bike traffic congestion. Rather, what more and more cities find themselves struggling with is a lack of bike traffic. They want more bicyclists on their streets. To get them, cities are finding that when they build more bicycle lanes – and, more broadly, “bicycle-friendly” environments – more bicyclists emerge. This theory is moving full speed ahead in unlikely Long Beach, Calif., where a focused effort is underway to modify city streets to e...

[Hi res PDF from Bicycle Retailer]

On road: cycle track Cycle Track: Car parking lane protects bike lane from motor traffic A  cycle track  is an exclusive bike facility that has elements of a separated path and on-road bike lane. A cycle track, while still within the roadway, is physically separated from motor traffic and is distinct from the sidewalk. [ 2 ] Cycle tracks may be one-way or two-way, and may be at road level, at sidewalk level, or at an intermediate level. They all share in common some separation from motor traffic with bollards, car parking, barriers or boulevards. [ 2 ] In the UK,  cycle track  is a roadway constructed specifically for use by cyclists, but not by any other vehicles. In Ireland  cycle track  also covers  cycle lanes  marked on the carriageway but only if accompanied by a specific sign. In the UK, a cycle track may be alongside a roadway (or  carriageway ) for all vehicles or it may be on its own alignment. The term does not inc...

Current TV - Urban Mobility: Creating a Bike Friendly City from Trunk Films on Vimeo . Our first commission from Current TV USA took us to a very cold Copenhagen in February 2010. As part of the 'Urban Mobility' series sponsored by Scion, we asked the author of the blogs 'Copenhagenize' and 'Copenhagen Cycle Chic', Mikael Colville-Anderson to show us around all of the innovative ways in which Copenhagen is encouraging it's people to use the bicycle as its main form of transport. Here at Trunk, we like bicycles... with cities like Copenhagen leading the revolution, the future is two-wheeled and we're diggin' it. http://current.com/ http://www.copenhagenize.com/

Welcome to the 23rd annual Bicycle Ride Across Tennessee (BRAT 2012). This seven-day ride will start at Cumberland Mountain State Park in Crossville, TN and features a combination of rolling hills, valleys, and some flat terrain. The tour will include a balance of some long-distance rides and some short distance days – designed to challenge expert cyclists, while accommodating recreational riders. Riders will camp overnight at four Tennessee State Parks along the route, including Cumberland Mountain, Standing Stone, Pickett, and Harrison Bay State Park’s. The City of Kingston will host one overnight stay at Fort Southwest Point. One layover day is planned at Cumberland Mountain State Park, giving cyclists an opportunity to sightsee – including nature hikes and canoeing. Also a three-day ride option is available for those who aren’t ready for a weeklong tour or have limited vacation time. Daily mileage ranges from 70 miles on the first and longest leg of the route to 52 miles o...

Holds two bikes, includes anti-sway attachments Fits 2" Hitch Includes all the accumulated stickers $100 OBO Columbus, OH area only email raymondmgeorge [at] gmail [dot] com if interested

Excerpted from Priceonomics Blog -  The Top Cities for Bicycling in America Of course, we can look at the Priceonomics bicycle data more broadly to find out where lots of used bicycles are sold.  Our central assumption is that cities with large and vibrant secondhand markets should be the ones where many people are bicycling enthusiasts. While this assumption is not perfect, it’s better than most rankings of “bike friendly cities” where the rankings are just made up. First, we look at raw volume of bicycles offered for sale by city to determine which are the largest markets. Obviously, this is biased toward larger cities where the average citizen may only have a lukewarm interest in biking. Full list of all cities available  here . It’s very pleasing to this author that San Francisco comes in first in this ranking and beats Portland handily. However, the above analysis does not control for population and the Bay Area is much larger than the Portland met...

Mapping The Link Between Obesity And Car Driving What are you doing when you’re driving? Not exercising, that’s for sure. And in the parts of the country where people drive the most, they also pack on the most pounds. It stands to reason that the less you bike or walk, the more you drive. And the more you drive, the less exercise you get from the aforementioned activities. The link between obesity and driving can now be seen in map form, thanks to some research from Planetizen . In this first map, we can see the prevalence of obesity in the U.S. Click to zoom. Here, we can see the percentage of commuters that drive. Click to zoom. Notice any similarities? The so-called "Diabetes Belt"--the area running from the deep South to Appalachia--is also home to a lot of commuters who drive. As the Planetizen researchers note, this belt of car commuters goes even further, moving into Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. These two fact...