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Showing posts from March 25, 2012

Handling Cycle Paths: Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson [VIDEO]

VeloWala.org Bike Driven Commerce

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John Thackara (from Doors Of Perception) mailed us last month looking for someone who could help produce some content for the City EcoLab - a significant part of the Biennial of International Design at Saint Etienne. The initial brief for us, in John's words was: "The content brief is basically to communicate, to a (mainly) European audience (of 80,000 people, over two weeks) the variety and vitality of people selling things from or on bicycles in (I presume) Delhi.  The objective is to sensitise people to the fact that bike-based commerce does not have to be backward looking or boring.... My first idea was to make some kind of sound installation, in which the cries of different vendors would be projected in a focused way along the "street" which occupies one side of our event. But we are open to a variety of ways to do this installation, including the possibility of print and/or online elements." Taking this as the starting point for our work, we bega

Longfellow St.[Long Beach] Redesign Borrows From Netherlands Approach [LA Streets Blog]

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New Slow Street Design On Longfellow, Incorporating Sustainability Oriented Features. This week marks another milestone in new approaches to street design in the city of Santa Monica. A two block segment of Longfellow St. receives a makeover, taking cues from the mixed use  woonerf concept from the Netherlands . Longfellow St. had always been too narrow to include both street parking for adjacent apartments and sidewalks, making it an ideal candidate for promoting mixed street use. Its formally unappealing design and poor lighting was also felt by some to be a contributing factor to crime in the area. Now vehicle traffic is calmed with cues from new plants and textured surfaces.  Solar powered pedestrian scale lighting with LED bulbs were installed along the street. Other ideas are being considered for further traffic calming enhancements later, that would eliminate the need for traffic control signage all together. [Keep reading at LA Streets Blog]

2012: Do you ride in the road? [The ride so far]

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On the road with Linda, late 1980's. “So, do you ride on the road?” is question that finds its way into many conversations with non-cyclists, and even with bicycle shopping customers I interact with. There is a level of concern in their asking, and in some cases out-and-out fear. The un-said statement is that “the road” is a dangerous place to bicycle, and why do you ride there.   Dozen’s of answers can roll throw you mind when that question pops up. You can cite the statistics, or personal experience. Everything in life has risks. Waking up, taking a shower, a flight of stairs, eating a meal, or the drive to work all carry the possibility of an unexpected demise. Living in the midwest with tornadoes, a coast with hurricane, or California with earthquakes all present risks.   [Keep reading at The Ride So Far]

Perhaps the single most alarming public health trend in the United States today is the dramatic rise in the number of people who are overweight and obese, bringing serious risks of heart disease, diabetes and other consequences leading to life impairment and premature death. This is bad enough as it is, but I contend that it is particularly unfortunate that we do not sufficiently recognize the extent to which these trends are caused by environmental factors, particularly the shape of our built environment. [Atlantic Cities]

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CHARTS The True Cost of Unwalkable Streets KAID BENFIELD MAR 28, 2012 46 COMMENTS Perhaps the single most alarming public health trend in the United States today is the dramatic rise in the number of people who are overweight and obese, bringing serious risks of heart disease, diabetes and other consequences leading to life impairment and premature death. This is bad enough as it is, but I contend that it is particularly unfortunate that  we do not sufficiently recognize   the extent to which these trends are caused by environmental factors, particularly the shape of our built environment. [Keep reading at The Atlantic Cities]

Curana Mudguards CLite

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These are the lightest fenders ever! The weight is prox. 30% less than plastic extrusion fenders and this is combined with very high stiffness. The fenders have a very clean look and a smart quick-assembly stay mounting. For bicycle manufacturers we can create customised fenders without the need of specific tools. Widths are available as from 30mm up to 65mm, in 2 types of profiles, deep and medium deep, and in every wheelsize from 20" up to 28". For dealers and consumers we offer the Clite mudguards in a range of dimensions, in black and silver. The available collection is depending on the country. More info at the distributor of your country . [Curana website]

Safer Biking With Glow-in-the-Dark LED Handlebars [Treehuger.com]

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Safer Biking With Glow-in-the-Dark LED Handlebars Kimberley Mok Transportation  /  Bikes March 29, 2012 © Mitchell Silva Hundreds of law-abiding cyclists die each year  on the roads -- sometimes in tragically gruesome circumstances . Besides wearing a helmet, having a rear-view mirror and other  safe riding tips , there are other ways that cyclists can ensure that they're clearly seen by motorists -- especially in the dark. © Mitchell Silva Via  Yanko Design , from Boston-based industrial designer  Mitchell Silva  comes Glo-Bars, an interesting prototype for a cost-effective handlebar system that has integrated LED lighting in them. The LEDs light up the path for the cyclist, while also rendering the rider very visible to everyone else around. © Mitchell Silva The Glo-Bar system also includes turn signals (accessed via buttons near the front stem of the handlebars) and braking lights behind, increasing the safety factor for its rider. Silva  desc

3-Way Street [VIDEO]

3-Way Street from ronconcocacola on Vimeo . By summer 2010, the expansion of bike lanes in NYC exposed a clash of long-standing bad habits — such as pedestrians jaywalking, cyclists running red lights, and motorists plowing through crosswalks. By focusing on one intersection as a case study, my video aims to show our interconnection and shared role in improving the safety and usability of our streets. The video is part of a larger campaign I created called '3-Way Street'. Please see blog.ronconcocacola.com for more details. Music: Peter Gunn Theme by Art of Noise, available on iTunes

APOTHOCURIOUS LAUNCHES MOBILE FOOD KICKSTARTER INITIATIVE [San Fran]

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“Hot Bike” revolutionizes the taco truck concept with a two-wheeled kitchen San Francisco – February 2012-  Rose “Slam” Johnson, a Bay Area chef, youth educator, queer activist and 2011 SF Bay Guardian “Hot Pink List” honoree, is combining her many talents to launch  Hot Bike , the first fully-functional bike to house a mobile taco kitchen.   Hot Bike  seeks to bring locally sourced, handcrafted, bike-kitchen-cooked tacos to the mouths of hungry and on-the-go San Franciscans.  As a Community Supported Culinary Adventure (CSCA),  Hot Bike  is seeking to raise $5,000 in a  Kickstarter campaign  between February 14 th  and March 15 th . “I was looking for the perfect vehicle in which to share the food I love,” Johnson says, “and I found two: the corn tortilla and the bicycle.”  Hot Bike  is a specially designed Yuba Mundo cargo bike that includes both ingredient-transportation and mobile heating surface modifications to serve as a kitchen. [more here]

Joey's Bike Shop: It's all we do.

Bicycle Pump Polka - Lester - Melodeon [VIDEO SONG]

Giro Reverb

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A classic take on cycling style for today's urban environment. The Reverb's compact, classic lines are a perfect match to the clean new style that is driving urban cycling. The light-yet-tough In-mold shell wraps around to the inside of the helmet to resist dents and dings from life on the streets, and a self-adjusting fit system eliminates the need to dial-in the fit when wearing a cycling or winter caps. The finishing touch is a simple, removable cycling cap-style visor that adds a touch of style without compromising cooling ventilation in changing weather. [Giro]

Death to the McMansion [Slate]

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Is America done with the McMansion? Susan Law Cain/iStockphoto. On March 23, Future Tense—a partnership of  Slate , the New America Foundation, and Arizona State University that explores emerging technologies, policy, and society—will hold a live event in Washington, D.C., on the concept of resilience. Academics, policymakers, and other experts will discuss resilience in the environment, business, national security, even the Constitution. Slate ’s Matt Yglesias and Emily Bazelon will be there, too.   To learn more and to RSVP,  click here . Recently, Japan and Korea have begun to  express deep concerns  about the “ability of the United States to address profound problems in its political and  economic system.” [Keep reading at Slate]

Look Columbus - Cycle tracks with BICYCLE traffic signals! [The Urban Country]

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Rural Bike Infrastructure in the Netherlands Posted by  James Schwartz   at  2:46 AM   Bicycle traffic signal in Amsterdam  – Photo by James Schwartz / The Urban Country It is 1:00PM and the train is stopped at a station in a northern Belgian town. The train will be leaving one minute later than its scheduled departure time so that the passengers can have a minute of silence to pay their respects and condolences to the 22 children who died just a few days prior in a terrible bus tragedy. [Keep reading at The Urban Country]

Coolest Glowing Beach Cruisers! Brite Bike Mission Beach July 4th 2011 [VIDEO]

Women bicycling across US for Safe Routes to School [FastLane DOT]

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The journey from Key West to San Francisco takes about 6 hours by plane, or 3 days by car.  Jane Ward, Jeanie and Chelsea Ward-Waller, and Stephanie Palmer are completing the trek of more than 5,000 miles in a little less than 3 months--on their bicycles. At the  National Bike Summit  last week, I had the pleasure of meeting Jane's husband and Jeanie and Chelsea's father, Stephen Waller.  Stephen told me about the inspiring journey that these four women embarked upon to support the  Safe Routes to School National Partnership . Jeanie, an avid cyclist and triathlete, first came up with the idea to ride across the country. "I wanted to bike across the country for a cause that I really cared about," she says. An environmental science teacher in West Virginia, Jeanie decided to take a semester off and make this dream a reality.  She planned a 5,500 mile route through 13 states and 20 major cities to raise $25,000 and create awareness for the League of American B

One mile on a bike is a $.42 economic gain to society, one mile driving is a $.20 loss [grist]

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Photo by Mikael Colville-Andersen. Copenhagen, the  bicycle-friendliest place on the planet , publishes a biannual  Bicycle Account , and buried in its pages is a rather astonishing fact,  reports Andy Clarke, president of the league of American Bicyclists : “When all these factors are added together the net social gain is DKK 1.22 per cycled kilometer. For purposes of comparison there is a net social loss of DKK 0.69 per kilometer driven by car.” 1.22 Danish crowns is about 25 cents and a kilometer is 6/10 of a mile, so we are talking about a net economic gain to society of 42 cents for every bicycle mile traveled. That’s a good number to have in your back pocket. [Continue reading at grist.com]