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Showing posts from May 19, 2013

Two-wheel ‘truckers’ get goods to market [Dispatch]

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View Slideshow CHRIS RUSSELL | DISPATCH PHOTOS Trevor Williams delivers freshly roasted coffee from Lane Avenue to businesses in Grandview Heights and the Short North. He’s one of two delivery riders at Backroom Coffee Roasters, which operates from the rear of a Trek Bicycle Store. A year ago, wine distributor Trevor Williams was confined to a truck hauling cases of zinfandel and merlot throughout central Ohio, a workday that was restrictive and stressful. “You’re constantly driving around I-270 for eight hours a day burning up gas,” he said. By day’s end, “I would just need to go do something to let me think.” Bicycling, he found, was the perfect release. Today, he’s still hauling product, but on two wheels and in fresh air. And he considers it as much work as play. He’s one of two delivery riders at Backroom Coffee Roasters, which operates from the rear of a Trek Bicycle Store in Upper Arlington. [Keep reading at The Dispatch]

Bike-Share Leads People to Ride Their Own Bikes More

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A recent survey of Washington’s Capital Bikeshare members found that the average annual subscriber drove 198 fewer miles per year. That added up to about  4.4 million fewer miles  of driving annually in the DC region. Members also saved an average of $800 a year per person. Bike-share encourages people to buy their own bikes, a Capital Bikeshare survey found. Image:  Washington Post At about the same time the survey was released, the  Washington Post  ran a story about the successes and limitations of CaBi, and David Alpert at  Greater Greater Washington  posted some observations in response. He points out that the benefits of bike-share are not limited to the trips people make using the system –it also leads people to ride their own bikes more frequently: I personally started biking a lot more often around DC once Capital Bikeshare launched, since it provided an easy way to take a spontaneous or one-way trip and not have to feel forced to then bike home. In later years,

Growing number of Americans going carless

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Getty Images Bicyclists ride along Market Street earlier this month in San Francisco, where the number of cyclists has surged 71 percent between 2006 and 2011. This appears to be a nationwide trend, as nearly 10 percent of American households are carless. Whether by choice or because  of  financial  necessity,  the number of American households without a car has doubled over the past two decades – and is now approaching 10 percent. The impact of this trend could be significant, especially when it comes to alternative forms of transportation such as car-sharing and mass transit, according to research by CNW Marketing. “While the recession was in large part responsible for the latest spurt, the trend was already clear,” says CNW’s research chief Art Spinella. “A growing number of Americans felt they didn’t need or want a personal car.” According to CNW data, the number of U.S. households without a car stood at a modest 5.7 perc

Chris Akrigg - five

Chris Akrigg - five from chris akrigg on Vimeo . This box isn't big enough to tell the full story so all i'll say for now is i had a lot of fun putting this edit together and it was probably one of the most challenging in every way. Have a watch and we'll talk later....

The Spokesman

The Spokesman from dean saffron on Vimeo .

What Girls Want

What Girls Want from DAKINE EUROPE on Vimeo .

StreetSeen - Which street would you prefer to ride a bicycle on? #letsride

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StreetSeen hopes to quantitatively understand different perceptions of streets. Most of us experience our cities along its streets. We walk along the sidewalks, bicycle or drive along the streets and ultimately explore our cities via these transportation networks. Google Street View  allows people to explore places across the world through 360-degree street-level images. Google Street View provides a great opportunity to study and understand our cities. StreetSeen is a project from  The Ohio State University  which extends Google Street View in order to allow people across the globe to experiment in evaluating cities. Visual preference surveys provide the opportunity to see what people think about different places. Visual preferences surveys, originated by Anton Tony Nelessen in the 1970s, typically ask participants to view a series of images and score them based on their preference. The best visual preference surveys are precise in what they are seeking to measure. For example

Columbus OH Critical Mass is Friday May 31

Critical Mass will happen Friday May 31!! Meet at the Statehouse at Broad and High 5:30 and ride at 6pm. Family friendly ride for all levels. We will end up at the Infoshop or othe location. For after party. [Sporeprint Infoshop]

Stolen Bike Alert - Morse/71 area

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Hey guys could you please be on the lookout for a matte silver/matte navy womens 2009 Trek 7100. It's a 17.5in frame and has mounts for both a front and rear light. It's my girlfriend's bike and was stolen from our home this afternoon. Follow the link and click on the matte silver/matte navy paint scheme and it's that exact bike.  http://www.trekbikes.com/us/ en/bikes/2009/archive/7100 # Call or email Taylor -  at 937 578 8330 or tmhott85@gmail.com

Tour of Franklinton UPDATES - Race is June 2 #letsride

Another round of good news. 1) Thanks to Julianna White of Fine Citizens, our brand new  Tour of Franklinton  website is live!  2) 30 hay bales arrives yesterday to protect riders from street poles and other dangerous course impediments. After the race, many of the hay bales will be donated to Franklinton Gardens. 3) Make sure you check out the May 30 Weekender section of the Columbus Dispatch. Thanks Amy, I look forward to reading your article. 4) The event is still in need of  volunteers.  If you know someone that has a couple of hours to spare, we could use the help. Course marshals, set up in the a.m, tear down in the p.m. - all easy and fun jobs. Coffee in the morning and Piada for lunch - What's not to like? 5) I'm excited to announce J from  Tenspeeds Productions  will be our race announcer! He's got a extensive background in cycling and will help keep the event flowing smoothly while educating the crowd on the action. Thanks to  Groove U  for pro

Wah-wah pedal for your bike! For cool kids ONLY!

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While it's anybody's guesss if it'll hold up on the trail, Nashbar's Wah-Wah is about the coolest bike pedal on the planet! It has a 6061 aluminium body with a CNC-machined CroMo spindle, LSL bushing, and sealed and needle bearings, and includes a 2mm hex wrench and traction pins. Weight: 506g. Price: $57.99.  More

Schnormeier Garden Ride is Saturday, June 8, 2013 #letsride

• 8:00AM from McNamara Park [Map here] • 9:30AM From Centerburg. Start time is approximate. Wait until the McNamara Park group arrives. This is a casual ride to the beautiful garden estate of the Schnormeier's in Gambier, Ohio. The gardens, waterfalls, and sanctuary houses are situated on 75 beautifully landscaped acres and are open to the public for only 5 days a year!  There are 2 ride options with access to food and water at Centerburg and Mt. Vernon. It will be a mix of road and paved trail riding. On Downing Rd. there is .7 miles of gravel which is doable on narrow road bike tires but you may choose to walk your bike for a short bit (only on the Option 1 route). There is also a very short bit of the Heart of Ohio Bike Trail this is unpaved but is doable on narrow road tires. The route is mostly flat with two short, steep climbs one mile from the destination. Lunch stop is planned after the visit to the gardens in Mt. Vernon at the Southside Diner (only one mile off route) in M

Highlands Passage Ride in Slade, KY is Saturday, June 8, 2013 #letsride @SwallowBicycle

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For the past couple of months we have been exploring new places to ride with you. A couple of weeks ago we decided to venture down to the Red River Gorge area and explore the surrounding land. We decided on a route that linked a series of roads to intriguing natural landmarks. We rode that route and liked it so much that we’d like to ride it again, this time, with you! Join us for Highlands Passage, Saturday, June 8.  Ride Note: Choose your own adventure and participate at your own risk! This is simply a scheduled time to ride and complete a common route with a variety of fun folks. We will provide you with a cue sheet and a basic map to encourage you to participate in any way you would like, whether that is with a group, or just a bud. There is no sag and the area we will be riding through is some-what remote with only a few places to stop for food and water if you need to refuel. Please come prepared! GPS Route:  Click here . Date and Time: 10:00 AM on Saturday, June 8, 201

A Self-Monitoring Bike Helmet To Make You Feel Like A Fighter Pilot [FastCompany]

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The Smart LifeBeam helmet checks up on your vitals as you bike, tracking your exercise and movement as you ride. An unlikely accessory has become the locus of significant innovation recently: the bike helmet. In the past few months we’ve reported on bike helmets  with cameras , bike helmets with  turn signals , and bike helmets with  LED lights . We even wrote about a helmet that you can’t see at all because  it’s not really there . The latest in helmet design takes a page from the exercise trend of self-monitoring, adding sensors to  the Genesis  helmet by Lazer design, which allow wearers to track their heart rate in real time without the added burden of a chest strap. According to its founders, The  Smart  helmet by LifeBeam isn’t just a helmet--it’s a platform that includes a microprocessor, “a state-of-the-art optical physiological sensor, accelerometer, and full wireless communication capabilities." Here’s how it works: "The optical sensor

Bicyclists ask legislators for 3-foot safe zone on roads [Dispatch] @yaybikes Rob Hendricks highlighted

Without warning last fall, Rob Hendricks felt a sedan going 45 mph smash into the back wheel of his bike. He tumbled backward onto the windshield, cracking four ribs and shattering two vertebrae. He came to rest face-down and shoeless on the pavement. Hendricks, who was hit about 6:45 a.m. in the Easton Town Center area during his 5-mile commute to work, said setting tougher rules will make drivers share the road. Hendricks was one of about 15 cyclists who pedaled from the Short North to the Ohio Statehouse yesterday. Clad in Spandex and still sweating from the hot ride, representatives of the group testified in support of a bill designed to encourage motorists to share space with bicyclists. The law would require drivers to leave a 3-foot space — about an arm’s length — when passing bikers on the road. Current law says cars should keep a safe distance. [Keep reading at Dispatch]

Serfas 2013: All Riders Welcome

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Greening Cities with Better Bike Lanes [thisbigcity]

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1 2 3 4 5 May is  National Bike Month  in the United States, something the country’s  57 million bicyclists  have had the opportunity to celebrate since 1956. Biking is a hot trend right now in the US, taking second place on a 2012 survey to find  Americans’ Favorite Outdoor Activities . Inspired by the European and Canadian model,  bike sharing  programs are now spreading across the States. Affordable and convenient fleets are set to transform American cities, with their number growing 50% this year compared with 2012. There’s now a total of 53 programs in North America, and in 2013 we can expect to see 6000 new bikes in New York, 4000 in Los Angeles, 3000 in Chicago and many others in different cities across America. Bike sharing programs are one of the main drivers for improving cycling infrastructure, that and the fact that 50% of all US trips are 3 miles or less. Just imagine the progress that could be made if half of those trips were done on two wheels. America

Y.N.RichKids - My Bike

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Used bikes change kids' lives [CNN]

Support Yay Bikes! (@yaybikes) on May 26th at Hal & Al's Food Truck event

Hal & Al’s is working hard to promote some positive things for the area as well as help them some worthy causes raise funds for their organizations. And how do we plan on doing it? By inviting a bunch of food trucks and ...  carts to our street the last Sunday of each month from 12 noon to 6pm! Bring your blankets, lawn chairs and appetites for this monthly event at the corner of Parsons Avenue and E. Gates St. and watch this space for updated information about what trucks and carts will be here and specific dates. May 26th July 7th June's event (during comfest) moved to first Sunday in July. August 25th September 29th October 27th Here’s our lineup for our Food Truck and Cart Hop on May 26th from 12 noon to 6pm Look for our favorite food trucks and carts to be set up to feed you, and this time your dog, lunch and dinner at the northwest corner of Parsons and E. Gates. Pedal Instead provides FREE secure bicycle parking at festivals throughout Central Ohio. Ride

Dinner and Bikes: Columbus is THIS FRIDAY May 24th at Hal & Al's

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Join us for a traveling road show of yummy food and bicycle inspiration and a celebration of local and national bike culture, advocacy, and activism!  Hal & Al's is located at 1297 Parsons Ave Columbus, Ohio 43206 Tickets are $10-$20 sliding scale (pay what you can) at the door, and include dinner. This is an all ages event. Come enjoy a gourmet vegan and gluten-free buffet by personal chef Joshua Ploeg, while participating in an interactive presentation about the everyday bicycling movement by author Elly Blue and watching a near-complete excerpt from film-maker Joe  Biel's forthcoming documentary Aftermass, a history of bicycle activism in Portland. The tour is traveling with a food- and bicycle-themed pop-up bookstore, and authors will be available to chat and sign books after the event. This event is hosted by Yay Bikes! and RideSolutions. Learn more about the Dinner and Bikes tour at  http://dinnerandbikes.com/ [Facebook event]

Oh my god. Oh. My. God. - $699 (Greenwich Village) [Craigslist]

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Grab a paper bag, breathe into it and calm your ass down. You're hyperventilating because you ain't never seen a deal like this before. Now collect yourself, then keep reading this incredible description that barely serves to do justice to my 2010 Felt Gridlock 3 speed fixed gear bike. Yes 3 SPEED FIXED GEAR. Also known as the greatest bike the city has ever had the privilege of existing around. What makes this bike so much better than every other bike that has ever been pedaled? Glad you asked. It starts with the paint scheme. It looks like Iron Man if Iron Man were a bike. That's bold, son. Curb appeal. It's probably also why some piece of trash stole the front tire that originally came with this beauty. Why didn't he steal the whole bike? Because he knew he wasn't man enough. That's ok, I replaced it with something that looks even more boss. The next thing is the genuine leather seat. My taint has had a love/hate relationship with this particular bit o

Bicycle hearse offers 'one last ride' to final resting place

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» PLAY VIDEO Wade Lind sketched out his plans for a bicycle hearse on a napkin at McDonald's. "It doesn't handle like a regular bicycle," the funeral director said. PHOTOS  » Bike hearse offers last rides (6) Bike hearse offers last rides (2) Bike hearse offers last rides (3) Bike hearse offers last rides (9) RELATED CONTENT Historic highway opens to bicycles EUGENE, Ore. - Wade Lind takes the lid off a 7-foot bamboo coffin inside his business, Sunset Hills Funeral Home. "When a person's in there, it's just so delicate looking," Lind says. He turns the lid over to reveal the intricate, hand-crafted lattice pattern. It looks much like a regular basket. "In the basket aspect, the weaving is similar," Lind said, "but different as far as these are designed to carry up to 300 pounds of weight, where as a basket is not." There's  eco-friendly  - and then there's green to the grave. Lind's funeral home