Columbus Rides Bikes!

Claire Stoscheck and Silvia Perez with bike and trailer (Photos by Erin Collins) "I received a bike last year and it was beautiful," Mariana (who preferred we just use her first name) recalled. "I didn't know how to ride before. But I was able to take my son to school. It also helped me lose seven pounds, and save time. Instead of walking somewhere in 45 minutes, I could ride my bike there in 15 minutes." Mariana was one of 17 women from the  Corcoran Neighborhood Organization’s  Mujeres en Accion y Poder who signed up to participate in the 2013 Community Partners Bike Library (CPBL) program, a free loaner bike program of  Cycles for Change  in St. Paul. During the June 4 orientation session at Powderhorn Park Recreation Building in Minneapolis, she got training and coaching on cycling safety and on proper techniques for locking a bike, fitting a helmet, and loading a bike onto a bus rack. Marianne Baum of CPBL explained that participants may take Learn ...

Jony Ive redesigns the bicycle. Credit  @mikaeledwards [Jony Ive Redesigns Things]

When:10AM Where: Goodale Park concrete shelter in the center of the park June's theme is Biking Bakeries! Best Biking Bakeries calls out to all riders this coming Saturday. Support our vendors and local businesses. Ride with your handlebar and saddlebags, mount your panniers and take some bakery goods home with you. There will simply be too much good stuff to enjoy on the tour. Share them with your friends and family and know they were delivered carbon free. Please support our vendors by buying their products on Saturday. A YEAR OF YAY! is a series of 12 tours on the streets of Columbus to get people out riding bikes and helping to support our community and small local businesses. You'll be amazed at what you'll discover!  Tours start at the Goodale Park open-air shelter, near the playground. HELMETS are *strongly* encouraged on all YB! rides. LOCKS are also useful at our stops. All YoY rides are FREE for Yay Bikes! members and $5 for everyone else. Membership is only ...

Tommy Dugan: Empire - Bad Idea from CollateralBMX on Vimeo .

Beyond the Metal from Sidewayz Films on Vimeo . Today I saw a silver pickup truck going down the road with a sticker on the lower right bumper. The sticker read “biker repellant” with and arrow pointing to the diesel exhaust pipe. That bumper sticker stirred a dormant anger and sadness in me. I talked to my 37 year old brother Kevin almost every day. Kevin was my brother and my best friend. Often he told me stories from his daily bike commute to work. “Someone purposely tried to run me off the road today.” “Someone yelled ‘Get off the road’ and honked at me today.” “Someone threw an almost full can of soda at me today.” I finally asked him to stop telling me about the harassment. It was difficult to imagine that he was being treated this way. I often wondered if these drivers ever stopped and reminded themselves that the cyclist was a human being who had a mother, a father, a daughter, a wife, a sister and friends. Kevin was a kind and giving person. He genuinely loved helping...

Racers will make their way from Bannf, Alberta Canada on their way to Antelope Wells!  TourDivide.org   and via SPOT GPS at Trackleaders.com ! And follow the discussion   here . Check out the Google Doc with the start list   here . This year Ed Turkaly will be riding to raise money for  Schwachman-Diamond Syndrome . Please consider  donating  to the cause and follow along as Ed rides the Tour Divide! Help  Ryan Sigsbey  reach his goal for  Trips for Kids WNC ! **Note: With the TourDivide site currently down, Chris Bennett has posted the  rules  out on his website !

CC BY 3.0 SF Indianapolis' Cultural Trail Back in 2007,  we wrote about  the beginning of an ambitious project in Indianapolis, with the goal of creating a vast network of beautiful protected bike/pedestrian paths around the city center to connects the city's five downtown Cultural Districts, neighborhoods and entertainment amenities, and "serves as the downtown hub for the entire central Indiana greenway system". Fast forward to today, and Indianapolis'  Cultural Trail  has become a reality, yet it has been flying under the radar compared to some other bike initiatives like, for example,  New York's Citi Bike . That's too bad, because the Indianapolis Cultural Trail deserves the spotlight, and should serve as a model for other cities. In the words of our friend Clarence at  Streetfilms , it could be "the biggest bicycling infrastructure achievement in North America and yet it's still practically a secret." See for yourself how c...

Get lost in the woods, but don’t lose your charge! The HALO powers devices for the outdoor enthusiast and emergency preparedness. Portable Power The HALO Fuel Cell is an outdoor power station that fits standard fuel canisters. It is sized to be a portable, compact, and lightweight addition to your current gear. HALO allows you to keep your electronics running while on camping trips or the times you are left without electricity. The Halo Fuel Cell charging an iPad.   Cutting-edge Fuel Cell Technology The HALO Fuel Cell uses our patented fuel cell technology (M-SOFC) to charge USB-compatible devices. Our M-SOFC cells are made primarily of stainless steel, with very thin layers of ceramic. The M-SOFC is extremely rugged, capable of rapid thermal cycling and abusive thermal shock, and tolerant to all types of fuels with no fuel processing.This is not a thermoelectric generator. Fuel cells are more efficient than thermoelectrics and more convenient than solar.  ...

Meg Balsillie started Farm Dog Cycles, which offers bike rentals and tours of Essex County. (TYLER BROWNBRIDGE / The Windsor Star) Local tourism officials see the next wave of visitors to the region arriving on two wheels. For the first time, the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure is bringing about 200 bike enthusiasts from the U.S., Ontario, Quebec and Alberta to the area in August to ride along Lake Erie. The supported cycling tour starts in Lakeshore and runs through Windsor and Leamington before ending seven days later after 600 kilometres in Fort Erie. For the past five years the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure has toured 730 kilometres of Lake Ontario from Niagara to the Quebec border. The cycling tour is just one of the reasons Tourism, Windsor, Essex, Pelee Island is bringing in experts from the Cyclists Network to get local businesses certified as able to accommodate cycling tourists. [Keep reading at Windsor Star]

Crystal City from Patriot on Vimeo . Know as you watch this video that only minor injuries were suffered, so you're free to enjoy these crashes as slapstick, and a true mess of course design. This comes from Sunday's Crystal Cup bike race outside of Washington, D.C., part of the Air Force Association Cycling Classic. The initial crash, at the 33-second mark, looks worse than it is. The camera doesn't capture the collision, but it's not the car hitting the race marshal. It's a straggler behind the peloton that clips her and knocks her down—the car was thankfully able to stop before hitting the downed cyclist. But wait: that's the lead car.  Take a look at the course map —this is the north section.  The peloton is coming back around.  They have no idea what's waiting for them. As officials desperately try to get the riders to stay right (even as one yells, "Left! Left!"), one swings wide and attempts to bunny hop the prone marshal. It goes...

Consumers should stop using this product unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product. Recall date:  JUNE 12, 2013 Recall number:  13-213 Enlarge 1 of 4 photos Recalled Salsa La Cruz bicycle fork Next Previous Download Share Recall Summary Name of product: Salsa Bicycle Forks Hazard: The bicycle fork can bend above the disc brake mount, posing a fall hazard to the rider. Remedy: View Details Refund Replace Consumer Contact: Salsa Cycles; toll-free at (877) 774-6208 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, or online at  www.salsacycles.com  and click on the Fork Recall button for more information. Report an Incident Involving this Product Recall Details Units About 1,700 Description This recall involves all Salsa Vaya bicycle forks stamped with the batch codes 2011 02 21, 2011 04 11, 2011 06 14 and 2011 09 09 and all Salsa La Cruz bicycle forks stam...

This surely isn’t the first time you’ve heard this, but it certainly bears repeating: Creating long-distance bicycle routes and trails draws travelers on two wheels who spend money. Ontario’s Waterfront Trail (click for detail) Twenty-seven Canadian communities will learn that this summer when a new, 370-mile section Ontario’s  Waterfront Trail  will be opened along the north shore of Lake Erie. Coming in the slipstream of that trail opening will be 200 bicyclists on the  Great Waterfront Trail Adventure Bike Tour . More will surely follow on their own and in small groups. To learn about bicycle tourism, local merchants are attending seminars to learn the benefits of being bicycle friendly. according to the  Windsor (Ont.) Star . One suggestion, for instance, is for hotels to provide secure storage for bicyclists and provide information that touring bicyclists would find helpful. Wineries are told to install bike racks so passing bicyclists wi...

What is a Complete Street? It has adequate crosswalk, sidewalks for all abilities, and designated cycling paths. Do you have easy access to schools, parks, medical facilities and simple services like grocery and drug stores? Do you have alternative transportation options when the car is in the shop?  Does your neighborhood have sidewalks? And if so, are they well maintained? If you are like the large majority of Americans, your plan is to stay in your community — if not in your very same home — as you get older. However, in order to do so, you need to be confident that your community has convenient, safe and reliable options to get you where you need and want to go. For years, U.S. transportation policy has focused almost entirely on construction and maintenance of roads to accommodate more cars. And while cars are obviously critical to our transportation network, they are only part of the equation. That is why  AARP  is so pleased that transportation planners an...

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy The inspiring true story of how a humble rail-trail has helped Cleveland bounce back from the Rust Belt doldrums... It's wonderful to see the fruits of our labors - we are inspired to keep helping America's communities reap the benefits of bike- and walkability!

In this issue: The “Why” question Edward Genochio reflects on why he takes bicycle journeys. Inspirational photos Diverse images from the bike touring survival guide book cover photo contest. Gijs Stevers Cycled from Norway to South Africa on an electric bike. Equipment information and more… Bicycle Traveler is an international magazine about bicycle touring. It’s full of entertaining stories and inspiring photography which will have you dreaming over new destinations and the latest cycling gear. Subscribe to the magazine (it's free!) so that you don’t miss out on future editions. Read more, subscribe, and download your FREE issue at  http://bicycletraveler.bicyclingaroundtheworld.nl/

Take your growler on a bike ride!  Growler Cages are specially designed to attach popular glass growlers to your bike.  These cages have a steel core wrapped in a soft, smooth, waterproof neoprene sheath that protects the glass while holding on tightly.  Each cage is made individually in Minneapolis, MN.  Growler Cages fit in place of any water bottle cage, and have an adjustable sliding mount to fit a variety of frame sizes.  Patent Pending.   Please do not drink and ride! [Growler Cage]

Urban steel commuter Stainles steel unique frame without seat tube. 100% handmade in Estonia. Two identical tube frames rune alongside the entire fraem. Joined at the head tube, seat tube and bottom bracket. This frame is still in prototype mode. First set of frames are in the production for first customers. Estimated to be finished by the end of April. After that a new patch will go into making. If ou are interested in getting on Viks (entire bike or just a frame), send an email to  info@velonia.com and get on the waiting list. Check out Viks's  facebook page  for more updates and news.

Photo by Dmitry Gudkov –  gudphoto.com When I’m with my bike, “Where’s your helmet?!” is a real popular question from just about anybody who feels entitled to exercise passive-aggressive judgment in question form. Thankfully, I don’t feel the gall to ask total strangers “Do you really need  another  martini?”, “How about salad instead of fries?” or “Are you sure about the tank top?” – even after it’s clearly too late. When I was a kid growing up in the ’70s and ’80s in Lakewood, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, riding a bike was fun, not serious. In our early years, we rode upright on Huffy Dragsters and dirt bikes, doing fast turns, going down hills and catching air on crude homemade ramps on the driveway. And sometimes we fell. When we fell, whether sideways or front-ways, our hands met the ground. We didn’t wear special bicycling clothes, and none of us wore helmets. I was the youngest of five when I learned to ride a bike in the mid ’70s. My oldest sibling, my s...

Columbus wants to turn a car-heavy corridor into a friend-lier route for bicyclists. The city is installing a ramp from W. Goodale Street to the Olentangy Trail, which runs beneath the street and between Rt. 315 and the Olentangy River. The ramp will include a flat, covered balcony that overlooks the path, where cyclists can slow down before entering the trail below.A stretch of sidewalk on the north side of Goodale will be widened to accommodate both pedestrians and cyclists. Construction was scheduled to start in August but was pushed back when bids came in about $1 million over the $4.3 million the city budgeted for the project, said Terri Leist of the Recreation and Parks Department. The city has rebid the project after cutting some amenities, such as ornamental railings, Leist said. It expects to open new bids in late June, putting the project behind by about six weeks. Federal funds will cover about 80 percent of the project, said Brad Westall, the city’s greenways plan...

Hundreds of cyclists strip off to take part in World Naked Bike Ride Day on Saturday. Participants ride on the capital's main streets, bringing traffic to a standstill as onlookers take photos. The international event is designed to raise awareness of road safety for bikes, though some in Mexico also use the event to promote the normality of nudity