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Showing posts from July 28, 2013

The Art of Yelling @ellyblue | Bicycling

One day, a decade ago, I was riding my bicycle over one of the bridges across the river in the center of Portland when some guy started yelling and pointing at me in a demanding, aggressive way. I was confused and annoyed. I was working hard to pedal up the hill onto the bridge, focused on my effort and also both proud of and a little nervous about what I was doing—crossing over to the west side of town by bicycle, something I’d done only a few times before. Usually when I ventured downtown it was in a friend’s car or as a passenger on the bus. I didn’t know my way around well yet, and found the wide, one-way streets daunting. I’d had to muster up my courage to make this trip, and now some guy was heckling me. Great. It wasn’t until I was coasting over the flat part of the bridge that something clicked. My bike felt like it was on springs or shocks, bouncing strangely over every bump in the road. Then I realized what this meant—something that had happened to me only once or twice

Kickstarter project wants to turn your bicycle helmet into something from 'Tron' [FastCompany]

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Electroluminescense isn't new—hobbyists have toyed with the technology for a while, making everyday objects look like they  came straight out of Tron .  Paul Schnieder  wants to use it to help make cycling at night a little less dangerous. Paul's  Electroluminescent Helmet Kit , currently on Kickstarter, is based on a simple concept: It adds electroluminescent (EL) strips to the sides and back of motorcycle and bicycle helmets. The result not only gives your helmet that oh-so-hip sci-fi aesthetic, but it can also help increase your visibility as you ride around at night, possibly preventing you from getting hit by a car. The kit would come with a flexible EL light strip to wrap around your helmet, a battery pack (which attaches to the back of the helmet), and the necessary cables. According to Paul, his goal was to design something that's easy to operate, lasts a long time on a single set of batteries, and stays cool to the touch. According  to the Kickstarte

Helinox Chair One distributed by Big Agnes | YouTube

I will let you know how well this chair works after our next bike camping trip. : ) - Ray

The Handleband | Vimeo

The Handleband from EthicMade on Vimeo .

The Rise of The North American Protected Bike Lane | Momentum Mag

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Courtesy of NACTO A 3D rendering of a One-Way Protected Cycle Track with planters and parking buffer from the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide. There was a time when a narrow stripe of asphalt in Park Slope, Brooklyn, was the most hotly contested ribbon of pavement in the United States. Reams of news coverage were devoted to the battle for this solitary disputed traffic lane: the Prospect Park West bike lane. Fighting for its removal was a wealthy and influential group of nearby property owners, headed by Iris Weinshall, the wife of US Rep. Chuck Schumer. Meanwhile, on the defense was the full collective strength of America’s largest urban bike advocacy community, headed by  Transportation Alternatives , an advocacy group with 100,000 active supporters across the city. The Prospect Park West bike lane was a small part of about 250 miles (400 kilometers) of bikeways that New York City had added over roughly five years, between 2007 and 2012. But most importantly, thi

What's Big With The College Kids? Bike Sharing | Forbes

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Columbus, Ohio (Photo credit: Dougtone via Flickr) Hello, Columbus! Bike sharing has come to the home of The Ohio State University, in a new program called  CoGo. The bike sharing system launched Tuesday morning,  according to the Columbus Dispatch , with 30 bike sharing locations spread across the city. The program, like many across the United States, is run by the city in conjunction with Alta Bike Share. The city and Alta have a contract that calls for revenues to be split, once operating costs are covered. CoGo will have 300 bikes, painted in gray and red (the OSU colors) and a price range similar to bike sharing programs in Chicago, Boston and New York. A daily pass costs $6, while an annual membership costs $75. If someone rides off with a bike and doesn’t return it, they’ll be charged $1,200. [Keep reading at Forbes]

Your Chamois: A User's Guide | Bicycling

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Photo:   Michael Robertson Myth  A  chamois  is little more than extra cushioning between you and your  saddle .  Reality  Assuming you wear it correctly—i.e., without underwear—a chamois pad not only supports your sit bones, but also prevents chafing by transferring moisture away from your body and moving with you on the seat so your skin doesn't rub. Myth  The thicker the pad, the better. Reality  Your ideal chamois thickness depends on how you sit on the bike. Prefer an upright position? Look for a multithickness pad with extra rear cushioning. If you ride more stretched out, try a pad with even thickness and multidensity foam. Keep in mind that your needs may change over time. Myth  Chamois pads are made from leather. Reality  Before DuPont invented Coolmax in 1986, most cycling inserts were indeed made from animal skin. Riders used chamois cream to keep the leather supple. Today's synthetic p

Would You Ride a Bike Superhighway? | Mashable

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As people become more concerned with conserving the environment and improving our health, bicycle superhighways seem to be the ideal panacea. Encouraging commuters to bike to work instead of drive in a car promotes personal well-being, a greener world and it can even  encourage fresh thinking in the workplace . Below, we outline three cities whose transit innovations are headed in the right direction, promoting healthier transportation options for both the planet and ourselves. Would you commute on a bicycle superhighway if you had one in your city? Let us know in the comments. Image: MyLoupe/Universal Images Group via Gettty Images Copenhagen's  Cykelsuperstier  is the perfect example of a successfully implemented bike superhighway. Aiming to connect residential areas outside of Copenhagen with educational facilities and job-laden areas, the local governments teamed up to build an expansive system of 26 new bike routes. The first route opened in April 2012 and connect

Bicyclist's Condition Improving After Being Hit By Truck [10TV]

A bicyclist was taken to Grant Medical Center after being hit by a truck in south Columbus. Police shut down the intersection at Fairwood Avenue and Marion Road while they treated the victim, but was reopened shortly after the victim was transported to the hospital. The driver of the pick-up truck did stop at the scene. Police said the bicyclist is expected to recover. Stay with 10TV and refresh 10TV.com for updates on this story.

Pedal to the Nettle

Pedal to the Nettle - Digital Edition from Edible Manhattan on Vimeo .

Checking out CoGo, the city's new bike-share program | Dispatch

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My first CoGo experience got off to a rough start. The bike-share station at 3 rd  & Gay refused to take my credit card. I tried again. No. I tried a third time. No. Is it my card, is it the station? I went over to the station at Broad & High and … voila … it worked! Thank goodness, otherwise this blog post would have ended right here. Later, someone from CoGo said there’d been a temporary glitch in the system, which they had fixed, and this is why I couldn’t get my bike at 3 rd  & Gay. So, here’s my review of CoGo: Getting started . It’s pretty easy and straightforward, although there are a lot of steps to get your day pass/code. First, you have to tell the machine if you want one or two day passes, then you swipe your credit card, hope it accepts it and then follow several prompts, including the one where you agree to pay $1,200 if the bike you rent is stolen. In other words: don’t let your bike out of your sight! It costs $6 for a day pass, which seems a litt

How to Bike Share - Columbus' bike-share program goes live [Dispatch]

Get the app here:   http://www.columbusridesbikes.com/2013/07/spotcycle-helps-you-get-most-out-of.html

Why fast pedaling makes cyclists more efficient | Active

Recently we reported that cyclists are usually more efficient on both hills and flat terrain when they pedal quickly (at about 80-85 rpm) rather than at slower cadences. Now, a new study suggests that the greater efficiency may be related to the rapid rate at which glycogen is depleted in fast-twitch muscle fibers during slow, high-force pedaling. To determine the actual effects of slow and fast pedaling on leg-muscle cells, scientists at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Wyoming asked eight experienced cyclists to cycle at an intensity of 85%  V02max  for 30 minutes under two different conditions. In one case the cyclists pedaled their bikes at 50 revolutions per minute (rpm) while using a high gear. In the second case, the athletes pedaled in a low gear at 100 rpm. The athletes were traveling at identical speeds in the two instances, so their leg-muscle contractions were quite forceful at 50 rpm and moderate -- but more frequent -- at 100 rpm. As it turned ou

Spotcycle™ helps you get the most out of your bike share system!

Spotcycle™ is a  free , fast and smart mobile application that maximizes your bike-sharing experience. Created by  8D Technologies™ ,  the brains behind some of the most successful bike-share systems around the world , Spotcycle is one of the handiest apps available on the market. BIKE stations status and location Locate bike stations on the bike share system. List the ten nearest bike stations. Display the bike and bike dock availability for each bike station. Group stations into favorites for quick access. CREATE personalized bike routes* Use your smartphone's GPS feature to record and map out your bike route. Annotate points of interest to your bike route. Save your bike routes to your Spotcycle account for later use. Edit your bike routes or add descriptions to them. Add descriptions to your annotations. Class your bike routes and annotations into pre-defined categories. SHARE your routes Share your saved bike routes with the Spotcycle community an

Contes Engineering BMX Scene | YouTube

Experiments in Speed | Vimeo

Experiments in Speed from SpindleProductions on Vimeo .

For Danny MacAskill from Jack | YouTube