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Showing posts from October 4, 2015

Should Cyclists Have to Stop at Stop Signs? @citylab

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jennyrotten / Flickr San Francisco has a well-deserved reputation as a city that’s willing to experiment with urban policy. Now that reputation is being put to the test, as legislation that would change the way police deal with cyclists and stop signs makes its way through the city’s Board of Supervisors. The ordinance, known as the Bike Yield Law, would instruct cops to treat cyclists who roll slowly and cautiously through stop signs as their lowest enforcement priority. It would, in essence, permit the so-called  Idaho stop , in which a person on a bike is allowed to approach a stop sign, check for conflicts with drivers and people on foot, then roll through without coming to a complete halt—essentially treating it as a yield sign. The Idaho stop is called that because it’s been the law in that state since 1982. Idaho, including its largest city, Boise (population 214,000), has served as a large, ongoing experiment in how well this practice works, at least in places with relat...

Salt Lake City Cuts Car Parking, Adds Bike Lanes, Sees Retail Boost @StreetsblogUSA

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The new 300 South, a.k.a. Broadway. Photos: Salt Lake City. Michael Andersen blogs for  The Green Lane Project , a PeopleForBikes program that helps U.S. cities build better bike lanes to create low-stress streets. Protected bike lanes require space on the street, and removing curbside auto parking is one of several ways to find it. But whenever cities propose parking removal, retailers understandably worry. A growing body of evidence suggests that if bike lanes and parking removal contribute to a street with calmer traffic and a better pedestrian environment, everybody can win. In an  in-house study  of its new protected bike lane, Salt Lake City found that when parking removal was done as part of a wide-ranging investment in the streetscape — including street planters, better crosswalks, public art, and colored pavement — converting parking spaces to high-quality bike lanes coincided with a jump in retail sales. On 300 South, a street that’s al...

Lack of transport retailers a barrier to everyday biking in Vancouver @vancitybuzz

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It may come as a surprise to many, but the North American bicycle retail industry is struggling. Badly. Despite many cities shifting public policy towards establishing the bicycle as a regular, everyday form of transportation, U.S. retailers recently reported a  decline in sales  for the 14th consecutive year, while the number of bike shops fell by 18%, and the amount of sales floor square footage has remained essentially stagnant. While many reasons have been given for that falloff, we firmly believe the theory that most manufacturers and retailers are selling “the wrong bikes for the wrong reason.” Nowhere is that more apparent than here in Vancouver, where manufacturers, retailers, advocates, and city officials continue to conflate the worlds of sport and transportation cycling, to the distinct detriment of the latter. [Keep reading at VancityBuzz]

SEE THE WORLD 5: Where the Mountains go (Trailer)

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Leg Work: Cyclists have the right to ‘control the lane’ for safety | Portland Press Herald

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I recently saw a man bicycling smack in the middle of the main travel lane on one of Portland’s busiest streets, with a line of cars trailing behind. In cycling lingo, this is known as “taking the lane” or “controlling the lane.” And it seems to be a growing trend, especially in urban areas. John Brooking “controls the lane” near the Maine Mall in South Portland. He and other bicycle educators say riding near the middle of the road is sometimes necessary for safety.  Gordon Chibroski/Staff Photographer. Bicycle safety experts say that controlling the lane is the safest way for cyclists to position themselves under a variety of scenarios. Some even recommend it as a default position for those riding in city traffic. This is a controversial idea, because it forces motorists to slow down. It also is counterintuitive to believe that one would be safer riding amid cars and trucks rather than on the road’s edge. As a slow, cautious cyclist, I often feel scared cont...

5 Anti-Bike Arguments That Should Be Retired @citylab

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Jim Pennucci / Flickr It’s time to  move beyond  the misguided war between bikes and cars. Doing so requires all parties on urban streets to acknowledge that city mobility is a collective problem without an either-or answer. In the spirit of a healthier such discussion, we’ve culled from  this excellent list of anti-bike arguments that should be put to rest, compiled by  Lindsey Wallace at  streets.mn , as well as a recent longer list from  Adam Mann in  Wired . 1. Cyclists break the rules If breaking the law is a knock against cyclists, then it’s a knock against everyone who uses city streets. Some bike riders do  run red lights  (though it’s often because the signal doesn’t recognize them) or  pop onto the sidewalk (though it’s often because they don’t have bike lanes). Then again, drivers are no strangers to blowing lights—one in 10  run reds  in New York City—and doing so is the most common cause of crashes in U.S. citi...

2015 UCI Road World Championships - Onboard Men's U23

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How to Make Coffee While Bike Touring - PathLessPedaled.com

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Inside the Dirty, Dangerous World of Cyclocross @MaximMag

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Inside the Dirty, Dangerous World of Cyclocross It's gnarly, it's muddy, and it's the fastest-growing sport on two wheels. Can you survive cycling's crucible? On the Sunday afternoon when he should be resting, Jeremy Powers instead takes the road to the left, and soon his bike hums over the gently sloped lane, the stunning but foreboding forests of Western Massachusetts crowding the path and humidity curdling the air, until he sees the pavement rise before him, rise and curve and rise again, epically, endlessly. His pedaling slows and then nearly stops—so steep is the incline—and now he’s up off the saddle and pumping, the bike swaying wildly with each downward stroke. He has already this morning done the lunges and box steps and side crunches that he hates, movements that strengthen his comically slim core but will leave him with a soreness that lasts until Wednesday. He has also already gone on a five-mile run. And yet the notorious King’s Highway—the...

The Benefits of Slower Traffic, Measured in Money and Lives @citylab

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Case Studies on Transport Policy In May 2014, three school kids in New Brunswick, New Jersey, were hit by a car on Livingston Avenue while in the crosswalk. They were each injured—one seriously—and rushed to the hospital. A cell phone video taken at the scene is pierced with anonymous screams. Fortunately,  according to news reports , the kids recovered. Unfortunately, the trauma they and their families endured is all too common on the streets of U.S. cities. What makes the situation in New Brunswick so much more regrettable is that city leaders knew about the safety hazards on Livingston Avenue but hesitated to change traffic patterns for fear of offending drivers. [Keep reading at CityLab]