Columbus Rides Bikes!

The New York City Department of Transportation Left, Pearl Street Triangle in Dumbo, Brooklyn, as it previously existed as a parking site and, right, as the city’s Department of Transportation remade it in a renovation plan.  More Photos » By  MICHAEL KIMMELMAN Published: May 31, 2013 In Brooklyn, the No. 3 subway line ends at New Lots Avenue, where passengers descend from the elevated tracks to what used to be a nasty intersection, trafficked by prostitutes, drug dealers — “You name it,” as Eddie Di Benedetto, the owner of Caterina’s Pizzeria, put it the other day. Not long ago, a coalition of local merchants and community leaders turned to the New York City Department of Transportation, which runs a program to make traffic circles, triangles and streets into pedestrian plazas.  The department brought in some potted trees and chairs, closed off a short street and voilà, what had been a problem became a boon. Since the plaza opened last summer, crime...

Lyons Outdoor Games 2012 Dirt Jump Highlights from Tim DaCosta on Vimeo .

How the “Bikelash” quieted down in New York and other cities. A rider on the 9th Avenue bike lane in New York City. (Image: NYC DOT) Former New York mayor Ed Koch envisioned bicycles as vehicles for the future, and in 1980 created experimental bike lanes on 6 th  and 7 th  Avenues in Manhattan where riders were protected from speeding traffic by asphalt barriers. It was unlike anything most Americans had ever seen—and some people roared their disapproval. Within weeks, the bike lanes were gone. Twenty-seven years later New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and his transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan saw the growing ranks of bicyclists on the streets as a key component of 21 st Century transportation, and began building protected bike lanes in Manhattan and Brooklyn. They had studied the success of similar projects in Copenhagen and the Netherlands, noting how to make projects more efficient and aesthetically pleasing. These “green lanes” and pedestrian plazas we...

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...

http://issuu.com/bunyanvelo/docs/bunyanvelo02 http://bunyanvelo.com

(Forbes Image) When Jeanne Harrison, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker’s Capitol Hill office in  Washington , D.C.,  takes clients shopping for a home, her preference is to do the tour using two wheels, not four. Real estate agents usually “drive fancy cars,” says Harrison,  who along with her partner, Phil Guire, prefers to bicycle instead. “We sell a lot of real estate and we get around by bike a lot.”  After all, in the busy, hard-to-park Capitol Hill area,  pedal power “is the fastest way to get around.” Ms. Harrison, and her partner, Phil Guire, are  among the growing cadre of real estate agents nationwide cycling alongside their clients to see prospective houses. While she rides her own bike, the buyers often  use the cruisers for rent at the  Capital Bikeshare  stations. In part because of its health and environmental benefits, biking is  becoming an increasingly popular way to commute. The District’s three-year-o...

Planning is starting to ramp up for CoGo, the  newly-branded  Columbus bike share system. Organizers hope to have 30 stations installed and 300 bikes available for use by the end of July. They have also released a map showing where the stations will be; the system will extend south to Schiller Park, west to COSI, east to Parsons Avenue and north to 4th Avenue in the Short North. Alta Bicycle Share’s Heather Bowden, project director for the Columbus system, explained that the stations will be assembled in a local warehouse this June; “they are quick to install since they don’t need to be attached to the ground and they’re solar-powered, so they don’t even need an outlet.” Annual and daily passes will be available, with a special “founding member” pre-sale starting in June, once the CoGo website is up. [Keep reading at Columbus Underground]

Mohican Mountain Bike 100 Date/Time: June 1, 2013 7am Location:   Race begins in downtown Loudonville, Ohio. Finish at Mohican Adventures located one mile from downtown. Race Description:   Criss -Cross four counties along a single loop, climb more than 11,000 feet, and go toe to toe with the top pros on this legendary ultra-endurance loop in Northeastern Ohio. The Mohican 100 features both a 100 mile and a 100 kilometer option with five fully stocked aid stations plus self-serve water stops. Race Info:   ENTRY FEE INCLUDES :  ·   Race entry · 5  fully stocked aid stations ·   Post-race buffet BBQ Chicken and Pork Chops dinner with all the fix’ins ·  Mohican MTB100 T-shirt No guarantee on size and availability for racers who are not pre-registered . · Custom Mohican MTB 100 Beer Mugs for finishers ·   Memories of Mohican Country that you will never forget. [Details here]

[See more at Jordi Hans Design]

How the “Bikelash” quieted down in New York and other cities. A rider on the 9th Avenue bike lane in New York City. (Image: NYC DOT) Former New York mayor Ed Koch envisioned bicycles as vehicles for the future, and in 1980 created experimental bike lanes on 6 th  and 7 th  Avenues in Manhattan where riders were protected from speeding traffic by asphalt barriers. It was unlike anything most Americans had ever seen—and some people roared their disapproval. Within weeks, the bike lanes were gone. Twenty-seven years later New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and his transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan saw the growing ranks of bicyclists on the streets as a key component of 21 st Century transportation, and began building protected bike lanes in Manhattan and Brooklyn. They had studied the success of similar projects in Copenhagen and the Netherlands, noting how to make projects more efficient and aesthetically pleasing. These “green lanes” and pedestrian plazas we...

MONKEYLETRIC Remember when cramming a baseball card into your bicycle spokes was all the rage? That's still ace, but here's something a little more...high-tech: The folks at MonkeyLetric have shown us spinning LED displays before, but never one as impressive as the  Monkey Light Pro . This gadget, currently in Kickstarter mode, effectively turns your bike wheels onto customizable animated luminous discs. Motorcycle noise sold separately. Here's how Monkey Light works: As you ride, sensors measure how quickly your wheels rotate, and tell the device how and when to display carefully timed flashes of light. The phenomenon of persistence of vision, or the split-second that an image seems to endure after it's flitted away, allows spinning strips of lights blinked in rapid succession to effectively craft a circular LED display. What MonkeyLight displays is entirely up to you. The Monkey Light Pro will feature Bluetooth connectivity, through which you can select from a ga...

people Q&A with Dusty Wymer, co-owner of Cycle Tavern For the Love of Bikes: A bike built for a keg For the Love of Bikes: Women & biking For the Love of Bikes: Bike Safety For the Love of Bikes: Introduction Ride Naked (or in tweed): Unique bike events promise fun For the Love of Bikes: Bike art and design Zen and the art of bicycle maintenance: 9 lessons learned during a bike rebuild Biking for sport: There's more to bicycle-related competition than spandex and Lance Armstrong For the Love of Bikes: Basic Bike Maintenance Riding tall: Local club builds bikes that reach for the stars For the Love of Bikes: Bike Theft Prevention

The campaign will officially kickoff with a bike-to-work ride with Mayor Coleman on the morning of June 17, 2013. The event will start at 7:30 a.m. (arrive 7:15 a. m.) with brief remarks at Westside Health Center at 2300 W. Broad Street (adjacent to Wheatland Avenue) on the Hilltop and will finish at Portman Plaza on the south side of Columbus City Hall between 8:30 and 9 a.m. Yay Bikes! will have a table in the plaza at city hall, ride with the mayor and/or stop by and show your support for the Share the Road campaign! #letsride

Read more: http://www.wcpo.com/dpp/news/local_news/new-law-could-keep-3-foot-distance-between-cyclists-and-drivers#ixzz2Uj3WHFt3

Who are cycle lanes for? from British Cycling on Vimeo .

CitiBike  has landed. Yesterday, amid a scrum of politicians and reporters, city officials introduced the system poised to transform New York street life. But keeping track of 6,000 new bikes—not to mention their riders—will be no small chore. And to do it, the city is implementing a handful of smart systems, ranging from modular docking system to solar-powered tail lights. The program is a long time coming. Other cities, like Boston, D.C., and Chattanooga (who knew?), have been there first. But New York poses its own unique problems: There’s the simmering culture war between cyclists and pretty much everyone else. There’s the  vastly understaffed accident report squad , which has bungled the cases of several cyclists killed in the past year. There’s the infrastructural shortcomings of a densely-populated city where roads are vital economic lifelines—and the claiming of said roads by cyclists is viewed by businesses as nothing short of aggressive . CitiBike, then, repres...

Help promote the launch of CoGo, the Columbus Bike Share system coming later this summer. Volunteers are needed to help staff the information booth at major events throughout the summer festival season. Festivals: Columbus Arts Festival: June 7-9 Columbus Pride: June 21-22 Comfest: June 28-30 Red, White and Boom: July 3 Doo Dah: July 4 (the non-booth booth) Jazz and Rib Fest. July 19-21 If you are interested in helping promote CoGo Bike Share at one or more of these events, please contact Volunteer coordinator Michael Blau at mibla001 at gmail (online sign-up coming soon). In recognition of your contribution, you will receive a complimentary Bike Share Annual Membership.

I’m a big fan of wide-range doubles and smaller chain rings. When I first got into cycling, I never quite understood why double chainrings started in the 50t range. As a beginner cyclist, the 52t chainring is more aspirational than functional. As a touring cyclist, the 50t+ chainring (for me anyways) acted more like a pointy bash guard. It seems like a pointless standard that slavishly follows racing trends (though believe it or not, most cyclists don’t race). Years later and having about thousands of miles and a cross-country trip under my belt, for me a 50t+ chainring is still bonkers. When I caught wind of Sugino’s OX601D Compact Plus  (here on out referring to it as “Compact Plus” in this review), which promises smaller chainring combinations that simply don’t exist in the mainstream cycling market, I was ecstatic. Having previously tried  Velo-Orange Grand Cru  cranks, I was sold on the wide-range double concept and was interested on Sugino’s take on them. The Imp...