Eurobike Friday news

BRaIN: "Traffic clogged all roads leading to Eurobike Thursday as thousands of visitors poured into the exhibition center’s 13 halls to get a firsthand look at 2008 products."

Bike Radar: Nice and new Crank Brothers kit likes very shiny and pretty: Integrated headsets, cranksets, wheels, and seatposts. Very interesting.

Bike Radar: Road bike showstoppers -- lots of amazing yummy bike porn.

Michael Frank @ Bicycling Magazine: Eurobike report.

VeloNews show report and photo gallery.

Cyclingnews Eurobike coverage.

Bike Magic Eurobike bicycle porn.

Details on SRAM Red, SRAM's new high end road group.

29er fans are happy to see some 29er interest at Eurobike.

Interesting Sunrace product announcement. Via.

Lots and lots of BMX vendors with their bikes: Snafu, Mirraco, Subrosa, Kuwahara, KHE, GT, Mongoose, Felt, Perv, HARO, Free Agent, Stolen, Shadow Conspiracy, KingKong, Eastern Bikes, wethepeople, Viper, Diamondback, Univega, Redline, MBK, Nicolai, Kink, Fit, 2-Hip and several parts brands.

You all have probably already heard about Shimano's new carbon fiber Dura Ace crank.

There's lots of interest in Garmin's new EDGE GPS bike computers.

MTBTR Eurobike demo day photos.

MTBTR Eurobike bike porn.

Speaking of porn, a little Australian bike accessories company is getting some attention from their Eurobike presence. Knog's website, though, just has some lesbo girl-on-girl action instead of any substantive product information. Kinda weird way to do marketing.

Do as I say, not as I do!

Warren stopped to take video of law abiding motorists at a stop sign. Unfortunately, he couldn't find any law abiding motorists. Because of the great damage and carnage that can result when motorists don't obey the law, motorists always obey traffic laws for the safety of everybody! That's the myth, anyway.



Cannondale folder update: Bike Designer Guy James found some more information about the development and design of the Cannondale folding bike, dubbed the Cannondale ON. Cool stuff.

Another bike-ish fitness device. Via Bike Horn and others.

Most of my U.S. and Canadian readers have a three day weekend with Labor / Labour Day coming up. It's also my 17th wedding anniversary. Other than a possible Eurobike update later today, posting will be sparse to non-existent. Enjoy the weekend, all!

Bay Area Tour de Transit

Tour de Transit
Originally uploaded by richardmasoner

Cyclist Gary Yamamoto owns Sacramento Tree Service in Sacramento. He heard today would be a Spare the Air free transit day in the San Francisco Bay Area so he got up at 3:30 this morning and drove to Stockton where he caught the Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) Train. He rode ACE for a free ride into San Jose, where he ran to catch Caltrain to San Francisco.

From Caltrain's terminus at 4th & King in San Francisco, Gary planned to ride his bike to the Ferry Building to catch the Vallejo Ferry. After hanging out in Vallejo for a little while, he planned to return to San Francisco via the Ferry and then figure out his options. He didn't know if he wanted to go down the East Bay using BART (and then using AC Transit to connect to VTA Light Rail for a ride back to Diridon Station) or just return to the South Bay using Caltrain.

Gary planned to complete this entire circuit before the 1p.m. deadline, when the ferries, BART, Caltrain and ACE would no longer be free.

Cannondale folding bicycle

Cannondale's Jack Knife concept is now a ridable, working reality! This prototype Cannondale folding bicycle -- designed in Switzerland by Cannondale engineers Torgny Fjeldskaar and Chris Dodman -- was seen at Eurobike.


Cannondale designer Chris Dodman shows off the prototype folding bicycle at Eurobike 2007. This is a full size bike with 26" inche wheels that folds back so the front wheel overlaps the rear wheel. That beefy chainguard you see is also an integrated chainstay and rear wheel rocker, providing all of the support for the rear wheel. The non-drive side is completely empty.


This bicycle has SRAM's iMotion 9 speed hub which has been modified for the unique characteristics of this folder.

Like the rear wheel, the front wheel is supported on one side with a one-sided "fork," kind of like the Lefty fork, except this one is a "Righty." This enables more compact folding of the bike.


According to the German cycling magazine Aktiv Radfahren, production of this bike is dependent on dealer response to this prototype.

Read more also at Bike Radar, where they talk about urban bike offerings from Cannondale (including the new Hooligan) and Bianchi.

Read more Eurobike news.

Eurobike 2007

See all Eurobike 2007 updates.
Eurobike 2007 -- the huge International Bicycle Trade Exhibition in Germany -- has kicked off. The 2007 edition is the biggest Eurobike ever with 30,000 trade visitors, 20,000 bike fans and 1,000 journalists expected to visit the 868 exhibitors spread over 13 halls.

• Bike Magic promises to report live from Friedrichshafen.
  
• I'm sure Carlton is there.
  
• Masi Guy is in Germany and I hope to see some good reports from him.
  
• Christine @ Treehugger promises Eurobike 2007 coverage.
  
• Pez Cycling News provides a sneak peak of cool new products.
  
• Bike Radar covers Eurobike.
  
• Bike Europe coverage of Eurobike.
  
• Jeff Kerkove says he will blog from Eurobike.

I haven't seen any decent Eurobike photos at Flickr yet but I'll post some good bike porn when I see it.

Bay Area Spare the Air August 29

Wednesday, August 29th is a Spare the Air/Free Transit day in the San Francisco Bay Area. On BART, Caltrain, the ACE train and the ferries, transit will be free until 1 PM. Transit will be free all day on Bay Area buses and light rail.

That means the train bike cars and bus and light rail bike racks will be packed full, which probably means I'll ride my bike the entire distance to work tomorrow.

For a complete list of participating transit agencies and to plan your trip on transit, visit 511.org.

More info also at SpareTheAir.org.

$1000 speeding ticket

The state of Virginia recently hiked traffic fines so that going 20 mph over the limit can result in a fine of $1000. If you're caught driving under the influence for a third time or if you're "felony reckless driving," the fine is $3000. Other offenses result in similarly high fines.

While the motivation of the state legislators was to increase revenue, I applaud efforts to make dangerous driving more painful to those who commit the crime. While roads generally have become safer for drivers and car occupants, traffic fatalities have gone up significantly over the past few years. Safer cars with better crash protection, better suspension, better brakes, and more powerful engines just means you can drive even more like a bonehead. Drivers are more likely to wreck their cars, but the wrecks are more survivable as long as you happen to be inside the metal cage. Wrecks are also more likely for the more vulnerable users of our road systems -- pedestrians and cyclists -- but the improved crash worthiness protection doesn't extend to us.

Unfortunately, many Virginians are so outraged by these new fines that the state legislator will meet in a special session just to repeal the fees. If you live in Virginia and support safer driving, contact your local representative and let them know of your support.

One drawback to high fines: Police are less likely to write tickets if they feel the fine is excessive. That's one reason many cops don't enforce traffic laws on cyclists.

Via.

Transit General Manager drives to work

Michael Burns is the General Manager of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. His annual salary is $290,000.

When he was recruited from San Francisco Muni in 2005, Burns elected not to move from San Francisco to the South Bay. Consequently, he has a daily commute of at least 50 miles.

Burns -- remember, he manages a transit agency -- uses his $9,000 annual car allowance to drive to work every day. Except on those days when he's fed up with the traffic -- on those days, he uses taxpayer money to pay for a room at the Holiday Inn near his office on North 1st Street in San Jose. He decides "it's too much" to drive home after experiencing "two or three horrendous commutes."

Here's a radical suggestion for Micheal Burns to avoid that nasty congestion on 101 or 280: take the train! He could even drive part of the way to someplace like Millbrae, which has a huge parking lot. From San Jose Diridon, he can hop on the light rail to his office, though it might be a little faster to use the DASH shuttle to 1st and then hopped on the LRT line. From the River Oaks Light Rail station, which is served by two LRT lines, it's a short walk to his office. He just has to walk across the big Park-and-Ride lot and he's there.

The last Caltrain train leaves San Jose at 10:30, so there's probably plenty of time to catch a train after those late night meetings.

Prices or service

Guitar Ted rants a little about bike shops that still don't get that the winning proposition of the Local Bike Shop is not everyday low prices but excellent service.

With pressure from online vendors and even Wal-Mart apparently entering the high-end bike market, there's more pressure than ever for the local bike shop to compete effectively. Unfortunately, stories of intimidating visits to bike shops with smarmy employees and patronizing sales personnel still seem to outnumber the "I had a great experience!" experiences.

I've been fortunate enough to visit some great bike shops with outstanding and helpful people. When I visit a new shop, though, the help I get is usually indifferent if I can get any attention at all. I'm a knowledgeable consumer, so I can imagine the neophyte will be completely intimidated.

I'll close by quoting G-Ted: "I think a lot of folks need to wake up to the reality that it's more about the service and relationship with the customer and a lot less about the prices. If that happens in your bike shop, I know that a lot of people will buy items from a shop like that even if the prices are a bit higher because they are getting something else money can not buy." Read more of his rant here.

Motorist's brilliant suggestion to improve bike lanes

From "Letters to the Editor" in the Menlo Park Almanac, August 22, 2007. This motorist clearly misunderstood the answer to his question and the problem. There's debris in the bike lane precisely because it's been swept there from the passing cars and trucks.

Bike safety in Portola Valley

I have asked various bike riders for their views on certain safety issues.

Q. Why do many bikers ride directly on the white line of the bike lane rather than within the lane?

A. Debris can be seen and avoided.

Based on the foregoing, one might ask why not put the white line of the bike lane in the middle so debris could readily be seen, and double yellow lines on the outside to delineate the lane, thus encouraging both the bikes and the autos to stay out of each other's lanes.

Name Withheld
Santa Maria Avenue, Portola Valley

Posted to the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition mailing list.

Bicycling news

Quick links before I run off to a meeting.

Runners face terrorism charges for sprinkling flour in a parking lot to mark a course. City of New Haven spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga said the city plans to seek restitution from the Salchows, who are due in court Sept. 14. "You see powder connected by arrows and chalk, you never know," she said. "It could be a terrorist, it could be something more serious. We're thankful it wasn't, but there were a lot of resources that went into figuring that out."

Grist on Industrial Agrodiesel: "We need a new bumper sticker: Biodiesel: feeding the planet to our cars."

The Economist on higher fuel taxes: "It's possible, maybe probable, that substitution away from driving might entirely counteract the rebound effect mentioned above. If an increase in fuel costs causes a commuter to switch from driving to telecommuting, for instance, his tailpipe emissions don't just drop in proportion to the fuel cost increase, they disappear."

50,000 bikes to rent in Beijing for the Olympics.

An Aussie company does a bike for a company car.

Eurobike is this week. I imagine Carlton will provide some excellent coverage, as usual.

Women who ride: Pregnant pro cyclist photo blog.

Steephill.TV: Vuelta a Espana coverage page.

As web fuels bike thefts, victims turn vigilante

By the time he got the call last month, Martin Moulton had given up on his stolen $3,000 bike.

The caller, a friend, had been browsing through bike ads on Craigslist when he spotted Moulton's 2005 Cannondale with its unmistakable, custom-ordered Spiderflex saddle.

Moulton, who is by no means scrawny, enlisted the help of a friend and set out to confront the seller with evidence that the bike was his. Once they were face to face with the seller, he planned to call 911.

Read more in the Washington Post. Hat tip to VeloChimp.

Pink Lady's 85 lb bicycle

Pink is a heavy burden is cute.

The first thing you see is a riot of pink. She rides a touring bike with front and rear pink panniers. She wears a pink jersey and pink gloves. She has a pink helmet on her head and a stuffed bear is tied on her rear rack with a pink ribbon.

What I want to know is where in the world do you find pink panniers? Read more at Team Alameda. Hat tip to Tommy who found it at Kent's Bike.

The thrill of cycling

Cycling into the summer sunset in Jyväskylä, Finland.

Masi Speciale Commuter

The Masi Speciale Commuter is a new bike for 2008 and is intended for the commuter market.

The new Speciale Commuter is a sweet metallic root beer color. It has long dropouts (forward facing!) with a dérailleur hanger, but stock this bike comes equipped with a freewheeling singlespeed cog on a 130 mm flip flop hub. The randonneur bars have natural cork tape on them. This is a commuter bike, so of course it has rack and fender mounts. CroMo fork and frame, of course. Kenda flat resistant Kwick Trax commuter tires have reflective sidewalls.

This bike is amazingly gorgeous.

Cruiser bikes from Masi

Tim "Masi Guy" Jackson has unveiled one of the new bikes in the 2008 lineup. The Masi Speciale SoulVille.



This bike is simply gorgeous!

This cruiser bike represents a shift to diversifying from Masi's road and track racing heritage. “Let’s face it, road—more specifically race bikes—had to slow down eventually,” Jackson said. “The market is expanding into more categories all the time, but the commuter/hybrid/utility bike category is one that particularly appeals to me.” Specs:

• Internal 8spd rear hub with Revo shifter.
  
• Coaster brake.
  
• Simple arc bar with natural cork grips.
  
• Ritchey adjustable stem.
  
• Rack and fenders mount.
  
• Custom Masi embossed leather saddle with springs.
  
• Double butted chromoly steel with steel fork with lugged crown.
  
• Alloy fenders with the Masi headbadge artwork laser etched on them(!)
  
• Available in 14", 16", 18" and a 20".

This bike will retail for about $800 and will be available in black or cream.

Friday bicycle link love

Before I start, I have to share this story: Dan Gertz of Los Angeles was found with three gallons of GHB during a traffic stop. Oops!


"Oficina Reloaded" photo by Yuri de Castro

These are the blogs which linked to Cyclelicious over the past week or so, so I'm returning the love. Thank you all!

• Roger Kramer rides his bike in St. Louis, MO.
  
  
• RocBike rides his bicycle in Rochester, New York.
  
  
• Squeaky has bicycle musings near San Diego, California.
  
  
• Graham mountain bikes near Reston, Virginia.
  
  
• TaxProf blogs about tax issues. Do you remember the Canadian bike messenger who was able to deduct the cost of eating as a transportation fuel cost?
  
  
• James rides a bicycle in Greenville, South Carolina.
  
  
• Noah bike commutes in a Kansas suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. So does Warren.
  
  
• Pedaleiro mountain bikes in Brazil. How cool is that?
  
  
• Tommy blogs about bikes from Bellevue, Washington.
  
  
• Dr. Logan is on his way to Oakland, California right now.
  
  
• Frank ruminates on Life and Cycling from Illinois.
  
  
• Cycling.Finial.Com in Boston.
  
  
• Phil in Australia.
  
  
• Fat Boy Biking.
  
  
• Bryan's Cycling Space.
  
  
• Cyclosom Pro Cycling Blog.

Hybrid GM / Chevy full size SUV

In the For Whatever It's Worth Department.

Sold as either a Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid or a GMC Yukon Hybrid, it's a full-size sport-utility with as many as eight seats and the capability to tow a boat that also delivers a fuel-economy gain and can even run on pure electricity.

The hybrid (which uses a 6.0-liter V-8 for better low-end torque) ought to get 19 to 20 mpg in the city and 21 or 22 mpg on the highway.

The target customer? "It's clearly going to be the customer who needs an SUV's five-, six-, seven-, eight-passenger capability. They tow their boats. They go camping. They really have a need for this SUV," says Micky Bly, GM's director of hybrid powertrain integration. "But they also want to make sure they're ecology-conscious, that it's important to get the best fuel economy."

Trek: One World, Two Wheels

Update: See Jame's thoughts on Trek's commitment and 1000 Limes.

Trek's Commitment: One World, Two Wheels.

Trek Dealers are working to get people to ride their bikes and make a more bike friendly world, one mile at a time.

We all know the world has some problems; gas is expensive and cars pollute, the roads are congested and humans are getting bigger. And not in a good way.

Luckily, there is a solution to these problems. A solution that burns calories, not gas. It doesn't waste fuel sitting in traffic. Something that could even bring communities closer together.

The solution is the bicycle.

With 40% of non-work related car trips being taken being two miles or less, what would happen if more people took the short trips on their bike? What if more communities had a "Safe Routes to Schools" plan so kids could ride to school safely? What would the world be like with more bicycle friendly communities?

Imagine arriving at work fresh instead of frazzled. Parking within feet of the building! Your kids getting exercise to and from school. Better still, commuting by bike IS exercising! And there are no carbon emissions from burning calories.

We all can ride and we have only one planet. Trek and Trek dealers challenge you to join us in making the world a more bike friendly place. You can start by riding your bike. It's the greenest thing you can do to help the earth.

Trek is committing cash for Bikes Belong (the industry-funded advocacy group) and The International Mountain Bicycling Association.

Specialized Bicycles took a big step for bicycling advocacy last year when they named Ariadne Scott as Director of Advocacy and Environment for Specialized. Her mission at Specialized is to develop and implement Specialized's global green action plan and integrate it into the company's culture, environment, products, marketing and communication. Specialized helped organize a bicycle fair at Yahoo! and provided Globe bicycles for giveaways. On Bike To Work Day 2007, Specialized provided California politicians with bicycles for the event. "We are working with the leaders in our retail channel, the environment and advocacy arena to demonstrate the benefit of bicycling as a great and valid means of transportation," said Mike Sinyard, founder and president of Specialized Bicycles. "Riding to work can directly impact global warming."

Bike parts company Planet Bike is famous for their support of bicycling advocacy. Planet Bike donates 25% of company profits to bicycle advocacy groups, primarily the Thunderhead Alliance. Since 1996 Planet Bike has donated over $500,000 to grassroots bicycle advocacy.

Gary Fisher Simple City bicycle

"Simple City" is the name of the Gary Fisher mystery commuter bike. Cycling News reports in their Trek World 2007 report that the Fisher Simply City was "one of the showstoppers" at the show.

Product Manager Chad Price and his team of 'Chads' (three in total) collaborated with Gary Fisher to create a cool new city shopper that blends the best of Euro city bikes and classic Schwinn townie that are so beloved in communities like Madison, WI and Davis, CA.

"We wanted to create a bicycle that was unique and featured the best of two worlds; useful for transportation and shopping, but lighter and faster than the conventional city bike ", Price said. "Simple City says it all; a simple city bike that has the best features, like the unique geometry we created so the ride is stable and comfortable under load and the adjustable front dropouts that support the optional 'two bagger' front rack".

Arleigh provides some additional information on the Gary Fisher Simple City bicycle, and Bike Hugger Byron gives his views on this bike.

Now for some unsubstantiated rumors I've heard from people who may or may not be associated with Trek:

• Product release early 2008, perhaps as early as January?
  
• 3-speed will retail for $400, 8-speed for $800.

I'll definitely look for this bike when I visit Interbike next month.

Tags: gary+fisher, commuter, bicycle, bike, trek+world, simple+city

Bicycle news

Truvativ founder to start bike parts company

Truvativ founder Micki Kozuscheck, who sold Truvativ to SRAM, has joined up with some of his former management team to work on a new bike parts company that they're calling Lezyne. Lezyne will manufacture and sell pumps, multitools, saddle bags, and hydration backpacks, according to Bike Europe.

John Burke: More advocacy from Trek

At the recent Trek World meeting for dealers at Trek headquarters in Madision, WI, Trek President Johne Burke introduced Trek's "One World, Two Wheels" bicycling advocacy program.

Details: Bike Biz, Bike Europe, BRaIN.

Bicycle news

Brits spending vacation time on bicycles. "Britain is becoming a nation of cycling enthusiasts. Cycling has been given a new lease of life by recent environmental issues, such as sustainable transport, carbon emissions and eco travel," commented Richard Cope, senior travel consultant at Mintel.

Nice mountain biking video with beautiful scenery from Rock Shox.

Bicycling Euroblog: Some cities treat bicyclists better than others.

VeloNews: The medical risks of doping.

Eurobike starts next week. I'll find the Flickr pools for all kinds of wonderful bike porn.

Free lift rides for downhill riding at SolVista ski resort at Granby, Colorado. Granby is just to the west and south of Rocky Mountain National Park.


Everything I know about business I learned from Mountain Biking. Uh huh. "I caught some big air on that last leveraged buy out. It was pure nirvana, dood, but then I biffed and face shoveled into a horizontal trackstand after the SEC started nosing around. Bummer."

Construction signs: Bikes are traffic, too.

MAKE: Pedal powered washing machine.

Velorution on Free bike schemes.

Gary Fisher commuter bike

Arleigh went to Trek World in Madison, WI, where she snapped lots of bikey photos. Dr. Logan noticed this prototype Gary Fisher Commuter bike in the photostream.


This Gary Fisher commuter bicycle has Shimano's Alfine shifter, Bontrager Satellite Plus reflective sidewall tires, a huge basket on the front, separate fender and rack mounts on front and rear (!), leather saddle and handgrips, full front and rear fenders and a chainguard. I don't believe Alfine comes with a Coaster brake, but I don't see a brake cable going to the rear so they must use something else for the internal gear hub in the rear. A hand brake controls the rim brake on the front wheel. Trek's designer sensibly put a forward facing rear fork end on this bike for easy rear wheel removal.

Guitar Ted talks a little about this and another commuter prototype that he saw in Madison. G-Ted writes:

Fisher was showing off two prototype "townie" type bikes with a retro-ish/hand made flair. Sporting wrap around chain guards, full fenders, and internal gearing, these bikes were quite different and maybe even a bit out of place at the show.

I got a chance to chat briefly with Gary Fisher himself and I asked about these bikes. Were they something that Fisher will actually produce? I got a resounding "Yes!" in answer. It seems that we will most likely be seeing more of this type of utilitarian, work bike coming from Trek and Fisher in the future. I applaud Trek and Fisher for making an effort in this area and the bikes are certainly looking great so far.

In fact, I might even go so far as to say that they look every bit as cool as anything from the North American Hand Made Bicycle Show, where these would have been right at home.

Please remember to click the Digg and CycleCluster links if you like this article.

The wheels on the bike go round and round

I searched on Google for "The wheels on the bike go round and round." The very first hit is the Big Purple Dinosaur himself singing the song and riding a bike!

The wheels on the bike go round and round,
Round and round. Round and round,
The wheels on the bike go round and round,
All through the town.

The pedals on the bike make it go, go, go,
Go, go, go. Go, go, go.
The pedals on the bike make it go, go, go,
All through the town.

The horn on the bike goes honk, honk, honk,
Honk, honk, honk. Honk, honk, honk.
The horn on the bike goes honk, honk, honk,
All through the town.

The bars on the bike steer side to side,
Side to side. Side to side.
The bars on the bike steer side to side,
All through the town.

The wheels on the bike go round and round,
Round and round. Round and round,
The wheels on the bike go round and round,
All through the town.

Tags: barney, purple, dinosaur, bicycle, song, music,

The wheels on the bike go round and round

RocBike posts his Bicycle Haiku, and nice little love poem about his Motobecane. Don't forget also about Honku, the Zen Antidote to Road Rage.

Ouch! Maybe some road-raging motorists need the Zen Antidote: Motorist bites cyclist's ear off! A motorist in Germany passed two cyclists very closely, although the entire roadway was clear. One of the cyclists waved his arm in protest (*ahem*), so Mr. Uptight Motorist stopped, jumped out, assaulted the cyclist and bit his ear off.

This photo is so not Zen. By Bike Portland dude Jonathan.

• Dave Moulton on John Boyd Dunlop, the improver of the pneumatic tire. It's the air in the tires that contributes to the Zen-like smoothness of riding a bike.
  
  
• Design winning bicycle light designs from Denmark. Maybe staring at flashing lights can contribute to a Zen state of tranquil calm.
  
  
• Citizen Rider: Bike positioning was different back in ye olde days.
  
  
• Annie says I'm "hot" because I roll my pant leg up. Via 32 Spokes in London.

San Francisco cyclist photos

This is Emily at Dolores Park in San Francisco.

The photographer, Pamela "Bici Girl" Palma, is a Bay Area photostylist. She took this portrait as part of a series of photos of San Francisco cyclists for an exhibit at Refried Cycles.

See Pamela's complete set of San Francisco cyclist photos here. Her photo is copyright 2007 and is posted here with her kind permission.

Summer rain baiku

Tommy was inspired and posted his own bicycle haiku of his ride through the summer rain.


"Bicycle Reflection" photo by tanakawho.

Overland Park transportation and bicycling

Overland Park, Kansas is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the second most populous city in the state of Kansas with a population of 167,500. Money Magazine ranked Overland Park number six on it's list of the Best Cities to Live in the United States in 2006.

Over the past decade, residents and business owners have indicated that Metcalf Avenue -- the north-south corridor that bisects the city -- has become an undesirable place to live and do business, with 45% of those surveyed saying traffic is a "major" problem along Metcalf Avenue.

Brent at the the Missouri Bicycle Federation calls Metcalf "one of its very biggest, baddest, most bicycle, transit, and pedestrian UNfriendly streets ... eight lanes of heavy, fast-moving traffic that at times closely resembles what you might see at a demolition derby."

The city is responding with a $1.1 million study to improve the corridor and make it friendlier to pedestrians, cyclists, and bus riders.

“The challenge here, of course, is moving from a paradigm that’s 100 percent auto-oriented to a paradigm where it’s 50 percent pedestrian-oriented,” said consulting team leader Tony Nelessen.

As Brent from Missouri notes:

It may seem impossible to make such a busy street more conducive to walking and bicycling, but in fact it has been done in many other places, it has worked, and what's more--people like it.

Of course pedestrians and bicyclists like it.

Safety advocates like it.

But yes, motorists like it, too.

Some friends who blog from the Kansas City area:

• Warren T.
  
• Kansas City Bike Commute.

Cyclist jacket with brake light and turn signals

Raise your arm before a turn, and a tilt switch activates big amber LEDs to signal your turn at night. An accelerometer detects when you slow down to illuminate a big patch of red LEDs on your back. This clever cyclist jacket is the invention of Michael Chen in London, who won a design competition with this jacket. He hopes a manufacturer will pick up his idea in time to make the jacket available in time for Christmas for UK£100 (about US$200). This cyclist jacket is demonstrated in the video below.



Hat tip to Cycle Dog, who wonders how the wiring and electronics will hold up under constant use and wet weather riding.

Summer Bike Haiku

Warren posted a bike haiku, so of course I'm obliged to link to it. Remember, if you post a "baiku" or bike haiku and I find it, I link to you (unless it's horribly offensive to me).

My children and I just finished up from a four hour mountain bike ride. I'm too tired to come up with any haiku.

"Tomas" Photo by Stefan Jansson.

Transportation commission chair explanation and apology

Recently, Saratoga, California chair Brigitte Ballingall was quoted in the Mercury News making statements that appeared anti-cycling.

She responded on this blog and in emails that her quote was taken out of context, and offered her explanation and an apology to cyclists who ride on Saratoga roads. As a member of the city's advisory committee for transportation issues, she has worked to promote cycling and walking as transportation. In particular, she founded the Saratoga School Transportation Task Force to address safety issues related to all of the driving around local schools. "The foundation to our plan was to do anything to encourage alternatives to driving kids to school, namely biking and walking," writes Ms Ballinger. "We wrote extensive marketing ideas promoting bikes as the 'better vehicle'," which I think rocks. She also worked with the city to secure Safe Routes to School funding for bike lanes and sidewalks around Saratoga schools.

Ms. Ballinger does express concern about Pierce Road in Saratoga, which is a curvy, hilly and narrow road with high traffic, poor sightlines, and steep banks off of the edge of the road. I've heard experienced cyclists tell other cyclists that they're "insane" for riding on this road, and Ms. Ballinger explains that her remark was made in that kind of informal context of talking to her cycling friends. She regrets making that kind statement in a public meeting and retracts her 'idiotic and insane' statement.

Newbie bike commuter interview

The Oregonian interviews two women who recently began biking to work in this video. They started out objecting to the idea because biking to work is too dangerous, too hard, too convenient and too time consuming. After trying it, however, they discover how nice commuting by bicycle really is.

Found via Bike Denver.

Disco's last hurrah

Discovery Channel Cycling's last event will be participation in the inaugural Tour of Missouri which starts September 11, 2007 in Kansas City and finishes up 600 miles later in St. Louis on September 16. Discovery Team members participating in the Tour of Misery include Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, 3rd place finisher Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie, Yaroslav Popovych, Tony Cruz, Jason McCartney, John Devine, and Fuyu Li.

More:

• St Louis Post-Dispatch: Discovery's last ride.
  
• Kansas City Star: Top cyclists enter Missouri bike race.
  
• Roger Kramer Cycling: Discovery's last stand.
  
• The Paceline: Alberto, Levi to Race in Tour of Missouri.
  
• Tour of Missouri
  
• Podium Cafe: Last chance to see Disco in person.

Tags: discovery+team, cycling, levi+leipheimer, alberto+contador, george+hincapie, tour+of+missouri, missouri,

Cycle Chic

"Cycle Chick" is the clever name of Zakka's cycling blog that shows what real transportational cycling looks like.

Bicycle blog collection

21st Century Citizen asks "Drive? or Bike?" with a bunch of "if only" conditions. "I'd bike if only there were bike lanes, if only gas were $10/gallon, if only I worked from home, if only there were more local stores, if only there were corporate leadership showing the way." Don't wait for Obama or Clinton or W or Halliburton to lead you by the hand, just get out and do it. Be the change you want. Via Paul.

Bicycle Design reports on the HyperBike: a huge contraption that solves a lot of non-problems.

Andreas Kloden jumps ship.

The cost of physical inactivity calculator. Via.

Dave Moulton posts another excellent article about practical cycling, this time on positioning for comfort and efficiency.

Litespeed quits blogging?

Sartorialist: another bike fashion photo.

Mountain biking: Why riser bars?.

Chris Horner and straight talk on doping in le Tour.

Sue in Chambana wants bike bloggers to brainstorm on bike product ideas. Leave a comment at her blog with your ideas.

Bob Roll visits a bike shop.

Noah in Kansas City asks what to do about the scooter that uses "his" bike rack.

Kim rants about some of the cyclists she shares the road with.

CBB: Simplify your life with the simple bike commute.

City Traffic Commission: Cyclists are insane idiots

Update: See Ms Ballingall's comment below for her apology and explanation.

The town of Saratoga, California is nestled in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Jose, CA. It's a popular area for Silicon Valley road cyclists to ride to and through. While the city of Saratoga considers cyclist safety an important issue, Saratoga Transportation Safety Commission chair Brigitte Ballingall has a different view of cycling. "I think it's an idiotic sport to do on the road - it's just insane," she was quoted as saying in this news about cycling safety in Saratoga.

Cyclists are asked to "be nice" in their emailed comments to her as they explain that cycling is a relatively safe activity that can be enjoyed by almost anybody. For more information about the Saratoga Transportation Safety Commission, see the city website.

Hat tip to Paul on the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition mailing list for this news.

Transportation Secretary Mary Peters: Bike facilities a waste

My children and I cross the Golden Gate Bridge bicycle path. When counts were last done in 2002, 1600 bicyclists daily rode across on weekdays. Anecdotally, bicycle use has climbed significantly since then. The Golden Gate Bridge and other similar bicycling facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area are a vital part of the transportation network for bicyclists.

Last night on PBS News Hour with Jim Leher, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters explained the Bush Administration's policy of no new taxes to fund repairs for the transportation infrastructure. Peters told News Hour that up to 20 percent of the federal gasoline tax is earmarked for non-transportation projects, specifically mentioning bicycling facilities as an example of inappropriate, non-transportation use of the federal gasoline tax.

The League of American Bicyclists responded with a letter to Peters correcting some of the impressions made by Ms. Peters:

• That bicycle facilities are not transportation related. "Tens of millions of bicyclists and pedestrians in communities across the country use trails to get to work, school, shops, and to visit friends and family," writes LAB Executive Director Andy Clarke. "Every one of these trips prevents congestion, pollution, and energy consumption while improving the health of the rider or walker."
  
• "You left the impression that an enormous percentage of Federal transportation funds are spent on projects such as these. The reality is that only one percent of these funds are spent on bicycling and walking projects despite the fact that these two modes account for ten percent of all trips in the country and 12 percent of traffic fatalities each year."

Clarke urges Peters to stand by a statement she made at the 2002 Washington, DC bike summit, where Peters said, “Many people in our country use bikes for more than recreation. For them, bikes are their vehicle for the commute to work and for the errands of daily life. We need every mode of transportation to keep America mobile. What modes did you use to get to your hotel? Very few of us depend on a single mode. I strongly agree with Secretary Mineta, bicyclists are an integral part of our nation’s transportation system and we all need to work together to develop a better more balanced transportation system that provides facilities and programs for bicyclists on a routine basis.”

The LAB also asks cyclists to send their comments to Ms. Peters to share their personal viewpoints.

In the News Hour interview, Peters also praised New York City's proposed congestion pricing. "I think it's a great idea," said Peters. "Commuters today are paying. They're paying with their time. They're paying with their productivity. They're sitting stuck in traffic in New York City and other cities in the United States today. So they're paying. If this congestion process gives them the ability to get out of being stuck in traffic, to make the air cleaner, to use less fuel, to create a better environment in their city, I think it's a great idea."

Elsewhere:

• BikePortland: Bike paths are not transportation infrastructure.
  
• Malcom X Park: Bicycles as transportation.
  
• Philadelphia Bicycle News: Bicyling is not transportation.
  
• Bike Lawyer: Take action now.

Route from Yonkers, NY to Canton, CT

Tom asks: "I have a question about safe roads. I am planning a trip from Yonkers, NY to Canton, CT. There are many bike trails along the way, but I will have to use the roads in other areas. What is the best way to contact people who know the roads I am thinking of and if I am using the safest means possible?"

I've visited the areas along New York and Connecticute but I'm not all that familiar with the region. Besides these resources, does anyone have other suggestions for Tom?

• BikeForums.net is a very active online community of cyclists of all levels. I'd try the Northeast regional forum for information about cycling routes.
  
• Bike New York has a handful of helpful resources such as "Ask a savvy cyclist".
  
• Bike New York's link to state bike maps is outdated, but you can find them at the State "Bicycling in New York State" website, which includes regional maps and state bicycle routes.
  
• Connecticut Bike Routes seems to have good information about cycling throughout The Constitution State.

がんばって!!

Freaky article for this evening. A guy on a motorcycle in Japan hit the center divider and lost part of his right leg (they drive on the left in Japan) and didn't notice for nearly a mile and half! Ganbatte, neh!

Bay Area Regional Rail plans

The San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Commission, BART, Caltrain, and the California High Speed Rail Authority are unveiling a new blueprint for expanding the system of passenger and freight rail in the San Francisco Bay Area. A series of public meetings in the area will show the proposals to move people and freight through the region in the next 50 years and describe how the regional rail network works in conjuction with the proposed California high-speed rail, along with proposed alternatives for how high speed rail will come into the Bay Area.

The San Francisco Bay Area Regional Rail website includes interactive maps that describe the regional rail network. See the website for a schedule of open houses and presentations that begin today in Oakland, San Jose, Suisun City, Livermore and San Carlos.

SFPD bicycle training video

San Francisco cops tell cyclists to "take the lane" for safety.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and the San Francisco Police Department worked to create this outstanding police training video on the rights and responsibilities of cyclists in San Francisco. Cyclists are instructed to ride "about four feet away from parked cars when you're riding your bicycle," to report instances of driver intimidation, and report injury accidents. This video is used at the San Francisco Police Academy and at district stations around the city.


The men and women in uniform tell cyclists and motorists in this video that cyclists should take the full lane, and motorists can be cited for dooring and driving dangerously around cyclists. This video has useful information for everyone on the road, not just police officers and San Francisco cyclists — take a look and share the link! More information at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition website. Via SF Cyclotouring. Direct link to video on YouTube. Please click the Digg and CycleCluster buttons below if you believe this story is worth sharing.

Wiens vs Flandis @ Leadville 100

UltraRob has posted several photos of the battle between Dave Wiens and Floyd Landis at the 2007 Leadville 100. He promises a writeup of the epic race later.

$1900 Carbon Fiber Wal-Mart bicycle

Found via CycleCluster:

The Corsa FC carbon fiber road bike is built with a high quality Shimano Ultegra drivetrain and Shimano 105, ITM, Ritchey,and Sella Italia components. Carbon fiber absorbs road vibrations providing a smooth floating ride. At the same time, carbon fiber is a rigid material that maximizes the transfer of power from your pedaling to the wheels. This bike was assembled by the hands of skilled Italian mechanics to be tuned up and ready to ride right out of the box. We worked directly with the factory in Italy to offer you a premium ride at everyday low prices. Minimal assembly is required for this premium bicycle.

I'm sure it's laterally stiff yet vertically compliant. Available in Small, Medium, and Large.

Tags: bso, wal+mart, bicycle, bike, carbon+fiber,

Laterally stiff yet vertically compliant

I think I've written this before, but I'll write it again: "Bike Snob NYC has outdone himself." Go read his BSNYC 2008 Dream Bike Shootout. Here's a sample of comments that Bike Snob received in response to his article:

• "Tea out of my nose in the office."
  
• "i just threw up in my handlebar bag."
  
• "You're killin' me!"
  
• "Diet Coke and Sun Chips, back wall of the office."
  
• And even: "You have it all, all, all horribly wrong: It's we Bicycling editors who pine for the chance to be published in BikeSnob. --Bill Strickland"

Elsewhere...

• CycleDog has a semi-serious idea: long term testing for bikes?
  
• Lost in the details of us mocking Rep McHenry: The U.S. House (finally) passed the Bike Commuter Benefit Bill!
  
• Increased support for congestion pricing in NYC.
  
• Bicycling in India: 40 benefits of bike commuting.
  
• Free parking eliminated in Seattle. The solution? Biking to work.
  
• Bike Commute Tips: Sting proof your cycling attire.
  
• Astana banned from Veulta a Espana.
  
• Carey has posted Raleigh 2008 Catalog photo shoot at the Raleigh Commutes blog. Lots of nice bike porn from Raleigh's 2008 collection.
  
• More cyclist street fashion photos at Sartorialist.
  
• Floyd Landis: 2nd place at Leadville 100. Fat Cyclist placed approximately not second and has a hypoxic conversation with Chris Carmichael.
  
• Giz: Bicycle vending machine.
  
• Sidewalk cycling in Japan.

There's more, but I figure that's enough for now.

No belt, no bra, no pants?

I can relate. All I can say in response: Febreze is the bike commuter's friend.

Henry Cowell State Park mountain biking

I'm not much of a mountain biker, but the past few Sunday's I've ventured into Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park in Santa Cruz County. The park's south entrance on Graham Hill Road is just 2½ miles from my front door, so I ride my bike there. The hiking trails are off-limits to mountain bikers, but bicycles are permitted on Pipeline Road, Rincon Fire Road, Ridge Fire Road, and Powder Mill Fire Road. Although these are called "roads," motor vehicle use is for authorized State Park vehicles only.

Pipeline Road is a paved multi-use path shared between cyclists, walkers, and equestrians. This road runs from the park's south entrance on Graham Hill Road in Scotts Valley to the Henry Cowell State Park visitor center near Felton. Brakes and low-gearing are handy for the steep sections at the south end of the road.

Powder Mill Fire Road is a short, wide dirt trail from Pipeline Road uphill to the park campground before ending at the Observation Deck. The observation deck is at the highest point in Henry Cowell and gives spectacular views down the San Lorenzo Valley into Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay.

Ridge Fire Road runs straight down from the observation deck to cross Pipeline Road. Ridge Fire Road between the high point and Pipeline is a steep downhill sand trap with monster water bars. I have difficulty negotiating this trail (i.e. it's not much fun either up or down) with my inexpert mountain bike skills. Beyond Pipeline Road, Ridge Fire Road continues as a nice, smooth dirt path with some leaf litter before it circles around to connect again with Pipeline Road.

Rincon Fire Road connects with Ridge Fire Road and winds steeply downhill to the San Lorenzo River. Most of this trail is somewhat bumpy dirt, though gravelly sections, steep turns and fallen trees across the trail add interest. Rincon Fire Road crosses the San Lorenzo River -- you must carry your bike and ford across the river -- where it continues steeply uphill to the park's southwest entrance on Highway 9.

While the scenery throughout Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is spectacular, for mountain bikers the Rincon Fire Road provides the best views, with close up encounters with redwoods and stunning drop offs into the river valley. The Redwood Cathedral along Rincon Road is beautiful circular arrangement of giant old-growth redwood trees.

To return into Henry Cowell from the Rincon Road parking lot, you can bike up Highway 9 toward Felton to the visitor center entrance, where you can get back to Pipeline Road. To extend your ride, the U-Con trail runs across Santa Cruz's Pogonip park to connect Rincon Fire Road with UCSC Mountain Bike trails and the spectacular riding in Wilder Ranch State Park along the wild and rocky California coastline.

More information:

• Mountain Biking Santa Cruz: The Ultimate Trail & Ride Guide for the Santa Cruz Area
  
• California State Parks on Henry Cowell Redwoods SP.
  
• Singletracks.com Henry Cowell ride description (with photos)
  
• GORP: Henry Cowell mountain bike map.
  
• Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz trail advocacy.

Tags: mountain+bike, redwoods, forest, trail, state+park, santa+cruz

International Gwadzilla Blog Week!

In the world of Bicycle Blogs, Gwadzilla is king of the mountain. King Gwadzilla says vote for the Gwadzilla blog at Bloginterviewer.com. I'm glad to give my vote to Gwadzilla! He always posts cool photos and interesting commentary about cycling in Washington, D.C.

Bicycle blog link love

I'll mention the bicycle blogs that have linked to Cyclelicious over the past week:

• Pedaleiro is about mountain biking in Brazil!
  
• Daily Spin News "searches the web for top cycling news so you don't have to!"
  
• Tredz Talk is the blog of a great looking bike shop in south Wales.
  
• Roger Kramer blogs about cycling in the St. Louis area.
  
• Spinopsys is Phil's commentary on cycling from Australia.
  
• How to avoid the bummer life ... Nuff said.
  
• Anne Jovi and her SLUT (Sustainable Low-cost Urban Transport).
  
• Fat Boy Biking chronicles the adventures and life of Brother Yam in Minneapolis.
  
• Group News Blog.
  
• Cycling Beat, which is covering the Tour of Germany right now.

Tags: bicycle+blog, cycling, bicycle, link+love

Bay Area bicycle news

Traffic demand management is a big deal at major events in San Francisco, where parking is at a premium. When locals go watch the San Francisco Giants play at AT&T Park, many of them take Caltrain and SF Muni right to the stadium. Bike Valet Parking provided by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is also heavily used. See the Streetsblog video of how it works.

Forbes Magazine reports on the how unhealthy our long commutes are. "It's a lifestyle choice," says David Rizzo, author of Survive the Drive! How to Beat Freeway Traffic in Southern California. "We put our health second. To have a big house, we're willing to put up with smog and a big drive. We sacrifice our longevity for short-term gains."

Warm Planet Bicycles has opened a new bike parking service at the 4th & King Caltrain station in San Francisco. The 1600 square foot facility is provided free to use and has room for up to 100 bicycles. See photos of the new facility in Jym Dyer's Flickr pool.

Longtime bicycling advocacy Alex Zuckermann died in his Berkeley home on Sunday. He was 86 years old. He founded the East Bay Bicycle Coalition 35 years ago to make the Bay Area more bicycle friendly and continued his advocacy until his death. For insights into his life and spirit, see these old letters from the San Francisco Chronicle:

• Bay Bridge bicycle path
  
• Bridge bike path benefit.
  
• A little fib.

Caltrain has begun a series of bicycle workshops as a part of the Bicycle Master Plan process. Each bicycle workshop is a one-hour tour at a Caltrain station with staff to discuss bicycle parking, bicycle access to and within the station area, and way-finding. To register, contact Celia Chung at (650) 508-6388 or chungc (at) samtrans.com. The schedule for remaining workshops are.

Station          Date / Time       Register By
San Jose Diridon Tues 8/14 6 PM    8/9 Thu
Redwood City     Wed  8/22 6 PM    8/17 Fri
Palo Alto        Wed  8/29 6 PM    8/24 Fri
San Francisco    Thur 9/6  6 PM    8/31 Fri
Hillsdale        Tues 9/18 5:30 PM 9/13 Thu
Mountain View    Thur 9/20 5:30 PM 9/17 Mon
San Mateo        Tues 9/25 5:30 PM 9/20 Thu
Sunnyvale        Thur 9/27 5:30 PM 9/24 Mon

Bicycle Seattle

The Interstate 5 construction project that begins today in Seattle is projected to create major traffic hassles all the way into Tacoma as 130,000 vehicles per day are re-routed from I-5 onto surface streets. For those who try to avoid or bypass the mess and give bike commuting a try, here are Seattle area bike commute resources:

• Bicycle Alliance of Washington Bike Buddy program pairs the new bike commuter with an experienced and trained volunteer who will help you with route selection, safe riding in traffic, bike commute gear, taking your bike on the bus and other helpful tips and tricks.
  
• Seattle bike map.
  
• Seattle bike routes as listed in bikely.com.
  
• Bike Commute Tips.
  
• Commuting 101 at CommuteByBike.com.
  
• Bike Seattle blog.
  
• City of Seattle bicycling resources includes links to other local resources.

Tags: seattle, traffic, commute, congestion, bicycle, cycling, puget

Heat and hyponatremia

With record heat continuing across the U.S. southern plains, south and southeast, cyclists are reminded to drink plenty of water to counteract the loss of fluid. Remember, though, that it's possible to drink to much water even in the heat and suffer from water intoxication and hyponatremia. These are potentially lethal conditions, and I've seen news reports of athletes and non-athletes who have died from drinking too much water.

Here's a good article in Today's Dietician magazine about the effects, causes and risk factors of hyponatremia.

Discovery Channel Goes Off The Air in 2008

Starting off as the United States Postal Service Cycling Team and then turning into Team Discovery Channel, Tailwind Sports had a team to be reckoned with over the past nine Tours de France, winning eight of them (or 88.8%, a B+ by academic standards). However, being unable to pick up a sponsor for the 2008 season means that we will not see the team racing after this year.

It's a shame to lose a team on such a roll, but it can only be imagined what type of an uphill battle Tailwind Sports had to go through in the search for a new sponsor, especially in light of what happened at this year's Tour de France.

In other news, the Chicago Cubs, a baseball team that hasn't won a World Series since 1908, will still be around for the 2008 season.

Bicycle Ambulance Project

When you have 18th century infrastructure, what's better to use than 19th century transportation technology?

The Bicycle Ambulance Project by the Bicycle Empowerment Network in Namibia produces bicycle-pulled ambulances for use by HIV/AIDS Home Based Care (HBC) workers, HIV/AIDS self help projects, communities, clinics, and hospitals in rural Namibia.

The bicycle ambulance has wide tyres, a removable and adjustable stretcher, a handle for pulling by bicycle or hand, and a sun shade.

For details and photos, visit Community Bike Cart Design. Via Rad Spannerei.

North Carolina: Bicycle is a 19th century solution

North Carolina congresscritter Patrick McHenry: 19th century technology no solution to energy woes.

On my bicycle commute in high-tech Silicon Valley, California, I see up to 100 other bike commuters every day, most of whom are employed as chip designers, rocket scientists, robot researchers, high-energy physicists and biogenetic engineers. The biggest employer in North Carolina 10th District Congressman Patrick McHenry's home in Catawba County, on the other hand, is the "retail trade" sector. Yep, the highest tech they have is the point-of-sale system at Burger King.

Streetsblog reports on North Carolina Congressman Patrick McHenry, who said regarding pending energy legislation:

The Democrats' answer to our energy crisis is, hold on, wait one minute, wait one minute, it is promoting the use of the bicycle.

Oh, I cannot make this stuff up. Yes, the American people have heard this. Their answer to our fuel crisis, the crisis at the pumps, is: Ride a bike.

Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you the Democrats, promoting 19th century solutions to 21st century problems. If you don't like it, ride a bike. If you don't like the price at the pumps, ride a bike.

Streetsblog implies and commentors note that the automobile and the internal combustion engine is also 19th century technology, as are lightbulbs, phones, radios, railroads, guns, photography, refrigerators, stethoscopes, and even paved roads! Many modern bicycles, in fact, require advanced technologies, materials and manufacturing processes that did not exist in the 19th or even 20th centuries.

McHenry is probably buddies with Dr. David Hartgen, emeritus professor of transportation and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill who writes policy papers for the John Locke Foundation. Complete Streets advocates such as senior citizens and paraplegics, Hartgen says, "It's really just arrogance and selfishness on the part of usually very small groups of individuals. They exert political power to 'take back the street,' but the street is not theirs to take back."

Professor Hartgen needs a history lesson: The streets have always belonged to all the people. Longtime New Mexico bike commuter Khal Spencer is quoted in a recent edition of CenterLines from the National Center for Bicycling and Walking:

Our roadways have always been designed with the intention of being shared by multiple users. A road is simply a paved structure meant to accommodate a given width and weight of vehicle. The first paved roads were in fact lobbied for by bicyclists in the last part of the nineteenth century and were later shared by early automobiles. Since then, a myriad of 'other' users including Amish buggies, farm equipment, bicyclists, and other slow-moving vehicles have legally shared the road with motorists. While that has undoubtedly required the occasional patience and understanding, it has always been considered a mark of good citizenship to responsibly share the roads. The present animosity between a small fraction of cyclists and a small fraction of motorists is more personality driven and should not detract from the safe interactions among most adult drivers and cyclists.

The rise in popularity in cycling has indeed given rise to an equally popular cyclist's lobbying movement to incorporate cycling-specific design into new roadway construction or renovation. While there are differences in details among various special interest groups, what virtually everyone, whether motorized or not, agrees on is to provide added width (shoulders, bike lanes, wide traffic lanes) so that cyclists and motor vehicles traveling at different speeds can get past each other without encroaching into oncoming traffic. However, while such improvements are wonderful, they do not detract from our present roadway's ability to be shared safely by competent, compliant users.

North Carolina cyclists, you can let your Representative how you feel about your "19th Century technology" by calling him at 202.225.2576 in Washington DC, or toll-free in North Carolina at 800-477-2576. More contact information is on his website. 10th Congressional District residents and businesses can contact him via the web here.

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Tags: politics, cycling, transportation, energy+bill, congress

Why cyclists shave their legs

We all know the real reason already, but the secret is out: Cyclists shave their legs to look good.

Via Anne the SLUT in Australia. How many Google hits is that word good for?

Guy Kawasaki Trek factory visit

Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist Guy Kawasaki blogged about his visit to the Trek factory in Waterloo, WI.

THe photos are kind of cool, with pictures and details of various Tour de France winning bikes. He also shows us the bike garage, assembly area, and other pieces of the Trek factory.

More interesting to me are Kawasaki's vignettes of life at Trek.

There is quite a bit of testing done at lunch. It can take up to two hours or more sometimes. After all, testing is important.

...

Trek staff heads out for the evening commute. Employees make good use of the commuter program. Each day someone rides, walks, skates or car pools to work, that employee receives credit for Trek products or cash for the cafeteria. This is an incentive to keep in the latest gear and promote general wellness. Between the commute to and from work and the “Lunch Time Ride” my friend at Trek used to average 50+ miles a day during the summers.

Trek factory visit by Guy Kawasaki.

Ride a bike to win a prize!

Click on the logo to win a one week bike tour in Oregon, a Breezer Bikes Villager bicycle, or a t-shirt and $200 in carbon offsets. All you have to do is pledge to avoid driving a car one day each week.

Carbon Conscious Consumer (C3) is a national climate campaign sponsored by the Center for a New American Dream that challenges individuals to establish climate-friendly daily habits and inspire their friends to do the same. Click here to make the pledge and enter the contest.

Bicycle projects galore

Since the end of the Tour de France I've been catching up on my day job. Here are several bike projects that should keep you busy for a while.

• Boing Boing audio electronic speedometer. If I have the time I might come up with some plans for that gizmo.
  
• MAKE: convert a kid trailer to a kayak trailer.
  
• The mesmerizing World Clock.
  
• Uses for old bicycle inner tubes: rubber bands, inflatable floation aid, wallet, seat caning, frame protection, and flat protection.
  
• Gizmodo: Armchair cruisers.
  
• MAKE: How to build a bicycle powered generator.

Yahoo's company car

"The limited edition Yahoo! bike" photo from Yodel Anecdotal.

Yahoo held a huge bike fair at their Sunnyvale headquarters last week. The bike fair was organized to encourage bicycling as transportation. Specialized, local bike shop Mike's Bikes and the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition were on hand to display bikes and help people with bike commute routes.

Five lucky Yahoo employees also won a special Yahoo edition of the Specialized Globe Comp IG8 bicycle. The Globe Comp IG8 is a commuter bike with Shimano's Nexus 8 speed hub in the rear wheel, carbon fiber front fork with fender mounts, and 700x42 flat resistant street tires.

That purple bike is pretty hard to miss; I ran into one of the lucky winners -- Daniel -- at the Caltrain station in Mountain View, California last night and learned about the Yahoo bike fair.

Cleantech blog notes that Yahoo! is among the most successful when it comes to encouraging Yahoos to use alternate means of transportation:

36% of Yahoo headquarters employees get to work without driving solo. This is double the 18% mode-shift that the corporation committed to the City of Sunnyvale when building permits were first issued. Yahoo’s cool commute program is comprehensive, popular and getting results.

Yahoo provides employees with free VTA Eco-Passes for bus and light-rail. Many of the Yahoo commuters are able to get extra work done using laptops and other mobile devices while commuting on public transit.

Yahoo’s results are impressive considering that Silicon Valley workers are widely dispersed in search of affordable housing. Technologists work long and irregular hours, which makes ridesharing more challenging. Many Silicon Valley locations provide a long and uncomfortable walk in the dark to public transit.

Yahoo addresses these problems in a number of ways. One is that it provides a guaranteed ride home. Yahoo will pay for a late worker’s taxi or rental car. Many at the workshop agreed that a guaranteed ride home is critical to a commute programs success. All agreed that employees rarely use the guarantee, making the cost minimal.

Yahoo has a fleet of shuttles to get people to and from transit, between Yahoo locations, to airports and sometimes providing an emergency ride. Some of the shuttles run on B20 biodiesel.

It is not easy to get employees to change their commuting behavior. Yahoo used surveys, education, an intranet website to help people find others for ridesharing, and YahooGroups to encourage collaboration, and monthly reward competition for those who avoid driving solo.

Yahoo encourages the use of the zero-emission vehicle owned by one billion people on this planet – the bicycle. Yahoo provides bicycler riders with secure storage of their bikes. Free lockers and showers are available. To help people quickly navigate Yahoo’s campus of buildings, loaner bikes are also available.

Please remember to click on the Digg and CycleCluster buttons below if you like this article!

Tags: cycling, bicycle, bike+fair,

Raleigh USA 2008 spy photos

Raleigh USA is doing their photo shoots for the 2008 catalog. Raleigh Commutes blog master Carey S has been posting photos of some of the 2008 bikes to her blog. You can see

• the 2008 Raleigh Sojourn (an all new steel touring bike) fully decked out with front and rear racks, bar-end shifters, leather brooks saddle, and even wider tires for some off-road venturing.
  
• The RX1.0 cyclocross bike.
  
• Various road bikes including the Raleigh team frame, Prestige and Competition.
  
• Raleigh Retroglide cruiser bikes on the beach.
  
• Cadent FT performance hybrid.
  
• The popular Raleigh Rush Hour.