Kim Mason went four days with little water and no food while waiting for help outside of the New Orleans Convention Center. She finally bought two bikes -- one for herself and one for a neighbor -- and biked 80 miles to Baton Rouge, cycling through thigh-deep water and passing dead alligators in a skirt and flip-flops. Via Biking Bis.
Another biker Mike Stanford, took his backpack, a handgun, and pedaled his bike out of the city of New Orleans.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Bike rack shortage
Writers around the country urge readers to save gas money by riding their bikes. Some regular bike commuters have discovered that some people are taking their advice. Jean Rice of Boulder reports:
Today we went out to do some errands and we couldn't find any parking spots. For our bikes. The bike racks, some of which I have never seen a bike at, were full. Even at Target, where they have bike racks for at least 50 bikes, we had to go almost all the way to the end to find a place for our bikes! We ended up getting a spot where two people were just leaving.Reposted with Jean's kind permission from Bicycle Commuting.
I love the fact that people are finally getting out of their cars, but they are getting in my way! I used to laugh at the cars parking way out in the parking lot to find spaces. Now I have to scramble for a spot or trust my bike "locked to itself" outside the store on the sidewalk!
Jimmy Don Rodgers to go free
Many longtime cyclists know of Ken Kifer. He was a longtime participant in various online bicycling forums providing inspiration and patient, clear instruction for thousands. When he was killed by a habitial drunk driver in September, 2003, the cycling world was stunned.
The drunk driver -- Jimmy Don Rodgers of Scottsboro, Alabama -- was sentenced twenty years after pleading guilty to manslaughter, receiving a split sentence and ordered to serve for two years. According to the Alabama Department of Corrections website, Mr. Rodgers is scheduled to be released five days from now. He will have five years of supervised probation, during which time Rodgers will be on a court-ordered drug rehab program.
Update: Jimmy failed a drug test and is no longer eligible for parole.
The drunk driver -- Jimmy Don Rodgers of Scottsboro, Alabama -- was sentenced twenty years after pleading guilty to manslaughter, receiving a split sentence and ordered to serve for two years. According to the Alabama Department of Corrections website, Mr. Rodgers is scheduled to be released five days from now. He will have five years of supervised probation, during which time Rodgers will be on a court-ordered drug rehab program.
Update: Jimmy failed a drug test and is no longer eligible for parole.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Lance & Sheryl sitting in a tree...
Lance Armstrong popped the question. And -- big surprise -- Armstrong is also considering a return to competitive cycling.
Tags: lance armstrong, sheryl crow
Monday, September 05, 2005
U.S. Park Service Bike Patrol
Road Test/Fix Motorists, Not Cyclists
From ICE-BIKE post July 27, 2005 that Richard liked:
Motorists would have to be required to take the test that cyclists take so they would know the rules of the road as it applies to cyclists. I renewed my driver's license (I haven't driven in years but keep a license "just in case" [in case I get the crazy idea to drive I guess]) in May and was shocked that the guy next to me didn't know about the rules of the road for motorcycles. I mean, he did not know that as a person in a car he needs to give motorcyclists more space, that sort of stuff.
Some idiot recently wrote to the Tribune saying bicyclists should be banned from the streets effective immediately because they are at risk of getting killed by motorists. Seems backwards to me - how about fixing the real problem - MOTORIZED TRAFFIC - instead of removing "obstacles". I think that's how motorists look at pedestrians and cyclists anyway. It's not that they are upset that cyclists are breaking the law. They are upset that something is in "their" way. A billboard in the Chicago area says something to the effect that s**t happens and the s**t is a picture of the pedestrian road sign and cyclist road sign and curvy road road sign. I have no idea what they are trying to sell... the advertisers lost me when they essentially called peds and cyclists obstacles... but I think motorists just see cyclists as obstacles. I think it also pisses motorists off when cyclists get to the same destination in the same amount of time (or sooner) than an automobile does. I mean, if I spent $30,000 on a hunk of metal that I'm caged in for 4 hours a day to go to/from work and I saw someone on their "toy" pass me over and over again on my commute, I'd think back to those commercials that sold me on said $30k car and I'd remember the clear roadways and no obstacles and no cyclists. I'd feel like an ass and would start to act like one.
Motorists would have to be required to take the test that cyclists take so they would know the rules of the road as it applies to cyclists. I renewed my driver's license (I haven't driven in years but keep a license "just in case" [in case I get the crazy idea to drive I guess]) in May and was shocked that the guy next to me didn't know about the rules of the road for motorcycles. I mean, he did not know that as a person in a car he needs to give motorcyclists more space, that sort of stuff.
Some idiot recently wrote to the Tribune saying bicyclists should be banned from the streets effective immediately because they are at risk of getting killed by motorists. Seems backwards to me - how about fixing the real problem - MOTORIZED TRAFFIC - instead of removing "obstacles". I think that's how motorists look at pedestrians and cyclists anyway. It's not that they are upset that cyclists are breaking the law. They are upset that something is in "their" way. A billboard in the Chicago area says something to the effect that s**t happens and the s**t is a picture of the pedestrian road sign and cyclist road sign and curvy road road sign. I have no idea what they are trying to sell... the advertisers lost me when they essentially called peds and cyclists obstacles... but I think motorists just see cyclists as obstacles. I think it also pisses motorists off when cyclists get to the same destination in the same amount of time (or sooner) than an automobile does. I mean, if I spent $30,000 on a hunk of metal that I'm caged in for 4 hours a day to go to/from work and I saw someone on their "toy" pass me over and over again on my commute, I'd think back to those commercials that sold me on said $30k car and I'd remember the clear roadways and no obstacles and no cyclists. I'd feel like an ass and would start to act like one.
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