April 2011
13 posts
A Plethora of Century Rides
Looks like there is a lot of choice to do century rides this Spring and early Summer.
First, there’s the Wildflower Century, put on the SLO Bike Club. That one’s all filled up, and is just a day or so away. The club also has the Lighthouse Century Ride in late September. (Full disclosure: I’m chairman of the ride this year.) Registration opens on-line at noon on June 5 and...
Bike Law
It could become illegal to ride a bike and text or talk on a cell phone. A bill that recently passed the state Senate by a large majority would fine cyclists $20 for the first offense, and $50 for additional infractions. It’s not clear what chances the measure has in the House, or how the governor feels about it.
Indeed you do see people of college age frequently chatting on the phone...
I'm Baaaaack
It’s been a while. Mostly because of travel, in part by bicycle, to places including “Bicycle City U.S.A.,” Portland, OR, which it can be reported, continues to live up to its reputation in spite of the rain, winds and cool temps.
More later.
In the meantime, this book review in the Economist, passed along to us by Robert Fuller (formerly “Red”) Davis. It’s...
Happy Happy. . . Bah!
SLO had a nice write-up in USA Today when we were away, with lots of flattering photos and a nice video. Cites our “bicycling culture,” Bubble Gum Alley and the Thursday Farmers Market. (Left out the Madonna Inn, thankfully.) Check it out. However, beware: there are some ads you can’t avoid.)
The only problem is that “The Happiest City” nonsense on Oprah is what...
It's a Frame-up!
Here’s another idea who’s time may have arrived… or not.
It’s best described as a hooped-frame bicycle. Instead of a rear fork protruding downward from the saddle area, it has a the rear wheel mounted at the bottom of a round hoop. The concept is simple. When the wheel rides over a pothole or other impediment, the hoop has a lot more give than a straight rode, even one...
Follies Federal and State
On many issues and fashions in the U.S. there are huge regional differences. Bolo ties do well in Arizona, not so well in Michigan. Craw fish are very popular in Louisianna, but not so much in North Dakota.
And things change over time. Wisconsin was known as a very progressive state, with luminaries like founder of the Progressive Party, Robert La Follette and his successors. Not so much...
Hard(wood) Riding
First, there were bikes made of bamboo.
Now this breaking news: bikes made of hardwood.
Some forward looking thinkers believe that it will only be a matter of time before someone starts making them out of steel.
Couldn’t resist the quip. Here’s the story:
Audi and Renovo of Portland have gotten together to manufacture bicycles made of hardwood, which they say is strong, lighter...
A Bad Picture
The current issue.
A week or so ago, there was a post here about the article in this issue by a respected cycling journalist with a long and close association with Lance who concluded that he was convinced that Lance had in fact used performance enhancing drugs.
A writer for Oregon Live was surprised that Bicycling Magazine had gone as far as it has on this issue, in part because the magazine...
"Look, Ma: No Hands!"
A few days ago I observed a young man riding a road bike at a nice clip down Marsh Street in downtown San Luis Obispo texting on his phone with both thumbs.
Idiot.
But what really was bothersome was that it has been many decades since I have ridden a bike with no hands, and never while also concentrating on a two-handed mechanical device.
How’d he do that?
The answer, it seems, came from...
Backlash Whiplash
It may be unwise to criticize organizations that support cycling, as was done in the previous two postings.
We need all the friends we can get.
There’s a bicycle backlash afoot, one not to be taken lightly. The situation in New York City has been touched on here. The mayor and his transportation czar have really pushed bicycling. But now some people are pushing back, in court and in...
Outlawing Idiocy
This will sound like piling on the California Bicycle Coalition, but so be it.
They and the city of Los Angeles are sponsoring a bill (S.B. 910) that specifies the distance motorists must keep from bicyclists, that they must slow down when approaching. It imposes fines, and if a violation of the law led to an accident caused by the motorists it would be treated as a misdemeanor.
Sounds fine. ...
Road Blocks on Bike Paths
Ever wonder why bike paths are so expensive to build and take so many years, even decades, to build?
Here’s a perfect example why, from the very people you’d think would understand the problem. The California Bicycle Coalition is hot for better designed bike paths, the rationale being that the better the paths the more likely people are to use them. Unassailable logic… ....
March 2011
24 posts
Good News/Bad News on Lance
No matter what happens as a result of the current investigation into his having used performance enhancing drugs, Lance Armstrong is committed to continue the work of his Livestrong organization.
That from an interview in the new issue of Bicycling Magazine.
Also in the issue a commentary by Bill Strickland, their editor-at-large who conducted the interview, and who spent a season with...
Fun City (?)
One of the “special” cities in the previous post was New York City, the Big Apple, Metropolis, Fun City U.S.A. A lot has been reported lately about bike policies and a backlash to these policies in the city. But this one takes the cake.
Recently, reported the New York Times, city cops ticked 10 bicyclists for what appeared to be exceeding the speed limit in Central Park, a posted...
9 Special Cities
There’s some good news and some not so good news in a recently issued report on bicycling in nine North American cities.
The cities are: Chicago, Minneapolis, Montréal, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, Washington, D.C.
The good news includes finding that in the seven U.S. cities bicycle commuting increased by 64% between 1990 and 2009. In the two Canadian cities...
Ventura Steps Forward
Los Angeles has a very ambitious bicycle plan. So does San Francisco, Davis, Long Beach and many other cities in California. Add Ventura to the list.
The city council recently approved a plan to spend $23 million on bicycle projects over the next five years. They’ve already secured $7.4 million for several projects to be completed this year.
The plan passed unanimously, but several...
Luggage Essentials
We all have our list of things to take on every bike ride. Most do not include an adult beverage, as suggested in the post below. But David Fiedler of Ask.Com has a good starter list of seven items:
Spare tube
Patch kit (because you can have more than one flat)
Levers
Pump or CO2 cartridges (although I have never once successfully used those expensive little buggers, mostly because I’m...
"I'll Drink to that."
It’s rained off and one for the last two days. The weather mavens say that maybe, just maybe, the skies may briefly dry up in a day or so. Briefly.
It’s depressing. It can drive a person to drink.
If you’re consider a nip as you gander at the lowering skies, consider this (brought to our attention by the peripatetic Abrechts).
After posting the above, this note came from...
Velophilia and other Damp Thoughts
Velophilia.
The difference between Japanese and U.S. nuclear reactors.
The film “Cadillac Lawyer.”
And how to get the best value from a salad bar.
The mind reels after over 3 inches of rain in 24 hours and the prospect of being house-bound for the remainder of the week.
Velophilia. It may be the first time I recall seeing the word, in this case referring to what a writer for the New...
Club of the Year!
The San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club has been designated as one of twenty clubs to be named “Club of the Year” by the League of American Bicyclists.
In naming the club, the League wrote:
The SLOBC is several hundred strong and is a group of all ages. They have fun with events and blog posts but are also quite active in local bike advocacy and creating need infrastructure like paths...
Tossing Granades Back
Here’s some ammo to toss at the anti-bikers. (See earlier posting for the latest kerfuffel in New York City.)
Two pieces of research to consider:
One finds that increased biking, by reducing obesity and perhaps depression, could save the economy $6-million annually. All right.
Next comes a study that shows that helmet laws reduce youth cycling. Wait, you say, this isn’t...
Biking Ambassador?
Here’s another story to give you a boost.
It’s the story of 103-year-old Octavio Orduño, of Long Beach, who they want to make the city’s bicycle ambassador.
The L.A. Times reports that nearly every day Orduño leaves his third-floor apartment that he shares with his wife of 60 years, gets his Torker trike out of the garage and bicycles along the six block route he has ridden for...
Spokes and Folks
UPDATES:
Reader Chuck writes: “There’s one in Austin called “Juan Pelota’s cafe” and is attached to Mellow Johnny’s bike shop…owned by Lance. It’s been there for a few years, and while I have not been there, my daughter will be during spring break (I’m hoping for a hat…maybe)”
Sandi from SLO wrote that her son tells her the...
Biking Universities
Five California Universities were celebrated for having exception facilities for bicyclists.
Stanford and U.C. Santa Barbara won the top award, a platinum designation, from the League of American Bicyclists, meeting now in Washington, D.C. for its Bicycle Summit.
U.C. Davis received a gold award. Among those California schools also cited: Long Beach State, U.C. Irvine won a silver and U.C.L.A....
HTC's Big Adventure
There are a handful of good bicycling movies: “Breaking Away,” “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure,” “The Triplets of Belleville” are a few that come to mind. Worth probably a theater admission of (an inflation adjusted) $9.00 when they were released, $2.50 for a video rental today and even potentially less on Netflix.
But $20 for a bicycling movie!?
That’s...
Backlash Redux
The New York City bicycling backlash has gained considerable momentum in the last few days, and entered a higher intellectual level, or so it might appear.
The backlash is being played out in such places as the blogs for both The New Yorker Magazine and the New York TImes Magazine, and Outside Magazine Online. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s lots more. Phew. It gets...
"Passport" Upheld
The “biological passport,” an innovative way of detecting blood doping in cycling, and perhaps many other Olympic sports, has been approved by the Court of Arbitration of Sport, regarded as the supreme court of sport.
The approval of the passport program came in a case of two racers disqualified because the passport process showed that they had manipulated their blood over a period...
Bicycling Backlash?
While the assault on the Federal budget persists in Washington, with transportation funds set aside for left-propelled two-wheelers in jeopardy, there have been other political setbacks to take note of. (Oops, a preposition ending a sentence. Forgive us, oh Skrunk & White.)
New York City has made a big push, under Mayor Bloomberg, to advance bike and pedestrian facilities. They’ve...
Springs Hope or Hope Springs
Today the wind was evil, coming from the west, seemingly never trailing, always abeam or ahead, sapping strength even though the cadence stayed the same, the gearing lower, even dropped down on the handlebars. Yesterday it was light rain, hiking but no bicycling. And tonight the temperatures looks like it’ll drop into the upper 30s.
Winter, it seems, will never end.
Then I took a look at...
Bicycle Commuting: the Uncomfortable Truth
Some high-stakes political games are being played out in Washington, D.C., these days. Billions are at stake. Institutions are at stake. Funding for all sorts of programs, including transportation programs are at stake.
It’s time for bicycling advocates currently convening in Washington to be very careful as they make the case for increasing or preserving support for the bike. Don’t...
Armchair Adventure
A light rain garaged the bikes, so we took a little walk up to Eagle Rock for a look-see.
Returned home to find Chris Fylling had sent this video of “the scariest foot path in the world.”
From the website: “This walkway now serves as an approach to Makinodromo, the famous climbing sector of El Chorro in Spain’s Andalucia. And it is the hairiest path. The area of El...
LA and SD Take the Lead
Southern California saw a huge jump in significant local government commitment to bicycling.
The city of Los Angeles, with the enthusiastic support of the mayor, approved a plan that envisions 1,680 miles of bike ways in the large, sprawling city. This means that the city will be building 40 miles of bikeways each year, about four times the current rate.
“We have roughly $3.7 million a...
Critical Me[a]ss Revisited
The tension between riders and drivers continues to be a topic of conversation.
Earlier this week a video was posted about a driver who mowed down a bunch of Brazilian bicyclists on a “critical mass” ride in the south of the country. At least 30 riders were injured, none fatally.
Now comes word that they’ve found and arrested the driver, found him after he had checked himself...
The Trike's on Google's "Street View"
Google has outfitted a trike with it’s Street View image equipment in order to photograph places not accessible to automobiles, and place the photos on Google Maps. The images are now from places like California hiking trails, Florida’s Sea World, the Chateaux de Chenonceaux in Civray-de-Touraine, France pictured here
and Balboa Park in San Diego
SLO: Another View
KCET’s Social Focus website extolls the bicycling virtues on San Luis Obispo, using as its hook the new Madonna Bicycle Path.
According to KCET, “The nearly 11 square mile city currently hosts 34 miles of on-street bike lanes, a bicycle boulevard, bicycle corrals and about six miles of dedicated bicycle path, with more coming down the pipeline.” The piece quotes the Bicycle...
One of Those Days
Saturday, February 26, 2011:
Hopkins student struck by car while riding bicycle Baltimore Sun
One Dead After Car-Bicycle Accident Hartford Courant
Driver cited in bicycle accident Greenville Daily Reflector
Green Bay police seek clues in fatal hit-and-run of a man using a bicycle Appleton Post Crescent
Bicyclist dies after being struck by truck Katy Times
February 2011
22 posts
SLO Burn
The video below showing what’s being done around the country to encourage and accommodate bicyclists in urban areas should be a clarion call to all city officials to get with bicycling improvements.
Home town SLO, for instance.
On the plus side, It has a bicycle advisory committee, a single bicycle boulevard that is very lightly traveled, the railroad bicycle path, the path out to Cal...
Iron Curtain on a Bicycle
It seems that most bicycle travelers bite off bits and pieces of Europe or Asia, a couple weeks in France, next year a fortnight in England, then a visit to Croatia, maybe some day Vietnam. Longer and more adventuresome is just a dream for a rainy day in February.
Like a bike trip the length of the former Iron Curtain. Sounds like the stuff of dreams, doesn’t it?
Not so fast. There is...
WatchA kind of bicycling pep talk. Also something that should be seen by every city and county official around here.
Felt Bike Recall
If you’re riding a relatively new Felt bike you might want to check this out. There’s been a recall of all 2011 Felt all 2011 Felt F3, F4, F5 and F75 models. Seems like the carbon fiber forks, made in China, have a tendency to break.
Bikehdad-By-The-Bay
San Francisco has become a very bicycle friendly city, the impression grows with every visit.
Talk about “sharrows.” (See posting below.) They’re everywhere, including in bus-only lanes, and widely used.
Bicycle riders were ubiquitous and often a bit intimidating, sad to say, zipping in and out of traffic and often in and among pedestrians crossing at busy downtown...
Endorphins: NOT
Some days it seems like there are no eternal truths when it comes to medicine or physiology or any other branch of science dealing with the human body.
So be prepared to be surprised.
A couple hours of biking or a real vigorous run, they say, gives us a high, a feeling of well being. Frequently called “a runner’s high.” And it’s all because vigorous exercise releases...
Lane-Brained
Too often academic research involves documentation of the obvious.
Such is the case of a study of a study authored by a research associate at the Harvard School of Public Health, appearing in the journal Injury Prevention. According to a report on the research by Bloomberg/Business Week: “Cyclists using special bike-only tracks that are physically separated from street traffic have fewer...
Word of the Day: Sharrow
Sounds like someone saying “Sharon” with a speech impediment, but someone recently used the term recently and he had no stammer, stutter or lisp.
Turns out it’s a name for an interesting concept of traffic control where both cars and bicycles are present, according to the S-F Gate website.
It means “shared roadway marking,” using an arrow with the symbol for...
Lance-d
An appreciation, and a cautionary note, following Lance Armstrong’s (second) announced retirement appears in Friday’s New York Times (although it actually appeared in West Coast printed editions on Sunday), worthy of a read and some reflection.
The writer, Christopher Clarey, says that all Lance has done in his fund-raising to assist cancer survivors, which is amazing, and all that...
Rainy Day Reminders
Rain has kept most off their bicycles this week, although a few hearty souls saw a brief break in the weather on Tuesday.
Maybe some photos of riding in sunshine will chase the blues. (They’re from, respectively: Oregon covered bridges, outside Cottege Grove;Outside Bellingham, Washington;Passau, Germany, beside the Danube; L.O.V.R. outside SLO;On the ferry to San Juan Island,...