Category: Biking Elsewhere

by Taylor Delhagen
NYC – … A few weeks ago, I met some friends for dinner while commuting home from the Crown Heights high school where I teach, and as I locked my bike outside Press 195 in Park Slope, I heard a driver yelling at me. He was in a typical limo-service car and I figured he was a cab driver. He was irate, yelling: "Yo asshole, listen the fuck up!"Not needing a cab, I figured he wasn’t speaking to me.
When I turned back around the man was walking quickly towards me yelling: "Motherfucker! You stop when I’m talking to you. You went through a red light!"I apologized, even though I didn’t recall going through any red lights. He asked, "Why the fuck are you biking?!" "It’s how I get to work,"I said. He kept asking similar questions and yelled at me to come over to his car. He still hadn’t identified himself as a police officer, but as I stepped away from my bike towards his car and he asked for my ID, I realized he was a cop. I told him my wallet was in my bike bag, but he told me not to "fucking move"and without warning grabbed and twisted my arm, cuffed me, and slammed my head and chest against his car. He called for back-up and before I knew it three more officers were on top of me. One stepped on my foot and told me to walk, while another pushed me forward so I would fall, which I did. My friends and people from nearby restaurants watched and filmed the incident despite the officers’ demands that they shut off their cameras.
I was taken to the local precinct on 6th Avenue and Flatbush, and while they checked me in, one officer thought I was looking at his badge and said, "You want to look at my fucking badge?! Spread your legs!"I complied, and as he "patted"me down (for the fourth time), he grabbed me between the legs and squeezed. Humiliated, I remained silent while the other officers laughed. I was put into a cell from 7-11:30pm, when the arresting officer came to fingerprint me. He grabbed my hand, sprayed Windex on it and slammed it against the machine, bruising my fingers. I calmly asked him not to touch me this way, but he pushed me back into the cell and told me he could keep me there as long as he liked, and that he was looking forward to the overtime pay. He returned two hours later telling me there was a two-year warrant out for my arrest. As a New York City teacher for the past five years, I doubted this, but it was enough to keep me until 4pm the following day. My wife and I retained Alain V. Massena as our attorney and that afternoon in court the judge pursuant to my attorney’s request immediately dismissed the "warrant." However, I was still charged with resisting arrest and disorderly contact. The witness statements and the video clearly disprove these accusations, and my attorney has advised me that in seeking justice we will vigorously pursue an outright dismissal of these charges.
This situation is dis-empowering to say the least. Money is one thing, but taking me away from my students is another, and the officers’ behavior is scary to comprehend. I ask that all community members—cyclists, pedestrians and drivers—be alert for such abuses of power. No one deserves to be treated this way.
Continue reading “Busted for Biking”

By CHARLES MAROHN
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In addition to the interstates [if it had ended there], we have built state highways, regional highways, inter-city roadways and intra-city roadways. Again, if it had ended there…
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Now we sit in 2011, keenly aware (at least the readers of this blog) that we have built more transportation infrastructure than we have the remotest chance of being able to maintain. All of this auto-mobility has failed to create places sufficiently productive to justify the ongoing expense of their own maintenance. We are a throw-away society, but it is hard to throw away two generations of infrastructure. What to do?
Many of us understand that our places need to be more productive. To correct our financial imbalances, we need to get a higher return on our public investments. Our approach needs to change, to mature in response to our greater understanding of the financially-precarious position we are in. We need to have more productive places. Stronger towns.
One of the simplest steps in creating a higher return in a neighborhood is to restore the neighborhood mobility options these places were originally built with. While this includes things like sidewalks, street trees and human-scale lighting, it also includes reducing the dominance of the automobile on local streets.
When streets are auto-only, the adjacent land pattern reacts by becoming less dense and less productive (a lower rate of return). When automobiles share neighborhood space with other forms of transportation, especially in places where those other forms actually dominate, the adjacent land pattern reacts by becoming more dense and more productive (a higher rate of return). We need more productive places.
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Continue reading “If only we would have stopped when auto centricity made sense”

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Through remarks, discussion, jokes, stories, and even a song—you
showed us how much people your age care about, and yearn to connect
more meaningfully with the outdoors. You listed several reasons for
spending time outdoors: from relaxation, and inspiration, team sports,
recreation, and exercise, to discovering historical and cultural sites,
to family vacations and school trips. You made it clear that the “great
outdoors” means something different to everyone, and that your views
of and experiences in the natural world depend in large part upon the
circumstances of your childhood and your proximity to outdoor places.
For some of you, going outdoors means traveling to remote places like
the majestic vistas of the Grand Canyon, the hardwood forests of the
northeast, the warm beaches of the Gulf Coast, or the choppy waters of
the Puget Sound. Others of you defined the outdoors as any space beyond
your front doorstep, including local parks and playgrounds, your school’s
sports fields, or a greenway that links one part of your city to another.
Many of you who grew up in more rural settings viewed the outdoors
through the perspective of your family’s farm or ranch, conveying a deep
understanding of—and appreciation for—the streams, trails, and fields
that had been core to your identity since childhood. Similarly, the range
of what you do in the outdoors ranges from walking your dog and playing
games like capture the flag, to organized team sports, to more extreme
activities, such as rock climbing, snowmobiling, mountain biking, and
motocross. Many of you were devoted campers and hikers, and spoke
of your skills in fishing, hunting, and archery. In general, though, you
appeared more likely to visit places close to home, often accompanied by
friends or family.

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Throughout the listening sessions, we observed evidence of a generational
shift in the way young people think about and experience nature. Most
of the adults we engaged in the general listening sessions told stories of
childhoods spent outdoors: farming, hunting, fishing, horseback and
bike riding, exploring the woods, and sleeping under the stars. Now,
only some of you could personally relate to those experiences. Many
more of you describe the outdoors as remote, mysterious, and sometimes,
scary. Likewise, several of you told us that you do not have the “skills”
necessary to participate in activities like camping, hiking, and mountain
biking. More importantly, you said that nobody ever took you outside.
Indeed, those of you who had spent a lot of time outside attributed your
familiarity with—and appreciation for—nature to the parents, caregivers,
teachers, mentors, or camp instructors who had instilled these values in
you as young children

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Your ideas for ensuring that all young people have access to safe clean,
and close to home outdoor places:

• Create more parks near and in communities, including networks of
connected trails, bike paths, and greenways, and urban gardens and community “pocket parks.

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Through the AGO listening sessions and public input process, we
learned that there is a powerful consensus across America that outdoor
spaces—public and private, large and small, urban and rural—remain
essential to our quality of life, our economy, and our national identity.
Americans communicated clearly that they care deeply about our outdoor
heritage, want to enjoy and protect it, and are willing to take collective
responsibility to protect it for their children and grandchildren. In fact,
they are already doing so. They are restoring rivers and streams, building
and improving hiking trails and bike paths, ensuring the long-term
conservation of their private lands, sponsoring beach and roadside
cleanups, planting trees and gardens, and restoring migratory bird habitat
and populations.

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Participants also discussed youth stewardship programs for the next
generation. They talked about programs that engage Americans with the
outdoors through biking, hiking, hunting, canoeing, off-roading, skiing,
and other recreational activities. They described initiatives that encourage
parents to get their children outside. One listening session was devoted
to the cutting-edge topic of the connections between outdoor experiences
and improved mental and physical health. Other sessions focused on the
special relationship that tribal communities have with nature, culture,
and the outdoors.

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Continue reading “America’s Great Outdoors:”

from TheWashCycle by washcycle
From the organizers:
"DC Bike Swap 2011 Saturday March 26th, Noon till 2pm.
We will be setting up in Lamont Plaza in Mount Pleasant DC.
Mount Pleasant Street and Lamont Street.
Across From Heller’s Bakery
There are no costs or overhead. There will be mechanics and others to assist your shopping. Feel free to bring bikes, tools, parts, accessories, bike art, food, books, movies, etc.
Please drop us a line (rhyswest@yahoo.com) to let us know if you intend to bring anything to swap.
(Tables and blankets are great for display).
Tell your friends, come get brunch, volunteer for the Farmers Market Bike Clinic
Coops (Bloomingdale, Glover Park, 14th and U, Mount Pleasant), The Bike House, DDOT’s Bike Ambassador or any other DC bike programs. Learn about Cabi, DC’s bikeshare (Biggest in the nation). Learn about local bike shops, great rides, etc.
Continue reading “Mount Pleasant Bike Swap – DC”

from TheWashCycle by washcycle

Continue reading “Picture = 1000 Words”

from Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space by Richard Layman
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Second, myriad subsidies of automobile-oriented land use and automobile-use itself exist throughout the "market system" but are not acknowledged and identified but taken for granted by so-called market proponents.
For example, roads are subsidized to the tune of 50% from general funds, from funds other than those generated by automobile registration fees, federal and local gasoline excise taxes, and tolls.
Gasoline is subsidized to the tune of $4-$5/per gallon in terms of the development, environmental, and military costs that a separated use, automobile-centric transportation and land use paradigm imposes on the system.
Third, not paying for these subsidies is increasingly bankrupting government, and supports the rise of China and other countries at the expense of the U.S. As Thomas Friedman writes in the New York Times, in "If Not Now, When?":
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Continue reading “The conservative case for transportation is bifurcated and all mixed up”

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A father and daughter are accused of assaulting a 13-year-old cyclist after he told them to watch out for cyclists on the road.
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Hartley, a competitive cyclist who trains every day with a daily 10-mile round trip, said a white pickup truck came within a foot of him and passed by. Hartley said he met up with the truck at the next stop light and noticed the driver looking at his phone and texting.
"I just tapped him and said, ‘You almost hit me back there. Could you put the phone away?’ And he told me, ‘Pull over.’ He was going to talk to me," Brody Hartley said.
Brody said he pulled over at a gas station just up the road and pickup truck driver, 45-year old William Tinnell, got out of the vehicle, enraged.
“He was just saying I shouldn’t be on the road, it’s not a vehicle. I shouldn’t be on the road because I’m a kid," Hartley said.
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Continue reading “Cyclist Attacked After Asking Driver To ‘Put Phone Away’”

from Greater Greater Washington by David Alpert

Are you a AAA member? If so, most likely you joined for the roadside assistance, as opposed to the relentless lobbying against transit or walkable streets. But did you also know you can probably get the same service from your insurance company?

Photo by Mr.Thomas on Flickr.

I was recently updating my auto insurance and found out that my insurance company, which uses a lizard mascot, would charge me $7.40 per 6 months, or $14.80 per year, for their towing and lockout service. That compares to $65.50 for one person or $104.00 for two in a household for a AAA basic membership.

AAA also has discounts of various types and other services, but most people just join for the peace of mind that they won’t be stranded on the road. With an insurance plan, you can have that confidence and also the security to know you aren’t paying an organization to fight against any pedestrian, bike, or transit programs being a part of the federal transportation reauthorization, as AAA is doing.

If you want the discounts and the extra services, there’s Better World Auto Club, a direct alternative to AAA. If you join using this link, WABA will get a small donation from them, so you’re doing good twice over.

Some articles from several years ago online warn against using the insurers’ plans because some companies have used the information to raise people’s rates after they use the service. However, my insurer and several other leading ones said they stopped doing that years ago. I called and they confirmed that this does not happen. The service is limited to 4 uses per year, just like AAA.

Continue reading “You could save 86% or more by switching from AAA”

Cycling through Asthma
Nathan Houck rediscovered the joy of cycling at age 50 – but soon faced an old nemesis: “After a summer of bicycling nirvana, my childhood asthma rediscovered me.” A trip to the ER was a wake-up call, and he’s now struggling to find a balance between playing it safe and staying just as active as his bicycle-club friends.
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Continue reading “On the Road Again With Asthma”

This sums up the whole Rich Guy in Colorado “Get Out of a Felony Free” case pretty well… [from VeloNews]