Category: Biking Elsewhere

By Jonathon Harker Sep 22 2009, 10:08am
Halfords sees 22 per cent year-on-year rise in children’s bike sales; Chain launches kid’s-specific website
A Halfords-commissioned survey has found that almost three quarters (74 per cent) of British kids would like to cycle more with their families, despite 84 per cent of children spending most family time watching TV.
The TNS-conducted survey comes after the national retailer has announced a 22 per cent increase in the sales of children’s bikes over Christmas, compared year-on-year with 2007.
The report also found that almost all (95 per cent) of the children surveyed would rather be more fit and healthy, but do not exercise with their family as much as they would like to.
Cycling was the preferred means of keeping fit amongst the children, with 74 per cent preferring cycling over walking, running or playing team games.
Continue reading “British kids would rather cycle”

in 1983, Steve Roberts packed up a Tandy 100 laptop and a 5-watt solar panel, fleeing suburbia on his recumbent bicycle on what would become a 17,000 mile journey that forever cemented his place in the geek pantheon…not just as a technology hacker, but as one of the preeminent “life hackers,” pursuing his own dreams on his own terms and inspiring others to do the same.

In this recently-unearthed video from 1989, Roberts reflects on the first 16,000 miles of his voyage, detailing some of the technology that went into his then-current ride, the Winnebiko II.

This line from a NY Times article really hits a nerve with me:
"Last spring, her son, 10, announced he wanted to walk to soccer practice rather than be driven, a distance of about a mile. Several people who saw the boy walking alone called 911. A police officer stopped him, drove him the rest of the way and then reprimanded Mrs. Pierce. According to local news reports, the officer told Mrs. Pierce that if anything untoward had happened to the boy, she could have been charged with child endangerment. Many felt the officer acted appropriately and that Mrs. Pierce had put her child at risk. "
And where are the police insuring our neighborhoods are safe? I guess its just not their job. Say what? Not the job of the police for public safety?
But that is not really the issue, the issue is strangers are not to be trusted and we as a society don’t even know the people who live on our block let alone a mile away. We are not outside enough to get to know those who live nearby so all are strangers not to be trusted. But start riding your bike around or anything outside around your house and after awhile you’ll meet other people who are outside and soon the whole world is your freind.
Say what? There are no safe places to bike or walk in your neighborhood because of overly car centric roadway designs? Heavy sigh, is this really the kind of world we want to create?
Continue reading “Why Parents Drive Children to School”

…
Marino and his mother, Janette Kaddo Marino, left for school by bicycle on Wednesday morning, as they often do in good weather, despite a phone call placed to students’ homes by school officials, asking parents not to allow students to walk or ride bikes to school.
After a cold reception on Wednesday, local transportation advocates are rallying around the family, and plan to accompany the pair to school today in a bid to bolster calls for a policy change.
…
“The policy, when originally put in place, was put in place because of the location of the building,” White said. “The rights of individuals to ride their bikes on Route 9 is their decision.”
Route 9 is designated by the New York State Department of Transportation as a bike route.
…
Continue reading “Family defies no-bike policy at Maple Avenue Middle School”

Traffic Enforcement for Bicyclist Safety from Chicago Bicycle Program on Vimeo.

A training video for Chicago Police Officers created in partnership between the Chicago Police Department & The Chicago Department of Transportation. Funded with a grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation Division of Traffic Safety.
Continue reading “Chicago Police Say It Loud: Bikes Belong”

An excellent op-ed from a senior at Yale University about traffic safety issues on the Ivy League campus.
Timothy Ellison’s article focuses in part on the elimination of right turns on red (RTORs), a concept many other pedestrian-rich cities throughout the United States have adopted. Eliminating RTORs was a key recommendation in this year’s Nelson/Nygaard gap analysis study of Downtown New Haven.
Among the comments that follow Ellison’s op-ed:
– Yale students are constantly telling anyone who will listen how threatened they feel by reckless drivers, and yet nothing is ever done. Yale and New Haven, this is a life and death issue. Please take it more seriously!
– But I also agree that drivers in the city have gotten increasingly willing to drive through red lights, and when on a bike I am also aware of how crazy traffic and drivers have gotten. So its a complex problem. Traffic calming and more pedestrian friendly routes are for sure needed.
– On several occasions I’ve witnessed that a police officer ignoring red light violations, in particular when drivers ignore do-not-turn signs. Of course, drivers have every incentive to violate traffic laws when they don’t have to fear the consequences.
– The situation on the streets around the campus, which were designed in the 1950s for high-volume auto traffic and never converted back into pedestrian-friendly streets, is completely unacceptable. Numerous students and Yale affiliates are injured or killed every year. Yale already pays tens of millions a year for security – they’ve done a great job increasing the feeling of security on campus late at night, and in terms of street crime, the campus is now the safest urban university in the United States. Next, Yale needs to immediately 1) step up the traffic enforcement, 2) following the model of Cambridge, MA or any number of other cities, step up and commit to financing the reconstruction of safe crosswalks throughout the campus, as they have in the past in areas where students have been killed, and 3) publish and implement a bicycle and pedestrian master plan that makes the campus accessible for everyone, not just drivers.
Continue reading “Safe Campus, Unsafe Streets”

I did not report this early on as it sounded like the cyclist could have been a bit on the crazy side but as stated on the video link “I am concerned that this footage has been available from very early on, but has been obfuscated thru editing decisions. This has contributed to confusion and possibly unwarranted slander towards Mr. Sheppard [the cyclists], and unfairly protects Bryant [the motorist] from being depicted in a negative manner.”

Continue reading “Bryant Rams Toronto Cyclist Sheppard – Security Camera views "Accident"”

Just over a week ago, our Mayor’s office [D.C.] had a ghost bike removed from public space without alerting the family of the cyclist that was killed. This got some decent press attention here, and is helping us make additional improvements to the intersection where the crash occurred. The family is understandably quite upset at this callous treatment and despite repeated attempts to contact his office about the removal he has still not responded. The bike was removed at the request of a local business owner after about a year of being locked up in the same place. Apparently, the business owner that thought it was unsightly even though the family and friends of the cyclist did a good job of maintaining it. It had become an important symbol to the bike community and reminded us all to be careful. Early this morning, in response to the removal of the ghost bike, 22 new ghost bikes appeared at the same intersection. It was quite a sight to see.
Continue reading “Ghost Bike Removal and Reappearance”

[In the spirit of the world wide web I’ll start by providing a little excerpt from Wash Cycle quoting NPR, follow the links for more information.]
…
"This change going on on the streets is happening on the fly," [Noah Budnic of the North American Alliance for Biking and Walking] says. "They’re learning how to behave differently and drive and bike on streets that are still designed for cars. So there’s a lot of tension because people are just making it up as they go along."
Road rage expert David Weisenthal, a psychologist at Toronto’s York University, says it’s that sense of unpredictability, combined with a desire for revenge, that leads to conflicts.
"We know we will never see the other drivers again who are in front of us, in back of us, alongside of us," Weisenthal says. "We also have a sense of anonymity so that we feel freer to act in what may very often be a nasty manner."
…
Continue reading “Toronto Bike-Car Incident Serves as Catalyst”

On Wednesday, Karleen Dirmantas left her central Phoenix home at 6:45 a.m. and rode her bicycle 15 miles to the state’s first full-service biking center, in Tempe. She showered, changed into her work uniform and arrived at work by 8 a.m.
The center, which opened Monday, has made it possible for Dirmantas to stop driving her car to work, save money on gasoline and help preserve the environment. Other bicyclists say their benefits include saving money on parking at Arizona State University and enjoying easier access to light rail.
The Bicycle Cellar, owned by two Valley bicycle enthusiasts, is near ASU in downtown Tempe. After hearing that the center would offer paid members secured indoor-bike parking, lockers, showers and other services, Dirmantas signed up for a one-year membership.
Continue reading “Bicyclists taking advantage of AZ state’s first biking center”