Biking in Baltimore
This from Paul via Light St Cycles, pls help him out if you or a friend saw something::
Hey folks. i was hit by a car yesterday 9/21 at noon @ saratoga/st.paul. dude is trying to say i ran a red (not true….light was green for both of us and he turned left in front of me). i remember there being several cyclists on the scene and i’m looking for witnesses. hit me up if you can help. thanks. brokn wrist and 9 stitches to face but i’m not dead so hard to complain. thanks again.
Since we have quite a few bike lanes next to parking and zero enforcement for motorist to park against the curb and not next to the bike lane…. just be careful out there.
Youtube took the video down for disturbing content, it still can be viewed here:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2429531182939
Yoga at Sunrise in the Inner Harbor
When: Fri., Sept. 23, 6:30 a.m.
https://www.urbanitebaltimore.com/baltimore/yoga-at-sunrise-in-the-inner-harbor/Event?oid=1462731
Baltimore Book Festival
When: Sept. 23-25, 12-7 p.m.
https://www.urbanitebaltimore.com/baltimore/baltimore-book-festival/Event?oid=1461096
The Farmer & the Chef
When: Mon., Sept. 26, 6 p.m.
https://www.urbanitebaltimore.com/baltimore/the-farmer-and-the-chef/Event?oid=1462710
Urbanite’s coverage of Park(ing) Day in Baltimore plus 20 photos: https://www.urbanitebaltimore.com/baltimore/park-yourself-but-not-your-car/Content?oid=1462626
Omar Bukhari pedaled 4,000 miles from Baltimore’s Inner Harbor to San Francisco, raising $ 4,600 for the new Young Adult Cancer program at Johns Hopkins.
https://germantown.patch.com/articles/northwest-grad-cycles-cross-country-for-cancer-program
Since May 2010 Jacob George and some friends have been on a bicycle trip through the United States. Equipped with banjo and bass fiddle, he and others have been singing and performing anti-war stories while bringing a message of peace for Afghanistan. They’ve traveled most often through areas of the U.S. South, where anti-war sentiment is probably as low as anywhere in the country. That in itself is impressive.
But what makes this campaign, which George calls “a ride till the end,” even more striking is that George is a honorably discharged veteran of three tours in Afghanistan. He was a sergeant in the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, and as he said: “I was there in 2001 right after the U.S. forces landed in October. Then we went back once more in 2002. And then again at the end of 2003 and the beginning of 2004. No tour was for more than six months.”
Workers World spoke with George on Sept. 9 near New York’s City Hall. He had just participated in a news conference held by the Emergency Mobilization Against Racism, War and Anti-Muslim Bigotry to publicize its Sept. 11 demonstration near City Hall to answer right-wing attacks on Muslims, including Muslims’ right to build an Islamic prayer center.
…
“It got so that if I was driving and stopped at a station to buy gas, I’d start feeling like I was encouraging a war for oil. I decided to ride bicycles everywhere. At my job, which was to enforce the parking laws on campus, I would ride my bicycle carrying the ‘boot’ to place on illegally parked cars.
…
George and his bicycling team, who have performed at the Bluestockings bookstore and other places while in New York City, will be leaving Sept. 13 for a 250-mile ride to Washington, D.C., going through Philadelphia; Wilmington, Del.; and Baltimore. Their plan is to get donations of 250 bicycles.
As he said: “As a community of Afghan war veterans, we feel a peace offering is needed as we approach 10 years of war in Afghanistan. Upon collecting the bicycles, we’ll be attempting to send some to Afghanistan and others will be used to get more veterans on bicycles. We’ve asked Bikes Not Bombs to help us in this effort and we’ll be pedaling together as reconciliation approaches.”
For more information, see operationawareness.org.
Continue reading “Afghan war vet trades in weapon for bicycle”
by Kate Ryan, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Tami Bensky didn’t plan on becoming a lobbyist. She was thrust into the role after her husband Larry was killed in April of 2010. He was out on a bike ride in Baltimore County when a driver struck him, and was killed instantly.
This winter, Tami Bensky took her grief and her husband’s memory and lobbied lawmakers in Annapolis pushing for tougher penalties for drivers who kill when behind the wheel.
She explained that under Maryland law, a driver who took a life was hit with a fine. Nothing more.
“The penalty for taking the life of my husband, the father of my baby girls, was $507.50,” she said.
Bensky was one of dozens of people whose testimony moved lawmakers to toughen the penalties for vehicular manslaughter. But she’s not done.
Next week, “Larry’s Ride and Run” will be held in Upperco, Md. The ride raises funds for Bike Maryland and is aimed at increasing driver awareness and improving safety for cyclists.
Bensky says she knows many drivers are frustrated by cyclists on the roads, but she’s adamant that the two can and need to share the road.
“So many times I hear negative comments about cyclists on the road, but cyclists have every right to be on the road, and drivers need to understand it’s their responsibility to manage their vehicle in a safe manner.”
Bensky herself is not a cyclist. She met her husband at the gym where they both took a spinning class. Larry took to road riding, enjoying 30, 40, even 60 mile rides, but she stuck to the indoor riding. Still, she’s not finished trying to make the roadways safer.
“Any time there is an issue before the Maryland legislature, I’m going to be there fighting for it.”
Larry’s Ride and Run will be held Saturday, September 24. Find more information and how to register here.
Photo by Rod Bruckdorfer
Shelter Built from plastic bottle trash collected in Baltimore
Photo by Greg Cantori
Hampden’s Park-ing spaces! Taking space for people (and food and reading and talking and dogs) from cars. Love it
By Mary Helen Sprecher – The Baltimore Guide
Bicycles are an economical way form of transit — until the cyclist has to buy a new bicycle to replace one that was stolen. A rash of bicycle thefts has taken place over the last two weeks in the Southeastern District.
In most cases, cycles were left unsecured and unattended. Many were last seen leaning against front steps or parked in back yards of houses. Some were left on car-mounted racks or in the back of pickups.
Police are reminding cyclists to invest in good locks, and to lock the bicycle through the frame rather than through a front wheel, which can be detached. Bicycles should be locked to a permanent structure, or (more likely to keep them safe) brought inside when not in use.
A sampling of the crimes are as follows….
https://baltimoreguide.com/http:/baltimoreguide.com/bike-thefts-are-on-the-rise-in-southeast/
This is the first I have heard of this race. Look like a lot of fun. Photos by Twenty20 Cycling Co.
Continue reading “Hampdenfest: Toilet Bowl Race!”