Month: June 2007

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Hey riders alley cat


a few updates for the “hey riders alley cat” on june 23rd.

-frieght baggage from SF has been added as a sponsor.! big up travis!

– $250 for first finisher, and $250 for first out of town finisher! (yo NY PHILLY, DC! thats $500 if you cash win!) + all the regular prizes we have for you!

-also first girl to finish…$100 cash, plus prizes!

-and if you do it on a bmx…special prizes also!

-a HUGE response so far and looks like its going to be a big one!! come win some monies!

even if racing is not your thing you could come check it out nd see some cool bikes…
hope to see you !
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The 1K Project

Baltimore has just over 1,000 bike commuters and to some that is just not a significant number so why accommodate bikes. So I searched the internet for some sort of visualization of how significant a 1,000 cars (which would be the result if we forced directly or indirectly bikes off the road.) And I found this really good machinima of a racing sim with a 1,000 cars. Is this what the roads would look like if we were forced to drive instead of ride our bikes? (Maybe I should phrase that better but still that
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A STREETCAR SYSTEM FOR THE 21st CENTURY:

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Mayor Dixon’s transition report identified the proposed reconfiguration of Pratt Street as a way to try to accommodate the regional Red Line on that very visible and high traffic artery. But the winning entry selected by City judges in the Pratt Street design competition very definitely does NOT accommodate regional transit.

The winning Pratt Street design concept (above) is dominated by a very wide boulevard (approximately 100 feet curb to curb) that would have similar traffic characteristics to Downtown Baltimore’s other wide boulevards – President, Light, Conway and MLK Boulevard – which are most definitely NOT transit-friendly places.

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Cycling safety 101

By CHRIS HRENKO Correspondent
A common complaint of new or infrequent road cyclists and commuters is that they feel exposed and squeezed by auto traffic. In the absence of an extensive system of bike paths and lanes, sharing the road is something that we all have to get used to. That means mastering the fear of auto traffic, and knowing how to ride safely and predictably as it flows around you.
Fortunately it’s easy, though it may not seem to be at first. There are times when the real dangers of bicycle commuting become all too evident, most often when you are first starting out, and not yet desensitized to being among a bunch of 3,000-pound projectiles with nothing but a piece of foam on your head to protect you.
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Quote for the day

Every time we let a vehicle pass there is a little bit of compromise. But compromise allows the city to function and allows cyclists to function in the city. The trick is not to eliminate compromise but to learn how to work safely within it.
–Robert Hurst

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The Future of Carbon-Free Transport: Groningen, Netherlands

by Warren Karlenzig
The future of carbon-free transport lives strong in Groningen. This Dutch city of 185,000 proves that bicycle transportation can reign supreme: people there make about 150,000 trips by bicycle every day.
Bicycles and pedestrians entirely rule the medieval-era city hub, cruising along on car-free dedicated pathways and short cuts with no traffic signals in some instances. But people also commute on bikes in large numbers from suburban housing spread out around the city to downtown jobs, via a ring-and-spoke network of paths. Overall, 37 percent of area commutes are made on bikes.
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Other so-called northern European "cycling cities" may be more known (Amsterdam; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Ghent, Belgium) but none can match Groningen for its complete vision and high rate of daily velocipedic
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What
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Unveiling Pervious Concrete

By Paul Fournier
June 25, 2007
New England Construction
Demonstration project reveals secrets about sustainable but relatively unknown material
A Sutton, Mass., pavement demonstration conducted as part of an industry seminar provided designers, contractors and materials producers with important tips on using pervious concrete, a building material fast gaining recognition for its stormwater management and sustainable characteristics.
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Driver-cyclist road rage seems to be on rise

Tuesday, June 12, 2007
By Terry Judd
He was taking in the early morning air as he rode his bicycle down Grand Haven’s Washington Avenue early Memorial Day morning to catch a 65-mile group bike ride to Allendale and back.
But as he approached Beacon Boulevard, the driver of a pickup truck yelled for him to get off the street and onto the sidewalk. The cyclist yelled back that he had every right to be on the street.
Then it got ugly, according to the cyclist, who asked that his name not be used because of safety concerns.
The truck screeched to a stop and seconds later the two were standing face to face exchanging words and expletives. Then, without warning, the driver slugged the cyclist in the face. The cyclist hit back, knocking the driver to the ground.
"You’re lucky I didn’t have a gun," the motorist said as he got back into his truck and the cyclist rode off.
Welcome to the latest version of road rage — car-bike style.
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