Month: February 2008

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Bob Moore

The 11th Annual Bicycle Symposium was a great success, but there was something missing . . . or rather, someone missing.

Many of us know Bob Moore of Baltimore City. He is a loooooong time member of the Baltimore Bicycling Club, a former member of the Maryland Bike/Ped Advisory Committee, and currently serves on the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, the Tour dem Parks Committee, and many others. He has dependably led BBC rides and is the prime mover behind Baltimore’s Moonlight Madness Rides in support of the recently reopened Baltimore Hostel. He has been a huge part of the improvement of biking conditions in Baltimore.

Unfortunately, Bob was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Like the trooper he is, he is undergoing treatment with his usual grace and good humor, but on Wednesday he was unable to attend the symposium because he was in Johns Hopkins Hospital with complications from the treatment.

Bob was being released from the hospital when I left him Thursday afternoon. His chemotherapy requires that he avoid contact with a lot of people, but I’m sure he would love to hear from his friends. His contact info can be found in the "yellow pages", the Bicycle and Pedestrian Directory you received at the symposium.

– Greg Hinchliffe

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The Reality Behind Bottled Water

1. Because water is a human right and not a commodity to be bought and sold for profit
2. Because bottled water corporations are changing the very way people think about water and undermining people’s confidence in public water systems
3. Because up to 40% of bottled water in the U.S. and Canada is sourced from municipal tap water
4. Because some bottlers have run over communities’ concerns and the environment when they extract water and build bottling plants to get local spring and ground water
5. Because bottled water travels many miles from the source, results in the burning of massive amounts of fossil fuels, and contributes to the billions of plastic bottles ending up in our landfills
6. Because worldwide there is a need for investments in public water systems to ensure equal access to water, a key ingredient for prosperity and health for all people; and
7. Because solutions to ensuring water as a fundamental human right require people acting together and standing up for public water systems
Continue reading “The Reality Behind Bottled Water”

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World clock

I ran across this interesting site with real time (so far this year) approximations of:

Deaths due to Cardiovascular Diseases (lack of exercise) 2,397,519

Cars produced 5,167,198

Bikes produced 15,652,345

And I found Earth Clock:

CO2 emissions (tons) 3,947,276,628 (That is like everyone in the world produced a half a ton of CO2 so far this year and the year isn’t over yet.)

Oil depletion timer 15572 days

US Garbage production (tons) 31,583,168

You can sit and watch the numbers spin (a bit scary.)
Continue reading “World clock”

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Lance Armstrong unveils his new commuting bike shop

It’s not about the bike sales.
That from Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, who plans in May to open a bike shop, commuting center, training facility and cafe in a 1950s-era building at the northwest corner of Fourth and Nueces streets.
"This city is exploding downtown. Are all these people in high rises going to drive everywhere? We have to promote (bike) commuting," Armstrong said Wednesday, gazing up at the towering 360 condos rising next to the site of his new shop. "This can be a hub for that."
…
Armstrong said he’d like to see Austin evolve into a place like Portland, Ore., where biking is part of the culture and people pedal to work, to restaurants and to run errands. "Walk outside, and the streets are lined with bikes
Continue reading “Lance Armstrong unveils his new commuting bike shop”

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Take a Bite Out of Traffic Crime

[Hmm, maybe we should look into doing something like this here.]

Speeding contributes to 1/3 of all traffic crashes. In neighborhoods throughout New York City, traffic crime is rampant. Speeding, red light running, failure to yield to pedestrians, and driving and parking in bike lanes, among other traffic violations, contribute significantly to the 12,000 pedestrians and cyclists injured and killed on New York City streets each year.

Each minute, NYC drivers run 1,712 red lights, according to a 2001 study by the NYC Comptroller. Speeding is rampant too, and a car traveling just 10 mph over NYC’s 30 mph speed limit has a 70% chance of killing a pedestrian if there is a collision. Left unchecked, traffic violations can disrupt the safety and comfort level of our streets and cause many more unnecessary injuries and deaths.

To raise the safety and comfort of city streets for all users, T.A. is working on a traffic violations study to expose the problem across the city and push for effective enforcement of traffic laws.
Continue reading “Take a Bite Out of Traffic Crime”