Month: April 2009

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Baltimore: Biking, Bakeries and Breakfast by J the travel authority

Baltimore’s mayor is seriously into health & fitness: both her personal fitness and that of the citizens of her city. So twice a week — Wednesdays & Fridays — she invites anyone to pedal behind her. I biked with the mayor recently on a Friday afternoon along with almost two dozen people — many of them regular city cyclists plus city employees — and was amazed at her pace: around 18 mph. I rode alongside her deputy press secretary on our 22 mile trek through the city’s many greenspaces.

We tackled the lovely Gwynss Falls bike trail and, where our journey crossed into traffic, there was no need to worry: the regular riders, including the mayor’s photographer and a very serious and exceedingly helpful and empathetic cyclist, Mark, stopped traffic in both directions so we could continue on our way. And the mayor’s black Suburban with her security details followed us when we rode in the streets. The whole experience was a delight, especially riding through some dense woodlands and spacious grassy plots.
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WHAT TO DO AT A CRASH SCENE

Just a friendly reminder about what to do if you are in a crash:
Don’t move unless you’re sure you won’t hurt yourself more.
Don’t get mad. Keep a level head.
Don’t ride away or shake off what seems like a minor injury—you might find later that it’s worse than you thought.
GET HELP Call 911. Get medical help if needed.
GET WITNESSES Write down names and phone numbers of anyone that witnessed the crash
GET EVIDENCE Get information from every vehicle:
* License plate number, make of car
* Driver’s license number
* Insurance company name and policy number ((should match driver name)
* Driver name, address, phone number
GET THE POLICE REPORT # from the police on the scene and get a copy of from the district station in which the crash occurred.
AFTER THE CRASH
Write down how the crash happened while it’s fresh in your memory.
Keep (or photograph) any damaged clothes or equipment. Photograph any injuries you sustained. Document any lost wages or time off.
Eric Gilliland
Executive Director
Washington Area Bicyclist Association

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THE NEWBIE CORNER: THE INESTIMABLE VALUE OF GOING CLIPLESS

clip in newbie


You have been riding for a few months now, and you are looking to make a simple upgrade to your bike that could augment your on the bike performance. Ultimately, a newbie’s upgrade decision ought to focus on this inquiry: what equipment upgrade is going to prove the most worthwhile over time, and foster the greatest improvement in my performance? Lighter wheels are always a nice upgrade. And, high end competition or race wheels will definitely cut weight from your bike, and thereby deliver you a bit more
speed. Yet, perhaps the best initial equipment upgrade a newbie can make is the purchase of a clipless pedal system.


Clipless pedals offer riders a number of advantages. Most importantly, clipless pedals cultivate a more efficient and powerful pedal stroke. Notably, these systems permit you to better access your hamstrings and gluteus muscles during your upstroke. Accessing the hamstring and gluteus muscles on the upstroke in turn enables you to deliver a greater power transfer to the crank, and that increased power transfer produces a greater speed. Indeed, a
rider generates far more power using a clipless pedal system than he or she would produce employing a (now almost) obsolete toe clip systems.

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Vancouver Cycling Route Planner

The most interesting part of the planner to me was the survey results showing that cyclists’ primary concern in selecting a route was to find one with low air pollution. It’s possible I read/viewed that incorrectly, but if true, that would seem to be an important factor in cycle route planning that I never even once considered as being important to us cyclists.
As best I can tell, Vancouver seems to be the Portland of Canada — fairly progressive biking policies, relatively speaking. Maybe that’s why Vancouver was just ranked 4th best city in the world for livability.
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DRIVER CITED FOR BUMPING CYCLIST

From the April 19th Times Record in Brunswick Maine:
A School Street man was charged with driving to endanger after brushing a bicyclist with his SUV Sunday morning on Maine St.
[Name retracted], 47, was summonsed after two bicyclists said he struck one of them in the arm with his vehicle as they rode northbound on Maine St, Brunswick Police Cmdr. Marc Hagan said Wednesday.
According to the statements, [Name retracted] then pulled over an exchanged words with the bicyclists, telling them they weren’t supposed to be in the roadway, Hagan said. The bicyclists reported [Name retracted] license plate number, and police charged him on Monday.
The incident wasn’t necessarily an accident, Hagan said, because it occurred because of the way he was driving. He was operating in such a way to create a danger. You?re supposed to give a bicycle rider three feet of room. Mr. [Name retracted] felt they shouldn’t have been in the roadway, but the fact is that bicyclists do have a right to be in the road, and if a car is coming the other way, (drivers) are supposed to wait (to pass).?
[Name retracted] also received a summons for failure to use care when passing a bicyclist.
Hagan said drivers should try to be more patient with bicyclists, but that bicyclists must also stay as far to the right as possible. [Note that the police have this bit of the law wrong.]
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BALTIMORE BIKE SUMMIT, MAY 1st

The BIKE SUMMIT will now be
held at the WAR MEMORIAL BUIDLING, 101 N. Gay St, 1st
Floor in the Paul Wolman Room. 

 

Enter the building’s north side on Lexington St. 

Bike Parking will be available here.

 

Please pass along this information to others attending.

The Baltimore Bike Summit is this Friday, May 1st

Please RSVP ( Nate.Evans@baltimorecity.gov ) if you have not done so already. We are providing lunch and need to plan accordingly.

A mid-day bike ride is part of the agenda. If you would like to participate but need a bike, please let me know by Thursday and we will provide one for you.

If you have any questions, please let Nate know.

Sincerely,

Nate Evans

Bike & Pedestrian Planner

City of Baltimore
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Residents want bike, walking paths near Navy Med campus

Neighbors say BRAC officials should look at traffic solutions that don’t focus on cars
by Andrew Ujifusa | Staff Writer
State transportation officials are getting more pressure to focus on bike and pedestrian improvements as part of a solution to new traffic caused by Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s future move to Bethesda.
Community members continue to criticize the lack of long-term plans for the area around the future Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at the current National Naval Medical Center campus. They argue that proposed improvements at four intersections near the campus do not facilitate the ultimate goal of taking cars off local roads, and that bike and pedestrian upgrades should be a focus of the $36.2 million in state and federal money available for Base Realignment and Closure project improvements.
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New from Streetfilms: Bike Rush Hour on the Hawthorne Bridge

Streetfilms‘ Clarence Eckerson was in Portland recently for Filmed by Bike. While he was here, he teamed up with Dan Kaufman from Crank My Chain CycleTV to put together a new, 3-plus minute film that takes a look at “Bike Rush Hour” on Portland’s Hawthorne Bridge.
20% of the traffic on Hawthorn bridge is bike/ped that utilizes less then 10% of the space.
Continue reading “New from Streetfilms: Bike Rush Hour on the Hawthorne Bridge”

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Aggressive driving

-> "As many as 56 percent of deadly crashes involve one or more unsafe driving behaviors typically associated with aggressive driving."
— "Aggressive Driving: Research Update;" April, 2009; AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
https://tinyurl.com/csoeev
-> "In the AAA Foundation’s 2008 Traffic Safety Culture Index, 78 percent of respondents rated aggressive drivers as a serious or extremely serious traffic safety problem, yet nearly half of these same people reported exceeding the speed limit by 15 mph on major highways in the past 30 days. Substantial numbers also admitted accelerating to try to beat traffic lights, honking at other drivers, tailgating and pressuring other drivers to speed up, illustrating the AAA Foundation’s "Do as I say, not as I do" critique of the prevailing driving culture."
— "Aggressive Driving: Research Update;" April, 2009; AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety
https://tinyurl.com/csoeev