Cult of the Bicycle

Separated bike lanes proposed for S.F. Market Street

2008-05-09T05:19:49Z

A group headed by the business-backed Market Street Association, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and the civic think tank San Francisco Planning & Urban Research Association is hatching a new idea to improve Market. The thought is to create dedicated bike lanes, physically separated from vehicles, such as has been done in Frankfurt, Germany; Copenhagen, Denmark; and closer to home in Eugene and Bend, Ore. Proponents of that idea have sketched out a primitive design in which sidewalks and...(read more)

Clipless mishap leads to broken ribs

2008-05-08T16:00:34Z

Most of us who use pedal retention systems have experienced the embarrassing moments of failing to release from the pedal when we first learn use them. I was talking with a friend last night whose fiancée tried clipless pedals for the first time last week. As she keeled over during a stop, the handlebar flipped around and she fell right on the end of her flat bars! After a few days of pain, she went to the doctor who diagnosed the broken ribs. What's the worst newbie injury you know of from failure...(read more)

Thank you for taking the survey

2008-05-08T04:31:35Z

Thank you to all of you who took the Cyclelicious survey. I'll look over the responses over the weekend. I really appreciate that you've given me your thoughts about Cyclelicious and I really appreciate the encouragement that several of you gave. I've selected a winner and sent notification this evening. I used a random number generator from Random.org to select from among the email addresses that were entered. Thanks again! I'm fairly busy this week, so I'll direct your attention...(read more)

Shout out to Camille and Heather

2008-05-07T05:15:01Z

I hadn't seen Camille since she moved away from Santa Cruz a few months ago. I ran into her completely by accident at Maker Faire last weekend and I finally met her fiance (congrats!). Her friend Heather was there, too. Heather is an art teacher in Cupertino, California. She had her students do a collage illustrating environmental problems and solutions. A couple of her students had an anti-car or pro-bicycling theme in their problem/solution project. Posted here with Heather's permission...(read more)

Free web listing for your bike business

2008-05-07T04:24:21Z

During the month of May bike shops, tour operators, and accommodation owners that link their site to T heCyclePeople.com will get free listings for the remainder of 2008. Manufacturers have already uploaded thousands of products to the site's database, making it easy to search for the latest cycling gear. Over 7,000 US and UK bike shops are listed as well. Shop owners that take advantage of this opportunity will get an enhanced listing for their shop, complete with details on the product lines...(read more)

Bike route San Jose to Palo Alto

2008-05-05T22:59:45Z

South Bay bike train A "bike train" is a caravan of cyclists commuting together on a regular schedule. During the month of May I'm riding my bike to work the 20 miles from San Jose to my job in Menlo Park via Palo Alto. If you'd like to join me, I generally depart from either Park @ Bird in San Jose or from the Caltrain Diridon Station (San Jose Depot) at either 6:55 a.m. or 7:30 a.m., though this morning I didn't get started until 7:50 a.m. Follow my Twitter feed for exact...(read more)

Bicycle nerds

2008-05-05T18:06:51Z

I wrote over the weekend that there were 40,000 people at Maker Faire. It turns out that was last year's attendance -- this year, an estimated 70,000 people showed up just on Saturday. Cell phone reception was the pits, probably because the cell network was overwhelmed with so many technology nerds all using their phones for everything. My other camera broke (grrr) but fortunately several bike nerds that I know were also at Maker Faire taking photos of bike nerd stuff. They include Ms Art Teacher...(read more)

Daisy for the 21st Century

2008-05-05T00:31:17Z

Lyrics by Margaret Pye and posted here with her kind permission. Daisy, Daisy Give me your answer do I'm half crazy all for the love of you It won't be a stylish marriage I can't afford a carriage But you look sweet Upon a seat Of a bicycle built for two Hummer, Hummer Why d'you use so much gas? Smog in the summer, It's such a pain in the ***. I think I'll get on my ten-speed. It's such a better road deed. I don't smell so sweet, But I can beat The smell of your SUV...(read more)

Bicycles at Maker Faire

2008-05-04T07:26:27Z

Momentum Magazine. Publisher Amy Walker, Associate Publisher Tania Lo and Marketing/Partnership Director Mia Kohout of Momentum Magazin are in the Maker Faire Expo. You'll find the Momentum booth south of the big HP banner hanging from the ceiling near the center of the Expo building. Drop by, tell them Richard from Cyclelicious sent you and pick up a free copy of the May/June 2008 issue which features an article by me. Oh, and there's a photo of some guy named Lance Armstrong on the cover...(read more)

Stupidest bike lane followup

2008-05-02T23:21:49Z

Andy Bowers of SlateV talks about the response to his stupidest bike lane video. It's pretty funny. Via Streetsblog ....(read more)

Oakland Scraper Bikes

2008-05-02T22:06:46Z

What began as Stevenson's attempt to create the next best thing to having his own scraper-car — known in Oakland's hyphy-style rap culture for the matching body and wheel colors — has turned into a mobile mini-arts festival of 26-inch-tall Ferris wheels rolling through the streets of East Oakland. At appearances throughout their neighborhood, the crew shows kids how to decorate and fix old bikes. According to Robert Calhoun of the Rainbow Community Center, "The kids ate it up."...(read more)

omg lol

2008-05-02T16:53:39Z

The height of urban hipster style is demonstrated in these tight yet baggy pants from Soulful Commando. I'd think the bagginess might interfere with my pedaling form on a fixed gear bike, but I've never let function get in the way of style before. From Gawker , which calls these "the holy grail of pants." Via Bike Hugger ....(read more)

Bicycles on the Santa Monica Freeway

2008-05-01T22:53:33Z

" I bike where bikes are banned ," writes Perry. He and 9 friends illegally rode their bicycles through congested traffic on the Santa Monica Freeway west of I-405. Here's video of their exploit. In my area, it appears freeway traffic has dropped substantially over this past week as more people eschew single occupant motor vehicle travel. A side effect of higher gas prices is less traffic congestion....(read more)

Bay Area bicycle news

2008-05-01T21:14:30Z

Bike Month. The San Francisco Bay Area Bicycle Coalition and Metropolitan Transportation Commission announced the 2008 Bike Commuter of the Year awards for each of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. San Francisco Fell & Masonic. Motorists turning left from Fell onto Masonic cross the Panhandle Path crosswalk and collisions with bicyclists are almost routine. City attorneys in San Francisco persuaded Judge Peter Busch to make an exception in his injunction against bicycle projects for intersection...(read more)

Boonen loses his license

2008-05-01T16:23:07Z

Happy USA Bike Month, all! Tom Boonen has proved to be too fast on the road, and will now have to get around on just his bike for a while. The QuickStep rider was clocked driving at 120 km/h in a 70 km/h zone in Mol, Belgium last Thursday night, and as a result has lost his driving licence for 14 days. The police confirmed that they caught the former world champion in a radar trap. 120 km = 75 miles, 70 km = ~45 miles. Read more at Bike Radar ....(read more)