Speedlinking 27 April 2008

My way or the freeway

You know, cycling on the freeway doesn’t look too bad when it’s just a gridlocked linear carpark… [via Banned Bicycles]

Part of the problem

Speaking of congestion, recently car company executives were caught in a Beijing traffic jam. One word: “Pfffffthahahahaha!” [via Lockies]

How about that dude whose 5km commute has gone from 15 minutes to an hour? And he doesn’t seem to see himself as part of the problem? (Blimey, I’d have been on the bike when commute time was 15 minutes—I’d do it in half the time.)

But as Adrian rightly points out, it’s a bit harsh to bring a

hypocritical and privileged western mindset [to] judge who can have what and what’s right and wrong in this new economy.

That said, the car seems to be as much a status symbol in China as anywhere else.

Fumbling it

Recumbent rider gets a letter printed in the paper, but totally fumbles the opportunity. What a blockhead.

The road is a bike path

On the other hand, Amy Schramm of the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety in Queensland got herself an opinion piece in the Courier Mail on the right of cyclists to use the road, and she certainly didn’t fumble it:

However, whether two or 200 cyclists use our roads each day, it is important that drivers and cyclists alike consider the safety and needs of all legitimate road users rather than their perceived “right” to be on the road.

By the way, I think it’s interesting that the invitation to participate in the usual trollfest has been worded as “Do cyclists need more protection on the road?”

Mini-review: Nokia’s Sports Tracker

Tom was recently in touch, saying:

I have a Nokia N95 and it has an inbuild GPS. I just downloaded this free program from Nokia called Sports Tracker. It tracks your progress during your ride (live updates to a website if you like) and it can compare it against previous rides, gives you overviews of your lap times (if you are doing laps) and lets you take photos that will get linked to the location where you took them.

It just blew my mind.

DIY bike clothes

Sew Your Own Cycling Jerseys and Shorts

DIY Bike Computer

Simple Bike Computer

Looking back

Mentioned in RBR Newsletter last week was the ViewPoint rear view mirror, a tiny little thingy that sticks inside your sunglasses (you do always wear glasses when you ride, don’t you?)

It looks like a gimmick, but my guess is that in the right kind of glasses it’s actually quite useful. Jim Langley’s review is certainly full of praise.

Straight out of B.C.

The Magic Wheel was clearly inspired by the wheel-riding character in Johnny Hart’s B.C. comic strip. Is it a bike, is it a scooter, or is it (as Gizmag reckons) the Pennyfarthing of skateboards?

Getting into the Bike Biz

Advice for anyone thinking of buying a bike shop (hint: you probably won’t do much riding yourself…)

More on related topics

• Take the road or the bike path?
• Protect your eyes
• Carrying a notebook computer on your bike
• Cover up to keep the bugs out
• In praise of foggy mornings