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Melbournism calls for Melbourne's best cycling paths
What do they ride at Microsoft?
Apple's campus bikes are classically minimal—a plain silver mixte, to be precise.
Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but if you think about it, this simple, classic bike seems like exactly the thing Apple would pick to get its employees around the campus. I wonder what Microsoft uses? Probably electric golf carts. Or even (shudder) Segways.
[thanks flipsockgrrl]
Once was car city
Detroit Bike City [Thanks tom]
Not quite bike city
Melbourne gains 'bike city' status. Oh, really?
Actually is bike city
NYTimes.com on The Dutch Way - Bicycles and Fresh Bread.
Number crunch
Mez Dispenser on checking the numbers on bike trips in Toronto—how did the city get it so wrong?
Design
- Plastic bike looks like a toy, but rides like the future [Thanks tom]
- Brian Cloyd's Recumbent Trike impresses NASA [Thanks tom]
- Apparently Toyota is working on the bicycle of the future that shifts gears via brain waves. OK, cool idea and good on them, but I can't see myself replacing reliable cable and levers any time in the foreseeable future.
Recognition
Dave Moulton on distinctive bike designs.
Retro
- In the Doone Valley by Frank Patterson [twitterer]
- Bicycles. Sears, Roebuck & Co. Advertising Booklet, 1914.
- The trend today is to BSA [twitterer]
You go girl
Some idiot has the brass balls to steal a bike in broad daylight. But Kristen Bell and her co-workers saw what was happening and sprung into action, taking revenge for theft victims everywhere.
[Thanks tom]
Light up those hoops
Project Aura: Bicycle Safety Lighting System [Thanks tom]
"These jeans hate me"
Commute by Bike on Levi's Nerd-Repellent Commuter Jeans:
I'm working on finding out if Levi's makes an uncool version of these pants, and if they do, I'll review them sometime in the future — and I'll find out if "higher back rise" means, "covers your butt crack."
Park it there
Apple shaped multi-story bike park in Alphen aan de Rijn [Thanks tom]
Counterintuitive
New road sign: Lane Closed to Ease Congestion [twitterer]
Best advice ever
Another way a bike is better
Simple way to cool down your car after it's been baking in the sun.
Too much Tour de France is barely enough
- Dave Moulton calls it A Perfect Result.
- The Conversation on the science of the Tour de France time trial.
- I've really come to look forward to the Boston Globe's two-part folio of shots from the Tour de France: Part 1 and Part 2.
(Incidentally, if anyone ever tries to suggest that every single one of these riders isn't an incredibly hard man, just point them this photo of Laurens ten Dam.) - road.cc reminded me of the wonderful TdF film Vive le tour! Sure, you've probably seen it before but go and watch it again.
- And I just need to keep a bookmark of Senor Coconut - Tour de France for future reference.
Sadly, we need to keep it in perspective
Amy Gillett Foundation on a stark reminder of the dangers cyclists face on our roads:
As the nation celebrates Cadel Evans' famous Tour De France victory, it is also a time to highlight the issues of safety for cyclists on our roads as we mourn the death of another cyclist on Beach Road in Melbourne last Friday.
Work it out
Triathleteurope on effective hour-long bike workouts:
Not everyone has the time to put in five-hour rides every week. Fortunately, there are a few hour-long sessions that you can do that are invaluable for developing your bike fitness.
Energy supply
Interesting article on Why do we get exhausted?
Futile
KarlOnSea on the futility of culture change through exhortation:
Supposedly, all we have to do to make the roads attractive to the 98% of the population who don't ride bikes on a regular basis, is to change the behaviour of these drivers. Yeah. Like that's going to happen by just asking drivers nicely to pay a lot more attention, and curb any aggressive tendencies they may have.
Apropos: Bike crashes in Queensland: cyclists most likely to be at fault. [twitterer]
And when cycling infrastructure is everywhere, you get installations like this. [twitterer]
Accessorise, dahling!
@noteon: "Finally, somebody makes an affordable saddle scrotum".
Handlebar clearance
Heidi Swift suggests Don't look down. Mmmmmokay!
The debate the just keeps on giving
Cycle helmets: safety essential or health risk?
Cycle helmets should not be made compulsory, according to medical experts. The surprise finding from a poll of readers of the British Medical Journal suggests there is no simple answer to improving cycling safety.
Back to the drawing board
Human Powered Cycles reports on a prototype utility bike:
Not long after we built the first prototype furniture removalist bike, we tried moving some wood. Well actually it was a few hundred kilograms of wood.
Ah. Oops.
Cook now
TravellingTwo offers a free bicycle touring cookbook (from 1979):
There are hints on proportions (note that the book was aimed at groups of cyclists, so all recipes serve 10 people!), nutrition and how to carry tricky things, like sticky jars of honey.
Girls in the biz
Oregon Business reports from Interbike on why women lag in bike riding and business. [twitterer]
Jens says
The Jens Voigt Soundboard: 'nuff said!
The Pillars of French Cycling
Interesting film on the French bike industry, in two parts: Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.