[twitterer]

New Year’s Resolution

How to give up cycling [twitterer]

Have we got a video?

Says @nonavarnado, “Ever wanted to completely lose yourself in bike videos? @bikeblognyc has you covered.” See Videos on Bike Blog NYC

Roundabout

Bike lane vs roundabout, dilemma:

How to safely turn right when motorists can go straight ahead from the lane on your right, but by law cyclists are required to stay in the bike lane on a roundabout — and not cross an unbroken white line because that’s also against the law.

Approaching from either of the other two directions the bike lane simply ends, at least then allowing you to safely choose the correct lane before riding through.

twitterer

Roundabouts: a sure sign that your local road engineers don’t care about bike or pedestrian movement. Discuss.

The Hurty Dozen

The Dirty Dozen looks like pure pain and suffering on the bike. (There’s more info on the ride on MetaFilter [Thanks tom])

The rise of the child’s toy

Here’s a Goofy cartoon from 1943 in which alternatives to the car are sought due to the gasoline and rubber shortage:

Then like a bolt from the blue came a solution. The answer to a nation’s needs. A simple device once discarded as a child’s toy yet now bids fair to completely replace the automobile…

twitterer

Engineering fail…no wait

Twisted bicycle bridge across the Vlaardingervaart [Thanks tom]

When infrastructure is done right…

Bristol’s Railway Path is becoming a victim of its own success and this Danish study found “that bicycle projects are likely to yield a positive economic return for society, because the benefits of the projects exceed the costs”.

…but it isn’t all about ‘facilities’

How San Francisco became a cycling city against the odds

Put down that damn phone!

Mashable reports that:

The latest findings from the NHTSA study indicate that 3,000 people were killed in car accidents in 2010 due to distracted drivers. Although the study classified distractions as talking and changing the radio to using a mobile device, it noted that reading or writing texts increases the chances of an accident by 2,300%.

The NHTSA also said that drivers who use mobile devices in any capacity are four times more likely to have an accident and injure themselves or others. Car accidents are the leading cause of death for teens in the U.S., and 16% of young drivers involved in fatal accidents were driving distracted.

“Using a cell phone while driving is the equivalent of having a blood alcohol concentration level of .08%, the legal limit in most states,” the NHTSA said in a statement. “Using a cell phone can reduce the brain activity associated with driving by 37%.”

See also the usually thoughtful commentary on this topic by Dave Moulton

Bikeshare works

The Boston bike-share success story:

Commuters coming into North and South Stations now routinely hop on bikes to get to their offices. Tourists use it as a way to better see the sights without the wear of walking. And I personally have found that it changes things: I now readily go places I didn’t. Cars are expensive to park; subways take too long. The bike is quick and easy.

twitterer

Ah, is this what “cycling” is about?

Explaining cycling to a non-cyclist [twitterer]

Conform!

Urban Riding Tips: Tip 142: Ride behind someone with a stupid set-up.: “The kind of people that install experimental portage systems are over-represented in the penal system due to their tendency to commit spur-of-the-moment crimes against the person.”

Soon “normal” may be unusual

National action needed to stop obesity becoming the norm:

By 2025, it’s predicted that ²/₃ of the Australian population aged over 25 will be overweight or obese if current trends continue. To paint the picture more crudely, it means that a person of normal weight will soon be the exception rather than the rule.

It’s electric

The Ridekick Electric Bicycle Trailer must be about the simplest, easiest electic bike conversion ever. [via DVICE, [thanks tom]

Gadgets and Gear

• Old school sidewall dynamo charger for iPod iPhone Cellphone and other devices
• Revolights look pretty cool.
• Or you can go reflective and support Fiks:Reflective Rim Stripes [Thanks tom]
• Fizik Kurve bike saddle goes for the flex appeal [Thanks tom]
• Bicycle with USB ports to charge devices off a built-in dynamo [Thanks tom]
• A battery pack disguised as classic Dutch bicycle repair kit [Thanks tom]

Carpark stalkers

I’m still astonished at the sheer bloody laziness of people who ‘stalk’ others for a parking spot in shopping centre carparks. This article on WSJ.com puts the lie to the myth that shopping centres are always short on parking spaces:

Circling around a parking lot hunting for a space is one of life’s most irritating experiences, especially this time of year. Truth is, though, there are usually available spots—most mall lots fill to just 30% to 35% of capacity, research shows. Shoppers in a rush just don’t want to walk.

The irony is that in taking so long to find a ‘handy’ parking spot, their shopping trips probably take longer.

[twitterer]

But even I took a deep breath when I saw Aldi’s ad for a $79.99 mountain bike this week.

$79.99 and no mention of Shimano components

Let’s put this in perspective: if you take such a bike to your local bike shop for all but the simplest repair, parts and labour will total to more than the purchase price. And on such a cheap bike, components will be low quality and it may be poorly assembled, so repairs are likely to be frequent.

At this price point, many of these bikes are going to end up on the hard waste pile after the first repair bill. I don’t think the manufacture of ‘disposable’ bikes represents the pinnacle of civilization.

But the quality of the build doesn’t just end with repairs—this is a product built to minimum specifications, yet made to look like it can handle rough riding. I doubt that it’s up to true MTB conditions and it wouldn’t surprise me if it comes with one of those warning stickers that say “Not intended for hard riding”. This may not be a huge problem, as the most likely use for these bikes is slow trundling on quiet bike paths. Beyond that kind of gentle riding I don’t think I’d be prepared to trust my life, health and safety to such a contraption.

The print ad-note that the models are dressed more for shared path than singletrack

That’s not to say that el cheapo bikes can’t be made to last and even come out as somewhat cost effective (e.g. see BT Humble’s Budget Bicycling), but that takes knowledge and skill not usually available to the ‘entry level’ rider.

Anyway, if a $80 mountain bike sounds like a true bargain to you, then go ahead and get one. But go in with your eyes open: this bike won’t be much fun to ride, will be a pig to maintain, and will end up costing you much more than $80.

Your Peak. Trailer on Vimeo. [via velosport]

Urban cyclist’s survival guide

Some great tips on tricksome: Rules to cycle and live by.

The Road to PBP

Forgot to mention this when Paris-Brest-Paris was on, but a highly recommended read is Raymond Parker’s series of posts on his road to PBP—I couldn’t get enough of this story.

Woodcrafty

Masterworks’ functioning wooden bike takes craftsmanship to next level [Thanks tom]

Questionable taste

What do you think of the Playmobil ambulance with hit-and-run victim toy set? via BikingInLA

I thought it might have been a clever fake, but no: it’s real.

Bark!

Says tom, “I hope I have a video camera ready when I see the first person try this” technique for dealing with aggressive dogs.

Share the lurve

Spinlister:

Spinlister is a bike rental marketplace that allows you to find a great bike to rent or list your bike to earn cash (or hopefully both!). We think biking is the best way to get around and explore…Spinlister takes all the best bikes available for rent, whether from bike shops or individuals, and puts them all in one place.

[twitterer]

“Melbourne’s troubled bike-share scheme”

“Melbourne’s troubled bike-share scheme has been pushed into the suburbs in a bid to boost its poor numbers” according to Melbourne’s little paper and by “suburbs” they mean “Port Melbourne, Richmond and South Melbourne”. Dude, to most people in Melbourne that’s still inner city.

At any rate, that sounds more like some bike stations are being redeployed to logical places where they should have been in the first place, not a concerted push into the suburbs.

Bike Shaped Objects: ugly, bad…good?

Are BSOs bad for business? makes a similar point to that which I made about cheap bikes at Aldi.

Cycling vs ADHD

Article in Bicycling Magazine, Riding is My Ritalin asks, “Did we put a generation of potential Tour de France riders on Ritalin instead of giving them bikes?”

Video bonanza

• If you ever wondered why randonneurs do it, take a look at this Seattle Randonneurs Trailer. [twitterer]
• Another cool bike ad by Hutchinson (even if I don’t quite believe what they’re offering).
• A terrific video via VeloTroll about a cross-country stage race—is it cyclocross, MTB orienteering, or rough-road randonneuring?
• I’m sexy and I know it.
• 3 year bike tour in 3 minutes!
• Gorgeous aerial video on Vimeo.
• The world has changed. You can too. [via PUT THE FUN BETWEEN YOUR LEGS]
• BOND bicycle with ejector seat and flamethrower [Thanks tom]
• A professional display of 50 No Handed Bike Moves performed to “Golden Tree” by Martin Brooks.

Herne Hill velodrome

guardian.co.uk: “London’s last remaining venue from the 1948 Olympics is to be restored to its former glory following an energetic renovation campaign from local residents and cycling fans”.

We are traffic—just not this sort of traffic

WSJ.com on why traffic jams are bad for your health:

As roadways choke on traffic, researchers suspect that the tailpipe exhaust from cars and trucks—especially tiny carbon particles already implicated in heart disease, cancer and respiratory ailments—may also injure brain cells and synapses key to learning and memory.

Oh, goody!

Laidback

• Mi recumbent
• Clip de una recumbent argentina
• Classy recumbent

And remember, if you diss recumbents apparently this is what you get.

Cyclist = bum?

Lovely Bicycle!:

Okay, so I’ve basically been told – albeit in the friendliest way – that I was either a bum or a woman of leisure if I had the time to travel by bike.

[twitterer]

Too true

How to true a bicycle wheel on a home-made stand. A very practical video.

Bloggage

• 449 km
• Hipster Nascar

Going soft?

Are you going soft? A’ME Heated Grips will be right up your alley. twitterer

HTFU!

Jahvahaah: not enough cool to go around.

The best route to road safety: don’t drive

Professor Hank Weiss, director of the Injury Prevention Research Unit at New Zealand’s University of Otago, aregues that the best route to youth road safety is not driving:

They call for deep change in road safety instead of the old paradigm of focusing in on trying to make people safe while they drive more. We should think about the more holistic approach, and think about the safety that stems from driving less, and about the multiple benefits across society from driving less…

I’m talking about active transport as a safety measure…The more you drive, the more you’re at risk…There’s a multiple flow-on effect from reduction in vehicle miles traveled in terms of safety.

Logical really: reduce your exposure, reduce your risk.

Put down that damn phone

Meanwhile road.cc on How to make the roads safer? Turn off those mobiles:

As cyclists we all know that mobile-phone-using drivers are a dangerous nuisance, and here’s the proof. UAE newspaper The National reports that during the recent outage in the Blackberry network, which affected email, internet and messaging services for users of the popular smartphone, accidents fell by 20% in Dubai and 40% in Abu Dhabi.

Evolution of speed

New Scientist: Cars have evolved to go faster – but humans haven’t

Car buffs more likely to be aggressive drivers. In other news, grass green, sky blue [twitterer]

Speed cameras work

Yes, speed cameras work, now shut the hell up.

Active transport FTW!

NPR.org on the secret to a long, healthy life: bike to the store:

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin were wondering if getting people out of their cars just a wee bit would create measurable improvements in health…They found that if the Midwesterners ran half of their short-distance errands by bike rather than by car, 1,100 deaths would be avoided each year, and $7 billion would be saved in reduced health-care costs. The trips were 2.5 miles one way; less than a 25-minute bike ride, the researchers figure.

Meanwhile, research out of Lund University finds that car and public transport commuters report poorer health than bicycle and pedestrian commuters.

Ridiculous!

Kim Harding: say no to ridiculous car trips, while Karl McCracken and Carlton Reid trade ideas on how to increase the proportion of short trips made by bike.

Utility cycling discouraged

The Courier Mail reports on a video campaign to axe mandatory cyclist helmet law. [twitterer]

So, what is wrong with bicycle helmets? [Thanks tom]

Car-free livin’

msnbc.com lists the best cities to live car-free in America:

The majority of cities that are easy to maneuver on foot or by public access also have relatively large bicycle communities. For example, more people bike to work in a city like Portland, Ore., than in a city like San Antonio, Texas, which is not very pedestrian or bicyclist friendly. These cities tend to have an exceptional number of programs and bylaws for bicyclists. Seven of the cities on the 24/7 Wall St.’s list are also featured on Bicycling magazine’s list of the top 50 bike-friendly cities.

Urban design fail

The Washington Post asks Can we stop gas prices from squeezing the middle class? [twitterer]

Speaking of design failure, BikePortland.org on ODOT ready to install 29 new bikeway signs near I-5 bridge. [via Paul Johnson]

29 wayfinding signs required for one bridge?!? Sounds like a fundamental design fail to me.

Zombie bike apocalypse

Is America ready for the Zombie-bike-pocalypse? [twitterer]

The zombies are coming, I tell you!

More crap

The Melbourne Urbanist on more bikes are for creeps and losers crap. See also the discussion kicked-off by Richard Masoner.

Passing

Remember Ian Walker’s reseach on passing distances? Well the most ‘dubious’ of his findings, based on how feminine Dr Walker looks in a long wig, has been replicated in a report by Florida Department of Transportation [PDF]. Yes, female riders do generally get more passing space. [twitterer]

Keep calm

The Urban Country Bicycle Blog argues the topic traffic calming a waste of money? [twitterer]

Punter

Hobsons Bay Leader on getting a free punt on the Yarra. Yep, the Westgate punt is back.

It doesn’t happen overnight…

How the Dutch got their cycle paths [twitterer]

But “how did we lose our pedestrian-, bike- and transit-friendly cities so easily?” The answer, as always, is “politics”.

Bikes outsell cars: the illusion

Preventive Medicine: “Where have all the bicycles gone?” Are bicycle sales in Australia translated into health-enhancing levels of bicycle usage? [twitterer]

Unusually good

Here’s something unusual in the mainstream media: a generally positive cycling story with generally positive comments:

But it’s now clear the benefits of regular riding with mates go way beyond just keeping physically fit, allowing participants also to tap into the sort of social support network psychologists say is essential to good mental health. In fact, while cycling has long been labelled “the new golf”, increasingly it is also winning a reputation as “the new men’s shed”.

The Japanese way

Toyota proposes 250,000km of bicycle lanes across Japan over 5 years [twitterer]

The Russian way

Moscow builds it’s first cycle path—and it looks like they used Crap Cycle Lanes of Warrington as a reference guide.

“Golden Tree” by Martin Brooks on Vimeo [via LikeCool]

Design

Oregon Manifest Bicycle Design Challenge: “Thirty-four teams of top designers and custom bike builders compete to create the ultimate urban bike”.

Bikes

• Feats Per Minute record playing bike helps you kickstand out the jams
• Cannondale and Junk Food Clothing: An urban road bike gets a vintage-inspired overhaul in a one-off collaboration
• If Batman rode a recumbent trike, it would probably look something like “Silk”
• RoChair offers a unique form of wheelchair propulsion
• Crazy steel-wheeled bike that has no tires
• Ferrari introduces a mid-engined 20 speed model for only $16k
• Tall bike is optimised for instability
• Minimalist Bicycle
• Silverback’s Starke city bikes charge your gadgets, firm your thighs
• Hase Bikes’ KLIMAX tricycle converts into a velomobile
• Ford electric E-Bike Concept

Australian helmet wimps

Being a clogwog, I just thought the Australians were being wimps wearing helmets while riding a pushbike…5 Popular Safety Measures That Don’t Make You Any Safer

A little tyred

You know an invention is brilliant when you find yourself saying, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Such an invention is PumpTire:

• PumpTire, the bike tire that auto-inflates as you ride
• Self-inflating tire keeps the pressure up for cyclists
• PumpTire self-inflating bicycle tire

Roads

• How red asphalt is laid for bicycle riders

Bike share

NYC’s Bike Share System

Gadgets

• LED Indicator Strap for Cyclist
• This bike lock masquerades as a water bottle
• Mini Monkey Light: “a durable LED bike light that keeps you visible for evening rides”
• HeadsUp System keeps your car-topped gear from getting ‘racked’
• PowerWheel is designed to make your race bike go … slower?
• Owl 360 serves as a third eye for cyclists
• Bicygnals LED Bicycle Lights
• Cut through this bike lock, and you’ll destroy the bike

Hands-on

• Clean a Bicycle Chain without Special Cleaning Tools
• Make Your Own Speed Vest to Show Motorists How Fast You’re Going and Keep You Safe
• Making cities prettier, one bike rack at a time

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

Bicycle Thief, Interrupted:

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

Keep calm and ride on.

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.