tagged w/ Bicycle Commuting
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Confidence is sexy. (and free)
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Each class is free, but you must register (see link).
Learn skills and build confidence to bike safely in traffic or encourage a woman you know to get more comfortable biking! This four hour classroom session covers bicycle information and riding strategy, including how-to negotiate intersections and cyclists' legal rights and responsibilities. Bicycles are not needed for this class. Participants of this class are eligible to take a second on-road course. Class is taught by a League of American Bicyclists certified instructor. Workshop is free and open to women over 14 years of age. Pre-registration is required.
Details: Thursday, June 12th, 5:30-9:30pm at the Women's Building 3543-18th Street at Valencia
To register for this class or see a complete schedule of other free cycling workshops, visit sfbike.org/edu
Confidence is sexy. (and free)
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Each class is free, but you must register (see... more
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style over speed.
quality vs. quantity.
California love.
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92-year-old enjoys riding bike, lot of laughter. What a super cool cat!
MADERA RANCHOS, Calif. — Fred Mathes rides his bike to the post office (which in this neighborhood is inside the local video store), to the local diner, and out through the open fields.
He’s 92. His bicycle — a black, still-shiny, three-speed Schwinn — is 56.
For his 80th birthday he rode to Oxnard, Calif. — some 380 miles. For his 90th birthday he went for a 40-mile bike ride to Friant Dam and back. He hasn’t made plans yet for his next birthday bicycle ride in October, but Friant is in the running because he likes to have lunch at the Dam Diner.
Mathes said he believes in keeping things.
Jokes. Love. Bicycles.
“I don’t like to throw anything away that’s valuable. We’re very careful with gasoline, electricity, water,” he said. “We try to make things last. We’re real conservatives unless you’re talking politics.”
He does not favor Lycra or cycling shoes. His riding clothes are whatever he happens to be wearing, usually a pair of trousers (he rolls up one pant leg), a long-sleeved western shirt and a stylish cotton hat from Italy.
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style over speed.
quality vs. quantity.
California love.
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92-year-old enjoys... more
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How lovely
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click on link for additional video
One way to see Georgia during these days of $4 a gallon gas prices? Try a bicycle.
That's been the preferred way for cyclists from across the country who come to the Peach State once a year for the Bicycle Ride Across Georgia.
The bike tour, which crosses some 400 miles across the state and is in its 29th year, pedaled into Macon today as hundreds of bicyclists rode 60 miles from Griffin and stopped at First Presbyterian Day School for the night. The group is scheduled to ride to Dublin Tuesday.
"We'll probably have about 1,800 riders," BRAG director Vicki Thompson said. "We're actually up a couple hundred from last year. ... It's a passion. People enjoy the cycling part. It's the same reason why you play tennis or do other activities."
With temperatures reaching a record-tying 100 degrees today, riders probably had to display a bit more love for their sport than usual to complete the leg of the journey.
Connor Timpone, 16, of Gainesville, Ga., is riding in her first BRAG and admitted the scorching temperature had an impact.
"The heat is killer, especially when you're on new asphalt," she said.
But Timpone has ridden bikes ever since she can remember and said she didn't want to miss BRAG for anything.
"I've known a few people who have done this before," she said. "I was the only one in my family that wanted to do it, so I dragged my mother and brother with me."
The family aspect is a big part of BRAG, as many cyclists rode tandem bikes or bikes with attached trailers for children.
Faith Cupka, of Greenville, S.C., rode a tandem with her 11-year-old son, Stephen, while her husband, Cary, rode a bike with a trailer that carried their 6-year-old daughter, Cherilyn.
"We cycle a lot as a family," Faith Cupka said. "It's our family vacation. We did BRAG last year."
For more on this story, return to macon.com and read Tuesday's Telegraph.How lovely
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click on link for additional video
One way to see Georgia during... more
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If you like what I like reading often math, bikes and charts, this is for you. Not only do I love pedaling, I enjoy reading production, timelines and what various cities are doing with wealth, infrastructure and initiative (or not).
"A number of European cities have set the standard for bicycle use and promotion, via pro-bike transportation and land use policies, as well as heavy funding for bicycle infrastructure and public education. In Copenhagen, for example, 36 percent of commuters bike to work.
While biking remains popular for recreation in the United States, it is woefully underused for transportation. Total cycling participation has declined nationally since 1960, dropping 32 percent since the early 1990s, and now accounts for just 0.9 percent of all trips. Cycling to work is even less frequent, at 0.4 percent of trips.
While the bicycle is still an essential form of transportation in China, the country has recently seen a rapid decrease in bike ownership as its population becomes wealthier and turns to cars."
Click link for full article.If you like what I like reading often math, bikes and charts, this is for you. Not... more
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..."To the average person, bicycles may seem like a luxury. But to the homeless, bikes are as important as bedrolls. Maybe more so. (And not just for escaping tent-slashing cops.)
"The importance of these bikes is not just for their comfort," Shumate says. "It's the ability to get from one point to another. Ninety-five percent of [homeless people] can't pay taxi fare, can't pay bus fare, can't pay diddly."
For the homeless, bicycles are crucial for jobs, doctor appointments and relationships.
"I got one guy who goes all the way to St. Pete Beach to see his girlfriend," he says. "I got another guy who rides to Clearwater to see his mother. He does that three times a week."
Since moving into the Free Clinic space, Shumate has repaired and given away 61 bicycles, many of which were found on the street; in addition, he's given another 17 to the Free Clinic to give out to clients when he's away. (He always checks with the police first to make sure the bikes aren't stolen property.) He keeps a list so people can't double-dip. And those who have a job move to the front of the list.
But after a bike, he says, "That liberation opens people's minds, opens people's lives and it gets people back on track"."
Click link for full article...."To the average person, bicycles may seem like a luxury. But to the homeless,... more
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Math, bikes and wal-mart trips come together. Lovely
"A little more than a month ago, Sherri Thiessen pulled up to the gas pump and decided she’d had enough. The price per gallon was $3.50, and she was tired of feeling that kind of pain. Sherri Thiessen, shown here with her daughter Sierra, pulled her bike out of the garage about a month ago and since then has saved more than $100 on gas. She and her kids bike for nearly all of her short errands. “Most of the places we go are within a couple of miles,” Thiessen said. “Newton is not that big of a town, and I see people who live closer to the school than me driving.”
Aside from a weekly trip to Wal-Mart or the occasional trip to Wichita, her Saturn stays parked in the garage. “Most of the places we go are within a couple of miles,” Thiessen said. “Newton is not that big of a town, and I see people who live closer to the school than me driving.”
“The scooter gets 80 miles to the gallon,” Thiessen said. “The care gets 20 or less in town. It’s won’t take long to save money. ... My ultimate goal is to get rid of one car.”
“If everyone would do just a little bit, that would be huge,” Thiessen said. “It’s demand that pushes the price of gas up. ... If people would car pool, even just two people, that would cut the expense in half for both of them. ... Or if you could just bike one day a week. We have this mentality that it’s all or nothing. But just start slow".”Math, bikes and wal-mart trips come together. Lovely
"A little more than a... more
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The latest on foldable bike designs.
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Thomas Owens is a young British product design graduate.
His latest project is a stylish bicycle that not only offers all the benefits of cycling but, with its power system, the user can cruise around with ease.
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When folded, 'One' turns into an amazing compact case free of all dirty and protruding parts. It can be easily carried, stowed and stored.The latest on foldable bike designs.
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Thomas Owens is a young British product... more
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“Ghost bikes,” riderless and painted white, were placed at two busy intersections in Portland, Ore., last October, makeshift memorials to two bicyclists killed when they were hit by trucks in accidents that month.“Ghost bikes,” riderless and painted white, were placed at two busy... more
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Copenhagen Denmark is all about biking and being green. On every road, there are wide bike lanes for commuters and they zoom around all day long. And if you feel left out of the biking madness, you can rent one for free.Copenhagen Denmark is all about biking and being green. On every road, there are wide... more
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Duzer
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added this
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4 years ago
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Bike Boxes are popular in Canada, the Netherlands and the UK, but this simple idea has not caught on in the United States. Portland leads the way after two recent cyclist deaths.Bike Boxes are popular in Canada, the Netherlands and the UK, but this simple idea has... more
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A new bicycle rental service, called Velib', a combination of the words 'velo' (bike) and 'liberte' (liberty), is an initiative pushed by Paris' mayor who has made fighting traffic and pollution his No. 1 goal.A new bicycle rental service, called Velib', a combination of the words... more
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At the Taipei Cycle trade show, Trek president John Burke gave an inspiring talk about why the bicycle industry should divert cash from marketing and R&D to help advocates and politicians create a 'bicycle friendly world'.
Mar 28, 2007
Spend more on advocacy, urges Trek boss
John Burke, president of Trek USA, has created a PowerPoint presentation about why bike companies should increase their financial support of bicycle advocates and political lobbying groups.
He first aired the talk at the National Bike Summit in Washington DC two weeks ago. On Sunday it was also given to Taiwans A-Team of industry leaders and in a conference room at the the Taipei trade show.
Heres my 23-minute video of Burkes 40-minute talk. I created the slide graphics in Macs Keynote as John Burkes slides didnt come out very well on the video (I was using a small stills camera, not my normal video camera).
Jonathan Maus of the Bike Portland blog was present at the first airing of the talk and he headlined his coverage Is John Burke the Al Gore of the bike trade? This was a reference to Al Gores slide show about climate change, An Inconvenient Truth. The slide show, seen all over the world, was made into a movie, winning this years Oscar for best documentary.
Burkes presentation also focussed on the environment but majored on what Burke knows best: the bike trade. His presentation was aimed at encouraging bike companies to spend more money on cycle advocacy.
He called the bicycle the perfect product at the perfect time. And bike companies would sell more of them if there were more places for folks to ride them.
The number one way to grow the business and to have an impact on society, health, environment and congestion is to create a bicycle-friendly world, said Burke.
He revealed that for every $100 of sales, bike companies typically spend $3.90 on marketing, $1.60 on R&D but just 10 cents on advocacy.
That doesnt make sense. As an industry we need to look at how we spend money. Why do we spend the amount of money on marketing and product and little on advocacy?
He wants to spur a debate in the industry about where were spending our money.At the Taipei Cycle trade show, Trek president John Burke gave an inspiring talk about... more
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This piece a share some of my bicycle knowledge and experience with you- some of you who may have thought about dusting off you bike and taking a spin might just learn a thing or two from this vid?
I'm now a daily bike commuter, so being prepared, having the right set up and using the right equipment can sure make life on the bike much more pleasurable- not to mention helping me from being late to work!This piece a share some of my bicycle knowledge and experience with you- some of you... more
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