Chicago balks at contra-flow bike lane, while SF rejects paint-only treatment

Some folks in Chicago are a little confused about why city engineers would actually want to make cyclists ride against traffic. In infrastructure terms this is known as a “contra-flow bike lane.” At first glance, it takes the norm of bikes riding the same direction of travel as cars and intentionally turns it on it’s head.

Polk Street Contra-flow bike lane
Photo by Dianne Yee. Used with permission. https://www.flickr.com/photos/23305535@N00/14611105810

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San Francisco candidates spar over bike licensing

Bicycle LicensingFive days ago I ran across an article in the San Francisco examiner titled “Time to mandate bicycle licenses.” I did my obligatory eye-roll and read the article. It was the same arguments we hear over and over again:

  • Don’t get mad at me, I’m a cyclist myself
  • Cyclists need to be held accountable
  • Cyclists need to be treated the same as (those poor) motorists

Funny the article was titled “Time to mandate bicycle licenses.” As if the idea hadn’t ever been suggested before, but now is different. Now is the time.

Yesterday, the plot thickened…

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Adult Bicycle Helmet Laws In the US

Bicycle HelmetAdult bicycle helmet laws draw no end of passion on both sides. We don’t call them the “bicycle helmet wars” for nothing. But until recently I was under the mistaken belief that there were few – if any – jurisdictions in the United States that actually had laws regarding adult usage of bicycle helmets. This belief was shattered on a recent trip to Washington state where, coincidentally, two totally different people completely unconnected made comments about King County Washington having a helmet requirement for adults.

Me being Mr. Skeptical of course went to the one and only authority as soon as I got home – Google. I was admittedly surprised. Keep reading →

Bay Area Bike Share reveals proposed new locations

Bay Area Bike Share station
Bay Area Bike Share station, 7th & Townsend, San Francisco.

It has been over 8 months since Bay Area Bike Share announced their plans to expand and started soliciting feedback from the public. And now, presumably after evaluating usage data and feedback from the numerous surveys, they have started to reveal many of the proposed new stations.

While plans are to expand Bay Area Bike Share tenfold all over the bay area – including east bay – the released locations are all in San Francisco and San Jose. The San Francisco locations are focused in the south-east section of town, including SOMA, the Tenderloin, Mission Bay, as well as Castro and the Mission.

Not only have they published maps of the proposed sites in PDF format, they are also soliciting additional feedback now that the new locations are starting to be known.

Just Another Diabetic Cyclist

sm-06051Type 1 diabetes sucks. Cycling, however, doesn’t suck. So how do we put the two together? With hard work, diligence, knowledge and a sprinkling of modern technology. At least – that is my approach.

First off – a disclaimer. I’m not a doctor. Please read my Standard Medical Legal Mumbo Jumbo. Did you read it? I’ll wait…

Training for cycling events at even the moderately-serious recreational level takes a lot of fine-tuning. In a sport where a few watts can make a huge difference, things like diet, sleep patterns, and training scheduling can separate the mediocre from the truly awesome. Throw in a metabolic disorder like diabetes and it can feel like 10 times the number of variables to try and manage. Keep reading →

Bikes: As American as baseball and apple pie

IMG_0859The city of Sacramento, CA has a long and rich baseball history. And a big part of that history has traditionally been embodied by a dark yet friendly little corner of the world known as Joe Marty’s bar. The walls of the bar were lined with historic portraits of baseball players and pictures of the old baseball diamond that used to sit right around the corner where the Target is today.

Unfortunately the landmark establishment was hit with a kitchen fire in 2005 and sat vacant for a decade. Then two local businessmen decided to resurrect the name at the same location. And that brings us to why I’m talking about this on a cycling blog… Keep reading →

Audi Outrage

The new Audi A3 plugin hybrid. I’d actually be inclined to respect it – if not for some idiotic advertising.

So many things wrong with this. Keep reading →

Does MY car qualify?

UberAd

Ad asks “Does Your Car Qualify for Uber.” I don’t know… does it?

Sherman - the Cargo Bike

Sometimes it is just scary

I love riding my bike. I feel quite comfortable riding on the streets of San Francisco, or the country roads of California’s central valley. From my perspective, what negative interactions I’ve had with cars have generally been due to simple mistakes – misjudging speed, not looking in the right rear view mirror when turning right, etc etc. I’m the guy that spend a lot of time complaining about how dangerous others make cycling out to be. I’m the guy urging everyone to stop the fear mongering.

But then someone has to be an asshole. And that can be just flat out scary.

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Accidental imports from Amsterdam

One of my coworkers recently came back from Amsterdam. I just happened to pass him when he was talking to another coworker. He was showing him what I assume was a picture on his phone and stated

“See, ” said coworker 1, “they ride in a separate place. The bikes don’t even ride where the cars go.”

Coworker 2 replied “Why can’t we learn that here?”

I don’t think either of them are cyclists.

Changing one mind at a time…