Earth Day Commute Bouquet
Bike Sharing Coming to Boston
Nice Ride Minneapolis (Another Bixi System)
Boston can soon be added to the growing list of U.S. cities with bike sharing programs. Coming in July of this year, the “Hubway” system will initially feature 600 bikes spread among 61 stations, with plans to grow the network out to as many as 5,000 bikes and 300 kiosks. The system will be managed by Portland’s Alta Bicycle Share with bikes and kiosks being supplied by Montreal’s Bixi.
Hubway will initially be funded by grants and donations, with corporate sponsorships and rental fees covering ongoing operating expenses. Memberships will run $5 per day or $85 per year. Similar to other bike sharing programs, the initial 30 minutes will be free, with charges accruing for longer rides. Developers of the system expect upwards of 100,000 trips in the first year.
Alta Bicycle Share →
Bixi System →
Press Release (PDF) →
Happy Earth Day
View more stunning images like this at Nasa’s Earth Day Gallery. Enjoy the day!
Pedaling Through the Color Spectrum
Pedaling Through the Color Spectrum is a bicycle-themed art show taking place at Gallery 2110 in Sacramento during the month of May. The Mother/Son exhibit will feature paintings of bicycles by Marbo Barnard (nationally recognized pastel painter and art instructor) and photographs of bicycles by Alan Barnard (yours truly). Details as follows:
Artists
Marbo Barnard – Paintings
Alan Barnard – Photographs
Location
Gallery 2110
2110 K Street
Sacramento, CA
Dates
Exhibit: May 9th – June 3rd
Night With the Artists: May 12th, 6pm-8pm
Second Saturday Art Walk: May 14th, 11am-9pm
Gallery: Rafael’s Sparton ST500
[Rafael sent us these photos of his Sparton. —ed.]
This my everyday do it all bike. I ride it everywhere, going to college, getting groceries, going to the gym. My daily commute to college is around 10 miles, and with the rest of the daily deals the bike gets ridden an average of 70 miles per week. Right now I carry everything I need in a backpack but I plan on adding a front basket to it sometime. The bike is simple, gets me around town rather quickly, is very comfortable, and a lot of fun to ride.
The specs are:
- Frame: Sparton ST 500
- Fork: Sparton ST 500
- Stem: Nitto Perl
- Handlebar: Nitto northroad (bought after reading about it on your blog, thanks for all the info)
- Rims: Vzan Team Flyer 32h (made in Brazil) front and rear
- Rear Hub: Chosen 32h threaded for fixed cogs on both side
- Front Hub: Chose 32h
- Saddle: Selle Italia Turbo
- Seatpost: Kalloy, the only one they had in 26.0 at the LBS
- Crankset: Sugino XD 165mm with a 46t ring
- Cog: Euro – asia cog 19t
- Lockring: Super beefy one made by a local machinist, tightens nicely without the need for a lockring specific tool.
- Pedals: Shimano SPD M650
- Chain: KMC 3/32″ bmx chain
- Brake lever: Tektro RX 4.1
- Chain Tensioner: MKS NJS tensioner
- Bartape: Tioga
—Rafael
May is Bike Month
National Bike Month is fast approaching. The League of American Bicyclists is promoting May 16-20 as National Bike-to-Work Week, and Friday, May 20 as National Bike-to-Work Day. Visit the LAB website to get information about Bike Month events in your area.
Here in Northern California, bike riders from all over the region will once again be able to track their miles during the month of May at the May is Bike Month website. The goal is to reach 1,000,000 total bike miles for the month (last year, the region’s bicyclists logged a total of 1,324,145 miles!):
May is Bike Month challenges people to choose bicycling for all types of trips including those related to work, school, errands, and recreation throughout the six-county Sacramento region (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo, and Yuba counties). As a participant you can help the Sacramento region log one million miles, making this a Million Mile May. Take this opportunity to save money, reduce air pollution, exercise, and get involved with your community by bicycling instead of driving.
Bike Month is a great opportunity to introduce your non-biking friends and colleagues to bike commuting and using bicycles for transportation!
Bike Month 2011 at LAB →
May is Bike Month (NorCal Region) →
Search for an event in your area →
Fenders
I’m a big fan of fenders. I’ve had them on almost every commuting bike I’ve owned since the 1980′s. Besides helping to keep the rider clean and dry in wet weather, they help to keep road grime off of the bike, reducing the amount of maintenance and cleaning required while also prolonging drivetrain and component life. Personally, I like to keep fenders on year ’round as they also protect the bike and rider from lawn and agricultural runoff in the summer.
Civia Loring Fender
Honjo Fender
Planet Bike Fender
Civia Bryant Fender
Brompton Fender
How about you? Do you run fenders on your transpo bikes? If so, do you leave them on all year or do you remove them during the dry season?
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