I was perusing the Dahon website and the Mu Uno caught my eye. There’s something about the stripped down simplicity of this ultra-minimalist folder that I find appealing. It’s a single speed with a coaster brake, no cables, no gears, and nothing else to get in the way. At 22 lbs. it would be easy to haul up a flight of stairs or onto a bus. If I lived in the city, I’d use it for getting around the downtown grid at times when I didn’t need the hauling capacity of a utility bike.
The Third Annual Sunday Streets Season kicks off this weekend in San Francisco. This Sunday’s event takes place on a 3-mile route along the Embarcadero near Fisherman’s Wharf. From the Sunday Streets website:
The SF Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, the City of San Francisco and Livable City (Sunday Streets fiscal sponsor) are pleased to announce the kick off of the 3rd Sunday Streets season on March 14th 2010.
The 3.3 mile route travels along the Embarcadero, from China Basin in Mission Bay to Fisherman’s Wharf. The Fisherman’s Wharf Community Benefit District and PIER 39 join Sunday Streets once again, and are presenting a ‘Family Fitness Fair’ in conjunction with Sunday Streets. Activities include free Salsa lessons, bike programs, rentals, repairs, kid’s games and activities, Yoga, adult fitness and dance workout sessions and much, much more! See below for full program details and route map.
Google Maps goes live today with their much-anticipated Biking Directions feature. From the Google Blog:
Whenever I meet someone who finds out that I work on the directions team for Google Maps, the first question I’m asked is often “So when’s Google Maps going to add biking directions?” We’re big biking fans too, so we’ve been itching to give you a concrete answer. I don’t want to keep the good news a secret any longer, so the answer is: right now!
Today we’ve added biking directions and extensive bike trail data to Google Maps for the U.S. My team has been keeping close tabs on all the public support for biking directions that’s been steadily coming in, but we knew that when we added the feature, we wanted to do it right: we wanted to include as much bike trail data as possible, provide efficient routes, allow riders to customize their trip, make use of bike lanes, calculate rider-friendly routes that avoid big hills and customize the look of the map for cycling to encourage folks to hop on their bikes. So that’s exactly what we’ve done.
So far, there’s data in the system covering 150 cities and 12,000 miles of off-street trails across the U.S. Eventually, bicyclists will be able to directly contribute information about their local trails, bike lanes and suggested routes via Google Map Maker.
Spring arrived early this weekend in California, and the spring cleaning bug bit us big time. As if cleaning out the garage, washing the car, re-organizing the walk-in closet, and re-arranging the bike room wasn’t enough, Ol’ Faithful the commuter got a good once-over too. Since our winters in CA are so mild, it really wasn’t much of a job; all I did was wash the bike, clean and lube the drivetrain, scrub the braking surfaces, and swap out a few rusty bolts for shiny new stainless steel replacements. I think she’s good to go for the spring, and I think we’re done for the weekend… :-)
Alex Moulton, pioneer in the use of small wheels and suspension in bicycles, has written an autobiography titled, Alex Moulton, from Bristol to Bradford-On-Avon — A lifetime in Engineering. Here’s an excerpt from the introduction by the author:
Appropriate to my age, I have been urged to write my memoirs. I showed a few early pages of the draft to some literary friends. They told me it was not how memoirs are written; they are usually about events in one’s life, where one has travelled, whom one has met and so on. Although I have included some of these, my enduring preoccupation is with the creative process of engineering innovation. I realise that this arcane subject usually only interests a limited range of readers, but I believe that cars and bicycles as artefacts, the creation of which I describe, are of great interest to a large number of people.
The book is intended to be didactic as well as descriptive. My friend, the author the late James Lees Milne complained in his ‘Diaries’ that I “pontificated too much”. I have no hesitation in doing this here when to do so is based on my experience of what I believe to be admirable.
In contrast to other memoirs, I am using a large number of diagrams and sketches. Sketches have the mnemonic power to help the recall for the written explanations, which I hope will be comprehensible to those who do not possess much technical aptitude. The sketches and notes are facsimiles from my archive, presented chronologically to show the origins of the concepts and the consequent steps In the process of creating an engineering artefact.
Our friend Tammy Strobel of Rowdy Kittens just completed her first e-book titled Simply Car-Free: How to Pedal Toward Financial Freedom and a Healthier Life. Tammy sent us an advance copy to peruse and we enjoyed it immensely!
Simply Car-Free tells the story of Tammy’s (and her husband’s) transition from a “normal” middle-class lifestyle to a simpler, more intentional way of living. The book is loaded with practical information and tips to assist those who are considering transitioning to a car-free lifestyle. Their story is an inspiration to anyone looking to downsize and simplify their life, and Tammy shares it in an open and honest way that speaks directly to the reader.
From the Simply Car-Free website:
Five years ago, we lived the “normal middle class” suburban lifestyle. We were newlyweds with flashy rings, living in a two-bedroom apartment, driving two cars, commuting long distances to work and living well beyond our means. The idea of living without a car didn’t seem possible.
By changing our perspective and planning small steps, we learned lessons that simplified our lives and got us out of debt. Going car-free was part of our downsizing process and was one of our first big goals toward living intentionally.
I wrote Simply Car-free to help people achieve their goals of saving money, improving their health, and living a simpler lifestyle. Reducing our dependence on cars clarified our priorities and showed us that anything is possible.
Simply Car-Free goes on sale Monday, March 1. The price is $9.95 for the first 500 people who download the book; thereafter the price will go up to $12.99. The first 3 chapters are available to preview prior to purchasing the book.
It must be something in the water; three of my favorite bicycling blogs, Cyclelicious, Bicycle Design, and Bike Intelligencer recently redesigned their site templates (they look great – take a gander). And while we’re on the subject, I’ll mention that we’re changing web hosts soon with the hopes of providing better uptime and faster load times here at EcoVelo.
The Shimano North American Handmade Bicycle Show opened this morning in Richmond, Virginia. A Flickr group has been set-up for those in attendance who would like to upload and share their photos. As of right now there are only a few photos in the pool, but check back and watch the slide show again because the collection will undoubtedly grow as the weekend progresses.
Mike Flanigan of A.N.T. had his handmade folder stolen while attending the North American Handmade Bike Show in Richmond, Virginia today. From the ANT blog:
My folding bike was just stolen. It was locked up with a cable lock, just outside the hotel, in broad daylight. It happend in a matter of minutes, while I was un loading the van to the hotel.
The symbol of the myriad things that are wrong with our approach to transportation in the U.S. is finally falling by the wayside. All I can say is, “Goodbye and good riddance.”
Here are a few of my favorite bicycling magazines…
A to B – A to B covers folders, e-bikes, and many other car-free alternatives. They produce in-depth reviews of unusual bicycles of all sorts. Print and electronic subscriptions are available.
Bicycle Quarterly – Bicycle Quarterly is targeted at avid bicyclists. They produce the most in-depth technical reviews I’ve read. They conduct well-controlled tests that are folded into their bike reviews. The articles may be too technical for many people, but if you like this sort of thing, no one does it like BQ. Print subscriptions only.
Momentum – Urban bicycling from a Canadian perspective. Momentum focuses primarily on lifestyle, culture, and bicycling fashion, with only a smattering of technical equipment reviews (that said, their latest issue is their “Gear Issue”). It’s a fun magazine and a favorite of Mrs. EcoVelo. Print subscriptions and free electronic issues are available.
Urban Velo – The names says it; Urban Velo covers everything related to bicycling in the city. They offer a nice mix of bike culture and technical articles. I really like their blog too. Print subscriptions and free electronic issues are available.
Velo Vision – I’ve been a big fan of Velo Vision for years. VV is the only magazine that truly covers every type of bike used for transportation including uprights, longbikes, recumbents, folders, e-bikes, velomobiles, and more. Peter Eland writes the most thorough and balanced reviews I’ve come across. Print or electronic subscriptions are available.
Do you have any favorite magazines that cover transportational bicycling that didn’t make the above list? If so, please share… :-)
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 714 bicyclists were killed in collisions with automobiles in the U.S. in 2008. This number is down 29 percent from 1975. The decline among female bicyclists (50 percent) was larger than the decline among male bicyclists (24 percent).
The statistics in the IIHS report support what I’ve seen in other studies: early evening is the most dangerous time of day to ride, urban areas are more dangerous than rural areas, and major roads are more dangerous than minor roads.
Ninety-one percent of bicyclists killed weren’t wearing helmets. I don’t believe this number tells us much about helmet effectiveness because there’s no way to know if a higher rate of helmet use would have significantly changed the number of deaths. For a controlled study on helmet effectiveness, see Thompson, R.S.; Rivara, F.P.; and Thompson, D.C. 1989. A case-control study of the effectiveness of bicycle safety helmets. New England Journal of Medicine 320:1361-67.
While we already knew bicycling is a relatively safe activity (see here), it’s good to know our streets in the U.S. are getting even safer for bicyclists.
The Seattle Tweed Ride is taking place this Sunday, February 21. The ride will depart from Cal Anderson Park at 1pm. Visit Go Means Go for more information.
The Los Angeles Times’ Greenspace blog is reporting on a new study conducted by researchers from USC and UC Berkeley that found a connection between air pollution and hardening of the arteries. According to the paper that was first published in the journal PloS ONE, people who live within 100 meters of a freeway were found to have their artery wall thickness accelerated at more than twice the average progression. From the Abstract:
Consistent with cross-sectional findings and animal studies, this is the first study to report an association between exposure to air pollution and the progression of atherosclerosis – indicated with CIMT change – in humans. Ostensibly, our results suggest that air pollution may contribute to the acceleration of cardiovascular disease development – the main causes of morbidity and mortality in many countries. However, the heterogeneity of the volunteering populations across the five trials, the limited sample size within trials and other relevant subgroups, and the fact that some key findings reached statistical significance in subgroups rather than the sample precludes generalizations to the general population.
NEW YORK; NY.- Bespoke: The Handbuilt Bicycle, presented by the Museum of Arts and Design from May 11 through mid-August 2010, will display the designs of six internationally renowned bicycle builders whose work in metal, as well as graphics and artifacts, elucidate this refined, intricate and deeply individual craft. Organized by Michael Maharam, owner of the eponymous textile company and an avid bicycle collector, along with master builder Sacha White of Vanilla Bicycles in Portland, Oregon, this survey is presented as part of the MADProjects exhibition series, which explores emerging trends and innovations in the design world.
BicycleLaw.com has introduced a new podcast feature called Veloradio. From the website:
With Veloradio, Bob Mionske will be discussing bicycle law and advocacy issues in a series of podcasts that he will be hosting on a regular basis.
The first Veloradio podcast will be available soon. In the meantime, you can preview the new feature out with a podcast of a Nolo interview with Bob Mionske on legal issues for cyclists.
Our EcoVelo caps are now available. This is a trial run so supplies are limited for the time being (if sales go well, we’ll order larger quantities). The price is $25 plus $5 flat rate USPS Priority shipping in the continental U.S (no international orders at this time).
