Manuel said:
"This is great news! I hope all cities pass this into law.The practice of using plastic bags just to quickly dispose of them has been going on far t..." [read]
Jay Knecht said:
"What are the performance stats for the Son of Max? ..." [read]
gazelle said:
"@ Dallas:
The book, and the supplementary videos in the "How It All Ends" youtube series, address this in detail, but I'll try to paraphrase:..." [read]
Barry said:
"Kofi Annan has about as much of a clue about electric cars and developing countries as Ann Ann the Panda.
He underestimates the ingenuity o..." [read]
JJ said:
"Very cool. I didn't thought that biodesel might be our future fuel...." [read]
Derek said:
""I guarantee you this will spark huge debates around the world," she said. "We have to delve into this in a way that hasn't been done in a long tim..." [read]
When Trek unveiled the Lime back in 2007, the mission was to bring delightful, non-threatening biking to grown-ups. Some nice validation came last week when the Lime won the 2009 People's Design Award, a subcategory of the prominent National Design Awards. A simple city bike with an upright riding posture, the Lime uses Shimano's Coasting automatic three-speed transmission (a pretty complex system with a very simple user interface) and a back-pedal brake rather than hand levers. The mid-priced bike also packs a clever storage compartment into the bike's seat with enough room for keys, cell, and grocery money.
I always thought I was most likely to get killed by a "right hook", where a car blithely turns the corner without looking and the cyclist goes under the wheels. I lost a rowing buddy that way. Or the "door prize" where a driver opens a car door without looking to see if anyone is coming up beside them. But a new study of accidents in Fort Collins, Colorado, covered by Cyclelicious, tells a very different story.
The Philadelphia Bicycle Coalition reports, based on a US Census survey, that Philadelphia is ranked number one among the ten largest US cities for bicycle commuters per-capita. Per the Census data, 1.6% of Philly commutes are estimated to be by bicycle. Poor New York City came in at 6'th place (0.6%). "Philadelphia also tied for 10th among the country's 60 largest cities and the second highest percentage among east coast cities (only Washington DC has a higher percentage). Philadelphia's percentage of commuters who bike is nearly three times the national average of 0.55%." Look below for the rankings for all ten of the largest US cities.q
London's cycling mayor, Boris Johnson, is the "knight on a shining bicycle" after he foiled three girls who were attacking a woman late at night. The victim, director of the film The Age of Stupid , was walking home when she was pushed up against a car by 3 young female hoodies with an iron bar. She called out for help to a passing cyclist, and much to her surprise it was the Mayor!
He chased after the girls, calling them "oiks", a unique english word for obnoxious people. They dropped the bar and took off. He then went back to the woman who was one of the creators of the 10:10 campaign and insisted upon walking her home. He said that he ended up having a very good chat with her about the environment.
Priscila Teixeira and Willian Cruz were married last week in Sao Paulo and they organized a group biking trip to the city hall. As strong bike activists, they invited everyone who wanted to join with only one condition: they had to ride to the place.
Take a look at more sweet pictures inside and get inspired!
"I think this is the decade that it's all going to come together."
I don't know if it's going to have the same effect on you, but this video made me hopeful that things are changing. There's still a lot of work to be done, but there's finally a solid movement for walkable and bikeable cities, and it's good to see that NYC is getting on board because whatever happens there will be seen by everybody else around the US and the world. In the video, the Streetfilms crew and Rep. Blumenauer (who sometimes bikes to the White House) ride around town and look at some good and bad bike lanes, and discuss the future, including the upcoming transportation bill. Via Streetfilms. See also:UK's Cycle to Work Guarantee: Good Idea, But Doesn't Go Far Enough...
Photo: Flickr, CC
Tragedy of the Commons?
Vélib, the Parisian bike-sharing program, is great. But it would be incorrect to pretend that tout est parfait dans le meilleur des mondes (lit. transl.: everything is perfect in the best of worlds). Vandalism and theft has been a problem, and the latest news aren't good: About 80% of the original 20,600 bicycles have been damaged or stolen and the resources required to fix them or replace them are straining the program's budget. There's even a black market for stolen Vélib bikes in Eastern Europe and Africa......
Yes, it's over the top. You won't be missed on a dark street, however. Photo of a Rotterdam bike via joancg @ flickr.
When the design world discovered that bike commuting is growing in leaps and bounds, city-style cyclists had to take the good with the bad. The good being better-designed solutions to our biking needs, the bad being that better-designed solutions to our biking needs obviously cost more than many of us frugal cyclists want to pay. So, here we comb the web and the TreeHugger archives for a few examples of bike commuting style-plus-affordability. Sometimes solutions don't entail much purchasing, just a bit of bike DIY....
Photo via Flickr
I'm in Jakarta, Indonesia, for two weeks. It's 95 degrees everyday here, and the metro area is a concrete jungle of 23 million fed by street vendors, choked by traffic, and populated by what must be the nicest collection of people on the planet. Scooters fill the narrow streets like swarms of bees, weaving in and out of traffic with reckless abandon. There are no sidewalks or much public transit to speak of, and even if there were to walk anywhere is to agree to become a sweaty mess. When I'm at home, I'm a bike rider who uses his two wheel machines to commute, for exercise, and as political statement to show that we can power ourselves and not be reliant on fossil fuels to live a comfortable life....
Photo: Flickr, CC
Storing, Changing, Buying, Repairing, Inspiring
The UK transport secretary, Andrew Adonis, has launched a new program to encourage more people to commute to work on bicycles. Currently, only about 3% of UK citizens do that, compared to about 40% in Copenhagen. The initiative is named the Cycle to Work Guarantee and it is a voluntary program that workplaces can join. Members are basically sending the message to their current and potential employees that they'll take measures to make safe storage and changing facilities available to bike commuters. The government is also investing about £140m in improved facilities for cyclists over the next three years....
Photo: Mikael at CopenhagenizeBut Would it Work Anywhere Else?
We love Copenhagen (and Copenhagen seems to like TreeHugger too...). They're doing a lot of things right, especially when it comes to encouraging cycling. They even go as far as to build "bicycle superhighways"! Via our friend Mikael at Copenhagenize, we learn that the city's Bicycle Office is now testing "rack-less bike parkings". It seems like it might work in Copenhagen, but would it work anywhere else?...
We've been highlighting a heap of folding bikes recently (see list below). Melon Bikes is another to add to an ever growing collection. Their focus is that the simpler they "can make a bike to maintain, ride, and transport, the more fun you will have owning it." And Melon have opted to go with 20" wheels as an integral part of their story. Suggesting that with a wheel size that owes its heritage to BMX racing, you'll have a blast, "quick-starting to a high speed instantly - no big wheel inertia to overcome."...
Image via: Dave Newkirk
Now with the drop in temperatures for places in the northern hemisphere, cyclists are going to need more layers and also more reflective gear as the sun goes down earlier and earlier. RF-Scarf now makes a scarf that comes in a sleek, black material that when exposed to bright light "magically" becomes reflective. It's a perfect accessory for walking commuters too....
Here is a helmet that I bet even Mikael at Copenhagenize might put on. Its really a GPS navigation device that gets rid of the problems with sound or visual signals that might distract you; instead, it tugs on your ear....
Du Bin for The New York Times
The The New York Times ran this photograph and says that it was all about traffic safety.
"Education officials promoted the saluting edict to reduce traffic accidents and teach children courtesy. Critics, who have posted thousands of negative comments about the policy on China's electronic bulletin boards, beg to differ. "This is just pitiful," wrote one in a post last year. Only inept officials would burden children with such a requirement rather than install speed bumps, others insisted."
But is this really about speed bumps and traffic safety?...
Chic cycling, street style at 'Bike Style' fashion show in NYC. Credit: Emma Grady Hudson Urban Bicycles (HUB) in the West Village, New York City, hosted Bike Style Saturday night, a fashion show premiering chic urban cycling looks. Friends of HUB donned tailored bicycle wear--blazers, cropped pants, and caps--from designers Lela Rose, Reiss, Sheila Moon, and Outlier; strutted and danced 'cross the runway to DJ jams; mounted European-origin bikes from Batavus, Abici, Moof, and Linus, and rode out into the rainy NYC night. Click through for our videos--the def jams might have you chair dancing--and more photos from the show. ...
Image via: 12000km
What started out as a four month mission on a bicycle to raise awareness about climate change, has turned into a lucrative fundraising endeavor as well as a visual documentary about the environment in South America. Ryan Stotland, self-confessed TreeHugger fan, decided to take four months this fall and travel roughly 12,000km around South America to raise money for Climate Change and Cancer Research, as well as just see if he could do it. What is it with kids these days, first a 23 year old wants to spend 3 years on a bike raising awareness about climate change and now a 22 year old spend 4 months on a bike for climate change. ...
It's been a busy week over at Mother Jones: First, there's been quite a stir over the Yes Men pranksters' Chamber of Commerce shenanigans, and earlier this week MoJo blogger Kate Sheppard appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show to talk about the stunt. Watch her charm the pants off viewers everywhere here.
Here's a question: If you had to pick someone to police America's nuclear power, what qualities and experience would you look for in a candidate? Probably not tons of connections to nuclear energy in the private sector, but there's where you and Obama would disagree. Read about William Magwood, the president's controversial nominee for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, here. Scary stuff, but there's plenty of good news in renewable energy this week, too: Making solar power cheaper by allowing consumers to pool together and buy it in bulk sounds like a cool idea, especially if we fix our gnarly electrical grid.
New faces: Our intrepid Ride 350 guest bloggers are filing daily dispatches along their 350-mile bike down the California coast in the name of raising awareness about climate change. Feeling inspired? This week's Econundrum will help you trim your own emissions with five low-carbon foods.
Lastly, in case you haven't noticed, sea otters are adorable. Unfortunately, they are also in trouble. Gratuitously cute pictures and facts right this way.
That's all for this week. Back next Thursday with more news from our corner of the web.
Photo Credit: Flickr user meckert75 under Creative Commons....
Images via Tuvie
Ever wanted to ride a two-seater bike where you didn't have to stare at your partner's back the whole time, or feel like you were acting out a scene of American wholesomeness from the 1950s? Well, a new design for a bike called the Cojoy has got the answer to both those setbacks--its riders sit side by side, and each controls just one wheel. One thing's for certain: this isn't your grandpa's two-seater. ...
Image from Slate
Slate's Christopher Beam asks why cyclists tend to break the law and ignore stop signs. He talks to Andy Thornley of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, who happens to agree with me:
"If there weren't cars, we wouldn't need stop signs," says Andy Thornley of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. "They're not there for bicycles...."You didn't need stop signs until cars were in common use," says Thornley. "You just looked in the eyes of the other guy and it sorted itself out."
Beam notes that there are two kinds of cycling advocates: "Vehicularists" who say that bikes should act like cars, go where cars go and follow the rules for cars, and "facilitators" who demand an infrastructure of bike lanes, paths and separate bike-friendly rules....
The PiCycle is an intriguing electric hybrid bike. We covered it previously when it was called Electrobike, and launched for the bargain basement price of $7,500 USD. Things have changed quite a bit in the past two years, particularly with regard to the price -- it's lost $5,000!, Yep, the PiCycle, as it now known, goes for $2,500. You have three option of riding the Pi: just like a bicycle under pedal power, completely under electric propulsion, or pedal with electric-assist.
Where's the battery? Hiding in the rather fetching arched monocoque aluminium frame....
Here's What the NYC DOT Has Been Doing to Help Cyclists
It's always great to see cities that are making real efforts to encourage people to cycle. The benefits can be enormous: Healthier people, fewer cars on the road, less air pollution, a more human-scale city that attracts more tourists, etc. In the video above, various officials from New York City's Department of Transportation explain the thinking behind various types of new bike lanes in the city (on the left, buffered, and completely separated). Via StreetFilms See also: Walk21 NYC: It's All About Walking, Baby & Walk On, Students! Video of Walk to School Day in New York City....
Hidden below the front carrier bag of this bike is a u-lock that magically integrates into the bike frame, from j. dunn on Vimeo.
Bike theft is on the rise, at least in the U.K. where a 22% uptick was registered this year - in the U.S. nationwide statistics are harder to come by. If you are one of the people that has already suffered the terrible sinking feeling of stepping out onto the street and doing a double-take as your brain frantically tries to compute where your beloved bike is, statistics don't even matter. The idea of a theft-proof bike keeps cropping up again and again in fancy futuristic concept bike. In the hear and now, U-locks are still the top of the security heap, but trying new forms and combining a u-lock with some of these other solutions may keep your bike from being an easy mark....
Tom Reel/Express-News via Tuscon Bike Lawyer
That's Kylie Bruehler at a memorial service for her parents, killed while riding on the shoulder of a highway by a pickup truck that somehow drifted off the road, hit them from behind and dragged them two hundred feet. Although the driver was speeding, no charges were laid; he wasn't drunk and it was considered an "accident." Meanwhile, the Governor of Texas vetoed a bill that would have mandated a minimum clearance from "vulnerable road users", saying that the existing laws give enough protection. The Governor wants to be fair to everyone:
...
The AMiiVA was officially introduced to the world last month. Though contrary to what your eyes might lead you to believe, the "AMiiVA is a more than a bike, it's a Personal Mobility Assistant (PMA)." Where's an airline sick bag when you need it? Come on guys, sure it's snappy, small wheel, folding bike, but let's not complicate things with another silly three letter acronym. The name itself is derived from the initials, Assistant de Mobilité Individuelle, indicating it's French origins.
Setting aside my language conniptions, I should point out the good things the AMiiVA has going for it....
We'll be working on better category archives soon. In the meantime, take a look at the weekly archive if you really want to dig around, or use the search box at the top of the page.
on 11. 7.09
Credit: Dave Askins, homelessdave.com.
Image credit: Tour de OG/Opportunity Green Business Conference
When 
Photo: 
Yes, it's over the top. You won't be missed on a dark street, however. Photo of a Rotterdam bike via 
Photo: 
Photo: Mikael at 
We've been highlighting a heap of folding bikes recently (see list below). Melon Bikes is another to add to an ever growing collection. Their focus is that the simpler they "can make a bike to maintain, ride, and transport, the more fun you will have owning it." And Melon have opted to go with 20" wheels as an integral part of their story. Suggesting that with a wheel size that owes its heritage to BMX racing, you'll have a blast, "quick-starting to a high speed instantly - no big wheel inertia to overcome."...
Image via: Dave Newkirk
Now with the drop in temperatures for places in the northern hemisphere, 
Here is a helmet that I bet even Mikael at 
Du Bin for The New York Times
The 
Chic cycling, street style at 'Bike Style' fashion show in NYC. Credit: Emma Grady
Image via: 
It's been a busy week over at 
Images via 
Image from Slate
The PiCycle is an intriguing electric hybrid bike. We covered it previously when it was called 
Tom Reel/Express-News via
The AMiiVA was officially introduced to the world last month. Though contrary to what your eyes might lead you to believe, the "AMiiVA is a more than a bike, it's a Personal Mobility Assistant (PMA)." Where's an airline sick bag when you need it? Come on guys, sure it's snappy, small wheel, folding bike, but let's not complicate things with another silly three letter acronym. The name itself is derived from the initials, Assistant de Mobilité Individuelle, indicating it's French origins.
Setting aside my language conniptions, I should point out the good things the AMiiVA has going for it....
