on 02.10.10
Photo: Courtesy of Buenos Aires government.
If you're thinking about traveling to Buenos Aires, consider taking your bike with you. The promise of 100 kilometers of new bike paths is becoming a reality with new safe, separated-from-traffic lanes popping up in different parts of the city. Take a look at the map inside.
on 02. 5.10
Image credit: Good
Los Angeles is famous for its traffic and its unaccommodating attitude towards pedestrians. Good asks if a bike freeway could change that.
on 02. 4.10
There's nothing like an ambiitous target to concentrate the mind on problems and solutions. The Nada Bike project plans to get 1 million young adults onto bikes, not just recreation, but for their daily transport. How? They can join the revolution through a $100 USD membership fee, for which they'll be sent "the world's simplest bike frame." *
Nada Bike is a venture of Project M, "a program designed to inspire young creative people by proving that their work can have a positive and significant impact on the world." And their rallying cry goes like this: "Now is the time for a whole movement that says no. No gas. No foreign oil. No cars. No paint. No gears. No logos. No cutesy. No bullshit. Brains. Muscles. Humans."
on 02. 3.10
Designer Nicholas Belly won second prize in L'ARGUS design competition with his flatpack scooter and bike. Our skilled translators quote Belly:
"The beginning of the 21st century will be about sustainable development, and the era of "always more" will give way to an era of simplicity. So how will we get around in this era of "sobriété"?
on 02. 2.10
We have not had any snow yet in Toronto, so I have not yet had to complain this year about the traditional use of bike lanes for snow storage. Over in Copenhagen, Mikael at Copenhagenize shows how it should be done, with dedicated machines called snow slingers that "rolls along eating up the snow drifts and spitting the snow into a truck driving next to it. It can fill that truck in 5 minutes."
on 02. 2.10
Jonathan Igharas takes a cargo trike from Beijing and re-introduces it "into the context of contemporary urban street culture, this music inspired trike enables DJs and VJs to freely roam city streets and meander through the narrowest of alleyways" Just what we needed.
It is "conceptualized to become both a vehicle and platform for urban communication and interaction" and "to create sensory-filled social interventions."
on 02. 1.10
Bike helmets are as much of a pain when they are not on your head as when they are- what do you do with it? Most people use U-locks, and if the helmet designers gave a moment's thought to the issue, they could adjust the hole pattern so that you could actually put a U-lock through them. But they don't, so you either have to carry your helmet around with you or leave it on your bike and depend on the kindness of strangers.
This wasn't good enough for inventor Blake Mills, so he developed this nifty little Helmet Lock.
on 01.28.10
Really, riding a bike can be so boring, especially in stop-and-go city traffic. It is easy for subway passengers to read a newspaper to pass the time, but until now, cyclists have had to just look at the road. Now Performance Bicycle has solved our problem with the Book Caddy, just the thing to pass the time. Even better, it looks like an iPad would fit perfectly.
But be sure not to wear earphones; you want to be able to hear the cars around you. Via Dvice
A Great addition to How To Get Killed On A Bicycle
UPDATE it has been a preoccupation of mine that whenever there is a discussion about cyclists and pedestrians getting killed, the comments all blame the victim for blowing through lights and wearing iPods and talking on their cellphones. I wrote this as a tongue in cheek post after yesterday's post on blaming the victim.
The other day I posed the question: "who is the more sustaining? Those who only care about themselves, or those who look out for others?" The story of Charlie Simpson, gives me hope it is the latter.
Young Charlie, all of seven years old, saw the images of the Haiti earthquake survivors and wanted to do something to help. He told his folks he wanted to organise a sponsored bike-a-thon around his local park in London, UK. He hoped to raise £500 ($800 USD). At the time of writing he'd amassed donations for UNICEF worth over £67,800 ($109,000 USD). ...
Image credit: North Wales Police
From bike traffic schools in Santa Cruz to bike commuter guides, a little education can go a long way in helping people overcome their fear of adopting two-wheeled traffic. (Let's not forget the one most important tip for staying safe on a bike either!) But an innovative program in North Wales seems to be way out in front in getting people to rethink the bike. It's even claiming a three-fold increase in the number of kids cycling to school!
...
Photo credit Mary Ann Archambault via Sub Rosa.
This is my dining room table. This is my dining room table on a bike. This is my dining room table upside down on a special cargo trike available for rental at my neighoborhood bicycle store, Clever Cycles. While I didn't believe that my 8-foot-long dining room table could be successfully hauled 14 blocks from a local restaurant, Sub Rosa, to my house (I was prepared to schedule a large car sharing vehicle to deal with the moving chore), my partner was absolutely convinced that this cargo bike was up to the task....
Image via Convergence Tech
That's what Pedal-A-Watt wants you to pay in order to generate 250 watts of pedaled energy. But unless you regularly hook up your bike to a stationary stand in order to get some exercise, this is not exactly an eco-friendly option for how to generate a little charge. ...
Inside Charlie's FreeWheels
In the summer of 2007 I wrote about the death of Charles Prinsep, killed on a highway in Alberta, "Flesh and blood against gasoline, alcohol and two tons of steel." As in so many of these stories, there is a period of anger, but rarely any followup as the story is forgotten.
But Charlie's friends haven't forgotten. They set up Charlie's FreeWheels in his memory; they take kids from one of the roughest parts of Toronto and teaching them how to fix bikes. "Through a combination of hands-on practice, cooperative work, discussion and mentoring, the program's participants will focus on the repair of one bicycle each that, upon the project's completion, will belong to him or her."...
Image: Virgin Vacations
According to a list by Virgin Vacations, who suggest they relied on a methodology developed by the League of American Bicyclists (LAB), known as The Bicycle Friendly Communities Campaign, which uses five criteria (engineering, encouragement, education, enforcement, plus evaluation and planning) to identify cities that actively support bicycling.
Three of the top five from the eleven cities are in the USA, which at first glance might seem a little odd, but they are the only three American cities to have earned Platinum status from the LAB as US Bicycle Friendly Communities....
Brad Stone writes in the New York Times business section about the eneloop electric bike. There is nothing new about the bike to TreeHugger readers; Jaymi called it a game-changer at CES. What is new is the attitude. Where electric bikes used to be considered a sign of laziness, it is now being seen as an alternative to the car....
Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (center, in red shirt) talks with Indian cyclists. Photo by Mayank via Ride-A-Cycle Foundation.
The perception that cycling is a slow way of commuting is "bogus" and the idea that increased car ownership is a sign of progress is "silly," says Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, a winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and a committed, car-free cyclist. Originally from India, Dr. Venki, as he is known, recently gave an outspoken interview about his cycling habit to an organization that works to promote bike-riding in Bangalore....
photo via Flickr
The "Lance Effect" refers to the influence Lance Armstrong has had on the popularity of cycling worldwide. It's seen in how people treat people on bikes--commuters and cyclists alike--and on the number of bikes sold. Armstrong's popularity was evident this weekend when he sent out a tweet inviting people to come ride with him and Australian cyclist Robbie McEwan. Over 5,000 people showed up, creating chaos....
Image credit: Change Your Life, Ride a Bike
Amsterdam may have its bike-powered pub, but in general it's accepted wisdom that bikes and booze don't mix. Not unless you are Cask Beverage Company of San Francisco, that is—which has joined the long and illustrious tradition of cargo bikes (or trikes, really), delivering artisanal beverages to bars and restaurants across the city by tricycle. At least, we think they do. ...
Julien Bergignat and Patrice Mouille have designed a new kind of bicycle helmet that folds flat. They wanted it to be simple to make with rapid assembly and low cost. They also suggest that being flat facilitates transport and storage. "This bike helmet is very light and airy because it does not consist of a single block but in a multitude of small cushions that can bend and reduce the material used for its manufacture."
But does it work?...
Photo: Spiegel (Bamboo utility bike in Africa)
Spiegel International have a wonderful write-up (in English) on bamboo bikes. It covers how Craig Calfee's dog inspired him to make a bike from bamboo, How he subsequently won trade shows awatds "Best Road Bike," "Best Off-Road Bike" and "Peoples' Choice" for his bamboo designs, how they were lab tested tougher than carbon fibre.
Andrea Reidl's article goes to explain how Calfee is now passing on his secrets to African villagers so they might have durable, locally made bike frames. Which, in turn, has lead him to his next challenge -- designing a bamboo school bus bike which an adult will steer, whilst transporting half a dozen or so kids with everyone pedaling.
But it was talk of a hemp bike that was news to us....
Remember those stories about how bike seats apparently caused havoc with male sexual performance? And how no-nose seats like the X-seat ? Well, David Kraus, an associate professor in Biology and Environmental Health Sciences at University of Alabama at Birmingham reckons he might have the solution for you. The StreeStrider.
Basically it's a NordicTrack elliptical exercise machine on three wheels, so you can take it outdoors. (Imagine that -- exercising under the sky not a gym roof. What will they think of next?) As you pump the foot platforms they turn the crank and eight speed gearing on the rear wheel. Riders stand up with no seat to pinch their delicate parts. It does look intriguing in the video....
Photo: Solar Bike Project
The print-based magazine, Renew, is running a competition to find the best DIY electric bicycle. For which they're offing bragging rights to the winner, in an upcoming issue of the magazine, as well a gift voucher at an online eco-store. (full details after the jump.
We've covered DIY hybrid electric/pedal powered vehicles in the past. You might draw some inspiration from them for the competition. For example, there was the solar powered tandem trike-trailer combo (pictured above), from the Solar Bike Project. Or the DIY electric mountain bike that used power tool batteries. And although its not pedal assist, like a bicycle, we were taken with the verve of the solar scooter. ...
Me on my bike this morning
It is really cold out there, and from Florida north it is the winter biking season. Over the past few years TreeHugger and Planet Green have done a number of posts on the subject of how to dress for success in winter biking. It isn't always easy, and very much depends on the kind of bike riding you do.
For instance, I have completely changed my winter wardrobe since I got my Strida, with its more stately pace, and since I started reading Copenhagenize, which makes the point that bikes are transportation, not sport, and you should feel comfortable in whatever you want to wear, you have the freedom to be in the street in whatever you want, just like a driver or a pedestrian. And no doubt some will criticize me for being in all black, but I have lights for night, and I am an architect before I am a cyclist, and everyone knows that architects always wear black.
...
LA Times
Brian noted earlier how Charles Diez got four months in jail for shooting (and barely missing) a cyclist who was in his way, and considered it an embarrassment. In California, they are a bit tougher: In July 2008 Christopher Thompson, passed two cyclists and got in front of them and jammed on the brakes. Ron Peterson went face first into the rear window, breaking his teeth, slicing off his nose, and cutting his face; he needed ninety stiches.
He was sentenced last week to five years in prison for mayhem; assault with a deadly weapon, his car; battery with serious injury; and reckless driving causing injury. ...
Richard Lautens, Toronto Star
That is the advice Catherine Porter got from Yvonne Bambrick, while learning how to cycle in winter. "Some people do the, what do they call it, snot rockets. Yuck."
Bambrick is the executive director of the Toronto Cyclists Union and practices what she preaches. She is of the Copenhagen Cycle Chic school; "tall, long black coat, chic red hat dotted with a delicate bicycle pin, dark sunglasses. She could be shopping in Paris. Her bike is a grey Dutch seven-speed, the front basket adorned with bulrushes, white plastic flowers cascading off the back."
And she bikes year round....
About a month ago, we heard about Sanyo's new Eneloop electric assist bike. It has made quite a splash at CES, and is one of the most beautiful electric bikes we've seen. Not only is it gorgeous, but it's at a cost that is very competitive. Designed from the ground up to be an electric transportation vehicle, it has a beautiful shape along with powerful capabilities. Check out our video interview showing off the bike. ...
Photo of a PDX bike box via itdp @ flickr.
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Portland, disputedly still American's premier cycling city, has been experimenting with 14 bike boxes - road markings that designate exactly where cyclists and motorists should place their vehicles when stopped at an intersection with a red light. Bike boxes are this city's attempt (also being deployed in New York, Long Beach, and maybe San Francisco) to try to reduce cyclist deaths from "right hook" collisions by making cyclists more visible to drivers. In the past year, researchers Jennifer Dill and Chris Monsere took hours and hours of video and surveyed both motorists and cyclists to try to answer the question: Do Portland's bike boxes work?...
Image credit: Roehr Motorcycles
A serious offering in the electric motorbike market could be a big step forward for more sustainable transportation. From the space-age EV-X7 prototype electric bike to this 125mph electric superbike, there's plenty of eye candy out there. But the response to my post about the rebirth of Vectrix electric scooters showed that many bike-lovers are none too impressed with the price tags or performance of what's on offer so far. Now American sportsmotorcycle manufacturer Roehr is getting in on the act—though if their pedigree is anything to go by, this one is more likely to be for the speed demons than the average commuter....
TreeHugger breaks it down for you in a series of in depth how-to articles that will help you green your life. No time like the present!
Here are a few recommended websites.
Here are a few recommended websites.
