Bike Denton

Apr 06 2011

Denton

Dallas Cycle Chic April 9-17

It all started with Copenhagen Cycle Chic, with an eye toward urban cycling and style.

As Dallas aligns itself with the cycle chic movement, we set ourselves apart. Dallas embraces its funky southern flair, its uptight respect for red tape, and the rebellious entrepreneurial spirit that’s made this region great.

We come together to celebrate this Spring 2011 as area cities adopt and update their Bicycle Master Plans, and together we begin to envision how our hometowns are becoming cycle-friendly cities.

Dallas Cycle Chic Week April 9th – 17th

Saturday 9th
12pm-6pm Be counted in the 2011 Cyclist Census and be entered to represent as the new Face of Biking in Dallas. We want to see – who are Dallas cyclists? Young, old, students, parents, business professionals, entrepreneurs, athletes, and bike messengers – come tell us what inspires you to cycle, and be entered to become the new Face of Cycling in Dallas. We want to see you and your personal cycling style.

Find your closest location where photographers will be capturing the unique style of the people who ride their bikes around our town. Also, check with your local Bike Friendly neighborhood group to see if they’ve organized a ride to your photo spot.

Locations:

North Dallas (Valley View Park – NE corner of 635 and Hillcrest)
North Oak Cliff (Bishop Arts District- at Bishop and 7th)
Deep Ellum (on Main at Walton between the taco joint and cafe)
Highland Park (Bicycles Plus)
SMU campus
Uptown (Transit Bicycle Co)
Downtown Dallas (Pegasus Plaza at Main and Akard)
White Rock Lake (NE side of the lake, near E. Lawther and Northcliff
Main Street in McKinney (location to come…)

Sunday 10th
7pm-10pm “Dallas Rides” Photo Exhibit upstairs at Eno’s Pizza Tavern

Tuesday 12th
6pm Bike to the Texas Theatre for a Bike Friendly Happy Hour (sponsored by Bike Friendly Oak Cliff)
8pm Stay for the showing of the 1948 award-winning Italian film “The Bicycle Thief”

Wednesday 13th – Saturday 16th
Online public voting for the Face of Dallas winners

Saturday 16th
12-4pm Dallas Photo Scavenger Hunt by Bike
beginning at Eno’s Pizza Tavern
(Sponsored by Bike Friendly Oak Cliff and photopol.us)
9pm Bike-in movie on the lawn at Main Street Gardens Park

Sunday 17th
12-6pm Bike Polo
Beginner’s Training followed by a Tournament

Tagged Celebration, dallas

Apr 05 2011

3 Comments

Denton

Denton council unanimously approves Safe Passing ordinance

Denton is the eighth Texas city to approve the Vulnerable Road User ordinance, aka Safe Passing, by a unanimous city council vote. Council member Dalton Gregory first brought up the idea in February of 2010, and after discussion this afternoon, the ordinance sailed through council at the evening meeting. The ordinance says cars must give 3 feet minimum passing distance, and commercial vehicles must give 6 feet passing distance. The law also criminalizes harassment of cyclists and right-hook accidents, and it explains that cyclists may ride two abreast as long as they don’t impede reasonable flow of traffic.

Gregory explained that the ordinance was one of many steps the city needs to take to encourage active transportation (biking and walking). He also said he’d like to see some educational signs representing the ordinance to replace the standard “Share the Road” signs seen around town.

During afternoon discussion of the ordinance, district 3 council member Jim Engelbrecht said the city should study cyclist ridership and accident statistics.

Tagged city politics, Denton, Law, Safe Passing

Apr 04 2011

1 Comment

Denton

City to vote on Safe Passing ordinance

Tomorrow at 3PM, city council will hold a work session at which citizens may speak regarding the Vulnerable Road User ordinance, aka Safe Passing. In addition to requiring safe passing distance, the ordinance also criminalizes harassment or intimidation of a vulnerable road user. The ordinance seeks to protect cyclists, pedestrians, disabled persons, utility workers, and even stranded motorists. Violators may face fines up to $200.

For the full text, we’ve excerpted the applicable section from the 720 page agenda.

Councilman Dalton Gregory has championed the cause since February 2010, and the ordinance stands to pass with a single sweeping vote, along with the other Consent Agenda items. Anyone wishing to provide comment on the proposed ordinance may speak at the beginning of the work session meeting, 3PM, in the city council work-session room, 215 E. Mckinney.

The ordinance text includes a section that touts the city’s recent push towards biking and walking:

a safe passing ordinance provides the foundation for an education campaign of tolerance and acceptance for “active” forms of alternative transportation, which furthers the City’s goals of promoting Denton as a bicycle friendly community, as well as for the enhancement of walkable streets and neighborhoods.

Tagged city politics, Denton, Safe Passing

Mar 30 2011

1 Comment

Denton

Bike Boxes explained

Portland bike box where cyclist had been killed

photo credit: bikeportland.org

At last week’s focus group input meeting, the term “bike boxes” came up during a discussion of intersection accommodations for bicycles. You’ll soon see them installed in Dallas as part of the Bike Plan along with cycletracks, bike lanes, and sharrows. Here’s a primer on how they work:

A Bike Box, or Advanced Stop Line (ASL) is a designated safe place at the front of an intersection so people on bikes queue up in front of car traffic. The National Association of City Transportation officials lists the benefits:

Increases visibility of bicyclists.
Reduces signal delay for bicyclists.
Facilitates bicyclist left turn positioning at intersections during red signal indication. This only applies to bike boxes that extend across the entire intersection.
Facilitates the transition from a right-side bike lane to a left-side bike lane during red signal indication. This only applies to bike boxes that extend across the entire intersection.
Helps prevent ‘right-hook’ conflicts with turning vehicles at the start of the green indication.
Provides priority for bicyclists at signalized bicycle boulevard crossings of major streets.
Groups bicyclists together to clear an intersection quickly, minimizing impediment to transit or other traffic.
Bicyclists can avoid breathing exhaust while queued at the signal.
Contributes to the perception of safety among users of the bicycle network.
Pedestrians benefit from reduced vehicle encroachment into the crosswalk.

Portland started deploying them in 2007 after two right-hook cyclist fatalities, as have other cities (New York, Austin, San Francisco). Researchers in Portland studied bike box response behavior and found that a majority of drivers were made more aware of bicyclists:

89 percent of motorists surveyed prefer the green-colored bike boxes to those that consist only of a white outline. Also, 43 percent of motorists surveyed feel the bike boxes make driving less convenient at the intersections, while 55 percent believe the bike boxes make drivers more aware of bicyclists generally.

Here’s a Streetsblog article showing installation of bike boxes in San Francisco; notice their boxes aren’t painted, but applied like stickers, and they feature a grippy surface to aid stopping.

If you want the full video experience, this Streetsblog film shows the Portland boxes in action.

Portland (Green) Bike Box! from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

Tagged Accomodations, Austin, bike box, portland

Mar 26 2011

1 Comment

jobs

New jobs section of site; Bicycles Plus needs mechanics

To help Denton’s growing bike economy, we now list jobs here to connect passionate readers (aka riders) with hiring businesses. To request a listing, please send a job description and contact info to info@bikedenton.org.

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Bicycles Plus in Flower Mound is hiring for full-time and part-time bicycle mechanic positions. If interested, contact gabe@bicyclesplustx.com or call 214-513-2604.

Tagged jobs

Mar 17 2011

4 Comments

Denton

Bicycle Advisory Committee member wants your input

Meet Amber Briggle: mother, massage therapist, and focus group member for Denton’s Bicycle Plan consultancy. The focus group helps formulate the plan goals and timeline, and Amber wants your input. You can talk to her this Sunday at Fuzzy’s Taco shop, at 6PM, on the back porch. You can RSVP to the Facebook event here, and if you can’t make it, you can email her directly.

This Bicycle Plan is Denton’s strongest push towards creating bicycle facilities and encouraging more riding. Amber provides a rare opportunity to share your ideas at this critical time in the plan development.

Tagged bicycle plan, bike lanes

Mar 15 2011

3 Comments

Denton

Denton police request removal of bikes left at square

photo by Adrian Rollett: http://acrollet.posterous.com/

Seeing all the bikes at last weekend’s 35C was inspiring, but the Denton Police Department kindly asked us to spread word that all leftover bikes chained around the square should be removed by Friday. Anything left over will be removed and impounded, so save yourself the trouble and get them while it’s easy. The presence of so many bikes indicates growing need for more bicycle parking, especially downtown. The city recently spent $55,000 on angled parking conversions to add 12 new car spots, but no new bike racks were added.

The Denton Police also wanted to remind everyone that it’s illegal to ride on the square sidewalks, and that cyclists should obey the laws of the road, ride with traffic, and use hand signals (simple pointing works fine for me).

Tagged Bike Racks, enforcement

Mar 14 2011

Denton

Recycled chainring planter

I saw this hanging planter made from recycled chainrings at the HOPE market on E. 5th in Austin during NAHBS.

Tagged Austin

Mar 10 2011

2 Comments

Denton

BikeDenton at NAHBS 2011

I recently went to Austin for the sixth annual NAHBS, the North American Handmade Bicycle Show. It was a hyper-sensory experience that no blog post, video, or photo gallery could synthesize. The handshakes and conversations seemed like a delight for the builders who spend much of their time working in solitude.

The show has grown steadily, with with 6 builders in 2005 and 126 builders in 2011. You won’t see Trek, Specialized, or Giant there, but you’ll see innovation and exquisite detail from backyard builders and established companies alike. There are competitive awards, but there’s a spirt that everyone wants everyone to win.

I rode around Austin with the folks from Path Less Pedaled and EcoVelo. We explored Austin together: food trailers, coffee shops, bars, markets. Woven into the conference were group rides, free barbecue, free beer, seminars, and hundreds of new faces to remember. I asked many framebuilders how they got into the craft, and I heard a range of inspiring stories. Some went to school for it, some figured it out on their own, and some apprenticed with masters. My favorite experiences from the show were spontaneous conversations with the builders. They want you to ask questions.

For the full-body immersion via hundreds of photos, look to coverage from Prolly, BikePortland, and Urban Velo. Denton micro-tourer Pondero wrote a thoughtful summary of the sensory overload experience.

I took 1200 photos, but I filtered examples from these down to three topics: detail, people, favorites.

Detail is everything at NAHBS. You have full access to scrutinize detail from inches away. You can reach out and feel the craftsmanship. I left thousands of fingerprints. I saw amazing welds and brazed lugs, wooden wheels, a light mounted by a bent spoke, clever cable routing through frames, and some amazing paint jobs.

Click on the mural below for the flickr set of detail examples:

I loved the human experience of NAHBS. I talked to builders, racers, fans, and writers. We rode together, ate together, and I was impressed how many builders brought family, including kids (who didn’t look bored). ANT and Bilenky come to mind. Here’s Betsy Scola of ANT.

I met all the folks in the below mural, so you can click through if you’d like to know who they are. They are builders, friends, volunteers, cooks, journalists, advocates, and a Tour Divide 2011 contender.

Click on the mural below for the flickr set of people:

Picking overall show favorites is hard, so I forced myself to choose 3, and I posted 6 photos of each.

In the top row of photos below are Philosophy Bags, an Oregon small business that makes timeless and simple bags. They sandwiched a waterproof layer between the cotton layers, so these bags don’t look as adventure-bikey as an Ortlieb or similar brands. At $100+, they’re not cheap, but they’re American made and classy.

The middle row of photos features Shamrock Cycles‘ Celtic-Cross bike, which at first glance looks like a touring rig. As the builder explained, the integrated fenders and racks come off quickly (via beautiful knobs and leather washers) and the bike quickly becomes a cyclocross race machine.

The bottom row of photos shows off the Yipsan Bicycles city bike. Renold Yip really blew some retro-grouch minds with the convertible porteur and pannier rack. In porteur mode, it’s flat and wide and you can carry a big heavy load of newspaper and books. In pannier mode, it’s narrow, but it has side supports for low-slung touring baggage.

Click on the mural below for the flickr set of my favorites:

There’s more, but I’ll take a break and wait before posting other content from the show. I managed to get photos of some tasty bikes in the free valet, which was popular and free for all the attendees.

Tagged Austin, gear, NAHBS

Mar 05 2011

1 Comment

Denton

Good Reads: Embrocation

I was glad to receive the latest issue of Embrocation before the recent snowpacalypse. It’s a nice mix of photographs and writing. I read my other bikey magazines (Bicycle Times, Dirt Rag) way too quickly, so the density of Embrocation gives me more to chew on.

Embrocation Cycling Journal is a quarterly publication dedicated to cultivating and perpetuating cycling culture in all its forms. Each journal is approximately 100 pages of photographs, essays, stories and illustrations from a wide variety of contributors. This content is presented with art-forward, stylized design in a high quality book with heavy paper stock and the finest print quality.

Embrocation is traditionally a liniment cream with minty and spicy ingredients to warm up your legs before winter rides.

Tagged good reads, photography