Here’s an brief lunch break post (as to not detract from the amazing 73 degree weather outside):
From the BTA via Bikeportland, I love this pro-light video they just released, with just the right doses of truth and humor:
Strategies for Getting Around Without Bike Lights (or Pants) from BICYCLE TRANSPORTATION ALLIANCE on Vimeo.
“Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel…the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.”
-Susan B. Anthony
Local women’s social cycling group, the Vaginees, is hosting bike maintenance and repair classes every Tuesday night of February from 5:30-7:30PM. They’re hosting the classes at Querencia, next to Rubber Gloves at 411 E. Sycamore. You (ladies, not dudes) can RSVP to the Facebook event. At 45 attendees confirmed so far, it’s going to be a hit.
FEBRUARY 1ST:
“Washing our frames, cleaning our chains and Bike 101”
Come to this shop and clean up your bike if your brakes are squeaky and if your chain crunches when you pedal. We will also be introducing the names of the parts of the bike and the tools used to work on a bike.FEBRUARY 8TH
“Pump it up!”
We’ll be patching tubes, changing out tires and talking about adequate tire pressure for easier biking.FEBRUARY 15TH
“Ride smart.”
Learn how to adjust your brakes for a quick stop and learn how to true (make straight) a bent or wobbly wheel. We’ll also be talking about safety signals and “sharing the road” aka “how to not get hit by a car.”FEBRUARY 22ND
“Dress it up!”
Wrap your handle bars in some new grip tape, add a bell or put some cards in your spokes. Whatever you want to do, it can be done. After shop we’ll have our “Monthly Cycle” and show off our newly cleaned and tuned bicycles on the streets of Denton.
Maybe this video is only interesting to transportation wonks (hand raised), but it’s too good not to post. This is Peter Koonce, Portland traffic engineer, discussing the limitations of the MUTCD (Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices) – the guiding text of American road design.
Tasty quotes:
- [Capacity] is one of those elements that they suggest widening the roadway as the solution, when in reality that may just be exacerbating the problem.
- It’s ingrained in us as engineers that pedestrians may be an impediment as opposed to important users that we should prioritize.
- At our downtown Portland streets, we’re progressing cars at 15-16mph.
- If you’re walking most of the time, then when you get in your car you’ll be more respectful.
- The easiest mode to serve is a pedestrian. Once the sidewalks are poured, you don’t have to repave. The sidewalks in my neighborhood are from 1907.
via Intersection911.org via BikePortland:
Some interesting stuff gets donated to Querencia. While going through some donations last week, I found these spoke cards from Denton alleycat races over the last few years.
Here’s a shot of the covers, a shot of the routes, and a closeup of a route pattern that we saw also used for the Svart Katt transmigratory celebration of darkness.
While recently volunteering at Querencia, I helped sort a bunch of older cranksets. I couldn’t help but arrange them and take a photo. There’s so much beauty in the variety of bicycle parts, especially from bygone eras and styles from distant lands.
Nick Magruder recently donated his 2009 hit-and-run Surly Cross Check frame to Querencia’s shop. For being hit from behind by a car going 40mph, I’d say it survived almost as unscathed as Nick. One rear dropout is broken, and the seat stays are bent. 4130 steel can take a hit pretty well, I’d say.
(To whoever stole the frame off the QCBS fence this week, now you know what’s wrong with it)
UPDATE: the person who grabbed it has a pretty amazing sounding project planned for it. Hints: bamboo, cargo capacity. I take back the word “stole” and substitute “repurpose!”
If you’re looking for something bikey to do indoors on a rainy day (today), check out the Great Southwest Bike Swap and crit and cross races in Ft Worth today. There will be a few custom frame builders, if you’d like a taste of what NAHBS will be like next month.
– US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood talked about bike and pedestrian projects creating twice as many jobs per dollar as typical road infrastructure. He discusses the inequity that 12% of trips are by bike or foot, despite 1% of infrastructure spending, and 14% of road fatalities are cyclists and pedestrians.
– According to a CDC report, 57 percent of adult Americans say that their neighborhood features are of high importance in determining their levels of physical activity. About two-thirds of adults said they were willing to take civic actions to improve neighborhood features. More than 40 percent were willing to write letters. Sixteen percent were willing to pay more in taxes. More from BikeLeague.
– Oregon House Rep Mitch Greenlick proposes HB 2228 to make it illegal to transport a child under six by bicycle. Critics respond en masse, Greenlick claims the idea is merely a discussion starter and not a debate.
– Austin Cycling Association launches a defensive biking class, so cyclists can take a course by League of American Bicyclists instead of paying a fine.
– Bike Friendly Oak Cliff and CarShareOC sponsor a challenge for families to go 52 weeks without driving. WFAA reports that 16 families have signed up.
– BFOC and Photopolus host a Jan 10 – Feb 11 contest to take photos that “capture our city’s growing bike culture and the people and bicycles in it.”
– Copenhagenize found a video of bicycle activists in Guadalajara painting their own bike lanes, bike boxes, and putting up signs.
– Texas Sunset Commission tries to slim down TXDOT, recommends to replace committee with appointee. Seek to move forward towards the “adult conversations” about how to fund Texas transportation projects.
Snowy desire lines.
Waterproof pannier.
Thawed tundra wreaked muddy havoc on my evening commute. Made me think of Tour Divide mud stories.
Many more photos at the BikeDenton Flickr page.
It doesn’t snow often here, so when it does, it’s a treat to go riding in it. The roads are mostly empty of cars, especially out in the unpaved areas. All the old familiar routes look and feel different. Heading out west on Oak/Jim Christal is a wonderful gateway to a network of gravel roads.
