It’s the Bike News Roundup! But it’s also an open thread. Did you ride today? Report back on what people should expect if they are thinking of heading out on bike.
First up, bike corrals are awesome. I love these cheap curb stop/staple rack bike corrals. Seattle has a bunch of those parking curbs and staple racks. Let’s make them into corrals!
— Advertisement —
Making Streets Safer With On-Street Bike Parking from Streetfilms on Vimeo.
- Learning to ride again. « ChaCha AlaMode’s babblings. – Great reflection on getting back on a bike after being hit by truck.
- Biking Bis: Thule recalls 44,000 Chariot bicycle trailers
- Biking Bis: Giant problem — bike maker recalls 900 bicycles – (thanks, Gene, for keeping us updated on big bike recalls!)
- Ferguson Proposes Harsher DUI Penalties | PubliCola
- Downtown Seattle tries to be nicer to kids – seattlepi.com – It’s about time! A downtown safe for kids would be safe for everyone.
- Is an anti-bike fraud being committed in your name? « BikingInLA – WTF California bike “advocates?”
- Compulsory helmets first, mouthguards next? | Bicycle Business | BikeBiz – Yeesh. I hope not.
- Transportation Proposal Could Have Unexpected Consequences | PubliCola – The $3.6 billion would probably fall under stupid Amendment 18.
- Alabama tornadoes: Helmets provide inexpensive storm protection, UAB researchers say | al.com
- The case for the $6 parking meter – Ideas – The Boston Globe
- BikePortland.org » Blog Archive » Portland bike companies poised for Obama’s “insourcing” initiative
- The Urban Country Bicycle Blog: 81-Year-Old Gene Hackman Hit On His Bike – Most reports call it an “accident” and make sure to lead with fact he wasn’t wearing a helmet. The legendary actor was hit from behind by a truck.
- Bike·a·Bee by Jana Kinsman — Kickstarter – Awesome project! Someone should do this in Seattle…
- Biking Bis: George Carlin: bike hater, lover, or just playing it for laughs?
- BikePortland.org » Opinion: Sticking up for Sunday Parkways – For real. These are so popular and successful, I can’t believe it’s under the knife.
- Bike-Share Programs & Bicycle Lanes Turned Me Into a Commuter | In the Bike Lane | Bicycling.com – Bike share is a gateway drug.
- Report puts brakes on bicycle licensing – There were several articles flying around this week demolishing the idea of bicycle licenses. Here’s two more:
- European Cyclists’ Federation – Bicycle Registration Is Not The Answer For Bad Behaviour: Guest Post
- Bicycle licences & numberplates: the pros and cons – I Pay Road Tax
- Pedal-powered Shanty Boat | This Tiny House – !!!!!!
- The Keurig question: What to do with those used coffee cartridges? [Updated] – latimes.com – I can’t believe it is acceptable to own one of these. An incomprehensible amount of waste. Is it that hard to clean a french press or change a coffee filter? Now there’s 9 billion used, unrecyclable Keurig cartridges in the world. Unbelievable.
- bradmeacham.com – The former urbanist candidate for City Council has started a new blog.
- Cyclist Versus Warnie | the cyclist’s Story | Cycling Tips – Douche bag cricketer hits a cyclist, then blames him.
- Bike Advocacy from the NRA Playbook | Commute by Bike – Hmm. I’m not so sure the NRA has been THAT successful at remaking their image. It’s mired in party politics in a way biking should (and can) avoid.
- Twitter / @pathlesspedaled: thwarted a bike theft…ov … – This week, our touring heroes thwart a bike theft.
- Motorist to plead guilty to blogger assault – National – NZ Herald News – Speaking of Path Less Pedaled. Remember when they were attacked by a raging driver? Well, he has been arrested.
- Judge tells cyclist who kicked cars to pay for damage… | Stuff.co.nz – And it turns out, a few years ago that raging driver was arrested for raging while on a bicycle. Turns out, it’s less about drivers vs cyclists and more about this guy’s personal anger problems (there is an awesome lesson about road rage in general somewhere here).
- Bikeconomics: Crowdsourcing My Thesis | AnomaLily.net – Help out!
- Family Friday: The Carlsons | Velo Mom
- Jarrett Walker’s Human Transit: Are we thinking about urban planning all wrong? – Slate Magazine – Walker has written a book.
- Women on Bikes SoCal – Bikes Mean Business – Awesome ideas for promoting bikes and business
- SC DOT Responds to Cyclist Death By Considering Bike Ban | Streetsblog.net – Boo!
- Getting Around Near and Far — The Supercharged Bike-Sharing Card | Streetsblog.net – One card to share them all…
- Maps Show Striking Link Between Car Commuting and Obesity | Streetsblog Capitol Hill
- A New Four-Lane Superhighway To Be Built Only For Bikes : TreeHugger – When is the Seattle-Olympia bicycle superhighway being built?
- The True Cost of Driving – A calculator
- Leading with vision: A conversation with transit innovator Enrique Penalosa
- Car, TV Ownership Tied to Higher Risk for Heart Attack – US News and World Report – If you are a TV-free snob and a bike snob, this article will send you into outer space.
- Seattle snow response bill reaches $700,000 | The Seattle Times
Comments
14 responses to “Bike News Roundup: Melting roads open thread!”
For anyone interested in getting a bike corral in your Seattle neighborhood, University Greenways conducted an extensive investigation (culminating in a presentation to our Chamber of Commerce board).
You can find those materials here:
http://ugreenways.org/media/udistcorral.pdf
http://ugreenways.org/media/udistcorral_handout.pdf
(We’ve put it on hold temporary because SDOT is now investigating a Neighborhood Greenway for 2012 construction in our neighborhood, and we want to be sure the corral can leverage traffic from that to-be-built arterial.)
Does anyone know the condition of the Burke-Gilman between Ballard and Fremont and/or Dexter bike lanes?
Conditions on the Burke from the Ballard Fred Meyer into Fremont this morning at 9 were sloppy and slippery. Just enough melt to compromise traction. Not enough melt to punch through to asphalt. I took the Westlake parking lots instead of the Dexter bike lanes to minimize interaction with autos, so I can’t speak to those. Everything should be much improved in the next couple of hours. And very wet.
Ugh, Keurig machines. So much waste, and all for a truly terrible cup of coffee that was ground and packaged in China 6 months before you popped it into your little machine.
Thanks for the weekly roundup–I always look forward to it!
Found these today in my blog reader:
http://design-milk.com/rydesafe-reflective-bike-decals/
Bike decals! To stay safe in dark times!
Tom, could you send a note to my boss explaining that I need a half a day off every week to read all the great stuff in the Bike News Roundup?? Thanks!
Hauling beehives by bicycle is surprisingly doable (I’ve done it both here and in Boston). The bike-a-bee idea is great, but keeping bees in multiple location is a *lot* of work (compared to just keeping a bunch of hives in one location). It’d be interesting to hear about sustainable ways to turn it into a business;.
As of Friday night the Dexter bike lanes were full of slushy snow
26th ave crossing Boyer is super icy coming down the hill under the bridge. Had to walk and saw a few cars losing control briefly. This was as of 9am this morning.
Anyone know how the burke is from 145th to the UW?
Hey I use oil on my chain and bearings. Shouldn’t a tax on oil go to the “uses of oil?” Not just the burning of oil?
Sure. After lubing your chain and bearings for five years, you’ll owe the state about a penny…
Sunday my ride around Mercer Island was pretty pleasant; there was some snow and ice on the I-90 trail on the island, but only on sections where the parallel roads are better than the trail anyway. Monday morning I tried to ride the Lake Washington Loop from Madison up to 520 and it was pretty much coated in black ice. Fell three times. Lots of people were out trying to ride it today, didn’t seem to be doing much better.
Rode in this morning. 20 ft of ice left on the Mercer Slough trail. Otherwise the Mercer Island trail is all clear. The roadway, grit city but ride-able. Gotta give yourself some leeway when turning on all that grit.