Category: Bicycle Advocacy
The bicycle suppliers and retailers who make up the nonprofit Bikes Belong Coalition have been busy doling out grants to reward grassroots organizations that are making life better for bicyclists.
Two rounds of grants have been handed out to 11 locally oriented bicycle advocacy groups recently. Not only is it cool to see that their good work is being supported, but it's interesting to see what's going on around the country for bicyclists.
Maybe some readers will get an idea for grant-worthy projects for their clubs.
The latest are 5 REI/Bicycle Friendly Community grants of $10,000 to $20,000 handed out in collaboration with Bikes Belong and the League of American Bicyclists. Earlier, Bikes Belong handed out $50,000 …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/03/21/handing-out-bicycle-advocacy-stimulus-money/
A weekend crash in British Columbia involving bicyclists and a passing car raises the safety issue of bicycle riding two or more abreast.
The 2008 Olympic silver medalist in the triathlon event is among a group of about 20 cyclists who could be charged with not riding single file in a crash on Vancouver Island.
A car came upon the cyclists, riding three and four abreast, crossed the yellow line, and began passing in the oncoming lane as another car pulled onto the road in that lane.
The collision knocked the passing car into the bicyclists, taking out about 15 riders. Two were taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries. Olympic medalist Scott Whitfield was near the front and wasn't hit …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/03/11/cyclists-face-single-file-charges-in-canada-crash/
“No this is not an official Bike2Work event where we are inticed to ride to work by fine food and prizes. This is just ride your bike to work for fun and adventure. Tomorrow promises to be a beautiful day. It's the next day of the rest of your life.
“See you on the road.”
That's the message left on the Chattanooga Bicycle Club forum Thursday night by David Meek just hours before he was struck and killed by a passing truck on Friday morning.
It shows how much Meek enjoyed bicycling and how he wanted others to share that joy. In addition to being the owner of Privateer Hand-made Performance Bicycles, the 51-year-old was an active member of the bicycle club and leader of the annual Tour de Charohala Challenge. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/03/07/chattanooga-bicycle-framebuilder-killed-by-passing-truck/
A lifelong cyclist, advocate and bicycle shop owner is hospitalized with internal and spinal injuries in Winston-Salem. A motorist ran him down while he rode his recumbent bike home from work about a week ago.
Bruce Hermann owns the Neighborhood Transportation bicycle shop in nearby Lewisville, NC. He's well-known and respected among local cyclists and has worked on the local and national stage for more bicycle lanes and more rights for cyclists.
Regarding the crash, his wife, Margaret, told the Winston-Salem Journal:
“I've always been worried about that … he tended to work late. We've always been afraid that something like this might happen.” …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/03/03/north-carolina-bike-shop-owner-fights-for-life/
Here's a TV news broadcast about a Wisconsin cyclist who records close calls on video.
After lacking evidence in several near misses, Jeff Frings of Milwaukee started shooting video of his bicycle rides with a helmet cam and a rear-facing handlebar cam.
Capturing his near-misses on camera, he shows the video footage to police as proof a motorist violated Wisconsin's law that requires drivers give bicyclists a 3-foot clearance when passing. His experiences are no different than many of ours …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/03/02/bicycling-with-a-rolling-surveillance-system-in-wisconsin/
When President Obama signed the federal Economic Recovery Package into law recently, it included funding that could be used on bicycle and pedestrian projects in every state.
AmericaBikes and the Safe Routes to School Partnership are two of the many advocacy groups that are recommending how local advocates can ensure that the federal money gets to local bicycling and pedestrian projects.
One of their targets is the so-called Transportation Enhancements, generally 3% of the highway funding allocation to states. This is a direct source of funding for most bike lanes, bike paths, sidewalks and other such facilities.
Nationwide, that's nearly $803 million …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/02/26/how-to-put-stimulus-money-to-work-for-bicyclists-and-pedestrians/
The University of South Florida dean whose involvement in a bicycle theft was caught on tape will be paid $50,000 in return for his resignation.
The case of the stolen bicycle was solved last week when a surveillance video showing the entire caper was posted on YouTube.com.
The video clearly shows an associate dean in the College of Medicine and another man participating in the theft …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/02/20/college-dean-admits-bike-theft-update-hes-paid-50k-to-resign/
A lot of people are saying that Lance Armstrong's alert to the 145,00 members of his Twitterati helped in the quick recovery of his time trial bicycle.
For the rest of us who don't have that clout, there's a website where we can share our stories. It's called “Someone Stole My Bike.”
The website features video stories of bike theft victims, some who lost their bikes for good and others, like Kristy (shown here), who chased down the thief, grabbed him by the backpack and dragged him to the ground …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/02/19/a-website-where-bicycle-theft-victims-can-tell-their-stories/
The legislatures in six states — Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, Rhode Island, Texas and Washington — are considering bills in 2009 that require motorists leave at least 3 feet of clearance when passing a person riding a bicycle.
Twelve states presently require the 3-foot margin. They are Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, and Wisconsin. (Connecticut and New Hampshire enacted laws last year; South Carolina enacted “safe operating distance”.)
A lawmaker, Jamie Pedersen, who represents Seattle submitted the bill in Washington state, entitled House Bill 1491. Pedersen commutes to work by bicycle when he's not in the state capitol in Olympia …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/02/17/6-states-including-washington-seeking-3-foot-clearance-for-bicyclists/
Now is when the rubber meets the road to get funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects in the Obama economic stimulus plan.
Although the Senate passed a version of the package earlier Tuesday, it doesn't include the same funding for Transportation Enhancements (such as bicycle facilities) as is included in the House version.
Both the League of American Bicyclists and the Rails to Trails Conservancy are issuing action alerts to urge members to contact their congressmen to ensure those “enhancements” make it into the conference bill that will be hashed out in upcoming meetings …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/02/10/crunch-time-to-fund-bicycle-projects-with-stimulus-money/
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