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The Bicycle Commuter Act that gives companies tax breaks for offering fringe benefits to bicycle commuters was passed by the House of Representatives on Friday as they approved the $700 billion financial bailout plan by a 263-171 vote.
President Bush signed the bailout into law right away.
The Bicycle Commuter Act gives employers $20 a month tax relief for each employee who bicycles to work. It covers the cost of employer reimbursements to employees for buying, improving or repairing a bicycle or paying for bike parking.
It was first introduced some seven years ago by Congressman Earl Blumenauer of Portland. The Democrat opposes the bailout and voted against it on Friday, putting himself in the inenviable position of voting against his pet project ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/10/03/bailout-passes-with-bicycle-commuter-act-attached-bush-signs-it/
As a life-long roadie, I'm always amazed at how tired I am after riding my mountain bike on local trails.
For instance, my son and I headed down to the Towers of Power to ride the singletrack maze on the Puget Sound Energy transmission line right of way near Renton, Washington, a couple of weeks ago.
We must have bombed around for a good hour and were pretty wiped out when we stopped. I checked my odometer — 6.5 miles. On my road bike, I'd just be hitting my groove.
As the trails wind around beneath power transmission towers, this isn't the most scenic location to bike. It's at the top of Renton Hill, so there are some pretty good views …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/10/03/towers-of-power-biking-local-dirt-trails-september-ride-stats/
Provisions of the long-sought Bicycle Commuter Act are included in the $700 billion financial bailout bill passed by the Senate on Wednesday night.
The bicycle commuter measure provides a tax benefit to employers who offer cash reimbursements to employees who ride their bicycles to work. It was pigeonholed after it was first introduced in 2005, and Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Portland and Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon reintroduced it in 2007.
It appeared dead in the water again this fall, until it suddenly appeared in the Senate version of the bailout bill along with other tax breaks worth $108 billion for businesses and families.
The bicycle commuter act is small in comparison to the other “sweeteners” as it's estimated to cost $10 million. It was probably added to the new version to make the bailout more palatable to Blumenauer, who voted against the original bailout on Monday ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/10/03/pork-in-bailout-bill-includes-bicycle-commuter-fringe-benefits/
The 18-year-old woman who slammed into a 67-year-old bicyclist one morning last winter, dragged her to the side of the road, and drove home has been has been sentenced to one week in jail and 83 days of home detention.
The judge's sentence for the Fircrest, Washington, teen is stricter than the one sought by the Pierce County deputy prosecutor in the case.
The bicyclist, Sandy Johnston, survived the collision with a compound leg fracture. She's been rehabing at home after spending 12 days in the hospital …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/10/02/one-weeks-jail-time-for-hit-drag-and-run-motorist/
There's a suburban legend out there that rail-to-trail conversions drive down property values.
Propose a trail on an abandoned railway and you'll hear fear and loathing from neighbors about loss of privacy, increased crime, traffic and noise, all which will affect property values.
A University of Cincinnati master's degree candidate in urban planning decided put those fears to the test by checking data from a populated section of the Little Miami Scenic Trail in southeast Ohio. Her research concluded that the opposite is true.
Duygu Karadeniz discovered that single family home sale prices increase by $7.05 for every foot closer a property is located to the trail. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/10/02/study-finds-that-ohio-bike-trail-boosts-property-values/
The Rome News-Tribune reported that four men approached a man riding his bicycle recently, pushed him off, and left with his ride, which the victim valued at $12,000. Here's the description:
“The low-rider bicycle is described as silver in color with four chrome wheels and a fifth wheel in a wheel cover, airbrushed with “brown pride,” …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/10/01/bicycle-jacking-be-on-the-lookout-for/
The final results are in, and the League of American Bicyclists has added 10 new cities to its list of 96 Bicycle-Friendly Communities.
The League also granted four-year renewals to 19 cities that previously had been named bicycle friendly. In the biggest announcement, Boulder, Colorado, was elevated to platinum level, joining Davis, California, and Portland, Oregon, in those lofty heights of the friendliest of friendlies.
I've already reported Seattle's choice as a gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community while they hosted the international Pro Walk / Pro Bike Conference earlier this month. Other cities added for the first time ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/09/30/10-new-cities-labeled-bicycle-friendly-boulder-goes-platinum/
A couple of months ago I was lucky enough to receive two books to review from bicycle travelers Tim and Cindie Travis (at left in Guatemala).
After reading the first one, “The Road That Has No End,” I'm relieved to report that, indeed, their bicycling travels may never end. That's good, because their first travelogue is a great read and I'm looking forward to more.
Tim and Cindie embarked on their around-the-world bicycle travels from Arizona in 2002. Essentially, Tim got Cindie interested in bicycle touring, they lived frugally and saved up their money for five years, quit their jobs and headed out to tour by bicycle for seven years.
If you check out their website, Down the Road, you'll see that the seven-year plan has been scrapped and they're on the road for the long term. ….
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/09/29/tim-and-cindie-traviss-bicycling-adventures-have-no-end-fortunately/
Italian cyclist Alessandro Ballan deflated the attempt by fellow countryman Paolo Bettini to win a record three-in-a-row World Championship at Varese, Italy, on Sunday.
Ballan attacked a dozen cyclists in a breakaway near the finish of the 161-mile road race to take the gold medal by 3 seconds over the group.
Bettini finished nearly 5 minutes behind. Had he won on Sunday, he would have been the first cyclist to win three road race championships in a row. Spain's Oscar Freire, one of only four cyclists to ever achieve 3 championships in his career and the only one currently riding, finished in Bettini's group. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/09/28/ballan-upsets-bettini-at-world-cycling-championships/
A notation on a desk calendar I saw this morning reminded me that one year ago I took a short ride on a gurney into an operating room to have my cancerous prostate removed.
Looking back, it also was a relatively short road back to bicycling, although at the time I worried whether I would ever be able to sit on a bike saddle again. As it turned out, I was able to ride the 2-day, 200 Seattle to Portland bike ride with my son less than 10 months later (here we are with our patches).
In the past year, I occasionally receive e-mails from men who are about to undergo prostate surgery or who have recently undergone the operation. Because they read this blog, they're interested in how the surgery will affect their bicycling. Here's how it affected my riding. …
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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/09/27/how-i-returned-to-bicycling-after-prostate-surgery/
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