The blog is looking a little gray, so I thought I'd pull out this photo from this summer's bicycle ride on the John Wayne Pioneer Trail east of Seattle.
Looking at the shadows, I must have crossed the Hull Creek trestle late in the afternoon. The rail-to-trail runs from North Bend to the Columbia …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/08/29/trestle-in-iron-horse-state-park/
In recent weeks I've noticed three things that are going on in the Pacific Northwest that might eventually help make the streets safer for bicyclists and pedestrians.
One is a national conference, another is an Oregon-based campaign and the third is a Seattle newspaper's Q&A.
The one with the widest scope is the Pro Walk / Pro Bike '08 conference that is meeting at the Westin in Seattle from Sept. 2-5 …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/08/29/3-efforts-to-make-streets-safer-for-walkers-and-bikers/
Good news: Officials drop fight to block bicyclists from roads — Des Moines Register, Aug. 28, 2008
“The supervisors will meet in Eldora on Tuesday to consider repealing the ordinance, said Hardin County Supervisor Jim Johnson. He acknowledged the ordinance has been unpopular with bicycle riders, but he said county officials were concerned about protecting county taxpayers.”
Aug. 27, 2008 — Supervisors of Iowa's Hardin County have passed an ordinance [see below] requiring that any bicycle ride of 10 or more people carry at least $1 million of liability insurance.
This is discrimination against bicyclists, plain and simple.
Any group of cyclists that takes its chances and rolls through the county without the insurance can be fined $750 …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/08/28/another-iowa-county-bans-group-bicycle-rides-update-ordinance-will-be-repealed/
If Kryptonite ever improves on its “New York Fehgettaboudit” bicycle lock, they might want to rename it the “Igor Kenk.”
That's because Igor Kenk is the unofficial world champion bicycle thief — not an achievement that's going to win him a spot on a box of Wheaties.
The 49-year-old Toronto bike shop owner was last credited with possessing 2,865 stolen bicycles. They were at his shop, his home and 10 garages he rented around Toronto ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/08/27/torontos-notorious-bicycle-thief/
A mash-up called Ride the City uses Google maps to find the safest bicycle routes from one point to another across New York City.
This is sort of the answer to the petition posted earlier this year at the Google Maps “Bike There” blog that seeks Google to include a “bike there” choice on all its maps in big cities.
The only difference is that it only works in New York City, and it wasn't created by Google but by three cyclists — Jordan Anderson, Vaidila Kungys, and Josh Steinbauer …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/08/26/ride-the-city-maps-safe-bike-routes-across-new-york-city/
All good bike trails must end, but some end before they ever get a good start.
Exporing some of the many bicycle trails in the Puget Sound area the past couple of summers, I've found that some bike trails begin and end in well-equipped trailheads with restrooms, drinking fountains and parking lots.
Others simply come to an abrupt end in a road culvert, padlocked gate, or a muddy trail that disappears into an overgrown right of way.
Many of these are rails-to-trails that are built on abandoned railroad beds. Rail-to-Trails Conservancy reports 1,534 completed trails covered 15,346 miles in the US ….
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/08/25/many-unexpected-ends-to-bicycle-trails/
An Ohio woman charged with the hit-and-run death of a Michigan bicyclist in the Tour of Scioto River Valley this spring has pleaded not guilty.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that Sara Bender, 35, of Lucasville was indicted by a grand jury with leaving the scene of a fatal accident. It's a third-degree felony that can draw a one-to-three-year prison term.
Bicyclist William Crowley, 57, of Michigan was killed when he was struck from behind along Route 23 the morning of May 11 as he pedaled to meet up with the 2nd day of the TOSRV ride …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/08/25/tosrv-bicycle-fatality-motorist-pleads-not-guilty/
Thankfully no one was killed when a cab driver in Miami drove into a group of bicyclists out for a morning ride along the scenic MacArthur Causeway on Sunday morning.
The Miami Herald reports that the cabdriver apparently fell asleep at the wheel before striking the 11 bicyclists.
Six were sent to area hospitals, where one 48-year-old is listed in critical condition and undergoing surgery at a trauma center. The other five are all listed in stable condition. The five not hospitalized were treated at the scene for road rash and other minor injuries …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/08/25/asleep-at-the-wheel-miami-cabbie-hits-11-cyclists/
Imagine the movie “Assault on Precinct 13” — naked. That's kind of what happened in Vancouver, BC, this weekend.
After police there arrested a man who participated in a naked bicycle ride with his 3-year-old son on Saturday, the group rode through downtown Vancouver to the police station to protest the arrest.
Unlike the movie, there was no violence. Naked bicyclists don't carry weapons. …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/08/25/naked-cyclists-protest-at-vancouver-police-station/
Cities large and small have been putting together bicycle master plans over the past few years to encourage bicycle use. Here in my neck of the woods, Seattle approved a plan last year and Bellevue is working toward a citywide pedestrian-bike plan.
The main idea is to make it easier and safer for people to use their bikes for errands and commuting. The result will be reduced traffic congestion and pollution.
It seems like the type of idea that San Francisco would jump on. But an article in the Wall Street Journal attributes San Francisco's years-long delay in implementing a plan to one man: Rob Anderson …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2008/08/24/why-san-franciscos-bicycle-plan-is-on-hold/
Adventure Cycling Association Trail biking Rails to Trails Conservancy League of American Bicyclists
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