City of Brotherly Love: “Get out of the road!”

Bronze level bicycle-friendly Philadelphia is in the throes of a bike-riders vs. everybody-else controversy.

After two pedestrians were struck and killed by bicycle riders in Philadelphia in October, the police launched a crackdown last month against cyclists on sidewalks as well as those who don't make full stops at stop signs or traffic lights. (As you can see in this video at left, [spoiler alert!] most cars, buses, taxis don't stop either.)

Then, a state legislator introduced a bill — HB 2096 — that would require all bikes in Philadelphia to be registered and be equipped with lights and turn signals. A similar law has been proposed by City Council. There's also a proposal that all bikes have brakes, a law that would target fixies.

The piling on doesn't stop at government …..

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/12/02/city-of-brotherly-love-get-out-of-the-road/

Survivors guide to riding a bike at the Vancouver Winter Olympics

Visitors to the 2010 Winter Olympics based in Vancouver next February should certainly consider riding bicycles as the easiest way to get around town.

Of course, people might want to think twice about riding their bicycles to the mountaintop skiing slopes, but bikes should be an ideal choice for accessing the sports complexes, athlete residences and other Olympic venues in the Vancouver area.

Vancouver is one of North America's most bike-friendly cities with 250 miles of bicycle lanes on city streets. [Interactive bike route planner.]

Some of those routes will be closed or altered during the Olympics because of security around the venues or increased numbers of people on foot. But I agree with the Dutch government that the bicycle will be the best form of transportation during the Winter Games; the Netherlands is sending 450 bikes to Vancouver for use by its citizens and officials …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/12/02/survivors-guide-to-riding-a-bike-at-the-vancouver-winter-olympics/

Traveling across Europe by bike with two dogs

Note: Dawn Lumsden of Canada and Finley Fagan of Australia are on a long-term, around-the-world bike tour with their two SPCA-rescue dogs, Jack and Paco. Right now, they're settled into a Berlin apartment for the time-being and are writing about their ongoing adventures at their Cycling Gypsies blog.

Dawn and Finley, aka Zoa and Fin, were kind enough to offer this story to the Biking Bis website. It tells what prompted them to embark on their bike tour, and how they chose some of the equipment for their unusual entourage.

A bicycle odyssey with dogs: Our customized rides 

“Cycling around the world? Ha! Yeah right… Bicycles are for around town, not for around the world.”

But my girlfriend was serious, and a quick Google search proved she was right. Thousands and thousands of cyclists were traversing countries and continents at any given moment. The idea seemed absurd, yet irresistibly epic. Sign me up!

Only one small problem. Well, actually one medium sized problem, and another big, hairy problem. Our two dogs! Can you believe it? Nobody wanted to look after them while we cycled carefree into the horizon …..

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/12/01/traveling-across-europe-by-bike-with-two-dogs/

Bike-powered hauling in Philadelphia by the Pedal Co-op

Bicycling, recycling, composting all come together at the Pedal Co-op in Philadelphia.

Using bikes, trailers and some muscle, these entrepreneurs have created a business that specializes in low-cost, bike-powered hauling.

Although they provide package and bakery deliveries and intercity moving, I guess you could say their bread-and-butter is composting and recycling ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/12/01/bike-powered-hauling-in-philadelphia-by-the-pedal-co-op/

How bicyclists are trying to make an impact on climate conference in Copenhagen

Many bicyclists are seeking to influence a political agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference that begins next week in Copenhagen.

A global bike commute challenge is underway and cyclists are joining climate-change bike rides in selected cities this coming weekend for Ride Planet Earth. Meanwhile, activists in The Bike Bloc Project who are planning to take to the streets in Copenhagen are designing a method of civil disobedience that will use recycled bikes.

Of course those who use their bikes to commute or run errands regularly make a statement about the bicycle as a sustainable form of transportation every day.

Calling attention to the bicycle as a no-emission form of transportation and travel is Ride Planet Earth, a bike tour from Australia to Denmark led by Kim Nguyen. There are a couple of spin-offs of this ride that bicyclists can participate in ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/11/30/how-bicyclists-are-trying-to-make-an-impact-on-climate-conference-in-copenhagen/

Old hip injury leads to fresh knee pain for bicycling

Update: Dec. 8 — The physical therapist told me today that it's OK to ride my bike, even though there will be some pain. The knee cap should be realigned so it's not rubbing the femur after about 10,000 repititions of the exercises he's given me. That means 3 to 4 months.

I'm still kind of stunned that a bicycling fall I had way back in January has forced me off the bike in November.

Although I had badly bruised the muscles around my right hip in that fall, it's my right knee that's been feeling the pain since August.

I finally found the time (got up the nerve) to visit my doctor about the knee pain about a week ago. That's after three weeks of self-imposed rest off the bike hadn't made anything better.

Here's my tale of woe as a lesson to anyone with knee pain in the past, present or future. Obviously your knee pain can stem from other causes, but it's illustrates the importance of keeping our muscles, ligaments and tendons in balance ..

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/11/28/old-hip-injury-leads-to-fresh-knee-pain-for-bicycling/

Bikes for the World ships 40,000 donated bicycles

Let's admit it. Too many bicyclists keep too many unused bicycles in their garages or their basements. I'll include myself among the guilty.

Maybe there's an emotional attachment to an old relic. Or it's difficult to find an alternative to taking the bicycle to the dump, an unceremonious end for a trusty companion.

Several nonprofits are set up to collect these old bikes and redistribute them back into the community or ship them overseas. I've created a list of some of these at “Where to Donate Your Used Bicycles.”

One of the most successful is Bikes for the World, which is shipping its 40,000th bike next month. Based in Arlington, Virginia, it's a nonprofit project of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/11/26/bikes-for-the-world-ships-40000-donated-bicycles/

RadioShack roster set with Armstrong, Leipheimer, Horner, Kloden

Ever since Lance Armstrong announced the formation of Team RadioShack in July, the confirmed identities of bike riders on the roster have dribbled out like sprinters struggling across the finish of a mountain stage.

Team manager Johan Bruyneel has now announced the final roster, identifying a 26-man team from 16 different countries. A large percentage of those bike riders came from Bruyneel's and Armstrong's former team, Astana.

The delay in making a final announcement stemmed from ongoing negotiations with the Kazakhstan-based team, currently the home of two-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador.

Bruyneel said the team's main goal in 2010 is the Tour de France, although the team is expected to do well in other stage races as well as the one-day classics …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/11/24/radioshack-roster-set-with-armstrong-leipheimer-horner-kloden/

These hill climbs won't let down bicycling mountain goats

When most people start bicycling, they'll do anything to avoid hills. Sometimes they'll ride miles out of their way to miss a climb, or drive their car to a flat area to ride.

As they get stronger and learn how to use their gears more efficiently, hills are a challenge to be conquered.

But for some, hills seem to be the sole motivation for riding a bike. These mountain goats don't just measure their rides in miles, but in total elevation gain.

They gather in places like Pittsburgh for the Dirty Dozen, Portland for De Ronde van Oeste Portlandia, or Los Angeles for the Fargo Street climb to find the conquer the highest urban mountaintops. Or they head to Mount Washington in New Hampshire to race to the top of that fabled climb ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/11/22/these-hill-climbs-wont-let-down-bicycling-mountain-goats/

Florida town reacts to bicycle tragedy by building bike trails

When two girls, aged 11 and 10, on bicycles were struck and killed by a van driver in October 1987, the people of Davie resolved to make the small south Florida city safer for bicyclists.

By the end of the year the town council budgeted $150,000 for its first bike trail. Within six months work began on a 3-mile bike trail adjacent to the street where the girls were killed.

Twenty-two years later, Davie boasts a network of 135 miles of bike paths and horse trails that connect the two dozen parks in the town with a population of 90,000.

When you consider the reputation of Florida among bicyclists, the feat of building so many bike trails in the town is remarkable. ….

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.bikingbis.com/2009/11/20/florida-town-reacts-to-bicycle-tragedy-by-building-bike-trails/