Just because Black Hawk, Colorado, banned bicycling on nearly every street through town doesn't mean that they wouldn't welcome a bunch of conventioneering bicycle-types.
That's what Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists, learned when he opened an e-mail solicitation from a Black Hawk casino asking him to steer some business its way. His description of Black Hawk sums up his reaction:
"... an unlikely destination for a national bicycling organization to choose for a meeting, unless perhaps we are planning some civil disobedience, or a field trip to see what life would be like ... more»
When it comes to tripping a traffic signal with your bicycle, many of us get the feeling -- "Does anybody know I'm here?"
Those loops in the pavement don't always pick up your bike, especially if it's shy on steel or other metal parts.
Depending on where you live, sometimes pavement markings show where to line up. Placing your front tire on the "T" is supposed to work in Seattle, while "X" marks the spot in Bellevue.
Neighboring Redmond, Washington, has produced a video that gives some guidance on how a cyclist can trigger a stop light if there aren't any pavement markings.
Since July 2009, Washington state law requires that intersections with traffic sensor devices be able to detect bicycles ..... more»
Albuquerque officially opened a new bicycle bridge over the Rio Grande River on Monday that helps link the city's 400-some miles of bicycle paths and trails.
The $6.9 million bridge just north of I-40 is named for Gail Ryba, the founder of Bike ABQ, the city's first bicycle advocacy group. She died of cancer earlier in May.
The Gail Ryba Memorial Bridge, together with the approaches, is about a mile long. It was built with $5.3 million in federal stimulus funds, along with $1.3 million kicked in by the city.
It provides a central link for the the north-south Paseo Del Bosque Trail ... more»
Leave it to the Centers for Disease Control to boil down the human toll of highway carnage into cold, hard cash.
A report issued by the agency this month finds that the costs of medical care and lost productivity related to deaths and injuries in crashes surpasses $99 billion a year. Bicyclists' share of that is about $5.4 billion annually.
The study, entitled "Traffic Injury Prevention," reports that the U.S. is falling behind the traffic safety gains many other developed nations are making.
It concludes that there are some strategies that could save lives and prevent injuries. One of those is mandatory bicycle helmet use. That's definitely a hot-button issue among bicyclists, although the CDC authors focus their discussion on bicycle helmet use among children .... more»
After I noticed this past weekend that Renton had lowered speed limits on the Cedar River Trail to 10 mph and imposed a $101 fine [see Monday's article], I contacted the Cascade Bicycle Club to see if they had an opinion about the city's action.
Here's the response from David Hiller, advocacy director for the Seattle-based bike club:
"We find Renton’s response to be unsound and grossly disproportionate. Though we promptly reached out to staff at the city following the tragic circumstances that led a pedestrian to die from a collision, none of our guidance was taken and, with the exception of one phone call from an apologetic staffer, the promised coordination never materialized.
"We continue to discuss mounting a full scale campaign to get Renton to reverse the course it has taken .... more»
If you have a few minutes and feel like commiting an act of bicycle advocacy this weekend, consider sending an email to your state's governor.
The League of American Bicyclists has a form letter that you can easily send word-for-word, or in your own words, that asks your governor to share the upcoming federal funding cutbacks among all transportation programs.
Based on past experiences, the League is concerned that programs that traditionally support pedestrian and bicycle projects will be singled out for the cutbacks ... more»
One of the biggest misconceptions held by members of the motoring public -- especially when they relate to bicyclists -- is that they own the road because they pay for it.
Not true. Road construction and maintenance is paid for by a myriad of taxes, of which gasoline taxes are only one part. In fact, most cyclists also own cars, so they pay their fair share of gas taxes as well.
One place where motorists won't be making that argument, however, is Ann Arbor, Michigan, where the Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society raised funds to help pay for a road repaving on a popular bicycling road .... more»
We all know that Seattle is one of the top bicycling cities in the US, usually ranked near the top with the likes of Portland, Boulder and Minneapolis on the lists for "best 10 cities for bicyclists."
But how do Seattle's neighboring cities rank?
The Cascade Bicycle Club set out to determine that and published its results in a six-page publication -- Puget Sound Bicycle Scorecard -- released this week.
The top city was Kirkland, followed closely by Redmond and Renton. Bringing up the bottom of the list were Federal Way and Shoreline. .... more»
Apparently enough Republican voters in Colorado believed in Dan Maes's conspiracy theory regarding bicycling and the U.N. to support his run for governor.
The businessman told an audience last week about his fear that support of pro-bicycling projects, like the Denver B-cycle bike share program, were linked to a United Nations plot that would "threaten our personal freedoms."
His bicycling comments were roundly ridiculed in the past week, yet he must have touched a nerve. Voters in the Republican primary gave Maes a 1.3% margin over opponent and former congressman Scott McInnis, according to last night's returns ..... more»
London launched its bike-sharing program on Friday, joining other forward-looking cities seeking to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality by making bicycles readily available.
The London system, dubbed Barclay's Cycle Hire for its sponsorship by the financial services chain, has distributed 6,000 bicycles to 400 docking stations.
That's a smaller start than the Velib system in Paris, which launched with 10,000 bicycles 3 years ago and has grown to 25,000 bicycles. But it's larger than two roll-outs in the US this summer -- Minneapolis's Nice Ride Minnesota with 700 bicycles at 65 kiosks and Denver B-cycle with 500 bicycles at 50 docking stations.... more»
Cyclists in the Winston-Salem area of North Carolina are coming to grips with the latest tragedy on local roads:
Two bicyclists riding single file along the white line were struck from behind by a Jeep Friday morning on a rural road south of the city. One cyclist, Donald Sunday, 62, of Winston-Salem, died at the scene. The other, Barry Leonard, 49, suffered a broken pelvis and rib.
News stories about the tragedy were accompanied by sinkening rants from motorists with a superior right to the roads.... more»
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa experienced an epiphany moments after he narrowly missed being right hooked by a taxicab and fell to the ground, breaking his elbow.
Bicycling in LA can really suck.
Mayor of LA since 2005, Villaraigosa already knew that his city needed to support bicycling as a way to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality. He learned more about that by attending the climate conference in Copenhagen last December .... more»
Opposition to public bicycle paths can come from unusual sources in unexpected places.
For instance, the prospect of a public bike path running alongside a corner of the members-only Army-Navy Country Club in Arlington, Virginia, has some of its members up in arms.
Fourteen of the active and retired military commissioned officers at the club are suing the club's board of directors for letting such a proposal go through.
A Navy captain said:
"Once the word gets out to the younger generation there is a secluded place to come and visit and have some fun, you can bet they're going to be there. ... Gangs. Rivals. Hazards to pedestrians coming in and out. ...more»
Update: Tuesday, July 13 -- The Missouri Department of Transportation says the bicycle ban would have "no legal authority" and "could not be enforced," according to St. Louis Post Dispatch.
Not to be outdone, bike ban bill sponsor Joe Brazil says they'll pursue passage of the bill anyway and take it to court, if necessary. If the court rules in state's favor, he'll recommend the state legislators submit a bill to enable counties to ban bicycles on roads in their jurisdictions.
Also, Adventure Cycling Association says the ban would disrupt two corridors on the pending U.S. Bicycle Route system. Ginny Sullivan, special project coordinator for ACA, wrote the council members: .... more»
An elected official -- this time in St. Charles County, Missouri -- is proposing to ban bicycles from a number of county and state roads for safety considerations.
This comes on the heels of that bicycle ban enacted by the Black Hawk, Colorado, city council. That prohibition has gained notoriety among the bicycling public in recent weeks after police started issuing tickets. I wonder if that's where County Councilman Joe Brazil got the idea.
The roads in question are narrow two-lane highways in the southwestern part of St. Charles County that don't have a shoulder. Brazil said:
"You're going 55 (mph) and there's absolute limited sight distance. You come around a corner and come upon a bike in seconds and you have to react." .... more»
Bike Colorado is hosting a rally next Tuesday to protest the bicycle ban imposed earlier this month in the tiny gambling town of Black Hawk.
The Rally to End Bike Bans is scheduled from 5:30 to 6 p.m. Tuesday on the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol Building in Denver. Everyone is welcome to attend. Check the Facebook page for more details.
The statewide bicycle advocacy group is fighting the ban because they fear it may set a precedent for other cities that take the wrong-headed approach to impose a bicycle ban to "promote safety." That's how Black Hawk City Manager Bill Copp explained the ban a couple of weeks ago ... more»
Bike lanes in Florida are no longer places for bicyclists to ride based on their own judgment of conditions at the time.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has signed a bill into law that requires bicyclists to use the bike lanes if they are painted on a road. Failure to do so will lead to a ticket.
There are exceptions, such as when the bicyclist is making a left turn, or if there are potholes, or tire-trapping storm grates, or glass, or fallen tree limbs, or parked cars, or road construction signs, or a dead armadillo or whatever other kind of crap finds a home for itself in a bike lane in Florida.
But what bicyclist wants to explain those exceptions to a traffic cop or to an upset motorist who feels ownership of the road, the whole road, and everything on the road... more»
Bicycling advocates reacted with outrage this past week to news of Black Hawk, Colorado's ban on bicycling on most streets in town.
Bicycle Colorado, Adventure Cycling Association and the League of American Bicyclists are all asking their thousands of members to contact city officials to rescind the ban.
Perhaps the tiny gambling town west of Denver should have folded instead of playing its hand to prohibit bicycles from most city streets last January. Now the city is the target of some unwanted publicity, at least from bicyclists.
Word about the ban got out last week when some bicyclists complained about $68 tickets .... more»
The newest and largest bike-sharing program in the U.S. begins operation on Thursday as Nice Ride Minnesota puts 700 bicycles on the streets of Minneapolis at 65 kiosks.
Phase 1 plans call for 1,000 of the distinctive lime-green bikes parked at 75 kiosks around town, including 10 kiosks on the University of Minnesota campus. Long-range plans call for spreading the system to St. Paul as well.
The Nice Ride Minnesota launch follows the Denver B-cycle launch in mid-April; it's now operating with 400 bicycles at 42 stations. Boston will be the next bike-share system to roll out in the U.S. later in 2010, followed by a second bike-share program for the Washington DC-Arlington .... more»
Riding a bicycle is banned on many streets in Black Hawk, Colorado, and police are enforcing the law by ticketing violators.
The old mining town west of Denver created the bike-free zones in January.
While many cities in Colorado and the US are working to make streets safer and more accessible to residents who choose bicycles over motor vehicles, Black Hawk simply made bicycling illegal on most streets.
Black Hawk City Manager Bill Copp told TheDenverChannel.com.
"If you go down Main Street there is not much room for a bicyclist, a bus or a car, a truck. We are trying to promote safety. ... It's a choice. We made our choice and now the bicyclist needs to make his or her choice." ...more»
Four Los Angeles policemen got starring roles in a video shot in Hollywood on Friday night, but their actions earned them desk jobs while the department investigates their clash with bicyclists.
This video shot by a witness shows police officers making an arrest during a critical mass ride on Friday night, then one of the policemen kicking at a passing bicycle.
Several policemen then go to the witness. The camera falls but continues filming while police, carrying nightsticks, order the man to "Get down" and "Get up!"
The video has been viewed more than 91,000 times at YouTube and is reminiscent of a video ... more»
Six bicyclists injured a few years ago on the newly laid South Lake Union Trolley (S.L.U.T.) tracks are suing Seattle.
The Seattle Times reports that the lawsuit claims that the city was warned about the unsafe conditions before the December 2007 opening of the trolley line, but it went ahead with its plans anyway.
The tracks were installed in a groove in the pavement that can catch narrow road-bike tires and flip a bike. Dozens of cyclists fell victim to the tracks.
Since the opening of the 1.3-mile trolley line, the city has installed warning signs ... more»
A judge sentenced an Illinois man to 9 years in prison for running down a 65-year-old California man on a coast-to-coast bicycle tour last summer.
Jim Gafney, left, of Chula Vista, California, was more than half way along on his "Mad As Hell Bike Ride Across the US" to deliver a petition to Washington DC when he was struck down on an Illinois highway.
Gafney had taken to riding his bicycle at night because of an oppressive hot spell sweeping the midwest. The driver later told police that he saw Gafney when he crested a hill on US 50 but was unable to stop his 1997 Nissan Altima in time. He was arrested later by police .... more»
Bicycle City sounds like a mythical Valhalla where bicycling enthusiasts go when they pass away.
In reality, a group of environmentally friendly developers are creating a Bicycle City in the countryside south of Columbia, South Carolina, where cars will be verboten and residents will ride their bikes or walk to get around.
The community is the idea of Joe Mellett, a Internet marketer who sold Education.org to Monster.com about four years ago to get the seed money for the project. But the project is far past the idea phase. Mellett and his co-developers are presenting their plans to the Lexington County Council this week and hope to get started in the fall.
The Bicycle City group already has bought 150 acres near the town of Gaston ... more»
For the third year in a row, the League of American Bicyclists has ranked Washington state at the top of its list of Bicycle Friendly States.
That's quite an honor for bicycle advocates and state officials in the Emerald State, which has led the list ever since it was conceived in 2008.
Wisconsin and Maine follow in 2nd and 3rd place, according to the rankings announced Wednesday. Oregon dropped for the first time from 4th to 5th, supplanted by Minnesota.
Alabama held a firm grip on last place for the second year in a row. Other bottom feeders were New Mexico (46), West Virginia (47), Montana (48) and North Dakota (49). ...... more»
A bike ride to honor bicyclists killed or injured by motor vehicles gets underway at 278 locations beginning at 7 p.m. Wednesday in 22 countries around the world.
The Ride of Silence was founded in 2003 by Chris Phelan to memorialize the death of bicyclist Larry Schwartz in Dallas who was struck and killed by the exterior mirror of a passing bus.
Since then the silent ride has grown to every continent, including Antarctica where it will be conducted on two stationary bicycles in the gym of US research base Palmer Station ... more»
A horrific rear-end collision between a pickup truck and a group of six cyclists left three dead and rocked the bicycling community in the Quebec province on Friday.
The five women and one man were members of a triathlon club who were riding to a weekend training camp at Sherbrooke, Quebec.
A pickup truck driven by an as-yet unidentified local volunteer firefighter slammed into the group as they pedaled single-file along the undivided four-lane highway south of Montreal.
One woman was pronounced dead at the scene and two other women died at the hospital.
The speed limit along Highway 112 is 90 km .... more»
In spite of objections from some users, a east-west street in Seattle will be undergoing a road diet this summer.
Seattle's bike-riding mayor, Michael McGinn, said the re-striping of West Nickerson Street should encourage bicycling and walking and slow down speeding motorists.
Currently the mile-long section of Nickerson between Warren Avenue and 13th Avenue West is a four-lane street with on-street parking. It will be reduced to two traffic lanes in each direction with a center turn lane. A bicycle lane will be added on up uphill portions, and sharrows on the downhill portions. The on-street curb parking will remain.
It's similar to street rechannelizations .... more»
Whenever I read about Florida bicycling issues, I get the sense that it's two miles forward and one mile backward for bicyclists there.
Such is the case recently for the state where 125 bicyclists were killed in traffic crashes in 2008, the most of any state in the US.
One step forward
The image at left is part of a presentation prepared for the Orlando Police Department Bulletin by Officer Bill Edgar. It addresses the question of whether bicyclists should ride as far to the right as possible. Here's a quote from the text ..... more»
You'd expect lots of bike industry press releases and bicycling news in the general media this month as May is National Bike Month.
But I was surprised that the American Automobile Association took the time to remind its members to share the road with bicycles.
Maybe they recognize that bicycle transportation is one very good solution to traffic congestion.
Or that using bicycles instead of cars for trips under 2 miles will reduce the fossil fuel emissions that are contributing to air pollution and global warming. [See the 2-mile challenge]
Or the demand for crude oil is reduced everytime someone chooses a bike trip ... more»
Baltimore Sun columnist Michael Dresser gets the whole idea of requiring motorists to give bicyclists a three-foot gap when passing.
After the Maryland legislators passed the law on the last day of the session in Annapolis, many motorists vented about lawmakers capitulating to a noisy minority and the terrible troubles caused by bicycles in traffic lanes.
Here's what Dresser writes in "Sharing the road with bicycles is hardly a hardship":
...."For decades now I've driven the back roads of Maryland, occasionally coming upon groups of bicyclists pedaling furiously but poking along by gas-driven standards. .....more»
Spokane (WA) and Albany (OR) on the list from Pacific NW
The hard work by bicycle advocates in some cities continues to show pay-offs as the League of American Bicyclists named 16 new members to its list of Bicycle-Friendly Communities.
All 16 cities entered the list at the bronze level, showing some level of achievement in engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement and evaluation as it relates to bicycling.
The so-called spring cycle of bicycle-friendly community awards also included five renewals and 19 honorable mentions.
One of the new bicycle-friendly communities is Spokane, Washington, which I just happened to visit earlier in April. Above is a photo of the Centennial Trail's bicycle-pedestrian bridge ... more»
An attempt to make travel safer for everyone by installing rumble strips seems to be making some roadways more hazardous for bicycle riders.
Big surprise, right? Nobody thought of those darn bicyclists.
Well, the Adventure Cycling Association, the League of American Bicyclists and the Alliance for Biking and Walking are calling attention to this growing problem before it gets worse for those of us riding the highways and back roads.
At issue are the recessed rumble strips that are being ground into roads and highways across the country. The rumble strips grab the attention of motorists who might be otherwise distracted ... more»
May is 2010 National Bike Month and advocates want to put more bicyclists on the streets than ever before, especially during Bike to Work Week, May 17-21, and Bike to Work Day, May 21.
In the Puget Sound region, that means preparatory classes and get-togethers about bicycle commuting, contest challenges, and post-event parties and presentation celebrations.
The Cascade Bicycle Club's goal is to surpass last year's record 24,000 bike commuters in the region.
The mile-high city celebrates Earth Day by launching its Denver B-cycle bike sharing program on Thursday.
The system will be the largest in the US, sporting 500 bicycles available at 50 bike-share kiosks located across the city when fully operational. It starts with 360 to 400 sturdy red bikes.
This is the first bike-share roll-out in the US this year, to be followed in Minneapolis-St. Paul and Boston this summer. Washington DC is currently the only other bike-share system in the US, although much larger systems are up and running in Montreal and Mexico City.
The annual subscription is $65. Access for shorter periods .... more»
A draft law that essentially would have put a "Not Welcome" mat out for bicyclists at the bridges to Mercer Island has been struck down by the City Council.
The proposed ordinance addressed bicyclists riding in groups of two or more on the populous island in Lake Washington between Seattle and Bellevue. It was aimed at the scenic, winding, 15-mile training loop around the island that occasionally becomes a flashpoint between motorists and bicyclists.
The law would have required those groups to ride single file as far to the right as possible, and to actually pull off the road to allow a car to pass along stretches of road that are too tight for safe passing.
In other words, it would have made bicyclists second-class road users by law... more»
A Benton County (WA) Superior Court judge sentenced a man to 5 years and 3 months in prison for vehicular assault after he struck a woman on a charity bike ride last year.
The 32-year-old man apologized to the victim, who was not in court, then told the judge that he believed the crash "was an accident" and "I feel bad about this whole situation."
Although the judge agreed with the word "accident" in terms that the man didn't intend to run into the cyclist, he pointed out on Friday that the driver was under the influence of a stimulant and the crash shouldn't have happened ...... more»
Seattle might be a gold level bicycle friendly city on one list and ranked 4th best in the nation on another, but bicyclists and the city are having a devil of a time getting a major bike trail completed.
Bicyclists using the 27-mile-long Burke-Gilman Trail to commute to work or college or to run errands must deal with a 1 1/2-mile gap in the trail known as the "missing link."
... On Friday, a judge ruled on the latest tactic to delay the trail completion -- a lawsuit filed by area businesses. The superior court judge ruled against the businesses on all but one count, the need for an environmental report....
more»
An organized bike ride from Baltimore to Annapolis by 85 cyclists on Monday may have ensured the passage of the 3-foot passing law in Maryland, as well as 3 other bicycle friendly measures during the last day of the legislature.
The Maryland Legislature became the 16th state body to pass the 3-foot bill, which goes into effect in October 2010 if ... more»
Starting with today's home opener, Minnesota Twins fans can combine their love of baseball with their devotion to the bicycle.
Monday is the debut of the Twins' new Target Field, and one of its advantages over the old Metrodome is that a bicycle path -- the Cedar Lake Trail -- heads right to the new ballpark from the western suburbs.
To further welcome cyclists, the new stadium has space for 300 bicycles in racks behind the third base wall on the northwest side of the ballpark.
Opened in 1995, the Cedar Lake Trail rolls from the west .. more»
The future must have been looking pretty bright for Jorge Alvarado on Thursday morning as he headed south on his bicycle for a solo training ride on Greenspot Road in California's eastern San Bernardino County.
The 27-year-old cyclist from Mexico had made it onto the roster of the Bahati Foundation cycling team in March. He recently had won the UCLA Road Race and finished 5th at the Redlands Classic pro/am crit.
On tap was this weekend's Dana Point Grand Prix and the upcoming SRAM Tour of the Gila at the end of April. There he'd get the chance to race against Dave Zabriskie, Danny Pate, Tom Danielson and other pros preparing for the Tour of California.
But this Thursday morning, Sheriff's investigators say a high school senior made the decision to pass a classmate's car at 70 mph. He lost control .... more»
Three cities in the Pacific Northwest landed among the top five of Bicycling Magazine's list of Top 50 Bike-Friendly cities, but Minneapolis took the Number 1 spot.
In spite of winter conditions that many wouldn't consider conducive to bicycling, Minneapolis got the nod because of its active bicycle culture and the doubling of bike commuters in just a 3-year-period.
Rounding out the Top 5 are Portland, Oregon (#2), Boulder, Colorado (#3), Seattle (#4, at left) and Eugene, Oregon (#5).
The region also ranked high among cities under 100,000 population. The top 5 are Davis, California (#1), Corvallis, Oregon (#2), Bellingham, Washington (#3) ... more»
A lot of news came out of the National Bike Summit in Washington DC earlier this month, such as the Google maps route finder for bicycles. It also marked the unveiling of a public awareness campaign entitled People for Bikes.
The idea of the mobilization effort by Bikes Belong and the SRAM Cycling Fund is to sign up 1 million people in support of bicycling so we can speak with one powerful voice and get the attention of policy makers, newspaper and television, and the general public.
Now, considering that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced soon after the summit that bicycle transportation will be treated equally with motorized transportation, you might think that the tough work is done.
There's isn't much positive news to send back home to bicyclists from the state capitols this year.
One of the few bright spots came from Mississippi, where the State Legislature approved a bill requiring motorists give bicyclists 3 feet of clearance when passing.
(That is Maryland's One Less Car president, Greg Cantori, at left demonstrating what three feet looks like when passing.)
Similar bills were either rejected or ignored in 7 other states -- Idaho, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota, Virginia and Washington. Iowa may still get some bicycle safety provisions passed, however, and Vermont is still considering a "due care" passing bill ... more»
Hitting the last leg of a bicycle ride near my home on a beautiful spring afternoon on Tuesday, I stumbled on this scene along southbound Interstate 405 between Bellevue and Renton.
Bumper-to-bumper freeway traffic crawling along as far as the eye could see, right next to a wide open bike lane.
I wondered if those people in the cars and trucks thought about what it would be like to ride along this stretch on a bicycle. They probably get to think about it a lot. This backup isn't uncommon here; it's pretty much a daily occurrence.
It got me to thinking about US Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's announcement about a major policy revision that puts walking and bicycling on an equal footing .... more»
When someone clued Lance Armstrong about comments made by the host of a sports call-in show, he didn't like what he heard. His reaction on Twitter:
"Disgusting, ignorant, foolish. What a complete f-ing idiot."
The "f-ing idiot" was Tony Kornheiser, long-time sports commentator who had already been suspended from ESPN once this year for commenting on an outfit worn by a female co-anchor.
What drew Armstrong's anger was Kornheiser's comments about how motorists should hit bicyclists with their cars. He was running-off at the mouth .... more»
It's hard to write about the new bicycling tool at Google maps without prefacing the term "bicycle route finder" with such adjectives as "amazing," "cool," or "way cool," but I'll try.
Sweepstakes
First, Google maps made the official announcement of the biking directions tool with a Google Share Your Ride Sweepstakes complete with a $2,500 voucher for American Cyclery. Win by simply posting links your routes to Twitter.
Here's what Google says about the project at The Official Google blog and the Google LatLong blog..... more»
The long wait is over for bicyclists who want to use Google maps to find the quickest, safest way from Point A to Point B.
Google maps launched a Beta version of its direction finder for bicycle routes on Wednesday. (See the "How to" video on the jump.)
The biking directons release comes in conjuction with the opening day of the National Bike Summit in Washington DC.
Folks who use their bicycles for commuting and running errands have been advocating for Google to add a layer for bicycles to its "Get Directions" function for cars, public transit and walking.
A petition started by Peter Smith at Google Maps 'BikeThere' received more than 50,000 signatures from bicyclists who wanted the service.
Google had hinted that the project was underway back in October 2009 when it announced that it had added 12,000 miles of bike paths .... more»
Some of Washington's state legislators must have been distracted when they were told that cellphone use delays a driver's reaction time as much as having a blood alcohol content of .08 percent, which can earn you a DUI.
The State House legislators voted to ban texting and cellphone use by 16- and 17-year-olds and make texting a primary offense for adult motorists. But adult handheld cellphone use is still a secondary offense, meaning you've got to be breaking some other law to be pulled over.
As a vulnerable road user when I'm on my bicycle, it constantly worries me that the motorist behind me might be more concerned with the cellphone call than what's in the road in front of him, namely me. I've read too many news reports of bicyclists killed or injured ..... more»
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck made news yesterday when he vowed his department would do a better job to protect bike riders, "our most vulnerable commuters."
Sadly, that kind of statement by a police chief would make news just about anywhere. Bicyclists commonly feel that they're treated as second-class citizens on the road by other drivers, police and the entire criminal justice system.
The chief made his remarks to bicyclists who showed up at a Los Angeles Transportation Committee meeting after a protest bike ride called by the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.
The cyclists were protesting a Jan. 6 anti-bicycling outrage:
Bicyclist Ed Magos was struck from behind on a downtown street while he was bicycling to work. The driver of the Porsche got out, looked at Magos lying injured in the street, got back in her car ... more»
"I don't believe a bicycle is a transportation device. I think it's a recreation device. The big problem is people don't want to ride their bike in the rain or get sweaty before work."
The drive to make bicycling safer hit severe roadblocks in three state legislatures last week.
The bad week started in Virginia where a bill to require cars to give bicycles 3 feet of clearance failed on Monday in the House of Delegates by a 54-43 vote.
Then on Tuesday, Washington's state's "vulnerable user" bill died when it failed to meet a Senate deadline for transfer to the House. On Thursday, the South Dakota Senate rejected a 3-foot passing law by a 10-24 vote.
It makes us wonder what bicyclists have to do to protect our safety out on the road. Keep demanding changes in the laws, I suppose .... more»
We might not like all the projects that the federal stimulus grants are funding, but it's cool to see some of the money going to build projects for bicycles.
Just today, the US Department of Transportation announced $1.5 billion in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants. About $43 million of that, or 3%, will go directly to bicycle and pedestrian path networks in Philadelphia-Camden and Indianapolis.
In addition, portions of grants to rebuild bridges and create rail-transit hubs in other cities will be used for bicycle facilities. See all the projects.
The biggest TIGER grant to bicycling announced Wednesday was the $23 million that Philadelphia and Camden will share for a 16.3-mile network of biking and hiking paths to connect the two cities. ... more»
Every Sunday and holiday, some 70 miles of streets in Bogota, Colombia, are closed to motor vehicles, allowing bicycle riders, skaters and pedestrians to roam free.
That ciclovia-style celebration has been catching on in some U.S. cities, where a thoroughfare or city park is ruled car-free for one or more weekend days in the spring and summer.
Now, more U.S. cities are ready to join those that already make their streets more liveable for at least one day a year.
Planning its first ciclovia is Spokane, Washington. Among cities that have a history of ciclovia-style events are Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, New York City, San Jose, Kansas City and Chicago ... more»
A law requiring motorists to give 3 feet when passing bicycle riders on Mississippi roads appears headed to passage.
Nearly identical House and Senate bills -- entitled the John Paul Frerer Bicycle Safety Act -- have passed their respective houses and are headed to the other chambers for action.
Currently, 14 states require a 3-foot gap for bicycle riders. They are Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.
Five other states, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota and Virginia ..... more»
If a far-reaching plan to enhance bicycling can be enacted anywhere, it's in Portland.
Although members of the City Council delayed the vote on the Portland Bicycle Plan for a week back on Feb. 4, they unanimously approved it on Thursday.
According to BikePortland.org, Mayor Sam Adams will return next week with a proposal to inject $20 million into the bike plan to get some improvements on the ground right away.
The entire 20-year plan would cost an estimated $600 million to create 700 miles of bikeways and make other improvements to encourage commuters to choose bicycles instead of their cars.
Expect to see a lot of these bicycles on the streets of Minneapolis this coming summer.
The non-profit formed to bring public bike-sharing to the city chose Public Bike System, the developer of Montreal's BIXI, to provide bikes and kiosks to the project.
The bike-sharing project, Nice Ride Minnesota, is aiming to put 65 kiosks around downtown, college campuses and surrounding commerial areas by June. In all 80 kiosks and 1,000 bikes are projected in Phase 1.
Currently, there are about 160 bike-sharing systems in the world. The highest profile is the Paris Velib .... more»
Bicycle advocates in state legislatures are once again promoting bills that require motorists to give bicyclists 3 feet of clearance when passing.
Currently, 14 states require a 3-foot gap for bicycle riders. They are Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin.
This year, lawmakers in Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, South Dakota and Virginia are considering 3-foot laws. At least two other states, Iowa an Washington, have 3-foot passing laws in committee from last year.
Here are some details about the laws so you can follow along at home .... more»
More than 2,000 south Florida cyclists gathered in Key Biscayne on Sunday morning for a memorial ride to honor hit-and-run victim Christophe LeCanne.
It was an amazing outpouring of support to demonstrate to elected officials and the motoring public that bike riders are tired of second-class citizenship on the road.
LeCanne, 44, was struck by an allegedly drunken motorist as he rode his bike in the bicycle lane on the Rickenbacher Causeway a week ago Sunday.
He lay bleeding to death in the road for over 15 minutes because the closest fire-rescue station was closed due to a reduction in hours ..... more»
If bicycling were the only factor, what would be the 10 best cities in the world in which to live?
The website AskMen.com set out to name the Top 10 Bicycle-Friendly Cities in its quest for naming the Top 10 in dozens of categories -- prescription drugs, to motorbikes, to hottest women.
The list has undergone some modifications since I first stumbled across it in 2007. Amsterdam is still No. 1, but Portland, Oregon, fell from No. 2 to No. 6.
The website doesn't explain this sudden loss of prestige for Portland, but I doubt if it has anything to do with the 5% to 6% decrease in bike traffic in the past year, as revealed in a recent study by the city.
BikePortland saysthat the city attributed that first bike traffic decrease since 1995 to the poor economy (car traffic was down, too) and to people returning to cars as the price of gasoline dropped a bit.
Here's the Top 10, as reported by AskMen:
1. Amsterdam, The Netherlands -- Cars are almost secondary .. more»
Just because Black Hawk, Colorado, banned bicycling on nearly every street through town doesn't mean that they wouldn't welcome a bunch of conventioneering bicycle-types.
Albuquerque officially opened a new bicycle bridge over the Rio Grande River on Monday that helps link the city's 400-some miles of bicycle paths and trails.
Leave it to the Centers for Disease Control to boil down the human toll of highway carnage into cold, hard cash.
If you have a few minutes and feel like commiting an act of bicycle advocacy this weekend, consider sending an email to your state's governor.
One of the biggest misconceptions held by members of the motoring public -- especially when they relate to bicyclists -- is that they own the road because they pay for it.
Apparently enough Republican voters in Colorado believed in Dan Maes's conspiracy theory regarding bicycling and the U.N. to support his run for governor.
Opposition to public bicycle paths can come from unusual sources in unexpected places.
Here we go again. 
Bike lanes in Florida are no longer places for bicyclists to ride based on their own judgment of conditions at the time.
The newest and largest bike-sharing program in the U.S. begins operation on Thursday as Nice Ride Minnesota puts 700 bicycles on the streets of Minneapolis at 65 kiosks.
Riding a bicycle is banned on many streets in Black Hawk, Colorado, and police are enforcing the law by ticketing violators.
Six bicyclists injured a few years ago on the newly laid South Lake Union Trolley (S.L.U.T.) tracks are suing Seattle.
Bicycle City sounds like a mythical Valhalla where bicycling enthusiasts go when they pass away.
For the third year in a row, the League of American Bicyclists has ranked Washington state at the top of its list of Bicycle Friendly States.
A bike ride to honor bicyclists killed or injured by motor vehicles gets underway at 278 locations beginning at 7 p.m. Wednesday in 22 countries around the world.
The hard work by bicycle advocates in some cities continues to show pay-offs as the League of American Bicyclists named 16 new members to its list of Bicycle-Friendly Communities.
An attempt to make travel safer for everyone by installing rumble strips seems to be making some roadways more hazardous for bicycle riders.
The mile-high city celebrates Earth Day by launching its Denver B-cycle bike sharing program on Thursday.
A draft law that essentially would have put a "Not Welcome" mat out for bicyclists at the bridges to Mercer Island has been struck down by the City Council.
The future must have been looking pretty bright for Jorge Alvarado on Thursday morning as he headed south on his bicycle for a solo training ride on Greenspot Road in California's eastern San Bernardino County.
Three cities in the Pacific Northwest landed among the top five of Bicycling Magazine's list of Top 50 Bike-Friendly cities, but Minneapolis took the Number 1 spot.
Hitting the last leg of a bicycle ride near my home on a beautiful spring afternoon on Tuesday, I stumbled on this scene along southbound Interstate 405 between Bellevue and Renton.
When someone clued Lance Armstrong about comments made by the host of a sports call-in show, he didn't like what he heard. His reaction on Twitter:
The long wait is over for bicyclists who want to use Google maps to find the quickest, safest way from Point A to Point B.
We might not like all the projects that the federal stimulus grants are funding, but it's cool to see some of the money going to build projects for bicycles.
A law requiring motorists to give 3 feet when passing bicycle riders on Mississippi roads appears headed to passage.
Expect to see a lot of these bicycles on the streets of Minneapolis this coming summer.
Bicycle advocates in state legislatures are once again promoting bills that require motorists to give bicyclists 3 feet of clearance when passing.
