It took six years and $800,000, but bicyclists who get bumped from crowded Caltrains cars in San Francisco now have a secure place to leave their bikes.

The bicycle valet parking has been in operation at Fourth and Townsend streets since July, but Wednesday is the official grand opening for the facility. It can handle 130 bicycles; about 70 to 80 bicyclists have used the facility daily the past few months.

The Caltrains facility is the fourth bike station in San Francisco Bay Area. The other three are operated by the unaffiliated BikeStation and are located at the Embarcadero BART in San Francisco, the downtown Berkeley BART on Shattuck, and the Caltrains depot in Palo Alto on University Avenue...   more »

Balance can be a huge challenge for children with special needs. The equilibrium it takes to ride a two-wheeled bicycle can seem beyond many of these kids' abilities, creating another barrier between themselves and their peers.

That's why I was glad to see the Easter Seals of  Northern California was sponsoring an "immersion" camp this year to teach bicycling to children with special needs.

The camp and systematic approach to teach two-wheeled cycling was created by a retired mechanical engineer from St. Louis, Richard Klein, who holds similar camps around the country. His program is called "Lose the Training Wheels." ...   more »

I've seen lots of ways to measure annual bicycling goals. There are total miles, total bicycle rides, total centuries, total weight loss, riding at least one major bicycle tour.

One bicyclist at the Cycling Challenge blog in Switzerland sets vertical goals. I suppose it helps if you live in the Alps, but he'll try to cycle 525,000 feet of vertical ascent, or about one foot for every minute of every day of 2008.

I'm going to renew my attempt at 4,000 miles in 2008. Last year's attempt fizzled out at the end of the summer with interruptions for testing and surgery for prostate cancer. The mileage goal didn't seem that important during that period ...   more »