bikes

A home-built electric bike is working like a champ

I've been putting a lot of miles in on my bike, which has also been enhancing my MPGPP. I continue to use the lead acid batteries that came with the kit because I don't want to see them go to waste. Since they weigh practically nothing, I carry two lithium battery packs as spares for when I over-extend the lead acids. I'll use the lithium packs full time after the lead acids give it up -- the sooner, the better.

Lance is out, green is in

Yes, I am aware that Lance Armstrong is no longer riding in the Tour de France. Yes, I am aware that he is, in fact, retired. (And yes, I am aware and inconsolable that he and Sheryl Crow broke up.) But celebrity appeal draws readers. And if you’re reading this, then it worked! Yes! Today’s […]

Move Thyself: “Kingdom of bicycles” experiencing identity crisis

So, in case you haven't heard, China's economy has been growing a wee bit. The boom has fueled growth in incomes and is largely responsible for the attendant explosive growth in auto sales and use. Huge growth. The number of cars has grown over 20 times since 1978 and is expected to balloon another five times still by 2020.

Meanwhile, bicycle ridership has fallen at roughly the same rate as auto use has grown, and city planners and officials, eager to keep the boom booming, even at great public cost, have been planning to welcome the auto's continued growth and popularity with more roads.

And though the U.S. still out-cars (and out-roads) China by a wide margin, China's rapid growth has led to bicycles literally being left by the wayside. Urban planning has turned them into seeming second-class forms of transport. (This sounds familiar, America. As Ginsberg might have said: "America, you've given cars all and now cyclists are nothing.")

But back to China. As the Guardian puts it:

Having spent the past decade pursuing a transport policy of four wheels rich, two wheels poor, the Chinese government has suddenly rediscovered the environmental and health benefits of the bicycle.

As described in the state media, apparently the government is finally trying to do something about the unhealthy shift to autos.

China's Vice Minister of Construction, Qiu Baoxing, has lashed [out] at city authorities for making it harder for cyclists to get around, saying the country should retain its title as the "kingdom of bicycles."

World Naked Bike Ride, take three

The Third Annual World Naked Bike Ride hit cities across the world this weekend, bringing attention to cycling, cyclists' rights, oil use, climate change, and, well, nudity for a good cause.

Move Thyself: Deer avoids car, hits man on bicycle

D'oh, a deer ...

In other bicycle news, it seems the Chinese masses are increasingly trading in their classic cruiser-style Flying Pigeon bikes for cushy mountain bikes and higher tech road bikes (oh, and cars).

Not a huge surprise, as an increase in affluence often leads to a transportation upgrade. But nonetheless, the state-owned bike company has noted the changing demographics of its riders as well as a dip in sales.

Move Thyself: Post script: The thievery capitulation

As if this guy didn't already have enough interesting stories about decades spent cycling essentially nonstop around the world, here's one more:

Move Thyself: A tribute to fallen cyclists, and cycling away the gas-price blues

Tonight in some 200 U.S. cities (and six other countries), cyclists will be joining in the Ride of Silence to pay tribute to bicyclists who've been killed or injured on public roadways.

And there are a lot.

From the Seattle Times article:

In 2004, in Seattle there were 258 bicycle collisions with cars -- resulting in 224 injuries and one death, according to the city's Department of Transportation.

Um, make that 260, and 225 injuries. My two collisions that year went unreported. (Stupid minivans!)

And from the Oregonian:

The most recent Oregon Department of Transportation statistics show 14 bicyclists died in Portland-area collisions with motor vehicles from 2000 through 2005. Meanwhile, the number of reported bicycle crashes has held steady for years at about 160 annually.

Join a ride near you and reclaim the streets.

The paper burden

Oh, this is just too good. The leader of the UK conservative party, David Cameron, has been bragging about his green credentials lately (remember, they're sane in the UK, so they demand that all their leaders have green cred), and urging other MPs to change their personal behavior to demonstrate green values.

Oops:

David Cameron was forced to backtrack on his personal green credentials yesterday by admitting that he traveled to work by bicycle not to cut carbon emissions, but because he found it enjoyable.

The Conservative leader had to switch tack after it emerged that his car followed him carrying briefing papers and his shoes on the days that he cycled from his Notting Hill home to Westminster.

Hee hee. But it gets better:

Careful about what stickers you put on your bike, people

Recent bike-related news offers an answer to the oft-posed question, "I'm a police officer -- when the hell am I going to need to know about pop culture?" The answer, of course, is when a sticker on a bicycle bearing an indie band name you're oblivious to prompts the destruction of said bicycle with the jaws of life in order to extract a nonexistent explosive device.

To be fair, the band's name -- "This Bike is a Pipe Bomb" -- isn't quite like affixing a "NIN" or "The String Cheese Incident" sticker to your seat post, but still.