Day: July 13, 2005

A friend of mine passed this along. He saw a brochure for it while eating lunch at the Ecotrust Building. It’s sort of like having AAA coverage for your car…but for your bike. The company, Better World Club, says:

The nation’s first and only bicycle roadside assistance service is now available…

Bicycle Membership provides nationwide emergency roadside assistance (up to 30 miles annually) for you and your bicycle.

We’ll take you and your bike to the nearest repair facility, or home, within 30 miles from pick up. There is a maximum of two service calls per covered member per year. The annual fee is $39.95 for one person, plus a one-time non-refundable sign up fee of $10. You may add additional household cyclists for just $15 more.

The plan is nationwide, so this would be a cool thing to sign up for if you were doing a long tour, or if you’re riding in places you’re not familiar with and don’t want to break down in uncharted territory.

If you’re a commuter and you break down, you’ll probably get help from a fellow cyclist or be within walking distance of a local shop. But still, this is a nifty service and it just might be that extra security some people need to start riding more.

Just came across this nifty new mapping tool. It’s an extension of Google Maps and I think it’s a great way to share bike routes.

You can “record” your custom route and it will tell you the mileage. The best part is that you can have it generate a permalink so you can then share the route with your friends.

As an example, here’s the route from my house to the Jamison fountain.

Have fun mapping your favorite routes!