of many interesting images of
bike traffic in The Netherlands
via a 1950s era video below.
Happy Monday everyone. Ms. Blue is on her big Bikestravaganza tour, so I’m doing the Monday Roundup for the next few weeks. Here goes…
– The “fixie craze” is being taken seriously in Australia. Their Competition and Consumer Commission is threatening bike shops with hefty fines for selling bikes without handbrakes.
– Trek unveiled an awesome-looking concept bike at Trek World that our friend Tyler of BikeRumor.com described as “What Mad Max will ride when he runs outta gas.” Check out the ‘Broadsider’ and see if you agree.
– Los Angeles Mayor Anthony Villaraigosa continues to support bicycling after a crash while riding left him with a broken elbow. He has announced a bike summit to make L.A. into the “cyclist’s paradise” he thinks it can/should be.
– A neighborhood in Brooklyn is under siege by a vigilante who’s putting super glue in the key holes of bike locks. They’re calling it “vigilante injustice.”
– The Instant Librarian (Melissa Reeser, a writer and editor for Boneshacker Almanac) shares a thoughtful reflection on sharing the road after racing up behind a slow-poke rider. She asks the question, “As cyclists, do we want to adopt the same speed and attitude of cars? Are we going to pretend we can do everything on a bike that we could do in a car, or are we going to celebrate the difference?”
– Elly found this video on YouTube of biking in the Netherlands in the 1950s. Some stellar footage. Watch it below:
– A new HAWK signal – that’s High Intensity Activated Crosswalk for all you non-wonks — was installed in Delaware. That’s not exactly huge news, but what is big news is that USA Today covered it. Also in Delaware, their governor signed a Vulnerable Road Users bill into law.
– The New York City Department of Sanitation is holding a hearing on “Proposed Rules Governing the Removal and Disposal of Derelict Bicycles.” The folks at GhostBikes.org are concerned it could mean the end of the iconic roadside memorials.
– The New York Times Sunday Travel section had an in-depth article on Google and online bike directions in general (and I got a few lines in for good measure).
– San Francisco shows they’ve got more than a lifted bike plan injunction up their sleeve. They made huge news last week with the introduction of dynamic parking lot pricing — a.k.a. the price on the meter goes up and down depending on supply and demand. Watch a cool animation explanation and learn more at SFPark.org.
– Speaking of parking spaces and San Francisco, an idea that started in that city has now spread to New York City. They installed their first “pop-up cafe” in a parking space last week. Judging from the photo in this post, rocker/advocate David Byrne and DOT commish Janette Sadik-Khan approve. (Stay tuned for more on Portland’s effort to do the same later this week).
– As if the Floyd Landis news could get any stranger… a guy in Kentucky bought a bike for $5 from a yard sale and it turned out to be a custom mountain bike made for Landis worth about $8,000.
– And finally, another innovation from NYC. A few “bike nerds” have developed Social Bicycles, a new type of bike-sharing system that relies solely on GPS and mobile phones.