The Monday Roundup

Who is this mystery rider in
Prospect Park West?
(Photo: @PSteely)

Here’s the news and other cool stuff that we can came across this past week…

– The National Bike Summit kicks off Tuesday night! Over 800 attendees are expected. Our very own Jonathan Maus will be there, so keep it tuned right here for photos and stories.

– Charity organization World Bicycle Relief (WBR) is hoping a bicycle manufactured entirely in Africa will be more reliable than the cheap, flimsy imports owned by many across the continent.

– As gas prices begin to soar before summer has even started, one bike shop near Los Angeles is helpping with pain at the pump by letting customers trade in their car towards the purchase of a new bike.

– Portland’s own Elly Blue sat down with Women on Bikes SoCal (the group working to double the number of women on bikes) to talk about her upcoming projects and the economics of bicycling.

– In the span of one tragic day, 10 people were killed in collisions with motor vehicles in South Florida.

– Volvo introduced “pedestrian airbags” which deploy along the car’s windshield when the car registers “physical contact between the car and a pedestrian.”

– Students at the University of Pennsylvania are launching their own pilot bike share program on the school’s campus.

– The lead photo in an article on Marion County’s recovering job market shows how bike shops are helping cities build a strong local economy.

– Carbon fiber frames and components continue to grow in popularity but have you given any thought to the end of carbon products’ life cycle?

– If the City of Edmond, Oklahoma has its way you’ll soon be able to get your kicks on a bike trail along Route 66.

– You’ve probably heard about the combination bike-and-coffee shops opening up across the country and now a bike shop in Brooklyn is offering a different bike-and-beverage combination for the 21+ crowd (note: Portland’s soon-to-open Velo Cult in Hollywood will serve beer too!).

– Despite the snowy weather in late March, some of the cargo bike enthusiasts at TransportLand (pronounced “transport-land”) took their bikes camping.

– Oregon might be stuck with wintery weather but Chicago is dealing with a heat wave which is causing summer-like levels of bicycle traffic on the Lake Front Trail.

– Oklahoma City is the latest to join the long list of cities with a bike share program. The program is launching in and around downtown OKC and is modeled after a 4-year-old program at the University of Central Oklahoma.

– Over the weekend people on bikes crashed the L.A. Marathon as part of the Wolfpack Hustle’s Marathon Crash Race. If you missed out on the action this year you can still check out a video from last year’s ride.

– In a very ironic twist, Senator Chuck Schumer was spotted riding his bike on the Prospect Park West bike lane which he and his cohorts have vehemently opposed.

– A woman training for a race in Fresno County was knocked from her bicycle when she was t-boned by a free-range cow.

– A judge in Canada threw out tickets issued to a man who operated a gasoline-powered bicycle without a licence or insurance.

– And to round things out, here’s a fun look at a man who built a calligraphy-writing machine on a tricycle:

Did you find something interesting that should be in next week’s Monday Roundup? Drop us a line. For more great links from around the web, follow us on Twitter @BikePortland.