“Finding beer on a bike in Portland is about as hard as finding a duty-free shop in an airport.”
–BikesnobNYC on the Hop in the Saddle book
Welcome back from the weekend. Here’s the news and other interesting stuff that caught our eyes this past week…
– Support for building more roads for cars is falling in America, according to a National Resource Defence Council poll (PDF), as more people recognize the need to improve other transportation options.
– The New York Times highlights how few penalties there are for people who drive recklessly in New York City.
– Meanwhile, a person driving a car was found not-guilty of criminally negligent homicide after a collision in Texas that resulted in two people’s deaths. One of the victim’s family members said the ruling was, “kind of a shot in the bottom to the biking community… Why don’t they just put a big target on their backs? It’s just pathetic.”
– The Emily “6 Kids and no car” Finch story continues to spread around the globe — nearly three months after we shared it here on the Front Page. Last week her story caught fire again, appearing in the Daily Mail, The Sun, the Today Show blog, MSN.com, and many others.
– Crowdsourced data is helping people find the best (and avoid the worst) routes for bicycling in Berlin.
– As an Oregon man prepares to launch a ballot measure for bicycle licensing, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is considering requiring large numbered license places on bicycles.
– There’s a disconnect between people promoting bicycle transportation and its critics in New York City.
– Dean Dickinson has released a book documenting his experience riding a bike in 100 different backyard pools.
– One triathlete decided to leave the performance bicycle at home and instead completed a race’s 25-mile cycling segment on a Capital Bikeshare bike.
– There’s a very funny story about shopping for a car that points out how silly it is for so many bike shops to focus on selling bicycles that aren’t designed for transportation.
– Swift Industries, a “two person pannier company” based in Seattle, talks about how they got into the business of building custom touring bags.
– One proposal for safe, separated infrastructure for bicycle traffic on a causeway in Florida comes with the suggestion of tolling people who ride bikes.
– A tabloid-like headline covering Washington DC’s bike share system is the inspiration for a series of hilarious parodies pairing the danger of cars with the Hindenburg, sad puppies, and Tiananmen Square.
– One small yellow sticker on your helmet can automatically notify emergency responders when it detects a collision.
– When examining deadly collisions we might want to avoid blaming anyone involved and blame the road instead.
– The publishers of Momentum Magazine share their opinion on the bicycle helmet debate saying it’s “a waste of resources and a waste of our time as promoters of safe, everyday cycling for transportation” to worry about policing helmet use.
– When it comes to children and safety gear, the Portland-based UrbanMamas aren’t sure how to react when other people’s kids decide not to wear a helmet.
– Hop in the Saddle‘s Kickstarter campaign has met it’s goal but the Bike Snob doesn’t get the point of the project when “finding beer on a bike in Portland is about as hard as finding a duty-free shop in an airport.”
– There are many reasons why bike theft is so hard to stop and The Atlantic Cities says the best defense may be keeping your bike with you at all times.
– Ticket the Talker feels there’s a “culture of acceptance concerning cell phone use while driving” despite the practice being illegal and dangerous and has extensive documentation of people talking and texting while driving around Seattle.
– Christine M. Grant shares a tour of 8-House, a building in Denmark with a bike path leading almost to the roof:
– And finally, a Danish television commercial has done what some thought was impossible: it makes riding a bus seem cool:
— 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.