The Monday Roundup

“Streets that prioritize biking and walking and include amenities like bike lanes and pedestrian plazas have been proven to boost retail sales by 10-25 percent.”
Statement by Transportation Alternatives

Here’s the news and other interesting stuff that caught our eyes this past week…

– An article from Bill McKibben Rolling Stone discusses the terrifying new math of climate change and how we have over five times more carbon in current oil and gas reservers than scientists think we can put into the atmosphere and still have a “reasonable” chance to avoiding catastrophe.

– Tragic statistics from Los Angeles find that people who drive in the City of Angels kill people walking and biking at a much higher rate than the national average.

Transportation Alternatives and a coalition of 150 businesses in New York City are encouraging economic activity by creating a bike-friendly business district to attract customers.

– And speaking of New York City, the positive effect of bicycling there, as well as the gains we’ve seen here in Portland, are the focus of a “tale of two cities” benefiting from improved access for bicycling.

– A plan by the City of London to manage traffic in the city seems to suggest they’re looking to “encourage” people on bicycles to specifically avoid certain streets and roads. Sound familiar?

– Dan Sorger, owner of DBC CIty Bike Design, is building city bikes designed specifically for American roads.

– Touring gear was once a specialty product that was hard to track down in bike shops but now manufacturers and shops alike are seeing strong growth in sales of gear for long-distance rides.

– There’s a new hashtag and Tumblr blog tracking people wearing “whatever they like” while riding a bike. To put it another way, it’s a collection of people who #cyclewhatever.

– Bob Huckaby’s plans to push for state-wide bicycle licensing in response to a partial street closure has spawned a tongue-and-cheek response from Grist as well as a thoughtful opinion from the Eugene Bicyclist who’s not as opposed to the plan as you might think.

– Tragically, a fatal near-dooring in Chicago forced one person out into the road where they were pulled under the wheels of a large truck.

– The concept of designing cities for people and not cars is gaining mainstream attention, this time with a video shared by Wired Magazine.

– Last week, Cher took to Twitter to tell us how much she hates people who ride bikes on the Pacific Coast Highway, leading to many calls for her to “Cher the road.”

– Red Sox Manager Bobby Valentine learned, first hand, the dangers of distracted bicycling after he fell off his bike while trying to read a text message.

– In San Francisco, bollards and green paint are being installed to create a physically-separate bike lane on Cesar Chavez Street.

– The Portland Mercury discusses how plans to reroute the North Willamette Greenway Trail on to busy surface streets will hurt businesses and employees looking to commute to Swan Island.

– A chance meeting at Interbike led Ms. Lovely Bicycle to a nice chat with Bruce Gordon, a renown frame builder from Petaluma, California.

– Old bike chains might seem like they’ve reached the end of their useful lives but before you toss them aside, check out these beautiful bike chain chandeliers.

– The Bureau of Land Management shared a video highlighting Cycle Oregon’s 25th Anniversary ride:

– The long-awaited video of the 2012 Rapha Gentleman’s Race was released last week:

– Four-year-old Malcolm captured his first decent at Highland Park on film and it’s quite impressive:


— 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.

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Ben
Ben
11 years ago

It’s 39th street!
Don’t ever say the CC word!

Heidi
Heidi
11 years ago
Reply to  Ben

Even in San Francisco?

Andrew K
Andrew K
11 years ago
Reply to  Heidi

In San Francisco you’re supposed to say Army Street.

That is of course if you are unwilling to embrace a little change now and then 😉

Randall S.
Randall S.
11 years ago

Typical: the comments on the LA article suggest that pedestrians need to wear high-vis clothing and helmets, and that they must have been high on drugs.

Woohoo, victim blaming!

are
11 years ago

the writer from chicago suggests the situation could have been avoided by buffering the bike lane with the parked cars. actually, kind a clever turn of phrase, why should bikes be protecting parked cars rather than the other way around. however, he does not acknowledge that you would be swapping one set of risks for another, as the parked cars would hide the cyclist from the view of right turning motorists, oncoming left turns, and cross traffic, especially from the left. also, does not acknowledge that if the cyclist had asserted the travel lane, there would have been no need to “swerve” to avoid the opening door.

Spiffy
Spiffy
11 years ago
Reply to  are

hiding cyclists behind parked cars won’t work because motorists don’t want to slow down and pay attention whenever they turn…

Pete
Pete
11 years ago
Reply to  are

It blew me away how almost all of the comments blamed the victim’s death on infrastructure and not the person who threw open the door without looking.

Spiffy
Spiffy
11 years ago

from the Chicago fatality…

Can you believe that there are still traffic engineers elsewhere putting painted bike lanes on the LEFT side of parked cars and not along the sidewalk? Actually getting paid to design them like that? It boggles the mind that these people aren’t relieved of their duties. 100 years of cycle track experience. You’d think that they would know better.

other countries are embarrassed for us…

Spiffy
Spiffy
11 years ago

bollards and green paint

you mean green pavement treatment… it’s not paint…

Chris I
Chris I
11 years ago
Reply to  Spiffy

And it should say “bollards**”

** (for about two weeks, until some idiot runs them all down)

Joseph E
Joseph E
11 years ago
Reply to  Chris I

“Soft hit” posts are NOT bollards.
THESE are bollard: http://benaka.co.in/automation/prod_pics/Bollards.gif
Try running those down.

q`Tzal
q`Tzal
11 years ago

About Eugene article kinda in support of bicycle licensing:
He admits that he sees that there is a problem but quickly comes to the conclusion that if licensing doesn’t stop motorists from breaking laws why should we expect that it will stop cyclists?

Best line summarizing this issue:
But for the moment we must make do with a problematic system: “Share the Road.” Essentially, it advises us to be nice. Like telling my two young kids to share the same space on the couch. It isn’t a bad thing to encourage, but I never assume that it’s going to end well.

lyle
lyle
11 years ago

The kid was awesome! He’s lucky to have such a cool Dad.

Anita
Anita
11 years ago

That kid was TOTALLY awesome. So impressed!

Al from PA
Al from PA
11 years ago

Malcolm is incredible. Bravo, that’s what kids can do when we have confidence in them. Imagine his sense of self-assurance.

Long story short: lose the tandems, alley cats, etc. and let them ride with you on their own bikes. The sooner the better. My own son always rode on his own, was pacelining with adults at 10, and dropping me on the Tourmalet at 14 (and descending at 50 mph., which my wife still has not forgiven me for–but all’s well that ends well). And no, he never wanted to be a “racer.” He was just having fun.