“[Mayor of Toronto] Rob Ford… told the Toronto Sun he “listened to the taxpayers and [did] what they wanted me to do.”
— blogTO on the removal of Jarvis St. bike lanes.
— Like them or not, each week it seems like there are more signs that e-bikes are gaining a serious foothold in the U.S. bike market. Bicycle Retailer reports that NuVinci is so bullish on e-bikes that they’re positioning their new Harmony auto-shifting hub as a perfect complement.
— Repeat after me: Mandatory, all-ages helmet laws are a bad idea. File away this first-person account of a woman in Australia who got her license suspended, her property impounded, and was treated like a criminal for not wearing one. The saga spurred her to say, “The only proven thing helmets protect us from are fines.”
— If you thought bike-friendly housing was a Portland thing. Think again. The Denver Post reports that bike repair rooms are popping up in apartment complexes in Denver too.
— Despite valiant protests to stop city crews from ripping them out, the bike lanes on Jarvis Street in Toronto are gone. In their place? Metered auto-parking. Could this, would this happen elsewhere? Are their any bikeways you feel strongly enough about that you’d get arrested for?
— Portland is full of bicycle talent. Check out what noted blogger John Prolly has to say about his new, carbon-fiber Argonaut road bike — made locally by Ben Farver.
— Has Amsterdam reached peak bike? An article published by Agence France-Presse features officials from Amsterdam saying that the city has become overrun with bicycles and that it’s become “dangerous,” “a mad house” and a “big problem.”
— And more from our cycling idols… Copenhagenize points out that the mayor of Copenhagen has overseen some car-centric policies of late and has earned the nickname “the Lord Mayor of Car-penhagen.”
— With so many people catching the cargo bike bug around here and around the country, Lovely Bicycle’s post, “When do we need a cargo bike?” was very well timed.
— And still more bike stories from Sandy, the NY Times reports that Citbike bike share equipment was damaged by the flooding.
— In the debate over which vehicles we should promote and design our streets for, leaders, planners and the public often lose sight of just how damaging motor vehicles are to the health of our natural environment. Check out this post and video from Sightline that documents stormwater runoff from a street near Alki Beach in Seattle. Yuck. Please drive less.
— Wondering why there’s so much focus on “women on bikes” these days? Here’s a review of City Cycling, a new book by Rutgers University researcher John Pucher,x who is one of the people largely credited with opening eyes to the cycling gender gap.
— If you missed Ian Karmel’s “Portland as Fuck” screed in the Portland Mercury, it’s worth a read (and so are the hilarious comments).
— We don’t hear much about Philadelphia when the big bike cities are being discussed; but a newly passed “complete streets” bill — which includes new laws against dooring — might help move things forward.
— Freakonomics tried to prove that driving is more environmentally friendly than taking the bus; but then Streetsblog pretty much destroyed their argument.
— In the UK, a new study shows what I believe to be an increasingly important concept for politicians, planners and advocates to understand: People that primarily drive in cities actually want more dedicated bicycle infrastructure.
— There’s a lot of talk about who President Obama will pick to replace outgoing US DOT Secretary Ray LaHood. Governing has a good run-down of possible candidates.
— And last but not least today… The perfect holiday gift for the bike lover on your list: Bicycle taxidermy.
And now, two videos worth your attention:
Official BikeCraft event promo (the big event is December 1-2!):
Bike Craft 2012 from Filmed by Bike on Vimeo.
And our friends in Eugene, the MacRhodes family, have put together this fantastic video of biking with their little ones:
