Welcome to Monday! News Editor Michael Andersen is back after his week-long bike tour and we’ve got some great stories planned for this week. For now, check out the best stories we came across last week…
– The Lure of the Open Road is a fantastic bike tour travelogue based on the “wartime wanderings” of Doris Roy and Thelma Popp. The two women packed up their bikes in 1944 and pedaled into a magnificent adventure.
– Rapha recently set up a retail shop in Manhattan and, in a related move, their blog featured an interview with the executive director of Transportation Alternatives, Paul Steely White. It’s well worth a read. Here’s my favorite quote: “As bike advocates, we are a one note band, and they know our song. With myriad and diverse allies you can create the symphony that makes politicians get off their duff and dance.”
– If you’ve been wondering how to help victims of the devastating Colorado floods, you might be interested in the “Colorado Drop” jersey being offered by Castelli. Sales of the jersey benefit the United Way’s Foothills Relief Fund.
– A lot of people in the transportation wonkosphere are buzzing about a new report from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) that sings the economic development praises of buses — not rail — as an effective transit oriented development tool.
– It seems that even New York City isn’t moving as fast as they need to when it comes to updating their street designs. A new, unauthorized bike lane was laid down in midtown Manhattan last weekend, installed in the same spot where woman had her leg ripped off by a taxicab operator as she rode in the lane near the location where woman’s leg was ripped off by a man whose taxicab jumped the curb.
– In the Dutch city of Groningen, business owners are upset about a bike-related issue. But their area of concern might surprise you: They’re up in arms over a plan that would to divert bicycle traffic away their street.
– Bike valet is a big deal in San Francisco. The city’s bicycle advocacy org boasts major brands like Odwalla and Craigslist as sponsors.
– Another demonstration of the power of the Dutch example: A Boston Globe reporter returns home after a trip to Houten, the Netherlands and writes up an inspiring feature article about lessons she learned.
– After Paris’s Velib, Montreal’s Bixi is perhaps the most celebrated success in the bike share world. But financial problems have plagued the municipally owned system, largely some say, precisely because of its success. Now Montreal’s own auditor general is casting doubts about its financial footing.
– A conservative pundit writing for The Federalist uses an interesting analogy to poke holes in Obamacare: The Affordable Bike Act. “What if,” he writes, “Congress passed a law requiring every American to buy a bicycle.”
– Veteran bike blogger Richard Masoner of Cyclelicious is clearly upset by a recent fatal collision in his area. In response, he pens an acerbic post about the absurdity of our “safe” auto-centric culture.
– I have to admit it was uncomfortable for me to read that Lincoln, Nebraska is set to install a physically protected, two-way cycletrack. Lincoln, Nebraska! From the concept drawings it looks like it could be a higher quality facility than anything that currently exists in downtown Portland. Sigh.
– We had a great discussion about how air pollution and auto exhaust impacts the lungs of people who bike on busy streets last week. Turns out there are similar concerns and new research about how much bad air folks on the other side of the windshield are breathing.
– How’s this for an argument in favor of bike share: A pregnant woman in Minnesota used it to help induce labor. Then when it starting working, she kept pedaling all the way to the delivery room.
– New York’s idea for how to deal with the epidemic of texting-while-driving is to create special pull-outs on the road for people who simply must use their phones while driving.
– We’ve heard a lot about the importance of projects and policies what will boost the number of women who ride bikes in cities, but what about the bigger question of urban design? The Atlantic Cities took a closer look at how to design a city for women.
– Mountain bike advocates are heralding new stats that show a big growth in bike sales and they point to a parallel rise in the number of trails to ride them on.
– Mikael at Copenhagenize shares his thoughts about the potential for other countries to mimic the cycling successes of Denmark and the Netherlands, places he refers to as, “the Galapagos Islands of Bicycle Culture.”
And finally, a few videos worth a watch:
This is yet another reason you shouldn’t steal bikes…
Bicycle Robbery Doesn't Go As Planned by videobash
Which Portland shop will be the first to offer one of these bike cleaning stations?
And remember those TiGr locks that were all the rage on Kickstarter? Well it turns out they don’t work…
This month’s Monday Roundups have been is sponsored by KPFF, the engineers and surveyors behind many Portland metro area bikeways, including the Eastbank Esplanade, the Vancouver Land Bridge, the Springwater Spur Trail, the South Waterfront and Fanno Creek Greenways and Graham Oaks Nature Park. You can follow them on Facebook here.