This Weeks Monday Roundup is sponsored by the Worst Day of the Year Ride, coming on February 12th!
Welcome to the week.
We’ve got lots of stories to share this week. Before we get started, let’s not forget about the most interesting and important stories we came across last week…
Symoblism in India: If I were a citizen of India I seriously consider voting for the political party that just won the right to use the bicycle as their official symbol.
Guilt caught on camera – or not: A video appears to show clear negligence by a bus operator but the NYPD failed to hold anyone accountable and won’t investigate.
Riding in winter: People in Chicago are cycling through cold winters in larger numbers these days — and some credit the presence of bike share.
Our low-car future: Daimler is betting on a low-car future and they’ve moved their urban transportation software company Moovel to Portland to make good on that bet.
Tips to keep going: If you’re having trouble getting on the road in the cold and wet and snow, here are some winter riding tips from Iowa.
Potholes are no joke: According to British transport minister 99 people died while cycling because of potholes and other dangerous road conditions between 2014 and 2015.
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SF’s new bike share: A new bike-share system from Chinese company Bluegogo will soon launch on the streets of San Francisco — much to the city’s frustration.
Car culture run amok: This article about why elected politicians in Napa California voted against red light cameras displays the worst aspects of America’s dangerous addiction to unfettered and unregulated car use.
Fatbiking trend: If fatbiking gets as big as snowboarding, as this Guardian article suggests, it would be great news for Oregon.
Enforcement and racial profiling: Chicago’s vision zero effort is clear-eyed about the potential of racial profiling as police step up enforcement.
Helmetless and proud of it: The inimitable BikeSnob NYC lays down his argument about why it’s perfectly fine to ride the streets of Manhattan without a helmet.
Tour de Trump: In the early 1990s Donald Trump put his moniker on a high-profile bike race that was credited with raising the profile of the sport in America.
Don’t stress: Bike planners in Washington D.C. are using “Level of traffic stress,” or LTS, as a metric to define what to expect while looking for a new bike route.
Thanks to everyone who sent in links this week.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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I rode Citibikes without a helmet and thought it was fine. I was riding fairly slowly (10 mph? Those are heavy, slow bikes) and a helmet would have been a great inconvenience to haul into business meetings.
In Portland I choose to ride with a helmet because I’m usually riding much faster (15-30 mph) and not in business attire.
It’s a choice, not a law. Make the wise choice and if you end up regretting it, don’t whine about it.
Why couldn’t you leave your helmet outside the meeting room? Say to the secretary or someone else “Can I leave this here while I’m in the meeting?”
Or you could make a joke “If you guys get rough, I’m ready for ya!”
🙂
Oh, while in Copenhagen this New Years I did pick up some nifty folding helmets . . .
I have been curious about them for use on business trips…so any comment on how well they fit, fold…and do you find yourself carrying it around and thus using a helmet more often? (I doubt you leave it parked with your bike on the street…)? Thanks.
I am predicting at least one pedalpolooza this year ride called Tour de Trump. If someone warehoused all those signs I think they would still be relevant today.
The PBOT neighborhood greenway report included recommending stress level as a new metric.
Wouldn’t bike snob be better described as inimitable?
Yes! Sorry. Fixed.
I have ridden in Napa some and the red light camera business is no surprise. This is a county that, due to wine tourism, tacitly tolerates and maybe mildly condones drunk driving in the name of a near-sacred local industry. If you are riding through that beautiful area on a bike, it’s a good idea to keep your antennae way up!
Add to that the fact that Napa also acts as exurban sprawl for the bay area, with many people commuting extremely long distances. Car culture is king. That said, I love riding down there in the winter when visiting family. I just avoid HWY 29 completely, and get out early in the morning (before the drunks).
If only there were studies done showing the effectiveness of red light cameras (and what happens when you turn them off).
>Potholes are no joke: According to British transport minister 99 people died while cycling because of potholes and other dangerous road conditions between 2014 and 2015.
99 KSIs, not 99 deaths.
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2017-01-10/59267
That Tour de Trump story was excellent. Donald did a lot for American cycling and few cyclists today know anything about it. As indicated in the story and as we are now witnessing, Donald is a man of action – he gets things done quickly and efficiently – he’s a great American – a real success story. No, he’s not perfect, no one is.
That article mentioned John du Pont murdering one of his wrestlers – there’s a movie about John and his wrestling team called “Foxcatcher”. It’s worth watching.
Interesting story. I can’t be quite so sanguine about Trumps’ contribution to cycling through his sponsorship of that grand tour race. It being staged in the U.S., apparently did have it bring some more recognition on the part of people in this country, to pro cycling, that the tours in Europe do. But trump’s business complications of that time, had a bad effect on any potential there was for a long term future for that tour.
It’s worth reflecting from time to time, on what things make a “…great American…”, as you’ve referred to trump. A lot of people are hoping for great things from him as pres.