Welcome to the week. Here are the most notable news items our community has come across in the past seven days…
Don’t knock it: An experimental, carfree neighborhood built from a vacant lot outside of Phoenix, Arizona has found its most rabid fans: the people who live there. (Dwell)
Heady stuff: An upcoming review of research will show that, “Road cycling has the highest proportion of head, neck, and facial injuries of all cycling disciplines and yet also has one of the lowest reported rates of concussions.” (Escape Collective)
Cycling and civil rights: A cycling club biked from Selma to Montgomery to retrace the famous civil rights era march and to show how riding bikes can play a role in preserving history. (Scalawag Magazine)
Display drama: Former motorsport engineer and OnlyFans personality Sabrina Fischer has co-developed a handlebar for roadies with a large digital display—and caused a stir in the industry while doing it. (Cycling Weekly)
Power of walking: A Portland nonprofit connects Black youth with police officers and trainees so they can literally walk a mile in each others’ shoes. (OPB Think Out Loud)
An American leader in Europe: A woman who grew up in a Chicago suburb is head of the European Cyclists Federation, a leading bike advocacy group that lobbies for cycling on a global scale. (NY Times)
Epic spring classic: It’s an exciting time of year for bike racing fans and the amazing Tadej Pogacar gave classics lovers a feast with his roller-coaster win at Strade Bianche, becoming the first male rider to win it back-to-back. (BBC)
How to clean up a city: London’s mayor is celebrating a new report that shows his Ultra Low Emissions Zone has cut toxic emissions and improved air quality for millions of his voters. (Guardian)
Thanks to everyone who sent in links this week. The Monday Roundup is a community effort, so please feel free to send us any great stories you come across.
Thanks for reading.
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Incentivizing cleaner vehicles results in cleaner air! Shocking!
I wish Portland, or even the whole state would do the same.
You mean the London Ulez? It’s not that they’re incentivizing clean vehicles, they are punishing polluting vehicles. It’s an important distinction. I support both strategies, but I think you are mischaracterizing their program.
In London they are charging the most polluting vehicles £12.50 per day to operate. In Oregon there’s no charge for polluting, and we have special categories of lower emission standards for the dirtiest vehicles. Old cars, cars without catalysts, heavier vehicles, diesels, and 2-stroke engines all have a variety of easier standards than recent passenger cars.
A car with a 2-stroke engine can emit eight times as much hydrocarbon as another passenger car and operate legally. There’s no standard at all for scooters, mopeds, or motorcycles with 2-stroke engines. Their exhaust is unregulated.
Just a minor note: the Escape Collective article’s blurb should read:
(road) “…cycling has the highest proportion of head, neck, and facial injuries …”
Not only that, but eventually you hit a paywall…
Small correction:
< Heady stuff: An upcoming review of research will show that, “cycling has the highest proportion of head, neck, and facial injuries of all cycling disciplines
should be “… show that, ROAD cycling has the highest…”
“display drama”- not the kind of tech I am personally into-I like to keep things low-tech- but this was a fascinating story! The design of the integrated display into the handlebar is very well done, at least aesthetically. The concept, design and marketing all was very impressive, and the tie-in with onlyfans and a spicy content creator was surprising and cool and interesting. I loved how Sabrina Fischer embraced the various aspects of her life- engineer and adult content creator. I do not doubt that she met skepticism and resistance, but I wished her claims of misogyny were more specific. It would be difficult for anyone to bring a high-tech, lightweight, high performance product intended to ingrate with a diverse market of bikes to market, an I am sure anyone would face obstacles and resistance from industry gatekeepers or established companies whose market share is being challenged, but the story lacked specifics that I would have found interesting. I would like to read something more tangible of specific