Mountain Biking: Rubber side down- Time for a TurnaroundWell, my friends, things are finally looking up, and good timing, too, since I’m sure you’re all sick of me bitching. Recent bike build, including wheels… fun! In what feels like a fairly short time, I’ve come from sitting around … Continue reading → […]
- This Raised My PulseHey, baby… wanna ride? I may be injured, but I’m not dead yet. I can still have racy thoughts. Here’s more info. In other news, UBI was an awesome success! I had a blast. I highly recommend it. Overhaul day…. … Continue reading → […]
- Time for a Turnaround
- Edgy Veggie
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Winter Bike to Work Day: Great Success
Did you read that title in your best Borat impersonation? Because that’s how I wrote it. If not, here’s the man himself.
So Winter Bike to Work Day was in fact, a great success. You see, people like to bike. They also like free food.
Michael White, 15, bikes to school each day with his dad, Mark. But the free food offered throughout Boulder on the city’s third annual Winter Bike to Work Day today added an extra incentive to commute on two wheels.
“Why can’t you guys do this every day?” Michael, a New Vista High School student, said as he ate a tamale from a food stall outside the Pedal to Properties real estate firm on Boulder’s Pearl Street. “Then I can stop having cold cereal in the morning.”
Check out “the rest of the story,” (that was supposed to be your attempt at Paul Harvey) at Hundreds participate in Boulder’s third Winter Bike to Work Day.
Bike wearing mittens to get free muffins
Or something like that.
Tomorrow is Boulder’s Third Annual Winter Bike to Work Day. So add an extra layer, wear something windproof and make sure your pant leg won’t get caught in your bike spokes ( because even if you’re doing something rad for the environment like commuting by bike, you’ll look dumb if you endo–like THIS poor sap–for such a lame reason).
So what exactly is going on with this event? From 7 to 9 a.m., local businesses will be providing warm drinks and breakfast vittles. Find out which businesses are participating after the jump. Read more
Hall Ranch is about to get bigger (open space tax passes)
Mike Overfelt, from Loveland, hikes up the trail at Hall Ranch just beyond Lyons in 2006 | Daily Camera
Hall Ranch is about to get bigger. The favorite hiking and biking destination southwest of Lyons will grow by 577 acres, the county commissioners decided Tuesday.
The property is just one of a bunch on the county’s wishlist — which until Tuesday, county staff weren’t sure they’d have the money to buy.
But it looks like voters have passed Issue 1B, a sales tax that will bring in more than $5 million a year for the next 20 years so the county can buy more land.
Read more about the tax and Hall Ranch’s expansion at DailyCamera.com.
Biking in cold weather: It’s that time of year!
Well, the winter has gone and dipped, so it’s time to remind you lovely people that we have plenty of tips for eco living on our resource pages — particularly for biking in the winter.
Get yourself in the habit and you’ll be all keyed up for next year’s Winter Bike to Work Day.
Finally, here’s a great and detailed video with tips on how to dress for winter biking — a major deterrent for some of us! Gotta strike the balance between arriving drenched in sweat and falling over dead on the ride, frozen solid into a bikecicle.
I found the video on the Meetup page for the Boulder & Denver Commuter Cyclists, who have an event next Monday.
Tired of biking up the Hill?
This is a little ridiculous, but I can understand certain applications for it — here’s a video of a bike lift in Norway.
In the university town of Trondheim, Norway, this bike lift pushes people up “the very steep hill Brubakken in the historical heritage part of the city center.”
And here’s a noisy video of some foreigners trying it out. Yikes.
Terrifying bikes for winter (or war?)
I’ve never really bought into the car vs. bike vitriol.
Based on casual observation, I think it’s pretty easy to see that cars, bikes and pedestrians all make poor decisions pretty frequently — but not as frequently as they make good decisions.
Still, there are two things that make me wary of riding the bike: heavily-trafficked roads and winter. If I can avoid 28th St., I do it. If I can avoid ice or snow, I do it.
But if I were to take on one or both at once, maybe I’d want one of these Frankenbikes:
You’d kind of want to point that flamethrower straight ahead, I’d think. You know, to melt snow. Probably have to set it off to the side, though. Read more
Boulder commuting stats: Driving alone still preferred method
Just over half of Boulder commuters drive alone to get to work. Compared to the rest of Colorado, that’s pretty impressive, we’re also built better for it in the city, so we probably should be comparing ourselves to other cities that are bike- and bus-friendly.
The other number that sticks out on this data from the 2009 U.S. Census American Community Survey is our work-from-home number — but we already knew that.
Here’s some of the relevant data:
|
. |
Location | Drive alone | Carpool | Public transportation | Bike | Walk | Work from home | |
|
. |
Boulder | 51.2 | 4.8 | 9.8 | 12.32 | 9.66 | 10.26 | |
|
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Longmont | 80.7 | 6.2 | 3 | 0.7 | 0.59 | 7.15 | |
|
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Boulder County | 64.9 | 7 | 5.3 | 4.77 | 4.33 | 12.05 | |
|
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Colorado | 74.3 | 10.1 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 3 | 6.74 |
In Amsterdam, they take more trips by bike than by car. Consider that!
In Portland, bike traffic constitutes 20 percent of the traffic on some roads, leading to bikejams.
Until we’re having bikejams — or until I have to stand up for part of my bus commute — it seems like there’s still a lot of education to be done. (But please don’t cut bus service to artificially make this happen. Here’s a great post from our neighbors to the south on that line of thinking.)
Note: When I lived on the Skip line, I did have to stand up — often.
Traffic skills for bikers: a class this Sunday
Here’s an announcement from Community Cycles about a class this weekend that many folks might find very useful. If you’re thinking about getting into commuting by bike, there’s probably no better way to get your information. Without further ado, here’s the copy-and-pasted announcement from their site:
Announcing: The League of American Bicyclists course Smart Cycling: Traffic Skills 101 (formerly called Road I) takes place Sunday, September 26, 2010. This is a 9 hour class for all cyclists, novice to advanced. The class will be held in Boulder at Naropa University.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN: Learn how to fix a flat tire; Learn the importance of the ABC Quick Check; Learn how to shift to the right gear for your ride; Learn how to safely avoid dangerous objects and potholes as you ride; Learn where to ride in traffic for the most safety and visibility; Learn how to easily make difficult maneuvers in traffic, such as a left turn across four lanes of traffic; Learn about riding in all kinds of weather, day or night; and more! Be a part of the movement to standardize cycling education for everyone.
Half the time will be instruction and discussion in a classroom setting and half the time will be given to cycling drills and on-road riding. You will need a bike with breaks and gears and a helmet to participate. If you will have trouble bringing a suitable bike please let us know so we can help you find one. Helmets are required. Course materials and workbook are provided. There will be a lunch break in the middle of the day so please bring a lunch or plan on making a quick run out to grab something.
Conducted by LAB Certified Cycling Instructor: Dan Adams LCI # 2801
For more information, contact: Dan Adams, email ductmonkey@gmail.com or call 978-760-2186
Title: Smart Cycling: Traffic Skills 101
Date: September 26, 2010
Time: 8am – 6pm with an hour break for lunch
Place: Naropa University, 2130 Arapahoe
Cost: $80.00
Register Now
Boulder’s bike corrals
It’s been about a week, so have you guys seen the new Boulder bike corrals yet? They’re on-street parking for bikes, which means less hitching your bike to whatever you can find, more bike awareness and more parking-per-spot for businesses (. You can spot them at The Cup (1521 Pearl St.) and Trident (940 Pearl St.).
What do you think?
The Cup has been clamoring for these for a while — and has built a temporary one on occasion.
If you’re surprised by them, check out other cities that have been building and using bike corrals.
A few weeks ago I asked where you would put bike share stations — so I’ll ask this: If you could add two more, where would you put bike corrals in the city?
Where would you put Boulder bike-share stations?
Considering that the city is “finalizing” a contract for a Boulder bike-sharing program akin to Denver’s B-Cycle, it’s time to start nerding out with maps, which is my favorite part of any day.
So I’m asking you folks, here and on Twitter and Facebook, where would you put Boulder bike-share stations?
It’s pretty clear that there would be a station or two on Pearl, right? Let’s assume you’d have one on the east end, the west end and, for the heck of it, let’s say one on 13th.
Where else? Let me hear you.
Check out the B-Cycle map (PDF) for inspiration.
A partial map of B-Cycle stations in Denver.
