Cycle tracks to replace bike lanes?

We like bikes here in Boulder. Some of us use them to get in a great workout. Others pedal to and fro to wherever they need to be. And those who drive are typically kind enough to share the road.

We’re proud of this bike-laned land we call home. But are bike lanes good enough? Advocates of cycle tracks don’t think so.

Question: So what the hell is a cycle track?

Answer: It’s a completely separate lane for bikers protected by a curb or a concrete barrier.

The cycle track is an idea we Americans have adopted from our neighbors across the (big) pond in Europe. The cycle track makes biking super safe, but building them might mean adding a lot more cement to our beautiful city.

So what do you think? Are Boulder’s bike paths extensive enough, or do we need cycle tracks as well?

Read more about them at Grist.com in Elly Blue’s article, “Cyclists shouldn’t ‘share the road,’ they should have their own.”

Winter Bike to Work Day: Great Success

January 19, 2011 · Posted in Bikes, Environment, food · Comments Off 

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

Terrifying bikes for winter (or war?)

October 25, 2010 · Posted in Bikes · Comments Off 

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:

YouTube Preview Image YouTube Preview Image

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

Meals on (bike) Wheels goes green in Longmont

June 21, 2010 · Posted in Bikes, Environment · Comments Off 

 

Jennifer Martinez delivers meals for seniors on a bike | Longmont Times Call

The “wheels” in Meals on Wheels, the national service that delivers hot meals to seniors and the disabled, usually means a car.

But in Longmont — at least in a few cases — the wheels now may mean a bike, thanks to a couple of local women. From this weekend’s Longmont Times Call:

The program marks the first time Meals on Wheels has made deliveries via bike in Longmont, said program coordinator Karla Hale. It also is the first bike-powered program in the state that has been implemented under Meals on Wheels, she said.

“A lot of it has to do with going green and what can we do as a community or an organization to help the environment,” she said. Read more