Friday, June 24, 2011
M.I.A.
So, I have been a bit M.I.A. for the past week, due to the fact I got really sick and had to spend the night in the ER...I got a spinal tap and I am still recovering from it. The pain in my head is terrible, especially when I sleep! I had been un-able to bike ride for 10 days up until yesterday, when I just sucked up the pain in my head because I HAD TO GET OUT again. I set up my Cross bike with platform pedals and dropped the seat so that I could just take it easy. I only went a few miles around my new area of residence, Newton MA! There are some really neat shops and a cool path along the Charles River. I will take some pictures this weekend and post (it has been raining for 3 days). I look forward to hopefully getting back on my mountain bike this weekend...I sprained my wrist in the moving process, so not sure how that will work, but keeping my fingers crossed for some better karma to come my way!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
World's Largest Bike Share
As more and more cities implement bicycle-share options into their city infrastructure, cyclists and eco-conscious folks around the world can rejoice knowing there are convenient green transport options around that do not contribute to further totraffic congestion. While modern bike sharing is often thought of as a western idea, it's interesting to observe how cities outside of Europe and North America are coping with bike-share programs.
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China has always had a history of cycling, since it is a nation with a massive population yet in the past decade there has been a shift focusing on car culture. As a result, it has been impossible to build enough roads to support all the traffic, so officials have been looking at alternative methods to ease congestion. With the popularity of bike sharesexploding, it's encouraging to see how a system can work in large cities such as Mexico City where traditionally, the car is king.
GOOD recently had this post on how bike sharing was thriving in Mexico City's chaotic streets but Hangzhou, China actually boasts the largest bike share program in the world and so far, it's a success. With a population of almost 7 million, this southern Chinese city's 50,000-bike system has grown considerably since its inception in 2008. Hangzhou started with 61 service points and 2,800 bicycles and has ballooned to 2,050 service points with 51,500 bicycles, dwarfing other cities such as Montreal, Paris and Washington, D.C., often praised for their efficient bike share programs.
While the riders talk mostly about the convenience of bike-sharing, there’s little doubt Hangzhou’s red bicycles help ease transportation woes as residents integrate the bike share with the metro and bus systems.
Stations are spaced less than a thousand feet from each other in the city center, so 240,000 trips are made on the average day. As Bradley Schroeder of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy says in the video, "I don't think there is anywhere you can stand in Hangzhou for more than a minute or two where you wouldn't have a Hangzhou Public Bike go past you." The success of the program doesn't stop there though. The Hangzhou Bicycle Company, who maintains the bike share, plans to expand the system to 175,000 bicycles by 2020.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Purgatory RR 6/12/11
It was a chilly day in Sutton MA for the 2nd Annual Purgatory Road Race. Sam and I represented NorEast women. There was a small turn-out for the women’s P/1/2 field, but a very strong group of women! The race directors put us in with the very large Cat. 3 men’s field so that it would be more challenging and exciting for both groups. The race distance was 55 miles, each lap being 11 miles. The course is very fun, with rolling terrain and a very long, very fast descent. The challenging part of the course is a very steep, stair step climb each lap to the finish line, that rips your legs apart more and more each time! I was able to hang with the pack of men for 44 miles. On the climb leading into the last lap, I missed my moment to accelerate on the flat part of the stair step and was unable to hang on to the back of the pack to the finish line. There was another male rider who did not make it back on, so the two of us worked hard together, but we were unable to close the gap. We ended up 4 minutes back from the pack. I told him I knew only 2 women were up ahead of me, and that I would be forever grateful for his help to keep me in 3rd position. I had no idea I was over 10 minutes ahead of the next 4th, 5th, and 6th place female riders! I was very proud of my 3rd place result, and happy to finish with no mechanicals or crashes after the unfortunate events at Killington! Sam ended up riding with a group of female riders (and one male 55+ rider, who bragged about his “power ring” given to him by his granddaughter…) and did a lot of the work to pull them around. Unfortunately, she ended up getting sprinted around by 2 of them at the line and placed 9th. Overall, it was a great day for NorEast women and men.
Green Line Velo did a great job putting on the race. Check out their website: http://www.greenlinevelo.com/
44 miles in on the last lap after I got dropped from the men's Cat. 3 pack
Still cold after the race!
Ryan (7th) and I (3rd) with our prize money!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
ENTIRELY Wooden Bike
I guess this is the ultimate in sustainable transport!
This 16 year old built an entire bicycle out of wood – including a wooden chain, and a ratchet system so he can go downhill without having to pedal. It is very cool, and the workmanship alone deserves kudos.
An old joke about a wooden bicycle: "With wooden wheels, a wooden saddle and wooden chain – it wooden go." -Unknown
A Sideways Bicycle?
Yes, see it and believe it! Inventor, Michael Killian, 46, a software engineer in Dublin says, "It's key advantage is that it's more manoeuvrable than a conventional bike. It is a front-to-back balance not a left-to-right like a normal bike. That affords you tremendous grace and motion. It is dance-like. The advantages are in the motion. It is never going to win you the Tour de France. But it is mesmerizing and entertaining."
How does it work?
The cyclist sits sideways and operates a wheel with each hand, and pedalling makes the whole bike travel sideways.
The cyclist sits sideways and operates a wheel with each hand, and pedalling makes the whole bike travel sideways.
1: The back cog drives the back wheel chain, which unlike on a normal bike can turn either way when the back handlebar is steered.
2:Back handlebar which steers the back wheel and has a rear light.
3:Front handlebar which steers the front wheel and has a light and rear-view mirror.
4:Pedals are at right angles to the wheels.
5:The seat is shaped like an upside-down crescent.
6:This frame goes over the lap of the cyclist, but can go under if preferred.
Check out the link below, make sure to check the readers comments!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Bicycle Benefits
GET YOUR DEALS ON TWO WHEELS!"
"Bicycle Benefits is a progressive bicycling program designed to reward individuals and businesses for their commitment to cleaner air, personal health, and the use of pedaling energy in order to create a more sustainable community. The program's continual growth decreases parking demand, increases helmet use, and improves cyclists' safety and health by putting more people on bikes. This site has all of our Bicycle Benefit Business Members that can be found by clicking the links to the left (including their discounts/rewards, addresses, and maps to get there). Get your helmet sticker at any of the participating Bicycle Benefits Business Member locations or become a participating Business Member today and start experiencing Bicycle Benefits!"
Complete Streets
"The streets of our cities and towns are an important part of the livability of our communities. They ought to be for everyone, whether young or old, motorist or bicyclist, walker or wheelchair user, bus rider or shopkeeper. But too many of our streets are designed only for speeding cars, or worse, creeping traffic jams.
http://www.completestreets.org/
Now, in communities across the country, a movement is growing to complete the streets. States, cities and towns are asking their planners and engineers to build road networks that are safer, more livable, and welcoming to everyone.
Instituting a complete streets policy ensures that transportation planners and engineers consistently design and operate the entire roadway with all users in mind - including bicyclists, public transportation vehicles and riders, and pedestrians of all ages and abilities."
http://www.completestreets.org/
Growing Power!
"Bikes are the most efficient urban transportation vehicle ever designed."
-Will Allen
He is an inspiration! This guy knows his stuff.
Check links below:
Don't take our bike parking spot...or else!
This is what happens to poor vehicles that decide to take our bike rack parking space...we block them in! This car had parked in the parking space at the YMCA where the bike rack was, so we picked it up and moved it behind the vehicle. After this we proceeded to place the rack closer to the building, then the director told us due to "building code" it is unsafe to have it up front. Hmm...
MC Spandex
Thursday, June 2, 2011
"Thumbs up for rock and roll!"
"We adore this little boy, who gives hope to any kid who has ever failed at riding a bike with an inspirational speech to rival the best rhetoric out there. A recently accomplished rider himself, he reminds his peers with training wheels to believe in themselves and to keep practicing."
Watch this youtube video
"Thumbs up for rock and roll!"
Watch this youtube video
"Thumbs up for rock and roll!"
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