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
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