bikes

Carfree Zone -- Coming Soon to a City Near You?

khallgeisler — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

On June 22, Portland, Oregon held its first Sunday Parkways. This event, modeled after a weekly shutdown of the streets in Bogota, Colombia, closed six miles of city streets to auto traffic and opened it up to bikers, walkers, skaters -- anyone self-propelled. New York City has announced plans to do the same for three days in August.

On my walk along Portland's closed streets, I found donuts and bratwurst for sale in a local's driveway, plus free bike tune-ups offered by a cycling collective. Three city parks held additional events, like a $5 helmet sale and fitting, an intro to tai chi, live music, and pick-up kickball games. All this despite a little drizzle in the morning -- though skies had cleared up by lunch time.

How can you get your community out of its cars and onto a bike seat? Here are some ideas gleaned from the Portland Sunday Bikeways:

Put your tax dollars to work. The EPA, the city commission, and the metro-area government were all sponsors of the Portland Sunday Parkways.

Great minds think alike. Partner up with local hospitals and community organizations to get ideas -- and volunteers. Neighborhood associations would be good allies, too.

It's the journey, not the destination. Portland organizers put together meeting places for bikers in several neighborhoods so people could ride through regular Sunday-morning traffic to the car-free route together. There were parades, a women's ride, and more.

But having a destination is important, too. While it's great to have cops stopping cars at major intersections so dozens of bikes can pass, it's nice to have someplace to ride to. Area parks hosted everything from yoga classes to Clif Bar booths, with lots of local cafes camped out, ready to replenish empty bellies after all that riding. There was food along the route, too, including hunks of bread and giant jars of peanut butter for a quick energy fix at the tune-up tent.

It doesn't have to be fancy. Portland is the country's most bikeable city, so we really did it up. New York will be closing swank Fifth Ave to traffic as part of its seven-mile car-free zone. But remember -- this about getting out of the SUV, moving under your own power (or the power of your crazy-cool electric wheelchair), and actually meeting your neighbors. And you don't need a Saks or a pilates demo to do that.

Photo by Doug Geisler.

The One Bike Meter Everyone’s Gotta Get!

Julia — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:02:43 -0400

Japan has done it again. It’s come out with yet another new green invention. This one is a bike meter that records the number of kilometers cycled in a day, total number of hours at work, average speeds and calorie consumption, a built in google maps tool, as well as … wait for it …

The total CO2 savings made if the person traveled the same distance in a car! The CO2 savings are measure in leaves. One leaf= 1 kilogram of CO2 savings.

The Japanese company releasing the product is called Bridgestone Cycle Company, and they say that the “e” stands for “eco” and “enjoy.”

You can even upload all of your emeter records ono a site called the emeters web. This is a social networking site where cyclists from all over the country subscribe and discuss pertinent eco and cycling information.

You can get graphs and printouts of anything you want that the emeter is capable of recording, just so you can see your patters of progress. You can also compare your statistics with other people on the emeter web.

The meter only costs about US$78 dollars. That’s not too bad considering everything you are getting for it.

It’s also just a great way to see your progress on two levels: a fitness level and an eco level. At the end of a long bike ride, you can actually see how much you’ve saved the environment from CO2 emissions. It’s brilliant!

Check out the very detailed specifics about the emeter at Bridgestone’s website: http://www.bscycle.co.jp/en/news/080226.html. The meters come in black and white, like the picture. Stay outside cycling, and now record all of your hard work!

Girl Bikes 1500 Miles for Electric Vehicles

khallgeisler — Wed, 28 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Liza Stoner, a 14-year-old environmentalist, plans to bike from Minneapolis to Washington, D.C. this summer to raise awareness about electric vehicles. When she gets to the capital, she'll deliver a petition to lawmakers requesting tax credits and incentives -- an ambitious project for someone who doesn't yet drive or file taxes. Sign her petition here.

Liza was inspired to take on the Ride for Renewal after seeing "Who Killed the Electric Car," the 2006 documentary about GM's ill-fated EV1 project. Unlike GM, which crushed every EV1 it built and stacked the carcasses one on top of another, Liza sees electric cars as the way of the future. They can be fueled by renewable power like solar and wind, they require less maintenance, and they don't require new infrastructure.

The ride is sponsored by the Fellowship for Renewal, an organization that supports young environmental and social justice activists. When Liza hits the road for real on June 16 (right now she's training for the 1,585-mile ride), she'll be posting diary entries on her site.

Liza's home page says that she is "hoping to be a very active environmentalist." After this ride, with her petition triumphantly smacked down on some politico's desk, she can probably check that one off her list.

For more information, check out:

15 Tips For Better Mileage -- Want to Get 70 MPG in Your Toyota Prius?

The Hype About Hypermiling

Two Wheels Are Greener Than Four

Honda Civic GX Tops List of Greenest Cars

Driving Green = Fewer Greenbacks

Top 10 Most Fuel-Efficient Cars: Save Gas, Save Money

Record Month For Selling Gas -- Saving Cars Getting Better Than 30 MPG

New York City all about Cycling these Days…

Julia — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:26:59 -0400

It’s about time for New Yorkers to get with the program. I was in Portland last week and their streets are devoted to the cyclers!

As of right now, an average of about 112,000 people bike everyday in the Big Apple. That’s actually an increase of about 10 percent over the past decade, but that ain’t enough!

The Department of Transportation wants to make it 20 percent by 2015. Helping them is Transportation Alternatives, a nonprofit group that is largely to thank for some of the current improvements in NYC’s streets.

There are some separate lanes for the bikers, but this new initiative is hoping to create 200 more miles of bicycle lanes between now and 2009. In addition to that, they are creating 15 more miles of protected on-street bike lanes by 2010, and 30 miles from 2011 to 2015.

The lanes are important for safety reasons, and it gives bikers a bit more assurance on the road, just knowing that they have their own area. That being said, it is important that drivers are educated about their interaction with cyclists, as they are inevitably on the road together. More bike lanes is a newer concept for city drivers, so it’s certainly an adjustment to be made.

The proposal will also install 37 bike shelters and 5,000 bike parking tracks by 2011! These are really exciting plans, and to get things really moving, the Transportation Dept. is holding a competition to find the most bike-friendly employers in New York City. (http://bikemonthnyc.org/bfb)

Lest you forget, the New York City Five-Borough Bike Tour on April 4 had to stop accepting entries because it reached its maximum capacity of 30,000 riders. Perhaps New Yorkers are feelin’ these wheel. More power to them! Join in the excitement, wherever you live!

Parking the Bicycles: Who Knew all the Possibilities?

Julia — Thu, 22 May 2008 21:04:47 -0400

More and more people are riding bicycles these days. How many people feel restricted from riding bikes because of issues with theft, or with not knowing where to lock up the bike? My guess would be a lot of people. Fortunately, companies are coming out with all sorts of nifty ways to park and lock bicycles.

The first is BikeLid Systems. These are polyethylene shells attached to a steel bike frame that is cemented into the concrete. They look like little, individual igloos to protect and enclose the bike. Even better, the shells are also made from 90 percent industrial plastic waste materials and recycled steel. You simply lift the unit up and place your bike underneath, and seal it all up with a padlock.

Another option is the Bike Tree. It looks exactly how it sounds; it is a vertically long bike stand and multiple bikes can hang from it at one time. There is a control panel attached to the stand, with finger print sensors. The control panel allows you to lock and unlock your bike. You press the button and the bike correlating with that fingerprint is lowered. It conserves lots of space! How cool is that?!

SLIM, but Modular is an interesting design for parking bikes. It consists of a slanting steel rod that almost looks like the bottom of a ski. It is faced upward and you can park the bike in place, hands-free! It is the wheels and the bike that gets locked in, making it kind of impossible to steal. It’s still in the design phase, but something to get excited about!

Lastly, there are Cyclepods. This looks like a lamp, lampshade included (See Picture!) There are eight spaces on it, and the bikes are placed upward. Like SLIM, the cyclepods can lock the wheels into place. The lampshade type structure protects the bike from ugly weather conditions. They, ALSO, are made from 95 percent recycled aluminum.

Wow. Technology never ceases to amaze me.

Sounds like it’s time dig your bikes out of the garage and get them all spiffed up for the warm weather!

Scooter Commuters, Unite!

khallgeisler — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

As winter gives way to spring and the weather warms up, more people are hauling scooters out of garages for 80 mpg+ commutes. I myself have been a scooter commuter, even in the rainy Pacific Northwest, for five years, and it looks like people tired of paying $3.30 and up for a gallon of regular are ready to join me on the road.

According to the Austin American-Statesman, via EVWorld, sales of two-wheeled wonders increased over 55% between 2000 and 2007. Meanwhile, over at MSNBC, a longtime scooter rider examines the pluses and minuses of scooter commuting. Parking? Big plus. SUV drivers not seeing you? Big minus.

If three-dollar fill-ups don't go far enough in your crusade to save money and the planet, there are scooters powered by electricity from companies like Zap and Bravo for about the same price as a gas-powered scooter from Honda or Vespa.

The rest of the world is taking the EV scooter by the handlebars, too. Indian company TVS introduced the Scooty Teenz Electric, which is aimed at teenage girls who travel short distances. It has a range of 25 miles, goes about 25 mph, carries a surprising 250-plus pounds, and has a ridiculous name.

Back in the U.K., traffic congestion in cities like London and Glasgow has prompted the Automotbile Association to deploy officers on electric scooters to deal with breakdowns. The plan is on trial in Central London for three months, and will hit Glasgow soon.

Last stop on our international tour of scooter lovers: Cuba. Raul Castro has loosened controls on consumer goods, leading to a national buying spree. One of the most coveted items is a Chinese-made electric scooter. These had been banned from general sale for fear of putting a strain on the weak Cuban electrical grid; I guess we're about to find out if that's true.

Photo courtesy Bravo Electric Vehicles.