With more than 65 documented initiatives in North America, open streets are increasingly common in cities seeking innovative ways to achieve environmental, social, economic, and public health goals.

[...]

Read more about the Open Streets Project here: Open Streets Project

Well, today the weather was so gorgeous again that I decided to try of my butt could stand the saddle for some more miles. And it could – even if at the end of the ride, after about 1 3/4 hours in the saddle – I did feel it a lot and wouldn’t have liked to go on much longer. Today, with the wind blowing fairly strongly again from the north, I decided to ride into it first and thus took one of my standard routes: out via Hobson and Panna Maria, and then looping back via Helena. It was 25.54 miles at an average of 14 mph. Not too bad, considering the wind [you never get as much speed back with the wind pushing youo than what you lose riding into the wind] andthe fact that it was only my second bicycle ride [and on consecutive days at that] after a 2-month pause. Compared to yesterday, the climbs were not so steep. Much easier with my gear ratio [54/39 x 13-21]. Thus the total ascent gained was 739 feet only. Anyway: this ride plus yesterday’s put me way ahead of my daily average planned [10 kilometers]. But knowing that there will be plenty of days when I won’t ride I really need a good “cushion”. After the ride I was craving for proteins and had some left-over smoked turkey: a whole drumstick with some thigh – every yummy and replenishing the lost calories. During the ride, btw, I had the need for some glucose and this had – and that’s unusual for me on such a short ride – 2 single-serving pouches of orange-flavoured Hammer Gel, and they helped. I always carry these with me, just in case, and today I really needed them. Before the ride I had – to keep my minerals and electrolytes at the right level – taken one capsule of Hammer Endurolytes.

Related articles

• The New Year – A Good Beginning (pitsbicycleblog.wordpress.com)

KELLY GOOCH, Tyler Morning Telegraph

Published 09:00 a.m., Monday, January 2, 2012

JACKSONVILLE, Texas (AP) — Gerla Rangel isn’t old enough to drive a car, but he still enjoys his own set of wheels, courtesy of neighbor Oscar Harper.

The 9-year-old received two bicycles from Harper, one last year and another this year.

He said he feels good because he rides his bike all over his neighborhood.

[...]

Gerla is one of the many children who have received bikes from Harper, a 79-year-old affectionately known as “the bike man” because of his repair work.

Harper’s backyard is filled with about 40 bikes of all shapes and sizes, and tools sit neatly on a table. Two of the bikes are turned upside down, indicating that they’re a work in progress.

[...]

Read the full story here: San Antonio Express-News

Check the ride out here: RideWithGPS, Normanna(2)

Related articles

• Let the riding. . .and writing begin! (chasingthemiles.wordpress.com)

The GOP Hates Bikes

—By Stephanie Mencimer

| Tue Oct. 25, 2011 8:24 AM PDT

Over the past few months, as Republicans have focused their attention on cutting what they see as wasteful government spending, they’ve zeroed in on a surprising new target: bicyclists, and the programs that serve them.

The federal government spends about $40 billion a year on transportation projects. Of that, about $928 million has been devoted to what’s known as a “transportation enhancement” program, which provides funding for projects—including rails-to-trails conversions, bike lanes, and bridges—that make cycling safer, and thus more viable as a commuting option. But as Congress gears up to reauthorize the massive transportation funding bill this year, Republicans are arguing that states shouldn’t be forced to use scarce transportation funds to encourage bike commuting when bridges for cars are falling down.

[...]

Read the full story here: Mother Jones

Related articles

• Taking Back The Streets: Look At The A**hole in the Bike Lane (treehugger.com)

Do Republicans really hate cyclists?

By Peter Suciu, in Roseville, Michigan

In the United States, response to many issues falls along political party lines, including taxes, guns, abortion – and now cycling, according to some commentators.

Mother Jones, the self-professed “news organization that specializes in investigative, political and social justice”, published a story earlier this year with the straight-to-the-point headline: “The GOP Hates Bikes.” In this piece, author Stephani Mencimer noted two cases where Republican lawmakers drove anti-bicycle agendas.

[...]

Read the full story here: Bike Radar

Related articles

• Can Tabloids Save NYC From “Maniacal” Cyclists Terrorizing… – StumbleUpon (pitsbicycleblog.wordpress.com)
• Cyclists must ride ‘sensibly’ – Hoy (autonetinsurance.co.uk)
• Graph of the Day: Proof that Bike Lanes Attract Bike Riders (treehugger.com)
• Caught on camera: Motorists’ rage against cyclists – Confused.com (livingstrongandhappy.blogspot.com)
• Moving around cyclists (croydoncyclist.wordpress.com)
• Letters: We need more than ghost bikes to reduce cyclist deaths (guardian.co.uk)

Confused.com reveals the danger of cycle rage

-Confused.com reveals the danger of cycle rage-

21 Nov, 2011

• ‘Cycle rage’ grips the UK: Confused.com reveals danger with new mapping tool
• Almost 12% of drivers say cyclists should pay road tax
• More than one in eight cyclists have been knocked off their bike by a motorist

Cyclist and motorist rage is in the spotlight this Road Safety Week (21-27 November 2011), and both cyclists and car owners have strong feelings about how to handle it according to car insurancecomparison site, Confused.com.

Both cyclists and motorists are turning to social media to report incidents of road related anger with Confused.com identifying 2,674 tweets mentioning both ‘road rage’ and ‘cyclist’ during the first nine months of this year. In response to this emerging danger, Confused.com has created an interactive map that both cyclists and drivers can use to pinpoint rage blackspots.

[...]

Read the full story here: Confused.Com

Insurance website inflames “motorist vs cyclist” debate

By BikeRadar UK

With Road Safety Week kicking off today, cyclists and motorists – and the relationship between the two – are firmly in the spotlight.

And rather than calming things down, insurance website Confused.com looks to have only inflamed matters. They conducted a survey over the last month in a bid to find out the issues that make the blood of cyclists and motorists boil and suggestions of what could be done to improve relations. They surveyed 1,000 of each and published their findings in a press release which didn’t hide the side of the fence they were on.

[...]

Read the full story here:  Bike Radar

Related articles

• Can cyclists and motorists learn to share the road? (confused.com)
• Cyclists must ride ‘sensibly’ – Hoy (autonetinsurance.co.uk)
• Caught on camera: Motorists’ rage against cyclists – Confused.com (livingstrongandhappy.blogspot.com)
• Cyclists and motorists must learn to get along (theglobeandmail.com)
• Grammer For Motorists (croydoncyclist.wordpress.com)

For details of the tour, click here: LBJ100.

Let me just briefly mention the most important changes:

• We have added an 85-mile route.
• There will be a raffle for a 1,000-dollar road bike donated by REI.
• There’s a new jersey design.
• New t-shirt material.

After a long break [my last ride was on July 27] for various reasons [heart problems in the heat and humidity as well as being reluctant to ride after a friend of mine was nearly run over by a driver not paying attention and serving onto the shoulder] I finally got onto my bike again today and did 20 miles at an average of 15.5 mph and I really enjoyed it. Well, to tell the truth, my butt didn’t actually enjoy it. But I really felt fine otherwise, and I’m happy I can still – without overexerting myself – do that average after such a long pause.