Want to look sexy velocommuting? Check out Copenhagen Cycle Chic for some cool bike-purchasing ideas. Zakkaliciousness (thanks for the correction, JC) really knows what’s up when it comes to bicycle styles in Copenhagen AND there are lots of sexy velocommuters there that he has captured on film. (What a life!)

The blog is worth a quick glance just to get an idea of what it’s like to live in a place that really has biking at its core. Urban transport is really much more enjoyable (and quicker, apparently!) by bicycle. It is really a wonder that it’s just catching on in the States.

Here has an interesting perspective on how many gears are needed:

This is one issue that gets discussed quite often. Most bikes in Copenhagen have 3 gears. The most irritating sound I know is someone accelerating off the light in one gear and then clickclickclickclickclick, they hop past 78 gears to get to the one they want. Why not just buy a bike with the gears you need?

We often hear that three gears don’t fly in hilly cities. Then get five gears. The vast majority of cities in the world can be cycled daily in 3-5 gears. Whenever anybody says, “Yeah, but my city is REALLY hilly”, we just politely refer to European cities like Berne, Switzerland, where 25% of the population ride each day through a Alpen landscape. Or hilly Aarhus, Denmark’s second city, or Gothenburg, or Trondheim, Norway. 3-5 gears and off you go.

You said it!

Photo Credit: (Copenhagen Cycle Chic)

Jim Jordan and Pablo Alcala at the Lexington, Kentucky Herald-Leader have teamed up to post a story and accompanying video about Lexington resident Dan Dickinson’s bike ride to work.

Dickinson makes one very important insight: Don’t ride the big roads to work. (The smaller neighborhood streets are much more inviting and interesting anyway

Lexinggton is one city that has paid attention to its amazing level growth in recent years and has made significant strides towards making a compact, livable, sustainable community. Now that gas prices are going through the roof, I guess those dividends are paying off.

Here’s a tip of the old velocommuter chapeau to Dan and the Lexington Planning team!

Photo credit: Pablo Alcala, Herald-Leader.

Portland, Oregon is often considered this country’s bicycle commuter Mecca. As we reported here, the City of Roses has seen it’s number of bicycle commuters quadruple in recent years. However, this has not come with a number of speedbumps as well.

As reported in the Oregonian, this week begins a pilot program to test the effectiveness of bike boxes in Portland. Bike boxes are areas of specially-marked paint at traffic signals so that bicyclists can queue up in their own special place at the front of the right-hand lane of traffic. Automobiles must stop for the signal before the bike box. Also, automobile right-hand turns are not allowed at these intersections during a red light.

A Portland Police Officer prepares to issue a warning to a driver for not stopping before a newly-installed bike box (Source: The Oregonian).

There has been much discussion (here, here, and elsewhere) around the city about the effectiveness of bike boxes. However, as the city hopes to continue down this trajectory of being a great biking city, they are becoming more open to ideas such as these. The ground underneath bike boxes is expensive real estate to be sure, but they may get the city back on track to creating a biker’s paradise.

Gosh, it seems like such a simple idea, doen’t it? And yet, it is a really good idea to know about how accidents happen before you decide to commute by bicycle.

Remember the time that you were driving and almost hit a biker or pedestrian?

I certainly do.

It really hurt because I consider myself a very cautious driver. Take a look at BicycleSafety.com’s web page on important lessons in bicycle safety.

You can learn about how to avoid meeting the fate of several bikers last fall who fell victim to the Right Hook, as displayed below:

Keep it safe out there.
~ms

Portland, Oregon has one of the highest percentage of bicycle commuters in the U.S. (source: The Oregonian)

The City of Portland, Oregon has recently suffered the death of two bicycle commuters. Local residents have begun to engage in a very healthy debate about how to cope with the challenges of rapidly increasing bicycle commuting population. While the numbers of bicyclists have risen exponentially in recent years, the relative attitudes and awareness of drivers has not changed at the same pace.

Kudos to The Oregonian newspaper for their excellent coverage of the tragedy and the ensuing debate. Yesterday, the newspaper launched a website documenting the situation, called Bike versus Car: Sharing the road in Portland.

The website even contains an interactive Google Map mashup showing the locations of bicycle-car crashes in the Portland area.

Note the demographic data on salaries of car drivers vs. bicycle commuters. Interesting…

~ms

In Alan Durning’s new series or articles at the Sightline Institute, he discusses challenges to bicycles as transportation. He introduces the reader to several concepts, such as Car Head and Bicycle Neglect.

While bikers are often marginalized as “too poor to own a car” or “elitist,” Durning attempts to redefine bicycling:

Bicycle Respect gives independence to young teens and affordable mobility to low-income households and retirees. Like such democratizing social guarantees as public schools and unemployment insurance, Social Security and national parks, safe, separate, continuous facilities for cycling and walking put a common foundation under us.

Durning makes a number of valid points. His focus is in laying the groundwork for creating more velocommuters. That is definitely one part of the big puzzle. There are a lot more pieces than just street layout, however.

~ms

Today’s Title comes to us from an article posted back in July by the New York Times. In it, Jane Brody gives some very real encounters between bicycles and cars. She follows with some excellent tips for bicycle safety, both from the perspective of the biker and a driver:

If You’re the Driver

Keep in mind that a bicycle is a vehicle and that a person riding one has the same rights as a driver of any other vehicle. Bicycles are legally entitled to use most roads, though they must ride on the shoulder when the speed limit exceeds 50 miles per hour.

Remember, too, that bicycles are hard to see and, unlike drivers, cyclists are unprotected by seat belts, air bags and steel cages.

When approaching a cyclist, slow down. When passing, clear the bike by at least three feet (five feet if you are driving a truck). Check your rearview mirror and be sure you can see the cyclist clearly before moving back into the lane.

Do not blow your horn behind cyclists. It can frighten riders and cause them to swerve.

Don’t follow closely behind a bicycle, which may have to stop or maneuver suddenly to avoid a road hazard that could cause the cyclist to fall.

Be especially wary around young cyclists, including those on sidewalks, who may cross intersections or dart into the road from a driveway or midblock without looking.

Most serious crashes occur at intersections. When turning right, signal well ahead of time, turn from the middle of the intersection rather than across the bike path, and make sure no bike is on your right before you turn. Do not pass a cyclist if you will be turning right immediately after.

In bad weather, give cyclists a wider berth, just as you would do for other drivers.

When waiting to turn left or to proceed from a stop sign, yield to a bicycle that has the right of way. More than half of collisions occur when cyclists and drivers are on perpendicular paths, and three-fourths of these accidents result from a failure to yield the right of way.

Before opening your car door, check your mirror to be sure no bike is approaching. A passenger on the driver’s side should open the door just enough to turn around to see if the path is clear.

Like it or not, bicyclists have the right to “take the lane” under certain conditions:

When overtaking a vehicle moving in the same direction.

When getting ready to turn left.

When a lane is too narrow to share with a car or truck.

When there are unsafe conditions on the road like double-parked vehicles, animals, pedestrians and potholes.

If You’re the Cyclist

The first rule of safe cycling: Never forget that bicycles are vehicles and thus are obliged to follow the traffic rules that apply to drivers. Ride with the traffic, not against it. Wait for the green before crossing intersections. Signal all turns and stops and make full stops at stop signs.

Never ride on the sidewalk — sidewalk crashes are 25 times as frequent than crashes that occur on major streets. Safest are streets with bike lanes.

Ride in a straight path. If you must pull out into the lane used by drivers, turn around first to be sure the coast is clear.

If you are stopped at a light or stop sign to the right of a car or truck, the driver might not see you. Wait until the other vehicle clears the intersection before you proceed, in case the driver turns right unexpectedly.

Try to make eye contact with drivers before you change lanes or turn left.

Don’t weave in and out of parked cars. Although this is challenging in cities like New York, try to ride at least three feet — and preferably five feet — from parked cars to avoid being “doored.” Be alert to drivers and passengers who may be about to get out of cars, as well as to cars about to pull out of parking spots — they may not see you.

Protect yourself. Always wear a properly fitted bike helmet, one that sits firmly and level on your head, covering half your forehead.

Be visible. Wear brightly colored clothing in daylight (though I was wearing an electric blue running suit when I was hit and the driver still failed to see me); when riding in the dark, wear light-colored clothing and a reflector vest.

If you cycle at night, you are supposed to have a white headlight and red taillight (preferably a blinking one) so drivers can see you.

Scan the road 100 feet ahead for possible hazards. When approaching a pedestrian, ring your bell or call out “hey” or “excuse me.”

Do not cycle wearing headphones or while using a cellphone. If you must make or take a call, pull over to the roadside and stop.

Now, get out on that bike and be lean and green.

What else is there to say?

~ms