Pedalaround

Join People For Bikes after you watdh this video.

2012-01-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

If you're already a bike geek, you'll get a lot of laughs out of this video. If you're just getting into cycling, you'll soon find out why this video is so funny! Join People For Bikes.

Day 870 of My Car-Free Experiment – Where The Sidewalk Ends

2012-01-26T15:25:00.000-08:00

This is Day 870 of My Car-Free Experiment. Two years, 4 months and 18 days ago I sold my Volvo station wagon and began paying more attention to my transportation habits.

The Experiment has turned out not to be the shock to my system one would imagine because I was only rarely using my car during the years leading up to 09/09/09. I had been commuting to work by bicycle. I used the TARC bus system when necessary. And besides, I'm one large primate who enjoys taking urban hikes to shopping, movies, restaurants and pubs, haircuts, and errands – even in the rain and snow.


This is no way to invite our obese population to get moving.

But all too often I find that my hiking trips are interrupted by sidewalks that are either crumbling in decay or ending abruptly in weeds and mud.

If you've been following this blog very long, you may have read my tirade on this subject many times. It still baffles me that our local, state and national leaders don't connect the dots between our growing public health crisis and the sad shape of our public sidewalks.

But instead of bold plans to renew our active transportation grid, we now have wave after wave of congressional pressure to cut funding for sidewalks, bikeways and other so-called "transportation enhancements." In fact, there's a good chance that the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on such a measure in the next few days.

Support for a sidewalk on Brownsboro Rd.

This shameful state of our most basic infrastructure again came to my attention twice yesterday.

First, as I took a hike from Crescent Hill to Shelbyville Road Plaza yesterday morning. Later in the day I attended a public meeting about the Brownsboro Road reconfiguration – a project that would include a sidewalk for which advocates have waited a generation!

Still, a few residents and businesses along the route apparently believe the "road diet" will seriously slow their car travel and somehow restrict commerce. They've raised objections. So a crowd showed up at the School for the Blind auditorium for a public meeting to allay their fears. Currently, the only way to travel on this stretch of the road is by car. To walk or bike is clearly dangerous.

Why we need sidewalks and bikeways more than ever

If this country is serious about lowering health care costs, creating strong local economies, putting money back in peoples' pockets, getting folks back to work, improving air quality and reducing our dependence on oil, you need look no further than our city sidewalks for many of the solutions.

We could start by moving some meaningful highway funding into creation of a robust active transportation grid. This would pay off quickly by reducing the heart risk of Americans who could start walking and riding bikes where they now feel it's either impossible or unsafe.

Remember, as little as 20 minutes of daily moderate exercise like walking or biking reduces heart risk by 50 percent, according to the American Heart Association.

Why not ake away subsidies the oil companies don't need and use that money for bicycle superhighways like the ones in European countries, where healthcare costs per capita are a small fraction of ours – and life expectancy is far greater.

But if we're ever to get leadership to connect the dots and create the grid, we first need a constituency that puts pressure on officials to make it happen. Today's highway construction, oil, and auto manufacturing lobbies all but drown out the bike and pedestrian advocates.

Here's a way to turn up the volume for bike and pedestrian facilities:

Join Bicycling for Louisville, or your local bike and pedestrian advocacy group.
Join People for Bikes, a national movement to build a constituency around bicycling as a simple solution to many of our most costly problems – energy, economy, sustainability, air quality, climate change, health care and more.
Keep up to date on efforts to cut funding for bike and pedestrian facilities by routinely checking the League of American Bicyclists website.

ACT RIGHT NOW!

The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, the long awaited multi-year Transportation bill, is up for a vote next Thursday. It eliminates the two largest programs that fund biking and walking infrastructure — Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. Without these programs, communities all over the country will lose resources to build the sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways that make biking and walking safe and accessible in communities across the country.

And walking!

We can’t let that happen – take action now and ask your elected officials to preserve biking and walking. Here's why:

Biking and walking are essential parts of everyday transportation in the U.S., and turning off federal funding for projects that keep Americans safe would represent a significant step backwards.
Federal funding for biking and walking keeps people safe. Two out of three pedestrian deaths take place on roads built with federal funding, and new sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways help end preventable deaths and make roads safer for everyone.
Moreover, biking and walking make up 12 percent of all trips, but only 1.5 percent of all federal transportation funding.

America Bikes is working in conjunction with their partners to introduce an amendment that will preserve funding for biking and walking. During Thursday’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee vote in the House, Representatives will have the opportunity to pass this amendment to save biking and walking.

To learn more about this issue and keep up-to-date as the bill moves forward, visit americabikes.org. And please, don’t forget to take action and share the action alert to your fellow bicyclists and others who appreciate the need for healthy, active communities.

Grace. Peace. Bicycle Grease!

Kirk

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

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Enjoy the ride home.

©Kirk M. Kandle

Brownsboro 'Road Diet' under attack - Action Alert!

2012-01-20T12:34:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my good friend and uber-cyclist David Morse for passing along this call to action.

SAVE THE DATE: Wed., Jan. 25.

Some parties are organizing against the Brownsboro Road Diet. This is bad for all of us because we need so-called road diets to calm speeding traffic on Louisville's arterials ... and to make room for much needed sidewalks and bike lanes. Please get involved!

You Can Help. Just show Up and Speak Up.

Who	You and all the friends you're about to invite... (facebook).
What	Rock the 9th District Community Forum
When	Wednesday, Jan 25 Forum starts: 6 p.m. Diet topic starts: 6:20~6:30 p.m.?
Where	Kentucky School for the Blind Auditorium 1867 Frankfort Avenue (google map) (TARC #15, #19)
Why	Walking without Fear
How	Applaud the presentation. Wear one of our stickers. If there's opportunity to comment, come forward and say "I Support the Sidewalk and Road Diet

So, What's the 'Brownsboro Road Diet?'

The Brownsboro Road Diet adds a center turn lane and a sidewalk by removing redundant travel lanes. The project extends from Drescher Bridge Road to Ewing Ave on lower Brownsboro Road – about 3,000 feet.

This segement of sidewalk has been notably missing since US-42 was widened prior to the era of public participation in transportation planning. The road widening spree destroyed much of Louisville's neighborhoods' functionality. For the past 30 years, residents have been trying to put the street back in shape for safe walking.

Road Diets reduce overall crash frequency by 19% to 43%¹. That's because traffic moves at the speed of the most prudent driver.

Road diets have been installed successfully at hundreds of locations all around the country. Locally, they have been successful both at Southwestern Parkway and Eastern Parkway, with another planned for Grinstead Drive. Road diets on roads with Brownsboro's traffic volume cause motorist no real delay – certainly less than stop lights that would be needed to build a crosswalk to the other side of the road, or the delay associated with the on-street parking further west on the road.

LouisvilleKY.gov has additional information about the project, and about the 9th district forum (pdf). The Coalition for the Advancement of Regional Transportation (CART) has covered this project several times, including a nearly identical situation last spring.

http://cartky.org/mailman/listinfo/bike_cartky.org

Join Bicycling for Louisville and get involved in advocacy for active transportation in our city.

Also, Occupy Bike Seats! it's a movement that's going somewhere for a change. If you're interested in joining, go to http://OccupyBikeSeats.com, read my OBS Manifesto, sign in and sign up for free. You'll also find links to some of my favorite advocacy organizations everyone should support, including Bicycling for Louisville, League of American Bicyclists, Bikes Belong and People for Bikes.

Grace. Peace. Bicycle Grease!

Kirk

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

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Enjoy the ride home.

Update: John B. made good on his car-free pledge.

2012-01-05T15:28:00.001-08:00

That's John, driving with a burger in hand.

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe I started my Car-Free Experiment 849 days ago. That's 2 years, 3 months and 28 days – or if you prefer:

73,353,600 seconds
1,222,560 minutes
20,376 hours
121 weeks (rounded down)

Way back on Day Nine of the Experiment, in September 2009, I was already getting encouragement from a long list of friends. Among them was John Berlejung, a long way from home. That's him in the front of the tank, driving through Baghdad – and eating a cheeseburger! On Sept. 24, 2009, John wrote to this blog:

"Look at my mad skills, eating a burger and driving a tank simultaneously [photo taken back in 2003 during first deployment]. All I needed was a cell phone and I would have been a typical American motorist. I'm going to attempt to be car-free when I get out of this hell hole. I doubt it will be successful, but it's worth a shot!" – John Berlejung, Camp Deutsch, Baghdad, Iraq.

Well, John made good on his car-free pledge after he arrived back from his second tour in Iraq. Only recently he finally bought a car to drive to his classes at IU Southeast and for out-o-town trips. He's scheduled to complete a double major focused on environmental science next fall term.

But wait. There's more. In addition to work and studies, John has found time to build a velomobile. It's kind of like a super sub-compact, bicycle-powered car. We met for lunch today and I got a good close look. The machine is uber-cool to look at and features 27-speed gearing that lets John pull some pretty fair hills. The faring is all aluminum with more than a thousand rivets secured by hand.

"I take the velmobile everywhere in town. I get about double the mileage on my velomobile that I put on my car," he said.

Check out these photos of John's new tank:


John Berlejung and his hand-built velomobile.

The sticker says it all!

Out of one tank and into another.

No cheeseburger this time?

Ready to roll.

Some electrical work remains to activate turn signals.

John formed and riveted all the sheet metal by hand.

Pulling onto Payne St.

A note on this first post of 2012: In case you're wondering if I was just goofing off throughout December, the answer is mixed. I did enjoy some winter night rides with a mostly over-the-hill posse. In addition, I've been working on Occupy Bike Seats, a movement that's going somewhere for a change. If you're interested in joining, go to http://OccupyBikeSeats.com, read my OBS Manifesto, sign in and sign up for free. You'll also find links to some of my favorite advocacy organizations everyone should support, including Bicycling for Louisville, League of American Bicyclists, Bikes Belong and People for Bikes.

Grace. Peace. Bicycle Grease!

Kirk

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

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Enjoy the ride home.

Public Meeting to Discuss Bikeway through Old Louisville

2011-12-06T16:32:00.001-08:00

The idea is to get at least one safe route for bicycles between Belknap Campus and the UofL Medical School.
OccupyBikeSeats is all about it!

Time to Celebrate! Louisville's First Parking Space For Bicycles!

2011-11-23T14:34:00.001-08:00

New Bike Rack Installed in Clifton Neighborhood – Councilwoman Tina Ward-Pugh puts the finishing touches on a new bike rack at Frankfort Avenue and N. Keats Avenue that takes up a public parking space next to The Irish Rover.

Here's one more reason why Louisville's Ninth District is called "The Green Triangle." On the day before Thanksgiving, Councilwoman Tina Ward Pugh, some dedicated Metro Public Works bike advocates, and a generous volunteer placed a serious bicycle rack in the parking lot adjacent to The Irish Rover on Frankfort Ave. near Keats.

While as much as $300 billion is spent each year in America on free and subsidized parking for motorists, precious little is ever invested in bicycle parking to encourage people to make short trips by bicycle.

This an example of how easy it is to convert just one car space into six or even 12 bike spaces. Cities around the globe have discovered that installing quality bike parking can improve cash flow and add to livable communities. Now Louisville is making the first steps toward the same success for health, clean air, energy independence and financial prosperity.

The Councilwoman cuts the ribbon!

I'll be watching to see if bicyclists flock to this spot – if only to support the concept of serious bicycle parking in Louisville. I'm betting that similar installations will follow along Bardstown Rd. and other popular retail corridors. You'll find my bike parked here when I visit the Rover for my occasional pint of Guinness. This is just one more reason to support my favorite pub!

Ninth District Councilwoman Tina Ward Pugh, Dirk Goin and Rolf Eisinger of Metro Public Works and Peter Burkhart of St. Matthews Fence were on hand for the bike space installation.

If you're not a bicyclist, you may not appreciate what a monumental achievement this really is. Let me put this in perspective.

As motorists we expect free and subsidized parking everywhere. If you can't park free, you're disappointed – or you're not going there. It's the biggest public welfare program in the history of civilization. As a nation, we spend far more on free and subsidized parking for motorists than we do on Medicare or the national defense, if you don't count the wars in oil rich nations. I'm not kidding!

It's a first!

So it's a very big deal when we get even one space dedicated to bicycles. By the way, for each and every one of the nearly half-billion privately owned motor vehicles in America there are at least five free or publicly subsidized parking spaces waiting for you to use.

In Louisville, Kentucky, this is the first parking space I know of that's just for bicycles. Now that's something to celebrate!

Grace. Peace. Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

'OCCUPY BIKE SEATS'– A Movement that's going somewhere for a change!

2011-11-21T11:13:00.000-08:00

A MOVEMENT THAT'S GOING SOMEWHERE FOR A CHANGE

I've decided to start my own movement and I hope you'll help it gain traction quickly. I'm calling it "OCCUPY BIKE SEATS!" Here's my Manifesto:

I'm not alone in my urgency to get more people out of their cars and using their own power for short trips – and about 40 percent of trips can be walked, pedaled, or ridden by bus. When you make that step toward better health and energy independence, you become part of a visible and vocal constituency that has the potential to drown out the oil economy lobbyists who nullify our votes. And you'll have fun doing it.

Well, guess what? There are lots of organizations who are like me, wanting you to be part of their growing voice for better government that's free of lobbying influence. One big difference: They always want you to send money you probably don't have right now.

One recent example: I just received a solicitation from the Wilderness Society that raises some really important points about the sovereignty of individual citizens in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. Bill Meadows, the organization's president wonders if the following makes sense to voters and taxpayers like you and me:

We taxpayers help pay for $10 billion [I think it's a lot more] in government subsidies to the oil, coal and natural gas industries each year.

Companies like Exxon Mobil and Shell are seeing a robust increase in profits. Exxon Mobil just reported quarterly earnings of $10.3 billion, a surge of 41% from last year and Shell's net income rose to $6.98 billion from $3.46 billion in the same period in 2010.

These companies then turn around and spend more than $100 million on Washington lobbyists to protect their subsidies and lobby for more drilling. In 2010, that paid for 802 oil and gas lobbyists.

And then, those lobbyists, in the name of energy independence, demand that we open up millions of acres of pristine American lands and wildlife habitat, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, to drilling.
[Then Mr. Meadows asks me to SEND MONEY to become part of a constituency – a voice of opposition and reason. He continues:]

We don’t have 800 lobbyists, but we have someone much better – you. The Wilderness Society is half a million strong. Our scientists and other wilderness experts work in Washington and with local communities from coast to coast. Our Wild Alerts online community mobilizes thousands of messages to Congress and other decision makers each week.

Look, I'd love to send Mr. Meadows a check, but I can't keep up with the oil companies and the various industry groups who have armies of lobbyists and lawyers who make six and seven figure incomes. And now that the Supreme Court has ruled that money is free speech in election campaign coffers, I'm even more convinced that we can't win on any of these life-and-death issues on the basis of influence peddling. They'll kick our ass every time. That's why they're the one percent and we're the 99 percent. So, the best and most effective means of winning back our environment, our streets, our economy, our resources, our lives, is to show up in the spirit of Occupy Wall Street. I'M STARTING A NEW MOVEMENT– "OCCUPY BIKE SEATS"

Every time you show up on a bike seat in the street– NOT on the sidewalks – you make a powerful statement about healthy living, the environment, oil profits, energy independence, reverence for our planet, and taking back your personal power to make things change.

The bicycle is an amazing machine that has been called "the noblest invention" for good reason. Before it was overshadowed by the automobile, early in the previous century, the bicycle brought a brand of personal mobility and freedom this nation hasn't seen since those happy days.

I'm not suggesting that the bicycle is THE answer to all our ills. There is no silver bullet. But when people in growing numbers begin taking charge of their own mobility – even just for short trips – our communities will become more livable, our leaders will need to respond with safe routes for pedestrians and cyclists, we'll no longer be carjacked by industry groups and their lobbyists.

But perhaps more important than all that, we become a powerful, visible constituency with sovereign human power to make the kinds of changes that are way overdue. And instead of costing money, we save money every time we OCCUPY BIKE SEATS.

You don't have to show up in New York or D.C. to change your world. Just OCCUPY BIKE SEATS.

Join us on Facebook and watch for updates here. Finally, a movement that isn't just sitting around waiting for something to happen! You can be part of a movement that's actually going somewhere.

Make a pledge today to take short trips by bike or by boot.

Grace. Peace. Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

Humana's B-cycle on the cover of American Bicyclist

2011-11-14T11:45:00.001-08:00

Humana's B-cycle on the cover!

Just a few days ago I wrote about Louisville's new B-cycle bike-sharing system and all about how it grew out of Humana's Freewheelin' program that started back in 2007 and sparked a movement. Then today, lo and behold, I find that my new copy of the League of American Bicyclists' magazine features a B-cycle bike on the cover! The current issue's cover story is BIKE SHARING!

The lead article by Meghan Cahill gives credit to Humana's Freewheelin' program at the 2008 Democratic National Convention for spawning Denver Bike Share's citywide, credit card operated B-cycle system that rolled out in April 2010.

The article in American Bicyclist notes that bike sharing is popping up in major metros like Boston, Chicago, and New York, as well as some smaller cities. The bottom line on all of this: "... they're getting people to take short trips by bicycle and are changing the outlook for transportation in America," according to the piece.

Cited in the article's roundup on bike-sharing programs are Denver, Chicago, Madison and Des Moines B-cycle programs, all of which are Humana partnerships with Trek Bicycles and Crispin Porter + Bogusky, an advertising firm. Broward County, Florida's B-cycle system is expected to open soon with about 200 bikes in 30 stations.

Louisville has three B-stations serving Humana employees downtown, with hopes of expanding as a public system sometime in the future.

To find out more, go to the B-cycle website, where you'll find a video demo of the bike sharing system and a way to vote for bike sharing where you live.

Grace. Peace. Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

A Toast To A Friend Starts With a B-cycle Parade!

2011-11-12T09:20:00.001-08:00

A toast to Trisha gets there by B-cycle.

On 11-11-11, there were two mid-day parades in downtown Louisville. The Veterans' Day Parade was well-planned and regimented, just as one would expect, complete with color guards, military bands, and even an Air Force fly-by to kick it off.

The second parade, on the other hand, demonstrated zero planning and the participants practiced nothing close to rank- and- file precision. Ours was a more spontaneous pedal-powered procession featuring 15 brand new B-cycle bikes from two of the three new bike sharing stations on Main Street.

A Most Fitting Sendoff

The riders were all Humana associates who work in the corporate tower at Fifth and Main Sts. The occasion: a lunch trip to Toast on East Market St., honoring a veteran of Humana's Innovation Center, Trisha Finnegan, who has been involved in the company's bike-sharing program practically from its inception.


Kristen Jordan, Trisha Finnegan, Scott Menne and Vicki Vogel ride to lunch honoring Trisha.

Humana first introduced a bike-sharing program called Freewheelin in 2007 as a way for its Louisville employees to get around town without cars, parking hassles, or more time-consuming long walks between downtown office buildings. Humana associates used the Freewheelin bikes to extend the range of their lunch breaks, to run short errands, and for leisurely trips on the River Walk.

In 2008, the Humana Foundation and Bikes Belong joined in a demonstration of Freewheelin as a way for delegates and residents to get around Denver and Minneapolis during the Republican and Democratic presidential nominating conventions. To see how it worked out, see this YouTube video interview with Tim Blumenthal of Bikes Belong, who calls it "the boldest and most ambitious bike-sharing, bike-loan project ever attempted in the United States."

My friend Trisha played a lead roll in making the Freewheelin project a success that went beyond all expectations. The program had a great ride at the 2008 Democratic and Republican national conventions. Freewheelers from all 50 states and various countries pedaled their way to some impressive statistics. According to Humana's website, here are the grand totals from just eight days:

7,523 bike rides
41,724 miles ridden
1,293,429 calories burned
14.6 metric tons of carbon footprint reduction

Freewheelin launched a cultural movement and philosophy that gets people involved in a personally and environmentally healthy transportation mode.

The Next Generation

If you think of Freewheelin as the cultural movement, B-cycle is the product that grew out of that movement. The B-cycle website describes it as "a next-next-generation bike-sharing program – a zero-hassle, zero-emissions way to get around town." It adapts to any size city, corporation, or campus. And B-cycle is the only bike-sharing program that measures the actual distance traveled on each ride and keeps track of the calories you’ve burned and the carbon emissions you’ve prevented. All this information is available on your personal B-cycle web page. B-cycle has programs up and running across the United States.

WHO WANTS BIKE SHARING MORE?

B-cycle currently is available only to Humana employees with a B-card. You can go to the B-cycle website to see where the program is running in other cities – and you can vote to get B-cycle in your area. To find out how B-cycle works, check out the video.

Currently in Louisville, three bike-sharing B-stations are available only for Humana employees with a B-card that automatically unlocks the B-cycles. The program can be expanded to serve specific neighborhoods or cities of any size.

Trisha Finnegan's contribution as a pioneer in the bike sharing movement in America is just one of her many achievements. That she went to lunch on her last day at Humana on a B-cycle is just flat-out cool as it gets! Good luck to Trisha as she follows her dreams.

Grace. Peace. Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

WOW! Study Shows Bike Friendly Cities Save Billions!

2011-11-09T20:24:00.000-08:00

Gay Windsor, 83, loves to bike.

Earlier this year I learned that the District of Columbia, our nation's capitol, manages to hang onto more than $127 million in the local economy each year because Metro Transit and bikeways have allowed citizens to get around with 15,000 fewer cars, even while the population increased by 16,000 in the period studied.

Sounds like a pretty good model for the mayors of our cities to copy in these hard times, right?

People ride more bikes. They walk and use transit. And by doing so, they keep more dollars in their pockets to spend in the local economy. Everybody wins!

But wait, there's more – a lot more!

University of Wisconsin researchers have found that bicycling could answer many of our cities' environmental and health problems. There's a lot of buzz in the blogosphere about a report published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. It shows that if Mid-westerners replaced half of their short trips with bicycle trips during the warmest six months of the year, they could save about $3.8 billion annually just from staying alive and not leaning so heavily on the health care system for treatment of conditions like obesity and heart disease.

The report projected savings of $7 billion from 1,100 lives spared each year due to better air quality and increased personal fitness.

Alice Hoffmeyer, 75, rides across Iowa 25th time!

The Wisconsin researchers looked at bike trips of 2.5 miles and less than 25-minutes one way. With nearly seven of every 10 car trips in our cities shorter than two miles, it's not exactly stretching the human imagination to think that cycling could replace many of those short car trips and provide just the kind of daily exercise most of us are missing.

And what a great way to improve air quality!

Common sense?

It's no secret that more activity will lead to longer, healthier lives and cleaner air in our cities. I could have told you that and saved a big university research grant! But the Wisconsin study does more than just make the assumption, it digs into the results cities in the upper Midwest might expect when they encourage cycling.


Leonard Jefferson lost 100 pounds.

The research shows economic and health benefits of switching from a car to a bike for trips shorter than five miles in 11 metros. After pulling together data on air pollution, medical costs, death rates, car crashes, and physical activity, they discovered that switching to bikes for just half of our short trips could yield $3.5 billion per year – just from the better air we'd be breathing.

Add $3.8 billion in savings from reduced health care costs when we start getting more fit and have fewer deaths in car crashes.

Jonathan Patz, a co-author of the study, told National Public Radio the results are actually on the conservative side. The study assumed that citizens of northern metros would likely only bike about 120 days per year. But some cities like Minneapolis have ramped up their bikeways and are seeing growing numbers of cyclists throughout the year. The report notes that a study of cities in more moderate zones may see even greater savings.

Now that there's credible research that there might be big money in it for cities, when will we start seeing some real funding for pedestrian and bike infrastructure? And how quickly will cities begin rolling out the red carpet for pedestrians, cyclists and bus riders?

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

I Bike. I Vote. So, Now What?

2011-11-08T18:41:00.000-08:00

I Bike. I Vote. So Now What?

Now that you've cast your vote, make sure your elected officials protect your basic freedom of mobility.

I hope you believe as I do that here in the most powerful and prosperous nation on earth we should have the most elegant transportation choices on the entire planet. But you and I know this isn't true.

Not only do we have a serious backlog of critically needed road and bridge repair, funding for sidewalks and bikeways are increasingly threatened by politicians who don't understand that when America uses human powered transportation we're all better off.

The following was just posted by Darren Flusche of the League of American Bicyclists. I'm re-posting it here simply to let you know that your vote is just the first step. Now, please hold your elected officials accountable for healthier, wealthier and stronger communities with more transportation choices.

When America Bikes, America Benefits.
From San Francisco to Bentonville, Arkansas, and from Oklahoma City to New York City, communities are increasingly investing in bicycling and walking infrastructure and programs to support popular, healthy and cost‐effective transportation. These investments – made possible by dedicated federal transportation dollars – are working:

Commuting trips by bike have increased nationwide by more than 40% since 2000; bicycling and walking now account for 12% of all trips in the United States.

Thousands of Safe Routes to School programs are reducing congestion and improving safety in communities across the country.

Recreational trails are heavily used and provide crucial economic benefits, especially in rural communities. A transportation bill designed to efficiently move America in this new century should continue to include dedicated funding to create safe and accessible places for people to bike and walk.

Since 2005, a total of just 1.5 percent of annual federal transportation funding has been devoted to supporting these activities. Biking and walking not only comprise more than 12 percent of all trips but also account for 14 percent of annual traffic fatalities.

Dedicated funding for bike/ped projects – one or two cents of every dollar – is a time‐tested, popular, and effective approach to building a truly multi‐modal national transportation system that offers choice, safety and access for all.

Increasing the safety and use of non‐motorized transportation reduces congestion, saves lives and money, protects the environment … and creates more jobs per million dollars of investment than highway‐only projects: exactly what MAP‐21 should be trying to do.

Dedicated funding for bicycling and walking enjoys broad support at all levels of Government. Less than one week ago, 60 Senators voted in bi‐partisan support of preserving the Transportation Enhancement program – the third such vote in support of the program this year. At the state level, transportation enhancement, safe routes to school and recreational trails programs typically receive at least three times more requests for funding than is available. In May, a survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors showed solid support among Mayors for funding of bicycling and walking infrastructure.

America Bikes is a coalition of leaders from the bicycle community advocating for positive outcomes for bicycling in the federal transportation bill.

Darren Flusche
League Policy Analyst
Flusche joined the League in April 2009 and has a B.A. in history from Syracuse University and a Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in public policy analysis from New York University.

Please contact your elected officials at every level and let them know that robust funding in support of biking and walking is good public policy. It's good for public health, safety, security and more livable communities.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

Day 789 of My Car-free experiment

2011-11-06T21:15:00.000-08:00

Don't wait for safe streets. Occupy Bike Seats.

My Car-Free Experiment has a long way to go before it approaches the quantitative and qualitative excellence achieved by some of my fellow walking and biking advocates and friends. A few who come to mind are Katie McBride and David Morse, Amanda Fuller and Justin Mog,

And Barry Zalph has never even owned a car!

So, by now, My Car Free Experiment is old news – no big deal except to me. But in case anyone's still interested in counting, it's been 789 days since 09-09-09, when I sold my car on Craigslist, started My Car-Free Experiment and ramped up writing this weblog.

That was two years, 1 month and 29 days ago – including today.

Or, if you prefer ...

789 days can be converted to one of these car-free units:

68,169,600 seconds
1,136,160 minutes
18,936 hours
112 weeks (rounded down)

So, what have I learned in more than two years of getting around under my own power?

These past two years have galvanized my belief that we don't have an energy shortage in this country. We have a fatigue surplus! And because fatigue mimics tiredness, most of our people are resistant to walking and cycling. If we already feel tired, we're not going to be convinced that riding a bike for short trips is a good idea. But just try it for 30 days and you're very likely to get hooked. You arrive at your destination energized – not drained.

I learned that starting with short trips can lead to, well, some pretty long trips. If you have reasonably good health and the desire to go, you can ride a bicycle across the United States – or even around the world. My 4,600-mile solo journey last summer surprised me as much as anyone else. It all starts with short trips – and the TransAmerica Trail is nothing more than a series of short trips.

I found out that the human comfort zone has diminished. We're determined to stay put in a narrow window of 68 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit, with comfort-controlled offices, homes, shopping and cars. When you use a bike or your boots for travel between places in winter, you use loose layers of amazing fabrics to create your own envelope. Your engine fires up a head of steam that gets you where you want to go and keeps you reasonably warm. Summer heat – as intense as it has been in recent years, just requires more fluid intake and a bandanna to mop the brow. My comfort zone has expanded to tolerate 105 F and -5 F - at least for short trips.

There's a lot more to tell you about this experience. I've learned that we spend way too much of our hard-earned money and too many days of our working life paying for automobiles, while our sidewalks are in disgraceful shape and most of us are afraid to ride bikes on our streets.

This is a personal health and wealth experiment. But in a broader sense, creating more walkable and bike-friendly neighborhoods is a public policy issue that has serious health, safety and even national security implications. If we find ourselves suddenly without oil, our whole nation is likely to grind to a halt. Our cities and towns can't remember how they ever managed without the exoskeleton of the automobile.

But the good news is everywhere. Until a couple of years ago, I could commute downtown by bicycle and never see another cyclist. Today, in all kinds of weather, you'll see at least a few hardy souls pedaling through the puddles. It's clear that Louisville is an emerging bike town. The only thing that's holding us back is personal will. We can't wait for the infrastructure to be in place before we take the risk to bike and walk for short trips. We're years away from having the bikeways that will make cycling safe, so we need to become vocal and visible constituency for active transportation by being what Gandhi called "the change we want to see in the world."

When does this quit being an experiment? I'm not sure, but I think I'll know when I get there.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

Response to Senator Rand Paul – Dude, Follow Up On Your Oath!

2011-11-02T20:50:00.000-07:00

I should have known better, but yesterday I got caught up in one of those nasty online debates with a crush-big-government conservative who was trying to defend Senator Rand Paul's recent attempts to strip funding for so-called transportation enhancements. After this particular online battle I felt like taking a hot shower. Always remember: When you wrestle with a pig, you both end up covered in slop – and the pig likes it.

Here's the essential point my nemesis was defending:

On Oct. 3, Senator Rand Paul roundly condemned both "the opposition party" – did he mean Democrats? – and the existing paltry bike and pedestrian funding in his commentary in The Courier-Journal:

"A senator in leadership from the opposition party proudly told me that he would never take money from bike paths to repair bridges. That sums up many of the transportation problems in Washington."

Does it, really?

Very often decision makers are confused about the need for safe access to our roadways by users other than motorists — and these same leaders, like Senator Paul, lose sight of their role in all this.

After all, sidewalks and bikeways are basically a matter of public health, safety and national security, all of which our leaders have sworn to protect and defend. When my roadways are unsafe for walking and cycling, my elected officials prove themselves guilty of malpractice and breach of their sworn duty to protect and defend my life, liberty and safety.

Cars, trucks and their operators are licensed for good reason. Motor vehicle owners and operators are granted a privilege to drive at the expense of our people and our planet. Motorists are, as a class, the recipients of the greatest welfare program in the history of civilization. So long have they enjoyed our subsidies that they now assume they have rights or status above those who get around by their own power.

To the contrary, pedestrians and cyclists are the ones who earn special status and deserve every preference. Why? Simply because they do their part to conserve – rather than squander – the land, air, fuel, national treasure and other precious resources, while they themselves put less pressure on our overburdened health care system.

We've been carjacked for so long that our leaders and our citizens have lost track of these plain truths that challenge our current utter dependence on powerful highway builders, automakers, oil companies and other interests that amount to a giant public welfare drain that benefiits some of the richest in our society at the expense of all.

The time is way past due to start weaning our transportation monoculture away from welfare for the rich. Instead, why not divert some oil subsidies to pay for bikeways and ramp-up spending on bike-and pedestrian-friendly roadways that invite safe travel for all, improved health, strength, and energy independence.

And let's start holding leaders accountable for protecting the most vulnerable road users.

The League of American Bicyclists sent out the following email blast to members like me who helped defeat yet another shameful attempt in the U.S. Senate to strip funding for bikeways and sidewalks. This one was led by Kentucky's own Senator Rand Paul.

The League would like to thank you for taking the time to contact your Senators in response to Senator Rand Paul’s (R-KY) amendment to divert Transportation Enhancement funds to bridge repairs.

We are happy to report that 7700 people took action and the amendment was soundly defeated by of vote of 60 -38.
This was the third time in three months that we had to ask you to help in the fight to protect the Transportation Enhancements program by reminding your Senators that this program is a critical and beneficial transportation program.

So far, they’re hearing us, but we still to have to remain vigilant in the coming months.

Thank you for your continued support!

There are a great many reasons why Kentucky is the sixth most obese state in the United States. And there are a great many reasons why Louisville is among the 20 most dangerous places to walk in the entire nation. And there are a great many reasons why our city ranks at the bottom of the National Fitness Index.

Add Senator Rand Paul to the long list of reasons why active transportation like walking and riding a bicycle account for less than one percent of our everyday trips to destinations within two miles.

Now, what can we do about it?

Grace. Peace. Bicycle Grease.

Kirk

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

Active Living Conference: Focuses on Health

2011-10-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

This Tuesday, Oct. 25, explore how your community can be healthier through active living!

I hope you'll attend the Healthy Hometown Movement’s quarterly Active Living Conference to learn how community design can create opportunities for walking, bicycling and all forms of physical activity. Everything from the location of stairways in buildings to the layout of streets and sidewalks can influence our ability to lead active, healthy lives. Whether you’re an avid bicyclist or casual walker, you're invited.

No charge. No RSVP. Just show up. Here are all the details. Oh, did I mention that I'm a panelist?

Active Living Conference: Advocacy
Tuesday October 25th 4:30-6:00pm
400 E Gray St.

Learn more:
http://www.louisvilleky.gov/HealthyHometown/activeliving/

Louisville Should make bold moves – Starting with Grinsetead Dr. road diet

2011-10-16T17:33:00.000-07:00

OK, for those who may have missed it, there's still time to dash out and grab a copy of The Highlander neighborhood monthly. I'm on the cover of the October issue because my pal, Michael Jones asked me to sit for an interview about something other than bicycles and sustainability for a change. Check it out HERE.

But that's not what I'm here to talk about. I have this other obsession that's totally unrelated to bicycling. It's a legendary moment in the 1932 World Series, when Babe Ruth predicted his home run in the fifth inning of the third game. That's the focus of the article Michael wrote in The Highlander. And next month, in the November issue, I have an article running in the same publication. My piece will be about the evolution of my neighborhood's main corridor, Frankfort Ave. Don't miss it. Shameless plug, I know.

So, what does any of this have to do with pedaling around? You'll see. Read on.

I'm fortunate to live in Crescent Hill, just a block from Frankfort Ave. Crescent Hill is one of the most livable– and walkable – neighborhoods in Louisville. Don't get me wrong, I spent some magical high school years in the Highlands, so I have a soft spot for that whole Bardstown Road experience, too. Which brings me right back around to my favorite subject – BICYCLES!

And more specifically, this edition of pedalaround is intended to draw your focus to the main route that gets me from Frankfort Avenue to Bardstown Road and back again – Grinstead Drive.
It's a crazy racetrack with S-curves that are particularly deadly. More than 1o0 wrecks occur each year on a one-mile stretch of Grinstead – between Bardstown Road and Cherokee Parkway. And if you're on a bicycle – especially at night through those curves – you better say your prayers. Pedestrians, duck and cover. Grinstead is one of the reasons we live in the 19th most dangerous place to walk in the entire nation.

Some motorists believe that stretch of road should be widened. It's already four lanes. So, should we make it six? Some smart transportation planners think we should go the other way and put Grinstead on a "road diet" that would narrow it to two lanes. This makes perfect sense. Don't forget the road passes along Collegiate's campus at Glenmary Ave.

I think the idea of a road diet to slow traffic makes perfect sense, but I wouldn't stop there. It makes even more sense to go all the way past Lexington Road and on to Stilz with a plan to turn Grinstead into a grand promenade with extra-broad sidewalks, a bikeway, extra lighting and plenty of park-like benches for rest stops.

I invite you to walk this route with me sometime and you'll see what a glorious experience the whole stretch would be if we put in place some real amenities. It's way overdue. We need to roll out the red carpet for pedestrians and bicyclists. YES, WE SHOULD SHOW PREFERENCE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE WILLING TO USE THEIR OWN POWER TO STAY HEALTHY, KEEP THE AIR CLEAN, REDUCE TRAFFIC CONGESTION, TAKE PRESSURE OFF OUR HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, AND MAKE US LESS DEPENDENT ON FOSSIL FUEL.

Right now you'll find much of Grinstead practically impassable – unless you're in a speeding automobile. I photographed the disgraceful condition of the sidewalks one evening and it made me angry to think that we care so little for the active health of our city's residents and visitors.

I keep asking how it can be that the most prosperous and powerful nation on earth doesn't have the most elegant and efficient transportation choices on in the world.

I've used the Grintead route for years to traverse the edge of Cherokee Park by bike and walking. I use it to visit with friends, catch a movie at Baxter Cinemas, have a killer quesadilla and a Nitro Porter at Cumberland Brew, or share a pizza with friends at Wick's. I believe many others would do likewise.

Don't get me wrong; I hold a certain loyalty for my Green Triangle, here in Crescent Hill. It has just about everything I need within a few blocks. But variety is, after all, the spice of life. I like to mix it up in my old Highlands neighborhood, too.

Lately, Grinstead Drive has been the subject of some serious discussion. The road diet approach is up for debate. And the funding sources are continually shrinking. But this is one huge opportunity for our mayor and Metro Council to raise the bar for health, safety and sustainability. Let's be creative and find some way to fund a Grinstead Grand Promenade that offers deluxe human-scale transportation options all the way from Stilz to Bardstown Rd.

A pedestrian and cycling corridor alongside Cherokee Park golf course, Cave Hill Cemetery, the Seminaries and the Louisville Water Company property would be a spectacular achievement to encourage active transport in a community that ranks at the bottom of the National Fitness Index. It may take something more than arm-twisting for local leaders to find funds for such a project. But in the nation's sixth most obese state, we need to do something spectacular to get people moving before health expenses bankrupt our personal and public finances. In other words, we can't afford to do otherwise.

The newest attraction on Frankfort Ave. is Comfy Cow, a fantastic ice cream parlor. I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream. I'm just glad my bicycle runs on banana splits!

This isn't the first time I've written about this Grinstead Promenade idea. Back on June 4, I tripped on a rotten sidewalk and decided to take photos of the whole ugly mess between Crescent Hill and Bardstown Road. Here's some of what I found:

Grace. Peace. Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

Motorists and Cyclists May Need a Road Rules Refresher

2011-09-27T12:37:00.000-07:00

Our city streets often look more like a racetrack, and judging by the actions of some motorists and cyclists I observe daily, we can all benefit from a review of our rules and responsibilities. This video is from Illinois, but it works just as well here.

By the way, adults aren't allowed to ride on sidewalks in Kentucky. If you think it's safer, you're dead wrong. Get a helmet. Light up your bike. Take a confident cycling class. Get out in the traffic lane and obey the rules of the road!

Before Louisville can become a truly bike-friendly city, motorists and cyclists must become aware of their rights and responsibilities on the road – and play nice!

GRACE. PEACE. BICYCLE GREASE.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

Moving Planet, Moving Louisville Promotes "Local Motions"

2011-09-25T14:06:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Drew Foley and all the other organizers of Saturday's Moving Planet, Moving Louisville event at Jefferson Square. It turned out to be a great afternoon.

The rally put Louisville on the map of cities and towns all across the globe seeking ways to reduce fossil fuel dependence through “Local Motions.”

I felt an excitement like the first Earth Day in the air – and an added thrill at being invited to speak – kind of like a warm-up act at a rock concert. My remarks were scheduled in the lineup way ahead of Congressman John Yarmuth's. The Congressman, incidentally, is a member of the Congressional Bike Caucus. He gets it. His talk was mainly about the uphill battle on Capitol Hill to keep the Tea Party from stripping away environmental safeguards in their zeal to achieve smaller federal government. Funding for sidewalks, trails, bikeways and the like are constantly under attack, too.

Anyone who knows me will attest to the fact that I don't even need an invitation to preach about cycling and active transportation choices. It takes a whole lot less than this to get me started. Invite me to stand in front of a microphone and whoa, baby! Stand back!

In this instance, I was preaching mainly to the choir. I guess a couple of hundred people showed up for the event. Most of them are cyclists or environmental activists in one way or another. Still, the podium gave me a chance to launch into one of my rants. Here's what I had to say:

"Seems that I keep asking the same question. But each time with more urgency! I invite you to ask your friends, neighbors, and community leaders the same question I'm asking:

IF OURS IS THE MOST PROSPEROUS AND POWERFUL NATION ON EARTH ... WHY DO WE NOT HAVE THE MOST ELEGANT TRANSPORTATION CHOICES ON THE PLANET?
It appears to me there's a simple cause-and-effect thing going on. Here's how it works:

It's common knowledge that our streets are too dangerous for cycling and walking. That's the effect. The cause is our out-of-control transportation monoculture.
The nineteenth century writer and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his essay Self Reliance in 1841 — "Civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet."

That was 170 years ago – more than half a century before the first automobiles. Today we see that Emerson's prophesy has come to pass with type-two diabetes robbing not only limbs, but sight, and ever-growing numbers of young lives. And because this is a public health and safety issue, I think it's a also a national security issue.

The strength of our communities and our nation is at stake. Without Safe Routes to School, improved sidewalks, bikeways and encouragement to use them, we remain carjacked!

Here in Louisville we rank at the bottom of the National Fitness Index. And NO WONDER! We're among the top 20 most dangerous places to walk in America.

How Ironic that we host the Ford IronMan competition here – and in 2013 we'll host the World Cyclocross championships – yet a majority of the citizens hosting these events are afraid to ride a bicycle to work or to other destinations within short distance of their homes.

Now is the time to make noise! For starters, we need an urgent call for:

Enforcement of speeding violations. We must slow traffic!
We need public policy that gives preference and rewards to cyclists and pedestrians who are willing to use their legs to reduce the plagues of congestion, air pollution, energy dependence and economic stagnation.

We need Safe Routes to Schools and programs to get kids and adults on bikes.

Here's an exciting fact: If we can get just 15,000 cars off the road each morning, we won't need additional expensive bridges and we'll keep more than $125 million dollars of our hard-earned money in our local economy and in our own pockets.

Right now less than one percent of local trips are made walking and riding bikes. With such small numbers using human power for mobility – and no big outcry for facilities – who's going to go out of their way to remake city streets so they're less friendly to cars and a lot more welcoming to cyclists and pedestrians?

This is the CATCH 22 that Frank Bruni wrote about a couple of weeks ago in the New York Times. Biking and walking and transit aren't convenient and attractive enough to win converts and build a political constituency. That's why we have to make some noise!

We need to get the attention of visionary leaders who can break through and create a more livable city.

We need bike parking to take the place of a sliver of the free and subsidized motor vehicle parking that's nothing short of welfare for motorists.

We need more innovations, like Humana's brilliant bike sharing program, B-cycle.

We need rapid response before we lose a generation of young people to heart disease, diabetes and other obesity-related illness.

I'd like to invite you to join Bicycling for Louisville and People for Bikes. Go online and become part of a growing constituency for sustainable, fossil-fuel-free transportation.

I recently attended a public meeting to discuss a possible bike boulevard on Brook Street, between the Belknap Campus and the Medical School. There I learned that there's no money for this kind of thing. We were told that the best we can expect is a painted bike lane two years from now.

This isn't good enough!

We deserve better.

CALL 311 METRO CALL FIVE TIMES A DAY. Today and every day ask why we can't have a bike boulevard between the medical school and Belknap Campus. It's a brilliant idea. It's cheap. Uof L wants it. Old Louisville neighborhood leaders like the idea. And we bike advocates see it as more than just a practical measure. It would be a long overdue symbol to cyclists that we have not only full permission, but outright encouragement to change the face of our city for the benefit of everyone.

Besides, motorists would still have a dozen other north-south options to travel.

In closing, thank you for being here. I'll leave you with a little homework. Please go home and tell your friends to draw a four-mile circle on a map with your home at the center. Then take the challenge to use human power to get around within that circle. If we'll all try to do this, we'll start building a more visible constituency for the funding and facilities we desperately need in Louisville..

THANK YOU!

GRACE. PEACE. BICYCLE GREASE.
PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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pedalaround.blogspot.com

Lance Is Here

2011-09-18T13:51:00.000-07:00

Lance Armstrong has hired bike advertising in advance of his arrival here in an hour or so.

Taxi hits pizza delivery cyclist

2011-09-16T16:57:00.000-07:00

The fare got upset about the delay while the driver waited for a police report. Ugh!

Revolutionary Urban Fit bike debut

2011-09-16T06:10:00.001-07:00

This bike has everything. It WILL do some sweet jumps!

In Case You Missed This Letter in The C-J ...

2011-09-13T22:29:00.001-07:00

Justin Mog's comments in Readers' Forum in The Courier-Journal made a lot of sense. I'm taking the liberty of reprinting it here without permission.

Ride bicycles

The closure of the Sherman Minton Bridge, like most shocks to the system, can be looked at as nothing more than a frustrating mess, or as a great opportunity to try something new. While the bridge is closed to cars, why not open up one lane to walkers and people on bikes?

After all, the point of a transportation system is to move people, not cars. Allowing people (without the extra ton of steel and glass that usually encases us) to continue crossing during inspections and repairs will not only facilitate mobility, and reduce traffic snarls elsewhere, but it may open people's minds to the kinds of multi-modal means of getting around that our region so desperately needs.

This could be the perfect opportunity for commuters to discover the joys, health and wealth that come from biking to work, or walking to a bus stop, or carpooling to a location on the other side of the river. And what better time of year to explore these options with World Car-Free Day coming up on Sept. 22 and Louisville's first-ever Fall Bike to Work Day on Sept. 30? There's even a Louisville Bike Commuter Challenge starting this Friday.

For those of us who do not drive -- either by intention or by lack of privilege -- it is quite ironic to hear so much grumbling about not being able to cross the river conveniently. For us, it has always been like this. So, until the Big Four's grand opening in a few years, why not give non-polluting commuters a few weeks to experience what it's like to have a safe, quiet bridge across the river? We might even pick up a few converts.

JUSTIN MOG

Louisville 40204 -

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Thanks, Justin! You said it well and you represent the views of a growing constituency.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround

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Enjoy the ride home.

pedalaround.blogspot.com

Kirk Kandle

I Bike. I Vote. Join in Support of Funding for Bicycling and Walking – Under Attack

2011-09-13T07:18:00.000-07:00

Interesting. There's only one city that ranks below Louisville, Kentucky on the National Fitness Index. That's Oklahoma City. Is it a coincidence that in just a few days, Senator Coburn (R-OK) will ask Congress to eliminate the primary source of funding for bike lanes, trails, bike racks on buses, bike education, etc.?

Maybe it's true that people in Oklahoma care least of all about obesity, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, but we shouldn't let their Senator lead the way toward even less funding for our already dismal biking and walking routes.

To put all this in perspective, here's a fact: The cost of one mile of urban highway would cover the cost of deluxe bikeways throughout Louisville for years to come. The cost of one Interstate interchange would turn Kentucky into the bike capitol of the nation, if not the world. Projects like the Big Four Bridge would ramp up active transportation choices that could get us out of our cars and into the fresh air.

The League of American Bicyclists is calling for action to stop the funding cuts.

"This isn’t safe or smart; it’s not good for the economy or the environment; this is bad health policy and bad transportation policy. But they are going to try because they don’t think bicycling matters," League leaders wrote in an e-mail blast to members.
"Even though bicycling projects create more jobs per dollar than highway-only projects and cutting enhancements won’t impact the deficit – the money just won’t be spent on bicycling – some Members of Congress want to force us backwards to a highway-only mindset. It's as if oil embargoes, congestion, smog, the obesity epidemic and climate change never happened,
"Now is the time to Save Cycling, so we are asking you to contact your Senators and urge them to support continued funding for biking and walking. Don’t let them take away this vital investment program for smart, sustainable, safe transportation choices."

Please Take Action today. Here's a link that will make it easy to contact your elected leaders: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

Thank You.

Grace. Peace. Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

Swiss Couple Bike to Worldfest

2011-09-04T07:41:00.001-07:00

At 9:15 Saturday night the 100-degree heat of the day carried into the evening, but that didn't stop Chris and Jael from rolling out on their bicycles to Worldfest, downtown. I met them on Frankfort Ave., outside Walgreens.

Chris and Jael are from Switzerland, where cycling is far more popular than here in the states. They enjoy riding here in Louisville, where Chris is a seminary student. The terrain is comparatively less hilly.

"But in this heat," I asked. Chris and Jael shrugged. It's really not so bad when you're riding, they agreed.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

My Future Interstate

2011-08-31T16:02:00.000-07:00

I Love Bike Solutions That Really WORK Like This Waterproof Donkey Boxx

2011-08-25T13:11:00.000-07:00

My friend David Crowell posted a note about his daughter's stolen bike. He mentioned that it had a Donkeybox on the back rack. I never heard of such a thing. I looked it up.

Voila! You learn something new every day. That's because smart people keep coming up with new ways to make cycling more fun and functional.

It seems there is no end to the cool accessories that allow riders to carry stuff while safely riding a bicycle. Too often people carry plastic grocery bags hanging from their handlebars. This can be dangerous. A dear friend of mine went over the handlebar and onto his face because something he was carrying got caught in his front wheel. He ended up spending several days in a hospital far from home, instead of riding his bike and having fun.

Donkeybox is the kind of product that works for cyclists in all kinds of weather. That means more days riding and fewer days complaining about the rain and snow. The mom in the video is clearly not just an actor. This is a real solution. Cool, eh?

Now, back to that stolen bicycle. Be on the lookout. If you see a bike with a Donkey Boxx on the back, see if it matches this description of the bike stolen on 8/24 from a back yard on Lynn St just off Preston:

It's a Giant Cypress ST. Donkey Boxx attached to rear rack. equipped with fenders, B&M headlight and Shimano dynohub. Schwalbe tires on Velocity Dyad rims. The bike is mostly silver. Black rear-rack and handlebars. Brass bell. David clearly loves his daughter and hooked her up with good stuff. This is not your everyday bike. Get an address and call police right away.

Grace. Peace. Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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pedalaround.blogspot.com

Pedalaround

Join People For Bikes after you watdh this video.

Day 870 of My Car-Free Experiment – Where The Sidewalk Ends

Brownsboro 'Road Diet' under attack - Action Alert!

You Can Help. Just show Up and Speak Up.

So, What's the 'Brownsboro Road Diet?'

Update: John B. made good on his car-free pledge.

Public Meeting to Discuss Bikeway through Old Louisville

Time to Celebrate! Louisville's First Parking Space For Bicycles!

'OCCUPY BIKE SEATS'– A Movement that's going somewhere for a change!

Humana's B-cycle on the cover of American Bicyclist

A Toast To A Friend Starts With a B-cycle Parade!

WOW! Study Shows Bike Friendly Cities Save Billions!

I Bike. I Vote. So, Now What?

Darren FluscheLeague Policy Analyst

Day 789 of My Car-free experiment

Or, if you prefer ...

Response to Senator Rand Paul – Dude, Follow Up On Your Oath!

Active Living Conference: Focuses on Health

Louisville Should make bold moves – Starting with Grinsetead Dr. road diet

Motorists and Cyclists May Need a Road Rules Refresher

Moving Planet, Moving Louisville Promotes "Local Motions"

Lance Is Here

Taxi hits pizza delivery cyclist

Revolutionary Urban Fit bike debut

In Case You Missed This Letter in The C-J ...

I Bike. I Vote. Join in Support of Funding for Bicycling and Walking – Under Attack

Swiss Couple Bike to Worldfest

My Future Interstate

I Love Bike Solutions That Really WORK Like This Waterproof Donkey Boxx

Darren Flusche
League Policy Analyst