Biking & Cycling

Bicycling.com has ranked the 20 most bike-friendly cities in America, with Minneapolis, Portland (OR), Boulder, Seattle, and Eugene leading the pack.

“The study surveyed only cities with 100,000 citizens or more, and was based on number of segregated bike lanes and municipal bike racks and bike boulevards, among other factors. Researchers also took into account more qualitative factors like support for a vibrant and diverse bike culture, and having ’smart, savvy bike shops.’” The Huffington Post.

Leora Broydo Vestel of Green Inc. (The New York Times) interviews U.S. Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, who recently made a stir by announcing that “bicycling and walking should be given the same consideration as motorized transport in state and local transit projects.”

LaHood responds to charges that he’s “delusional” and articulates the current American “sea change” towards “livable and sustainable communities”.

“[W]hat Americans want is to get out of their cars, and get out of congestion, and have opportunities for more transit, more light rail, more buses, and some communities are going to street cars. But many communities want the opportunity on the weekends and during the week to have the chance to bike to work, to bike to the store, to spend time with their family on a bike.

In his City Room Blog, David Goodman of The New York Times explores the subcategories of biking culture–the “utilitarian, the recreational and the competitive”–and how they will continue to coexist in the future on our crowded, urban streets.

“How should cyclists relate to cars and pedestrians? Will protected bike lanes ’segregate’ cyclists? Is Critical Mass a good or a bad form of bike advocacy? What can be done to encourage more women to ride? And, perhaps most importantly, to what extent should cyclists sacrifice style and convenience for safety? This last topic is also known as the great helmet debate.”

photo credit: pamhule

Described as “sharp-edged” and “fetishistically detailed,” the biking world’s most “acerbic” blogger–the Bike Snob–is finally revealed as 36-year-old New Yorker Eben Weiss–a former bike messenger and veteran of the publishing industry. His new book, Bike Snob: Systematically and Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling, will be published by Chronicle Books in May.

“Over his nearly three years of obsessing over, satirizing and deftly puncturing the sport of cycling, the anonymous blogger Bike Snob has made his worldview clear. He loves to ride his bike. He wants you to ride, too. Just maybe not on those florescent wheel rims. Or pedal against traffic. Or with your helmet on the handlebars. And even if it’s not fashionable, he’d like you to consider using brakes,” writes Jason Gay of The Wall Street Journal.

Downhill Freeride

Bicycle enthusiasts from Steamboat Springs, Colorado, known internationally as a top winter sports destination, are hoping in the next few years to begin leveraging the area’s already existing natural resources, in addition to adding “new trails, new terrain and, in turn, new events,” in a collective effort to market the town as a top biking destination.

“Facing a lengthy economic recession and lingering questions about the sustainability of summer tourism, and sitting atop what they swear are some of the nation’s best natural resources — summer or winter — leaders in Steamboat are seeking to add a second nickname: Bike Town USA,” writes Joel Reichenberger of Steamboat Today.

“‘Sounds corny to say synergy, or perfect storm, but it is the perfect storm,’ said Craigen, director of Routt County Riders. ‘…There’s been such a buzz in the positive direction and very little pushback. Maybe we can accelerate what might happen organically in the next 10 to 15 years into a three- to five-year plan.’”

photo credit: sharpneil

B.C. Filmmakers Derek Frankowski and Ryan Gibb are the vision behind Life Cycles, a mountain biking movie they have been shooting and editing for nearly three years. The philosophy behind the film has been to “spend time, not money… and look at what inspires people to bike.”

The filmmakers felt compelled to work with a wide selection of riders–Darren Berrecloth, Matt Hunter, Cam McCaul, Brandon Semenuk, and others. “Every rider in the movie is there for a specific reason and there is something about their riding style that we want to highlight. We want the movie to feel balanced, we don’t want too much of one aspect of riding,” says Ryan Gibb in Pinkbike.

Produced by Life Cycles

Saturday is “blowout day”: portrait of local UK rider (Rob from Plymouth, England) as part of Trunk Films Census mountain biking project–a film about the unknown riders of the UK mountain biking community.

“We’re all just grasping for the same thing… to get out on a Saturday and peddle through the forest,” Rob.

Produced by Trunk Films

Riders Lane and Miles Paxton ride trails during “Sandpoint Bike Week” in Northern Idaho.

Production by Seven.B Media

Yesterday search engine giant Google unveiled online biking directions alongside its existing mapping features, implementing a “Bike There” option to the user’s choice of directions between any two locations.

Shannon Guymon, a product manager for Google, described the functionality this way: “…[W]e wanted to include as much bike trail data as possible, provide efficient routes, allow riders to customize their trip, make use of bike lanes, calculate rider-friendly routes that avoid big hills and customize the look of the map for cycling to encourage folks to hop on their bikes.”

“Bike There” reviews from CNN, The Christian Science Monitor, and the Bicycle Times.

Mountian Biking, Kootenays

John Bradley of Outside investigates the Wilderness Act of 1964 and the long history of excluding mountain bikers from “this country’s 170,000 square miles of Wilderness.”

“Through years of misinformation, mountain bikes have gotten lumped in with ATVs, snowmobiles, and other maligned vehicles by people citing environmental concerns. But on several different metrics—erosion, runoff, soil compaction, loss of vegetation—study after study has found the trail impact of mountain bikers to be equal to or less than that caused by hikers, and far less than equestrians.”

The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA)–an advocacy group from Boulder, Colorado–is doing its best to stem the tide: “IMBA works with environmental groups, land agencies, and legislators to create nuanced ‘companion designations’ for new Wilderness areas. These congressional designations, like National Conservation Area, National Recreation Area, and National Protection Area, offer many of the same safeguards as Wilderness regulations but without the bike ban.”

photo credit: Courtney Nash