The Big Tent - Opinions in Bicycling Advocacy

The deeper I get into bicycle advocacy, the more I see that our opinions are so divergent about the correct operation of a bicycle on a roadway, building a consensus and taking action is nearly impossible. To make things worse, the people who have probably put the most thought into the matter tend to be the most impassioned and most easily dismissed by their fellow advocates, government officials and even other bicycle riders. How does one build a coalition to advocate for improving people on bikes safety and defending the use roadways, educate people who drive cars that people on bikes are allowed to be there, and in the end, increase the number of people who use bicycles in their daily lives?

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Odyssey Route: As Final as it Gets

After much stressing, and a way too busy life, the 4th of July holiday has given me time to focus on getting the map finalized. Coupled with having a pseudo-decision from Family to have a large gathering on August 15th at the "country estate". On the upside, this means I'll have an enforced rest day. Downside is it forces a 100 mile day, assuming I don't choose to sag the last 100 miles into Pittsburgh. Of course, getting to the farm also implies a bit of a northward jog. Perhaps I'll redo the route off of the water gap to remove the need to work north again on day 7. This means I now have semi-fixed dates of travel. Leaving Providence on Saturday the 8th, arriving Patchinville, PA on Friday the 14th, Arriving Pittsburgh on the 16th. Only question now is how to get back after spending a couple of days in Pittsburgh visiting friends.

There comments embedded in each days route about my expectations for that days riding, unfortunately, I wanted to keep the entire route on a single page, so I eliminated all of the routes that would have indicated the more southern route implied by following the Adventure Cycling Atlantic Route to Norristown and then catching PA Bike Route S.


View Prov to Pitt Bike Route in a larger map

Are bike racks installed and used incorrectly?

I had a paradigm shifting experience recently when I saw a bike locked to a standard "circle on a post" parking area that has me wondering if the majority of these 2 bike racks aren't oriented and used incorrectly.

Almost invariably, I would have said invariably before last week, what you see is a bike locked to one or the other sides of the rack parallel to the metal hoops that extend to make the circle. I've often found that if someone is already using the other side of the rack, there is no choice but to move their bike a bit in order to get clearance to thread the lock through rack and to take care not to accidentally create a knot of interconnecting locks.

My eureka was in seeing a a bike locked perpendicular to the extension, thereby placing the bike a little way from the post, and leaving a wide unobstructed half circle extending in the opposite direction for another person to use, without needing to in any way be concerned about the existing occupant. This seems a much more intelligent and correct way to use the rack for a number of reasons and I'm embarrassed to say that I never even thought of that, even when parking at an unoccupied rack. Another advantage is that the extended hoop gives something to lean the bike against, in the case that it doesn't have a kickstand, and that doing that lean isn't going to impede another person using the rack, or require them to touch someone else's bike and/or lock in order to park.

I suspect that part of the reason is that the racks are installed in corners and adjacent to streets with the circle jutting out in parallel to the street or wall. This doesn't leave enough space for a bike to be locked perpendicular to the rack. Add to this a conscientious cyclist who prefers to park their bikes out of the way and don't want them extending perpendicular to the curb or wall into a pedestrian walkway.



While I'm on the topic of racks, have some lovely photos of a bike rack that is too close to a wall, though of a different type, and what has got to be the worst bike rack design out there, as you can see from the bikes parked already at the on on the right. Positions are too close together, not designed for getting anything other than a cable lock (hope you have a long one) through it with whichever wheel you trust to it. I try to park outside the rack on the ends and lock the frame to it when I can, otherwise, rear well goes in to get the frame closer to the rack.


Images from Flickr/SteveVance

After doing a quick search, lots of people talk about the correct things to lock up and and how on the bike to a (semi-)permanent object, no one says how to actually position the bike with respect to a rack.

Oh, and to make this even a little bit relevant to locals, does anyone trust the new racks (parallel to the curbs!) installed around Kennedy Plaza that appear to be bolted to the bricks adjacent to the parking lane and sidewalk ramps on Exchange Terrace?

Self-Supported Odyssey planning

Setting new goals to challenge myself for the year, I've decided that one of this years cycling goals is a one week self-contained trip. I'll be making a series of posts tagged under "cycling" and "odyssey09" to share the planning and hopefully completion. For my first such trip, I've settled on cycling from Providence, RI to Pittsburgh, PA sometime in late July or early August.

I'm still gathering the equipment, thinking about how much and what gear I want to carry with me, reading a lot, and planning the route.

So far, for equipment, I'll be using my Breezer Liberty, to which I've already had added a Jannd front rack and some extra battery powered blinkies. I have a pair of sealed pannier's in the REI Novarra brand, and need to acquire another set. I haven't determined the size, as I don't konw if they would be okay as front panniers and to get a second set with larger volume, assuming using them for lighter items (clothing) or if I should invest in a set of panniers marketed as front's for their smaller size.

The route is pretty well decided, though exact details will be pretty fuzzy until the moment my wheels go by. I've been looking at a couple of different routes to intersect with the Adventure Cycling Atlantic coast route in northeast Connecticut, somewhere near North Woodstock. From there I'd follow their route as far as Norristown, PA. From there, I'm thinking to use PA Bicycle Route S to get across the state and follow the Great Allegheny Passage into the city. Since Route S follows the trail for a portion of its length, this should be okay. Hopefully I'll have a google map up with a route track on it to share soon.

I anticipate needing to do on the upper end of 60-80 miles each day in order to complete the journey in a week, have a little time to visit with friends, and then catch the train (I hope) back to Providence. I have some trepidation about being able to get the bike back home by train as I don't think that it can be checked through. One of the annoying features of Amtrak service is the lack of baggage services on many trains on the routes that I find myself using (across PA only one of the 2 trains each day has baggage service).

For the remainder of the gear, I anticipate that I'll be taking a tent for wet/cool nights, a small hammock for warm nights and a small stove. From reading Ken Kifer's anecdotes and suggestions, I'm hoping to do a little back country camping, at least in Connecticut where campgrounds are not located at suitable distances for my use. I also need to figure out in the next couple of months if a smaller tent would be a good investment. I'm hoping to do a couple of weekend or overnight excursions within the state to test my gear and loading choices. Expect updates as those occur.

To supplement any printed maps I take, I'm hoping to use a GPS device with maps along the way to help resolve last minute routing decisions, assist when lost, or really need to find something like a motel or McDonalds (for the bathroom, of course). The problem I'm foreseeing with any of the electronics I might bring is keeping them charged. I've considered purchasing a portable solar charger, such as one of the models from Solio. Since I expect the device to be off most of the time, I might be able to go a whole week on a single charge, but it would be a real pain to be wrong on that account.

And most importantly, on the safety side of things, I just received my new RoadID. I opted for the updated style which provides a phone number that emergency personnel can call to get my personal, vital information. Or, they can login to a website to get my emergency information such as blood type, insurance info, contacts, etc. I expect this will be somewhat more useful than the simple list of names and numbers of the old ID, as I have the ability to update the information available at any time without having to get a new ID.

Thoughts on RI's proposed 3-foot law

Image by dullhunk via Flickr

It's amazing how much clear thinking you can do while riding a bicycle. While out for a ride this morning, I started mulling over the current debate in bicycle advocacy circles of so-called "3-foot laws."

In general, I think that such rules are a good idea and apparently cyclist and legislatures agree, as such rules have been enacted in many states to date.

While bicycles are treated as vehicles, and have the same rights and responsibilities, they aren't the same as their larger cousins. Bicycles are smaller and inherently don't protect their operators in the same way that an motor vehicle does. Factors such as lack of shocks, narrow tires at high pressure, some modicum of balance required for operation cause bicycles to be operated slightly differently than autos. Obstacles that larger vehicles can navigate with little risk to the vehicle occupants become more threatening to bicycle riders.

As a cyclist, situations arise where I need more than a few inches of space, which is all some drivers and cyclist consider necessary for my safety. Consider the cases of accidentally riding in the door zone and needing to react to an opening door. If there is a vehicle immediately to your left and no room to change path around the door, a pothole or broken glass in the path of the cyclist requiring a deviation in path to safely navigate. Even with enough control and warning to stop, the alternative is that the cyclist may be forced to interact with the hazard and go down on the road. Never mind the discomfort of having a 1 ton or heavier vehicle pass at such a close distance.

Why a law; because if its a law, its much more likely to come up during drivers education and makes for a potential question on drivers exams. It serves to reinforce that bicycles have a right to use the road.

A concern voiced by some cyclists in opposition to such laws is that by drawing attention to cyclists as a special class of vehicles brings the danger of more onerous laws restricting their use. Yes, there is a danger of backlash at singling bicycle riders out in a statute that could lead to unwanted consequences. There probably isn't any more danger than already exists because of motorists observing bicycles operated counter to existing laws, particularly stop sign and traffic signal stops, which seem to gather the most attention from motorists, though certainly "salmoning" also causes great agitation.

One way I see to mitigate this is to clarify the existing passing statute with respect to ALL vehicles, not just bicycles. My thought is to reword RI Laws 31-15-4, 31-15-6, 31-15-11 to a wording that means something like the following:

On a multi lane road, the overtaking vehicle must change lanes to pass. On single lane roads, a safe passing distance of at least 3 feet should be maintained while overtaking until safely past the overtaken vehicle. If a safe distance cannot be obtained, the overtaking vehicle must slow and wait until conditions permit safely overtaking the slower vehicle.

Wording such as this would also benefit carriages, scooters and farm vehicles. It would also serve to clarify the poor choice of wording in the H5074 of "slowing to 10 to 20 miles per hour below the posted speed limit". Nobly intended under the assumption that a bicycle is likely to be traveling less than 25 miles per hour, but too wishy-washy to be meaningful.

An issue I have with the proposed law is the inclusion of a new term, instead of using the term defined previously in the section on overtaking vehicles. The existing law uses the phrase "shall pass to the left at a safe distance and shall not again drive to the right side of the roadway until safely clear of the overtaken vehicle." The text of H5074 reads "leaving a reasonable and prudent distance between the vehicle and the bicycle. A three foot (3′) passing distance between the motor vehicle and passing bicycle shall be deemed to be reasonable and prudent." Why can't the proposed law reuse and define "safe distance" instead of creating "reasonable and prudent" and then defining it? There is also the problem that defining reasonable and prudent in H5074 could cause unwanted effects to the use of the phrase reasonable and prudent in 31-15-12 on following distances.

Do I think such a law is enforceable? No, not really. Again, I think that it serves as an educational tool. The danger with rewording it the way I've suggested is of course that drivers who never ride bikes are still not going to think of bikes as vehicles and will continue their auto-centric methods of operation.

While it is the responsibility of all vehicle operators to be in control of their vehicle at all times, situations do occur where minimizing the risk and damage done is the best that can be achieved. By defining for all vehicle operators what is considered to be a safe margin, perhaps the number of auto on cyclist injuries and fatalities can be reduced.

Here is the text of the proposed law, H5074:

31-15-18. Keeping a three foot passing distance when passing a bicycle. —
(a) A person operating a motor vehicle, when approaching a bicyclist, shall insure the safety and protection of the bicyclist by leaving a reasonable and prudent distance between the vehicle and the bicycle. A three foot (3′) passing distance between the motor vehicle and passing bicycle shall be deemed to be reasonable and prudent. When impossible to achieve the three foot (3′) passing distance, then the vehicle shall reduce its speed to ten (10) to twenty (20) miles per hour below the posted speed limit.

Stimulus, Transportation and Cycling

A whole bunch of cycling/alternative transport links. Of biggest note are a bunch of amendments and a couple of proposed amendments to the current stimulus bill in the Senate that would limit and/or redirect some of the funding in it exclusively to the use of highway use.

First, via one of my friends reading lists, Bike Pittsburgh is putting out the word about amendments proposed to redirect some alternative transportation funding exclusively to the use of highway projects. There is a link on the Bike Pittsburgh post that allows you to send comments to your Senators about these amendments.

Second, Mark Dietrich at Providence Bicycle Coalition is warning of some proposed amendments to the stimulus that would specifically bar spending stimulus money on cycling projects. Feel singled out? While it hasn't been presented, this one is worth contacting your Senators over as well. Links from Mark's post go the the League of American Bicyclists to lookup and contact your elected representative's.

And lastly, there is a lively debate scheduled for next month to discuss the "3-foot rule" that has been proposed and will be heard by the Judiciary Committee next month. Some interesting points have been made so far. Personally, I think the law has flaws and needs to be amended before it is passed, but I think that better defining a safe distance to maintain between vehicles when passing is a reasonable idea. To read some other opinions that have been voiced so far, see the PBC post, and information about the upcoming discussion on March 5th. I certainly think it isn't an enforceable law and I think its largest application is in educating cyclist and drivers that cyclist are entitled to use most roads. If you can point to a law to back up a statement in a drivers manual, it is hopefully more effective than simply making a statement of what is judged to be prudent.

Interesting Bike Road Use Marking Idea...

I just saw an interesting idea that was new to me. So called "Sharrows" painted on the road to indicate bike use is prevalent in areas where a dedicated bike lane isn't marked. This seems a great idea here in Providence. We have several heavily traveled artery streets indicated as bike routes such as the prime inbound route of Angell Street through the East Side. Perhaps this would be more visible than the pole signs to remind drivers that cyclists are not only present but expected/entitled to be on the road. (Anecdotally, of the 3 shouting matches I've had with drivers in Providence, two occurred on Sundays around lunchtime on South Angell and Angell Streets. The third was on Wickenden at the intersection of Benefit).

See #5 in the TreeHugger post offering a round up of five cycling improvements available to cities to improve their bicycling facilities for a picture and description. I like the bike corrals idea, but I don't think we have enough cyclists going the same places around here to warrant it, except maybe near RISD on South Main.

Then again, we don't have lane markings half the time here in Providence, it is probably too much to hope for paint for something as esoteric as safety...8)

First Race

I completed my first bicycle race on Monday, in the traditional method of observing the Columbus Day holiday. Well, traditional if you're participating in the 33rd Jamestown Classic. I signed up several months ago after riding with some people who were slightly faster/better than I was. Being on track to complete my cycling goals for the year, I tacked on an extra goal of finishing my first race.

I wasn't nervous leading up to the start of the race, but the first 2 miles or so of the race I had adrenaline jitters. It felt like the bike was moving erratically under me during those opening miles. Once those jitters wore off, I was able to settle into a rhythm near the front of the pack early on. The pack didn't really change configuration once we got underway, the leaders stayed there through the whole circuit of the island.

About a third of a way around the island I dropped back from the front 10 to around the middle of the group. Or at least, I felt like it was the middle of the pack with about 20 guys ahead of me. I didn't actually look behind me to figure out how many were behind me. I focused on staying with the pack and trying to move up into the group when opportunities presented themselves.

As expected, riding at a high pace in a pack reduces your focus on anything besides what's going on around you. Looking for on-coming cars, overtaking cyclists from the prior race, and watching for gaps and movements of those ahead was the entire focus of my mind. In spite of that, the only other thing I noticed was the smooth hum of the wheels on the pavement, the ratcheting of freehubs, and the creak of crank arms.

I did well, avoided causing any accidents or being in any. I was bumped once by another rider moving up through the pack and swerved into someone's line once to avoid a storm drain at Beavertail Light. I saw two guys go down beside me when one of his tires popped and another rider failed to avoid him when his bike went sideways. Otherwise, no accidents that I saw.

I got dropped by the main pack on the final hill, having given everything I had to keep up and not having enough strength or reserves to push up the last and probably hardest hill on the course at any sort of speed.

Crossing the finish, I had jitters of another sort. I'd heard and read about training so hard that you vomit and while I didn't quite experience that, I'd say I was close. I needed to wait a few minutes after finishing before I could drink, walking back to the car to give my body some recovery rather than riding it.

I finished the single 19.1 mile lap 24th out of 39 finishers (there were 50 registered racers). Not bad for not training. An average of 22.4 miles/hour and finished under a minute behind the lead pack of about 18 riders.

Image by OO7fish via FlickrThe Category 4 and Pro Racers were running their laps around their laps at around 46 minutes, compared to the Cat5 races in the 48 to 50 minute range. Its amazing to me how demanding a one mile-per-hour difference in speed can be. Perhaps someday I'll be in good enough training shape to run a Cat 4 race.

Cool Flight Sim/Bicycle integration

Carlton Reid has a YouTube video up at Quickrelease.tv of a guy demonstrating a bicycle being used to provide the controls to use the Google Earth flight simulator and fly around the world. Who needs a computrainer. I kinda hope that he figures out a way to turn the whole thing into a package that could be strapped to a spinning bike or bike in a trainer. I know when i'm at the gym, having something interesting to look at and pay attention too is pretty cool. I wonder if there is any other software out there that this could be wired to for "scenery". Like say, a bike stage route?

Thoughts on Share The Road Signs

Cycling blogs are buzzing a bit about a recent repost on Urban Velo of an essay by Patty Vinyard of the St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation. The essay discusses the existence and purpose of the "Share the Road" signs that are usually posted underneath a diamond sign with a silhouette of a bicycle. I used to be happy to see these signs posted, it seemed to me to indicate that there was at least some tacit interest in remind drivers and cyclists of the laws of the road. After some a recent bike ride on a bike path in which some joggers were upset to have a few cyclists shout a request to make room so that we could ride single file through their midst, they were shouting "share the road" at us. We may not have had the right of way, but they also didn't have the right to using the entire path. Points out that not everyone thinks that share means the same thing.

Some of the commentary has focused on the use of a "warning" type sign to indicate this law when perhaps a different choice would more appropriately convey the message. Instead of indicating "warning, there are cyclists in the area", the signage should not be lumped with other warnings like slippery when wet, bridge freezes before road, etc.

I think the best solution personally would be to remind all parties that the law says that a cyclist is entitled to use the entire lane of travel, and is not required to get out of the way of an automobile. One commenter at CommuteByBike pointed at there is such a sign in use in San Francisco which reads "allowed full use of lane."

The Ride To Sustain

The ride is over, but the follow on projects are beginning to produce fruit. During the summer of 2007, 3 young men cycled 4000 miles in three months from San Francisco to Boston in an effort to learn more about sustainability, climate science and other related topics. Newly released is an 11 minute trailer for the forthcoming documentary, embedded below. Also coming soon is at least one book. Thanks to Celcias for sponsoring the ride initially and continuing to update on new developments. I haven't read all of the road reports and watched the videos submitted along the way, but they can be read and viewed at Celsias in the archive and at the Ride To Sustain website.



In other news for the project, a 2008 cycle odyssey is planned with new riders, this time starting in Chicago. The focus will be changed to become a fund raising ride with the proceeds used for developing educational materials about climate change and renewable energy systems for public schools.

Well covered, but still cool

I've seen a link to this all wood and glue bicycle a few places this week. Very nice work and well executed by a 16 year old Baccalaureate student. I'm not sure whether to be most impressed by building a wooden chain or the freewheel. That's gotta be a really rough ride. I wonder how much it weighs.

Reading Roundup: Jan 23

Reading Roundup is a regular feature of WebEchoes. It exists to limit the number of "read this" posts with minimal commentary on my part.


BikeHacks
A site dedicated to custom bike hacks, inventive ways to use bike parts or cobble together addons to make life with a bike just a tad better. Thanks to Fritz at Cyclelicious for linking them.

But What If We HAVE To Do It?
Terry Tamminem writing at Fast Company Expert Blogs suggests that it is possible to cut US energy per capita usage and green house gas emissions in 20 years. And California and the EU can show the way. Stay tuned for top five ways how.

Electric Vehicle Battery Primer: A Conversation with John Voelcker « Earth2Tech
Just what the title says, a brief discussion of the challenges of batteries for EV applications.

Windy Payback Time: Wind Turbines and their Life Cycle Impacts : TreeHugger
Not counting "visual" costs for those that find them unsightly and other unquantifiable items, how long does it take for a windmill to generate the equivalent energy to its manufacture.

Ironweed Film Club | Ironweed
Interesting Idea - A DVD of the month subscription service for social and environmental films. I'd be happier if it was more netflix like, I don't want to own the darn things and have more plastic cluttering the house.

Meet Trev, the Two-seater, Renewable Energy Vehicle : TreeHugger
Not quite as unique as the Aptera tadpole look, but an interesting all electric vehicle nonetheless.

Treadmills Suck. (Kilowatts) : TreeHugger
Wow. Who knew that getting fit cost so much electricity. Glad that I tend to use self-powering ellipticals and exercise bikes.

Hrm, a preponderance of links to Treehugger in this edition.

Cycling Photo Book

It hasn't been published yet, but a preview version of the book is available in PDF form. RIDE - Images from the road is a collection of over 100 photos taken by cyclists all over the globe. I don't know how many photos they had to cull through, but I don't think there's a single image in the collection that doesn't hold some form of interest. With barren wilderness, stunning vistas, moments of humanity, encounters with daily life and instances of frivolity and so much more, this book is well worth at least looking at in PDF form, and quite possibly owning. They should offer the ability to print single framed images in poster size (assuming they have a version that can scale up) for viewers to purchase.

My favorite images after a quick perusal are pages 95, 111 and 39. 39 seems an odd choice, but something about that image captures my attention, and obviously someone else's given its inclusion, despite its simple nature.

The book sale proceeds are being donated to Hopes & Homes for the Children, and no one on the project is being paid for their contributions in order to maximize their earning power.

Thanks to Adventure Cycling's BikeBits newsletter for the link.

Results of Innovate or Die contest

Specialized sponsored a YouTube video contest to come up with a human/pedal powered device to offset climate change. The winning video has been selected and is a pedal powered water filtration trike. See the rest of the videos. Thanks to Carlton at Quickrelease.tv for posting the news.

Winning Design:

Reading Roundup: Jan. 1

Reading Roundup is a regular feature of WebEchoes. It exists to limit the number of "read this" posts with minimal commentary on my part.

APOD: 2007 December 22 - Tyrrhenian Sea and Solstice Sky
I seem to be developing a habit of including a photo or set of photos in the reading roundup, so to continue the tradition, sunrise to sunset time lapse taken on the day of the Winter Solstice in 2005.

Builder reduces its carbon footprint: Pays Off (Triple Pundit)
Deltec Homes, manufacturer of prefabricated round homes, is switching to 100% renewable energy resources and is the the largest private generator of solar power in North Carolina. I've seen a television program once watching the assembly of one of these homes, very cool system, and glad to read about their commitment to reducing waste and renewable energy use.

The Associated Press: 'Drilling Up' Into Space for Energy
US Department of Defense and the Pacific island nation Palau in a joint project to collect solar energy on an orbiting satellite and send it to an an ground station using microwaves. Project to generate 1MW and be deployed by 2012. Explore all avenues, but this one sounds like it may not become very widespread to me.

Got a Supercomputer? Run It By Bicycle! : TreeHugger
Modeling fusion reactions on human power. Too bad I didn't scoop this one, I was talking with a gentleman at MIT the day after it happened.

Reading Roundup: Dec 22

Reading Roundup is a regular feature of WebEchoes. It exists to limit the number of "read this" posts with minimal commentary on my part.

Incandescent Light Bulb Ban, Energy Efficiency - Congress Likely to Pass Incandescent Light Bulb Ban - thedailygreen.com
Little heralded in all the coverage about changes to the CAFE standards
for autos, Renewable Energy Portfolio, Renewable Fuel Standards and tax
breaks for energy companies, the new energy bill also contains a
section covering the efficiency of light bulbs, which will probably
spur the push to CFL, CCFL and LED lighting, or a major improvement in
incandescent bulbs.

Legally Speaking - with Bob Mionske: Look! It's a bike; it's a pedestrian; it's a...
And more things from the energy bill - Removal of the Bicycle Commuter tax benefit is mentioned in passing. Also an amusing look at what a high-wheeler or penny-farthing is considered in the transportation code. (hint, in some places, it isn't a bicycle)

Twenty-year-old Civics got 57 miles per gallon - Dec. 19, 2007
Fuel efficiency decreases over the past several years re-explained using the Honda Civic CRX model.

StreetFilms » Illustrating Parking Reform with Dr. Shoup
A video interview espousing the theory that a large portion of congestion in urban areas is caused by traffic circling in search of inexpensive parking. That raising parking rates and turning that money back into street improvements will lead to greater parking turnover, less congestion and improved street amenities.

A Picture is Worth...The Sum of the (Car) Parts... : TreeHugger
Cool photo of all of the parts in a smallish car. Check out the "quiz" as well, and the larger version on Core77

Fun Cycling Read

I haven't flipped this far over into the loony/hardcore side of cycling (though I might if I get a trainer)...

Ride your fixed gear bike on your trainer in your driveway
after 9:00PM in sub 50 degree weather in a steady rain until your body
temperature elevates to the point that the moisture on you and in your
cycling clothing begins to convert to steam and it looks like you are
on fire without flames.

From Masiguy: Words of advice;

Cycling Home with Beer in the Snow

Found this on Commute By Bike today.







One CBB post: I have to agree with the commenter #2 (Kim) on this one. The ad is excellent at making cycling approachable as an every person activity.
I also agree with commenter #3, too bad it isn't for a better beer.

And given the 3" of snow that have fallen here in the last 3 hours, I have to admit to wimping out about a trip to the library on my own bicycle today. But then, I can always go tomorrow when it will be warmer (icier?) and not ride in the low visibility and therefore more dangerous conditions.

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A Cycling Trade Show in RI ?

Ripped from the December 6th RoadBikeRider (link may be to the wrong one, sorry) newsletter:

Interbike is considering an East
Coast version of the popular Outdoor Demo that's held in conjunction
with its annual cycling trade show in Las Vegas. A big difference in the
East may be a consumer day, allowing enthusiasts to see and ride new
2009 bikes and equipment. Interbike has set Oct. 16-18 for the East
event, subject to a survey sent to hundreds of eastern-U.S. bike shops
and manufacturers. The first two demo days, Thursday and Friday, would
be trade only; Saturday would be open to the public. The proposed venue
is Roger Williams Park near Providence, Rhode Island. According to
Interbike, "The East Coast Demo will have professional seminars,
technical clinics, networking opportunities -- a lot of the core things
we do at the [Las Vegas] show, but in a much more loose and inexpensive
way."

Who cares about if they allow us consumers in, to think that Rhode Island is a likely place for it to be held is heady enough.

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