Cycling in New York has risen by more than a quarter this year!  According to stats from NYC's Department of Transportation, cycling has increased by 26% in 2009, and they attribute it to improvements in bike paths around the city.  It's definitely easy to track the installation of paths on major roads, but I don't think that the improvements alone account for the surge.

Biking has become more popular everywhere in the past few years.  Global Climate Change has started to seem like less of a theory and more of a reality with every freakishly devastating hurricane or tsunami, gas prices have been on the general rise, and the global economy crash has left lots of people looking for a way to cut down transportation costs.

Thing is, the national increase in cycling doesn't make cycling all that much safer.  New York streets are still full of potholes and maniac drivers, for example.  You can fill in the potholes, I guess, but I'm not sure anything could convince New Yorkers to start using their turn signals or obeying the speed limit.


This bike parking structure in Amsterdam is an example of the sort of thing transportation funding could help create.  Here in New York, there is a shortage of bike parking and many cyclists are forced to unsafely lock up against trees or scaffolding.

Part of the problem has to do with national transportation budgets.  Across the board, federal funding for road improvement is directed toward car-heavy highways in the suburbs instead of dense cities, where conditions are the worst.  On top of that, billions of dollars in federal stimulus money has gone unspent this year, particularly funds that were earmarked for improving pedestrian access to roads in Michigan, North Carolina, and Massachussetts.

In many cases, the hold-up is due to opposition or apathy in local communities.  Because it's so unsafe to ride on our biggest roads, bicyclists are kept off in the shadows, and Joe Average doesn't see much point in building a pedestrian crosswalk or a seperated bike lane for the invisible bike-commuters.  The most useful thing we could possibly do is also the simplest and the most obvious-- we need to make ourselves visible while we walk or cycle!

If you have errands to run, this could be as simple as parking your car in one place, then walking from destination to destination instead of moving the car.  The more traveling we do on foot or on a bike, the more our neighbors will see a need for improved pedestrian infrastructure! 

And as for all that lost stimulus funding... the federal government is just taking it back.  Maybe it will get re-dispersed next year...

I bought another bike. Yes, I know that I already have one, but I have a sneaky habit of regularly perusing craigslist classifieds looking for that perfect 50cm frame of my dreams. Well, this wasn't the frame of my dreams, but it's a '94 aluminum ride that's a nice addition to my get-around-town-steel-frame-circa-1980-something Schwinn (albeit a sweet one). Plus, this new bike has a triple, which provides a good gearing ratio for those long, arduous, joint-stressing uphill battles. Dear knees, I want you to know that I'm looking out for you.

[Above: My new (used) bike, getting cozy with a Cannondale.]

[Below: My commuter bike, hanging out with the rest of the bike crew in the basement. So patriotic, I know. Notice the padded snowboard helmet hanging from the handlebars. This is KEY for riding in the winter months. It even has vents that I can open and close while I ride to adjust my temperature.]



To show my knees a little extra appreciation, I bought some clipless pedals on eBay (clipless what huh?). My new pedals will keep my feet in place, use more leg muscles by allowing me to pull on the upstroke, and increase my pedaling efficiency. They're also safer than traditional cage pedals with toe clips and straps. When you fall with clipless pedals, your feet pop out of the pedals. When you fall with cages, well, that's tough. I got into an accident a few years ago while riding with toe clips, and I'm fortunate that my pedals were cheap. [Sidenote: the Department of Transportation now uses the term "crashes" because most events previously known as "accidents" could have been easily avoided, and thus can't accurately be described as "accidents." This particluar one could have been avoided if that driver hadn't decided to swerve across three lanes and turn right in front of me. Curses! Crashes! Grr! ] The pressure from my body flying forward with my feet stuck in the toe straps caused the metal screws to rip out of the cages while tearing the pedals apart. My knees and ankles hurt for a week or so after the crash (along with injuries to other miscellaneous body parts), but I learned an important lesson: Don't try that again with good pedals.

I believe that a well-placed piece of velcro made to rip open under pressure could have prevented my knee/ankle strain in that crash. In my opinion, all toe straps should be designed to self-destruct with enough pressure. Manufacturers, take note. DIYers, buy velcro.

Anway, I had a wee problem when attempting to take the original pedals off of my new (used) bike. The left pedal was stuck. I mean STUCK. And yes, I know that the left pedal is reverse-threaded (as in, turn it clockwise to loosen, righty-loosy, lefty-tighty). Well I pushed and I pulled and I kicked and I pounded my wrench with a hammer. Wouldn't budge. I attached 3 wrenches together to increase my leverage. I dumped a kettle of boiling water over the end of my crank to expand the metal and loosen the pedal. No luck.

[Above: Crank arm and pedal. The pedal screws in at the bottom. This happens to be a right crank arm, which means that the threading is normal, righty-tighty, lefty-loosy. This also happens to be a flat pedal, including neither a cage nor clipless capabilities. I use these pedals when it's raining/snowing/hailing/monsoon-ing and I want to wear my big clunky waterproof boots.]

Then I bought some Liquid Wrench and let it soak into the threads overnight. I found a long pipe and attached it to the end of my somewhat small and rather cute pedal wrench...and Voila! It worked! It was awesome! From my understanding, PB Blaster is an even better penetrating oil, and Kroil is the best (so good, in fact, that you can only buy it online).

[Left: The Liquid Wrench, pipe, and pedal wrench that combined forces to save the day.]

It is my hope that bike commuters and DIY home mechanics can learn from my mistakes and adjust their bikes to be safer and more fun to ride. With cities like, ahem, Chicago leasing its parking meters to Morgan Stanley for 75 years ("Hey, do you have any pocket change? I need $6 in quarters for the meter"), and then raising public transit rates to help "fix" the problem of a broken economy and a cash-starved city, a Craigslist bike could really pay off. But it's not just a cost-effective form of transportation—it's also better for the environment, better for your health, a great way to connect to your community, [insert the countless other benefits of riding a bicycle here]. As long as you know how to fix your bike and take care of yourself, you can keep riding FOREVER. Yes, forever. And ever.

More quick tips on knees:
- Adjust your saddle height properly. Most people ride with their saddles too low. You should not be able to sit on your bike and touch your toes to the ground at the same time. You should, however, be able to stand over the top tube with your feet flat on the ground and have at least a half-inch of clearance between the bike and your crotch.
- Avoid pushing too hard in a low cadence. As in, if you have to struggle with every pedal stroke, switch to a lower gear.
- Stretch frequently. Flexibility is very important. Seriously.
- Drink water. Keeps your joints lubed up and ready to go. Water is a miracle elixer. Even better than candy, I swear.
- More advanced fitting and positioning. This becomes more important the more you ride. Repetitive use injuries have a tendency to sneak up on you. This includes forward/back saddle positioning, cleat alignment, crank length, and other factors. It gets really complicated really fast. Some people go to school for this stuff.
- Did I forget something important? Feel free to chime in on the conversation.

If you want more info on pedals, proper positioning, maintenance, or pretty much anything bike related, check Sheldon Brown's website. It's wonderful.

Our enduring love affair with gasoline is problematic, to say the least. In a world with volatile gas prices, air pollution, carbon-induced climate change, questionable long-term access to foreign oil, and a surge of huge gas-guzzling vehicles taking over the roads, there's one lingering question on my mind:

What are we going to do about it? How are we going to shift away from a car-based transportation structure that requires burning fossil fuels?

More specifically, how can you move from point A to point B without driving? How do you use sports to Beat Gasoline?

I'll tell you what I do. I ride my bike everywhere. I walk. I hitch piggy-back rides from friends. I dance down the street, and climb trees, and balance precariously along abandoned train tracks. I rely on human power as my primary form of transportation. I fuel my vehicle with fruits, veggies, and sometimes nachos.

Yet there are so many more human-powered travel options. You can use skateboards or roller blades. You can move with a scooter, snowshoes, a unicycle, or a pogo stick. You can travel by horseback or kayak. You have the freedom to go car-free, and you can get there using your own muscles. 

A few years ago, I rode my bicycle all the way from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon in about eight weeks. Trust me, it can be done, and you can have a total blast getting to where you need to be without the constraint of cars, insurance, auto maintenance, speed limits, drivers' licenses, gasoline...

[Right: A pic of me riding through Montana in July. Man, it felt great to traverse the country on two wheels. Well, three wheels if you count my yellow trailer, Bob.]

I know you all have some great ideas about how to use sports to Beat Gasoline. Here's your chance to show the world how it's done by entering the Beat Gasoline contest.

That's right, we're offering some cool prizes—like Global Giving dollars and Nike kicks—to the best video and photo submissions that illustrate how you play instead of burning gas. So bust out that camcorder, film a short video, submit it to www.beatgasoline.com, and show others how we can use sports to Beat Gasoline.

There's a white bike chained to a pole under the bridge at the corner of Ashland and Belmont in Chicago. Though I've seen the bike before, a chill rises through my spine every time I pedal past this particular bicycle adorned with white flowers and a cardboard plaque. It is a Ghost Bike -- a semi-permanent public memorial to a cyclist who was killed by an automobile while pedaling through this intersection. I sneak a peek at the cars cruising by, look at my feet cranking in circles around my chainring, and wonder who's next.

Safety is a big deal for urban cyclists. Though we can minimize risks by wearing helmets, installing bicycle-friendly infrastructure, educating motorists, and following the rules of the road, there's no escaping the fact that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for young people in the United States. It will take a lot of work and a lot of public pressure to increase safety on the road for cyclists and pedestrians. The Ghost Bikes Project seeks to raise awareness about the dire need to improve safety conditions for cyclists.

Artist and activist Kat Ramsland decided to take action to address the crisis of car-related fatalities in the bicycling community. This past weekend, she organized an art exhibit at Lillstreet Art Center called "1000 Ghost Bikes." The exhibit used art to influence public policy by increasing awareness around bicycle safety issues. The exhibit also raised money for the Chicago Ride of Silence.

[Above: A small ceramic bicycle represents a cyclist injured or killed by an automobile. Image from Bike Monument blog]

I attended the art exhibit opening on Saturday, and had a chance to speak with artists Nancy Anderson and Kat Ramsland about the role of public art in bicycle safety.

Big thanks to the artists who dedicated their time, energy and art to create a safer world for cyclists; thanks to the supporters who purchased art and donated to the Ride of Silence.

Click here to read an interview with Kat conducted by local transportation blogger John Greenfield.

To get involved or to donate to the project, visit the Bike Monument blog.

When you hear the words "Means of Transportation" what images come to mind? Some of you may think of your favorite automobile. Is it the AMG Benz or maybe the BMW Z4, whatever your favorite car may be it still doesn't change the fact that most of you reading this thought of a car when you thought of a means of transportation. However for drivers in developing countries those same words take on a totally different manifestation in their reality. Allow me to introduce you to the Worldbike, for the inhabitants of these developing countries this is their means of transportation.

Worldbike is an organization that saw a problem in developing countries and thought of a solution. The bikes are specifically engineered to do the necessary task, whether that be carrying small children to school, adults to work or bread to a neighboring town. This aim with for this organization is to find the most cost effective, resourceful solution to a problem that exists across the board of the less fortunate countries in the world. However in life you will come to find that in every good there is some bad and this good contribution is not exempt to that rule.

The low cost bike produced by worldbike is called the Big Boda. There is a 300 square foot workshop in Kenya that produces the Big Boda. For all of the innovations of the introduction of the Big Boda in East Africa it has it's downfalls. One of the down sides to the Boda is that it is not only affordable but it's components are of lower end material so they don't last. The brakes are weak, the bike is heavy and the pedals are of poor quality making it a real task to pedal the bike. The seat is made of hard plastic and the handle bars aren't designed to accommodate the leg length of it's East African riders (Boda Boda) so their knees hit as they fight to pedal the bike. These and other problems combined have earned the Boda the name "Black Mamba".

The organization designs a higher end bike called The Worldbike. The worldbike has dealt with every problem the riders have faced with the Boda and in my opinion is a good solution to the transportation problem in the aforementioned countries. The only issue now is exposure. I feel that the more exposure these bikes receive the more people will be willing to help. Awareness is the main ingredient when drawing up a plan to help people. Both the Big Boda and the Worldbike were selected by the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt Nation Design Museum to be a part of their exhibit "Design for the other 90%" in 2007. This is good but it is only the beginning, with more support and exposure the more people will become aware of the difficult living conditions in these countries and feel more compelled to help in any way they can.

For more information, donation information and everything going on in the world of worldbike visit the site at http://www.worldbike.org