Just rode an #ebike for the first time. I’ve been intrigued for a while, but figured I would stick with human power for as long as my legs could turn unassisted.
This ride was so much fun and gave me a completely different experience of urban mobility. Only traveled a few miles—from Capitol Hill to Dupont Circle—but it was like being a kid again. Best two-wheeled experience in ages. Face hurts from smiling.
"Meeting the needs of people who walk and cycle continues to be a critical part of the mobility solution for helping cities de-couple population growth from increased emissions, and improve air quality and road safety."
Tried my bike rack on the ioniq. It almost fits. The top and bottom straps work, the rubber bumpers hit the right places, but the side strap hooks are a little too big to fit the side of the trunk. I don’t really want to ride home from the shop; the roads directly around my home are in no way safe for #bicycles.
After a couple of rides and a recent visit to have Grey checked (where I asked the vendor to ride it with #PAS at zero to see if he too has a hard time pedaling)...
Grey ⚫🚲 is no good without 🔋 power, unlike Big Bike ⚪🚲 that rides like any regular non-powered #MTB.
Despite Grey ⚫🚲 not letting me pedal at #PAS zero, I still get a good workout with it -- comparable to my efforts riding Big Bike ⚪🚲. That is based on the numbers reported by my #Garmin ⌚.
During my 84km ride (15-hour day ride), I consumed:
2 700ml bottles of water
2 600ml bottles Mountain Dew
1 iced Vietnamese coffee with milk
1 ham pastry of some sort
1 🐷🍳🍚 meal (only ate half the serving of rice, it wasn't good)
1 🍌 con hielo 🧊
about 1.5 glasses of water
I'm ±62 kilos. Average-ish. Normal BMI with a tendency to overeat. 🙊
A few weeks ago, the Central California environmental justice organizer Nayamin Martinez asked me: “Why ride your bicycle here when you have asthma?” Later this month, when my friend Ivan and I start a 550 mile ride along the route of the 1966 Farm Worker’s March, I’m going to need my air sensor, biomonitors, and mask.
So why do the ride? My answer is that #bicycles are machines to visit alternate futures.
This is a nice way to hang a #bike -- with rope and pulleys. 👇
Only applicable for light #bikes, of course. No way I can do that with Big Bike ⚪🚲 and Grey ⚫🚲. 😅 Not that I even want to. I want my bike ready to roll. The more quickly I can get my bike out the door, the better chance of me actually getting some riding. 🚴♀️
I noticed that most @pinoy on #bicycles prefer to carry stuff behind their bikes.
They seem to like plastic boxes, although the most common ones I've seen are those practical, multi-purpose see-through white boxes, tied down by straps.
Personally, I like them up-front. My bike has a carrier attachment that's connected to the frame, for a more stable load.
This website is an incredible examination of the forces on a bicycle. I knew a lot of this from a long history with my wheeled horses but anyone of any level of understanding will be immediately drawn in by the wonderful animated demos.
Culver City in Los Angeles introduced a new bike lane that boosted cycling by 57%. Now it's being removed for cars.
"A project called Move Culver City was launched in November 2021 with the aim of encouraging biking and walking through the 1.3-mile downtown corridor in the Culver City area.
"The project claimed traffic lanes along the Washington and Culver Boulevard strips, creating bike and bus lanes in their stead, reducing the lanes for vehicle traffic to one in either direction. The project was met with mixed opinions over the last few years.
"And while a report released this month by Move Culver City boasted a 57 percent increasing in cycling along the Washington and Culver Boulevard corridor over pre-pandemic levels, the Culver City Council voted 3-2 earlier this week to end the program, remove the bike lanes, and return the corridor to two lanes of vehicular traffic in each direction 'wherever feasible.'"
"A cycle path built through part of Sydney’s inner west will be ripped up on Tuesday, five months after it was completed, due to a council decision described by riders as a knee-jerk reaction to complaints from residents."
@ajsadauskas I am absolutely furious that Canada Bay council is going ahead with this act of environmental and infrastructure vandalism.
If you've ever asked why Australia doesn't have great quality cycling infrastructure or transport planning that reflects the realities of net zero by 2050, here's a big part of the reason.
It's car-brained local governments listening to NIMBYs.
"A cycle path built through part of Sydney’s inner west will be ripped up on Tuesday, five months after it was completed, due to a council decision described by riders as a knee-jerk reaction to complaints from residents.
"The separated bike path on Heath Street in the inner west suburb of Rodd Point is part of a planned $7 million cycleway designed to connect the Bay Run at Iron Cove on the banks of the Parramatta River to Concord."
UPDATE: I did some more digging into the local council in Canada Bay, and found this about the mayor:
"The Independent Commission Against Corruption is currently investigating allegations Canada Bay’s long-term mayor Angelo Tsirekas accepted perks from developers, including international flights and accommodation, in return for favourable decisions."
Well, it took until June, but someone from the council finally responded.
From Traffic_and_Transport AT canadabay.nsw.gov.au:
"Hi AJ,
"Thank you for providing your feedback in relation to the cycling infrastructure in Heath Street, Five Dock. I apologise for the delay in responding.
"Whilst it is noted that some community members may be disappointed with changes to the cycling infrastructure in Heath Street, Council remains committed to improving cycling infrastructure throughout the Council area and effectively engaging with the community as part of this process.
"Works to modify the cycling infrastructure have recently been completed and follow up monitoring is currently being undertaken.
"To keep you to date with the Regional Cycleway project and future community consultation, you can follow the project at collaborate.canadabay.nsw.gov.au/ewcycleway.
"Should you have any further enquiries regarding this project please do not hesitate to contact me on 9911 6448.
"Dear Shankar, Andrew, Brendan, and all whom this may concern,
"One more thing.
"Just a little heads up about something.
"Next time, before you send everyone who responded to an inquiry with the same pro-forma letter, you might want to check that it hasn't gone viral on social media.
"Because, when there's several Mastodon threads full of people who received the same pro forma letter, it comes across as a little insincere to say you are 'effectively engaging with the community as part of this process'.
So I can't join #30DaysOfBiking as my trusty folding bike is back home in Selangor and I'm in #Penang, but I'm happy to see these bikes at Gurney Drive.
As a #Malaysian however, I'd say you'd be pretty bonkers to bike down Gurney Dr though.
Use it to explore the inner roads instead, but you don't get to see the sea. Not that you can see much of it these days at Gurney 🙃
Hello everyone, my name is Jorge. I'm a #gay engineer living in Southern California with my husband Brandon and our pug Fede.
My handle comes from being a #motorcycle rider for many years, but I've transitioned to human powered two wheels. I participate in the #AIDSLifeCycle from San Francisco to LA every year.
My title is traffic consultant though originally I'm an M.Sc. in computer engineering. Professionally I do a lot of #DevOps, #Linux, #GIS, data analysis, etc.
Kia ora toot friends. (Hello in Māori language)
Tonight I am bringing some #transport, #bikes, #cycling, #urbanism and #antiCar#memes.
I hope you enjoy them and are radicalised like I am. Once you start seeing how we've been trapped by #carDependency you cannot unsee it again.
Let's fight for space for people, cities that are walkable, accesible, clean, green and safe.
Of course, please contribute your own memes to the thread and also radicalise your family, workmates and friends!
Now we know that we are in a #ClimateCrisis. We know both that urgent action is crucial and that transport (our cars mainly) are an important source of our emissions.
So they sell us an answer: #ElectricCars.
But although they are part of the answer. They are nowhere near the silver bullet we're told they will be. And other, more important and effective solutions are ignored meanwhile. Like #bicycles and #publicTransport
‘Knee-jerk reaction’: Sydney cycle path to be ripped up months after opening (www.smh.com.au)
"A cycle path built through part of Sydney’s inner west will be ripped up on Tuesday, five months after it was completed, due to a council decision described by riders as a knee-jerk reaction to complaints from residents."