May 14, 20104 Comments on Al Roker rides a bicycle
I’ve seen bike vs car vs transit commuter challenge stories in local papers and special interest media, but how about the nationally televised Today Show?
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May 14, 2010Leave a Comment
Via Velo — San Jose’s first open streets event — takes place Saturday, May 15 from 10 AM to 3 PM.
May 13, 20102 Comments on Bike To Work Day photos
Happy SF Bay Area Bike To Work Day, all.
I did my usual Tour of South Bay Energizer Stations this morning, covering the 12 miles from Sunnyvale to Menlo Park in two hours, which I think must be a new slowness record for me! I distributed Action Wipes to the Mountain View Caltrain and Palo Alto City Hall Energizer Stations (thank you to Sue at Mountain View and Matt at Palo Alto for helping out with that), gave a bike bell to a newbie bike commuter, passed along the latest issue of Urban Velo at the Wilkie Way bike bridge, and consumed my share of bagels, coffee cakes, bananas, oranges, fruit snacks, and coffee along the way.
Congrats to Steve, who won the Bike Snob NYC book after he found me at the Dumbarton bike path Energizer Station in Menlo Park (sponsored by Oracle).
May 12, 20105 Comments on Where’s Richard? Get Free Stuff
Remember, tomorrow (Thursday, May 13 2010) is Bike To Work Day in the San Francisco Bay Area. If you see me, flag me down and I might have some goodies for you.
I’ll be on the wonderfully cute Kona Bandwagon fixed gear bike (light blue frame with obnoxious orange rims). I’ll likely have a big red backpack for the schwag.
One lucky winner will get a copy of Bike Snob NYC’s book (the hardcover released copy). Everybody else will get other random stuff. You must be willing to be photographed to get the prizes and have your photo posted to Flickr and this blog.
Feel free to ride with me — I’ll be on the fixed gear taking photos so I will be traveling a little slower than usual. If you want me to look for you, leave a comment on this post before 9 PM Pacific Time Wednesday and I’ll email you my cellphone number.
I’ll Caltrain from San Jose Diridon to Mountain View Castro Street, then bike to Menlo Park with brief stops at these “Energizer Stations“: Mountain View Caltrain, Castro & California, Wilkie Way bike bridge, California Avenue Caltrain, Palo Alto Caltrain, Palo Alto City Hall, Willow Place bike bridge, and the Dumbarton Bridge bike path at University Avenue. I would like to start at 7 AM in San Jose; let’s see if I actually get up early enough for that. Follow me on Twitter for updates.
I like the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition’s Bike To Work Day “reasons to bike”: “There are so many great reasons to give bike commuting a first try, but the reason people stick with it is simple – fun. So save the date for a morning of fun: Thursday, May 13 is Bike to Work Day 2010. Leave the car at home, dust off the bike, and enjoy your commute for once.”
Speaking of fun: I’m still trying to work things out, but I might be at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition bike fashion show Thursday night. There’s also a “Bike Away From Work Bash” on the Peninsula a tthe Depot Cafe in San Carlos.
May 12, 201022 Comments on Why do you bike to work?
Ecology Action in Santa Cruz posted an online survey for bike commuters. They ask “Why do you choose to bicycle to work?”
All of the answers they list are advantages of biking to work, but they left off the most common reason most people who bike do it. Can you tell me the real reason you ride a bike?
May 11, 20108 Comments on New UK Prime Minister commutes by bike
UK Conservative Party leader David Cameron today was selected as the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The 43 year old Cameron, who is Britain’s youngest prime minister in almost two centuries, regularly rode his bicycle to parliament. It’s unknown if Cameron will continue riding his bike from his new official residence at Number 10 Downing Street.
What other world leader gets around by bike?
In his campaign, Mr Cameron threw a few bones to the motoring lobby, though he also promotes high speed rail across Britain and green initiatives to encourage walking, cycling, and mass transit use.
Like the United States, the UK is increasingly dependent on imported oil for its energy needs. North Sea oil production fueled economic growth from the Thatcher era onwards. Although production peaked in 1999, the national government continued to receive substantial revenue from North Sea production, allowing lavish spending on social programs.
North Sea oil has not cushioned Britain from the worldwide economic turmoil of the past two years, leading to the dissolution of Gordon Brown’s Labour Party government. The Conservative Party plans to cut some taxes to stimulate economic growth, but with declining energy supplies economic growth is impossible though, to his credit, Cameron has resisted most tax cut proposals in favor of plans to cut government spending.
The UK’s 2009 oil revenue was half what it was in 2008, and 2010 will likely be even worse. Cameron and his coalition government with the Liberal Democrats will need to deal with the realities of physical resource constraints, climate change issues, economic recession, and lower tax revenues. It should be interesting for them and for all of us.