Hump Day Report: Friendly cyclists, Bay Area bike safety, and a not so friendly Yahoo.

Happy Hump Day and greetings to Eloy, who I met this morning on the Guadalupe River Trail. This Dutch cyclist wears the royal color for his bike commute.


Eloy the Dutch cyclist

Do you wave at other cyclists? Jason Gay of the Wall Street Journal does. So does Patrick “Mad Dog” O’Grady, who’s puzzled about those who fail to wave back

That Taylor Street Bridge in San Jose where a cyclist was killed on Monday is a nasty one. Sadly, among the few bad east-west bike access choices, this one is about the least bad. Chris P, who regularly cycles across that bridge, started a petition asking the San Jose City Council to improve the safety of that bridge. San Jose’s bike plan includes improvements for that bridge but it’s currently unfunded.

Some of you might remember my disappointment two years ago when a handful of businesses opposed a streetscape project for California Avenue in Palo Alto. I recently learned that one of those businesses has done a complete about face and now welcomes cyclists to their business with open arms. It’s a wonderful story of bike advocacy in action.

Elly Blue has a bicycle coloring book featuring line drawings by artist Taliah Lempert.

.

What is with these guys? Unlike passing motorists, I generally wave with all five fingers on a given hand, and there are no pentagrams tattooed on my palms. Has the mousse that grips their so-carefully coiffed ’dos soaked through their scalps to enmire the already-sluggish machinations of their brains? Are their Oakleys so dark that they simply can’t see my friendly salutation? Have they heard the ugly rumors about me, their sisters and the Sonoran donkey?

“Glee” star Gran Gustin rides a bicycle and crashed.

You may have seen the Chron‘s report to improve cycling safety in San Francisco because of a 20% increase in collisions. Jym Dyer compares this increase in collisions with an estimated 35% increase in cyclists over the same time period, and points out this is in line with Jacobsen’s “Safety in Numbers” findings. He also points out the safety improvement that results in taking motorists off of the street.

Here’s a short collection of advocacy news stories from James Bikes Green.

Santa Cruz Bicycle news

My friend Karen Kefauver covers some of the bicycling innovation in Santa Cruz for the Sentinel.

Santa Cruz police shut down a stolen bike chop shop.

This is old news but I guess nothing has happened yet so Santa Cruz Indymedia repeats the claim that the city of Santa Cruz violates city code in how they distribute unclaimed bicycles. I know the Bike Church made very good use of the donated bicycles. I have no clue what Bike Dojo does behind their closed doors.

Ramona Turner’s Street Smarts column covers exceptions to the “as far right as practicable” law in California.

Finally, I happened to notice this big purple bus passing through Santa Cruz County this morning. This is the Cavarallo Transit Center in Scotts Valley.


Yahoo employee bus in Scotts Valley

Apple and Google both have employee buses for Santa Cruz County residents, but I’ve never noticed a Yahoo bus before. The guy with his back to me in the photo was standing next to me and chatting amiably with other people on their way to board this bus. I get his attention and ask him if this is a new bus for Yahoos. I’m freshly shaven and dressed professionally, but this freak just looked at me like I was Frankenstein’s monster, muttered a couple of incomprehensible syllables, then turned around and blew me off.

Something tells me that if this guy rides a bike, he probably doesn’t wave.

One Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.