Bike train this Wednesday and other bike updates

San Jose Bike Train rides again this Wednesday, March 5, 2014. One of my colleagues at the office was kind enough to share his germs with me during a meeting last week, so let’s hope my nasty head cold heals up before then. Details and more bike stuff below the spiffy Bike Train logo.


Move "Silicon Valley" over a bit

We’ll ride rain or shine. Wheels roll at 8 AM from the Amtrak bus shelter at San Jose Diridon Station. We ride north on the Guadalupe River Trail to serve destinations along the Guadalupe Parkway / North 1st Street Corridor by Hedding Street, SJC Airport, Technology Drive, Trimble Road, Montague Expressway and River Oaks. San Jose Bike Train is an inclusive group ride for all bike styles, body shapes, and apparel. Pace is “no drop” at 10 to 12 MPH.

RSVP is helpful but not necessary. Here’s the Facebook event page, and I’ll also run a public Glympse map showing our realtime location if you want to try to catch the train down the trail.


@chpbike is now online

Twitter updated their robot API last June, which broke my feeds for California Highway Patrol bicycle incidents and fatalities. I finally fixed these feeds over the weekend. Feeds are @chpbike and @chpfatal. They capture and report bike incidents and traffic fatalities (respectively) that are logged to the CHP dispatch system. CHP generally handles mobile 911 calls. Several metro areas operate their own mobile 911 centers, so those calls are missed unless they get handed off to CHP. Another limitation: the @chpbike feed gets a lot of false positives — the intention is to capture bicycle crashes, but I also get most motorcycle crashes in this feed too. You’ll also see the occasional “debris in bike lane” report captured here.

I also updated the California bicycle crash map to show 2014 bicycle incidents. Data source is the same as the chpbike Twitter feed, so the same limitations apply.

More bike stuff

The 2nd Dublin Ireland Mayor’s Ride takes place next Sunday starting from San Jose City Hall. Join the Lord Mayor of Dublin Oisín Quinn, a collection of other dignitaries, and assorted bike hippies for a seven mile bike ride around downtown San Jose during this Sister City visit. Ride starts at 9:30 AM and don’t forget we spring forward for Daylight Savings Time this weekend.

One of many tweets from the National Bike Summit highlights BlackGirlsDoBike.com, a website to support the growing community of women of color who bike.

SFGate: Combine transit with bikes to extend your reach on weekend Bay Area getaways.

Study: Kids who bike or walk to school perform better than their chauffeured peers. If you as a parent are worried about your child’s safety, start a Walking School Bus or a Bike Train.

SFGate (again): Bike Style photo spread features how people dress when they ride their bikes. Unless you know the Bay Area, it might not be what you expect. A couple of people I know from that feature include Lady Fleur and film producer Kristin Tieche.

Drivers license suspensions make poverty worse.

Court rules California texting while driving law doesn’t apply if you’re using a mapping application.

My parents lived in Corona, California just down the street for a trailhead into Cleveland National Forest where a mountain biker lost his life when he was caught out in the rain.

Finally, here’s a photo of the group from the last San Jose Bike Train. Don’t we look like a friendly bunch? Join us Wednesday morning.


San Jose Bike Train

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