January 17, 20094 Comments on Cyclists to ride in budget protest
From the Mountain View Voice:
. . . local leaders are planning a community bike ride to protest any slashes that would affect children.
The ride will start at the El Camino YMCA on Grant Road on Sunday, May 3, and cover 27 miles through Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Los Altos — all in an effort to bring light to children’s rights, including the need for health and educational initiatives.
January 13, 2009Leave a Comment
A Bicycle Evangelist With the Wind Now at His Back
With an eye on the potential stimulus package, cycling advocates “have compiled a list of $2 billion of projects that can be under construction in 90 days,” Mr. Oberstar said, adding that prospects are “bright.”
December 28, 20085 Comments on League of American Bicyclists finances look a bit shaky
Charity Navigator is a well-known evaluator of non-profit and charitable organizations. Charity Navigator’s evaluation of the League of American Bicyclists indicates that the organization’s finances are a bit shaky. While the League gets 3 out of 4 stars for “Organizational Efficiency,” its “Capacity Rating” is only 1 out of 4 because revenue is shrinking while expenses are essentially flat. The data on the Charity Navigator website are from 2006, so LAB’s financial state may have improved since then. Unfortunately the latest Annual Report published on LAB’s website is also from 2006, which in itself is a bit worrisome!
The League is currently holding elections for Board Members. Our California representative in Region 6 is Amanda Eichstaedt, whose candidate statement in the paper American Bicyclist speaks of efforts to “tighten up the procedures and day to day operating guidelines for the organization.” Board Member Eichstaedt sounds like she’s aware of management problems and is working to sort them out. Certainly the passage of the Bicycle Commuter Act made 2008 overall a successful year for the League.
October 3, 200869 Comments on Bike commuter benefit now law!
President Bush signed the Bicycle Commuter Benefits Act into law today.
Congressman Blumenauer of Oregon included a bike commuter benefit provision in HR1424, the $700 billion Wall Street bailout package that passed the house today and was signed by President Bush shortly afterward.
“We are delighted that the bicycle commuter benefits act has passed after a lengthy and persistent campaign spearheaded by Congressman Blumenauer (D-OR),” said League of American Bicyclists President Andy Clarke. “Bicycle commuters will now be extended similar benefits to people who take transit and drive to work – it’s an equitable and sensible incentive to encourage greater energy independence, improve air quality and health, and even help tackle climate change. Thanks to everyone who has helped reach this milestone, especially Walter Finch and Mele Williams, our government relations staff over the years who have worked tirelessly with Congressman Blumenauer, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and many others in Congress.”
The benefit — up to $20 per month — begins with the new year in 2009. Employers may reimburse employees, tax free, for “reasonable” expenses related to their bike commute, including equipment purchases, bike purchases, repairs, and storage if the bicycle is used as a “substantial part” of the commuter’s trip to work for the month. If you already receive another commuter tax-free fringe benefit (like a Commuter Check or EcoPass), you don’t qualify, so multimodal commuters are out of luck.
(a) In General- Paragraph (1) of section 132(f) is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘(D) Any qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement.’.
(b) Limitation on Exclusion- Paragraph (2) of section 132(f) is amended by striking ‘and’ at the end of subparagraph (A), by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘, and’, and by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: ‘(C) the applicable annual limitation in the case of any qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement.’.
(c) Definitions- Paragraph (5) of section 132(f) is amended by adding at the end the following:
(d) Constructive Receipt of Benefit- Paragraph (4) of section 132(f) is amended by inserting ‘(other than a qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement)’ after ‘qualified transportation fringe’.
(e) Effective Date- The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2008.
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Elsewhere: RideThisBike, Bicycle.Net, Streetsblog, Biking Bis, Bike Portland, Bicycle Diaries, Trek, Rush Limbaugh. Philly Bike News does a cost analysis.
March 3, 20082 Comments on National Bike Summit 2008 in the news
Summit fever is rising! The League of American Bicyclists reports that over 500 participants are now registered for the weekend, with company presidents, national press, strong local advocates—and an impressive array of speakers scheduled to appear.
In addition to the festivities of the National Bike Summit—from the opening dinner with National Park Service Director Mary Bomar and David Jones, Jr., Chairman of Humana’s Board of Directors to the famous politicians at the closing reception on Capitol Hill—there are many events for cyclists. The League of American Bicyclists is holding our annual meeting on Wednesday evening, with two authors—Bob Mionske and J. Harry Wray—speaking and signing books. Swing by for a free drink, good eats, and an update on how the League is doing in 2008—even non-Summit attendees are welcome.
There is also a League board meeting on Tuesday, March 4 from 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. in room Meridian C at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center in downtown Washington, D.C. Open to all!
There are post-Summit evening events hosted by International Mountain Bicycling Association, Thunderhead Alliance, and Bikes Belong. For more information on the Summit, and events going on in conjunction with it, click here for the full agenda[PDF].
A group plans to ride from Reagan National Airport to the National Bike Summit location at Ronald Reagan Trade Center in something like a Critical Mass demonstration showing how bike transportation can be done. The ride will start at 12 p.m. on March 4. All bike riders are encouraged and welcome. If your plans already have you in Washington before noon on Tuesday, ride organizers invite you to ride out to the Airport: it is just 3.5 miles from the Reagan International Trade Center. You can also just ride Metrorail Blue Line from the airport to Federal Triangle Metro Station, from which you can just go upstairs into the plaza outside of the Reagan Trade Center.
Here are some mentions of the 2008 National Bike Summit in the mainstream media.
Political action aside, community service has been a staple for Cohen. Annually, his shop participates in bike giveaways at Christmas, promotes bicycle safety classes, donates helmets at local elementary schools and helps scouts earn their bicycle merit badges.
“I am happy to have helped,” says Cohen. “I like interacting with kids in the community, but I also feel it is my obligation to give back to the community that gives me and my family its livelihood.”
Bicycling’s best year since the start of the auto age? That’s the argument likely to be made March 4-6 as hundreds of cyclists from across the nation gather in Washington for the National Bike Summit sponsored of the League of American Bicyclists.
The Road 2 Recovery effort kicks off with an informal fun ride Tuesday at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. It will be held in conjunction with the League of American Bicyclists’ National Bike Summit.
For more information, see the LAB Summit web page.
Photo: Me riding a rented bike in front of the U.S. Capitol Building
March 2, 20086 Comments on Z sez: Yield to Life
Professional racing cyclist Dave Zabriskie started Yield to Life to engage in a vigorous awareness campaign to promote positive attitudes toward cyclists and replace any hostility that exists between motorists and cyclists with understanding, respect, and appreciation for all life on the road. Safety for every cyclist is the top priority of Yield to Life. The “About” page is worth reading:
We all travel life’s roads. I stand before you to ask for your cooperation in providing safe space for cyclists. When you see a cyclist on the road, please, yield to life.
As a professional cyclist I have ridden my bike all over the world, but, sadly, each of the three times that I have been hit by a car has been in the United States; the worst of the accidents was in 2003.
I had just flown back to Salt Lake after my most successful season to date when, on May 23, I was in Millcreek Canyon in Salt Lake City. I was enjoying one of my favorite rides when I was hit by an SUV on the way down. The SUV made a left hand turn directly into me. I flew through the air and landed on the ground, unable to move the left side of my body. After spending a week in the hospital, I left with pins in my wrist and my leg, and some cadaver bone in my knee. The doctors did not think I would ride again.
It took a lot of hard work and determination to come back from my injuries. I often wonder what I could have accomplished had I not had such a devastating set back. I also wonder what went through the driver’s mind when she hit me. If she had only thought of me as life, a living, breathing person, rather than an obstacle in her way. Did she ever consider the prolonged agony she was creating by her reckless attitude and wrongful acts? If she had just waited a split second for my safe passage, I would have not been reduced to a wheelchair for months, and then in need of a walker and painful rehabilitation to even walk again, let alone ride a bike.
It is my mission to humanize and personalize cyclists to help motorists to always be aware that we are “life” and that we deserve a safe space on the road. I love to ride my bike as do my fellow cyclists, but we should not have to place out lives at risk everyday for that enjoyment.
Yield to Life is a non-profit organization devoted to creating a safer environment for cyclists and, by so doing, encouraging more people to ride for their own health, the good of the environment and the well being of society.
By making cycling safer and promoting the activity as a responsible means of transportation and a healthy means of recreation, Yield to Life can contribute to tackling some of today’s major concerns—from such issues as pollution and global warming to obesity and diabetes. In this way, Yield to Life can play a role in increasing the quality of life not only for cyclists, but for everyone—for our generation and those to come.
I already like David Zabriskie, and this effort makes him even more of a hero in my book. Via Human Powered Transport. See also this rancorous exchange between motorists, pedestrians and cyclists in San Francisco.