Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters commented last month that bicyclists are at fault for the I-35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Salon provides some good perspective on this story.

Peters’ comments set off an eruption of blogging, e-mailing and letter-writing among bike riders and activists, incensed that no matter how many times they burn calories instead of fossil fuels with the words “One Less Car” or “We’re Not Holding Up the Traffic, We Are the Traffic” plastered on their helmets, their pedal pushing is not taken seriously as a form of transportation by the honchos in Washington, D.C.

A sampling of reactions online:

• Bikes are good.
• Prevaricator Extraordinaire.
• Bikes ar efor show, not go.
• Blame the cyclist.
• Bike path to hell: “The guy in his Humvee taking his videos back to the video store isn’t any more legitimate a trip than the guy on the Raleigh taking his videos back.”

I took this photo during my bike commute this morning:

That’s a “KidzTandem” bicycle hand built by Brown Cycles of Grand Junction, Colorado.

The adult controls – steering, braking and gearing – are in the back, allowing the child to pedal and enjoy viewing everything that’s coming up.

The front of bike can take a toddler seat for the very young. This toddler seat can be easily replaced with a saddle for older children.

Frank pointed out a similar child-in-front tandem, the Love Bike. While the KidzTandem has a linkage connecting the steering handlebar to the front fork, the Love Bike uses a big curvy cruiser handlebar that swoops back past the child to the adult sitting in the rear seat.

Photo taken in Palo Alto, California.

Bay Area cyclists who’d like to join me on my morning commute Friday morning: I’ll be taking off from San Jose Diridon Station at 7 a.m. Look for me as I hop off of the Highway 17 Express bus. I ride a silver Specialized Roubaix. The mornings have been chilly so I’ll wear my yellow cycling jacket. But then again every Bay Area bike commuter wears a yellow jacket…

Scot will also be there on his black and red Specialized S Works Tarmac. We’re headed to Palo Alto via Park, Monroe, Benton, Homestead, Foothill, Page Mill and Bryant. We ride at about a 17 mph pace until we hit Foothill Expressway, then it’s 20 to 30 mph all the way to California Avenue in Palo Alto. We stop for all reds, and stop for traffic at stop signs. This is a fast ride but it’s not a mano y mano painfest and we’ll hold back if necessary for slightly slower riders.

There’s no need to contact me — just be at Diridon Station at 7 a.m. when we leave. This is a regular ride so I’ll try to be a little more organized next week if there’s some interest.

I had a post in mind about 9/11, terrorism and American liberty, but it’s a busy day week at work so I’ll point you to this old article on Freedom from Citizen Rider.

They hate us because we are free. They hate us because we question the beliefs they hold so fervently. They hate us because they think we don’t belong in their country.

Assuming that their way of life is the one true path, they deem us infidels, lesser beings who deserve to be destroyed.

They can’t stand freedom. Having given it up themselves, it irks them to see anyone else have it and use it. They create a whole value system based on the necessity to be like them and deprive ourselves as they do.

Read more.

Paddling a boat another form of human power transportation. I’ve thought about doing this, commuting to work by kayak, that is. I work right on San Francisco Bay, but kayaking is a slow way to go.

The BBC article calls it a canoe, but the watercraft pictured is actually a kayak though this might be a case of UK vs American terminology. You kneel in canoes and usually use a single-ended paddle, while in kayaks you sit with your legs extended and use the double paddles.

A lot of web resources tell you the difference is in the decking — kayaks have a deck while canoes are open, but this is incorrect. There are closed deck canoes complete with skirts, and in fact my wife used to run Class III and IV rapids on closed deck white water canoes. Kayaks also come in open deck “sit on top” models.

Not surprisingly, there are some “kayak commute” websites out there:

• How to kayak to work in Bellingham Bay.
• Kayak commute in arctic conditions. Brrrr.
• Can I kayak to work in the San Francisco Bay Area? Answer: “Kayaking the bay is not very difficult in the mornings or evenings, when the water is calmest, as long as you steer well clear of the Golden Gate Bridge. The currents are very strong there because all the tides come in and out only through there — that’s a lot of water. Probably a good idea to stay south of Treasure Island and the Bay Bridge, too. It will take you at least an hour in ideal conditions unless you’re a really strong paddler. And then you’d have to stow your boat and gear, not to mention desweatification.”
• CICLE: Kayaking to work in Millvale, PA.
• Kayak commuter photo gallery from Boulder, Colorado.

For those who dislike Team Slipstream’s distinctive argyle jersey design, here’s your chance to change the design: a jersey design contest for a professional cycling team!

Entries must be received September 15. A panel of judges will select the top five designs, and then these selections will be moved to the web where the public will decide!

There’s a design kit (Mac OS only) to download, a form to fill out, and some Design rules: You must use Slipstreams orange and blue; the design must incorporate Slipstream’s argyle pattern; and the design must feature Slipstream, Chipotle, and Felt logos.

So get cracking! Props to Bicycle Design for this. Reported also at TdF Blog and Tournez a gauche.

I also just found Will Frischkorn’s blog. Will races for Team Slipstream out of Boulder, Colorado. He writes of himself, “Somehow I’m lucky enough to be married to the most incredible, beautiful, smart and beyond understanding woman in the world, Cheynna. We live in the Pleasantville-esque bubble of Boulder, Colorado with our 5 year old Golden, Charlotte. I spend most of my season in Girona, Spain. Cheynna’s a teacher; I’m a cyclist. I race with Team Slipstream, based in Boulder, Colorado and Girona, Spain. By most definitions it’s a blessed life I live.”