Hump Day roundup

Memorial Day is allegedly the unofficial beginning of summer, but cool and damp weather continues with the first day of June in California. I’m hearing from my bike camping friends who endured high winds and rain at various campsites last weekend. We’re running about five to ten degrees (F) below normal for this time of year.


James @ Bicycle Design writes about the bikes from the US Pro Cycling Championship in Greenville, SC last weekend. George Hincapie (pictured below, photo by Frank Steele), missed his fourth US title when Matthew Busche edged him out at the finish line on Monday.


George Hincapie immediately after the race

Andrew Messick leaving AEG and the Amgen Tour of California to lead Ironman stuff instead 🙁

YES YES YES! There are benefits to cycling, but that’s kind of besides the point. Cars isolate people, but people who ride their bikes are engaged more with their communities.

We all know the talking points. The benefits of bicycles have been tirelessly elaborated upon; bicycles improve health, ease congestion, save money, use less space, and provide efficient transportation with zero fuel consumption and zero carbon emissions. All of this is great, and the culmination of a population on two wheels can have a drastic impact on the overall wellbeing of a city.

However, none of these come close to the most meaningful aspect of cycling, a factor that cannot be quantified but has endless value to those fighting to improve their communities.

The most vital element for the future of our cities is that the bicycle is an instrument of experiential understanding.

On a bicycle, citizens experience their city with deep intimacy, often for the first time. For a regular motorist to take that two or three mile trip by bicycle instead is to decimate an enormous wall between them and their communities.

More at This Big City: The Real Reason Bicycles are Key to Better Cities. Via Planetizen.

Building roads to ease congestion an exercise in futility.

Diana and ... Carol?

The Bay Area Citizen looks at bike crashes in the 9 counties of the San Francisco Bay Area and compares that against exposure data. In other words, they compare the number of crashes in each county against the number of cyclists. They find Solano County cyclists are most likely to be involved in a crash. Santa Clara County (where I do most of cycling) had the most cyclist crashes in absolute numbers. San Francisco is the safest county to ride your bike. This “Bike Tracker” is worth the read.

Bike-in wine tasting in Napa.

Crosswalks are dangerous for cyclists.


funny gifs

Former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger rides a bicycle to get away from it all.

Santa Cruz Sentinel: Bike Month comes to a close: “Throughout May, cyclists and event organizers have had to contend with challenging weather,” writes Karen Kefauver. Hopefully, the weather will be a little nicer in June!

One Comment

  1. Thanks for the mention, Richard. It really was a great weekend of racing here in Greenville. Busche’s win was quite impressive in a very fast and exciting race. Just like last year with Taylor Phinney and Ben King, it is great to see the young guys, who are the future of the sport, edging out the veterans for a win. Cycling needs those fresh faces right now.

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