Here’s a lazyweb word problem: John rides his bicycle to work, thus saving a half gallon (1.9 liters) of gasoline, consuming 700 calories in the process. If John replaces those calories by eating beef, what is the net reduction (increase?) in greenhouse gas emissions? If he gets the calories from soy protein? Etc? (Ideally, the …
Benny and his posse showed up in force today on the Journal letters page, defending the humble bicycle: Pete Vera feels as though cyclists should not be allowed on the roads because much of the money used to construct and maintain them come from car-related fees and taxes. He needs to be reminded that cars …
Bosque Trail I Originally uploaded by Miguel Navrot. My friend Miguel has posted some great snaps of my favorite bit of bike trail in the city, the shaded, secluded stretch of bosque trail south of the National Hispanic Cultural Center.
I heard a story once about John Coltrane that I’ve always loved. I don’t remember where it’s from, so take this with a grain of salt, but the story was that Coltrane spent his whole life looking for the right saxophone mouthpiece. He had this sound in his head, and he was always looking for …
Benny the Ice Pick has some great advice for staying warm on the bike come winter.
Mailing list dynamics are often fascinating: a complex self-disorganizing system, like a bunch of really dumb ants who are neither very good at finding food, nor at finding their way back to the nest. When they work their best, they’re a fabulous tool for decentralized group communication, thinking and decision-making. At their worst… Today’s case …
A comment worth highlighting in the thread on whether bike helmets are dangerous because cars pass more closely when a cyclist is helmetted: The solution is invisible helmets. Duh.
One of my favorite bike racers, Alexandre Vinokourov, is winning the Vuelta. Vinokourov is a great joy to watch – an unpredictable, attacking racer with a flair for the dramatic. I had no idea he was winning. It’s not that I intentionally boycotted the Vuelta. I just got out of the daily habit of checking …
Continue reading ‘The Practical Effect of Cycling’s Doping Scandals’ »
Another contribution to the bike helmet debate (see also here): Drivers get more than 3.1in (8cm) closer to cyclists wearing helmets than they do to bare-headed riders and female cyclists are given more room on the road than male riders, according to a survey from the University of Bath. Dr Ian Walker, a traffic psychologist, …
A friend sends along a link to Squishy’s road markings gallery. I wanna know the stories.