Cycles

"Los Angeles has a bike plan, and it's a fine idea. We have quite enough cars and quite enough drivers, thank you very much, and the counter-stereotypical truth is that we also have thousands and thousands of bicyclists who would gladly leave the car in the garage (or not buy one in the first place) and take to the pedals if only we could make enough room for them on the pavement. That's the idea behind the mile-and-a-half or so of green-painted bike lane that runs along Spring Street downtown. By itself it's not much, but as the anchor of a bikeway network, it's an inviting path. Of course, bike lanes are nothing new, although they always seemed to work out well enough without being painted a garish color. And this green is just so, well — green. Kind of a gimmick, right? But whatever. It's not like it does anyone any harm. Except that it apparently does. That mile and a half of Spring Street turns out to be the most filmed stretch of street in town. Or rather, it was until about... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

Andrew, I'd think that shadows and different exposures due to being outside might be a bigger issue. I think you can key to various shades even in consumer editing software, but it might be more expensive or difficult. I've only ever experienced the results of green screen in a controlled studio. - joey

"Wham-O wheelie bar sting ray bike commercial from 1965" - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"The Side by Side bicycle, also known as a "sociable", or more recently as a buddy bike, appears to date back to 1896. Unlike a tandem, where the riders are inline to one another, here the riders are side by side. To build one, you start with a regular bike and make 3 modifications: pedals, seats, and handle bars. To accomodate riders of different weight, my idea was to to slide the seats left/right such that the heavier rider sits closer to the frame. This adjustment is limited however since the farther the seats are extended in either direction, the more uncomfortable the pedaling becomes. Perhaps you will not need this feature. To reduce interference between the riders, the seats can be staggered as described and illustrated in this patent issued in 1979. This reference notes the use of a chain for the steering mechanism but I believe it's easier to build a linkage tie rod. Riding side by side is so much fun and exciting! The Side by Side is safer than my "Antique Bicycle",... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"The 2012 Ladies calendar is finally available for sale online at www.forwardthreads.com. They're here, and, 50% of the proceeds goes to the San Francisco Food Bank through our work with the Supermarket Street Sweep. ***Release party is this Thursday at Southern Pacific Brewery 7pm. Come on down and meet our lovely ladies." - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

Images from the calendar here: http://www.flickr.com/photos... - Spidra Webster

"Los Angeles is a bike town in waiting. All the elements are there: year-round fair weather, relative flatness, big wide streets, insane traffic delays, the need for exercise in a city that lacks public parks and spaces. Studies show that 50% of trips made by car are less than 3 miles long. We know that not all of those trips are to carry lumber and tons of groceries. They're mostly trips to the movies, to get coffee, dinner, the book store, school, concerts - how about a bike date with peanut butter n' jelly sandwiches in the park? So what gives, L.A.? Why won't you come out and play-ay? The reason is pretty obvious. Fear. Not many people feel safe mixing it up with the L.A. traffic. I don't blame them. Our streets seem to encourage a kind of bipolar disorder - motorists slowing and speeding only to stop at traffic jams and red lights. Hitting the gas, then hitting the brakes then hitting the gas. From a cyclist's perspective it just seems silly. If you consider the time a driver... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"After efforts to impose a speed limit for bicycles on the Golden Gate Bridge were stifled by outspoken cyclists last year, the bridge district has struck a friendly compromise: digital speedometer signs. The first sign, which is more or less the same as one you might see on a busy street gently reminding motorists that they are driving way too fast, appeared in December on the west sidewalk and another will pop up soon on the bridge's east sidewalk. The equipment tracks cyclists' speeds with sensors on the ground and according to folks from the bridge district, the signs are not an indicator that they want to start cracking down on speeding cyclists. Rather, they are just a handy way to help bikers keep an eye on their velocity and hopefully police themselves. Plans to establish a speed limit for bikes on the bridge are still on hold for the foreseeable future, and anyway, the bike advocacy groups approve of the speedometer setup." - vicster from Bookmarklet

"Ask Your Representative to Preserve Biking and Walking Transportation Committee votes on biking and walking funding next week On Thursday, February 2, we expect the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee to vote on the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, a bill that eliminates crucial funds for biking and walking. If your representative is on the committee, they are in a key position to save dedicated funding for biking and walking. Please contact them today and ask them to vote to preserve biking and walking. For those of you who do do not have a member on the T&I committee, please contact your contact your representative to ask them to speak with their colleagues who do serve on the committee. The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, the long awaited multi year Transportation bill, eliminates the two largest programs that fund biking and walking infrastructure—Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. Without these programs,... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"If you’re looking for new ways to get around for fun or to work, or might be trying to live a greener lifestyle in 2012, why not try biking? In March 2010 we introduced biking directions and since then Google Maps has been sharing biking directions with cyclists across the U.S and Canada. Since no bike path is the same, many users have requested an easier way to differentiate the different types of bike routes that are available. Starting today, a new legend feature can help you understand what the different colors on the bike maps symbolize. Dark green is for dedicated trails and paths Light green is for roads with dedicated lanes Dotted green is for roads that are friendly for cyclists Look for the biking legend in the upper right hand corner of the map You can view this legend by clicking on the widget in upper right corner of Google Maps and selecting the Bicycling layer. You can also access biking directions on your Android device or by going to maps.google.com on your mobile... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"Alaska has the highest number of bicycle and pedestrian commuters and Alabama has the lowest, according to a new report on bicycling and walking in the U.S. The Bicycling and Walking in the United States: 2012 Benchmarking Report, released by the Alliance for Biking & Walking, provides a look at commuting by cycling and walking in the U.S., how safe those commutes are, and where transportation funding is going -- or not going -- to promote these alternative means of local travel. The report ranked states and cities on bicycling and walking levels (how many people commute by bike or foot) as well as fatality rates. Boston had the highest level of such commutes, and Fort Worth, Texas, the lowest. Vermont and Boston had the fewest fatalities and Florida and Fort Worth the most. California ranks No. 19 and Los Angeles No. 20 on the biking and walking levels list, and No. 32 and No. 26, respectively, on the fatality rate list. Not horrible, but there's room for improvement. San Francisco... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"Hot wheels: The East Side Bicycling Club in Los Angeles gather for a group photo in 1896. The population of the Californian city had grown by almost 100,000 in 30 years as people came to find their fortune in the West" - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

They're all wearing clownishly huge bow ties in this picture. - Spidra Webster

"CicLAvia, the popular Los Angeles cycling event, took its first spin in Watts on Sunday. Volunteers have long wanted to hold a ride in Watts similar to CicLAvia events that pass through downtown Los Angeles, known for closing streets to cars so cyclists have free rein. On Sunday, a large group gathered to tour the Watts area on bike, something organizers hope will encourage more civic engagement, even though they had to share the road with drivers. "Look around," Tafarai Bayne, one of the event's organizers, told 60 or so cyclists gathered at Augustus Hawkins Natural Park in South L.A.'s Central-Alameda neighborhood. "These are your future comrades in making L.A. a better place." PHOTOS: Touring South L.A. by bike In addition to riding from the park to the Watts Towers, cyclists were encouraged to take photos for a "crowd-sourced" map that will feature pictures and recordings cyclists took along the route. CicLAvia has held similar events in the Leimert Park and Exposition Park... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"The bike path beaver has struck again. Of course, it's doubtful the beaver (or beavers) that recently felled eight city trees by Truxtun Lake is the same that earned notoriety and a price on its head in 2007 with the ruin it caused. Nevertheless, the alleged hooligan has damaged about a dozen trees along the bike path by the lake, between Mohawk Street and Coffee Road, and the city has had to remove eight of those. A beaver, or beavers, has been chewing on the poplars along the bike path for the last two to three weeks, said Race Slayton, the city's arborist. The occasionally dry Kern River bed could be partly to blame, as beavers move elsewhere -- like Truxtun Lake -- to seek water, he said. "They (beavers) have to chew," Slayton said. "That's just their nature. ... Unfortunately, they chew on our trees." When a beaver damaged city trees in 2007, the city said it would trap and kill the culprit, but public outcry to spare the beaver stopped those plans. This time, Slayton said, the... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"I've had such a journey with the cycling. Just a few years ago, the idea that I would become as passionate about cycling as I am now would be simply preposterous. How did I get to this place where I voluntarily ride this crazy-steep hill to work everyday...and I still turn out in the office consistently polished and in a dress, heels, lip gloss and perfume? I am not the type of girl to give up my style. That’s the way I ride! I just took the boys to their evening Christmas school program last week dressed "fancy" as my first grader advised, in a black satin dress, a marabou vest and over the knee high heeled boots. I’ve also recently stepped out to the theatre in a short, satin cocktail dress. And to the bar in my bandage dress and 4” ankle boots. And my driver’s license is NOT suspended, thank you. I have a nice Mini Cooper, I’d just rather cycle. It's pure JOY. How can something so bloody brilliant not be so obvious to us all? How did it take me so long to realize this? So my... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

I think it's pretty unsafe to bike in heels, though, or even in any shoe not made for athletic endeavor. I was biking in leather soled ankle boots when the leather sole slipped on the pedal and I came down hard on the end of the seat with my tailbone. I couldn't sit for days. And it never healed right. - Spidra Webster

"Bike riding movie critic Steven Rea curates the popular Rides a Bike Tumblr blog that features movie stars riding their bicycles. He’s compiled 125 images of those stars into a nice coffee table book titled Hollywood Rides a Bike: Cycling with the Stars. Hollywood Rides a Bike book cover Hollywood always knew the appeal of the bicycle! That’s the “why” of film critic Steven Rea’s homage to Hollywood on two wheels (okay, sometimes three wheels), Hollywood Rides a Bike: Cycling with the Stars. This image-filled tome is proof positive that Hollywood pedaled its wares long before biking became über-trendy. Rea has assembled the ultimate tribute to twentieth-century foxes and a universal collection of cycles. Hollywood Rides a Bike shows classic stars—from Shirley Temple, Betty Grable, and Brigitte Bardot to Bogie, Gable, and Bing—on wheels, then proves there’s way less than six degrees of separation between Kevin Bacon and all the best bikes Hollywood prop shops have to offer. One... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"Bike-sharing programs are finally on their way to Los Angeles County, but whether they will be well-coordinated and integrated is up to Metro. These programs—which have popped up in Paris, Portland and Minneapolis—allow users to swipe a credit card and rent a bike for a short jaunt from one (hopefully) well-placed bike kiosk to another. The infamous sprawl of the Southland and its many municipalities makes it a challenge compared to other cities. That's why Metro is hosting meetings to think about the big picture: what would a county-wide bike-sharing program look like? Already, three cities have plans and funding in the works: Santa Monica, Long Beach and Los Angeles (in downtown and maybe Hollywood). Metro hosted a meeting yesterday to discuss how its role in coordinating and integrating these cities' (and future cities') plans, according to LA Streetsblog. Metro wants to make sure that cities are able to integrate their technology, according to a handout on its website. That would... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

Bixi's pretty danged popular in Montreal. - Brent from iPhone

"Bike riding Priceonomics researcher Rohin Dhar dug into six months of Craigslist posts to find the top cities for cycling in the United States. Rohin counted the number of used bicycle “for sale” Craigslist postings nationwide and found that San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Orange County had the most bike listings. Given the populations of these areas, this isn’t too surprising, so Rohin normalized the data for population and came up with these rankings. Bikes Sales America normalized for population For bike sales per capita, Boulder, Colorado comes out on top, followed by Bend OR, Portland OR, Eugene OR, Reno NV, and San Francisco CA. Which is all kind of boring, so for fun Rohin filtered just for “fixies” and “fixed gear” in his dataset as a proxy for a city’s hipster quotient and discovers California is the epicenter of today’s fixed gear bike sales. The top cities for fixed gear bike listings? In order, they are: * Orange County * Los Angeles * San Jose * San Francisco *... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

http://blog.priceonomics.com/post... - Spidra Webster

OMG, Orange County rates top for hipster bikes (i.e. fixies). - Spidra Webster

"We also know that our bicycle subculture is far superior to all other bicycle subcultures and could totally beat up yours. ROUND I: The Lycra-Clad Racer vs The Fixie Messenger" - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"We also know that our bicycle subculture is far superior to all other bicycle subcultures and could totally beat up yours. ROUND II: The Amsterdam Fashionista vs The Practical Commuter" - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

Please Mr. Motorist, watch out for me? - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"John Luk and his friends were descending into Pacifica at the 35 MPH speed limit in the right lane last weekend when Pacifica police pulled them over and ordered them to ride the wrong way against traffic in that “bike lane” on the other side of Sharp Park. Their direction of travel was forward (westbound) in the image, but the cop wanted them going the wrong direction in that crappy, narrow “lane”, which is more like a sidewalk. Luk tweeted: Decending SharpPark, a PacificPD pulls us over, says we can’t go down b/c no bike lane. Told to use opposite side. Against flow of traffic. California has a mandatory bike lane law, but bike lanes are marked with signs and a six inch white stripe in California. There’s no way the sidewalk along the eastbound lane of Sharp Park qualifies as a bike lane. There is no mandatory sidepath law in California." - vicster from Bookmarklet

California = hostile to cyclists - Joe The Sausage

"When thieves stole his beloved ­commuter bike on a busy street in broad daylight, PATRICK SYMMES snapped—and set out on a cross-­country plunge into the heart of ­America’s bike-crime underbelly. What he saw will ­rattle your frame." - vicster from Bookmarklet

He refers to an "Alameda Flea Market" which does not yet exist, though I just saw a flier that there will be one starting in March at College of Alameda. He may be referring to any number of the flea markets that happen in Berkeley, Oakland Coliseum and Laney College. I don't think I've ever seen bikes for sale at the Alameda Antique Fair, unless they were vintage. - vicster

I love that the bait bike had the gears restricted since the bike cops have such pokey rides. - Jennifer Dittrich

"We have worked hard over the last year since the first draft of the LA County Bicycle Master Plan was released to ensure the Plan really serves the needs of the many diverse and dispersed unincorporated communities. Since the last Regional Planning Commission meeting on Nov 16th, a number of additional changes were made as a result of your many comments and LACBC’s advocacy. Our efforts were further supported by a motion put forth by Supervisor Yaroslavsky in December to ensure innovative treatments were included in the plan. This morning the LA County Bicycle Master Plan was again reviewed by the LA County Regional Planning Commission and was unanimously approved. We are pleased with the changes that have been made since the first draft. Many of your comments and ours were integrated into the Plan and the changes will provide the people living in or adjacent to unincorporated LA County communities more opportunities to bicycle for everyday transportation and recreation. Since the... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

*deploys tranq gun full of Beano* - Spidra Webster

"U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) rides his bicycle on the sidepath. Cantor enjoys riding on the bike path, but he would like to eliminate funding from bike share programs, including the popular Capital Bikeshare program in Washington DC and Arlington VA." - vicster from Bookmarklet

"Welcome to our community of bike tourists.  This is a hospitality site for touring cyclists.  If this is your first time here we suggest that you watch our new videos. Our suggested order for viewing them would be to first see Introduction to Warmshowers.org and then How to create an account on Warmshowers.org. An alternative to watching the videos is to read the FAQ. Besides other information, the FAQ contains the same basic material that you will find in these videos. If the warmshowers community looks like something you would be interested in joining you can sign up here.  You may also browse the member forums at anytime." - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet

"To the dismay of thousands of bicycle riders taking advantage of unseasonably warm temperatures, the popular San Gabriel River Bicycle Trail is closed for a three-mile stretch and won't reopen for at least another month, county officials said. Los Angeles County closed the river bike path between Thienes Avenue in South El Monte and San Gabriel River Parkway in Pico Rivera for maintenance on Nov. 28. The project is taking place simultaneously with a Southern California Edison project involving the replacement of transformers along the southerly portion, according to the county. Although the county was supposed to be finished reconstructing the northerly portion on Friday, crews started a month late, which means the major repaving project won't be completed until the end of January, said county spokesman Bob Spencer. Riders over the holiday weekend and during the holiday week slammed on their brakes at the detour sign, which directs them to Thienes Avenue. Other signs have been placed... more... - Spidra Webster from Bookmarklet