Brilliant and concise.

Ms. Keri Caffrey of CommuteOrlando is certainly among "the best of the best" when it comes to bicyclist advocacy and education. Following is an example of her considerable intellectual prowess and keen human insight.

(T)he purpose of CommuteOrlando is to empower people, not enable them. And no, we’re not about getting people out of cars, we’re about helping people who are currently using a bike for transportation, or want to. The difference is, people who want to do something are willing to learn the best way to do it. If someone wants to ride a motorcycle, they take a class and learn to do it safely. If they want to swim, they take lessons. If they don’t want to learn to drive a bicycle in a safe and easy manner, they probably don’t want to use a bicycle. I’m not going to advocate changing the roads for them and make them worse for people who do want to drive their bicycles in the safest manner possible.

Making things better for bicyclists is completely different from getting people to ride. We actively support infrastructure that makes things better for bicyclists. We don’t support infrastructure that makes things worse by using symbolic trickery to pander to the irrational fears of would-be bicyclists.

The notion of enticing people out of their cars and onto bikes is bogus. As long as gas is cheap and parking is free, people are not going to hop on bikes just because there are facilities. Especially in the south where it’s miserably humid in the summer and the travel distances are formidable. If we want to get people out of cars, transit is a far better thing to promote.

The context of her comments can be discovered here in response to a deeply flawed posting from a misguided bicycle transportation planner, who manages to regurgitate whatever has been spoon fed to him from the Bicycle Segregationists with no citation of fact, regardless of plausibility.

Photo by Dan Gutierrez

My favorite operas are by Wagner.

Image copyright 2005 by Head Injury Theater/Jared von Hindman

Synopsis here.


Kirsten Flagstad as ”Sieglinde” in Wagner’s opera ”Die Walküre”.

Off the streets and onto the sidewalks.

The original plan for Riverfront Boulevard (ne: Industrial Boulevard) included wide outside lanes to accommodate bicyclists uneasy with commanding their lane. The new plan removes the on-street bicycle accommodations, and places bicycle traffic onto the sidewalks in one-direction, 5' wide "cycle tracks".

The City and the County eagerly await public comments.

The End Is Near! (The end of registration, that is.)

An LCI instructors' press-gang captures a passing cyclist, enlisting him into taking a Traffic Skills 101 class in Montgomery, Alabama.

One-day Traffic Skills 101 cycling course on Sunday, April 25th

The new 1-day version of the Traffic Skills 101 course will be taught in North Dallas on April 25, 2010. This is a great way to learn how to ride safely and comfortably on city streets... or just about anywhere!

• Date: Sunday, April 25, 2010
• Time: 9 AM
• Location: Jewish Community Center, 7900 Northaven Road, Dallas , TX 75087
• Registration Fee: $50.00
• Description:

1. The classroom portion of this course is taken online, whenever it is convenient for you, but must be completed by April 23, 2010. Instructions for completing the online portion will be as soon as we receive your registration.
2. The on-bike skills portion of the course (parking lot drills and road cycling) will be conducted on Sunday, April 25, 2010 by League Certified Instructors. We will ride to a lunch spot.
3. Required equipment: helmet, bicycle, water bottle and water, spare tube, tire levers, lunch money.

Register at the BikeDFW web site

For more information contact:
Richard Wharton
Phone: 214-616-9850
Email: rwharton@onlinebikecoach.com

Assault in the bike lane.

Ms. Keri Caffrey posted this last week. It deserves to be closely watched. Repeatedly.

Assault in the Bike Lane from Keri Caffrey on Vimeo.

Allow me to point a few of the obvious (and less obvious) items:

1) Observe the traffic safely moving around cyclists when they are in the travel lane, controlling their space.

2) Observe how narrow a "legal" bike lane is (compared to a travel lane). The wide-angle lens of the helmet cam distorts it, but it meets the AASHTO Design Guide recommendations. Most "bike lanes" in Texas (Austin and Houston) are narrower than this one in Florida.

3) Observe how close an ass-hat driver can legally pass a cyclist trapped in the bike lane.

4) Realize that:
a) the truck driver stayed 3ft away from the cyclists (even though he entered the bike lane after clearing them, to send a message),
b) the 3ft "safe passing" law doesn't apply when cyclists are in a designated bike lane, as the overtaking motorist isn't "passing" (that's why we have lane stripes), although there is a test case in Arizona on this issue.

This was shot in Florida. Florida has a "3ft safe-passing" law (with no recorded enforcements), and a law requiring cyclists to use a bike lane if present (with plenty of recorded enforcements). Texas doesn't (yet) have a "3ft safe-passing" law, but Texas does have a law mandating bike lane use.

With friends like these...

Oh me oh my oh, look at Miss Ohio!

Deciding to reach across state lines to take a stand for the right of bicyclists to the legal use of the roadway (the founding principal of the League of American Bicyclists, and what should be the basic premise of all bicycle advocacy), the board of the Ohio Bicycle Federation voted Sunday to donate monetarily to the Reed Bates Defense Fund.

OBF board members Dan Carrigan and Fred Oswald introduced the motion.

I tip my Stetson in gratitude to the Ohio Bicycle Federation and to the Great State of Ohio.



See how far Ohio is from Texas?

"Oh me oh my oh, look at Miss Ohio." -- Gillian Welch

The new paradigm of urban planning and design

"Grand nu au fauteuil rouge", Pablo Picasso, 5 mai 1929

"Everything you can imagine is real."

- Pablo Picasso

Inquiring minds want to know...

Good Afternoon,

In an effort to get a better understanding of the Region’s demand for bicycle and pedestrian facilities, our Mobility Team has created a one question survey for use in developing the Mobility 2035 Plan. The survey can be found here. Please take a moment to provide us with your feedback. It takes less than 1 minute to complete, and your participation will help shape the long term goals and objectives for the Region’s bicycle and pedestrian system. We will be discussing the Mobility 2035 Plan in more detail at our next Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) meeting on May 19, 2010. More details on this meeting will be sent out in the coming weeks.

Thank you in advance for your participation.

Regards,


Deborah Humphreys

Transportation Planner | Bicycle and Pedestrian Program
North Central Texas Council of Governments
616 Six Flags Drive | Arlington, TX 76011
Direct: (817) 608-2394
Fax: (817) 640-3028
dhumphreys@nctcog.org

Remember, honesty is the best policy, so be truthful.

City Life... 1905 and 2005.

A labyrinth, a smoke screen, or a course of action?

Illustration stolen from XKCD by someone else?

Hi P. M.,

The Google Maps problem you reported has been escalated to the appropriate team. We don't have an immediate fix but are working hard for a resolution.

Report history
Problem ID: 2924-664F-41B1-CD25

Your report: Get the Dallas On-Street Bike Route System here: Enterprise GIS Division City Hall, Room 7FS 1500 Marilla Street Dallas, Texas 75201 (214) 670-4513 GIS Manager office (214) 659-7021 Fax
--
Thanks for your help,
The Google Maps team

Gott hilffe mir.

Martin Luther zum Reichstag in Worms

On April 16, 1521, German reformer Martin Luther, 34, arrived at the Diet of Worms, where he afterward defended his theological position behind the “Ninety-Five Theses” (first advanced in 1517). It was at this assembly where Luther concluded his defense with the historic words: “Hier stehe ich; ich kann nicht anders tun. Gott hilffe mir. Amen.” (“Here I stand! I can do nothing else. God help me! Amen.”)

--quoting Bill Blake

He was condemned as a heretic and ex-communicated. And so it goes.

Is this legal?

Yes... except in towns that invent their own interpretations of the law.

Is this the goal?

For some, yes.

Fear not!

An LCI instructors' press-gang captures a passing cyclist, enlisting him into taking a Traffic Skills 101 class in Montgomery, Alabama.

One-day Traffic Skills 101 cycling course on April 25th

The new 1-day version of the Traffic Skills 101 course will be taught in North Dallas on April 25, 2010. This is a great way to learn how to ride safely and comfortably on city streets... or just about anywhere!

* Date: April 25, 2010
* Time: 9 AM
* Location: Jewish Community Center, 7900 Northaven Road, Dallas , TX 75087
* Registration Fee: $50.00
* Description:
o The classroom portion of this course is taken online, whenever it is convenient for you, but must be completed by April 23, 2010. Instructions for completing the online portion will be as soon as we receive your registration.
o The on-bike skills portion of the course (parking lot drills and road cycling) will be conducted on Sunday, April 25, 2010 by League Certified Instructors. We will ride to a lunch spot.
* Required equipment: helmet, bicycle, water bottle and water, spare tube, tire levers, lunch money.

Register at the BikeDFW web site

For more information contact:
Richard Wharton
Phone: 214-616-9850
Email: rwharton@onlinebikecoach.com

Lt. Uhuru is moulton hot!

Found this picture of Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhuru on the original Star Trek) riding an early Alex Moulton bicycle (Standard). She is obviously riding around the Universal Studio during filming, the question is, who's bicycle was it?

I've long wanted a Moulton, preferably an AM-GT (or the new M-60 2-speed). I missed my chance to snare an AM-2 at a garage sale once.

Why the gutter is a bad place to hang out.

Photo: Chris McCormack, Sunshine Coast Daily News

Fred Oswald of LAB Reform has a new piece up. Good primer on the subject.

A reminder.

Following is the Cyclist's Equity Position statement of the League of American Bicyclist (of which I am a member). For now, it is the working understatement of cycleSMART, a vaporware umbrella organization with no affiliation with the League of American Bicyclists other than the memberships of individuals. This is the basis of the standard by which sensible, mainstream bicycling advocacy can be defined.

Cyclists’ Equity Statement

Cyclists have the same right to fair and equitable treatment by the government as other road users. The basis for these rights is expressed through the six Es approach that the League supports:

• Equality – Legal: traffic law and legislation, including movements, access, equipment, uniformity
• Engineering – Transportation: road and bicycle facilities development, design, and construction, and mobility and funding sources
• Enforcement – Police and Courts: Equitable treatment of cyclists through citations and trials
• Education – Schools and Smart Cycling™: Traffic skills education for the public, engineers, enforcers, and legislators
• Encouragement – Public and private agencies: advertising campaigns, promotions, etc.
• Evaluation – Public agencies: Measurement of the effects of the other Es using relevant research methods and testing.

The League of American Bicyclists supports equity in the treatment of all cyclists in the implementation and evaluation of all Es.

EQUALITY – The equal legal status and equal treatment of cyclists in traffic law. All US states must adopt fair, equitable and uniform traffic laws, that are “vehicle-neutral” to the greatest extent possible. Cyclists’ ability to access to all destinations must be protected. State and local laws that discriminate against cyclists, or restrict their right to travel, or reduce their relative safety, must be repealed.

Engineering – Roadways and separate facilities must conform to state and national standards and allow for safe, legal and efficient traffic movements. Construction and maintenance of roads must equitably serve all users. Separate facilities must be maintained at a level not less than that applied to the public roadway. Trip-endpoint and waypoint facilities such as parking must serve bicyclists.

Enforcement – Cyclists must be given equal treatment by police and the courts in the enforcement of traffic laws and in the investigation of crashes that involve bicyclists which reach the threshold for the state or jurisdiction in question. Cyclists must be viewed as fully equal to other parties in the determination of culpability in crashes, the economic value of injuries or death, and non-economic losses that are commonly awarded to crash victims.

Education – Cycling training should be based on the principle that “cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles.” This type of cycling is based on the same sound, proven traffic principles governing all drivers, and is the safest, most efficient way for all cyclists to operate. by making them highly visible and their actions predictable to other road users.

Encouragement – Promotion of cycling as a healthy and environmentally sound method of transport and recreation. Encouragement is done via promotional campaigns, incentives for those choosing bicycling rather than another form of transport and promotion of cycling as a healthy activity. The encouragement of bicycling should be inclusive of all types of cyclists.

Evaluation – Evaluation of the other five Es (Equality, Engineering, Enforcement, Education and Encouragement). Evaluation must involve measurement, analysis and research using rigorous, statistically sound methodologies.

First in show.

A typical "Sheffield Rack" design from Furnitubes, International.

This is a "Sheffield Rack", and it is the best bike rack design on the market (if this example shown is not the best job of placement or utilization). An inverted U rack, like the ones I placed in downtown Dallas, Deep Ellum, and along Jefferson Boulevard in Oak Cliff, is almost as good functionally, and superior in terms of space utilization.

If the Sheffield Rack looks suspiciously like a handrail, there's a good reason for that. Essentially, it is. The University of Sheffield had problems with cyclists using the handrails around campus buildings to park their bicycles. No matter what crappy "wheel-bender" bike rack the University would install on campus, cyclists continued to lock their bicycles to the handrails, often blocking sidewalks and entrances (stubborn cyclists).

Someone had the brilliant idea to simply mount some free-standing handrails where a bike rack had been, and "Voilà", instant success.

Bicycle facilities specifiers and landscape architects (your bicycle overlords) have been repeatedly ignoring this lesson ever since, insisting thst function follows form.

Red Dirt truth.

A bike ban in Ft. Collins, Colorado, a LAB "Bicycle Friendly City". Photo: LAB Reform

In an understatement, League Cycling Instructor Ed Wagner says...

The League of American Bicyclists misses the point...

Well placed sources.

Here's a rare instance of the ubiquitous "ribbon rack" bike-rack properly placed to fully achieve it's rated capacity (unlike here). To minimize pedestrian conflicts, I would prefer to see these racks mounted perpendicular to the building face, but at least this way you can approach the racks from both sides.

Not perfect, but better.



Edit: Seen below is a utilitarian cyclist who has just arrived, locking his bike to the picnic table.

Of passing interest.

Frisco Cycling Club

FCC clinic- save the date

Please mark your calendar for an upcoming and important FCC clinic. This will be a very special clinic open only to current FCC members and a few select VIP's. You don't want to miss this one!

Wednesday April 21st from 6pm - 7:30, Lieutenant David Shilson and a few fellow Frisco Police officers will host us at their station house for this special night. They will help explain the current laws on the Frisco books as it concerns cyclists and discuss the Vulnerable Road Users Bill that was proposed a year ago that Governor Perry vetoed and how they feel the current laws that are in place are better than those that were included in that Bill.

They have also offered to take a group at the end of the meeting for a tour of the station as time allows.

* Please remember our commitment to the Frisco Family Services Center food pantry. Bring breakfast items with you that night so we can make a large donation to get the shelves re stocked.

FriscoCycling.com

Better than much of what I saw today.

Separate but equal.

(April 1, 1960: Birmingham)

The League of American Black Separatists has awarded Birmingham, Alabama the coveted Gold Black Friendly Community award. Said Andrew X of the League of American Black Separatists (LABS), "In looking to separate Black America from White America, we found few communities that had made as much effort towards this goal as Birmingham has." Andrew X pointed to the usual "separate but equal" segregated schools, and the safety of all Black or all White neighborhoods as good examples of being Black Friendly. But what vaulted Birmingham to Gold status was the city's "cost is no object" implementation of completely segregated water fountains and restrooms.

Andrew X also said that one of the keys to this prestigious award was when he sat down with Birmingham's white mayor, Mr. James Crow, and discovered how much they had in common, and how their seemingly disparate goals really overlapped. "We had always wanted to maintain a purely white society" said Mr. Crow, "but extremist 'Freedom Riders' kept trying to force Birmingham to integrate, claiming that blacks and white can live together peaceably. We just were never comfortable sharing white space with black folks. But we didn't like being called racist and backwards, either."

That's when Andrew X and LABS came in with a proposal to Mr. Crow to help Birmingham achieve the LABS "Black Friendly" recognition. "Here at LABS, we have long believed that Blacks and White can't coexist in the same places, but need separation between each other. Look at the history between Blacks and Whites. There are more of the Whites, they have more power than Blacks do, and we have seen numerous examples of White on Black violence that could only have been prevented by complete separation."

The breakthrough came when Mr. Crow and Andrew X discovered that their seemingly opposed ideas were really the same, only using different words. "When I discovered that 'separation' meant the same thing as 'segregation', but was just a more 'user-friendly' term, I realized that Andrew X and I had common ground on which to work."

Birmingham has expressed a desire to achieve the LABS' pinnacle rating of Platinum status, and already has a plan in the works. "By creating separate (or segregated) entrances to buildings for blacks and whites, and creating special 'colored eating areas' (or "black boxes') in the alleys behind restaurants, Birmingham can be an even more black friendly town that is is now" said Mr. Crow. "Colored is the new sign of safety, and we intend to place signs in separated areas all over town that proudly proclaim these facilities as being for 'Coloreds Only.'" said a beaming Andrew X.

All irony, sarcasm and satire aside, we must never forget.