Where do you ride? What’s your route to work? Create a map of your bike route on one of the bike mapping sites such as Bikely, Veloroutes, or Routeslip. Post a link to your route below. I’ll go first: this is my short ride from the Caltrain Station in Palo Alto, CA to my office….
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Bike commuter of the day
Nobody knows the identity of this bike commuter yet, but authorities in four states are interested enough in his mode of transportation that they’d like to find him. The FBI is searching for this bike rider — a white male in his 50s — in Ohio, North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. Riding a bike to…
New Feature on Google Maps
Google Maps now shows traffic information. According to the official blog: “For more than 30 major U.S. cities, you can now see up-to-date traffic conditions to help you plan your schedule and route.” “If your route shows red, you’re looking at a stop-and-go commute; yellow, you could be a little late for dinner; green, you’ve…
Perfect bike commute distance
Get it off my chest Originally uploaded by richardmasoner. This is a section of Ivy Drive in Menlo Park, CA. I was cycling east on this street this morning when I saw a car back out into the street. I stopped behind this car while the driver dug in her purse for something. After half…
News You Can Use…
If you live in St. Louis or San Francisco. Here is the latest on the bike commuter dilemma in St. Louis. A large portion of Highway 40 is going to be re-routed to county roads that bicycle commuters frequent. The bike lanes are being taken out so that the lanes can be re-painted to include…
Everybody Likes Customer Reviews
It was another week of pondering my way through the world of internet sales. In my quest to raise the profile of both by websites in Google, I sent out requests to professors with sustainable technology web pages. I recently learned that links from websites ending in .edu can be very valuable in search engines….
BOB Trailer: Traveling & Shipping
BOB Trailers have become a popular choice for extended bike touring adventures. They have a large capacity, work well over a variety of terrain and are rugged. If they are damaged they can be welded back together by anyone with a gas torch, usually something that can be found even in remote villages.
Deliver anything by Bike Trailer
Working in the online bike world requires that I make a delivery trip to UPS or the post office almost everyday. Most of the time I use my BOB Trailer or Xtracycle except when I’ve got just too many boxes and I need to resort to the car. It gives me an excellent opportunity to test out the capacity of what I can load on my rigs.
Proselytizing
I am fortunate to live 0.7 miles away from a bike/hike path that runs right past the building I work in. That was one of the reasons I decided to commute by bicycle. July 4th 2005 changed that a bit when construction on and around a portion of the path forced me to find an…
Lifting the Fog
For some time now my family and my friend John have been attempting to make me less Fred. Sure, I encouraged it in some cases — I even posted some bike-related Christmas gift suggestions on my personal blog with a big “Hint, hint!” One of those suggestions, the Hind Balaclava with breathable mesh, found its…
Balance Between the Short & Long Term
It was a week of dealing with odd tasks and clearing my schedule for the looming shop construction project. I shipped out 4 bike cargo trailers. Figured out how to track the value of each sale that comes through Google Adwords. Worked on my shop plans. Worked on a custom sign project. Managed my rental…
BOB Trailers: Extra & Oversized Cargo
The BOB Trailer offers a sturdy, rugged platform for a variety of uses. Among the more interesting of these uses are the ability for the BOB to carry a variety of items in different configurations.
From a basic standpoint the BOB offers a 25(in) x 16(in) x 18(in)area for storage. This is generally used for putting the BOB DrySAK or other bags, dry bags, storage bins and baskets for containing goods. But a variety of adaptions, both accessory and Do-It-Yourself projects allow you to carry odd shaped items that won’t fit in the confines of the cargo space.
KHS Times
At least a couple of people from the U.S. office of KHS Bicycles in Los Angeles follow commutebybike.com. I’m very pleased to announce that reader Henry H. now runs KHS Bicycles’ new blog, The KHS Times. Henry has an an update on the 2007 KHS Urban Xtreme commuter bike. Moe reviewed the ’06 edition last…
The Emergence of Long Haul Bikes
The evolution of methods for carrying cargo on bicycles has been quite active in recent years. With a greater interest and need for carrying stuff on our bikes for touring, commuting or errands, there has been a revolution in new products that help accomplish this.
Bike to work, get a free bicycle
Update (12/28/2011): Folks, don’t contact Commute by Bike asking for a free bike. We don’t have free bikes. We wish we did, but we don’t. David Hon, president of Dahon Bicycles, is looking for ways to reduce the carbon footprint of his company. “We’ve been studying all of our business operations to see how we…
The New BikeTrailerBlog.com
Projects started & finished this week: Launched my new Blog, BikeTrailerBlog.com Worked on our PayPal account: lower rates, earning a return, PayPal Shops listing. Put Xtracycle Stuff on Sale Listed new Ortlieb Panniers & the Pet Trailer, the Burley Tail Wagon It was a busy week of fine tuning BikeTrailerShop.com for the rapidly approaching spring….
BOB Trailer: Kickstands & Lights
For outfitting your BOB Trailer there is an interesting range of products available. Some of these are products designed specifically as BOB Trailer accessories, while others are simply pre-existing products that have been discovered as compatible with the BOB. Another area of interest to consider are the BOB Trailer Do-It-Yourself projects, one of the favorite topics of discussion at the BOB Trailer Forum.
Hal?
Expensive bike computers do some wonderful things: track your miles, average speed, maximum speed, heart rate, calories burned and provide a GPS tracking of your route. All of this information can then be uploaded to a web-based application so the data can be viewed any way you want it. All for a price, of course….
Let's Get Physical
Just a moment; I’ve got that image of Olivia Newton-John’s video in my brain. Okay, with the recent weather knocking my commute by bike vs. car down to a 1:1 ratio, I’ve noticed on the days I’ve gotten to ride recently that I’m taking as short a route as possible and I’m feeling out of…
Container Choices For A BOB Trailer
When it comes to setting up your BOB, one of the first things to consider is your bag choice. The BOB Trailer is a great starting point as essentially a platform on which to put the storage container of your choice. In considering what is the best way to transport gear on your BOB, the key points of comparison are the containers durability, waterproofing, ease of access, and fit with the BOB Trailer.
Becoming a Plug-In Partner
Signs of spring this week. We received orders for 4 trailers and a CELLO. Other projects started and completed during the week: 1. I signed up Wandertec to become a Plug-In Partner, an association trying to convince automakers to manufacture plug-in hybrid vehicles. 2. I finalized an account with UPS where we will be receiving…
The First Entry
Here we go. This is the start of my new blog on bicycle cargo trailers.
My intention is to spend some time twice a week presenting a variety of information in the specific niche of bicycle cargo trailers.
The recent growth in this niche area is due both to the upsurge in popularity of bicycle touring as well as a growing appreciation of the bicycle as a transportation tool. Because the bicycle cargo trailer is a vital tool for expanding the use potential of the bicycle, manufacturers have begun manufacturing a growing array of trailers and trailer accessories.
My Kind Of Town
Tip of the hat to Paul over at Bike Commute Tips Way to go Chicago. You know, I was kind of leaning towards the Colts before I read this story from Reuters… “People are getting hot about cold biking,” he said. “We don’t have hard stats but we see more people every year on the…
Virginia is for bike lovers
Tax incentives proposed for Virginia bike commuters Virginia HB1826 will, if passed, give a $5,000 tax credit to employers who provide showers and bike parking, as well as a $15 per month tax credit for employees who bike to work at least ten days per month. Read more. Seen at Gwadzilla and Bike Commute Tips….