BluesCat is a resident of Phoenix, Arizona, who originally returned to bicycling in 2002 in order to help his son get the Boy Scout Cycling merit badge. His bikes sat idle until the summer of 2008 when gas prices spiked at over $4.00 per gallon. Since then, he has become active cycling, day-touring, commuting by…
“Apophenia is the experience of seeing meaningful patterns or connections in random or meaningless data.” It is the very human tendency to put meaning into random and unrelated information. For example, I recently saw Dog in the wood grain of a baseboard at a local restaurant. Some would call it pareidolia (a vague and random…
Karen Voyer-Caravona is an admitted bicycle dilettante in Flagstaff, Arizona, who blogs about her adventures on two wheels, vélo envy, her husband’s cooking, and cross country skiing at www.sheridesabike.com. Visit her Website for her endless opinions on the most stylish shoes for pedaling, critiques of bike parking, and the best bike date dining destinations. I…
Nathan Friedman specializes in living the good life and making it look easy. Mountain biking all summer and skiing all winter, Nate is a rock star of the outdoor opportunities in the Southwest. To get some inspiration on living life to the fullest, check out his blog, Handlebar Sandwich. Commute by Bike‘s editor gave me…
For veteran cyclists looking for additional motivation to ride to work or for new commuters seeking assistance to get started, PleaseCycle offers solutions to these issues and beyond for London-based employers. The company, which launched its program this quarter, features an comprehensive online portal that allows employees to log miles, plan routes, and track both…
To paraphrase John Wayne, “I see you talk the talk but do ride the ride?” Bob Caravona is an Urban Planner and an amateur triathlete who not only talks the talk, but also swims the swim, bikes the bike, and runs the run. He strives for local government to follow through with the same conviction….
Marty of The Jersey Pedaler sent in this photo of his Carry Freedom Y-Frame Trailer. If those ties had a pillow strapped to the front, it could make a decent headrest.
Are you looking for a stocking stuffer for a bike lover? Do you not dare buy a cycling accessory for someone who is very particular, or has an exotic bike? Do you want to instill the love of cycling into a young’un? Do you want to make this the most special holiday ever? We don’t…
I wasn’t a big fan of the Pixar movie Cars. No, it wasn’t because the movie wasn’t about bikes. It was that the underlying message was this: There is no problem in the world so big that a celebrity can’t fix it. The big problem in the movie was that the town of Radiator Springs,…
This is a guest post from Pete Prebus. Pete runs Electric Bike Report and is enthusiastic about spreading the word about electric bikes because they have great potential to get more people on bikes and out of their cars. Are you looking for a saddle bag to store some extra gear (tools, small cargo, etc.) on your…
As a life-long cyclist, I have found many times that I’ve wanted or needed to carry one bike with another. The main reason I’ve needed to transport another bike is because I need to get the out of commission bike down to the bike shop. But there are all sorts of other logistical reasons where…
“In Tokyo, a bicycle is faster than a car for most trips of less than 50 minutes.” Thus saith the Internet. Many of us who live or have lived in congested cities will find this easy to believe. This “fact” was brought to my attention by Ray, a reader of Commute by Bike, who found…
Emily is an outdoorsy sort at heart who was raised in the north of England, where, unlike London, they’ve actually heard of a great outdoors! Nowadays she spends too much time in front of a computer doing this ‘earning a living’ thing. When she gets time she likes to hit the trails and escape the…
When it comes to bike maintenance, I come from the school of Turn The Bike Upside Down and Fumble With It. Also known as self taught. Any bike shop that would hire me as mechanic deserves to go out of business. Yet, I occasionally find myself being thought of as a bike repair go-to guy…
To assist in its review of Bicycle Friendly Businesses, Bicycle Friendly Communities and Bicycle Friendly Universities, the League of American Bicyclists is seeking knowledgeable cyclists for its local reviewer database. The Bicycle Friendly America program, which includes categories ranging from small businesses to states and universities, recognizes the efforts of people and organizations dedicated to…
Today I did my first official slippery-road, snow-coming-down, winter-is-here, denial-is-no-longer-an-option commute of the season. I’ve been thinking about winter commuting in the abstract; from a blogging point of view. I’ve been thinking, Yeah, yeah. Every other bike blog is going to do the obligatory series of posts on winter bike commuting; regurgitating the same how-to’s…
I needed to mount a front bike light to the Urbana Current that I am currently testing for the JOYBAG project. The Bionx kit has a light built into the battery so I was all set there. The bracket for this front light was not designed to lock down on the narrow gauge handlebars. Surprisingly…
Josh King lives in Seattle, where he commutes by bike every day, rain or shine. He switched to full-time single speed commuting in 2010. You can read his thoughts on going gearless at www.singlespeedseattle.com Not content with a boring black grocery-getting pannier, I’ve added the colorful Green Guru Dutchy Pannier. It’s made from recycled material,…
What does one consider about a thing as inert as a seat bag when preparing to review it? Does the seat bag hold stuff securely and with minimal rattling or damage? Does the seat bag stay on the bike and not fall off without warning? Does the seat bag mount to the bike in a…
For cyclists in Wisconsin, there were exciting modifications to some bicycling-specific state laws as Governor Scott Walker signed AB265 last week. The new set of regulations, nicknamed the "Bicycle Tune-Up Bill," was introduced by Representative Keith Ripp (R) and drew bi-partisan support. The Bicycle Tune-Up Bill addressed several antiquated laws, including regulations regarding hand signaling…
Before you head over to Amazon.com to buy cycling accessories, do you mind if I gripe about how Amazon.com plays the price-matching game? You don’t mind? Thank you. Previously, I wrote about Minimum Advertised Pricing (MAP), and how it means that bike shops that play by the rules can’t advertise below certain price points, but…
Zipper pulls. That’s really all I’m asking for. Zipper pulls. I’ve owned a lot of backpacks over the years. Messenger bags, too. And, for several years, mostly just so that I would be able to confidently tell people, I’ve commuted with a messenger bag for years, I’ve been commuting somewhat consistently with a messenger bag….
Josh King lives in Seattle, where he commutes by bike every day, rain or shine. He switched to full-time single speed commuting in 2010. You can read his thoughts on going gearless at www.singlespeedseattle.com As I've said before, my fixed-gear bike is no fashion statement. It's my daily ride to work, and, increasingly, my go-to…
Vanessa Marie Robinson is a Brooklyn-based industrial designer who’s blog For The Love Of Bikes covers her multifaceted interests in all things cycling. She is typically found either riding in the city on a single-speed or training upstate on her road bike — year-round! Biking year-round as a university student living in Montreal taught me how to survive whatever…
on orders of $149 or more ***exclusions apply