Environment Canada and the Clean Air foundation announced a new National Vehicle Scrappage program today, offering incentives — including bicycles — to people who scrap their 1995 or older motor vehicles. “We know Canadians want to do their part to help clean up the air we breathe and our Government shares their desire,” said Minister…
Commute by Bike
Q&A: How can I persuade my company to help?
Ed – Below is a question from a reader. If you’ve got some ideas for him, please put them in the comments. If you have a question of your own, please send it to diggers@commutebybike.com. From Mark: How can I (you, me, anyone) spur companies to invest in bike lockers or other facilities? I do…
Bike commuting all around
We’ve all read about how bike commuting is on the rise in areas where bicycling is already popular such as Portland, OR; San Francisco; New York; and Boulder, CO. But what about where you live? Are rising gas prices making bike commuting more acceptable and visible? I did a quick survey of news on bike…
Drunk driver slams into a Mexican bike race, killing one
What’s your biggest fear during your daily bike commute? Yesterday an American drunk driver fell asleep at the wheel and plowed into a group of bike racers fifteen minutes after they had taken off. One was killed and several others were seriously injured. Here’s the full story at msnbc. Video coverage can be seen here….
June is Colorado Bike Month
To celebrate bicycling for transportation, fun and health, Colorado has designated each June as Bike Month. At the same time, Colorado joins a nationwide effort to encourage cycling novices and enthusiasts to experience the fun and freedom of safely riding a bike to work, school, errands and recreation While there will be many events around…
Commuting 101: How to stay fresh and clean at work
If you work in an office place where showing up to work sweaty and smelly isn’t exactly encouraged, this can be a major deterrent to commuting by bike. Especially with the summer months upon us, getting cleaned up once you’ve arrived at the work place is important and necessary. If you actually have showers and…
Commuter tax benefit
Bicycle Commuter Benefit on House Tax Extender Bill On May 21, 2008, prior to the Memorial Day recess, the House passed H.R. 6049, the “Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008.” Included in the legislation is a $20 per month transportation fringe benefit for bicycle commuters to cover costs of commuting by bike. The…
Hosting a "Bike To Work Week"
Bike To Work Week is a loosely-organized nationwide event that’s promoted by League of American Bicyclists.. May is always Bike Month, and LAB chooses a week to designate as Bike To Work Week.. The Friday of that week is set aside as Bike To Work Day. Cities in cooler climates often observe Bike To Work Week later in…
The New Look of Commute by Bike
You may have noticed that we launched a redesign of Commute by Bike today. As the site continues to grow we’re adapting to meet the needs of our readers. To do so, we’ve added some new features… Share and Support Do you ever have something you would like to share with othe. bike commuters? Here’s…
LED Bike Lights
LED lights were once considered basic blinky lights. Simple, light and forever lasting. Up until the past two years lights were considered “to be seen” or “to see” with. “To see” often meant halogen or HID lights with rechargeable batteries. They cost between $150-500 and often were finicky with various battery types. “To be seen”…
Welcome new readers from Forbes.com
If you’re visiting for the first time from the recent article at Forbes.com, welcome. This is a site dedicated to helping the bike commuter get where they’re going safely and efficiently. Here you’ll find tips, product reviews and news on all things related to commuting by bike. Below are a few links that will help…
Canadian auto club offers bike assistance
British Columbia cyclists who suffer flat tires and other mechanical woes can call the British Columbia Automobile Association (BCAA) Road Assist program for free roadside assistance during British Columbia’s Bike to Work Week and Bike Month from May 26 to June 30. From May 26 to June 30 – “Bike To Work Week” and “Bike…
Top Ten Worst Cities for Bike Theft (plus, how to lock your bike)
Every year Kryptonite Locks releases their top ten list of the worst cities in America for bike theft. The big surprise this year is, after nine consecutive years, New York was knocked from their top spot (third actually). Also, there was a new city added… New Haven, CT. Here they all are…
Video: America's Stupidest Bike Lane
The following two videos are from SlateV.com and covers what they think are the stupidest bike lanes in America (and abroad).
Commuting 101: Using Lower Gears
Recent changes to my routes have meant more hilly terrain during my rides. During this time I’ve used gear combinations which I have never used before. I should say that I never dared use before. For some reason, over the last few decades I’ve come to think of using higher gears as the manly choice….
J&B Importers pays their employees to bike to work
J&B Importers reimburses their employees $4 for every day they take a sustainable form of transportation to and from work. Here’s the a local news story talking about their program:
Surly Big Dummy Update: Carrying Loads and Living by Bike
After a couple months of daily riding the Surly Big Dummy for everything possible (including a 42 mile, over night camping trip), I’m ready to give my thoughts on how the bike fairs in carrying big loads and whether this is truly a car replacement. If you haven’t read my first two installments of this…
A few observations about Bike to Work Week and casual commuters
I’m a year-round bike commuter, usually riding four or five days per week, every week of the year. Every week but Bike to Work Week, that is. Year after year something happens, without fail, usually forcing me to drive the whole week, or a good chunk of it. This year, I drove twice. One day it was because of “white out” conditions on the interstate highway I ride into Flag. I didn’t miss a day this winter due to snow. That had to wait until May.
That said, I did get in three days of BTWW this year, and have a few observations to share.
Commute by horse
Jackie Hutton of Pleasanton, Texas south of San Antonio commutes the four miles to work on Tester, her horse. “What’s the good of making a living if you can’t live?” says Jackie. “Do what’s important.” Read and see more KSAT 12 News. The video shows Jackie taking the lane with her horse. Via Tomorrow Morning’s…
New New Hampshire bicycle laws
On May 7, 2008. the New Hampshire General Court (what they call the legislature in The Granite State) passed House Bill 1203, “An Act Relative to Bicycles” which generally improves conditions for cyclists in the state of New Hampshire. The new law will take effect on January 1, 2009. Among the provisions of this new…
Canada bike to work events
Most U.S. cities hold a bike to work event sometime during the National Bike To Work Month in May. Canadian cities tend to schedule Bike To Work events a little bit later, typically the beginning of the June. Here are a few bike to work events in Canadian cities. Toronto Bike to work week May…
A discussion on the rise of bike commuters (plus a MasiGuy update)
For those that don’t know, I’m a semi-regular on the audio podcast, The Spokesmen. We recorded episode #30 this morning and it’s now online for your listening pleasure. If you’d like to hear me do a bit of a rant on the state of the industry, then make sure you go download. CLICK HERE to…
Bike Trailer Bazaar
With National Bike-to-Work-Week kicking off, the Flagstaff Biking Organization kicked things off here with there Bike Bazaar in Downtown Flagstaff. It’s a great event for all the Bike Heads to come out and sell off all the miscellaneous bike parts that have been building up in their garage. We were cleaning house as well.
We used Jeff’s Bikes-At-Work trailer not only to get everything to the Bike Bazaar but also a perfect way to sort and arrange the used stuff we had for sale. With six bins we had the $1, $2, $3, $5, $10 and $15 bins. It made it nice and easy to sell stuff with very little bartering. If something wasn’t moving we just shifted it down to the next cheaper bin. By the end of the day the bins were empty and I had a nice wad of cash in my pocket. Not only is this trailer great for bargain bins it is also an excellent Earth Day Recycling Machine.
We had the bike trailer bin sale up front and on the table in back we had information about all of our trailers at the BikeTrailershop.com along with a sample Burley Nomad, BOB Ibex and Xtracycle to catch there attention.
US EPA asks: Why are you or aren't you biking to work?
The United States Environmental Protection Agency has an official blog called “Greenversations.” Earlier this week they asked the question “Why are you or aren’t you biking to work?” To bike or not to bike – that is the question” It’s National Bike Week! Biking is healthy, it prevents air pollution, and it can even save…