Before coming to Madagascar I spent a lot of time organizing my storage unit – and getting pulled into the kind of distracted, time-consuming reminiscing that happens whenever I get near all my old junk. I came across this booklet: “Transportation Patterns in Nairobi & Programs to Improve Opportunities for Bicycling [PDF]” published by the…
An article recently came out in The Guardian titled, “The reason fewer US women cycle than the Dutch is not what you think it is.” This title grabbed my attention immediately, as it was meant to do, and I began to wonder if there was something I already thought about this matter as the title…
In some past lifetime, long ago, in other words, before I had a child, bike commuting was pretty much what it sounded like: riding my bicycle to get from point A to point B and back again. I used racks and panniers, front and rear. Simple. Then I had a child. And bike commuting looked…
After a week in Madagascar, I finally got a bike! I rode home to my apartment, taking selfies all the way. That week without a bike served me well. I spent some time on foot, in taxis, taking small public transportation buses (taxi brousse), and bumming rides from various colleagues with their SUVs. I observed…
Note: This was written on September 21, 2014Not too long ago I announced that I would be working in Madagascar for a number of months. Well here I am, in Madagascar. I arrived today.Ever since that announcement the one topic that has come up repeatedly has been…Can you guess it? Ebola! Almost to a person,…
For the last 4 years I have been dedicated to living a car free life. Four years ago I sold my last car, bought a bike and said goodbye to gas forever. Over the years I’ve added pannier racks, Panniers, commuter bags, trunk bags and rack top cargo boxes in an effort to be…
The name Cherokee Schill is going viral this week. If you haven’t heard of Cherokee yet, here’s her story (as I have pieced together from the Interwebs).Earlier this year, Cherokee first made the news after she was ticketed three times for “reckless driving”. Cherokee is a single mother of two who bike commutes 18 miles…
Bike Lane Buffer Zone
Recently, I was riding to a friend’s house to do some bike part swapping. I was a riding the route I typically use to his house. I was nearly injured or killed by a driver on a cell phone because they some how thought the bike lane was also a right turn lane. I came…
Excuse me while I go scrape my jaw off the floor. General Motors, yes the enormous, global maker of the 4-wheeled, gas-powered vehicles we call cars, announced this week that it will begin offering a bike sharing program for its 19,000 or so employees at the 330-acre Warren Technical Center campus in Warren, Michigan. The…
In my haste and excitement of my first post, I neglected to introduce myself. My name is Kohl Martin and I am originally from St. Louis, MO. I have been in Tucson for about 3 years and this is an awesome bike community. I am also a musician. I play saxophone, flute, and I do…
I’ve been doing a lot of driving lately. A lot.Recently I was driving on Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson. I noticed something — some things — poking off of the front wheel of a semi truck: spikes jutting out several inches from each wheel lug where only short nuts should be necessary.Naturally I pulled…
How Do Your Kids Get to School?
THE DAILY COMMUTE Most you know how the everyday commute is a stress reliever as much as it can be a stress inducer. It took me quite awhile to find the route with the least amount of traffic as well as the all-around safest route i.e. dodging sketchy neighborhoods and avoiding pothole strewn streets as…
Suppose you were going to be on a small deserted island for up to a year and you had to pick some bike commuting accessories to take with you.Okay: Not you, but me.And not a small island, but the fourth largest island in the world.And definitely not deserted: Population 22 million or more.What I’m trying…
Is it ok to listen to music while you ride your bike? It’s a question that’s almost as controversial as the great helmet debate. And it’s a question that appears to never really be settled. As long as there have been portable noise making devices and bicycles, people have been putting the two together and…
A big drawback to using a pannier that doubles as a messenger bag is that, at some point, without thinking about it, youre going to throw it over your shoulder and smear road-dirt and dried mud all over the back your clean work shirt. But thats about the only drawback to Thules Pack-n-Pedal system commuter…
Pop-Up Bike Lane
Until we moved to perpetually sunny Arizona, sunglasses were an occasional accessory, purchased at Target to wear while driving or at the rare trip to the beach. I just didnt put much thought sunglasses and because I tended to lose them so often. During undergraduate school, I quickly lost the only pair of expensive sunglasses…
A Skirt Solution for Cycling
I learned about a fascinating new topic this week thanks to Vox. Apparently, when women started riding bicycles en masse in the 19th century, doctors coined a fictitious disease called bicycle face in an effort to scare then off from cycling. From the Vox article: “Over-exertion, the upright position on the wheel, and the unconscious…
It’s been said that for every activist there’s an equal and opposite reactionary. So I’m just asking: Are these “Rollin’ Coal” trolls just the natural polar-opposites to Critical Massholes? Rollin’ Coal, if you haven’t heard of it, is a phenomenon where people modify their diesel trucks to make them less fuel efficient. The modifications, which…
When I returned to bicycle commuting in 2008, my backup plan for handling problems out on the road was pretty simple: I carried a spare tube, a set of tire tools, a multi-tool and a cheap frame pump. If I encountered anything I couldn’t handle with that basic kit, I carried my cell phone to…
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