THE CLIMB ON FARGO STREET

Any native Los Angelians (or others) ever heard of ‘The Climb’ on Fargo Street? This blog post did a write up about the ride this year, which apparently is a ride up the steepest hill in Los Angeles. 118 riders showed up and 70 succeeded in reaching the top of the hill at least once. The ride is described as daunting and spooky by riders, but some manage to go up and down many times – the record is 101 ascents, in 2008. After reading this article we’d just like to ask…are there any Wabi riders out in LA who want to really test drive their bicycle??

 

THE LEAGUE OF AMERICAN BICYCLISTS

We found a somewhat inspiring, and interesting article about a recent get together, the National Bike Summit, held by the American League of cyclists. The league recently met and convened hundreds of cycling advocates across the country and drew in big names such as Congressman Earl Blumenauer and Janette Sadik-Kahn – the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation. Check out the article to read some of the interesting arguments that these speakers make for cycling, and be happy that there are cycling advocates in Washington!

ECONOMICALLY SPEAKING…

Along the same lines as yesterday’s post, here’s an article from a traditional and conservative magazine, which also highlights just how wrong John Cassidy’s statement about bike lanes in NYC was. The article breaks down his statement in economic terms and proves that in fact, cycling and building bike lanes can be cost-efficient.

 

A HUMOROUS REBUTTLE TO TO THE ANTI-CYCLING CAMPAIGN

This witty and cleverly written piece picks apart the “typical” political backlash against cyclists in New York City. Whether you’re from the city or not, surely you can appreciate the humor in this article and agree with the basic point – which is that it’s pretty absurd to be anti-cycling.

 

TOYOTA PROMOTES CYCLING

According to this article, a member of Toyota’s IT & ITS planning division proposed that Japan build 250,000 km of bike lanes across Japan in the next 5 years. This idea spawns from the fact that the number of accidents has gone up, and the way to reduce accidents is to build separate bike lanes for cyclists. What a thought! We think it’s great that a car company is promoting bike lanes and understanding the idea that it isn’t necessarily car vs. bicycle – it’s how can they coexist in the most positive way possible for everyone.

MORE ON THE LA BIKE PLAN

We know we’ve been posting quite a bit about the new LA Bike Plan, but as a Los Angeles resident and obviously bicycle enthusiast, it’s hard not to get so excited. This article talks a little bit more about the details of the plan, which calls for almost 1,700 miles of bike paths throughout the city. The author of the post, who is really a car guy, hopes that this will encourage people to stop jamming up the freeway for trips that could easily be made by bicycle. When you can get a car buff to consider cycling for transportation, you’ve made an impact!

 

CYCLING IN CAIRO

In this really interesting article, a young Egyptian woman explores the realities of being a woman trying to ride a bike in Cairo. She makes the claim that perhaps women don’t ride bicycles because they are so afraid of being provoked and harassed that they find it safer to take taxis or public transportation or drive to work, or wherever they need to go. Some women find a respite from this harassment on Fridays because most people spend their mornings and afternoons in the mosque, but even then it’s a recreational hobby versus a means of transportation. Having been to Cairo, I can definitely see how this might be the case – simply walking down the street is dangerous enough. This article also shows two means of ameliorating this problem – one is a “harass map” and the other is a documentary about harassment. Although bike safety has a long way to go here in LA, I can at least say I’m thankful that women can ride without being harassed.

 

MAPQUEST BECOMES PEDESTRIAN AND BIKE FRIENDLY

Although Google Maps developed this technology a while ago, we’re excited that MapQuest has also added the bike and pedestrian route options to their website. Now, when you go on the MapQuest website and you want directions from Point A to Point B, you have the option of asking for a pedestrian or bicycle route. There are also ways to avoid hills or other types of non-bike friendly areas. Check out this brief blurb for more information.

BICING? QUE?

We won’t give a terribly long introduction to this video, but it’s a short piece about the “Bicing Story” – a bike share type of program in Barcelona which the video claims transformed a car city to a bike city. One of the interesting side points made is in reference to safety. Enjoy!

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU RIDE YOUR BIKE?

We just found this cool blog article about a 48-year-old man who decided, when gas prices were at an all-time high, that he would ride his bike to work everyday. Since that day, over two years ago, he has ridden his bike every day, rain or shine (or snow) and has found a plethora of benefits, including saving money, maintaining his health, and doing good for the environment. The article goes on to cite the usual commuting statistics but if you haven’t heard them before, be sure to check them out – if you don’t ride your bike to work now, you may want to start!