News

Gas is Expensive. You Need An E-Bike

From USAToday.com

By Liv Birdsall

If you’ve been watching the news, or just watching the numbers when you fill up your tank, you already know: Gas prices are rising right along with the spring temperatures. You may have started hearing chatter about electric cars, hybrids and even E-Bikes as alternative travel options, and for good reason! Traveling by electric car or bike is a more eco-friendly way to get around (or out of) town—and it means no stopping for gas.

There’s more where this deal came from. Sign up for Reviewed’s Perks and Rec newsletter and we’ll keep ‘em coming every Sunday through Friday.

If you’re unfamiliar with E-Bikes, we’ll break it down. An E-Bike is an electric bicycle, but not a dirt bike, motorcycle or scooter. Most E-Bikes look similar to a regular bicycle, just with the addition of a small motor and battery. E-Bikes have mass appeal because they have different modes: You can pedal; you can pedal anduse an electric assist (the equivalent of a moving sidewalk); or you can use only electric. These modes make the bikes practical for different roads and landscapes, as well as speeding up your commute. E-Bikes can go up to 20 mph and require some charging time for the battery, though the charge time differs depending on the motor and model.

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Should Time Trial Bikes Be Banned? | GCN Tech Show

After a number of high profile crashes and a suggestion from Chris Froome, there has been a lot of recent discussion about whether time trial bikes are too dangerous and if they should be banned by the UCI. Rider vision, TT bike brakes and questions about inequality are all debated, along with all the latest hot tech, bike vault submissions and more!

 

Union Street Protected Bike Lane

From CityofPasadena.net

Pasadena is dedicated to creating a city where people can safely and comfortably get around by biking, walking, and riding transit. To achieve this, the City is embarking upon the final design for the construction of the City’s first two-way protected bike lane (also called a “cycle track”) on Union Street.

The Union Street Protected Bike Lane will be located between Hill Avenue and Arroyo Parkway and will provide dedicated space for bicyclists of all ages and abilities. The project will increase safety, comfort, and access for all users to local businesses and destinations along Union Street and throughout Pasadena. Below is a map of the project location.

Current Project Status – 90% Design

Since the last design workshop in May 2019 when the 60% design was presented to the public for review, project design has progressed to the current 90% design. This means that the project design is approaching finalization in the coming months to prepare for construction in 2021.

Due to current Safer at Home conditions, we are unable to meet in person to discuss the state of the project with all of you. Just as the current project design has evolved in response to previous public input, the current update to the project has evolved in response to the current Safer at Home conditions.

The below presentation videos, English and Spanish video transcripts, and updated project plan will reintroduce the project and discuss specific project features.

 

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CalBike’s work brining complete streets to everyone

From CalBike.org

 

Complete Streets for Active Living

Shouldn’t all roads in California be safe and comfortable for everyone of all ages and abilities? Shouldn’t our streets make it inviting for people to bike, walk, or ride public transit? That’s the vision for CalBike’s Complete Streets Campaign.

CALBIKE’S WORK BRINGING COMPLETE STREETS TO EVERYONE

In 2017, a CalBike-commissioned poll showed that Californians across the state and across all major political and demographic groups support building Complete Streets—roads with safe sidewalks, visible crosswalks, and protected bike lanes—that are safe places for everyone and not strictly thoroughfares for driving.

Together with our ally Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and over 80 co-sponsors and supporters, CalBike sponsored SB 127, the Complete Streets for Active Living Bill, in 2019. The bill would have required Caltrans to follow its own Complete Streets Policy and prioritize the safety of everyone who uses our roads, not just drivers, on every repaving, maintenance, and rehab project.

Caltrans has paid lip service to the idea of Complete Streets with an internal Complete Streets policy, but they haven’t lived up to their rhetoric. This Complete Streets law would have held their feet to the fire and transformed our communities into comfortable and convenient spaces for walking and bicycling.

The cheapest and easiest time to add a bike lane is when a street is already due for maintenance. Simply repaving dangerous and poorly designed roadways maintains an unacceptable status quo that prioritizes the speedy movement of cars over the lives and health of our children and neighbors.

Despite overwhelming support in the legislature and from constituents, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed the Complete Streets Bill on October 12, 2019.

 

 

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The Big Street Reclamation in France

Throughout France, many cities have responded to the Lockdown by radical changes to their streets. Paris has stepped up ongoing plans, and a video of a new cycling path in Nice went viral. What is really going on? Join this chat about the how and why of the Great French Street Reclamation.

Chasing A Belgian Classic | Roadside At Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

Nothing compares to watching a bike race from the roadside with an electric atmosphere of cycling fans from all around the world. If you’ve never been to watch a bicycle race in person, you should really consider it. Ollie and Conor went to the Belgian cobbled classic Omloop Het Nieuwsblad to show you how to watch a bike race like a pro. With a few local tips and insights, you can easily use your bike to see the race in multiple locations, although it helps if you are as tall as Conor!

CA Bicycle Summit : Oct 15-17

WELCOME TO THE INTERSECTION OF THOUGHT AND ACTION

Every two years, CalBike hosts the California Bicycle Summit. This three-day gathering brings together planners, government officials, agency staff, and bicycle advocates from around the state. In addition to workshops on hot topics such as how to manage the micro-mobility revolution and quick-build bike facilities, the Summit includes rides, tours, films, and social gatherings. It’s a great opportunity to add to your bicycle planning toolkit while you grow your network.

The 2019 Summit will be held October 15-17 at the Center for Healthy Communities in Los Angeles, the California Bicycle Summit welcomes everybody who works for more equitable, inclusive and prosperous communities where bicycling enables more people to live joyful and healthy lives.

This year’s theme is about the intersections in our work. That isn’t just the physical intersections in our communities that should be safe places to traverse and converse instead of the hazardous injury hotspots they too often are. We will also examine the theoretical intersections that define how we each approach bicycling via other issues, such as land use and housing, other forms of mobility, and the urgency of climate change. The ways that race and class have impacted and continue to impact transportation justice is a central theme woven through many of our discussions. We will address these intersections in plenary sessions, workshops, bike rides, walking tours, parties, mixers, and community activities.

CalBike is committed to making this the most inclusive Summit to date. To that end, we are offering more than 100 free and deeply discounted tickets, and our steering committee is dedicated to recruiting participation from across California’s diverse communities.

 

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