October 2023

Separated bike lanes can reduce crashes by 50%, according to new study released by government

From CambridgeDay.com

By Dan Recht

Debate about the installation of additional separated bike lanes is a major topic this election season. As I was planning how to vote, I was pleased to discover that the U.S. Department of Transportation just last month released a report on the effect of bike lanes separated from car traffic by flexi-posts such as the “quick-build” bike lanes here in Cambridge.

The researchers the agency sponsored at Texas A&M University studied our own Cambridge as well as San Francisco and Seattle; Denver and Austin, Texas were included as well. Across all five cities they found consistently that flexi-posts reduced crashes by 50 percent when compared to bike lanes without them.

 

Photo by Cole Keister on Unsplash

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ArroyoFest – Sunday October 29

The inaugural ArroyoFest was hosted in June 2003, a full seven years before the first cicLAvia on 10/10/10. The event was ahead-of-its time and left an indelible impression on those who had the opportunity to explore the parkway on two feet or two wheels that morning. Five years in the making, the 20-year anniversary event will once again provide the public the opportunity to experience the historic parkway – opened in 1940 – up close. Until then here are a few articles, resources, and images documenting that very special day in 2003.

 

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Best rear bike lights 2023 — boost your day & night visibility with a bright back light

From Road.cc

by EMILY TILLETT
Running one of the best rear bike lights with plenty of lumens should mean all but the most idiotic drivers will notice you from a good distance
Over the years we’ve clocked up thousands upon thousands of cold, dark winter road miles to test hundreds of rear lights. These are the best rear bike lights you can buy, from brilliant budget beamers to retina-ripping radiants that demand even the dopiest driver’s attention.

A rear light is a legal requirement when cycling at night, and using one that’s brighter than the legal minimum seems like a sensible way of helping drivers see you — or at least defanging ‘but I didn’t see them’ excuses. The best bike rear lights have long run-times, can be seen from a good distance, and are sufficiently tough and waterproof to fend off day-to-day abuse.

Cycling rear lights universally use one or more red light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to generate their light. LEDs are very efficient, putting out lots of light for modest electrical power, which makes them cheap to run but effective at boosting visibility. Most rear bike lights are now rechargeable, taking power from a USB source like a standalone charger or your office computer. Battery-powered lights are still available and have their adherents who appreciate being able to revive a dead light at any filling station or corner shop.

A flashing red light says ‘bike’ to most drivers; we recommend using a constant light as well so your position can be easily followed. It can be hard to track the position of a flasher on an otherwise unlit minor road. Rear bike lights are increasingly intended as day-time safety lights too, with super-bright flash or pulse modes designed to be impossible for drivers to ignore. They can be very annoying to other riders though; please use them only when necessary.

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Bicycling’s Gear of the Year 2023

From Bicycling.com

HE 50 BEST BICYCLING PRODUCTS YOU CAN GET RIGHT NOW.

Each year, the Bicycling test team puts together our list of the best Gear of the Year. This product has been ridden and raced by our editors and staff on trails and roads all over the country, and sometimes all over the world. No matter the type of riding you do, there is something for you on this list.

From commuting on busy city streets, to grinding out miles on gravel roads, to descending miles of singletrack, the items the test team selected for Bicycling’s Gear of the Year represent the 40 best products we rode and used for riding over the past 12 months. And we included 10 additional personal picks from Bicycling’s test team for their favorite cycling gear they can’t live without.

Components

Bicycling’s test team and contributors ride A LOT of stuff in a year. These are our picks for bicycle parts and components that stand out from the crowd in performance, quality, innovation, or just because they improved our rides.

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Is A Gravel Bike Actually That Much Slower Than A Road Bike?

How slow really are gravel bikes in comparison to road bikes? Conor puts his gravel and road bike through the ultimate test. Across different terrains and speeds, he finds out how much riding a gravel bike on the road could affect your average ride times!

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CicLAvia—Heart of LA presented by Metro

CicLAvia—Heart of LA

On Sunday, October 15, we’re opening up the streets in the Heart of LA so you can jog, ride, bike, skate, run, walk, skateboard, spectate, and enjoy the route however you want. Our routes are welcoming to people of all ages and abilities! This CicLAvia is presented by Metro.

Be sure to join our email list so you don’t miss any event news and updates. Use the CicLAvia digital map to plan which businesses, local gems, activities along the route, and Hubs to check out during the event on October 15!

 

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The Future of Cars Looks a Lot Like an E-Bike

Fromm Inverse.com

BYTOM VANDERBILT

The electric vehicle revolution is already here — sporting two wheels and a pair of pedals.

Transportation, like most human behaviors, is shaped by a mixture of utility, convenience, visibility, and familiarity. As energy-conserving, satisficing humans, we reach for what is easy, what we can see, what we know. Nearly one-third of car trips in America, for example, take us less than one mile. Why not walk or ride a bike? Because our impulse to drive is a virtual muscle memory. Habits, notes Charles Duhigg, “shape our lives far more than we realize — they are so strong, in fact, that they cause our brains to cling to them at the exclusion of all else, including common sense.”

When the bike-share system CitiBike arrived in New York City a decade ago, I immediately and enthusiastically signed up. There was just one problem. The nearest station, in those early days, was precisely a mile from my house. As transportation planners have found, people are generally unwilling to walk more than half a mile to a transit stop — and so was I. The subway, meanwhile, was a block away. As you might imagine, whatever my intentions to embrace the service, I generally defaulted to the easier option. It wasn’t until a bike-share station opened a block away that I became a regular user. My behavior only changed because the context did.

Image courtesy of Cake

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