Forsyth

Ride an e-bike, it’ll change your perspective

From Medium.com

By Connor Hearld

*becoming more eco-conscious*

It sounds fake doesn’t it? Well, also backwards. Riding a bike is supposed to be a healthy move in the right direction. Doesn’t making the bike electric just make it a worse off bike you’d maybe ask yourself?

While I wouldn’t recommend an e-bike for your health needs, assuming you don’t plan on pedaling at all if you have a decent throttle. An e-bike for me has been a great way to stay outdoors. With less time than I used to have and more concern for my own health, I wonder if it’s time to put up my skateboard I used to ride to work and just stick solely to my e-bike.

The electric bike I decided to go with was a Pedal Electric Core 2.0. It’s quite expensive I know, but I figured with not using my vehicle, it makes up for it(I currently have a broken down Ford Focus, one of the worst vehicles in my experience thus far). Obviously it’s not a cost free decision. I still need to pay for the electricity charging my bike as well as the new maintenance that comes with maintaining a bike instead of a car(still need to fix the car).

Getting an e-bike has been a choice of “this will get me by reliably and quickly.” There are better options I’m sure, maybe even cheaper bikes. One of my worries when it comes to the cost of said bike is that you are risking a decent battery.

RadWagon 4 Electric Cargo Bike
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L.A. City Planning Protected Bike Lanes for Two Miles of Hollywood Blvd

From LA.Streestblog.org

By Joe Linton

The Hollywood Boulevard Safety and Mobility Project will extend along Hollywood from Gower Street to Lyman Place. This stretch would be the first protected bike lanes in City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez’ district

The city of Los Angeles Transportation Department (LADOT), working with City Councilmembers Hugo Soto-Martinez and Nithya Raman, is planning two miles of protected bike lanes along Hollywood Boulevard. The improvements would serve transit-rich and relatively population-dense portions of the neighborhoods of Hollywood, East Hollywood, and Los Feliz.

LADOT’s Hollywood Boulevard Safety and Mobility Project is planned to extend along Hollywood from Gower Street to Lyman Place. This stretch of Hollywood would be the first protected bike lanes in Soto-Martinez’ council district 13. The protected bike lanes were already approved in the city’s 2015 Mobility Plan.

The new bike lanes would be located just east of the iconic Hollywood Walk of Fame, where the city is planning the tepid Heart of Hollywood project. That project, developed largely under Soto-Martinez’ anti-bike predecessor, secured quite a bit of Metro bike/ped funding with designs that do little for bike/ped safety.

A few blocks east of the current Hollywood Boulevard Safety and Mobility Project, advocates are pushing for the Sunset4All street safety improvements, which would include protected bike lanes.

The proposed bike and walk upgrades would connect directly to the Metro B Line Hollywood/Western subway station, and would be spitting distance from Hollywood/Vine and Sunset/Vermont stations.

 

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How Much Speed Can You Buy?

How much bang, or speed in this case, can you get for your buck? Ollie takes Phil, GCN’s very own average man, to test out three bikes of varying prices. Phil completes a 10km time trial on each bike, to see how much faster expensive superbikes are compared to an entry-level, budget road bike.

 

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From winding rivers to golden beaches, Valencia is a cyclist’s dream

From EuroNews.com

By Cristina Giner

With golden beaches, a winding river and foodie treats, Valencia is perfect for a cycling break.

Valencia, bathed in Mediterranean sun and crowned as the European Green Capital of 2024, beckons travellers with the promise of sustainable beauty.

The Green Capital title is not just an honour; it’s an invitation to explore Valencia in an environmentally friendly way. The city’s extensive network of bike lanes allow visitors to navigate the city for free, starting from its dazzling historical core.

How to explore Valencia by bike

A journey through the city’s green lungs will take you past the Turia River’s green flow, through the historical centre, along the beach, into El Cabañal and finally to the serene embrace of La Albufera.

Photo by Howie Mapson on Unsplash

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3 Anza-Borrego Desert Roads to Explore by Mountain Bike

From SanDiegoMagazine.com

By James Murren

Hit the trails this month to take in the wildflowers, cacti, and if you’re lucky, bighorn sheep

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is the largest state park in California, at some 600,000 acres and with more than 500 miles of desert roads that are open to bikes. November through April is the perfect season to explore the natural beauty along those roads.

Here are three Borrego roads to wander this late winter and early spring:

Mortero Canyon Road (8 Mi.)

On the west side of the paved S2 road, 8.5 miles north of the Ocotillo exit on I-8, there is a parking area and kiosk off the side of the road that is notable with The Impossible Railroad information sign that is there. Park your vehicle and get set up for biking on what is Mortero Canyon Rd., the sandy/decomposed granite desert road that is right in front of you.

Pedal a little over four miles away from the paved S2 road, or, head west. Your destination is the Dos Cabezas Water Tower, a remnant of the bygone days of The Impossible Railroad. From the water tower, you can go south/left or north/right on unmarked desert roads to add on more miles and exploration.

Photo by Robby McCullough on Unsplash

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How To Get The Most Out Of Interval Training

Do you want to up your cycling fitness? Do you have speed and power goals for the upcoming season? Cycling for hours but seeing no fitness gains immediately can be annoying and means you need interval training! In this video, Manon shares her top interval training tips to help you get fit fast.

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Here are the 5 most romantic cycling cities on the planet

From MomentumMag.com

Written by:

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Eyes on the Street: Beverly Hills Bikeways

From LA.Streetsblog.org

A trickle of new bike facilities – including one sweet protected bike lane – in recent years means that Beverly Hills is no longer a gap in the growing countywide bike network

By Joe Linton

It’s not really news that Beverly Hills has bike lanes. Streetsblog recently visited the 90210 city and shares photos of bikeways implemented there in the past couple years.

If I remember correctly, Beverly Hills didn’t have any bike lanes about a decade ago. Circa 2012-14 the city added basic bike lanes on Burton Way and Crescent Drive. Cyclists pushed for the city to incorporate lanes on the city’s revamp of Santa Monica Boulevard; the city installed bright green lanes there in 2018.

Those three segments were the city’s only bike lanes in 2019, when the city developed its complete streets plan.

Since then, the city hasn’t become a bike paradise, but it’s clearly no longer a biking gap. There has been a trickle of new bike facilities, with more on the way. Also, the city’s first subway station (some there opposed, some welcomed) will open next year.

Reading news coverage of bikeway approvals (in the face of some complaints) I expected more bike lanes there than there actually are. For example, last year the Beverly Press stated, “The new [Doheny Drive] bike lanes will connect to other bike lanes in the city on Clifton Way, Charleville Boulevard and Gregory Way.” But Clifton, Charleville, and Gregory don’t have bike lanes, just shared lane markings, called sharrows. (Sharrows have been termed the dregs of bike infrastructure; safety-wise they are basically useless. Beverly Hills calls them its “minimum grid bicycle pavement markings.”)

Photo by David Vives on Unsplash

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9 Simple Money And Bike Saving Tips For Winter

Winter riding takes a toll on your bike, leading to mechanical problems and can result in you becoming stranded at the roadside in the cold and wet. Ollie runs through an essential bike maintenance checklist, to help save you cash and keep your rides hassle-free!

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The 13 Very Best Bike Helmets There’s a helmet for every head.

From NYMag.com

By

As a city-based cyclist, I know how hard it can be to find a safe and functional bike helmet that doesn’t look totally dorky. Luckily, on the safety front, all bike helmets sold in the United States must meet the same strict Consumer Product Safety Commissionstandard. Which means “the protection offered by most helmets is pretty similar,” says Randy Swart, the executive director of the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute. “And it’s a good level of protection.”

With that knowledge, you can pretty much just pick a helmet according to your personal riding habits and how much you’re willing to spend in the name of comfort and aesthetics. And you’ll definitely want to make sure your new helmet fits properly. It should sit level on your head with the chin strap drawn so the helmet moves slightly downward as you open your mouth. The fit should be snug enough that you’re significantly loosening and tightening the rear adjustment dial (or equivalent mechanism) in order to take the helmet on and off. A well-fitted helmet should feel comfortable and relatively weightless. “It’s like a seatbelt,” says Swart. “Once you put it on and buckle it, you should pretty much forget it’s there.”

Find the best bike helmets for different kinds of riders below, as tested out by myself, fellow Strategist staffers, and a wide range of experienced cycling experts — including a budget pick that should work for both road racers and casual commuters, helmets for large and small heads, and a collapsible helmet approved by the Citi Bike crowd. While you’re here, I’ve also written guides to buying kids’ helmets and cruiser bikes.

 

 

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