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Iceland is for Brave Bicyclists
This is a super-highway in Iceland: There is no shoulder. Sometimes, ther is no pavement. Here is a bicyclist, bravely peddling and wearing a helmet even: I suspect that these bikes are part of a tour. Note the kickstands on mountain bikes. Truth be told, I’ve been driving a Suzuki mini 4×4. Iceland is full…
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Beautiful Bicycling Diversity
Last weekend was especially lovely in Seattle. After a rainy Friday, the clouds parted and, for some of us, the Dead Baby Bike Club’s annual downhill race was a great experience. I understand that this event is not for everyone. In fact, only one of the three lawyers here (I, Bob– the one without kids)…
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On a Positive Note (with soundtrack)
Yesterday I grumbled about the West Seattle Bike Counter. Today it counted me once as I rode over it once. More importantly, I would like to acknowledge that, while I am often frustrated by Seattle’s bicycling infrastructure, occasionally we do get it right. As the Seattle Bike Blog points out, city traffic engineer Dongho Chang…
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Bike Counter or Random Number Generator?
I understand that hard data can be helpful for planning. Seattle has had a bike counter in Fremont for a while now and recently added one on the West Seattle Bridge. I’ve noticed that, since the West Seattle Bike Counter was finally deemed operational, when I crossed it, it either didn’t count me or it…
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Can Copenhagen’s Bicycling Ideas Work in Seattle?
I am starting to prepare for a trip to COPENHAGEN. I plan to meet with some of the folks behind that city’s rolling to the top of the cycling world and hope to bring back ideas to use here. One of the ideas I’ve been advocating for the last few years is a change in…
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Merging with Traffic? But Bikes ARE Traffic…
I recently noticed this sign, “BIKES MERGE WITH TRAFFIC” in Seattle’s International District: I remember the Critical Mass cry, “We ARE traffic”… There shouldn’t be a debate about whether bikes qualify as legitimate traffic; we really are legal traffic in Washington State. And, while some bicyclists do occasionally block other traffic to make a point…
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Seattle’s Schizophrenic Approach to Bicycling
I went to SDOT’s Bicycle Master Plan Open House yesterday after work. It had some competition, with the sunny evening making it lovely for actual bike riding… but I went, thinking that this was the right thing to do, and knowing that it would still be sunny to ride home afterwards. When I arrived at…
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Let’s Do It! Let’s Do More than Plan for Bikes…
Seattle is a world-class city for planning; let’s also become known for our doing. Tonight (June 5) at 6 pm in Seattle City Hall, SDOT is hosting an open house on Seattle’s newest Draft Bicycle Master Plan. We still haven’t gotten far in implementing or funding the 2007 Bicycle Master Plan, which claimed to be…
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Have You Been Missing T Time?
Bicyclists are often frustrated by traffic lights that respond to cars, but not to bikes. Here is a line of bicyclists waiting under the West Seattle Bridge yesterday: After a few signal cycles, what can you do? Well, sometimes you can do this: But, at the intersection pictured above (and lots of other places in…
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We’re All In This Together… Happy Bike to Work Day!
This truck (seen in yesterday’s sun) was set up for somebody to bike to work today: Meanwhile, these boys rode to school… and to work… today in the rain: Apparently they like their new “space suits” for their “rocket bike” and this clearly pleases their father, bike lawyer Dave.
