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Car-less: Humble Bicycle Beginnings

In my haste and excitement of my first post, I neglected to introduce myself. My name is Kohl Martin and I am originally from St. Louis, MO. I have been in Tucson for about 3 years and this is an awesome bike community. I am also a musician. I play saxophone, flute, and I do…

Wheel Spikes for Bikes?

I’ve been doing a lot of driving lately. A lot.Recently I was driving on Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson. I noticed something — some things — poking off of the front wheel of a semi truck: spikes jutting out several inches from each wheel lug where only short nuts should be necessary.Naturally I pulled…

Bicycle Face

I learned about a fascinating new topic this week thanks to Vox. Apparently, when women started riding bicycles en masse in the 19th century, doctors coined a fictitious disease called bicycle face in an effort to scare then off from cycling. From the Vox article: “Over-exertion, the upright position on the wheel, and the unconscious…

The Cadillac Backup Plan

When I returned to bicycle commuting in 2008, my backup plan for handling problems out on the road was pretty simple: I carried a spare tube, a set of tire tools, a multi-tool and a cheap frame pump. If I encountered anything I couldn’t handle with that basic kit, I carried my cell phone to…

Campfire Cycling Blog Posts Are Migrating…Come With Us!

Hello from the www.CampfireCycling.com crew!We want to thank all of our readers for submitting amazing photos and stories of their experiences with their trailers, bags, racks, and other bike accessories. We love reading about all the ways you are getting out there on your bikes exploring the world. Please keep those photo and video submissions…

unTerrifying Facts About Bicycling

This absolute gem of a video found its way to my inbox yesterday. It’s titled “Terrifying Facts About Bicycling” and was created by BuzzFeed, the most prolific makers of lists on the Internet today. Please take the next 2 minutes to watch this video. Wow. May I be the first to say WTF just happened…

Grey Matter and Rethinking Used Bikes

No doubt, I inherited my aversion to buying used vehicles from my parents. As Great Depression era kids, they were used to having possessions which were always secondhand, but I think the final straw came when my father returned from Europe and started looking around for a car in post-WWII Chicago. The automakers in Detroit…

Do We Need 'Science' to Tell Us About Bike Commuting?

Well, we could probably design a study to answer that question… This week, the National Institute of Transportation and Communities (NITC) at Portland State University released an enormous study looking at protected bike lanes in Washington D.C., Chicago, Austin, San Francisco, and Portland.   The purpose of the study was to evaluate protected bike lanes to…

Flagstaff Sidewalk Salmon

Sympathy for the Salmon

You see a bike rider riding where a bike shouldn’t be ridden, or in a manner contrary to your refined sense of cycling civility. What do you think? If you’re like me, you’re a judgmental rage turd before you catch yourself, and you calm yourself with the mantra, “They’re not in a car. That’s a…