I have traveled into the Safeway parking lots, among the glass filled shoulders, through the misery of forgetting my spare tube. I have lugged grocery bags on my handlebars and arrived to gatherings late and sweaty. I have cursed and sworn with befuddlement at being ill-prepared to make my way through the world on my…
Protected Bike Lanes
The development of serious and dedicated bicycle infrastructure is a requirement for any car centric culture, such as the US, to be able to get people utilizing bicycles for transportation in any serious way. The Netherlands and Denmark are the best examples of this. As a US based bicycle advocate, this is a depressing reality. …
I don’t know what it is about cargo bikes, but they do have a funny way of getting into your heart. I’ve had a lot of bikes comes and go from my life over the years, but there is one I miss more than any of the others and that’s my old Xtracycle. The Xtracycle…
I’m sure that our loyal readers have noticed some decline in the regularity of our posting here at CommuteByBike.com after the departure of Ted Johnson, our ponderous and insightful editor and marketing expert here at www.CampfireCycling.com. In his wake we’ve been working to come up with a new strategy for maintaining and growing this blog. …
Why Open Streets Are Great
An interesting little tidbit arrived in my inbox this week. It was an email from Lund University in Sweden about a study on mobility, planning, and cycling. The study, officially titled “Velomobility – A critical analysis of planning and space”, was conducted by PhD student Till Koglin at Lund University. It’s a comparative analysis of…
Documentary: A Winter of Cyclists
I love clever designs of objects that fold up small — not just bikes. Before my first folding bike, I had a folding dinner table, a collapsible ladder chair, a folding book shelf, and other folding stuff. Closely related to my folding fetish is my modular fetish. The idea that one thing can be many…
More on Riding with Rail Tracks
Riding with Rail Tracks
In my last post, I alluded to the fact that I’m no longer working and bike commuting in Tucson although I still have plenty more to say about that. But now Im back in Flagstaff, Arizona with a new job, and a new bike commute. This new commute is only about 2.6 miles if I…
This shortie from Streetfilms came out in the spring, but I felt it was appropriate to post it now. I recently moved from one Bicycle Friendly City to another, and it has been interesting to compare my experiences bike commuting in the two cities. I came from Tucson, AZ, which is a gold level city…
For people working regular business hours, it’s usually in the Fall and Winter when they need reliable bike headlights. The sun sets earlier, and daylight saving time kicks in in other parts of the world. In Tucson, I found myself commuting home after sunset even though it was the middle of the summer. Some days, around…
Matt Elias was in the process of fulfilling his ambition to be completely carfree in Tucson. He had just purchased a full Xtracycle setup from Campfire Cycling when he encountered a cart-before-the-horse problem: How do you haul all of this Xtracycle hardware home before you’ve retrofitted your bike as an Xtracyle? In a car? Of…
I suspected that the Montague Boston 8 would be a perfect commuter bike for my three-month sojourn in Tucson, and I was right. Damn, I’m smart. So this is the Boston 8 as it appears on the Montague Website, all pristine, clean, and without accessories: And this is the Boston 8 after I’d accessorized it for life…
I normally have a dream bike commute. My eight mile early morning trip into the office is a mere 200 foot gain in elevation. When I get to work, the showers at my gym are less than a hundred paces from the secure, locked conference room where I park my bike. When I head home…
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Commute by Bike has had a long fascination with Xtracycle cargo bikes — those longtail wonders that make an ordinary bike into a “sports utility bike.” Way back in 2009, Arleigh (a.k.a. Bike Shop Girl) documented her build up of this utilitarian beauty: The FreeRadical Cargo Bike Kit contains the parts you need to…
Just to be confusing, Thule now makes bike racks and bike racks. The former being the things you use to carry your bike on your car; the latter being the things you put on your bike to carry panniers, rack-top bags, kids, beer, etc. Soon I suspect they will also be manufacturing bike racks as…
I know how to patch a tube. I know how to pump up a tire. Neither is very hard to do, so it’s not like I’m bragging. And I’ve been known to dismiss the idea that one should learn these or any other mechanical skills before they take up cycling. I’ll say something like, “If…
Should you use a pannier or a backpack? It’s one of the great, dumb, debates between cyclists. There advantages to each mode, so why can’t the answer just be yes? I own panniers as well as several backpacks. Some mornings I’m like a socialite trying to decide what shoes to wear. Is today a pannier…
Throwback Thursday: Bike to Work Week 1993
Bike commuting in Tucson is becoming easier. My routes are starting to take shape, and I’m feeling less and less like I will get lost on the way to work. I don’t think of my commutes as “exercise.” Rather, I’m aware that my body is adjusting to what I’m asking it to do every day:…
I’ve completed two weeks of bike commuting in Tucson. Since this isn’t a permanent move for me, I’m deliberately cultivating a transitory (i.e. non-permanent) lifestyle here in Old Pueblo, as the locals call it. I’m couch surfing here — no real couches yet, but guest rooms and inflatable mattresses. My commute will change several times…
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