New lanes in DC, now if only we had some better representation...

Thanks to FastLane.dot.gov for the picture
These lanes have caused a bit of controversy, check out WashCycle for more info on the process, maybe they are worse than the version 1.0 but they are there none the less and should significantly help. There may be an issue with pedestrians at crossing, especially at night, hopefully the problem will be solved before any major harm is done.

These buffered bike lanes are right down Pennsylvania Ave. in DC, hopefully if the bike share is up and running by the time I get to go back down, I can start doing some trips using the infrastructure, and taking pictures. (not deleting my memory card this time!!!)

Ray LaHood was there as part of the ribbon cutting and to show his support for these projects, which is always great!

check out his blog on the installation here and the WashCycle coverage here. There is a video on both posts as well

To Nantucket I go

Yep, I will be on an island for the next 3 ish days. I have a bunch of posts that are backing up here, seriously, you should see the draft page. I will be putting them in order shortly and getting them out, sorry for slacking so much, but my laptop is not on as much, and I am busy a lot with either garden work or MassBike work.

anyway I shall try not to neglect for too much more :)

have a good day and look for some infrastructure posts from the island very soon!

One Pot Pledge

Thanks to USDAgov photostream on flickr.

This is something I found a little while back and thought intriguing, its the One Pot Pledge. Its from the UK (if pot didn't give it away) with the goal of encouraging people to grow their own food who have never grown food before. It is also a way for experienced gardeners to help as well as generally interested people to show support for the campaign.

The campaign is run by Garden Organic, a UK charity.

This is specifically for the UK folks who read, however the idea is something that we can take over here and make work, although more likely on a local or regional scale. Whether it is is a vegetable pot on the windowsill, flowers outside your front door, or a full garden in the backyard, we can all do our part.

I felt the need to share!

cheers

People for Bikes

Image from MorBCN via flickr

If you have not signed up for the People for Bikes campaign I highly recommend that you do, they just held a give-away last month of 3 new bikes for anybody who has signed up or signed up during the month of May.

I signed up a couple months back, and this blog is part of the network.

From the website:

Peopleforbikes.org is dedicated to channeling that passion to improve the future of bicycling. Our goal is to gather a million names of support, to speak with one, powerful voice—to make bicycling safer, more convenient and appealing for everyone.

Simply put, we believe that life is far more enjoyable when it’s experienced on two wheels. We believe that by coming together, we can make our world a better place to ride

We are all people for bikes, will you join me?

Sign the pledge

This is an initiative from Bikes Belong

The joys of a new kickstand

A picture of it on the bike will be forthcoming.

Well I had my bike in the shop the other day, mainly to make sure the squeek coming from my bottom bracket was not a problem, they tightened it and looked over and found no problems, which was good. I also had them instal a nice new kickstand because I was tired of the bike falling over the moment I put any weight in it really.

The Breezer uptown 8 is a wonderful bike and I have no faults with it except for the kickstand. For a bike like this it really should have come with something better than a one sided small stand, which held the bike fine but the moment I start loading the back down, would fall over.

It is with great relef that I welcome the Pletscher Double Kickstand into the family. This is a nifty kickstand in that it has two legs but folds up to one side out of the way.

In its current form I need to saw a couple inches off of it because it is lifting my front tire about a food in the air when deployed. However, even with that, it is stable like no other.

This is a stand built for people doing heavy loads and awkward weights. The Breezer has a wonderful kickstand plate so mounting was super easy for the guys at the shop. The only qualm is the price on it, running $58 from my bike shop, the link for the online shop recommended by EcoVelo would run 55$ with shipping so not to much in savings from buying online.

I don't mind keeping the money local.

It is swiss built though and the quality is top notch. After I cut a bit off and lower it to a more reasonable level it will be absolutely perfect!

Here is the link to the EcoVelo mention of the kickstand, EcoVelo: Kickstand Love