Bicycle Safety and Maintenance Workshop 7/12/08

Grab your bicycle and helmet, or just simply join in, as young and old are invited to a free bicycle safety and basic maintenance workshop to be held Saturday, July 12th at the Soule Branch Library.  The library is located on Springfield Rd, across from Le Moyne College, and the event will run from 2 – 4:00 PM.

Children are encouraged to bring their bicycle to learn basic bike maintenance and how to change a flat.  Learn why wearing a helmet is not only smart, but cool as well (low cost helmets will be available on a sliding-scale basis).   Find out from the experts:
What traffic laws apply to people riding bicycles
Can a cyclist ride on roadways or is riding restricted to shoulders?
What are the proper hand and arm signals?
Do riders under age fourteen have to wear protective headgear?
Are there legal limits on carrying “things” on a bicycle?
The event will take place rain or shine so come on out and join the fun!

This event is made possible through the generosity of the Bike Loft and the partnership of Onondaga County, the City of Syracuse, the County Libraries and the Onondaga Cycling Club.

Bicycle Activists Take to the Freeways in L.A. : NPR

While we are not advocating taking actions such as these, it is interesting to note the extent to which some activists will go… and the obvious message in their action: “Riding your bike will take you less time.”

Bicycle Activists Take to the Freeways in L.A. : NPR

Clever Bicycle Safety Ad

Here’s a clever Bicycle Safety Ad on YouTube.  Expecting more cyclists on the road will allow drivers to see them.  Check it out.

BikeCNY Members In the News

Don Hughes and fellow BikeCNY Organizing Committee member John Murray were featured in the Feb 9, 2008 Post Standard’s Progress 2008 “Lead Green” section. See the P-S article about Don’s commuting here, including a wonderful video of interview.

Also in the same issue:
The P-S Cycling Survey, an interview with John Murray, and an interview with SU professor Richard Breyer. All three of them commute to their work by bike almost every day, even in the winter!Way to go, guys!

Photo Gallery

You can see photos of the Syracuse bike lanes and even more lanes, paths, signs, and traffic lights for Europe on Flickr.com.

When you get there, do some exploring. Clicking on any image brings it up larger, with a description if one is written. There is a box to the right of the image that will let you navigate to others. And below that box there is a section where you can see the image in various sizes, or even see it’s exact location on a map. A number of the Heidelberg, Germany photos are mapped at this time.

To see the photos, click here.

A Busy City Street Makes Room for Bikes

The New York Times reported on 9/23 that New York City was going to remake seven blocks of Ninth Avenue, from 16th Street to 23rd Street, using a design in which a lane of parked cars protects cyclists from other traffic.

If you click on the image to the left, it will open in a larger version and you will be able to see more clearly the cross section of the street which appears at the bottom of the image.

Here’s a description of it. This is on a one-way street. There is a 10 foot wide bike lane next to the left curb. Working our way across the street to the right side, there is an 8 foot buffer zone, with planters and other impediments to vehicular traffic, a parking lane, three vehicle traffic lanes, another parking lane, and, finally, the right side curb.

You can see the full article by clicking here, though I believe the article will go into an archive for paid subscribers after a few weeks. If the article is no longer available, send a request to Steve (see Contact Us page on this site).

Proposed Syracuse Bicycle Grid Revealed

As you may know, one of our goals is to create ways to get across the city safely on a bicycle from wherever you are to wherever you want to go. Small neighborhood roads need not be signed, but larger roads and strategically placed routes benefit from bike lanes and marked routes. The hope is that they will encourage cyclists to use those routes more often and also make it obvious that motorists can expect to see more cyclists in those locations. Here’s a link to a Google map of the Bicycle Grid we have proposed to the City of Syracuse.

Bike Lanes Now Open on East Genesee Street!

You may have seen them (unfortunately, I don’t have a photo of them yet), but the State DOT installed bike lanes on E. Genesee St. from East Ave. (near Nottingham High School) to the Dewitt city line.  You will see one traffic lane in each direction, a center turn lane, and a bike lane on each side.  Very nice.  There is still a need for signage to indicate the bike lanes and, perhaps that the center lane is for left turns only.

Next step:  The city indicates it intends to continue the same layout from East Ave. west to Cherry St.  That will get folks who wish to continue west the ability to get over the hill and past Westcott St., a stretch which is currently completely uninviting for cyclists.

24 Hours of b.i.k.e.-Syracuse… June 9–10

The “24 Hours of b.i.k.e.-Syracuse” is a charity ride to benefit the inner city children of Syracuse. The event is looking for riders to bring in pledge money and volunteers for staffing.

For those who are unfamiliar with b.i.k.e.-Syracuse, it is a non-profit “inner-city bike club” that mentors children from the ages of 8-14 through a program that provides academic support, bicycle outings and mentoring to children who live in an area of Syracuse that is plagued by poverty, crime and high unemployment. Using bikes to capture the hearts of these children, the program works with the Syracuse School District and others to build self-esteem and a supportive environment that is focused on empowering these at risk children towards a better future.

For more information about the event and how you can get involved please visit the event website.

In addition, checkout this writeup in the Syracuse Post Standard as well.

This write-up was reproduced from an email written by Wayne Miner to the Onondaga Cycling Club mailing list. Thanks, Wayne.

Helmet saves man when truck runs over his head - CNN.com

Yes. Wear your helmet! Wear your helmet! Wear your helmet!

In the article Helmet saves man when truck runs over his head on CNN.com, Ryan Lipscomb, 26, says he was riding on a bike path in Madison, WI, when he came to an intersection. When he saw that a delivery truck was preparing to turn right in front of him, he jammed on his brakes, flipping his bike and throwing him in the path of the truck… which ran over his head.

The truck didn’t stop. Police initially weren’t sure whether to declare this a hit-and-run, as they weren’t sure the driver knew that someone was run over. Ummm… Can you imagine running over something as big as a head with a helmet on it and not thinking to check out what that might have been?

Anyway, the helmet obviously saved his head from damage.

Read the full article and see a picture of the guy and his helmet at the link above.