m-bike.org

Author: Todd Scott

  • Detroit Bike Shorts: July 12, 2010

    The Hub of Detroit bike giveaway

    Congratulations to the Hub and all their volunteers for giving away 123 kids bicycles! They expect to have another bike giveaway in the future and there’s an opportunity to help.

    If you have a youth bike in your basement that isn’t being used anymore, bring it to us so we can help it find a good home. The best times to drop off donations are during our volunteer nights (Wednesdays and Thursday 6pm-8pm). Bring them to our Back Alley Bikes entrance (first alley West of Cass on MLK).

    Moving a piano by bike

    The Metro Times has an article on the Joybox Express, a band that is traveling across Michigan on bicycle with a piano.

    There’s something beautifully old-fashioned about the Joybox Express — it’s more 1910 than 2010. Yet the joy of shaking it to a Jelly Roll Morton stomper — or, hell, the bliss of riding down a country road on a bike — will never be outdated. And let’s face it: A band of bicycling minstrels is pretty awesome. Guitarist Brian Delaney says, “When bicyclists go by, they usually pump their chests or stick their fists up in the air in approval.”

    The band is biking to Detroit along Warren Avenue on Tuesday for a show at Cliff Bell’s that evening. They’ll be at the Scarab Club for a show on Wednesday.

    Gushing Oil, New Habits

    John McCormick is a columnist for Autos Consumer. His recent column in the Detroit News, Gushing oil must finally create some new habits, asks the question, “What does the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico mean to you as an automotive consumer?”

    And his answer is soaked in realism.

    There are plenty of voices arguing that although this spill was accidental, it’s fair to say that Americans’ greed for oil is at least partly to blame…

    But as Jason Henderson, a San Francisco State University geography professor, has suggested, there is now a moral imperative for U.S. consumers to do something meaningful about their fuel consumption habits. In a recently published statement, Henderson argues that the hazards of deepwater oil drilling are too great to continue and that ‘far-off miracles’ in hydrogen, wind, solar or nuclear power will not meet the country’s immediate energy demands.

    Instead, Henderson proposes that we, American drivers, reduce our daily gasoline usage by 20 percent.

    We agree.

    And we also like McCormick’s suggestion that “there are strong arguments for greater use of public transport, more investment in high-speed rail systems and even more prosaic solutions, such as bicycle lanes to encourage Americans to use two wheels rather than four.”

    Bike lanes are a prosaic solution? Okay, compared with hydrogen fuel cell magic, bike lanes themselves are a little ordinary and dull, but biking in them? Not always prosaic — especially if you’re pulling a piano.

  • Royal Oak bike planning may start August 10th

    Royal Oak’s non-motorized planning efforts should be underway soon.

    The Active Transportation Alliance, the Chicago-based group responsible for creating the biking and walking plan is on the Planning Commission agenda for their August 10th meeting (7:30pm at City Council Chambers, City Hall). That should be an hour presentation and it would be great if we could get many interested cyclists at that meeting.

    That date is still tentative. The presentation may get moved to a later date, and if it does, we’ll let you know.

    But for now, Royal Oak cyclists can add August 10th to their calendar.

  • To Metro Detroit Counties: Bike lanes are inevitable

    While giving public comment to the Road Commission for Oakland County about building bike lanes, one Road Commissioner kept his head cocked with a look of confusion that said, “Why are you here?”

    The comments that the Road Commission wasn’t following best practices for bicycle design and that there were no excuses fell on deaf ears. There was no response.

    Bike lanes are an easily dismissed request among the Metro Detroit’s three main counties. At one time all three county road agencies had unwritten policies against providing bike lanes.

    But that has to change eventually. The cities of Detroit, Ferndale, and others are setting the example locally while the federal government is providing reinforcement from above.

    And just last month Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood celebrated the opening of bike lanes on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C.

    It was hot, sizzling hot, and summertime-in-DC humid. But I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

    I’m talking about yesterday’s dedication festivities to inaugurate Washington, DC’s newest bicycle lanes. And these are not just any bike lanes. These lanes run right down the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue–America’s Main Street–from the White House to the U.S. Capitol.

    For too long, walking and biking have been overlooked as important forms of transportation. Now we see local governments answering that call by creating new opportunities for people to take advantage of streetcars, transit, walking, and bike lanes. They’re taking the needs of pedestrians and cyclists into account like never before.

    Building bike lanes on county roads is inevitable. When will the Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties stop resisting and start building them?

    When will Secretary LaHood celebrate bike lanes opening on county roads in Metro Detroit?

  • Secretary LaHood touts U.S. Bicycle Routes

    U.S. Bicycle Routes planned for Michigan

    The Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has posted this on his blog yesterday:

    If you’re traveling by car or airplane this 4th of July weekend and would rather be packing your luggage onto your bike, you may be interested in the US Bicycle Route System.

    Well that’s got my attention, Mr. Secretary.

    You’ve probably heard me compare where our high-speed and intercity passenger rail system is today with where America stood 54 years ago when President Eisenhower began implementing the US Interstate Highway network. But America also has a national interstate network of bicycle routes in a similar state of initial development.

    For more than 20 years, not much happened. But in 2003, AASHTO revived the USBRS with a Task Force on US Bicycle Routes. The Task Force includes state transportation agency staff, Federal Highway Administration employees, and bicycling organizations. One group, Adventure Cycling Association, began providing staff support to the project in 2005 and developed a map called the National Corridor Plan.

    As a side note, the original national corridor plan had no routes to Detroit. MTGA worked with Adventure Cycling to remedy that by modifying some existing routes and adding new ones. The result? The plans for Bicycle Routes 25, 30, and 36 now run through Detroit.

    Beyond Detroit, Michiganders need to thank Scott Anderson, MTGA, and MDOT for really pushing hard to get U.S. Bicycle Route 20 across the mitten. Despite the heavy competition from other states, this might be the first new U.S. Bicycle Route in decades.

    In Michigan USBRS 20 is underway, with USBRS 35 soon to follow. The people of Michigan are excited to be leading the way on America’s interstate bikeway system.

    As Scott Anderson, state coordinator for the bicycle route, said, “We went county to county, community to community, to talk with each one and got enormous support. We even had cities and towns that weren’t on the route pushing to get included.”

    Anderson and Michigan’s communities also see the business and employment possibilities the USBRS offers: “We see an economic opportunity here. We’re hoping to promote tourism and there are a lot of bicycle tourists out there.”

    And the Secretary wraps up his blog saying:

    The USBRS will generate economic activity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and promote a healthier America. And because bicycle infrastructure is relatively inexpensive, the USBRS can achieve these benefits cost-effectively. It’s a win for states, a win for local communities, and a win for America.

    Have a great July 4th weekend.

  • Hoekstra and biking

    Dave Hurst started the conversation on his blog about Congressman and Michigan gubernatorial candidate Pete Hoekstra and his patriotic bike logo.

    Hoekstra has a history of successfully campaigning by bicycle, as his web site notes:

    Pete being an avid biker decided when he first ran for Congress in 1992 that he would ride his bicycle throughout the entire 2nd Congressional District in an effort to connect with people where they lived and worked. Many supporters joined Pete on this initial bike tour and since then Pete has made a tradition of riding his bike through the district every summer, and many more have joined this tradition. In recent years, for instance, the bike tour has highlighted issues such as agriculture, alternative energy and growing small businesses. By biking from location to location Pete has been able to visit with people, schools, farms and businesses – hearing their voices and seeing the real impact local, state and federal government has on peoples daily lives.

    And in his current run for Michigan governor, he’s back in the saddle. He’s been biking around the state, including places such as Hines Drive.

    We didn’t see any rides in the city of Detroit, so we submitted one his Suggest a Route form. We suggested riding on Woodward from the Detroit Zoo to the Detroit RiverWalk. It’s just twelve miles and slightly downhill.

    It just seems that any avid biker running for governor of Michigan should take a ride down M1 to get a better idea of the urban issues facing this state.