EcoVelo, one of my favorite bicycling blogs, is running a series on Bike Commuting 101, which is shaping up to be very nice. Today Alan posted a bit about a subject dear to my heart: lights. While Alan is based in CA, the law is pretty much the same here. More importantly, the message is applicable here.

how to be nice to someone in two simple steps

I’m famous, for a day, on BikeRumor.

Digging these tweed messenger bags from SF. Eighty bucks? Seems like a steal to me.

San Juan, Puerto Rico, is not exactly the sort of place you’d imagine to be in dire need of a facelift and urban renewal. Images of a gorgeous coastline and old colonial architecture come to mind, but guess what? The old part of the city, “the Isleta,” is rife with poor urban planning scars, such as inaccessible beaches due to ports and an excessive reliance on cars. The government has decided to infuse the city with $1.5 billion dollars to re-develop San Juan and, most of all, make it a walking city, with no cars allowed.

More here.

I have not been very good about blogging, and this is hardly a post anyway, but it’s good. EcoVelo posts his list of what you need to start commuting by bicycle. I’d say it’s pretty solid. Of particular note: lights. The other night I saw (and I use the word loosely) three young ladies on bikes, at night, with no lights.

Over on EcoVelo, Alan has a really nice little article about thinking about bicycling as more than a sport.

Like most people in the U.S., I spent a good portion of my adult life thinking of bicycling as a sport. Even during a long period when I rode my bicycle to work everyday, I was concerned with things like personal bests, total miles logged, and target heart rates… Somewhere along the way, I went through a mental shift that resulted in my viewing the bicycle primarily as a tool for transportation.

Definitely good stuff.

So go watch this. Seriously, I’ll wait.

Nice, huh? I like that it’s not some rich dude in his super hero kit on a carbon fiber bike. It’s not some young punk in cargo shorts on a mountain bike. It’s just fun.

Thank Cog.

There’s a really great write up, with lots of lovely pictures, of the latest Tweed Ride in Sacramento over on EcoVelo. I’ve said before that I’d like to do something like this in Albany. I need
a) a nice tweed jacket and
b) people who are interested.

As someone who spends all day in front of a computer, I found this article wonderful.