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.

The Practical Bicyclist’s Handbook, the Basic Field and Street Manual for Utilitarian Riding, features

• Farming By Bicycle
• Riding in Cleveland and Pittsburgh
• Bamboo Bicycles
• Bicycles, Women, & The Vintage Posters Bearing Them Both
• Two Gears Better Than One
• Bicycle Lights
• Shame & Guilt On The Commute
• and a bunch of other stuff worth reading.

Boneshaker is available from Wolverine Farm Publishing for $6.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this here, but my first book of poetry, Unexpected Sunlight, will be out soon from FootHills Publishing. You can read my work at jasoncrane.org.

Here’s a poem I wrote this week based on a bike ride:

“North Greenbush To Albany”

R Community Bikes could recycle that equipment that would benefit those that need new wheels, a bell or horn, cables for brake or derailleur, whatever.

You don’t know about the best bicycle community service organization in the world!
Read on.

R Community Bikes is a grassroots, 501(c)3 organization that collects and repairs used bicycles for distribution, free of charge, to Rochester, NY’s most needy children and adults. Our mission is meeting the basic transportation needs of those in the community who depend on bikes for recreation as well as for transport to work, school, rehabilitation programs, and training sessions. For this segment of the population, both quality of life and the ability to participate in our community are greatly enhanced when our mission is achieved. R Community Bikes also provides a venue for the Rochester bicycling community to conduct educational programs relative to bicycle safety and maintenance.

R Community BikesWe are open to the public on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm at our warehouse at 226 Hudson Ave. (at the intersection with Woodbury Street). In addition, on Wednesdays in the summer we conduct bike repairs at St. Joseph’s House of Hospitality at 402 South Avenue.

We welcome donations of bikes, bike parts, tools and money to cover expenses such as spare parts. We are always in need of volunteers to serve as mechanics and a variety of other positions. We provide the necessary training. http://www.rcommunitybikes.net/

‘I now have a fairly clutter free basement and more room on the shelves to store the latest bicycle gadgets,’ says Richard DeSarra

9) It’s just as fun as when you were a kid. You go zoom! and whoosh! You’re a sky creature, not a miserable earth-crawler. And you get to the end of your commute feeling invigorated and intensely alive.

Via FAIL Blog

• ABC Quick Check! Air, brakes, cranks and quick releases
• Follow the rules of the road
• Ride defensively
• It’s not a race
• and he offers some tips on cleaning up

I would also like to add: smile.

Skills, man.

Similar to current Commuter Check programs for public transit and parking, employers can offer the bicycling benefit as a pre-tax salary deduction, saving on taxes for the individual and the company or as a subsidy, which is also tax deductible for the company.

More here.

Poet Nikki Giovanni was on Bill Moyers’ Journal last week talking about her new book of poetry, Bicycles. She also talks about bicycles as a metaphor for life and reads her poem, “Bicycles.”

Watch the show.

This image was featured today at one of my favorite blogs, BAGnewsNotes. Head over there for details and discussion.

BikeHacks has a bit about the Fibre Flare, which looks like a light saber for your bike.

And if that’s not enough of an eye-sore, how about making your WHOLE BIKE reflective? (Via Commute By Bike)

If you’ve had any luck in this area, please let us know.

I’ve combined my love of bicycles with many things, but who’d have thought I could combine it with my 95-year-old-man fashion sense? But now my dream has come true:

That’s right, kids. It’s a bicycle bow tie from the fine folks at Beau Ties Ltd of Vermont. Perfect for that special someone who is … well … just me, I guess. And yes, you can also get it as a necktie, if you’re a wimp.

From Alternet:

Trip is to protest mountaintop removal mining
by Brittney Moore

Sam Evans wants the voices of Appalachian families near coal mining sites to be heard, so he’s cycling to Washington, D.C., to hand-deliver protest letters written by mining communities.

“The bike ride for me is just a way to take the voices of the people who aren’t being heard right now and take them to Washington, D.C.,” said Evans, a third-year law student at the University of Tennessee. He plans on leaving Tennessee Jan. 9 and arriving in Washington, D.C., Jan. 20.

Evans won’t be alone for the 750-mile trip. Missy Petty of Conservation Fisheries Inc., a nonprofit organization that rescues endangered fish species, will join him for the first half of the trip.

Evans and Petty plan to stay in homes close to coal mining sites to see for themselves the impact mining has on nearby communities, then gather letters protesting mountaintop removal mining. Evans will hand-deliver the letters to the Natural Resources Defense Council, which will give the letters to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“We just want people to be aware of what’s going on in their own backyards and want them to care,” Petty said.

Read the rest of the article

(Thanks, Paul)

IDENTIFY THE VEHICLE INVOLVED.
CALL THE POLICE.
OBTAIN PROMPT MEDICAL TREATMENT.
GATHER AND PRESERVE EVIDENCE.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO NEGOTIATE YOUR OWN CLAIM.
CONTACT A QUALIFIED-EXPERIENCED ATTORNEY.

Show us how you make your bike or yourself much more visible at night to the cars passing you and win a pair of the brand spankin’ new Bike to Work Pants from Cordarounds! These pants aren’t just stylish for work, they also keep you safe while riding your bike. Flip up the pant cuffs and pull out the pockets to instantly become more visible.

I need some UFO lighting…

A geographic survey of East Lansing, Michigan, for example, once found that more than 50 percent of the retail district was dedicated to “automobile space”—parking, roads, and the like.

Sounds like Clifton Park.

That is a cross-stitch pattern, which you can purchase from Radical Cross Stitch, to benefit the Austin Yellow Bike Project.

And check out the Power to the Pedal design competition. Here’s my favorite entry, which combines biking and music:

Imagine a bike rigged up with that along with the Down Low Glow, cruising along your daily commute!

CDTA offers a special deal for Earth Day
Passes that contain seeds get holder a free ride, chance to grow something

By CATHY WOODRUFF, Staff writer
First published: Tuesday, April 22, 2008

ALBANY — Ride a bus. Plant some seeds. Keep your money.

That’s the Earth Day celebration plan set to unfold today on Capital District Transportation Authority routes around the region.

CDTA and other participants, including downtown business associations and Capital District Community Gardens, have distributed close to 5,000 free day passes to encourage people to take the bus instead of driving.

The biodegradable passes, made of recycled paper, are infused with wildflower seeds. Riders may keep the passes and plant them at their own homes or turn them in for use in beautification programs sponsored by the business associations and Capital District Community Gardens.

The CDTA made the passes available at its offices, and more were distributed by the business groups and the Community Gardens Veggie Mobile, which sells fresh produce to residents of low-income neighborhoods.

• Read the rest of the story.

I’ve become both a bike and train commuter since moving to Albany. I bike during the week and then take the train home on weekends. Most of the time, it beats the heck out of driving, and I’ve always loved train travel anyway.

May 10 is the first annual National Train Day. Visit www.nationaltrainday.com for more details.

Albany, N.Y., was named one of the 100 best walking cities in America, according to a survey by Prevention Magazine and the American Podiatric Medical Association.

The city ranked No. 68 in a survey of more than 500 cities.

“This designation recognizes our ongoing efforts to make Albany a premier destination not only in New York state but also the entire nation,” Mayor Jerry Jennings said. “We are committed to ensuring that our city provides a high quality of life and an environmentally safe community for all to enjoy.”

More than 500 cities in the U.S. were evaluated and ranked on 14 walking criteria, such as the percentage of adults who walk to work, the number of parks per square mile, use of mass transit and percentage of adults who walk for fitness.

The top three walking cities in the 2008 survey were Cambridge, Mass., New York City and Ann Arbor, Mich.

This came into my inbox today from Chris and Vicki at the South Wedge Farmers Market:

Say it ain’t so.

Today is our FINAL Thursday Market for the Season!

And as one would imagine…
it’s gonna be fantastic!

• Celebrate Halloween with YOUR farmers and friends!
• Dress your kids and yourselves in costume a few days early and join the fun!
• Trick-or-Treat at Vendors’ booths, admire the Jack-o-Lanterns lighting the market alleyway.
• Carve your very own jack-o-lantern at our carving station, courtesy of Boulder Coffee.
• Find out what a Gourd Bug is and make your own!

The night is sure to SPOOK and DELIGHT!

AND DO NOT MISS OUR HOLIDAY REUNION MARKET ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20TH!