Yours truly breaking the law by riding a Pronto bike a short distance on a trail from UW Station to the Ave.
The debate about bike share in Seattle is contentious enough without bringing up one of the most divisive bike-related issues out there: Adult helmet laws.
Though I understand that it may seem counter-intuitive at first, best practices from the the safest cycling cities in the world do not include helmet laws. In fact, nearly all major cities in the U.S. and across the globe have declined to regulate bicycling headwear for adults.
But surely with good intentions, King County’s Board of Health decided in the 90s to require helmets for people of all ages, and that rule started applying to Seattle after a 2003 City Council vote to adopt the county’s regulation. 13 years later, that decision is very likely hampering the city’s ability to get the most from its bike share efforts.
How big an impact is the helmet law having? That’s nearly impossible to say for sure, but bike share experts are pretty much in agreement that it’s an impediment.
For the past six years, Seattle’s Josh Cohen has been documenting bicycle culture and inspiring people powering cycling movements on his excellent blog and podcast series The Bicycle Story.
So when Cohen announced this week that he is putting The Bicycle Story to rest, I wanted to get his insight on how the culture has changed.
“Over the past six years, there’s been a healthy expansion of what it means to be in a bike culture,” he said. When he started in 2010, most focus seemed to be about “bikes as young white hipster culture and road bikes as middle aged white man culture.”
But over the past six years, “there has been this broadening of how bikes fit into culture,” including the growing family biking movement, increases in bike tourism and “commuters who don’t think of themselves as ‘cyclists.’”
Some of the best profiles and podcast episodes in the Bicycle Story challenge assumptions about who bikes and why people bike.
“My favorites were always when the stories interviewees were telling transcended cycling,” said Cohen. “When it became about politics, or mental illness or something else.” (more…)
Scotty Bach, a detective with the Seattle Police Department’s Major Crimes Taskforce, answered questions about property crime (including bike theft) on Reddit yesterday.
Det. Bach’s answers shed some light on the department’s work and offer some advice for people trying to protect themselves against theft or give themselves the best chance of recovering a stolen bike.
First off, if you do not have a record of your bike’s serial number saved somewhere, do that now. Seriously, walk over to your bike this second and do it.
“I would encourage everyone to take a current photo of their bicycle/their serial number,” wrote Det. Bach. “You can email it to yourself.”
The top question from the AMA relates to a longstanding issue for people trying to track down their stolen bike: What do I do if I find it listed online or spot it at a local chop shop? This is one of the most common bike theft questions I get as editor of this blog, and I don’t have a great answer. Unfortunately, neither does Det. Bach:
All bike routes lead to the Center of the Universe and this block of Fremont Ave. Image from the city’s Bike Master Plan, calling for protected bike lanes. Red square is the study area.
Fremont’s Center of the Universe could get an amazing walking, biking and transit makeover next year, but only if the city chooses to be bold.
SDOT is in the early design phase for bus stop improvements on Fremont Ave between N 34th and 36th Streets directly north of the Fremont Bridge. This block is at the epicenter of the neighborhood’s street grid and serves as one of the trickiest bike route gaps in the Interurban regional bike network stretching as far north as Everett.
More and more people are biking, walking and taking buses on routes that all converge at this point, but the street design is outdated and has failed to keep up with the people it serves. Sidewalks are overcrowded, especially during peak hours when people are waiting for the bus. Dozens of people walking and biking have been injured in the past ten years in just this one block.
SDOT is planning some bus stop improvements for the block to address the sidewalk crowding issue. The project could also create safer crosswalks and protected bike lanes, but only if city leaders decide to make the safety and comfort of people biking and walking a priority.
As the project is today in this early stage, biking and walking improvements will be left out entirely. People need to get organized to push for bold action, or the city is going to throw away this great opportunity. (more…)
It’s no David Bowie or Sharon Jones, but in my heart my bike will forever be among the list of victims of 2016.
A 1983 Nishiki International, this high-tensile steel bike died doing what it loved: Carrying me around town safely and dependably. It’s last act was to limp all the way to my home where I discovered the fatal crack Saturday: The bottom bracket is essentially falling off, ripped from the seat tube. The bike was simply pedaled one too many times.
As Davey Oil said on my Facebook post, “It wasn’t bent by a bumper, or lost to a bolt-cutter. You didn’t (ever) toss it in the basement and replace it. It wasn’t trashed by abuse, or ill-repair. Your bike was simply, done. And so, it finished. Called it a day. But, it went out doing what it loved, bringing you home.”
The fatal crack, discovered in the comfort of home.Me shortly after buying it in 2010. The crank arms, seat post, stem, shifters and rear derailleur are the only parts I never replaced.
Of course, a bike is just a thing. But this bike represents some very transformative years in my life. It was already old and rusty by the time I bought it in 2010. It was 27. I was 25. Perhaps due to the rust, the $175 price was right for someone with no savings trying to launch a journalism career in the midst of the recession.
This bike saved me enough money that I could start Seattle Bike Blog, floating me through some very meager times when even the bus was out of my budget. It was easily the best investment I have ever made and may ever make again.
Despite the tired and worn parts, this bike never broke down when I was too poor to fix it, and it never stranded me when I was too far from home. And through the process of fixing essentially every part over the years (usually with more used parts), it also empowered me to no longer fear working on my bike.
For two summers, I hauled Clean Greens CSA boxes around the Central District.
My friend Mark may note that this sounds a lot like the Ship of Theseus. What is a bike? How many parts can be replaced before it becomes a new bike? How many parts from this bike would I need to bring to a new frame if I wanted to keep this bike “alive?” No, best not to think this way. I should be beyond the stage of bargaining by now.
As I learned more about biking through experience and through writing this blog, I gradually changed my bike into a versatile and dependable ride capable of climbing the steepest hills Seattle can throw at me, hauling very heavy loads in a Haulin’ Colin trailer, going off-road bike camping in the Cascades or zipping around town to cover all the bike news I can get to.
But most importantly, it carried me on a long bike tour around the Pacific Northwest, the trip where I knew for sure I wanted to marry Kelli Refer.
An obituary for a bike is an odd exercise, I know. As Mike McGinn said on Facebook, “All that’s left is to send it off from shore in a burning boat.” That actually sounds fun, though I imagine the Puget Sound wouldn’t appreciate it very much.
But this bike was constant through some major changes in my life. And looking through photos of it reminded me of where I’ve been. A photo of this bike is nearly always a happy memory. Wherever I’m going next, I’ll be on a new bike. But in the fading memories of my late 20s, this bike will always be there.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Critical Lass will be biking to and through Candy Cane Lane Sunday. This family-friendly ride for women and their friends meets up 4 p.m. at Fix Coffeehouse in Green Lake. You can find more details on the event page.
To run with the holiday theme, I loved Madi Carlson’s recent post on her blog Family Ride about her adventure with her kids to get their Christmas tree. It’s a wonderful insight into how biking can turn normal family errands into adventures. Enjoy this excerpt, reposted with permission:
“Go Team Christmas Tree!” is one of the many things people shouted at us as we biked home with our tree this year. There’s something to be said for parading six miles with a big tree. Last year we got the tree just half a mile from home. That was the first time the kids rode their own bikes so that was exciting and new (for them–I would have liked carrying both kids and tree because the bigger the load, the more points). We probably would have gone to the same tree lot, but it doesn’t seem to be there this year and the kids suggested the Swansons Nursery Reindeer Festival. So this year was both kids-on-their-own-bikes and far-away-tree. Fun!
