Traffic Calming in The Chech Republic

Courtesy of Urban Repairs.

bikescape's fifth bike to work day and a rally for transit

Another year goes by and another bigger and better Bike to Work Day beats expectations. We visit the San Francisco City College Campus and chat with Gus from The Bikery. Then we bike across town to hand out goodies at the Chinatown energizer station where we meet San Francisco's only car-free supervisor, Board President David Chiu.

But its not all about bikes! It seems that across the nation, just when transit use is unprecedentedly high, fares are going up and service is getting cut. We go to protest SF's transit budget and meet with Supervisor John Avalos as we walk to confront MTA Director Nat Ford.

Also, we've got lots of news about upcoming events such as Sunday Streets in the Mission. I dropped in som audio from the last Sunday Streets event where we encountered the piano bike.




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Photo by Greg Z

Bike bloggers meet-up in Sacramento

Recently I was in Sacramento where coincidentally the Amgen Tour of California was holding its opening time trial. I stopped into the R-16 bar to have a few beers with some of my favorite bloggers. It was noisy. There was beer.

Still, I think the conversations I had with Paul Dorn from the Bike Commute Tips Blog, (right) Fritz from Cycleicious, and David Bernstein, voice of the Fredcast (left) are worth a listen. (That's your host with the headphones!)

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Photo on left by Andrew Conway. The one on the right by Fritz

Two Cities: Hong Kong and San Francisco

A visit with family offers a chance to report from Hong Kong. We visit the densest square kilometer on Earth then ride in bike paradise Lantau Island. Along the way, we meet Martin Turner of the Hong Kong Bicycle Alliance and stop in at the stylish RodaFixa bike shop.

Then back home in San Francisco, The Bicycle Coalition kicks off the Big 56 Campaign as the long awaited Bike Plan awakes from the court injunction.

Pictured: Brian and Woods from hkfixed

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If you're in Sacramento for the Tour of California this weekend...

From the Bike Commute Tips blog:

Coming to Sacramento for Valentines Day--and also the prologue of the Amgen Tour of California? Finish the day at the AToC Social Media Meetup. Join the inimitable Fritz (Cyclelicious, CommutebyBike), David Bernstein (The FredCast), Jonathan Tessler (Bicycle.net), Jon Winston (Bikescape), Paul Dorn (Bike Commute Tips Blog), and others this Saturday, February 14 at 7 p.m. at Bar R15 in Sacramento (15th and R Streets.)

This is a casual, no-host get together, meaning you're responsible for your own food and drinks. Some bicycle parking is available (one rack, nearby poles), so you may need to use your kickstand and self-lock your bike or leash it with a friend's bike. Theft danger is present, but not huge. To find us, look for cowbells, bike race media passes and paraphernalia, or helmets. No RSVP is necessary, but leave a comment if you think you can stop by.

During your visit to Sacramento, try to visit the new Bicycle Kitchen if you have time. And also try to take a ride on the American River Bike Trail, one of the premier bicycling facilities in the nation. The Amgen Tour prologue course will be open for riding at 11:30 a.m.; enjoy a ride on traffic free streets.

Getting around in Hong Kong

I'm on vacation visiting family in Hong Kong and I couldn't resist shooting some geeky transportation videos to post here. Bear in mind that these were shot on a cheap casio camera that I only just learned could be used for video. So its rough but hopefully illustrative of my uninformed impressions.

Where are the bikes, you ask? Stay tuned for a full on audio podcast to come some time in the next month.

Here are some off-the-cuff impressions of high density living, Hong Kong style in the upper crusty Mid Levels neighborhood



Here's a view of De Voeux Street taken from above on a pedestrian walkway



A ride on the MTR, the privately operated subway system which is more like a horizontal elevator than a train.



The MTR is always clean, cheap and efficient and the advertising is entertaining too!



If you have some time, the "ding ding" streetcars are a treat.



Here's a longer video from the shotgun seat on top as we trundle down De Voeux Street.



Some shaky video of the streets of Kowloon in the densest square mile on earth.

An Interview with Gary Fisher

In this episode we welcome the legendary Gary Fisher to the show for a long, rambling chat. We talk about growing up in Marin County during the dawn of mountain biking, the growth of the industry he and his friends started. We also touch on the future of bicycling as the business gears up to tap the new markets that want bicycles for every day transportation and the massive infrastructure changes that will be necessary.

After the interview there's an update on the Octavia Blvd and Market Street intersection where the Metropolitan Transportation Authority want to remove a hard won bike lane.


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Photo courtesy Fisher Bikes

An Urbanist President

One overlooked advantage of the Obama win is that we are going to have the first non-suburban or rural president in recent memory. His years as an inner city community organizer tell us a lot about how he'll lead but underlying all of that is a deep understanding of how cities work and what makes them succeed or fail. Obviously transit, walkability and cycling are an integral part of urban living whereas parking lots and freeways invariably cause its downfall. Still, it was a pleasant surprise to me that our president can actually speak extemporaneously about my heroine Jane Jacobs and has even read her book. Even Biden seemed interested!

Of course, this video was shot during the campaign season. Now that Obama's headed for the White House, He's not speaking about a big infusion of money towards transit. Let's hope its just astute political gamesmanship! Go to his website and push for the things that will result in the successful life of great American Cities.

h/t to Beyond DC

An Endless Tour with Cindy and Tim Travis

Tim and Cindy Travis have been on the road on their bikes since 2001. They checked in with Bikescape when they passed through San Francisco. Here's the interview.

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Visit Tim and Cindy's website to stay in touch with their travels and order their books here. The first chapter of The Road That Has No End is available in audio format!

Bikescape is now a member of the Streetsblog Network!
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