I’m volunteering for the launch of Denver’s Bike Sharing program, B-Cycle.
If you’re free, come stop by and say hi to me:
According to the map, the Cherry Creek mall station looks to be at 2800 E 1st Ave and the Denver Health station is at 777 Bannock St.
Come say hi!
So who woulda thunk it? The City of Englewood, Colorado actually has a bicycle plan. You would never know it, because, well, they don’t mention it, ever. It at one point in time was on their website. It has since disappeared, and you’ll never find it.
I ended up e-mail’ing the city before I got a copy of it. The plan itself is full of awesome. A neat pie graph is in there that shows in 2003, 60% of Englewood Students rode their bicycle at least once a week.
The plan provides details of a bicycle grid route system, identifies missing links in the trail system, bike route signage and all sorts of other cool stuff.
I propose the the city of Englewood get off of their collectives asses, ride their bikes, and work to implement everything in the plan.
Checkout the plan: Master Bike Plan
Sharrows? What are those funny things?
If you’ve ever driven through Denver, you probably have seen these funny looking things but have no idea what they really mean. Denver has been using these things for years. They’re not something new.
According to the Wikipedia article on “Shared lane marking“, the term sharrow is a combination of SHared lane and ARROW.
Sharrows on a Denver Street
Now these are relatively recent markings in the history of pavement markings. Sharrows really only serve two purposes:
A proper sharrow is placed far enough away from the curb as to encourage cyclists to ride out of door zones and in a more visible location on the road.
Sharrows down Sherman St in Denver
In a recent San Francisco study, sharrows have been shown to encourage cyclists to ride further out into the road and away from the “door zone” of parked cars. Cars have also been shown to give cyclists a wider birth when they pass in the presence of sharrows.
So now, when you see a sharrow lining the city streets, you have a better idea of what those funny looking things that aren’t quite bicycle lanes are.
Its been a long while since I last wrote something on the blog. I hope the three people who read it weren’t waiting in anticipation for something huge!
I thought I’d let everyone know about a recent little adventure Niki and I had to the capitol of our country.
Beware, there be tons of pictures in the rest of this post!
Who would’ve thought a year ago I wouldn’t own a car? I certainly didn’t. I couldn’t comprehend how anyone could get by without a car.
Well, two days ago I sold my car. The 1988 Subaru RX. It was a great little car for the period I had it. The last couple months, it barely was driven. Just sat out on the side of Downing St looking very lonely. Yes, it had cars in front and behind it to keep company, but it wanted to be driven.
Note, I’m not completely car-free. Niki let’s me borrow her car. We actually have both our names on the insurance policy now (yikes! commitment!).
Also, I recently signed up for a car sharing program called Occasional Car. If you actually sign up now, you can even get a free membership. I haven’t used the service yet, though I plan to eventually. There’s a Toyota Yaris within walking distance from the apartment. Expect a review once I have a need for it.
Its amazing where one can go with relatively little effort using a bicycle and public transportation in Denver.
I just got a nice old steel vintage ride for a pretty darn good deal. A Raleigh Grand Prix. Per the serial number, it was built in Worksop, Nottingham, England on the sixteenth fortnight of 1978.
She’s all original, with the Raleigh branded Suntour V-GT components, Wienmann brakes, Raleigh branded SR aluminum crankset and Brook CR3 vinyl seat. She’s a beaut.
It may get new components and such put on it, but I will keep all the original pieces should I decide to later restore it.
Some pictures:
1978 Raleigh Grand Prix
Raleigh Chainline
Raleigh Head Badge
There are a number of myths perpetuated about bicycle commuting. Some people seem to think the idea of riding a bicycle to and from work is such a daunting task, what with all the preparation that is involved.
One common concern people have is that you need special clothing to ride a bicycle. This can be true if you have a long a commute. However, as I’m discovering, if your commute is short enough, say five miles or less, you really don’t need special clothing. I used to regularly commute to my work, which was 6.2 miles, by bicycle with blue jeans and a shirt, which would be normal work attire.
Today, I rode roughly three miles to a job thingy wearing business clothing: a dress shirt, dress pants and a tie. Apart from shoving the end of my tie into my shirt, this clothing choice was not a problem.
Worried about your pant leg getting all greased up? A pant leg strap, small bungee cord, or rubber band work well to keep the pant leg off the chain. Got none of that? Its also possible to just shove the end of the leg into your sock. (Thanks Nathan for pointing out that I missed that on facebook)
Worried about getting your work clothes all sweaty? You can commute in just some regular athletic clothing. Similar to what you would wear at a gym. While spandex clothing does have its usefulness on a bicycle, it just is not necessary for commuting.
I know its a bit late, but I just read an article on BikeDenver’s blog about Denver’s new bicycle ordinances.
Alot was changed to reflect state law, but there’s a couple new ordinances that I like:
Riding on Sidewalks for the Purpose of Parking: Denver law will now allow bicyclists to ride on the sidewalk not in excess of 6 miles per hour if they are within one block of the location where they plan to park their bike.
Finally, a sensible sidewalk solution. FYI: Its a terrible idea to ride from point A to point B using sidewalks. However, what about parking? Previously, to be legal, you’d have to dismount and walk your bicycle. Now, you can ride to your parking location if you do it slowly as any good cyclist should do when on sidewalks.
Right to Ride on Roadways: Language requiring bicyclists to ride on adjacent pathways if available was eliminated from the City code. This makes it legal to ride a bike on any Denver roadway, including Speer Boulevard.
I am so glad to see them get rid of the mandatory adjacent side path rule. Thanks to the rule, all of Speer Blvd and a few other roads were off limits to cyclists due to the adjacent paths. Unfortunately, these paths are not always ideal for cycling, and their on/off ramps don’t always occur often enough to be useful. Now, you can legally make use of the adjacent road ways.
Read the whole article on BikeDenver’s website.
Here’s a short list of tips for riding in the snow:
Keep some of this in mind, and you too can have fun in the snow.
Check out the guys at IceBike.org. They have some great tips and stories.
Above all, stay safe!
Trek in the Snow
