bicycles

  • Futurama Redux: Urban Mobility After Cars, a Traveling International Exhibition

    One of the highlights of the 1939 World’s Fair was a massive exhibit called “Futurama,” created by General Motors. It promised that within twenty years the working man would live in a glorious future filled with friendly suburbs, gleaming skyscrapers, and extensive highways—all of this made possible by the comfort and convenience of the personal… Continue reading

  • Can bicycling save the economy?

    ~posted by Selby Can biking save our economy? This is the main question that Elly Blue tackles in her book Bikenomics: How Bicycling Can Save the Economy. I was skeptical when I picked up the book. I, like so many people, see biking as a recreational activity or a way to help save the environment.… Continue reading

  • Spring Biking

    The daffodils and tulips are finally indicating that it is spring here in Seattle. It is time to shake off the winter doldrums and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine. A perfect way to do that in our beautiful city is by bike. Whether you pull an old clunker from storage or plunk down the… Continue reading

  • Ride your bike to work (and fix it too)!

    How did you get to work today? If you’re like the vast majority of Seattle residents, chances are good that you drove your car or took the bus. On your commute, you probably saw at least a few people riding bicycles: according to the most recent US Census data, 3.6 percent of Seattlites use bicycles as their primary mode of transportation… Continue reading

  • Books that are One with the Bike

    I’ve been reading some interesting books about bikes and bike riding, racing and commuting. Here are a few books that have an interesting angle or two. Sometimes the angle is from the ground looking up. Come and Gone: A true Story of Blue-Collar Bike Racing in America by Joe Parkin This is Parkin’s follow up to… Continue reading

  • A Cyclist’s Soundtrack

    May is here, and that means it’s time once again for one of my favorite events of the year, Bike to Work Month. To increase the visibility of urban cyclists and encourage others to ride their bicycles to get around the city, Cascade Bicycle Club sponsors a number of events throughout the month, including the… Continue reading

  • I Want to Ride My Bicycle

    When I was in college, I lived off-campus with a small army of roommates. I had a great time, and I don’t have any major complaints about my roomies. However, young people often become obsessive with music and play the same albums and songs over and over and over again. For example, I had one… Continue reading

  • Bicycle Obsessions

    As a bicycle commuter along the Burke-Gilman trail here in Seattle, I am not that upset when it rains. Hail, ice and snow, of course, are another matter. Rain seems to thin out the casual walkers and riders. And so beginning this Bike to Work Month with several days of rain has not been that… Continue reading

  • Books for Tour de France followers

    Written from the perspective of a participant, The Rider by Tim Krabbe takes the reader into the heart of a 150-kilometer bicycle race. Krabbe does an amazing job of containing the strategy, thrills, motivation and accumulated folk history of bicycle enthusiasts in a scant 150 pages. The reader will feel the burning of over-burdened muscles,… Continue reading

  • Tour de Amsterdam: Biking as a Tourist

    Biking in Amsterdam is an experience that can be enjoyed by even novice cyclists. On almost all streets and roads, cyclists enjoy an exclusive wide path separated from motor vehicle traffic by a strip of ground, a ditch or high curb. Riders have the right of way over pedestrians (a practice that takes time getting used… Continue reading

  • After a bike ride, read a book about bicycles

    Bicycles are magical.  Learning to ride one is a rite of passage. The bicycle wobbles between the thighs – yet stays upright. Suddenly, the world extends from the yard to the block, from the neighborhood to the city, and beyond. This skill, once mastered, becomes intimately connected to memory, to knowledge.  It’s like riding a… Continue reading