AUSTIN: Bikes Across
Borders events CLEVELAND: Radio station
promotes violence against
cyclists. PHOENIX: Hit & run
bishop resigns SEATTLE to get bike helmet
law SPAIN: 250 naked cyclists
take to the streets Car-Free World, a publication of and
©2003 by BicycleAustin.info,
covers alternative transportation, especially
bicycling. We're not opposed
to cars, we're opposed
to the car culture.
CFW is published sporadically, and may be
discontinued at any time without notice. We
currently have over 700 subscribers. Here are links
to subscribe
or unsubscribe. Articles are by the editor if uncredited.
Articles by others may have been edited for
grammar, clarity, conciseness, superstition, or
just for the hell of it.
.
|
|
|
Free bike ads Send us your bike ad and we'll post it. Ads are FREE for individuals and run for at least four months or until you tell me to remove it. Please keep it to four lines, don't write a novel. :) |
|
Waterloo Cycles |
||||
|
Inventory as of June 16, 2003. All bikes subject to prior sale, limited to stock on hand, not responsible for typographical errors, prices may change without notice, batteries not included. |
||||
|
|
|
|
|
In the last newsletter I published the comments that you all sent to CAMPO in asking them to not cut bicycle & pedestrian funding, and asked whether that was the kind of thing you'd like to see in the future, or whether it was just a waste of space. The results were clear: a full 100% of those responding said to publish reader feedback in future issues. So that's what I'll do. Next time we all write to our legislators, I'll share your comments here in the newsletter. The Segways are coming? Not Giving way more attention to the issue than it deserves, the Statesman recently ran a front-page story on how "The Segways are Coming" to Austin. They note that ten (count 'em) units have been sold here since March. Big deal, I've sold way more adult tricycles than that since March, and probably hundreds of bicycles have been sold in Austin during the same period of time. While I've never doubted that electric scooters will rise in popularity in general, it's not going to be the Segway in specific, at least not until it costs less than $5,000. Safety: Don't ride on the sidewalk About the last ten times a friend has told me that (s)he crashed, I immediately ask, "Were you riding on the sidewalk?" Their usual response is, "How did you know?" But whether they're surprised how I knew or not, the answer has been Yes, they were riding on the sidewalk, in almost every single case. It's ironic that riding on the sidewalk is dangerous, because many cyclists take the sidewalk thinking it's safer. But in fact it's more dangerous because (1) Cars can't easily see you when you're crossing the street from one sidewalk to the next, (2) Cars backing up out of driveways and parking lots can't see you. (3) Obstructions in the sidewalk are hazardous, and (4) Uneven pavement can send you flying. Less than two years ago Krishan Walters was riding on the sidewalk on South 1st, hit a garbage can, fell into the street, and was run over by a Capital Metro bus. She died. A couple of weeks ago I witnessed a cyclist in West Campus take a nasty spill. The sidewalk was uneven so she went onto the grass, but when she tried to get back on the sidewalk her front tire was parallel with the sidewalk and she lost control. There were zero cars on that street at the time it happened. Statistics show that you're 19 times more likely to be involved in a crash or collision if you ride on the sidewalk. Our advice: Don't. Recently I had a dream that I was bicycling somewhere on a four-lane road (two lanes in each direction), and a motorist was delayed by a couple of seconds while waiting for the traffic in the left lane to clear so they could pass me. As they passed, the passenger flipped me off. As it turned out we both happened to pull into the same store parking lot. When the passenger got out of the car, I said, "Nice day isn't it? I only just caught you waving to me out of the corner of my eye, you were almost finished when I looked over. I just wanted to thank you, because you know, I do a lot of bicycling -- I don't have a car, this is how I get around -- and sometimes people are so mean to me, honking, yelling, sometimes even throwing things -- and that's really hurtful, because what did I ever do to them? So anyway it really lifted my spirits that you went out of your way to wave to me today, and I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate that." |
|
With the typical lack of communication in the Austin bicycle scene, we received the press release for these events third-hand. From what we can gather (it's a bit of a jumble), there are three events on July 12th related to Bikes Across Borders, which sends fixed-up used bikes to Central America and Cuba: (1) Potluck at 5pm to welcome Pastors of Peace Caravan, 5pm at Rhizome Collective (300 Allen St.) (2) Benefit at Ruta Maya at 8pm (3601 S. Congress Ste.D-200 and behind Expose)
(3) Shipment of much needed shipment of bikes, parts, tools, and custom-built bike trailers to Cuba by boat via Mexico. "Resources are scare in Cuba; this shipment will be going directly to a bike advocacy group that provides Cubans with human powered transportation. Last year Bikes Across Borders traveled with Pastors for Peace and delivered 23 bikes, bike parts, and two complete tool sets to Cuba." The group is calling for help in fixing up bikes and making bike trailers, and they appear willing to help train those without experience. For more info or to volunteer call the Rhizome Collective at 385-3695. CLEVELAND,
OH: Radio station promotes violence against
cyclists A DJ on WMJI-Majic 105's morning show read an e-mail from a listener saying that bicycles shouldn't be on the roads in the Cleveland Metroparks. At least one of the DJs told listeners who were in cars to do things like:
I gave Jimmy Mallone at the station the phone number of a cyclist (Kim) who was the victim of an assault by a motorist. She was purposely run off the road in the Cleveland Metroparks last Sunday and now has a broken rib and a concussion. Her helmet split in half, but she feels lucky to be alive. The behavior that the DJs are condoning is not fun and games; it could be someone's life or death.
PHOENIX, AZ: Hit & run bishop resigns The Roman Catholic bishop of Phoenix resigned after being arrested for killing a pedestrian with his car and then fleeing the scene. This same bishop had already been wrapped in controversy for allegedly protecting priests from complaints of sexual abuse. There's some clever line here about hit-and-run motorists being on the same level as child molesters, but we can't think of it. (Read the article)
SEATTLE to get bicycle helmet law Seattle is expected to approve a new law on July 18 requiring bicyclists to wear helmets. We support the use of helmets, but oppose helmet laws because they're enforced selectively and unfairly (90% of the no-helmet tickets given to kids in Austin go to black and Hispanic kids), they allow at-fault motorists who hit unhelmeted cyclists to avoid prosecution and civil suits, they single out cyclists (crash helmets on motorists could save lives too), and no matter how good an idea helmet-wearing it's not the government's role to protect us from ourselves, only from each other. More on the Seattle law | Austin's failed helmet law
SPAIN: 250 naked cyclists take to the streets For the third year in a row, Spanish cyclists took to the street naked. I love how Google's language tools translate the Spanish article on the event: "250 people circulated with their body to the naked one to denounce the violence of the private automobile and to vindicate one more a more human city, in which pedestrians and cyclists can move with freedom and without fear."
A recent article argues that U.S. carmakers are headed for bankruptcy or extinction. What's significant is that this article doesn't come from some obscure, low-credibility website. It comes from the renown British journal The Economist. (read the article; you have to click Detroit's troubles look terminal when you get the "Problem with link" error)
Apocalypse is
coming. Get your tickets. Walking down the street of my traditional small town the other day I saw a bumper sticker that said it all: "War is not the answer." I emphasize, a bumper sticker. On a car. But you see, war is the answer if you insist on a car-dependent, oil-addicted mode of living. Nobody in my crowd of middle-aged, ex-hippie, environmentally enlightened, putative political progressives has opted out of the American drive-in utopia. In fact, all spring they were driving down to the peace marches outside the post office. Now the Law of Perverse Outcomes is biting them on the butt. That law states that people don't get what they expect but they get what they deserve. And what oil gluttons will get, whether they are Republican realtor jingoists or Democratic leftist peacenik commuters, is war. The world is leaving the cheap oil epoch behind and that will change absolutely everything. The key to understanding what is about to happen is this: We don't have to run out of oil to suffer tremendous disruptions in our sprawl-dominated living arrangements. All that's necessary is to cross the tipping point of global peak production and enter the downward arc of depletion. The best estimates are that this will happen between now and the year 2010. The weight of opinion is lately pointing to the early end of the scale. (read the rest of the article)
The organizers of this campaign believe that Jesus wants people to drive the most fuel efficient, least polluting vehicle that truly meets their needs. We think even this is kind of weak, and that Jesus really wants people to walk and ride bicycles more. After all, remembering Jesus' credentials as the Ultimate Pedestrian, not just walking, but walking on water. If Jesus can walk on water, most of us can walk to the store. WhatWouldJesusDrive.org
Story
of the month: Re-cycling While tossing branches in the dumpster after doing some yard work I failed to look inside first. I toss in a load of branches and they begin to shift and tremble. Then a used bike apears from beneath the green curtain of leaves I have created. I help the levitating bike out of the dumster where it is the followed by a ragged-looking fellow who had found a beat-up although ridable means of transportation in the dumpster. It even had air in the tires. He apologized for being in my way and hopped on the bike and rode away. He might sell it or it might get swiped from him but he was very happy on his "new" bike as he put his pack on the handlebars and rode down the alley. Re-cycling in its truest meaning.
back to contents |
Easy
Street Recumbents