Ah that pioneer spirit

For those who have ridden their bikes on ice, you may be able to identify with this:

Portland Ice Bike, photo by Patrick Barber

Dr. Jekyll (aka Christopher Thompson) Arraigned on 7 Counts

UPDATE 5/12/09: It turns out the trial WAS to have been in March, 2009, but was continued (i.e., postponed), no new date set as of the end of March.

(Thanks to Glenn for inquiring and getting me to check).

la.streetsblog. has the results of the doctor’s arraignment. Apparently he’s been told to surrender his passport, and is free on $100,000 bond. The actual trial date is set for March 10, 2010. So much for a speedy trial. I think we all know enough about him at this point to know he’s not above trying to twist the law. Unfortunately for him he’s already on record as having said he was going to “teach those cyclists a lesson” and that they “had it coming”. That oughta cut a lot of ice with the judge, I’m sure.

Earth Hour 2009

The World Wildlife Fund is organizing their third annual Earth Hour, in which they ask anyone (and everyone) willing to participate to turn out the lights and unplug for one hour. It’s not as simple as it sounds. Think about all the things in your house that use energy even when you’re not using them: TV, anything that uses a remote control, your microwave, clock-radio in the bedroom, cordless phone, coffee makers with timers, nightlights that never get unplugged…

In 2007, 2.2 million people took part in the world’s first Earth Hour in Sydney Australia. Just one year later, 50 million people in 370 cities and towns, in more than 35 countries worldwide switched off their lights for Earth Hour.

Earth Hour 2009 aims to reach more than one billion people in 1000 cities around the world, inviting communities, business and governments to switch off lights for one hour at 8:30pm on Saturday March 28 and sending a powerful global message that we care enough about climate change to take action.

Click the photo to go to the site and learn more.

70 days, 22 hours, 59 minutes…

How Would You Feel About Rolling Through Stop Signs?

On a bike, that is. As it stands right now, bicycles here in Oregon are required to make like a car at stop signs and come to a full and complete stop. I realize not all cyclists do this, I have personally witnessed people barely slowing down, even flat out running red lights, nevermind stop signs.

But the BTA (Bicycle Transportation Alliance) is sponsoring a bill to make “Idaho Stops” the law in Oregon. Apparently this law is already in place in Idaho, hence the name. However, this law would not give bicycles the right of way, and the cyclist would still be required to treat stop signs like a “Yield” sign (slow down and LOOK), and yield to any traffic that beat you to the intersection. Now this only applies to stop signs, and will not include rolling through red lights here in Oregon but it seems that is part of the law in Idaho.

Here’s an excerpt from the BTA Blog about this:

What would this law do?
This law would make it legal for bicyclists to treat stop signs like yield signs. A cyclist approaching an intersection controlled by a stop sign, would be permitted to roll through the stop sign after yielding the right of way if there are other vehicles at the intersection.

Would cars have to stop and wait for bicyclists?
No, this law change would allow a cyclist to slowly approach the intersection and proceed only if the intersection was clear and it was safe to continue. The law does not grant a cyclist permission to take the right of way from another vehicle.

It is a nuisance to have to stop in a quiet residential neighborhood at intersections where the line of sight is good and you can see there are no cars, at all, in any direction. Many cyclists don’t bother stopping as it is at these. So why should you have to stop a car under those same conditions? For one thing, most cyclists are far more acutely aware of their surroundings since they’re not insulated in metal box, with a radio playing, talking on a cell phone, windows rolled up, air conditioner on, and so forth. I can hear cars, even the really quiet ones, coming up behind me on a narrow road, and I get over to let them pass (for which they seem very grateful and hopefully I’ve helped establish some good will between motorists and cyclists). Yes, it takes energy to get a car moving again from a full stop, but a bicycle that doesn’t completely stop will do far less damage running into someone than a car would. It’s also easier to stop a bike that’s rolling through an intersection. And let me emphasize the word ROLLING. This is not going to be a license to blow through at your top speed and expect everyone else to get out of your way.

Idaho’s law has been on the books since 1982. That’s a long test period. I think if it wasn’t working they would have repealed it by now.

You can read more (with lots more links to further articles) at Bike Portland’s Web site.

Bike Route to the Rescue

Not much bikey news these days with the wintery weather we’ve had around here. However, during that time when I was still able to get to work in December before my two-week vacation, I had started driving a different route, on the main highways, since the backroads I normally drive were surely impassable. Have I mentioned they don’t plow anything here except the main highways? They don’t. Anyway, rather than risk getting stuck, or worse ending up upside down in a ditch, I had been driving the highways to work since I started back after the new year. (we had a little more snow Sunday night, the 4th, just enough to make the roads sloppy and slushy again, so the less-traveled backroads were sure to be a disaster AGAIN) When I did finally try driving home my old route, I found a detour down one road meaning a fair amount of backtracking. I hate backtracking. Waste of gas.

So the moral of the story is, all my biking last year around various roads here that I was previously only marginally aware of has saved me from backtracking, or sitting in the parking lot that is the freeway. YAY! Lots less traffic too, it was nice. I actually know of several options to avoid the detour, which is going to be in place until (get this–) JUNE. I’m so annoyed. The weather looks promising to be able to get out on the bike this weekend, I may ride over to the construction zone and see what is going on that’s going to take them five months.