Bike Commuting

So this week is the European Mobolity Week. This year the topic is sharing of public space, but in this community it's all about bike commuting!

How is your commute?

Mine is pure urban area (Milan, Italy), 12 km, some 50% on cycle lanes/path, the rest in the traffic.

This is the kickstarter for the latest in my absolutely favorite book series - the Bikes in Space short story collections from Microcosm Publishing.

This particular book features 12 stories from a splendid garden of potential futures, from the speculative to the surreal—all powered by bicycles, grounded in feminism, and blossoming with creativity.

I am not associated with Microcosm or the authors here in any way - just a huge fan of these books. I think there are people here who would really love this.

Cable disc brakes. I kept putting it off but it was riding like shit and didn't feel safe, brake levers nearly contacting the handlebar. I had it in my head that the adjustment was like a 30 minute job. Grabbed Allen wrenches, a couple third hands, screwdrivers. 5 minutes and two Allen bolts later, all done. Topped off the tires with air, quick test ride, meat's back on the menu. No real point to this post, but maybe you've made a quick adjustment or repair that made you happy?

I want to give away some bike lights. Does anybody have recommendations on some low cost bike lights?

I would like to ride more in the rain. What are some of this community's preferences around rain ponchos?

Does anyone have any recommendations for tiny bike pumps to keep on my commuter? Durability is preferred, but I don't want to break the bank if it gets stolen.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/24901802

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16790112

Just tried commuting on my bike from Santa Monica to downtown Culver City today. I took the Exposition bike path, which was fine until I needed to get off of it to head south.

Google recommended I take National and--lo and behold--there's no bike lane with cars flying past at 55mph+ on blind hills. That's a death trap.

On the way home I left early to avoid traffic. I took Venice Blvd, since it has a protected bike lane all the way until McLaughlin which Google Maps called "bicycle friendly." No bike lane, of course, with cars flying past leaving a foot of distance between me and death. One testy driver in a BMW didn't want to wait the 15 seconds for me to pedal into the left turn lane to get back onto the Exposition bike path, honking and then flying by nearly killing me. Jeez lady, I'm not the city planner. Don't kill me to save 15 seconds.

How does Culver City put zero bike lanes going north to south connecting to the Exposition path? How do these drivers maintain their licenses?

What's a cyclist to do?

As mentioned in the title, BikeForums.net is a treasure, and you should bookmark it

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/33429181

The staggering health improvements from bike commuting (Shifter)

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15958402

Coal Rolling Is a Menacing Crime—And It's on the Rise

Paywall-free link: https://archive.ph/3tLtL

The crash occurred on September 25, 2021, the first crisp day of fall after a hot Texas summer. Claudius Galo intended to ride a hundred miles or more that morning. “There was a chill in the air. It felt so good. The energy was high,” he recalls of the small group that gathered to ride with him.

Galo had moved to the Houston area from Rio de Janeiro, about 14 years prior. A calm and inquisitive engineer who works in the oil and gas industry, Galo had become unhealthy and overweight in his late thirties. He tried running but got hurt, so his doctor recommended adding swimming and cycling. Now 45, he’d lost 60 pounds and completed six Ironmans and almost a dozen half Ironmans. Tamy Valiente, 45, had come to the United States from Costa Rica nine years before. Inspired by the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, in her twenties, she’d dreamt of becoming a competitive bike rider, but first, “I had to raise my babies,” she says. After going through a divorce, she eventually saved enough money to buy a bike frame and slowly began building her first racing bike part by part. She would often wake at 4 a.m. to train on the narrow roads close to her home back near San José, where buses crept by within inches of her handlebar. To Valiente, the U.S. felt like paradise. “The roads seemed safe. The traffic laws were actually enforced,” she says.

On the day of the crash, David Reynolds, a 45-year-old tattooed photographer with two teenage children, had ridden 11.5 miles to meet the group at Hockley Community Center, about 30 miles west of downtown Houston. Cycling was his “Zen time,” when he could zone out and let all his worries wash through him. Though he wasn’t training for an event, he had ridden for nearly 600 consecutive days. “I just like to ride,” he says. The group that rolled out that morning included three other experienced cyclists: Craig Staples, Brad Stauffer, and Keith Conrad. The six regularly met up to ride through Waller County, an agricultural and ranching community just outside the sprawling metropolis. The group would become known as the Waller 6.

. . .

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/20850985

The safest road, mountain bike and urban helmets as rated by Virginia Tech

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/18598001

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/18597997

Been considering a belt driven commuter and wanted to see what you all thought. Thanks!

I would like to avoid exposing them to the cold/wind but I am concerned that they'd get crushed bungee'd into a basket and would not fit into my backpack.

Hi, I commute to work (7km each way) and somehow I feel that by bike could be more sporty.

Instead of buying a new bike, I'd like to know tips on how can I changey seat and handlebars to get this feeling.

Can any of you recommend a material to learn about this?

My bike is below

Thanks

Two men accused of driving up to cyclists in rural south-west France and pushing them into ditches for fun have gone on trial in Toulouse for organised violence and could face up to five years in prison.

The two men, aged 20 and 22, were arrested last year after a spate of cyclists being pushed off their bikes on quiet country roads. One victim told the newspaper La Dépêche: “It was April … I’d gone out on my bike for the afternoon. When I got to a little country road … I felt a car was following me silently. It was driving very slowly behind me when it could easily have overtaken me. Then after a few minutes it drove up beside me. The car’s passenger suddenly pushed me down.”

theGuardian👉

« Ce sont des faits graves mais surtout je tiens à le dire d’une stupidité affligeante », souligne la représentante du ministère public avant de requérir leur placement en détention provisoire.
👉 in french

I'm sorry that I've written the 'POV' part wrong. It should be "POV: You are stuck in traffic and see me pass".

"And what about grocery shopping?"

I'm still learning, and I still need a car for a lot of things, but this is still greatly satisfying!

ITA:
"E come fai a fare la spesa in #bici"?
"Così!"

Sto ancora imparando e posso migliorare, comunque non posso rinunciare alla macchina, però sono belle soddisfazioni!

#bikeCommuting @bikecommuting

Hello fellow bike commuters,

I have the impression that my underwear doesn't last as long as it would without me cycling to and from work five times a week. My boxer briefs get holes too quickly between the legs. Since I can't remember a time where I didn't cycle, it's difficult for me to know if this is due to cycling or the normal way for them to die.

Can anyone here tell me about their experience? Is this related to cycling frequently? More importantly, do you know of special cyclist underwear which is not the sporty padded type but something you could wear all day and which would't rip so easily.