In which I discuss public transportation because I used it to get around during a big bike event. No transit agency in the technology-heavy San Francisco Bay Area supports tap-and-pay contactless fare payment using bank cards; you have to use the proprietary stored value Clipper Card or their Clipper App. The Los Angeles area has their TAP card — again, a proprietary stored valued card. But…

(Assuming you’re vaxxed and / or masked, but it’s all outdoors in the American state with the lowest Covid transmission rate.) I like to visit Sea Otter on Thursday because that’s the slow day, but it’s anything but slow here with full campgrounds, more athletes than they had at their 2019 record year, and a busy expo area. Sea Otter is under new ownership, but most of the staff who ran the…

Hi, remember me, your long-absent bike blogger?

Since I’m going well over a year between posts now, I should create a table of contents of sorts to help people navigate this website.

My views have evolved over the years and you’ll see this evolution if you scour the archives. Today, I’m driven by the fact that human-caused climate change driven largely by fossil carbon emissions will…

The squeaky wheel gets the grease. After community input, Caltrans agrees to safety improvements for Highway 17 drivers, so let’s grab this opportunity to improve the shoulder along California State Route 17 from Bear Creek Road to Alma Bridge Road along Lexington Reservoir.

ALT

Caltrans responds to petition for Highway 17 safety improvements

Caltrans is driven by data, but they also pay…

The Concord Wheels Of Steel plans a group ride from Pittsburg, California to the North American Handmade Bicycle Show 2019 in Sacramento this Saturday.

They’ll start from Pittsburg / Bay Point BART at 9 AM on Saturday and bike the 68 miles to the Sacramento Convention Center, with estimated 4 PM arrival. The last time NAHBS took place in Sacramento, I watched a guy on a beer-hauling bike…

The North American Handmade Bicycle Show 2019 begins noon Friday at the Sacramento Convention Center, where several vendors from Santa Cruz will appear to showcase their craft.

Bike builders from Santa Cruz County include perennial favorites Caletti Cycles, Black Cat Cycles, Rock Lobster, Frances Cycles, Calfee Design, and Hunter Cycles.

Praxis Works, which designs drivetrain components,…

Hi. After a long hiatus, I’m jumping back into blogging again with a statement on why I do what I do here.

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A two-way cycle track and bike signal for Sunset Avenue & Hopkins Drive at Story Road, San Jose, California. Ribbon cutting at 6PM, Thursday, August 31, 2017. Background Sunset Avenue provides a north-sound connection across I-680 free of the high speed highway access ramp just north of Story Road. Other nearby crossings either have freeway ramps or, in the case of Highway 101, the crossing is…

Highway 1 across a large chunk of the California Central Coast will remain closed over the summer after extensive damage from last winter’s storms, closing off the incredibly scenic Big Sur coastal route. Several people have already taken advantage of a walking path across Pfeiffer Gorge that opened to the public on July 1, allowing them to bike 20 miles down the coast on a mostly car-free coast…

The city of San Jose will demonstrate two-way pop up protected bikeways along 4th Street across downtown from San Salvador Street to St James Street next Monday afternoon. (more…)

Yesterday’s episode of Sci Show Psych with Hank Green discussed the Watching Eyes Effect, in which people act differently when there’s a picture of eyes in plain view. Hank caught my attention when he mentioned that pictures of eyes result in things like fewer bike thefts. Hello! (more…)

Hi all and … Monday. Apologies for the extended radio silence. I’m trying to force a cycling metaphor into love but I’m not sure it works. Cycling to the stop of a mountain range is painfully slow, grinding hard work and, frankly, not a lot of fun. Experiencing your personal King of the Mountain feels great, and the descent that follows is fast and exhilarating. Love also builds slowly towards…

Leah Shahum, Founder and Executive Director of the Vision Zero Network, will speak at the Vision Zero forum hosted by the Santa Cruz County Community Traffic Safety and Santa Cruz County Public Health on Thursday, June 29, 2017. The event begins 4 PM at the Simpkins Swim Center, 979 17th Ave, Santa Cruz, CA. Vision Zero seeks to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries due to traffic collisions.…

San Jose DOT will repave Kooser Road from Camden Avenue to Blossom Hill Road later in 2017. As part of the pavement project, the City of San Jose DOT plans a 4-3 lane reduction between Camden and Meridian. The community can give their input on these plans at a community meeting Tuesday, June 6th, 2017, 7:00 – 8:30 pm, at Vineland Branch Library, 1450 Blossom Hill Road, San Jose, CA. (more…)

I buried the lede on this story earlier, so allow me to make amends: Caltrans District 4 Office of Traffic decided to ban bikes from a portion of Skyline Boulevard (aka California State Route 35) in Daly City where Skyline has an interchange with Highway 1. The All Powerful Bike Lobby has pushed back, and maybe Caltrans will rescind this decision? (more…)

From Betsy M regarding City of Santa Clara council meeting the evening of Tuesday, May 17, 2017. There’s a council meeting tomorrow night in Santa Clara (which is a schedule conflict with the Plan Bay Area meeting in San Jose’s King Library). There’s a creek trail extension in item 13. B. 3. in the consent agenda. It is the evaluation only (no shovels or asphalt yet) of remaining portions of the…