weekendcycling

Weblog + Archives + January, 2007

Bagel ride + flat tire

This past weekend, my brother, Al and my neighbor, Dustin rode down the Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway over to Bruegger’s Bagels for lunch.

The weather was great (it was before the cold front with all this snow rolled in on Tuesday) and they had a nice (not too long) ride. The three of us have ridden the MLK parkway many times, and since it has bike lanes it is an easy way for us to get to the old South Square and Homestead Market area.


Above: Dustin leaving the MLK parkway and turning into the bike lane.

On his way home, Al was not more than 1 or 2 blocks away from home when he got a flat tire. When he returned, we discovered that a fairly large staple had become lodged in his tire and caused the flat tire.


Above: Pulling the staple out of Al’s tire.

We removed the staple, and then removed the wheel so that we could replace the inner tube. We didn’t have an extra tube the correct size, so the next day I headed over to Dick’s Sporting Goods to buy a new tube. Sure enough, I bought the wrong size, and it was not until today that I was able to return to Dick’s and exchange the tubes. Tomorrow we should be able to switch out the tubes on Al’s bike and he will be ready to go.

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Interesting bike racks

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car shaped bike rack
Above: Bike rack that is shaped like a car, and is placed on the curb between other parked cars. It allows 6 or so bikes to park in the same space normally taken up by one car.

car shaped bike rack
Above: The car-shaped bike rack between two parked cars. It “shows that bicycle related ’street furniture’ can be fun and functional.” (via cycling edinburgh, photo & design Adrien Rovero).

bike rack with pump
Above: This combination bike rack and pump, Heklucht, was designed by the Dutch design studio Himom. This is probably the most useful bike rack I have seen (although a bit pricey). (via Cycling Edinburgh, photo Himom).

bike rack shaped like a bull
Above: Bike rack in front of the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, shaped like a bull with a red head. There is a similar one at the Farmers Market. (photo Durham Bike Racks).

Other Links: cheap exercise bikes

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More thoughts on bike lanes

So, it looks like my post on Wednesday about bike lanes here in Durham just brushed the surface of the discussion and of the topic.


Above: Bike lane on Cornwallis Road. (via BPAC, photo Mary Ross)

In the comments of that post, Adrian agrees with what I was trying to get at: “It’s definitely a hassle when there’s not enough lane width for bikes”.

He also brings up another point: “…adding a stripe doesn’t help in my opinion”. He talks about the bike lane “disappearing at the RR tracks, sending cyclists out of the through lane and then across the freeway exit/entrances”.

Overall, I enjoyed riding in the bike lanes in my ride through RTP (it was on the weekend, so traffic was not bad), but can understand what Adrian is saying. It can be confusing where bike lanes begin and end, and how bicycles should behave in intersections, crossings, etc.

In this accident in December, a dump truck turned at the same time a bike (in a bike lane) was going straight. It clearly exhibits the confusion sometimes presented by bike lanes. I don’t know the full details of the accident, but there was a lot of discussion on the Bike/Ped listserv about how to prevent a car from attempting to turn right at the same time a bike is attempting to go straight. California solves this by requiring cars to move into the bike lane before making a right turn.

Another idea (pointed out by Phillip on the Bike/Ped listserv) is separated bike lanes. These are bike lanes that are physically separated (by a median, barrier, etc.) from traffic. They are created by reversing the parking and the bike lane: placing the bike lane against the sidewalk and separating it from the cars (you could put parking there). There is a great video on YouTube (advocates from Transporation Alternatives, The Project for Public Spaces, and The Open Planning Project join “Gridlock Sam” Schwartz and Enrique Penalosa) which thoroughly presents the case for separated bike lanes in New York City.

Just some ideas… let me know what you think, and your comments on bike lanes here in Durham.

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