With Bike to Work Day this week, we've got the ultimate list of cycling gear swag to get you in the spirit. Hold on to your helmets!
For those who aren’t hip to all of the funky holidays that crop up on the calendar throughout the year, guess what? This week is National Bike to Work Week, and Bike to Work Day is Friday, May 17th. Back in 1956, the Cycle Trade Association of America announced the first-ever Bike Month, with a goal of promoting bicycle sales. It’s a little different now: Today, the festivities center around encouraging safe bicycling practices and promoting cycling as a viable commuting alternative.
So, we thought, what better way to celebrate Bike Month, Bike Week, and/or Bike Day than by picking a few swaggy accessories to pimp out your two-wheel ride? After all, what better way to get you to ride your bike more than by tricking it out with fun new toys?
And so we give you: 10 Pimped-Out Bicycle Accessories. Happy biking!
READ MORE
|
City officials release new info on Bike Share Philadelphia.
If you wandered by Rittenhouse Square yesterday afternoon, you may have noticed a tent with a bunch of shiny bikes parked nearby. And if you timed it juuuust right, you may have even seen Mayor Michael Nutter there. He was at 18th and Walnut with reps from bike-share programs in DC, Boston and Denver to drum up support and interest for Philly’s in-the-works bike share program. And it looks like all systems are go: The mayor has already earmarked $3 million in bike-share seed money from the capital budget—with more on the way, he hopes, from state, federal and private sources to help get it off the ground.
The Boston, DC and Denver reps weren’t just props at the demo tent. Last night, they gathered at the Academy of Natural Sciences, along with our own Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Utilities Rina Cutler and Andrew Stober of the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities, for a panel discussion on how to get a successful bike-share program off the ground. After each city rep gave a 10-minute presentation on their programs, Stober briefly outlined a plan for Philly’s system. Here are the highlights:
READ MORE
|
The Philadelphia International Cycling Championship will be replaced with a new 120-mile cycling race.
 Big news cycling fans: Professional cycling is coming to Philly this summer after all, thanks to an unlikely sponsor.
On Tuesday, details of the Parx Casino Philly Cycling Classic were announced. The race, with a new name and new sponsor, will replace of the Philadelphia International Cycling Championship, which was cancelled in January after 28 years due to loss of sponsors and rising city costs. Bensalem’s Parx Casino has pledged $500,000 over the next two years to keep the race going.
The new race features a slightly different course than the one we’re used to. The previous race ended on the Parkway near the Art Museum, but now riders must conquer the notorious Manayunk Wall in order to reach the finish line located on Lyceum Street. The course, which is shorter at 12 miles, will be concentrated in East Falls, Manayunk and Fairmount Park. Riders will need to complete 10 laps for a race total of 120 miles.
The race will be held on June 2nd with a prize of $60,000 split evenly between the top male and female racers.
Photo: i4lcocl2 / Shutterstock.com
|
Way fewer women than men ride bikes in cities. Now researchers say they think they know why.
It’s a fact: American women, by a large margin, are way, way less likely than men to ride bikes in cities; some reports put the ratio at one woman for every three guys on a bike. That’s huge. The question is why. Although many have bickered (albeit intelligently!) over what’s to blame, new research out of Ohio State University found that it pretty much boils down to one thing: safety.
To arrive at the conclusion, researchers studied commute behavior on the university’s campus using a sample of about 2,000 people, including faculty and undergrads. Here are the findings: Of off-campus residents, 73 percent commuted car, with women more likely to drive than men. Nearly 8 percent of the participants indicated biking as their chosen mode of transportation (just over 2 percent of commuters in Philly do), with 13 percent of men indicating a bicycle-commute preference compared to 6 percent of women.
READ MORE
|
Help women in transition by spending an hour with Body Cycle instructor Maria Dziembowska.
 What’s the only thing that feels better than a great workout? A great workout for an even greater cause. Gear Up for Gearing Up is an hourlong fundraiser to benefit Gearing Up, a local non-profit dedicated to providing women in transition from substance abuse, domestic violence or homelessness with the means to safely ride a bicycle. It is Gearing Up’s hope that these women gain practical experience from bicycling, as well as a sense of self-sufficiency that will positively influence other aspects of their lives.
Join Body Cycle instructor Maria Dziembowska for a 60-minute indoor-cycling class on January 26th at noon—think of it as exercise for the soul. Register here (click the Events tab and scroll down).
$30, January 26th at 12 p.m., Body Cycle Studio, 1923 Chestnut Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia.
>> Have a health or fitness even you’d like to share with Be Well Philly readers? Email eleaman@phillymag.com with details.
|
If spinning's your jam, this six-hour indoor-cycling fundraiser is for you.
 It’s time to break out your padded shorts, Be Wellers: the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s first ever Race to Anyplace indoor cycling spin-a-thon is happening on February 23rd. Team members—you’re allowed 12 or more—will each complete two 15-minute spinning heats over the six-hour day; individuals can also take part, completing two 15-minute segments total. Teams will compete to cover as much mileage as they can over the course of the event, while individuals will go head-to-head for best heat time. Winners will be announced after 3 p.m. when the race ends.
When you’re not riding, there will be music and food to keep you occupied, and you can always cheer on your fellow riders, of course. Individuals must raise at least $40 to participate; teams must raise $500. More info is here.
$40 for individuals, $500 for teams, February 23rd from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., 3020 Market Street, Philadelphia.
>> Have a health or fitness event you’d like to share with Be Well Philly readers? Email eleaman@phillymag.com with details.
|
Hop on a bike for this festive group ride.
 Photo by R. Kennedy for GPTMC I can’t think of a better way to view Philly’s holiday lights than from on a bike. Oh wait, yes I can: on a bike with a group of other people on bikes, who’ve decked out their frames with lights and garland and other festive decorations.
If this is you’re idea of fun, too, join the Holiday Lights Bike Tour on December 14th, co-hosted by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and the Bicycle Club of Philadelphia, for a two(ish)-hour group tour of the city’s lights. You’ll start at Performance Bicycles on Columbus Boulevard and end at La Lupe Restaurant at 1201 South Ninth Street. Start planning how you’ll decorate your bike now: the person with the most pimped out wheels, as chosen by the will the Bicycle Club, get a free dinner at La Lupe after the ride. RSVP here.
FREE, December 14th at 5:30 p.m., Performance Bicycles, 1300 South Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia.
>> Have a health or fitness event you’d like to share with Be Well Philly readers? Email eleaman@phillymag.com with details.
|
The mayor talked, someone tweeted, and I've been on the case all day to confirm whether or not we're getting a bikeshare program. Here's what I've turned up.
If I’ve ever felt even the tiniest bit like Woodward or Bernstein, it’s today, folks. I’ve been on the case all day trying to confirm a stray tweet sent three days ago during Mayor Nutter’s trip to Beijing, posted by Fortune magazine managing editor Andy Serwer.
I shall call this Exhibit A:
READ MORE
|
Council voted unanimously this morning to approve a comprehensive streets policy. Here's what it means for cyclists, drivers and pedestrians.
Today marks a big win for Philly cyclists, like me, with City Council’s unanimous passage of the Complete Streets Bill this morning, legislation that helps clarify the rules of the road for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians and mandates the creation of a Complete Streets Handbook, a checklist requiring that public and private transportation projects consider the needs of everyone who uses the roads.
Most notably for cyclists, the bill overhauls the city’s traffic code, bringing it up to snuff to conform to state law. These measures include (finally!) prohibiting parking in bike lanes, a violation that will carry a $50 or $75 fine; increasing the fine for riding on the sidewalk from $50 to $75; eliminating a law prohibiting cyclists from riding two abreast; and making opening a car door into a traffic lane—which is absolutely terrifying when you’re a cyclist, let me tell you—a traffic-code violation.
READ MORE
|
A Dutch bicycle group is proposing heated bike lanes to keep ridership up in cold-weather months.
The looming threat of Frankenstorm has me thinking about the cold winter months ahead and all the icky weather it entails. I’m one of those cyclists who throws caution to the snowflakes, bundles up in 10,000 layers, and bikes to work, anyway—largely because, even though it’s an absolutely freezing endeavor, biking still the fastest and easiest way to get around.
But if you’re a fair-weather cyclist only (no judging here—biking in the winter is about as fun as it sounds), then you might be interested in a little project being explored in the Netherlands, where a bicycle group is proposing installing a network of pipes 50 meters underground that would heat the pavement from below. As Treehugger reports, “Heat generated during the summer months would be collected and stored, and used to de-ice and warm the paths in the winter.” The group suggests that it would result in some cost-savings for the city, which could use less ice and straw to thaw out the streets, and may reduce weather-related accidents. Plus, it’d encourage more people to ride year-round.
With the cost for this undertaking falling somewhere between $25,000 and $50,000 (U.S) per kilometer of bike lane, I’m thinking there’s only a slim chance of this sort of thing ever seeing the light of day, even if two Dutch provinces are supposedly “considering” it. And obviously, it’d take nothing short of a miracle for something like this to happen in the States, especially in a place like Philly.
But still—dare to dream, right?
|
