C.I.C.L.E.’s Holiday Toys and Mittens Ride featured in the L.A. Times Emerald City Blogs

C.I.C.L.E.’s Second Annual Holiday Toys and Mittens Ride on Saturday, December 1, 2007 is featured in the L.A. Times Emerald City Blogs

For those about to ride, we salute you

I’ve been thinking for a while about how to foster a greater sense of community between cyclists. You’d think just being out there on the roads is enough. But too often for my tastes - have I passed fellow cyclists yearning for some sort of sign, some acknowledgment beyond the occasional “head nod.”

How did that bike get to Africa?

Moscow, Idaho's Village Bicycle Project is on the Cutting Edge of Two-Wheel Economic Development

Halloween, Driven Away

So that’s it. It’s over for us. We have tried everything, but it’s finally kaput. For five years we have stood vigil, but tonight it all came to a disheartening halt.

Creating People-Friendly Streets

Imagine Broadway as a pedestrian mall. Vehicles are banned, except for deliveries. Cafes and stores overlook a wide plaza, bisected by a row of trees. There are benches, chairs and tables where people can meet or take a break from shopping. Little kiosks sell coffee or a quick snack. Bicycle parking is plentiful.

Santa Ana wins $1 million for bike trail

A $1-million state grant will help pay for a new bike trail along South Flower Street that will connect the city's existing loop of trails with Costa Mesa's trail system.

Live Bicycle Radio: Giving voice and identity back to Colombia

There's a special bicycle moving around Belén de los Andaquíes in Caquetá, Colombia.

Night Cycling: Is it Safe?

When I am a motorist, I try to use my cycling experience as a tool to be as aware as possible of cyclists, especially at night. I'm dismayed at how difficult this is in the urban density of Seattle.

Cyclists should be more involved as biking advocates

Blame me. It's my fault the Northwest does not treat bicycling with respect. How? Bear with me, and I'll explain.

On your bike, Mr President, Uganda’s health demands it

The recent traffic jams in Kampala caused by road repairs, along with brief street closures due to mock security exercises, have left thousands sitting helpless in stationary cars for hours, and others stranded at home or at work.

Former UC Davis professor explains history of bike paths

The country's first bike path was built in Brooklyn. The motorcycle is the direct descendant of the bicycle. Bicyclists once had to contend with powerful horse lobbies to get funding for bike lanes and pathways.

Bicycles may be classified as `speedy pedestrians' for more legal flexibility

Besides being legally defined as slow-moving vehicles, bicycles in Taiwan may now acquire a new definition as "speedy pedestrians" or suren (速人).

What Do You Do for the Environment?

Al Gore finally made climate change "real" - god forbid, even trendy. So have you changed the way you live yet?

Fremont woman is the bicycle lady

Last summer when Mary Alejandro began fixing up bikes for her grandchildren, it wasn't long before kids in the Elliot Street neighborhood were asking for a bicycle, too.

Bikes: DOT Still Doesn't Get It

The governor promises a new Department of Transportation, one that's worried about more than cars and obstacles to cars.

Student completes moving art project

In the finale of a two-month project that took her from the gallery to the streets and then to the sea, a Cal State Long Beach graduate student on Monday pedaled a swan boat from San Pedro to Long Beach, the last of eight human-powered means she employed to get to class.

Just Survive? Some Thrive in L.A. -- Without a Car

They say the car is king in Southern California. But more and more Angelenos are giving up their vehicles for life on two wheels.

Santa Monica Critical Mass Sends Message to Council

Critical Mass bicyclists spoke out en masse at last week’s City Council meeting charging that Santa Monica Police are improperly applying vehicle codes and ticketing riders.

Fixed-gear bicycle sales ride high among admirers

While such a machine might seem to have limited appeal, the popularity of fixed-gear bikes has expanded beyond the bigcity messenger subculture that spawned them somewhere during the past decade.

European-style bike-sharing programs head to US

American cities, eager for greener solutions to urban congestion, are rushing to set up bicycle-sharing programs similar to those launched in Europe in recent years.

Pedal to the medal

The upside, though, is that if you were to pick the ideal landscape to drop a bike-friendly small city on, Davis would be it (minus the searing heat, of course). Davis is immensely proud of its innovative 40-plus-year-old bike culture—the city logo is a high-wheeler—and it should be.

Stolen Bike? Geeky Chat Room Comes to the Rescue

When Agata Slota’s bicycle disappeared from a spot near Union Square one day in September, the odds were that she would never see it again. About 60,000 bikes are stolen in New York City each year, and only 2 percent of them are recovered by their owners.

Green wave for cyclists tested

Amsterdam has created a green wave for cyclists along the Raadhuisstraat. Cyclists riding at a speed of 15 to 18 kmph will not have to stop at red lights. Tests show that public transport benefits as well, whereas cars become slightly slower.

Special Report: Who's to blame - drivers or cyclists?

Portland has a thriving bike culture and there is a big divide over who is to blame when cars and bikes collide.

A bump on the noggin is better than being a couch potato

Facing a lecture hall full of public health experts, Dr. Shaul Katzir, a historian at Tel Aviv University's Porter School of Environmental Studies, claimed Monday that a new Knesset law requiring bicycle riders to wear helmets was wrong and would harm public health as many would give up riding instead.

Risk is good when you cross the road

Look around you, next time you cross the road. Do you feel scared? If so, you do because you are in a stretch of road where the car is king.

McGuinty Government Encouraging Bikes

The Ontario government is helping families get more active with a retail sales tax exemption for bikes and helmets.

Walkable-Workable-Livable

In the eighteenth century the French salon established itself as one of the most influential institutions in Europe. It was a place as well where women exerted considerable influence over the politics and the culture of the period.

Opinions : Globally Speaking: Cars and bicycles

There are some things in my life that I am really over-protective of, including my family, my friends, my heritage … aaaannnnnd my car. I love my car. A lot.

Rita Robinson: L.A.’s new transportation czar speaks her mind about traffic

Robinson, who replaced the fired Gloria Jeff, spoke about her philosophy and goals during an interview in her office on the 10th floor of the Caltrans building downtown. Raised in South Los Angeles, Robinson lives in Inglewood, where she leaves her Honda Escape and takes the bus to work once or twice a week.

Lager replaces Pimms in bike polo revival

There are no designer frocks or upturned Ralph Lauren collars, and the scruffily hip spectators choose cans of lager over champagne and Pimms. Yet urban bike polo, which has sprung up in cities around the UK, has an unexpected heritage to rival that of its equestrian cousin.

Recycling

A Melbourne man is using the humble push bike to create a greener, fairer world. Kathleen O'Connell reports.

Council backs plan to expand bicycle lanes

Seattle would double its number of bicycle lane miles and add other bike-friendly street upgrades under a plan approved Monday by the City Council.

How do bikes balance when we ride them?

If you find yourself wondering how the large man riding past you in the tiny yellow shorts can stay up on something as skinny as a bicycle, be heartened by the fact that scientists wonder too.

In Portland, Cultivating a Culture of Two Wheels

Cyclists have long revered Portland for its bicycle-friendly culture and infrastructure, including the network of bike lanes that the city began planning in the early 1970s. Now, riders are helping the city build a cycling economy.

City tries to ease tensions between bicyclists, motorists

Tensions are flaring between bicyclists and motorists here, and the timing for many riders is just right.

Spinning its wheels no more on bicycle-friendly policies

About 100 people turned out on Oct. 22 for a forum on the "Role of Bicycling in World Class Cities," one of several sessions that are being held to gauge public opinion on bicycling issues in Boston.

VIVE LA VÉLORUTION: Paris Rental Bike Scheme Goes Global

A growing number of cities are setting up self-service rental bike schemes. A French advertising company has hit upon the most simple scheme, one that has won over thousands of Parisians and is now being exported across the world.