Local blog round-up (Super Sunday edition)

An antique bike in New Orleans' French Quarter. Image found here.

In the spirit of Super Sunday, here at the top of this week's Local Blog Round-up you'll find some links to some prominent New Orleans cycling blogs. But Colts fans shouldn't despair; at the bottom of this post you'll find an equal number of Indianapolis cycling blogs.

N'awlins blogs: NolaCycle Bike Map Project, What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today [UPDATE, Feb.8: have a look at What I Saw's chronicling of "mass high fivery" in the Quarter after the game], On the Rivet with Randy.



Hmm: "Local" and "blog" in the title are a bit troublesome, as they were last week. Ah, well. Things do happen elsewhere than the area cycling blogosphere that seem, to your correspondent, to be of interest or in some way pertain to that which we're about here at this site. So, like, Deal. And for my part, I'll come up with some permanent title for this feature that is more inclusive.

Friday's Eagle had this story about a talk given here in town by Randal O'Toole of the Cato Institute. According to the article, O'Toole's talk wasn't especially Wichita-centric; it was more of a general critique of recent tendencies in urban design to create a more walkable urban core, as well as the usual methods of encouraging businesses to build downtown and the financing of such projects. Cato's reputation as a libertarian think tank precedes it, so O'Toole's observations should have come as no surprise to his audience. Personally, I'm puzzled by O'Toole's implicit support of a car-centric infrastructure; that infrastructure is expensive to build and maintain and so requires lots of (taxpayer) money, not to mention government regulation: two things that good Libertarians would resist. I'd think that the bicycle would be an excellent choice for Official Vehicle of the Libertarian Party. But I do admit I was glad to see this bit in the article:

O'Toole encountered some pushback from members of the audience who said there are a lot of Wichitans who want more walkways and bike paths.

"I don't think it's a fad like you're saying," said resident Janice Bradley.

Even better is the give-and-take in the comments section. Those supportive of a more walkable downtown acquit themselves quite well there; they respond to O'Toole's defenders there with actual, well, arguments in favor of walkability.

Keep in mind that at a certain level, the comments are worth only what they are worth. Who knows, really, the extent to which the ideals of bike-friendliness, walkability, and all the rest are becoming more prominent ideas here in town. The fact remains, though, that people are making arguments on their behalf in public fora, and that is very much to the good.

I don't think Kansas City has a Cycle Chic blog yet, but via Kansas Cyclist comes an announcement of something that not even all Cycle Chic cities can claim: a Tweed Ride, to be held on April 3rd at Loose Park. As Randy notes, Tweed Rides are popping up in lots of places with fairly well-established cycling communities; the idea is to evoke something of the elegance of cycling from a century before and have a good time while doing so (and I also think I detect a humorous hitching onto of the Steampunk movement). The KC riders' organizers are pretty self-aware (pay very close attention to the prize categories, for example), but their larger purpose is, I think, the same as that of promoters of Cycle Chic and, thus, a serious one: Not only do you not need to be an athlete to ride a bike, you don't need to dress like one, either.

On to the blogs, now:

Two bloggers went out in last weekend's snow and brought back pics. Over at Adventure Monkey, Eric went for a Sunday ride in the snow. Here's what he saw. Meanwhile, Robert of River City Cyclist went out with a friend along the Arkansas River path and later posted these pictures.

From Bike Topeka come two items of interest. First is another very nice write-up, this one in the Washburn Review, about Topeka's new Community Cycle Project. The other is that Topeka is participating in a pilot project, sponsored by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, called the Capital City Wellness Project; part of that project is called the Bikes for Wellness Program. Cyclists who have a program sticker on their helmets can show this sticker at participating businesses and receive discounts for their goods. I would think that something like this would be easy and inexpensive to implement here in Wichita--and not necessarily through government agencies, either . . .

Speaking of bicycle collectives, Wichita's own version of that enterprise extends an invitation to Riders of Rohan's two-year anniversary celebration on February 26th.

And--as promised . . .

A scene from Indianapolis's burgeoning bike culture. Image found here.

Indy bike blogs are very hard to come by--surprising, given the national reputation of The Indy Cog. I gathered via my bumping around that Indy cycling culture is about as nascent as Wichita's is. Having said that, though, if folks from Indy happen to find their way here and know of some good cycling blogs, by all means be sure to let me know in comments. Urban Indy is not, strictly speaking, a bike blog, but one interested in livability issues; meanwhile, there's Indy Bikehiker, the blog of a self-described "theological jackalope" (a Wesleyan-oriented advocate of peace-and-justice issues) who also happens to be an avid cyclist.

That's all for this week. Enjoy the game!

Local blog round-up IV (holiday edition)

First of all, best wishes to all for a happy and safe Fourth of July.

**Some very good news: Via the Coasters Bicycle Club comes this Craigslist ad:

some fellow cyclists and I are working on a community bike shop, a non-profit co-op with the goal of promoting bikes as viable transportation by teaching bicycle maintenance and repair while recycling discarded or donated bicycles into affordable, sustainable transportation. We're calling it the Wichita Bicycle Collective. These types of organizations exist in many other cities and we feel Wichita is long overdue for a little progress in this area. To learn more, visit bikecollectives.org, If this is something you'd like to see happen, we need your help! Donate your time, money, or old bikes or parts and tools, the most important part of a community bike shop is the COMMUNITY, and it won't happen without YOU.

The ad goes on to list a few bikes ready to be picked up for suggested donations.

I'd heard about and posted on this initiative before, so it's good to know Mike has things up and running. This is indeed a worthy endeavor, entirely in keeping with the truth that good quality, inexpensive bicycles should be made available to as many people as possible. If you're interested in donating or volunteering, you can reach him at "mike AT wichitabicyclecollective DOT org". (Note to self: I gotta get hip and start checking Craigslist.)

**In Oz Bicycle Club's June newsletter, the Editor's Corner (pp.1-3) contains a fairly lengthy--and accurate--assessment of city and state (in)action concerning cycling in Wichita and Kansas more generally. While nothing there will be new to anyone who regularly rides a bike here in town, it's nevertheless good to know that other folks are noticing. I would simply add as well that all of us single voices crying in the wilderness need to do a better job of crying collectively in order to change things at City Hall and in Topeka (and I'm not excluding myself from that, either).

**Over at River City Cyclist, Robert has some excellent advice for summertime bike-commuting--especially for dealing with a regular problem I have: sweat in the eyes. He also promises instructional videos and the introduction of something every city's bike culture needs: "Wichita's very own 'Cyclist Secret Wave.'" (Thanks also for introducing me to "steelo."

**And finally: I am officially on the public agenda for the City Council meeting on Tuesday, July 7. I'll be asking the council to consider adopting a Complete Streets policy for the city. The meeting starts at 9:00; first will be some awards and recognitions, followed by the public agenda. I hope some of you can attend; it'd be a pleasure to meet you.

Local blog round-up III (Heat-advisory edition)

Various things, some of them actually happy, have conspired to keep me from posting this past week; on the other hand, thanks to the Mrs. (a "combination Christmas-birthday-Fathers' Day-anniversary present," she says), I have a new computer monitor! Can you tell?

Anyway. "Summer," as you have no doubt noticed, is now here in spirit as well as in the letter of the calendar. It's in that spirit that, as you'll see, some of the past week's cycling-related posts from the area's bloggers have some strategies for dealing with the heat:

Eddie of Clicks and Whistles links to a list of "brews and bikes": beers that are in some way connected to cycling. Locals may recognize New Belgium's wonderful Fat Tire; my ignorance of the others on the list suggests to me that I have some future research to conduct. In moderation, of course.

I missed seeing this for inclusion in last week's Round-up: Randy and Nova recently went to Galveston, and all they brought us was this video of their ride along the Seawall.

Robert has several posts up over at River City Cyclist. Here, he posts notice of a night ride for 10 p.m. this evening (that's one way to avoid the heat); and here, he makes the case for why it's safer to ride on the street than on the sidewalk.

Russell's In Medias Res isn't a cycling blog, but he has an advice-filled post on on ways to make hot-weather cycling a little easier. Russell's an inveterate bike-commuter, so he knows whereof he speaks.

Also, I want to extend thanks to a few folks who have seen fit to link to this humble blog--thanks to them, some people have found their way here: the above-mentioned Clicks and Whistles; BikeBlogs.com (an online directory of cycling blogs whose orientation is sports/recreation; we're listed in both "Miscellaneous Blogs" and "Regional Blogs"); Green Eco Service's "Kansas" page; and Charleston Cycle Chic. Readers of this blog know there's not a whole lot of ostensible Cycle Chic to be found here (except in the philosophical sense), but I'm still grateful for visitors . . . and I hope they're not too disappointed when they come by.

Local blog round-up II

This week's survey of recent and/or interesting posts from local cycling blogs and clubs:

A quiet week last week on the blogging front.

Bicycleptic goes on a ghost hunt--without his bicycle, but wishing he'd taken it with him.

Eddie of Clicks and Whistles commented on this blog for the first time last week. By following the links in his profile I learned that he is an avid cyclist--in fact, he'd tried to complete Biking Across Kansas this year but had to leave the ride due to some pretty bad knee pain. In my response to his comment, I linked to his BAK posts. Meanwhile, he's gone to the doctor, and here he reports on his knee . . . along with some other minor surgery he had performed that day. Though Clicks and Whistles is not, strictly speaking, a cycling blog, you'll quickly get the message that the man has got it bad for bicycles. There are worse addictions.

It's been a week for injuries that keep folks off their bikes for a while. Over at River City Cyclist, Robert reports that he's been laid low by back pain.

Local blog round-up

While trying to fall asleep last night, I thought: Why not try to do for local cycling blogs once a week what Bobby of Douglas and Main does for the entire Wichita blogosphere on a near-daily basis? Surely I can manage once-a-week. So: on Thursdays during the summer, at least, I'll be linking to new and/or interesting posts on the other cycling blogs and news from the cycling-club websites. If it doesn't appear in this space, it either has not been updated since I last checked or it has gone moribund. In the meantime: if you know of other "local" cycling blogs, I hope you'll let me know.

The first notice I want to post here is not from a cycling blog, but bicycles may be involved . . . today begins the Delano Area-Wide Garage Sale. Various residences will be holding garage sales from today through Saturday. Go here for the addresses of who will be selling when and for a link to a downloadable/printable map. I plan to ride through the area this morning before heading to WAMPOpalooza (consider this a reminder of those events, too), so I look forward to the chance to meet a reader or . . . well, a reader.

On to the cycling blogs now . . .

Over at the Coasters' Bicycle Club website, Randy has posted notice that Thursday, July 2 will be the Patriotic Pub Pedal (for more on the what and where of the weekly Pub Pedals, go here).

Over at Bicycleptic, Bryan gives a brief report on his 50-mile ride the previous weekend to benefit ADA that apparently went from El Dorado to Cassoday and back. Bryan is usually a fixed-gear guy, but he reports that the wind that day made him grateful that on that day he had decided to be a mere mortal and leave it at home in favor of a multi-speed.

What to call something that has a website on whose homepage is the declaration that it "is not an organization"? Wichita Critical Mass. I'll just say again that I can fully support Critical Mass's ends--they are why I started this blog, in fact; I welcome a discussion, though, about the means to those ends.

Chris has not posted at Random Chaos since his ominously-titled post from last October, "Am I dead yet?" I sincerely hope the answer is "No."

Anyone want a good-looking tandem bike? Go have a look at the one over at Randy and Nova's place.

Robert continues to add content to Wichita's newest cycling blog, River City Cyclist. In his most recent post, he affirms the sheer pleasure of cycling above and beyond its obvious practical benefits. He's also added RSS feeds for Kansas Cyclist's list of bike rides and, even Craigslist ads for bikes for sale. Go have a look.

Have I missed anyone? Any other cycling blogs out there? Let me know.

[UPDATE: Matthew Yglesias isn't local, but this post's larger message is exactly on-point with regard to today's WAMPO events: the better and more available public transportation is made, the more people of all social classes will use it. In the cities I've visited with robust public transportation that I've used--New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Mexico City--buses and trains are both plentiful AND crowded with folks of every social description. Streets and highways are convenient because they go everywhere--they've been built everywhere. Public (and alternate) transportation options obviously can't go everywhere, but they can be designed to go along the major routes that people tend to travel by car and given their own lanes. Even in Mexico City, drivers respect the dedicated lanes . . . because the buses run so frequently, AND against the traffic besides.

See? There are ways . . . ]

Some new links you may be interested in

Pirates' Alley, in New Orleans' French Quarter. Imagine some spaces like this--a mix of shops, restaurants, and residences, through which automobile traffic is severely restricted--in Wichita's downtown, the Delano District, the 21st Street area, etc. A fella can dream, right? Image via the Project for Public Spaces, about which more below.

Over the past couple of days, I've run across various places and linked to them over in the right gutter. I don't have a real sense of how often those link lists even get looked at, much less used, so I wanted to round up a few of the more significant ones here.

First and foremost, I want to note for you the recent appearance of River City Cyclist in the still-small but expanding Wichita cycling-blog universe. Though it's still early in its existence, Robert, its creator, is thinking big: he even has a separate forum set up. I hope you'll link to him and pay him a visit.

As I mentioned a couple of days ago that I would do, the gutter now features a list of U.S. blogs in the style of the venerable Copenhagen Cycle Chic. Yes: the pretty-girls-on-bicycles aesthetic has its own immediate and obvious virtues; my larger intention in linking to them, though, as I said the other day, is to encourage Wichitans during these days of envisioning what a more livable city could look like to look at these images and ask ourselves, Why can't we have an urban core and a Delano District that foster this, too, along with paths and bike lanes from outlying areas into those areas--and not just on weekends? A city whose streets feel safe enough for women to ride bicycles in street clothes becomes a safer city, period [EDIT: Right on cue . . .]--and, not coincidentally, a city where people (and their employers) will want to live and work.

More imagination-candy: Take a gander at the Project for Public Spaces--a visual treat for those of us who look at all those wasted or underutilized lots and buildings in Downtown, the Delano District and elsewhere in the city and imagine what could be done with them. The concept is a simple one: Attractive, multi-use public spaces not only attract visitors; with the right planning, they attract businesses and residents, too. Located at or near transportation crossroads (in our city, that would be things like intersecting bus routes and bike lanes/paths), they can become the focal points for high-density development that, if done right, creates spaces where people genuinely live--like, for example, shop for food there and not have to leave the neighborhood to get groceries--and not just sleep in overpriced loft apartments.

At any rate, Project for Public Spaces is part of a small gathering of links over in the right gutter called "Community, Urbanism, Policy, Politics." If this sort of stuff is at all interesting to you, I hope you'll spend some time clicking and following links . . . and not forget to attend some meetings.