Bicycle Safety and Advocacy – Page 8

April 22, 2009

Happy Earth Day

Abandoned Strip Mine in Southeastern Ohio

This photo took up nearly the whole front page of The Athens Messenger on Earth Day One.

The earth had been raped, plundered, looted

I had been working on a series of picture pages about fire spotters. I had already taken pictures from the ground and from fire towers, but this day I was given a chance to fly in a small plane with a spotter looking for forest fires.

It was getting late in the afternoon and we were just about to head home when we flew over one of the scourges of nature: a strip mine abandoned after all of the coal had been hauled off.

The law said that these mines had to be reclaimed after work stopped. Someone told me – and I don’t know if it’s true – that some mining companies would leave a sacrificial dragline or bulldozer on the site so they could claim it was still an active mine. The value of an old, worn-out piece of equipment was far less than the reclamation cost.

I can’t remember what I’ve shot

Many, if not most, good photographers can tell you everything about their pictures as soon as they shoot them. For some strange reason, as soon as I’ve pushed the shutter release, my memory of the picture is wiped as clean as the next blank frame.

I generally had so little memory of what I had shot that I would take a picture of my shoes at the start of every roll when I was covering a sporting event so I could easily spot my rolls.

I knew this was a good one

This picture was an exception. As soon as I pressed the button, I couldn’t wait to see if the image on the film was as good as the one I saw in my mind.

The curving road at the top, the dramatic late-afternoon side lighting, the strong diagonal lines leading your eye right to a power line pole that looked like a cross all came together better than I could have hoped.

I wasn’t disappointed. And neither was the editor, who elected to lead the paper with it on Earth Day.

It’s still on my top 10 list of favorite pictures.

Happy Earth Day. Hop on your bike. Leave a better Earth for your kids.

March 25, 2009March 30, 2009

Florida Proclaims Bike Month Then Proposes Deep Greenway Cuts

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) published a press release March 9 where Gov. Charlie Crist named March 2009 as Florida Bicycle Month. Now, you might ask yourself, “Gee, what took FDEP so long to get around to posting this? The proclamation was signed Feb. 25. The month was a third over before you got around to getting the word out.”

As a long-time newspaper guy, I know that official proclamations aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on (or the electrons they take to paint your screen). They’re feel-good fluff designed to heat some niche constituency to a warm, fuzzy glow. But, it’s nice that the Gov (or someone who wrote it for him) was thinking of us.

Gov. Charlie says all the right things

“The bicycle plays an important role in the lives of millions of Floridians by providing them with a means to travel… helps motivate eco-tourism… has contributed to economic redevelopment…
“Increased bicycle usage will promote health and wellness…
“Can help reduce motor vehicle emissions … reduce global warming… provide mobility for those without access to a motor vehicle and increase existing road and parking capacity when people choose bicycling for utilitarian trips…
“FDOT and many local governments have adopted goals and policies to develop a multinodal transportation system that supports transportation choices including bicycles.”

So, what’s the bad news if The Guv loves us?

Ken Byran, Florida State Director of the Rail-to-Trails issued this call to action this morning:
Continue reading “Florida Proclaims Bike Month Then Proposes Deep Greenway Cuts”

March 19, 2009March 30, 2009

Cannondale Recalls Bikes

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of about 1,300 Cannondale 2009 Six 5, Six 6, Six Carbon 5 and Six Carbon 6 Bicycles.

They are missing spoke protectors

To quote the CPSC recall notice, “The bicycles fail to meet the federal safety standard for bicycles. Spoke protector discs, required on bicycles to prevent the bicycle chain from interfering or suddenly stopping the wheel, are missing from these bicycles. This poses a fall hazard to the rider.”

No incidents or injuries have been reported so far.

The bikes were sold by authorized Cannondale dealers from October 2008 through February 2009 for between $1,500 and $2,100.

Continue reading “Cannondale Recalls Bikes”

February 14, 2009February 14, 2009

EcoVelo: The Best Bike Porn on the Internet

Alan and Michael run EcoVelo, one of my favorite bike blogs. Alan shoots some of the best bike porn on the Internet.

I’ve been a photographer for most of my life, but on any given day EcoVelo runs a picture that causes me to wish my name was under it. He has made me looking at cycling in a different way.

EcoVelo promotes commuter cycling

From the About section:

This site is the public expression of our personal commitment to reduce our impact on the environment by employing bicycles as our primary mode of transport. By sharing what we learn from this endeavor, while also providing an aesthetically pleasing experience that celebrates the beauty of the bicycle and the joys of everyday bike riding, we hope to inspire others to make a similar commitment.

Positive reviews about bike accessories

The site is anything but boring.

There are great product reviews. Alan and I differ in our philosophies about negative reviews. He would rather think of his reviews as “recommendations” and will refrain from writing anything negative about a product. I argue that you have a responsibility to your readers to point out both the good and bad things. He’s been doing this longer and more successfully than I have and he had a lot of readers who defended is point of view, so there’s a good chance he’s right. I may have become too jaded from too many years of raking muck.

The copy is well-written, graphically interesting and generates lots of comments, which indicates that others follow the site as closely as I do.

He’s got some of the best links in the business for just about any bike or accessory you want to know about. After you’ve finished reading all EcoVelo’s content, work your way through his list of blog links. One of these days I hope we earn a spot on his list because it’s a collection of some of the best I’ve run into.

What about that photo contest?

Here’s the official annoucement from February 12:

In these winter doldrums I thought it would be fun to run a photo contest to brighten our moods a little. The rules are as follows:

All are welcome — amateurs and pros alike.
No more than four entries per person.
The work must be your own.
The photos must have some bike content.
Your entries don’t have to be current photos; pick your favorites from your collection.
If you can, please size your images to no more than 1200 pixels on the long side. If you can’t, send your full-size entries anyway.
Send your entries as e-mail attachments to alan@barnardesign.com and please include your name (first name only is fine if you prefer to remain anonymous).
All entries will be posted on EcoVelo!

The call for entries starts today and we’ll close it off on March 15. I’ll publish the photos on the blog as they come in, just like I’ve done for the EcoVelo Bike Gallery. Once the entry period is closed, we’ll pick a winner by jury and announce the winners here. I’m still working on the prizes, but there will be a few and they will be pretty cool but not extravagant — this is for fun!!

Competition is going to be tough

This is not going to be an easy contest to win. The early entries are impressive.

January 19, 2009January 19, 2009

Bike Commuting 1970s Style in Palatka, Florida

Bike Commuting in 1974 with Devon Price Open up your family scrapbook and you’re bound to find bicycles. Kids on bikes and even adults on bikes are a standard feature of any family photo album.

Devon Price: Bike Commuter

While visiting Sarah’s grandmother in North Carolina, we went through some family scrapbooks. Imagine my surprise when I came across this company newsletter clipping of her father as a bike commuter. Bicycles are common. Someone who actually commuted to work, well, that is exceptional.

High Fuel Prices in 1974

With just five miles to cover and gasoline prices high, bike commuting seemed liked a fine idea. In fact, it may be the next big thing.

Better Bikes, Better Roads Today

With better bikes and better roads today, why aren’t we all riding bikes to work? If Devon Price could do five miles in polyester on a bike with only ten speeds, why can’t we all ride to work on our spiffy new bikes?

Open Your Photo Album and Look for Bikes

Here is your assignment for today… Open your family photo album and find your bicycle photos. If you can’t find one bike in your album, I’ll send you some SportLegs. If you find a really nifty picture or a good story, email me and I’ll put it online to share with the rest of the folks here.

—Matt