BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

How do I know cycling is on the rise? Year after year there are more parents in Point Breeze (Reynolds) riding with their kids to school.

Other signs of more cyclists:

1. Bikefest gets bigger (and more awesome)every year.

2. There's more rides, and more people at rides every year (in and out of bike fest).

3. There's more bike shops opening, and staying open (i.e. little old ones aren't squeezed out by big box or internets)?

Sounds like an awesome ride, thank you for sharing

HA! Swalfoort I think that was me (experienced) and my co-worker on Seventh that I just happened to run into. There are currently around 9 of us who commute to work on bike (depends on the day but averages around 5-6)

I passed 7-8 random cyclists this morning. At one point we had 3 going down Liberty (one broke off at 31st) and then 4 of us in a row coming down Penn in the Strip.

@Lou - about 8:30 this morning? You were in flourescent yellow. Your co-worker wouild have been a woman on a Cannondale?

And yes, there was another cyclist in dark clothing a few yards behind you on Penn, if it was in fact you.

Yep that was us. I was in the yellow and she was on a Cannondale (good observation skills!)

I think the cyclist behind me was with me since the top of Liberty if it was someone on a fixie.

Very cool.

I was on my bike this morning, in my driveway, I think I even had one foot clipped in, when I got a call from work to go somewhere, and had to drive. Bleh.

Oakland traffic is back the the usual horrible mess that it usually is. In addition to that, I saw some very lousy bike riding today in Oakland by the newly arrived students.

Someone trying to bike through the walls of pedestrians on the forbes ave sidewalks. He was going really slow and looked like he was going to fall off his bike.

Someone trying to ride the wrong way on Forbes. At least he had some speed.

However, It is nice to see that lots of people are starting off by cycling to school. I just hope they know how to properly lock there bikes in the city and don't get hurt while they learn the ropes.

What would it take to get Bike-PGH to come a do a short presentation on biking around Oakland (and Pittsburgh generally), bike safety, bike security, unsung PAT bus racks as part of freshman orientation at Pitt or CMU?

Brainstorming list:

1) Connections with Residential Life

2) Ideas and Materials

3) Engaging and Cool Presenter

...

Ideally complemented by some actual riding or demonstrations, but that's harder to do for a large group at once.

Of course, it would likely be more useful to talk to upper classmen as the move off campus and are more likely to have and ride bikes, but freshman orientation is your only chance to talk to people.

And, yes, I'm volunteering to help, particularly at Pitt.

^youtube "bike safety" video contest with a couple of basic bikes / lights as the prizes?

Based on what I can recall of the college age mind, I can see something presented as "Bike safety" on the face of it landing with a dull thud (I'm all growed up, I'm a rebel, you can't tell me what to do. Individuals who are beyond that mindset will already be researching/practicing safety on their own).

I think you would need to present the ease of getting around, cheapness (every week you don't drive is like getting a case of brew), and just the fun/coolness, and sneak in info on BikePgh!/safety on the side.

I could see having a bike polo tourney to hook the fixie hipsters, have an alley cat from Frick fountain just to the top of Schenley loop (minimal intersections/lights), let an experienced rider stomp some asses and show them how it's done. Bern Watts helmet as a prize.

Show films on campus, show Life Cycles to hook bmx/mountain kids, then show them that bikes can be used to get around every day. The safety gear message should be an easy sell to the mtn kids. Plus I need to watch Life Cycles at least twice a year. That might hook in filmmaker/art people, and would be a good tie in to a video contest (although you would need to specifically exclude stupid stunt jackass type stuff).

I think somehow you would need to get the campus police on board, give the campus community the sense that bikers and peds will be supported and made safe, and that drivers who f with and generally disrespect other road users in their jurisdiction will not be tolerated. Somebody needs to sell that to the campus cops. Good luck.

Thinkings.

I think it will fall on more deaf ears than expected.

It is my understanding that bike storage is less than desirable, ie, no dorm storage, outdoor only. A friend of mine who is on his second year wants to ride but that is keeping him from buying a bike. The utility is known, many people hate the idea of not having control and having to instead rely on a bus, so a bike would be a good fit.

is this where Edmonds starts yelling for those dang kids to get their bikes off his lawn??

I do however agree with his thoughts.

I encourage kids to ride on my lawn, I usually join them. I can do a killer stoppie. I have however been known to approach speeding cars with an aluminum baseball bat, that's my concession to oldguyness.

they can only ride on my lawn if they dig first. i do regularly scream at people in cars to slow the fuck down on our street though.

Solving the bike storage issue (i.e. allowing them in dorm rooms or providing basement storage) would be a fantastic idea. That would have to get pushed by student council and RAs, though, not really BPGH. Maybe the first place to start would be a two question survey - 1) would you ever consider riding a bike (and if yes) 2) what is the main thing stopping you?

the results could help.

Just to brag a bit, this was Bikeygirl and my office parking situation yesterday afternoon:

That is just fabulous.

I just cried a little tear.

@cburch: I've often considered spreading carpet tacks on the street in front of our house. I'm pretty that sure that putting a three way stop sign and a sharper corner in at Baker and Jancey will do a lot to calm traffic on that end of town.

*jaw drops*

That would be troublesome to cyclists but do zilch to car tires.

Nails, then?