2009 Labor Day Share the Road Challenge

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Share the Road

Join us for the 2009 Labor Day Share the Road Challenge, an Atlanta tradition with multiple mileage options, beautiful scenery, rolling hills, sweet & salty SAG stops, and a pizza finale. Century riders will be recognized at event start. Meet on the morning of September 7th at the Atlanta Cycling shop in Vinings. Early bird registration is now online, so register today!

Online bike class for the hot summer months

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The League of American Bicyclists has a new online bike class - perfect for the summer, when we don't offer many classes. Visit bikeed.org to take the free, four-hour course.

"Bikers to Congress: give us some respect!"

Ana Campoy, a blogger with the Wall Street Journal, had this to say about the draft transportation bill, "Bikers, who have been snubbed by transportation officials for years, are feeling redeemed—at least for the moment." Click here to read more.

City Rambles – Cutting Down On Crashes

I've been struck by the bike crashes this past week, because a couple of people have been struck by cars. The big story is Todd Muller, whose crash experience is told elsewhere on the ABC website. The lesser known story is Charlie Patterson, a stalwart of the Southern Bicycle League and a hell of a guy, who was also hit by a car, and has been in the ICU. I have no details on his crash, but he's become a man of steel, with a metal rod in his leg. Crashes (I don't call them accidents) are complicated, and messy. I do my best to stay out of them. But sometimes it happens despite all our precautions.

CITY RAMBLES: How-To Guide to Bike Advocacy

I've been a cyclist for a long long time. I started in high school, riding my brother's single-speed bike to school for a solid year. In college, I found biking the cheapest and most affordable way to get around. Environmental, too. I became an advocate because nobody was doing it, and it needed doing. More on that in a minute. With last week's meeting of an ABC Advocacy group (and the next meeting is July 13 – come join us!), it brought me back to a bunch of stuff I have learned about advocacy over the years.

Bike shop owner hit by car, survives with injuries

Bike shop owner Todd Muller was hit by a car Tuesday, resulting in serious but luckily not life-threatening injuries (story here). Todd signaled to make a left turn, got into the correct lane, then was hit from behind by a car that tried to pass him on the left, as he was turning left. The driver of the car and the police officer reporting to the scene unfortunately assumed Todd was at fault. The driver was eventually cited for crossing the yellow line, but not for striking a vehicle from behind or reckless driving (read more for details of Todd's crash).

Eric of Bike Roswell describes what happened:

Todd explained the details behind the incident:

Update from Morgan Falls Bike/Ped Bridge Meeting (6/17)

I attended the Proposed Morgan Falls Bike/Ped Bridge meeting Wednesday night in Sandy Springs. (AJC Article here: http://tinyurl.com/nckq3m)

I also attended the first one in late April in Roswell with over 100 folks present and voiced my support. This meeting had around 50 attendees (+/-). There were several folks tonight with the NIMBY syndrome (not in my backyard) concerned about noise, litter, crime, access, etc. But there were a good number of supporters, including many bicyclists and several non-bicyclists (Grandpa & kids, Sharing Nature, etc.).

Summer biking is cool, and you can stay even cooler

Welcome to the start of summer! I know, the heat started a couple of weeks ago. But biking is still cool. Much cooler means of travel than walking, and much faster than running. Our secret is what the TV weathermen call the Wind Chill Factor all winter. We feel colder when air is moving past our bodies. It's the same effect, whether it's the wind, air from a fan, or -- if we move our bodies through the air.

You asked, we got answers - disappearing bike lane on Highland

I've received several calls in the past week about disappearing bike lanes on the high-speed portion of Highland Avenue (map). Well, it turns out construction is underway on the Centennial Park Trail, a continuation of Freedom Parkway trail that should ultimately connect to Centennial Olympic Park. The trail is a 10-12 foot wide multi-use trail on the south side of Highland Ave & the Baker-Highland Connector and starts at Jackson Parkway and end at Piedmont Avenue. It is scheduled to be completed by December of this year.

Roswell installs Georgia's first bike box!

Roswell Bike Box

The Roswell Department of Transportation is installing a bike box on Riverside Road! Bike boxes make bicyclists more visible to drivers at intersections, thus reducing car-bike crashes, especially right hooks. Photos here. More on bike boxes after the break.

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