Rush Hour

This is what rush hour should look like...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-AbPav5E5M

Very cool

This is a pretty extreme example of how to get around on a bike, but we support it. He's riding, and you should, too. Bikes are so cool...

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1908415

Progress In Seattle

Very cool news out of Seattle! Thank you to Josh Cohen, Publicola's self-proclaimed bike nerd for breaking the story.

QUEEN ANNE HOTEL SHOWS BIKES SOME LOVE
Posted by Josh Cohen on April 13, 2010 at 1:09 PM
from Publicola - Seattle's News Elixir

Seattle might not be getting a public bike-share program anytime soon, but a Queen Anne hotel is getting ready to offer its own version to guests, free of charge. The brand-new Maxwell Hotel is located on Roy St. in lower Queen Anne, directly north of Seattle Center. The hotel’s owners worked with local cyclist and blogger DL Byron of Bike Hugger to procure eight Torker T-300 commuter bikes (with front baskets, of course), along with helmets and locks, for their guests to use.

The Maxwell’s sister hotel, the Watertown in the U District, already offers bikes to guests (though Bike Hugger was not involved) and has found them to be extremely popular.

“We want to promote Seattle’s bike-friendliness and promote a healthy lifestyle,” said Maxwell Hotel manager Lai Chin.

With only eight bikes planned for the stable, cycling is obviously going to be more of a niche at the hotel than a primary form of transportation. Still, the Maxwell deserves credit for offering their guests a free, clean, healthy option for exploring the city.

The Torker T-300 is on the lower end of the company’s commuter offerings, but it should be plenty of bike for hotel guests. The three-speed internally-geared hub will offer a wide-enough gear range for the flat roads and bike paths the bikes will mostly see; coaster braking is intuitive to most people; and rear racks and front baskets offer the requisite cargo-carrying capacity every good city bike needs.

Speaking from experience (I live a few blocks away from the hotel), the Maxwell is in a prime biking location for bicycling. Pike Place Market, the waterfront, and Pioneer Square are all readily accessibly by safe, relatively flat routes from lower Queen Anne, and a short, flat jaunt up Westlake Ave connects you to Fremont and, more importantly, the Burke-Gilman Trail.

The bike program hasn’t rolled out quite yet (the hotel just opened three weeks ago), but with any luck I’ll be seeing lots of blue Torker 3-speeds rolling through my neighborhood this summer.

Growing Up

As TYB.org is growing into its new role in the global advocacy community, we're still cutting our teeth. That being the case, we've started a new Facebook page for the organization that's different from the old group page. Check it out at

http://www.facebook.com/pages/TakeYourBikeorg/112386508795705

at subscribe as fan if you haven't already. It will be the only way to follow us on Facebook starting next week, when the group page gets taken down.

Thanks for following us - see you out riding!

It's Official!

The takeyourbike.org homepage is launched - check it out when you get the chance. Go to takeyourbike.org and be one of the first!

See you out riding!

An Article Worth Reading

David Byrne (yes, the same David Byrne from Talking Heads) is an avid commuter advocate. He's one of the good guys. And he also happens to be a good writer. Below is a link to his review of Jeff Mapes' "Pedaling Revolution", a cool book.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/books/review/Byrne-t.html

Mr. Byrne's own "Bicycle Diaries" is worth a read as well - it's a diary of his commuting experiences around the world. Fun stuff for those of you who are travel junkies as well as bike enthusiasts.

Hope you all get out riding soon! Rubber side down!

Takeyourbike.org launches tomorrow - be sure to check out the new site!

Biking in Colorado Springs!

Did 65 miles in Colorado Springs, CO yesterday - one of the most rewarding but hardest rides of my life. Headwinds over half the day and a lot of typical Colorado-style climbs. But I was rewarded with a nice, fast downhill every time. If you have a chance to make it to Colorado Springs and put some rubber down - do it. The Garden of the Gods is breathtaking.

Took the time to preach the TakeYourBike gospel to some CO Springs cyclists - Denver today to keep up the mission!