Smiles and a "Safety Cycle"

By -
This is what the smart women rode back in the day when the bicycle was new. The guys liked a little more of a risk, so they rode the "high wheeler", alternatively known as the "bone shaker", or the "penny farthing" (the larger wheel in front being the "penny", compared to the smaller wheel in back being the "farthing", both coins of the realm in the UK at the time of the introduction of the bicycle).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trail Route Discussion in New Haven

By -
Image
Here's a bold new idea for routing the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail through downtown New Haven. If you look closely at the photo above, you'll see a space between the tracks and the open area sloping down from the abutment along State St.. That's a service drive that Friends of the New Haven Farmington Canal Greenway are proposing to the City. But the City is nearing completion of engineering work on a completely different route that must be built or risk losing existing (and hard to come by) funding. Read more about it here . This is one of those situations that could be "lose/lose". If the City stops completion of engineering documents so that construction bidding and contracting cannot begin by 31 AUG 2013, they lose the $7.6 Million in funding earmarked for completion of the trail from Hillhouse Ave./Temple St. to Long Wharf. As the article states, the route proposed by FNHFCG is fraught with uncertainty: will the USPS agree to grant an easement t
Read more

Please contact CT DOT about this!

By -
Image
  This is a sketch of how an on-road bike lane should intersect with a railroad track crossing the road at a severe angle, as is the case on the proposed route of the multi-use trail at East Main St. (CT Rte. 372) here in Plainville. Such a feature allows the cyclist to cross the tracks at, or nearly at, a right angle with two important benefits: prevents the cyclist from having to swerve into the travel lane to make the crossing. prevents the possibility of getting a front wheel caught between the rail and the pavement if riding straight across and being thrown from the bicycle (this happened to me a few years ago, fortunately when the road was not very busy, because I wound up in the travel portion where cars would normally be on a busy day). This sketch has been shared with the Town Engineering staff, but they have no jurisdiction over a State road, so it was suggested that this be brought to the attention of CT Department of Transportation (CTDOT). I did this recently an
Read more

What can happen in communities even without a trail!

By -
Image
Bay Village and Rocky River are typical suburban communities on the shore of Lake Erie just west of Cleveland. For the last seven years, they have been quietly creating a highly successful biking culture among young people. I first encountered it in Bay Village in 2010, while I was riding there during a visit to family. I could not believe the great quantity of bikes I saw in front of two of the schools there (photo above). Now it has spread to Rocky River and beyond. Click  here  to read about what was happening in 2013.
Read more