In honor of Earth Day

Pretty much anyone involved with pedicabs agrees that it's a green industry. We tout rickshaws as earth-friendly, zero-emissions, human-powered, pedal-powered, environmental, ecological, low carbon footprint, and all those other buzz words popular in today's global warming lexicon.

In honor of Earth Day, here are a few statistics to reinforce the value of pedal cabs in your community.

60,000,000 - The number of plastic bottles thrown into U.S. landfills each day. It takes 1.5 million barrels of crude oil each year to produce these bottles - translating into enough fuel to run 100,000 cars for a year.

45,000,000 - The number of barrels of oil saved each year by using public transportation.

2,150,000 - The number of barrels of oil saved if 100,000 homes installed eco-friendly geothermal heating systems.

2,000 - The number of coal-fired power plants located in China. (One new power plant goes into operation every 4 to 7 days in China).

13 - The number of pounds a person would lose if they walked one half hour a day instead of riding or driving a motor vehicle. If every US citizen between the ages of 10 to 74 walked this equivalent each day rather than drive, our carbon dioxide emissions would be decreased by 64 million tons.

3,000,000,000 - Gallons of gas wasted each year due to traffic congestion. Since much pollution is caused while traffic is slowed or stalled due to congestion, many people mistakenly think that this pollution can be prevented by decreasing congestion. Unfortunately that doesn't work, as every attempt to facilitate traffic flow simply results in more traffic. More roads seem to lead to more cars on the roads.

117 - Bicycling is 117% more efficient than walking.

54 - Gallons of gas saved annually by using a bicycle to commute four days a week for four miles (each way). [That's approximately $190 US at today's gas prices]

30 - percent of morning traffic caused by parents dropping their kids off at school.

15 - In 2004, fewer than 15% of children and adolescents use active modes of transportation to or from school. In 1969, approximately half of all schoolchildren walked or bicycled to or from school, and 87% of those living within 1 mile of school walked or bicycled. (CDC report)

36 - Walking is 36 times more dangerous than driving, because Americans lack safe places to walk (e.g. trend towards fewer sidewalks and crosswalks). In 59% of cases for which information is available, pedestrians died in places where they could not find a crosswalk.

55 - On average, states spent just 55 cents per person of their federal transportation funds on pedestrian projects in the years studied, less than 1% of their total federal transportation dollars. Average spending on highways came to $72 per person.

100 - The number of bicycles that could be produced using the energy and resources needed to build one medium-sized car.

40 - Percentage of oil used daily in the U.S. by Cars and SUVs.

Resources:
cleanairsys.com
Bicycleuniverse.info
Scorecard.org

Google Maps - “Bike There” Petition

GoogleMapsBikeThere.org was created to ask Google to help make the world safer for bicyclists by adding bicycle routes to Google Maps. Consider signing the petition, Google just might listen. Adding the “Bike There” option to the Google Maps toolbar of “Drive There” and “Take Public Transit” would be a valuable tool for both everyday and new cyclists to find routes, at home and on the road.

(creatively borrowed from Urban Velo)

Ed Begley Jr. interviewed in a pedicab

Hold onto your hats, boys and girls! This video clip at The New York Times web site will blow you away! If you have a wind turbine handy this story may actually put energy back on the grid.

Thanks, Peter, for posting this on Rickshaw Forum:
"Ed Begley, Jr., goes for a ride with NY Times science reporter and discusses serious environmental issues on a pedicab.....fresh video reporting on New York Times. And the pedicab is treated seriously."

At the end of the video, Begley lauds pedicabs as "the best way to get around Manhattan."

A Eco-Chat With Ed Begley Jr.

Sheldon Brown has ridden into the sunset

There has been a loss of one of the greatest known wrenches. We all lost Sheldon Brown recently after he suffered a massive heart attack.


Sheldon Brown's website is know as one of the best, and in my opinion is THE BEST, single cycling web resource. Years ago, in the early days of my wrenching when I needed information I would always go to Sheldon's website and almost always find what I needed. His website was one of my first web surfing experiences.

His humor is something that always makes me giggle like a little kid when I read it. I spent hours and hours at his website reading everything I could and still go there when I need more. His writing was always in a style that made it easily understood and approachable for anyone who want to give it a go.

I want to thank Sheldon for all his help for me and the shop I worked in.

May Sheldon always be riding his bike where ever he is with every gear shift smooth, brakes working perfectly and every bearing running smooth as silk. I know every bike he will touch will match what he expects in his own. I for one will miss him as will the entire cycling community. RIP Sheldon Brown

Winter Cycling Has Its Own Rewards

Winter Cycling Has Its Own Rewards
By TERRENCE PETTY
Associated Press Writer
Posted: Feb. 12, 2008 at WRAL.com

PORTLAND, Ore. — Studded tires for bikes? Sure. You can also get chains if you want to join the intrepid cyclists who commute to work on two-wheelers during the winter, or who just want to have fun in the snow.

"I've been riding a bicycle for my main transportation for over 30 years. It's a force of habit," says John Schwenker, a 51-year-old aerospace engineer who lives near Boulder, Colorado

He rides four miles to his office and four miles back, even in the snow.

"It's a matter of going slow in the stuff," he says.

Bikes aren't just for sunny summer weather. There are those across the country - whether for environmental reasons, fun or fitness - who so love cycling that they ride year-round, pretty much regardless of the weather.

It may sound masochistic, letting sleet, rain and snow lacerate your face while you try to stay upright on a bike. But there's something weirdly liberating about hurling yourself into the elements - as long as you're smart about it.

WHAT TO WEAR:

Beware hypothermia. Wear layers, and clothing that breathes. It may be cold outside, but as you pedal through snow and cold rain you are going to heat up and sweat. Invest in a good foul-weather cycling jacket. Some riders wear heavy-duty cycling tights. Some wear snow pants. For the base layer - the clothing closest to your skin - stay away from cotton because it will feel wet and cold. Synthetics are better, and cyclists are rediscovering wool. Check with local cyclists to see what works in your conditions.

For footwear, some swear by the same style of "clipless" racing shoes they use during the fair-weather months - the kind of shoes that lock into the bike's pedals. If you go that route, get some neoprene booties to wear over the shoes and help keep out moisture and cold.

In colder climates, consider wearing regular winter boots for warmth. Use them with platform pedals, rather than clipless ones.

For gloves, look for something that will keep out the moisture and cold but also let your skin breathe. One option is the "lobster glove," so called because it looks like a big claw. You could also use weatherproof "bullwinkles," or "pogies," which resemble oven mitts and go over the handlebars. You slip your hands into them.

Besides a helmet, you'll need something over your head to keep in body heat. A balaclava would be a good choice.

RIDE SAFELY:

Make sure you are visible to motorists. Get a headlight that can be seen from a distance, and a blinking taillight that's also bright. In fact, consider getting more than one taillight. Put one on the back of your helmet and attach others to various places on your bike. Light yourself up like a Christmas tree.

Slow down. In snow, sleet or rain, it will take longer to come to a stop than on a dry road. If it doesn't feel safe, stay off the bike.

When you come to an intersection, make eye contact with motorists getting ready to pull into the street to be sure they see you.

Adapt your speed and riding style to the conditions. Powdery snow can be easy to ride through, but it depends how much there is. If there's ice beneath it, the going can be really tricky. Snow packed down by a snowplow can be fun to ride on, but again, be on the alert for ice. Riding through accumulations of wet snow can be exhausting. Gear down and spin through it.

YOUR BIKE:

Winter is brutal on a bicycle. If you want to ride on a regular basis in bad weather, acquire a "sacrificial bike," something cheap that you won't weep over when it's become mechanically useless.

Riders in the Pacific Northwest have "rain bikes" for winter's long rainy season. Some of the bikes have old steel or aluminum frames, come from a junkyard or were bought for a song. Some are sturdy mountain bikes or bikes built for cyclocross.

A rain bike needs fenders. Without them, rainwater and wet muck splashes all over your back - and into the face of anyone riding behind you.

In regions where winter is more snowy than rainy, foul-weather riders also tend to choose old clunkers, mountain bikes and others that can take a beating.

In Green Bay, Wisconsin, for instance, Mike Gerke rides every day of the year. The 50-year-old operates a pedicab; uses a bike for his office-cleaning business; and also just rides for the fun of it - racking up between 8,000 and 12,000 miles a year.

During the winter, Gerke sometimes uses a "fixed-gear" bike, a stripped-down variety with fewer moving parts to break or get gunked up. When snow is beginning to accumulate, he might ride his mountain bike instead.

"The wider stance of the mountain bike, with wider tires, helps give you stability," Gerke said.

Schwenker, of Boulder, rides a cruiser-style bike with braking mechanisms on the hubs of both wheels, rather than rim brakes, which can clog with snow and are less reliable in wet conditions.

Whether you are riding in snow or rain, choose a durable tire because in the winter there's more junk on the road that can slice a tire. Many riders choose mountain bike tires for snow because of their knobby tread. For added traction, you can buy them with studs. Sometimes Schwenker wraps chains onto his tires.

THE PAYOFF:

In Portland, there's a hard-core group of riders who can't wait for winter. For them, riding out into farm country while clouds nudge against the Cascade foothills and rain pours down can be nearly mystical.

Todd Gee of Chicago also knows the feeling. A 37-year-old computer programmer, Gee takes part in snow rides in the Windy City. The group meets early in the evening, then rides to the lakefront or some other pleasant place.

"One of the nice things about snow rides - it's very quiet," said Gee. "Snow deadens the constant noise of the city."

Funny thing... this article was written for a Portland, Oregon audience, appeared on a web site for a television station in Raleigh, North Carolina, and features 2 people we know -- Mike Gerke (gike) in Green Bay, Wisconsin and John Schwenker in Boulder, Colorado. It's a small world after all!

Bicycles change lives

The tagline for World Bicycle Relief is "The Power of Bicycles" which is truly illustrated in this article posted at MSNBC about their work delivering bicycles to needy people in Zambia. In developed nations, we take so much for granted - like the bicycles most of us ride for fun or exercise.

World Bicycle Relief, the vision of F.K. Day of Chicago, is a stunningly simple idea.

It delivers tens of thousands of bicycles to the poorest people in the world. Why? Because simple transportation improves people’s lives more than you can imagine.

All of a sudden, a child can get to school, a parent can find work, and a rural medical worker can reach eight families with AIDS. Farmers can transport extra corn. A father can walk one hour a day instead of seven. Emergencies can be dealt with. Neighbors can get a message. Income increases. Nutrition improves. All because people have wheels, and they can move. Think what your life would be without your car, and you get the idea.

Read the complete article at MSNBC's Worldblog.

Find out more about World Bicycle Relief at their web site. While you're there, check out the page on the impact of bicycles. Did you know that over equal units of time, one can ride a bicycle 4 times the distance as one walking? Cool, huh?