Tag Archives: bikes

cyclist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UiZaIKqu7pM#

A fabulously bad-tempered, quickly escalating, NSFW bike-car confrontation yesterday in East Hanover Street, Dublin.

The man on the bike writes:

This was my 43rd kilometre [of the] morning and I was almost at the end. I wasn’t suffering fools lightly at this point.

 

Previously: Cycling Lessons, You Say?

Thanks Dec Byrne

bike1bike2Shane writes:

I thought you might enjoy this. Every morning at the bike park at my local train station here in Japan, the police go around with bright yellow tags marking all the UNLOCKED bicycles.

On the back of the tags it explains to the owners that by not locking them, they make the bikes more vulnerable to theft. On the front it says ‘Crime Prevention • Let’s Lock Our Bikes!’.  An irony that can only exist in a country with no street crime.

full_1367443947ScreenShot2013-05-01at5.31.59PMThe world’s friendliest bike cities in 2013, as judged by two-wheeled advocacy group Copenhagenize, [whose clients include Ireland’s National Transport Authority].

With Dublin at number six ninee eleventh, just behind damn fixie-clogged Berlin.

The large numbers denote key criteria including: has the city planned for bike racks? Are roads designed for bikes? And will i get my bike nicked? is there a strong bike culture in a city?

So why Dublin?

09_dublin_copenhagenize_index_2013

Sez Copenhagenize:

Dublin is the Great Bike Hope among Emerging Bicycle Cities. Visionary political will can be all too fleeting but the city seems to keep on pushing forward. The city still has bicycles on the brain and the National Transport Authority is trying to provide a tailwind. Dublin’s incredibly successful bike share programme has been instrumental in reestablishing the bicycle on the urban landscape. Now larger-scale infrastructure projects and a city-wide cycling strategy can take the city to the next level as it tackles rising urbanisation with little room left for more cars. 30 km/h zones and bicycle infrastructure have combined to make Dublin the safest EU capital.

With a modal share of 7.5%, the city centre can sometimes boast of double digits. An incredible rise over just six or so years. Dublin is the only city after Amsterdam and Copenhagen to retain their placement on the Index. They scored high on the bonus points. They remain an inspiration and a city to watch.

 

It gets better:

As we wrote in 2011, “The leading bicycle city in the Anglo-Saxon world got to where they are because of ballsy political decision-making. A bridgehead is established.”

It looks like Dublin has kept the bridgehead secure and is now moving forward into the battle to make their city more liveable and worthy of this new century. Keep the momentum and don’t be afraid to push it harder.

 

Steady on.

The World’s Top Bike-Friendly Cities (Goodis)

Explore the Copenhagenize Index here

Thanks Spaghetti Hoop

An easy crime.

But does it pay?

It’s dead simple to steal a bike and the consequences are near zero. You can resell stolen bikes. If you want to get a good price for a stolen bicycle, it requires a decent amount of work. That amount of work is what limits the bike theft trade from really flourishing. Criminal masterminds have an opportunity cost for their time; they can’t be messing around lugging heavy pieces of metal and rubber that are only in limited demand.

So, if your bike ever gets stolen, you can at least take solace in the fact that the illicit bike trade isn’t a very easy way to make a lot of money. That probably won’t make you feel any better though.

 

What Happens to Stolen Bicycles?(Pricenomics.com)

Thanks Simon Judge