Stimulus Package to give Albuqerque cyclists a Rio Grande crossing

Fed funds revive Rio Grande bike bridge

$7.4 million project in works for 10 years

Updated: Friday, 27 Mar 2009, 10:05 PM MDT
Published : Friday, 27 Mar 2009, 10:04 PM MDT

• Web Producer: Bill Diven

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Albuquerqueans longing for another river crossing are about to get one, but it will be for bicycles, not cars.

You suppose we should have had a shovel-ready project to get bicyclists across the Los Alamos Canyon without having to share a single, seven foot sidewalk with pedestrians?

Cycling Instructor and LAPD Discussed Cycling Do's and Don’ts on KRSN

Muchas Gracias to radio station KRSN for hosting this and to Det. Williams and Ms. Clark for participating.

The Monitor article associated with this radio show is here.

Photo by Carol A. Clark of the Los Alamos Monitor. On the left is Det. Williams, on the right, my mug.

Sucks to be Lance

Photo from Velonews, with link embedded in picture.

Lance Armstrong crashed out of the first stage of the Vuelta a Castilla y León with a broken collarbone. Apparently, someone overlapped wheels in the field and Lance went down hard in the cluster-crash. Did that myself during a training ride in1990, being the instigator in the overlapped wheel contest. Have to agree with Lance as to the effect on Mr. Psyche: "I feel miserable right now so I have to relax a few days."

Yeah, relax with some painkillers and then, as my orthopaedic surgeon Kent Davenport told me that year, take your time getting back on the bike and have a few cold ones in the interim.

Get well soon, Tex.

When is a roadside memorial not a roadside memorial?

Click on the picture for the Journal piece.

State law says you have to respect roadside memorials. So why was this one, put up for Roy Sekreta, immediately taken down? Stay tuned.

There is one legal loophole. See section C.

30-15-7. Desecration of roadside memorials; penalty.

A. A person shall not knowingly or willfully deface or destroy, in whole or in part, a descanso, also known as a memorial, placed alongside a public road right of way to memorialize the death of one or more persons.

B. A person who violates the provisions of Subsection A of this section is:

(1) for a first offense, guilty of a petty misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be sentenced pursuant to the provisions of Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978; and

(2) for a second and subsequent offense, guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be sentenced pursuant to the provisions of Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978.

C. The provisions of this section shall not apply to law enforcement officials or other employees of the state or a political subdivision of the state who in the course of the lawful discharge of their duties move or remove a descanso that obstructs or damages any public road in this state or to an owner of private property upon which a descanso is located.

Seems to me the government can only take it down if it is obstructing something. Put up a new memorial with flowers and a smaller ghost bike or perhaps just the bicycle wheels, and make sure it doesn't obstruct the public road in any way. Then file the lawsuit if it gets taken down.

Another gruesome double murder in New Mexico

Can't we just put these clowns away? This is what really kills people: the lack of intestinal fortitude to hold people accountable.

Police: Driver kills 2 in crash

'Highly intoxicated' Santa Fean in van hits pair on motorcycle ride

Making Cycling Irresistable

Entire article is about 35 pages. Found the link to this on the League of American Bicyclists home page.

http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/Irresistible.pdf

Making Cycling Irresistible: Lessons from
The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany

JOHN PUCHER and RALPH BUEHLER
Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA

(Received 9 July 2007; revised 16 October 2007; accepted 11 November 2007)

ABSTRACT This article shows how the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany have made bicycling a safe, convenient and practical way to get around their cities. The analysis relies on national aggregate data as well as case studies of large and small cities in each country. The key to achieving high levels of cycling appears to be the provision of separate cycling facilities along heavily travelled roads and at intersections, combined with traffic calming of most residential neighbourhoods. Extensive cycling rights of way in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany are complemented by ample bike parking, full integration with public transport, comprehensive traffic education and training of both cyclists and motorists, and a wide range of promotional events intended to generate enthusiasm and wide public support for cycling. In addition to their many pro-bike policies and programmes, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany make driving expensive as well as inconvenient in central cities through a host of taxes and restrictions on car ownership, use and parking. Moreover, strict land-use policies foster compact, mixed-use developments that generate shorter and thus more bikeable trips. It is the coordinated implementation of this multifaceted, mutually reinforcing set of policies that best explains the success of these three countries in promoting cycling. For comparison, the article portrays the marginal status of cycling in the UK and the USA, where only about 1% of trips are by bike.

John Forester's critique of this and some earlier work are here.

Another opinion is offered by my Ph.D. adviser, Gil Hanson. Gil is also a serious road cyclist and bike commuter back at suburban SUNY, Stony Brook, on Eastern Long Island. He wrote Bicycling in Muenster, Germany after spending a sabbatical there.