Steven Can Plan
Currently viewing the tag: "Bicycling"
I don’t recommend it.
2012
![Array](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/4658951648_37d803839e.jpg "Every year, the Active Transportation Alliance (formerly the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation) puts on Bike The Drive, where Lake Shore Drive is closed for four hours to registered bicycle riders.
Music is "Rotator" by Moby, from <a href=\"http://mobygratis.com\" rel=\"nofollow\">mobygratis.com</a>
Watch this <a href=\"http://vimeo.com/12166211\" rel=\"nofollow\">video</a> on Vimeo. Video created by <a href=\"http://vimeo.com/stevevance\" rel=\"nofollow\">Steven Vance</a>.
Filmed using a <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesbondsv/4661357837/in/photostream/\">studio clamp</a> from Calumet Photo.
<a href=\"http://www.stevevance.net/planning/closed-for-a-good-cause/\" rel=\"nofollow\">Seen in my blog</a>.")
2010
2008
I guess I have some sort of two-year anniversary for doing it.
Read about the new Bucktown bike based business Urban Street Window Works on Grid Chicago. They wash windows, remove graffiti, and apply film to protect from acid etching.
I took this photo to capture the sign, which I think has design problems. I didn’t know when taking it that it’d help me illustrate this story. The issue is this: From the left lane, one can make a left turn at an obtuse angle or an acute angle, but not two obtuse left turns. The same is true for the right lane: you can make an acute or obtuse right turn, but not two obtuse right turns.
On my ride home from Pequod’s Pizza tonight, I stopped at a red light in the left-most lane (there are two lanes, see photo) at Clybourn Avenue and Belmont Avenue, getting ready to turn left from northwest-bound Clybourn onto westbound Belmont.
A guy in a car behind me peaks his head out the window and asks, “Buddy could you move right a little bit?”
“I’m turning onto Belmont”, I explain, while pointing in the direction of Belmont Avenue and my specific left turn.
“So am I”, he says.
“Then according to that sign [to which I pointed], we’re both in the correct lane!”, I reply. (See photo of the sign.) I don’t remember if he said anything beyond that. I made the left turn, with he behind me, and when he passed me in the left lane (while I was cycling in the right lane) he honked.
Illinois licenses the dumbest drivers.
Mikael Colville-Anderson posted a link to this photo set called Conversation Cycling (his photo above). The concept of Conversation Cycling is simple:
Build a bikeway so two people can cycle side-by-side to have a pleasant chat.
I want this for Chicago. When you ride with friends, how would you prefer to ride: yelling ahead in our narrow bike lanes or conversing to the side? This is sometimes possible on the Lakefront Trail, but not always: the Lakefront Trail’s maximum width is the same as the standard with for cycle tracks in Europe!
Bike lanes in the United States, when they’re available and not being parked in, are not even wide enough for one person to ride without danger of being doored. It’s not surprising this is the case. In addition to how we prioritize the movement of automobiles and the placement of parking before pedaling, the national minimum width for a bike lane is 4 feet (without gutter), or 5 feet when next to parked cars or with a gutter.
I gathered some hard evidence: My handlebars are 28 inches wide. The door of my roommate’s car is 32 inches wide. 28+32 = 60 inches, or 5 feet. And that’s without a buffer. Essentially, bike lanes as we’ve built them are not compatible with the rest of the street.
Two Department of Revenue workers cycle side by side, meeting the edges of the bike lane, on Armitage Avenue in Lincoln Park. Photo by Mike Travis.
Door zone bike lanes are not unique to any American city. Illustration by Gary Kavanagh.
A group cycles on Damen Avenue in and out of the bike lane. Photo by Eric Rogers.
About Steven Can Plan
I started this blog in 2007 as the writing assignment for an introductory urban planning class at UIC. It's about cities (mainly Chicago), GIS oftentimes, and transportation (mainly bicycling). Learn more about me, Steven Vance. I also write for Streetsblog Chicago.
Steven Can Plan is hosted on Dreamhost.
Chicago Bike Map App
The Chicago Bike Map app is a bike and street map stored entirely in your iOS device – no data connection required. The map is designed to look much like the City of Chicago's official printed and online bike map. The app works on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
- Download from the iTunes Store
- Demo the app online
- On iOS, search for "chicago bike map" in the App Store app
Highly Recommended Bike Products
So far I haven't had a flat with this tire. I've used Continental Gatorskin and Panaracer T-Serv, both of which have had flats (same Chicago streets). The Gatorskin has less tread than both, and wears to a slick surface faster.
Brooks B67 leather sprung saddle
So far my longest trip was 40 miles on this saddle. It molds to your butt like Birkenstock sandals mold to your feet. The springs make the bike ride a little more comfortable and more fun (weird, because you bounce up and down on them). It also looks gorgeous. Comes in 3 colors - I got black.
Detours Toocan utility pannier
I've used this pannier to carry groceries, books, my laptop, clothing, anything. I like it because it's stylish (but also "normal" looking at the same time), stands up on its own, is extremely durable, and has the most universal attachment system: two hooks.
Books
Joyride: Pedaling Toward A Healthier Planet by Mia Birk, With Joe (Metal Cowboy) Kurmaskie, Joe Kurmaskie, Jim Moore
I met Mia Birk in October 2011.
Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) by Tom Vanderbilt
As someone who doesn't like driving, but believes that cars can be efficient in moving groups of people and goods, this is my favorite book.
The Practice of Local Government Planning (Municipal Management Series) by
You could basically design and administer a new town kind of effectively after reading this huge and boring textbook.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities (50th Anniversary Edition) (Modern Library) by Jane Jacobs
Making Maps: A Visual Guide to Map Design for GIS by John Krygier PhD, Denis Wood PhD
If you are going to make a map, whether it be hand drawn or digital, you should really give this book a read. Then read it every time you make a map. It will help make sure your maps are laid out sensibly, in a way that others can easily read, and that it doesn't include fluff or unnecessary data.
It snowed in Amsterdam
And as we like to say in Chicago, Amsterdammers also said “it was no big deal”.
I love what you see happening in this photo. A person cycling across the intersection is looking back at a white van and a streetcar that seem like they’re going to collide. But no one will hit each other. [...]
And as we like to say in Chicago, Amsterdammers also said “it was no big deal”.
I love what you see happening in this photo. A person cycling across the intersection is looking back at a white van and a streetcar that seem like they’re going to collide. But no one will hit each other. The Netherlands has the lowest crash rate in the world.