Author: Steven Vance

Witness appeal

July 3, 2010 / / 0 Comments

In London and Greater London (but not the City of London), when the Metropolitan Police want the public’s help in their investigations of incidents and crimes, including traffic collisions, they erect “Witness Appeal Signs” near the scene.

“We are appealing for witnesses.” Singapore also uses these signs.

It seems in 2009, though, the Metropolitan Police banned the use of the signs except for traffic collisions. Some research indicated that the public perceived that, due to the presence of the signs, crime in the neighborhood was increasing. The Daily Mail article quoted one officer to say:

“They were placed where the crimes actually happened, so were very much targeted at people who might have seen something. Now that source of information has been cut off…”

The signs are placed and designed in such a way to be seen by people walking, biking, and driving near the scene of the incident.

How effective is this small sign posted on a pole compared to a bright Witness Appeal Sign in London?

I suggest that American police departments, Chicago’s included, look into installing similar signs for the most severe traffic collisions, starting with a bilingual “witness appeal sign” for the hit & run crash in Pilsen that killed Martha Gonzalez.

How the Danish have fun on bikes

June 30, 2010 / / 0 Comments

A cargo bike race occurs in Copenhagen each year. More than Danes compete. This year’s Danish Cargo Bike Championships was last Saturday, on June 26, 2010. You can read the rules in English on the official website.

It looks like a lot of fun. The modern incarnation was held first in 2009. Prior to last year’s race, there were competitions in the 20th century until 1960. View the race starting point on Google Maps, in Søren Kierkegaards Plads on the Copenhagen Harbor.

There’re races for three-wheeled bikes.

And there’re races for two-wheeled bikes. These two racers are riding Harry vs. Larry Bullitts. Harry vs. Larry was a sponsor for this year’s championships. You can buy Bullitts at Copenhagen Cyclery in Chicago, Illinois.

Racers have to carry car tires (see top photo) and if I were to race with my Yuba Mundo, I would need to practice at home. My Mundo doesn’t have a flatbed like the pictured bikes, which would make it easy to throw on an automobile tire.

What summer wants you to buy

June 26, 2010 / / 0 Comments

According to an ad I heard on the radio, Summer is the perfect time to buy a new Toyota Corolla or RAV4.

I wholeheartedly disagree. Summer is the perfect time to have an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, closing beaches and damaging Gulf economies.

Take a ride to an un-oiled beach with your friends and your bikes.

I mean…wait. It’s the perfect time to get a new or used bicycle for yourself, a neighbor or a friend!

Blue City Cycles, along with the 100+ other local bike shops in Chicagoland, are ready and willing to help you select or build a new or used bike.

More on Cities and Bicycles Forum with David Byrne

June 25, 2010 / / 0 Comments

I want to add more about the Cities and Bicycles Forum from Friday, June 18, 2010, with David Byrne and three Chicago-based speakers.

Randy sent me his presentation’s script and PowerPoint files (download the 4 MB PDF version). So you can either watch the video of him announcing 10 (really 9) ideas for Chicago and bikes, or you can read it.

David Byrne, Luann Hamilton, Jacky Grimshaw, and Randy Neufeld during the question and answer period.

Additionally, I want to link to Brian’s take on the event. Brian Morrissey is not a “bike insider” (I’m probably such a person), although he reverse commutes to the suburbs on his bike, races for xXx Racing-Athletico, and writes about it. Afterwards, check out John Greenfield’s article on New City for a summary of all four presentations.

Demonstrating off-street (on-sidewalk) bike parking in Chicago.

Chicago cycling cliques

June 24, 2010 / / 0 Comments

As part of what seems to be New City’s week of articles about all things bike in Chicago, John Alex Colón, wants to take you back to high school. The high school lunchroom specifically.

Who exudes more “cool” in this photo?

In “Even cycling has its ‘Mean Girls’,” he equates bike riding attitudes in Chicago to those of cliques, seating preferences, and what you had on your tray.

Always more important than mid-day nourishment was the decision to align yourself with a certain slice of the stratified, trajectory-defining social construct of the lunchroom. Similarly, with whom you choose to cycle and where you choose to cycle matters more in Chicago than that Salisbury steak you’re riding.

I understand John’s point of view, and I think I’ve witnessed such stratification in action, but I believe the people who engage in the uncultivating behavior of arbitrarily classifying other bike riders are few and far between. Go to a Critical Mass ride in the summer and you’ll meet people who wouldn’t think once about judging others on their choice in helmet wearing, or style and function of their bicycle. You’ll meet people who showed up because they heard 2,000 other people will, too, and they get to ride a bike.

Ride because you wanna ride!

Whatever the truth about biking in-crowds may be (or its prevalence), John and I both agree about how to deal with it: “My advice is to enjoy your ride no matter how you practice it, because you are part of it. Regardless of what you eat or what you ride, cycling culture exists because of your pedal power.”