What Women Want
As “an ‘indicator species’ for bike-friendly cities” – women being more risk averse than men – perhaps planners should consider what women find important.
Until women feel it is safe and easy to jump on a bike and head through town, the North American ratio of men: women cyclists (now 2:1), isn’t going to inch towards Europe’s ratio (1:1) anytime soon. As the lack of women riders generally indicates relative safety, this is a big part of the reason why North American statistics for trips by bicycle are also so poor compared to those of Europe. Less than 2% of trips are by bicycle in North America, while many European cities are well into double digits.
Have a look at this article from Scientific American.
Thanks to a feed via Momentum Magazine for sourcing this article.
Toronto Cyclists Union Thanks Drivers
After all, safer streets for everyone is the goal.
As part of the Toronto Cyclists Union new campaign: Paving The Way, 3000 thank you cards will be given out to motorists who get caught – doing something right.
A message from the Toronto Cyclists Union:
Now it’s time for the big push and we need your help!
We will be welcoming cyclist volunteers at 3pm tomorrow, Oct 21st, at the SE corner of King and John St. to pick up and give out Thank You cards to drivers who give some ’shoulder room’ to cyclists in the area. We’ll need to do a little demo for media – but mostly, this will be a chance to learn about how best to deliver these cards on your daily commute. Let’s show Torontonians, via the media who will be attending, what the Toronto cycling community is all about!
TOMORROW: October 21st, 2009
TIME: 3pm – 4pm
WHERE: South East Corner King and John.** Please note – Thank You cards are available for pick up ANYTIME at the Centre for Social Innovation, Suite 400 – just ask for the bike union at the front desk.
How’s your tire pressure?
On this morning’s commute I ended up at a lot of stoplights, so I had extra time to look around. Yes, I do stop at lights (except at some T intersections, where I am riding along the top of the T and not crossing a perpendicular road), and I do not proceed until the light is green and see that turning cars etc. have cleared the intersection.
As I waited, I noticed most bikes that were stopped with me had under-inflated tires. Once I had this in mind, I did an informal mobile survey and saw under-inflated bicycle tires on almost every bike. Proper inflation is important on bicycles. Under-inflated tires can: cause flats ; will make you work harder and give you less control. Over-inflation can cause flats as well and it greatly increase the roughness of your ride. There’s great information on tires and inflation here. Actually Sheldon Brown has built a web site that is the best repository of usable and understandable(mostly) bicycle advice available.
How much air pressure should your tires have? Have a look at this little chart from Michelin.
I commute on two bikes a STRiDA and a Devinci. My STRiDA has 18″ Schwalbe tires which are marked Min 50 Max 85, so to is the recommended pressure on the Devinci’s tires. I weigh 185, so I keep them at 85.
There are some differences and strategies for tire inflation when racing or mountain biking, but for commuting and touring you should check often and follow the advice above.
