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Two Wheels and High Heels | Sightline Daily

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Two Wheels and High Heels

Ten lessons from the great cycling cities.

Christine Grant on January 23, 2012 at 10:08 am

In the Seattle suburb where I grew up, the main transportation choice most residents face is what kind of car to buy. I moved to Seattle after college and, inspired by the “car-lite” lifestyles of several friends, decided to give cycling a try.

I fell in love with it. Urban cycling freed me from slow buses, parking meters, and mind-numbing elliptical machines. I arrived at work with more energy. I lost weight. I discovered charming neighborhood restaurants. I could smell fresh laundry and dinners in the oven while I pedaled home through residential streets. Getting from A to B on my bike became the best part of my day.

Recently, I won a fellowship and got to spend six months living life on two wheels in the world’s most bike-friendly cities. I brought home ten lessons, and thousands of photographs, for Cascadia:

1.) It’s the infrastructure, stupid! Amazing infrastructure makes cycling normal and safe in bike meccas, but not yet in the Northwest. For example, parked cars to the left of the bike lane not only provide a barrier between motorized traffic and cyclists, they also minimize a cyclist’s chance of getting “doored.” Most cars in Denmark (pictured) only have one occupant, the driver, and drivers get out on the left. Same goes for the Northwest.

Bikes move at different speeds than cars or pedestrians, so intersections are safer for cyclists if they have their own traffic signal rhythm. Cyclists in Copenhagen generally get a slight head start over cars so that they’ll be more visible as they cross the intersection. In the picture below, the light is red for cars, but the smaller light for cyclists is green.

2.) Bike share! Bike share! Bike share! Bike share! Bike share! Bike-share programs are sweeping the world but not, as yet, Cascadia. They are very successful at boosting bike numbers. Apparently, people used to point and stare if you were pedaling in Barcelona. Bicing, Barcelona’s bike share program, has changed that in just a few years. Bicing started in 2007 and quickly tripled cycling trips according to Miquel Ruscalleda, who directs Barcelona’s cycling efforts.

Currently 46 percent of the people you see on bikes in Barcelona are on bright red Bicing bikes.

Ruscalleda also reports that the “safety in numbers” phenomenon is working in his city. Cyclists had a .008 percent chance of being in a traffic accident in 2005 and the rate has dropped to around .005 percent presently. About 130,000 trips are made each day in Paris on public bikes thanks to the Vélib’ bike-share program.

3.) It’s safer than a sofa. Sedentary living doubles the risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and obesity. Combating diseases of sedentary living requires 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day—a minimum more and more people around the world are unable to meet. “Why not introduce a broad, carefully conceived invitation to people to walk and bicycle as much as possible in connection with their daily activities?” asks Jan Gehl, a Danish urban quality consultant. Almost 40 percent of Copenhagen residents meet their minimum exercise requirements by cycling to work or school. Copenhagen’s Public Health Department calculates that even when accident costs are factored in, every mile of cycling translates to net health benefits worth 0.99€. A recent public health campaign in Copenhagen reminded residents that, “you’re safer on your bike than on the sofa!”

4.) Say “thank you.” Cyclists also save city governments money by reducing traffic congestion, stormwater run-off, air pollution, and road maintenance expenditures. Many cities are doing little things to show their gratitude. Barcelona recently installed a counter on a main route displaying the time, temperature, bike count for the day and progress toward the official annual ridership goal for that route.

Copenhagen has begun putting in footrests at intersections. They say, “Hi, cyclist! Rest your foot here…and thank you for cycling in the city!”

5.) Forget speed bumps and “children at play” signs: turn streets into backyards. Dutch road engineer Hans Monderman hated traffic signs in cities and towns. His reasoning was simple. Most drivers don’t look at signs. Speed bumps and stop signs also don’t do much because drivers are notorious for accelerating to “make-up time” after each interruption. Monderman redesigned Dutch towns so that drivers felt like they were passing through someone’s backyard. Monderman’s “backyard” plans called for street furniture—benches, picnic tables, sand boxes, pea patches, trees, flowerpots, and ping pong tables. Drivers either saw or sensed the presence of people and children, and basic social laws kicked in. It isn’t polite to speed through someone’s backyard. Many residential streets throughout Europe, like the one pictured below in Basel, Switzerland, now embody Monderman’s principles.

6.) Let prices tell the truth. Donald Shoup, an economist and the author of The High Cost of Free Parking says, “People who want to store their car shouldn’t store it on the most valuable land on the planet, for free.” Street parking is typically 3.42€ per hour in European cities. Filling up a tank of gas in Japan will cost you about 5.5€ per gallon, and gas prices in most European countries are also much higher than in the Northwest.

7.) You don’t need “bike clothes.” Most of the women and men I saw on bicycles throughout Europe and Japan didn’t wear special clothes. People just wore their usual outfits, heels and all.

Women from London to Tokyo looked beautiful, stylish and feminine while they were cycling.

Men frequently pedaled in suits.

“Style over speed,” says Mikael Colville-Anderson who started the Cycle Chic movement.

8.) Electrify it. A cargo bike with two kids and groceries (below) can be hard to get up hills.

That’s why many parents in hilly Zurich, Switzerland, use electric-assist bikes. They can also help people who are battling obesity or recovering from a heart attack. A bike shop owner I interviewed in Zurich makes custom electric-assist bicycles (below) for disabled customers who would otherwise be dependent on public transportation.

9. ) Admit it: It’s emotional. Smell and touch are the senses most linked to our emotions. In Europe and Japan, I spoke with dozens of urban cyclists who talked about the curious happiness derived from activating your senses and connecting with your city on a bicycle. One Amsterdam father’s voice actually cracked with emotion as he reflected on his morning and afternoon rides with his son. His toddler sat in a front-mounted childseat. The father talked about how nice it was to smell his son’s head during the commute to day care. Spending a fraction of the day exposed to the elements is refreshing for many people and the human-pace of cycling allows us to notice details about our community that we’d otherwise miss.

10.) It’s a virtuous circle—or cycle. “Cycling isn’t just a part of the Dutch DNA,” Marc van Woudenberg told me in Amsterdam—where 47 percent of residents make at least one trip per day on a bicycle. The Dutch have the highest rates of utility cycling in the world because citizens have made it clear to politicians that cycling infrastructure is a priority. Better infrastructure recruits more people onto bikes, which creates more advocates for better infrastructure, which recruits more people onto bikes, and so on. Today, the Dutch continue to advocate for infrastructure that will facilitate cycling—like this secure bike parking facility at the train station in Groningen, Holland.

After six months on my bicycling wanderjahr, I’m inspired by all the creative ways cities are transforming themselves to meet the needs of the 21st century: low on carbon, high on physical activity, low on noise and danger, high on fun and style. Here in Cascadia, we have exciting opportunities to join the world’s great bike cities and redefine urban transportation on two wheels.

Christine M. Grant frequently wears heels when she cycles in Seattle. You can read more about the cycling cities she visited on her blog Shift. Alan Durning edited this post.

10 Reasons to bike in the city. | TheUrbanLifeGuide.com

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10: You get ultra-cool tan lines!
We’ll start with a fun one, and you can laugh if you want. We wear our cycling tans like a badge of honor, a sign of our healthy lifestyle choices, a tangible token of membership to an exclusive group. It says, “hey, I ride a bike,” or “I grow turnips.” Either way, or both, people are bound to be impressed at the beach.Enjoy the sights, sounds and smells! Just be sure to use sunblock so you don’t overdo it!

9. You see your city like drivers can’t!
On two wheels and moving at a comfortable pace you can enjoy your environment and see, smell and hear things you never notice in a car. Which of your neighbors has the best-landscaped yard? What bakeries smell so good you just have to stop? How many different architectural styles can you spot? On a bicycle you can take the scenic route and explore and become a tourist in your own city. Every ride is an adventure.

8. All those we-miss-you cards from your doctor!
Pedaling only 10mph, a 140-pound cyclist burns about 400 calories an hour. And studies prove that biking a few times a week reduces blood pressure and stress while increasing your energy and elevating your overall mood. Your doctor may have to wait a little longer to buy that yacht!

7. You never get stuck in traffic and always have a great parking spot!
If you ride in a city and bike during commuting hours you’ll love being able to cruise past long lines of held up at red lights (be sure to watch carefully for right-turning traffic who might not see you). While drivers breathe exhaust (studies have shown that cyclists breathe less exhaust), and honk at each other, you feel the breeze and enjoy the sights off the roadside. Not to mention that you always get a great parking spot and often even beat your coworkers who drive to work.

6. You have one less car payment and don’t pay registration or insurance fees, either!
According to our very unscientific study (read: quick Google search), the average car payment is 380.37€ a month. On top of that, add the cost of insurance, registration, gas, maintenance, etc. By eliminating that vehcile and using your bicycle instead, just think of all the bike gear you can buy!

5. You find cool free stuff on the side of the road!
By observing the flotsam and jetsam along America’s streets and highways, you never know what you may find. Loose change, designer sunglasses, cool tools, 15.21€ bills — heck, maybe an entire bag of money? Of course, you’ll have to come back to grab that awesome Naugahyde sofa with the “free” sign you spotted on someone’s lawn.Cycling is great for you, not so much for your doctor.

4. You can cancel your gym membership!
Riding outside sure beats the treadmill, elliptical machines and the three pieces of cardio equipment you still haven’t figured out. No waiting in line for those machines, either. Best, you’ll no longer have to spot for Rocko while he’s bench-pressing weights equivalent to a small car.

3. You’ll never be late for work again!
Because you can avoid traffic and cruise faster than jammed vehicles, it’s likely you’ll commute faster on 2 wheels and never be late again. Plus, if you are late sometime, it’ll probably be because you decided to take the scenic route in. We’ve done it, too. But tell your boss instead that you got a flat tire. We know you can fix a flat tire in a matter of minutes, but he doesn’t. And, he should be impressed that you’re making the effort to bike in, keeping yourself healthy in the process and saving a parking space for someone else.

2. Cyclists make better lovers!
According to a study led by Dr. Romualdo Belardinelli, director of the Lancisi Heart Institute in Ancona, Italy, the results of aerobic exercise are comparable to those of Viagra, because both widen blood vessels. Hmmm… that’s a little scary. Our point is that regular exercise like cycling, will make you feel better, increase your energy and even help you look better, too. All of which make you more interesting to and interested in the opposite sex.

1. Bicycling is a Fountain of Youth!
It’s an amazing thing. You feel younger and actually get more years out of your muscles, joints and organs simply by using your highly capable self to pedal around instead of sitting statue-like behind that steering wheel. In fact, cycling might just be the closest thing you can find to a genuine Fountain of Youth. Like few other sports it keeps you fit and young with very little risk of injury. For example, we know plenty of 55-year-old regular riders who look and move like they’re closer to age 35, and also 80-year olds who still love to ride — and can because they’re been riding for years.

European Cyclists' Federation – Belgium ‘Right Turn at Red’ Law in Force Quicker than Planned: ECF Newswatch

Legislation to allow Belgian cyclists to turn right at red lights is coming into force quicker than planned.
We’ve reported in the past the Belgian cyclists will be able to legally run red lights. For a quick recap, Belgian traffic code has been modified in favour of cyclists in two ways:

• Firstly, on streets with a B22 or B33 sign, cyclists can pass through a red or orange light provided they give way to other road users.
• Secondly, the code also foresees the creation of “rue cyclables”. This means that cyclists will be kept in the main body of traffic, though cars and other vehicles will have to defer, and give way, to those on bikes and cannot attempt to overtake. Speeds will be kept to 30 kilometres per hour.

The Belgian Newspaper, Le Soir has now reported that the law, dating back to July 2011, is going ahead quicker than foreseen and is expected to come into force within the next 20-25 days.
There are currently over 5000 ‘right turn on red’ intersections in Germany. The Netherlands allows bicycles to turn right where the sign “rechtsaf voor fietsers vrij” is present.

Lungo Po Antonelli: addio all'asfalto, la ciclabile verrà realizzata con materiali ecocompatibili - ECO dalle CITTA'

Due mozioni approvate in Consiglio comunale impegnano Sindaco e Giunta a modificare il progetto della pista ciclabile in Lungo Po Antonelli, abbandonando l'uso dell'asfalto.

Torino, 24 jan 2012 19:26

Il Consiglio comunale ha approvato due mozioni riguardanti la pista ciclabile attualmente in costruzione in Lungo Po Antonelli. Le due mozioni (firmate una dai consiglieri Bertola e Appendino del Movimento 5 Stelle, l’altra dai consiglieri Levi, Viale e Paolino del PD, Levi-Montalcini dei Moderati e Grimaldi di SEL), prendendo atto delle richieste dei cittadini di separare il percorso ciclabile da quello pedonale e della contrarietà degli stessi all’asfaltatura di parte della banchina verde, impegnano Sindaco e Giunta a "modificare le caratteristiche del materiale impiegato con altro prodotto adeguato alle caratteristiche ambientali dell’area". Il provvedimento chiede inoltre il rifacimento del tratto di pista ciclabile già realizzato.

Grande la soddisfazione del comitato spontaneo Più erba per tutti, che ha raccolto attorno a sè nei mesi scorsi centinaia di cittadini favorevoli alla pista ciclabile, ma preoccupati da un intervento che rischiava di deturpare il lungo fiume. "Anche se Lungo Po Antonelli non rientra nelle aree parco, se n'è riconosciuto il valore in quanto area verde, da valorizzare e proteggere dal punto di vista ambientale e paesaggistico -dichiara Luisa Panfani, esponente del comitato-. Sicuramente da oggi ci sarà una diversa attenzione nella progettazione di interventi in aree verdi e di pregio. Se il nostro obiettivo era quello di salvaguardare il più possibile quest'angolo di verde torinese e di sollecitare un dibattito affinchè si prendesse una nuova direzione nell'impostazione di questi interventi, possiamo dire di averlo raggiunto!".
Per festeggiare l'esito della battaglia portata avanti dallo scorso settembre, il comitato ha organizzato per sabato 28 gennaio a partire dalle 14,30 una "bicchierata" nel Lungo Po Antonelli "salvato".

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