Bike lanes serve back side of The Falls

92nd Avenue looking north from 144th St.

New bike lanes were applied to SW 92nd Avenue west of The Falls Shopping Center this week. They extend from mid-block south of Howard Drive (SW 136th Street) almost to SW 144th Street, a popular connector to the South Dade Trail.  I like how the lanes are offset from the curb so that riders will be more visible to motorists entering the street.  I think they may not collect as much debris as they would at curbside, either.

All bike parking is not created equal

Thanks to the blog Front Porch Coffee Talk for elaborating on one of my most common frustrations in trying to secure my bicycle at some place I've ridden to.  Those wavy bike racks -- arrrgh -- can be frustrating.  Read more by clicking here..

Bike site a credit to planners

Congratulations to the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department for its new website, Bike Tallahassee.  It includes a handsome interactive map of existing and planned bicycle facilities in and around the capital city.   Check it out; the map works very nicely!

For more about bicycling in Tallahassee, visit the Committee for a Bikeable Community.

Dutch share their biking secrets

Three planning and transportation experts from the Netherlands conducted a daylong seminar in Miami yesterday to share some of their secrets for making bicycling a daily part of life.  In the visit set up by Dutch Consul Arend Gouw, the three men showed how their country reversed a post-World War II trend toward heavy use of private cars for for every kind of daily going and coming.  Their slide show and discussion made a persuasive case that despite South Florida's car-centered planning and public assumptions, walking and bicycling can be increased to make our cities and neighborhoods healthier and more livable.  Thanks very much to our new Dutch friends.  It is truly a neighborly thing they are doing.

Exploring Miami city by Bicycle

EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking near Miami, Florida

One of the visitors, Herbert Tiemens, prepared this slide show of the afternoon tour with Miami bike coordinator Collin Worth and other counterparts and bike advocates.  See whose faces you recognize.  There's also a good account by Kathryn Moore on the blog of the South Florida Bike Coalition.

Book Fair is bike-friendly again

If you're going to the festive final weekend of Miami Book Fair International, why not ride your bike? If you use the bike valet -- operated by Green Mobility Network on NE 2nd Avenue at 3rd Street -- you'll get a $3 discount on the fair's normal $8 admission price.  The valet will operate 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Goin Back on the Bicycle

How about a bicycle song, everybody?  Thanks to Rod MacDonald for pointing me to this one!

County to celebrate Rickenbacker Causeway upgrade

County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez would like to see as many of us as possible at 10 a.m. Friday on the Rickenbacker Causeway, to celebrate a beautification and shore-protection project on Hobie Island and Virginia Key Beach.  The ribbon-cutting will take place next to MAST Academy, 3979 Rickenbacker Causeway.  

Cyclists have been noticing and commenting on the work for months now.  The $6.8 million project by Miami-Dade Public Works was begun in September 2009 and had three major elements:

• Shoreline stabilization.

• Stormwater management and parking improvements.

• Upland landscaping, with removal of exotic vegetation.

Next governor needs some good ideas

Gov.-elect Rick Scott is inviting Floridians to submit ideas for cutting the cost of state government. It's a good chance for all of us to speak up for giving bicycling a fairer chance at transportation funding. Points you might want to make (within your 150-word limit) include:

• Bike commuters require less parking space than motorists do, 
• Cycling enlarges the area served by public transportation, 
• Biking doesn't require buying oil from anywhere,
• Bicycling improves the fitness of its participants, reducing medical costs and time lost to illness.

Here's where to send your ideas to the governor: www.scotttransition.com/send-your-ideas/

BPAC meets Wednesday

Just a reminder: The Miami-Dade Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Committee is to meet Wednesday, Nov. 17, in the CITT Conference Room on the 10th floor at County Hall, 111 NW 1st St., Miami.

Valet awaits you at Fairchild

Peter Schuetz at bike corral.

It's too nice a riding day to hang up after the usual morning ride. Why not roll over to Old Cutler Road and take in the Ramble at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden? You'll find the Green Mobility Network bike valet ready to look after your bike while you explore the shopping and dining experiences inside.

Glorious bike weather, and events to exploit it

This is the time avid Florida cyclists live for. Temperatures and humidity have fallen, skies are mostly clear, and the snowbirds won't be here for a few more weeks. What a great time to go riding -- and have we got places to go!

• Cutler Bay's fourth annual Hometown Harvest Ride, on Saturday, is a fine event for families with little kids. Sign up at 8 a.m. at 21869 SW 93rd Path.  There's no charge, and early registrants get a shirt.
• The popular graffiti tour, organized by Olga Cano and friends at Emerge Miami, shoves off on Saturday at 10 a.m. from Metrorail's Allapattah Station, 3501 NW 12th Ave.  It's free, too.
• There'll be free bike valet Saturday and Sunday at the ever-popular Fairchild Ramble, and arriving by bike earns you a $5 discount on your admission to the gardens. Thanks to Green Mobility Network for the service.
• On Sunday, head for the Brickell neighborhood and the latest Bike Miami Day on Miami Avenue.  Hours are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and this time, I encourage you to venture south of Mary Brickell Village, pick up the M-Path at SW 15th Road, cross the bridge at Metrorail's Vizcaya Station and visit Alice Wainwright Park in one of the prettiest little spots in town.  South of MBV you will have some motor traffic, but these are quiet streets and your ride will be rewarding. Please, be courteous to walkers! There'll be free bike valet at MBV.
• There's the cross-state Stone Crab 160 on Saturday and Sunday. For this you pay in advance, but it's a benefit for foster children.
• If you prefer your rides in the open country, think Florida City, where Robert is Here has just opened for the season. Have a smoothie for me, friends.

Dozens tour Gables villages

More than five dozen cyclists toured the historic international villages of Coral Gables on Sunday, during a ride planned and executed by Green Mobility Network. This stop was at the French Normandy village, off LeJeune Road north of Coral Gables High School.

Floridian in line to lead transportation lawmaking

Rep. Mica visits a Coast Guard cutter on Monday

As ranking Republican on the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. John Mica of Florida's 7th District is expected to take over from Rep. Jim Oberstar as the key actor in transportation appropriations. Mica hasn't joined the Congressional Bike Caucus (it's never too late!), but he did tell Bike Portland during the National Bike Summit last spring that he "quietly" supports bicycling. Here's a statement from Mica at the committee's website.  We note that he's for speeding up the infrastructure grant process -- something we believe would help put Transportation Enhancement funds to work in Florida so it won't be as subject to periodic recission as it has been.

Cycling's hero defeated for congressional seat

An electorate determined to throw da bums out has retired the man who did more than any other to improve the infrastructure for bicycling in the United States. Rep. Jim Oberstar of Minnesota lost to a Republican political novice the seat he has held in Congress for 18 terms. (Oberstar's concession statement is related in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.)

Oberstar was chairman of the House Transportation Committee, and worked hard to bring bicycling its fair share of federal transportation aid.  An avid cyclist himself, he organized the Congressional Bike Caucus soon after his election in 1986.  (Re-elected yesterday were three Florida members of the caucus: Gus Bilirakis of Palm Harbor, Kathy Castor of Tampa, and C.W. Young of St. Petersburg.  Suzanne Kosmas of Orlando was defeated.)

One of Oberstar's most popular achievements was launching federal support for the national Safe Routes to School program -- first with pilot projects in 2000, then writing the legislation that extended the program to all 50 states.  The Safe Routes to School National Partnership paid tribute to Oberstar today with a letter that said, in part:

Through your 36 years of inspired leadership as a Congressman, you reformed the transportation system to make it multi-modal, institutionalized walking and bicycling within state Departments of Transportation, and ensured that the safety of children on the trip to and from school is a priority for transportation planning and construction. 

A bike you build for yourself

Here's something new for home mechanics: A bamboo bike kit.  Bamboo is famously light and strong, isn't it? Check it out... http://bamboobikestudio.com/index.html

Candidate crosses state to confront opponent

I totally missed this one last week. Did you read about Loranne Ausley's trek? Both Capitol News Service and Palm Beach Post columnist Frank Cerabino had the story.