Ride silent on the Rickenbacker

  The international Ride of Silence happens on May 18, and in South Florida it will be observed as usual on Key Biscayne. This will be a 12-mile ride at 12 miles per hour -- helmets required and lights recommended. We'll meet at 6:30 p.m. for the ride to start at 7 p.m. from the west parking lot of Miami Seaquarium on the Rickenbacker Causeway, Key Biscayne. This ride is sponsored by the Everglades Bicycle Club, and organized this year by Maria Luisa deJesus-Hoover.

The Last Word

Most readers here are drivers, right? Then for the sake of all those you love please watch this video from MDX:

Parking subsidizes cars, stiffs bicycles

Metrorail clocks off by hours

Does anybody regulate the clocks at our Metrorail stations? At 12:23 pm today I photographed this clock at the Douglas Road station. It's off by roughly 90 minutes, which cannot be explained by the change to Daylight Savings Time a few Sundays ago.
This isn't an isolated case. At Government Center, at Brickell, and at Dadeland South, and some Metromover platforms, I have observed the same thing. It's a disservice to riders and need not be tolerated.

Quiz: How Dangerous Is Texting or Talking on Your CellPhone Behind the Wheel?

This feature from ABC News may surprise you.

Anti-bike engineer to run FDOT

Anath Prasad

Gov. Rick Scott appointed Ananth Prasad yesterday to head the Florida Department of Transportation. Prasad is the career engineer who told a congressional committee last month that plans for bike lanes and sidewalks should be shelved in these hard times. There's more about the appointment at Post on Politics. Here's background from the Florida Tribune.

Ride with your mom on May 8

Rickenbacker rider alert

Hundreds of kids will be working at six sites along the Rickenbacker Causeway tomorrow morning to clean up the bay shore. The Causeway Division at Miami-Dave Public Works advises that all the cleanup assignments are scheduled between 9 a.m. and noon -- and all are at locations off the actual roadway. You'll see people going and coming, though, so use due caution.

Saturday's work is the signature event in a six-week annual project, Baynanza.

Brits grapple with cyclists' deaths

Floridians are not alone in our alarm about cyclists being killed by trucks, buses and cars. Consider this from the British national paper The Independent:

...A spate of deaths in London this year, and a growing toll of casualties nationwide, has prompted demands for better education of lorry and bus drivers, as well as cyclists themselves. Last year, 3.1 billion miles were cycled in the UK – a 4 per cent annual increase – while cycling in the capital has increased by 91 per cent since 2000.

You can read the full report here.

Road cyclist's course worth your time

Are you doing the MS Ride or some other big bicycle fund-raiser? Think you'd like to ride with a club but haven't yet gotten into the swing? Give a thought to the Road Cyclists' Safety Course, specially designed to teach the group-riding skills that differ from what most of us learned growing up. Your big ride will be more fun -- and you'll be safer. This course is brought to you by Green Mobility Network and the Florida Bicycle Association. With the link above you can learn more about it and register through Eventbrite.

Airline turning bike-friendly

Frontier Airlines announced today that it's removing the special charge for carrying a passenger's bicycle. Frontier isn't big in South Florida but does have routes from Fort Lauderdale to Denver and Milwaukee. Under the new policy, your bike can fly with you as standard baggage. Here's Frontier's announcement.

What we need now is a non-stop sign

Gary Lauder offers a sensible solution for saving time and gasoline, and avoiding frustration on the road.

Amsterdam's bike makeover took years, commitment

If it sometimes seems that despite a good beginning we'll never have a bike-friendly Miami-Dade County, give a look to this piece about Amsterdam's transformation into the famous bicycle mecca that it is today. The fact is it took high-level commitment, a serious financial investment, and years of work to seriously reverse the money-wasting habit of driving everywhere. It can happen here, too. Don't you see a new bike lane every couple of weeks on Miami Bike Scene? Keep focused on change, and keep on riding.

Fifth Street repaving about to begin

In Miami Beach, the state Department of Transportation (FDOT) will be repaving 5th Street between West Avenue and Collins Avenue soon, adding bike lanes part of the way.  Here's the FDOT rundown on the project. Construction starts April 25. FDOT will hold a public information meeting about the project on Thursday at the Police Athletic League, 999 11th St., Miami Beach, starting at 6:30 p.m.

Bicycle sightseeing catches on in NYC

Tourists are picking up on New York City's recent efforts to make their streets bicycle-friendly.

In New York, it can be dizzying: rolling past Washington Square Park one moment, breezing along the Hudson the next. In a city where freedom of movement can often feel locked in gridlock, on a bike, one sails through the throngs.

The Associated Press report comes via MiamiHerald.com

There also are bike sightseeing opportunities in greater Miami -- including tours organized by Bike and Roll and by Miami Tours.

Bicycling's big for Neighbors today

It was gratifying to read the double-page spread about local bicycling in the Miami Herald's Neighbors section today. Andres Viglucci, knowledgeable as always, documents how the two-wheelers are catching on.

Florida embraces U.S. Bicycle Routes

A new policy from the Florida Department of Transportation sets out four corridors for consideration to become U.S. Bicycle Routes. The four, each 50 miles wide, are described in the April 7 policy paper as:

• US BR 90, along U.S. 90 from Pensacola to St. Augustine.
• US BR 1, along U.S. 1 from Nassau County to Key West.
• US BR 15, following the Gulf Coast from Madison County to Miami.
• Alternate US BR CFG, along the Cross Florida Greenway from Daytona Beach to Tampa Bay. 

An interactive map of the system may be found at Adventure Cycling, an early and very active advocate for creating the nationwide network. 

Bike lanes everywhere

Chilean downhill race a thriller

VCA 2010 RACE RUN from changoman on Vimeo.

Rose petals for winner in Tour de Pakistan

Who knew that Pakistan has its own cross-country bicycle race? Read the colorful details of the tour de Pakistan in today's Wall Street Journal, or an end-of-race account in the Express Tribune, of Karachi.

Auditions expected to clog UM-area streets

Simon Cowell will be holding auditions at the University of Miami tomorrow and Friday, and the Gables Home Page says traffic congestion is likely for a couple of miles up and down U.S. 1.  Better adjust your commute or morning exercise accordingly.

Graffiti bike tour April 24

Truck kills cyclist in Florida Keys

A Key Largo man was hit by a pickup truck and killed Thursday while he was bicycling on County 905 south of Card Sound Road. His name wasn't immediately released. There are other details on the site of the Key West Citizen, as well as lots of comment from Florida Keys residents on the Monroe County sheriff's Facebook page.  I'll bring you more info when I have it.