Subject: Austin Bike News 9-29-00 Date: 9/29/00 4:26 PM Received: 9/29/00 4:34 PM From: Michael Bluejay, bluejay@mail.com To: austin-bike-news@topica.com >##################################################################### /__/ == /_____/ AUSTIN BIKE NEWS ___/ \ _/ \___ covering bikes as alternative transportation / /\ \/___/\ \ \___/ & \___/ Michael Bluejay, editor * bluejay@mail.com http://BicycleAustin.info Sept. 29, 2000 >##################################################################### >> [See the very end for how to subscribe/unsubscribe.] M Y O T H E R C A R I S A B I C Y C L E . >>#################################################################### >### FROM THE EDITOR: - It's almost ironic ### >### CALENDAR: - 9/29 Critical Mass Ride, 5:00pm >### 9/30 Tour de Fat Festival (10-6pm) >### SEE BELOW FOR MORE CALENDAR ITEMS ### >### TOUR DE FAT FESTIVAL (9/30, Waterloo Park) ### >### SPEEDWAY CLOSED TO BICYCLES ### >### BICYCLE WINNERS IN AUSTIN CHRONICLE'S "BEST OF" EDITION >>#################################################################### >===================================================================== > FROM THE EDITOR: It's almost ironic >--------------------------------------------------------------------- Last week while putting this newsletter together, a reckless driver totaled his pickup truck by running into a tree right outside my house. Here I was, typing out the newsletter, when I hear unreasonable acceleration, screeching tires, and the obligatory SMASH! The driver, a local frat boy (I live in West Campus), was unhurt. Check out the photos: http://BicycleAustin.info/graphics/moron1.jpg http://BicycleAustin.info/graphics/moron2.jpg The view in the second photo is from the sidewalk, facing the street. The truck is stopped right in the bicycle lane (and part of the first car lane). Here's what happened: It's dusk and it's drizzling, so the streets are slick. He's driving south on Rio Grande, having just gone through the 4-way stop at 26th Street. Genius-boy decides to do some ridiculous acceleration, fishtails out of control, locks his brakes, and skids right across the bicycle lane head-first into a tree. Einstein and his friends were upset that my housemates and I were taking photographs, but we were more upset that he was driving recklessly through our neighborhood. (We all ride through that bike lane every day, and we saw lots of other cyclists go through it while we were out there waiting.) When one of the driver's friends (who showed up after the crash) questioned our assertion that the driver had been reckless, I asked how else could he explain how the driver had managed to achieve sufficient speed to be able to completely total his vehicle only 35 yards from an intersection that required him to come to a complete stop? (This actually shut him up.) Let's hope the driver learned his lesson. >===================================================================== > BICYCLE CALENDAR http://BicycleAustin.info/ >--------------------------------------------------------------------- [Up-to-date information, as well as more detail, is always available on the website. The website is always your best source of calendar information between newsletters, or to get more info or updates on what's in the newsletter.] >> 9/29 CRITICAL MASS RIDE // UT West Mall, 5:00pm >> 9/30 TOUR DE FAT FESTIVAL // Waterloo Park; SEE SEPARATE ARTICLE >> 10/19 TRIAL FOR BEN CLOUGH'S KILLER /// County Courthouse, 299th, 9:00am >> 10/19 BICYCLE ADVOCACY COUNCIL mtg.// Mother's Cafe, 43rd & Duval, 6:30pm >> 10/20 MEMORIAL RIDE FOR CYCLISTS // Republic Park, Guadalupe btwn. 4th & 5th, 6pm >> 10/22 YELLOW BIKE PROJECT WORKSHOP // Ruta Maya, 218 W. 4th, 10 am >> 10/27 CRITICAL MASS RIDE // UT West Mall, Guadalupe btwn. 22nd/23rd >===================================================================== > TOUR DE FAT: Sat. Sept. 30th, Waterloo Park (15th & Red River) >--------------------------------------------------------------------- While we don't advocate BWI (Bicycling While Intoxicated), we have to have a soft spot in our hearts for any beer that's named after a bicycle. New Belgium Brewing Company, of Ft. Collins, CO, makes nine specialty beers including Fat Tire Amber Ale, whose label depicts a nicely-drawn red cruiser. And this isn't a marketing ploy from the minds of some non-bikers. New Belgium was started after its founder acquired a special yeast strain while touring the U.S. on a fat-tired mountain bike. All New Belgium employees receive a fat-tire cruiser bike after their first year of employment. New Belgium is taking it to the streets with a six-city tour to promote the classic fat-tire cruiser (as well as its beer, which will be available at the event). The Austin event is tomorrow, Sat. 9/30, in Waterloo Park (15th & Red River). It benefits the Yellow Bike Project and the Austin Parks & Rec. Racing Team. >> 10:30am-Noon: BIKE CRUISE, sponsored by Fireman's Texas Cruzer, 482-8811 Meets at 14th or 15th & Red River for a slow, casual ride through the central city >> Noon - 6:00pm: TOUR DE FAT festival, including the BICYCLE OLYMPICS: >>> KID'S CORNER A special area designed for kids to allow them to express their creativity and good riding sense. Along with helmet and bike decorating, kids will learn some of the basic laws for riding their bikes around town. >>> PAPERBOY CHALLENGE A tribute to the past and present newspaper delivery boys who have risked their lives through extreme conditions all for the sake of your reading pleasure. Thanks Paperboy!! >>> HALF BARREL RACE With a beer in hand, race your opponent around kegs in a figure-eight track. Riders must avoid the spillage of their beer and/or self. Keep the rubber side down. >>> TOSS THIS The traditional bike toss is now accompanied with a gas tank toss. In effort to confront the frustrations of rising gas prices and to promote alternative transportation, you now has the opportunity to toss your frustrations away. Musical guests: Art Bently & the Black Diamond Players, Sweetback and Dear Marsha More info: http://www.newbelgium.com/n_tourmap.html >===================================================================== > SPEEDWAY CLOSED TO BICYCLES >--------------------------------------------------------------------- As part of its Campus Master Plan, which includes turning an area on Speedway into a pedestrian mall, the University of Texas has prohibited bicycle riding for part of the segment on Speedway between 21st & 24th Streets. Campus police started issuing warnings to cyclists pedaling through the area a few weeks ago. Ticketing was supposed to begin shortly thereafter, but has not yet started, according to UTPD (apparently because of the unexpected backlash from frustrated cyclists, our guess). But this issue doesn't end with Speedway; sources say the bike ban will eventually include 24th Street west of Speedway. The bike ban has received considerable coverage by the campus paper, The Daily Texan, including a front-page article on Sept. 20, and several letters to the editor, a substantial which are from pedestrians who don't understand why cyclists can't "simply" dismount and walk through the banned area. Cyclists trying to get from 21st to 24th may now try to go down to San Jacinto, a much more dangerous street. In fact, days after the bike ban went into effect, a cyclist going down 21st to San Jacinto was apparently unfamiliar with how steep the hill was, couldn't stop in time, and ran into bus at 21st & San Jacinto. (The student was hospitalized and we have no further information.) While we support the university's overall goal -- facilitating all kinds of non-motorized travel through campus by restricting automobile use in the campus core -- that purpose is not served by banning bikes. The letters in the paper make the issue out to be a battle between pedestrians and cyclists, but it's not an "either/or" proposition; there's no reason that bikes and peds can't BOTH use Speedway. In fact, UT's plan actually calls for a separate bikeway through Speedway, so by not putting one in, UT isn't even following its own plan. Typically, UT made its decision without any meaningful student involvement, although serving students' needs is purportedly why the university exists in the first place. Those who have been in Austin for a while are probably already familiar with UT's heavy-handed approach, and will not be surprised by the lack of student input nor UT's decision to not follow its own plan by installing the bikeway. Graduate student Heather Ball has been attempting to organize student cyclists opposed to the bicycle ban. Ms. Ball can be reached at heatherb@gslis.utexas.edu . >===================================================================== > BICYCLE WINNERS IN CHRONICLE'S "BEST OF AUSTIN" EDITION >--------------------------------------------------------------------- The Austin Chronicle recently published its annual "Best of Austin" edition. As we mentioned in our last issue, we're proud that BicycleAustin.info won a critic's pick for "Best Place to Bike the Web". Here are the other bike- & transportation-related winners. >> READER'S POLL Best Scorned Breakup Slur ------------------------- We overhead this Austin-specific line one night exchanged in a heated lover's spat: "You're like a yellow bike: put you down and ten minutes later someone's riding you again." Eco-consciousness, meet Jerry Springer. Best Unsung Hero/Heroes ----------------------- [This was awarded to "Austin's Nonprofit Volunteers". A handful of organizations were listed, which included Austin's Yellow Bike Project.] Best Bicycle Repair: University Schwinn ------------------- University Schwinn resides in a building with some of the tallest windows along North Lamar, allowing Austin to drool over the shiny new two-wheelers or to giggle at the spinning classes going on in the evenings (They pedal, but they don't go anywhere!). The repair shop at University Schwinn is always ready for alterations to your brand-new custom Cannondale or that discounted model you got at Wheatsville's Bikes Not Bombs bike sale three years ago. Your bike will appreciate its new chain, tires, or "look." (2901 N. Lamar, 474-6696) >> CRITICS' PICKS Best Place For Kids to Learn to Ride Bikes: Pease Park ------------------------------------------ Devoted bikers who eschew oxygen-choking cars for manually powered transportation aren't the only cyclists who bemoan the intolerance of drivers on the roads they share. The littlest peddler faces the same dangers, even though most of them don't attempt to venture beyond their immediate block. Shouts of glee when the two-wheeler wobbles off sans training wheels are quickly replaced with shouts of "Watch out for that car!" Hardly the environment that builds confidence behind the handlebars. Slide the bike into the trunk and head to Pease Park for a stress-free environment that allows tykes to master the peddle on the sidewalks that encircle the big playscapes and on the basketball court when hoopsters aren't dunking. Tricyclists will also find the expanse of smooth surface perfect for their vehicles. When the finer points of turning, retaining balance, and stopping are in reasonable control, you can all hit the hike-and-bike trail and join the world of Austin outdoors. (Lamar & Enfield, 499-6700) Best Performance by a Neighborhood coalition: Round Rock vs. SH 130 -------------------------------------------- When thousands of ordinary Round Rockers showed up and made noise, they became SH 130 backers' worst nightmare. The people for whom the highway was, ultimately, being built made loud and clear they didn't want t unless the Texas Turnpike Authority abandoned its controversial preferred alignment. They deserve much of the credit for the TTA's surrender. You can read the Austin Chronicle at: http://www.auschron.com >===================================================================== > CLASSIFIEDS: Used bikes for sale >--------------------------------------------------------------------- CLASSIFIED POLICY: Ads from individuals are FREE and run for four months or until you tell me to remove it. Commercial ads are $10. Four lines max. for either. [No current ads. Submit yours already.] >===================================================================== >PUBLICATION / SUBSCRIPTION INFO Michael Bluejay, editor - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - >> http://BicycleAustin.info bluejay@mail.com >--------------------------------------------------------------------- Back issues are available on http://BicycleAustin.info . Austin Bike News is published one to four times a month. You're getting this newsletter because you either asked for it, or you joined the austin-bikes discussion list. (As advertised, joining the discussion list gets you an automatic subscription to this newsletter.) >UNSUB: If you no longer want the newsletter, send a blank email to: austin-bike-news-unsubscribe@topica.com >If someone forwarded you this newsletter and you want your own >subscription, send a blank email to: austin-bike-news-subscribe@topica.com Articles are by me if uncredited. Articles by others may have been edited for grammar, clarity, conciseness, superstition, or just for the hell of it. Before writing with questions, please check BicycleAustin.info to see if your question is answered there. Here are some shortcuts: Bike Safety........... http://BicycleSafe.com Back Issues........... http://BicycleAustin.info/newsletters Traffic Laws.......... http://BicycleAustin.info/laws.html No Justice for Cyclists http://BicycleAustin.info/justice Calendar.............. http://BicycleAustin.info/calendar.html City's Bicycle Program. http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/bicycle Tracking License Plates http://www.publicdata.com We currently have 615 subscribers. > Thanks for reading this far. Ride safely! :) -MBJ-