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Monthly Archives: February 2012
In the news: weather coming, trail detour continues, interesting editorial
Cyclists ride under the Hazel Avenue bridge recently with the American River slowly moving along behind them. The river is obviously low for this time of year, but an approaching storm should add some much-needed water to the river and snow to the Sierra’s.
In other news, Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates member John Whelan reports the bike trail detour at mile 3.5 has been extended until Friday. “The scope of the work has doubled because the beaver burrow was much more extensive, and the levee engineers and staff were deeply concerned about the beaver burrow affecting the flood worthiness of the levee,” Whelan said in an email to members.
Lastly, a letter to the editor in the Davis Enterprise by Davis resident John Whitehead brings up some interesting issues about cyclists not stopping at stop signs.
Posted from Rancho Cordova, California, United States.
Sunday afternoon on the bike trail
I saw this couple using binoculars to check out the egrets and ducks feeding in the American River near Sunrise Blvd. Sunday afternoon. It was a nice day to be out on the trail, especially since a couple storm fronts are headed our way.
Posted from Rancho Cordova, California, United States.
Riding with the finger
On a recent commute home, I saw this rider on a single speed blow past me at a light and almost get hit by cars racing to beat a red light. A couple intersections later he rides circles until traffic clears and then blows through the red light and takes off. Kind of scary. Maybe he thinks the Giants fan foam finger interlaced through the spokes on his front wheel gives him good karma or something.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
Bike trail detour update
A cyclist makes the turn near mile 3.5 on the American River bike trail where repair work is about to begin Thursday morning forcing trail users to detour the site by going on top of the levee. Repairs are needed because the trail has been undermined by beavers, according to Sacramento Regional Parks authorities. The detour will be in place during the day as work is done on the trail, but in the evenings and on the weekend, the trail will be open through the site.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
In the News: Bike trail detours, stylish bike rack, Bee editorial
There are two bike trail detours scheduled this week, according to an email sent out by SABA. Starting Thursday, Feb. 23, there will be a detour from mile 2.5 at Del Paso Blvd. to mile 3.5 for trail repair. Construction should be done by Monday, Feb. 27. Then, On Saturday, Feb. 25, the Guy West Bridge will be closed to all traffic for bridge inspection and repair.
Speaking of SABA, if you are a volunteer, tonight, Wednesday, Feb. 22, is their Volunteer Appreciation Party at Broadacre Coffee beginning at 6 p.m.
In other news, Sacramento Bee writer Blair Anthony Robertson penned an interesting article recently on local carpenter and furniture maker, Steven Tiller, who crafted a stylish new bicycle rack called a Bike Valet.
“Tiller’s elegant, sculptural Bike Valet came to life once he decided he wanted to store his bike and still have something nice to look at – something more than a bike leaning against a wall or hanging from a hook in the ceiling,” Robertson said.
Also in The Bee this week is a compelling editorial about the transportation bill currently in the House of Representatives. The piece, entitled, “Transportation bill should be roadkill” starts out like this, “Apparently the Republican leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives doesn’t walk or bicycle much, or spend time riding subways or trains. They definitely don’t spend much time riding buses.”
Chick Flick Guy highlights films with car vs. bike scenes
There’s great post titled, “Feeling Run Down…” from Sacramento Bee writer, Carlos Alcala, on his chick flick guy blog about films with scenes of bikes and cars colliding. The one I like best is a YouTube video titled, “Bike Lanes.” In it, a cyclist gets a ticket for riding outside the bike lane. He then goes on a mission to produce a video of what riders will collide with if they never stray from the bike lane.
Drippy Saturday morning in Davis
Saturday provided an chance to ride into the drippy fog hovering over Davis. The day finally turned out sunny and warm, but the morning was downright clammy. This image was taken heading west on 3rd Street in downtown Davis around 8:30 a.m.
Posted from Davis, California, United States.
Spring blossoms in February?
A cyclist passes a blooming pear tree along the American River bike trail Friday morning. Kind of strange to see trees blooming in mid-February. According to an article in The Bee, by Debbie Arrington, the warm weather, intensified by reflected heat off asphalt and cement is causing trees in the city to begin flowering. Although, most trees in the countryside surrounding Sacramento are not blossoming yet, Arrington wrote.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
High winds and clean air
The winds kicked in on the commute this morning and are getting stronger. The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for today in northern California.
The clear air and cloudless sky created a deep blue background for this image of the cyclist headed south along the Sacramento waterfront last night at sunset.
Looks like the next chance of rain is Friday night or Saturday morning, but it’s only a slight chance.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
Vote on highway bill delayed
According to “The Hill” website, Speaker John Boehner has delayed a vote on the $260 billion transportation bill …”a clear signal GOP leaders lack the votes to win approval of the package,” Keith Laing and Russell Berman reported in their story.
The League of American Bicyclists says, “We remain opposed to the overall bill, H.R. 7, because of its regressive attacks on transit, environmental protections, planning and bicycling.” In a post on their website, the league said it has written letters to, “…members and supporters in a few key House districts to ask for their help in getting the votes needed to pass the Petri/Johnson amendment.”
Another entertaining post from Bike Snob NYC
The Bike Snob NYC has done it again with a hilarious post titled, “Beauty: It’s All in the Wrist” about everything from folding bikes to Cadel Evan’s head. Consider how he begins the post, “Waking up with the sun yesterday, I ingested an ‘epic’ breakfast burrito the size of Cadel Evans’s head. ‘Which ride will it be today?’ I asked myself as I carved into Cadel’s cleft chin.”
Dachshund in the window
I ran into this dachshund with his head out the window as I crested the top of Foresthill Road in Auburn during a hill-climbing ride on Saturday. The little guy didn’t seem very impressed by my spandex or my helmet cam.
Posted from Auburn, California, United States.
Bike commuting story in The Bee
Writer Blair Anthony Robertson of The Sacramento Bee penned an interesting article recently about bicycling in Sacramento. The article, published last week, focused on bike commuting in midtown and downtown Sacramento.
Here’s how it begins: “All over town and out in the suburbs, folks hop on their bikes for the simplest of reasons, leaving their cars behind.
They make it look easy, because it is.”
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
Weekend bicycling activities
There are lots of cycling events and rides going on this weekend. Every Second Saturday the Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen closes its shop to host a fundraising party from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. with local bands and breweries.
Then there’s the Second Saturday Bike Tour hosted by Broad Acre Coffee. The rides go to places like Insight, Temple, Chocolate Fish, Old Soul and Naked.
And Saturday is the official launch of Artbike!, a bicycle-centric art exhibition, with self-guided tours of local establishments that are hosting the artwork.
If your looking for bike club rides, The Sacramento Bike Hikers have a couple rides scheduled including a spring training ride. The Sacramento Wheelmen also have a variety of ride choices listed on their calendar and the Davis Bike Club lists a some interesting rides on their calendar as well, including the Spanish Flat Century and the Hill Climb Series #2.
Speed commuting
Here’s a video of one of my recent commutes to work along H Street in Sacramento, Calif. from the Sac State area to downtown. The video was almost 19 minutes long. I speeded it up to take just under two minutes.
Thanks to Kevin MacLeod for the music entitled, “Militaire Electronic,” licensed under creative commons from his website www.incompetech.com.
Inspiration for bicycle reuse
Thinking of reusing bicycles? Check out this link at the Inspiration Green website for some ideas. Very cool site.
In the news
Two interesting articles in The Sacramento Bee and on sacbee.com during the last week. The first article, written by Sam McManis is about the Savage Sprints event held twice a month on Sundays at the midtown Sacramento restaurant, Hot Italian.
“This, of course, was not a normal night at the restaurant. More cyclists, along with friends and loved ones, milled about than diners intent on tucking into a briatore calzone or spooning Ferrero Rocher gelato,”McManis wrote.
The event is an effort to raise money by the organization, SacValleyVelodrome.org, to build a velodrome in the Sacramento area.
The second article is about the drop in crime along the American River Parkway. The article, written by Sam Stanton, points to a number of possible factors for the drop, including the weather.
Stanton interviewed Chief Ranger Stan Lumsden, who said,”We had seven straight months of rain last year, which probably contributed to the low numbers. The other issue we had is the last three months of the year we did a full-court press on the illegal camping at the lower end of the parkway,” Lumsden told Stanton.
Riding part of the Grizzly Peak Century route
Saturday was spent riding two of the loops that are part of the Grizzly Peak Century ride that will take place on May 6, 2012. It’s a tough ride with lots of climbing in the hills above Berkeley. There are three options on the ride, 75 miles, 102 miles and 109 miles. Beware, the 109-mile route has about 8550 ft. of climbing. If you’re in shape for the hills, it’s well worth all the climbing because of the great views of the Bay Area. The ride is well supported, but if you go on a training ride, as we did on Saturday, there are no places to get food and water, so plan to bring your own. Or, you might happen across a lemonade stand along the way as we did just after noon along Skyline Blvd.
Posted from Oakland, California, United States.
Weekend events – ultra run on the bike trail
The 34th Annual Jed Smith Ultra Classic run is this Saturday. If you’re out on the trail, the ultra runners will be on both sides of the river between the Watt and Howe Avenue bridges.
In Davis, the Davis Bike Club is holding two rides in conjuction with the Team LIVESTRONG Challenge Davis Kick-off Party.
Birds on a wire
A bird lifts off from the high-tension power lines where she and other birds were roosting on a recent evening near the intersection of Howe Avenue and Fair Oaks Blvd. in Sacramento. I noticed these birds as I was unlocking my bike from a rack at the grocery store on the way home. It’s a sight I’m sure I would have missed had I been driving instead of bike commuting.
Posted from Sacramento, California, United States.
Bikeway standards bill approved by state Assembly
The state Assembly has approved a bill to modernize bikeway standards in California according to a report by the California Bicycle Coalition. The bill, Assembly Bill 819, was authored by Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, in early January. It was later amended by the Assembly Transportation Committee, “…removing our proposal to allow communities to follow standards such as those developed by the National Association of City Transportation Officials,” the coalition reported. The full report can be found here.