“Traffic Skills 101” is created and endorsed by the League of American Bicyclists. It is a nine-hour course (three evening classes of three hours each) and covers bicycle safety checks, fixing flats, on-bike skills, rules of the road for cyclists and crash avoidance techniques.

This will be a pilot program run as a zero-profit service. The cost to the participant will only cover the expenses of the manual, required testing materials and park resources.

If all goes well and there is interest for continuing instruction, we will consider soliciting grants or sponsorships to help defray this cost and possibly look at more locations and times throughout the year.

More information, including cost, specific dates and times and location can be found at the parks’ website (http://sbpark.org); on-line registration will be available.

Special thanks to Matthew Moyers, the Special Project Coordinator for South Bend Parks and Recreation for his efforts in arranging the course and for preparing this announcement.

Bike to Work Week saw miles ridden in The Corporate Challenge increase to 26,154 from 16,179 (an increase of 74%). Also the number of teams increased to 119 from 111 (an increase of 7%) and South Bend closed off a street so the Bike Michiana Coalition could host an organic blueberry pancake breakfast.

Bike Michiana for Hospice saw the number of riders increase to 475 from 273 (an increase of 102%). Increases are expected again in 2011 since several new features will be added, including a 200 mile route.

Legislation was a mixed bag. A bill to help protect cyclists was introduced in the Indiana Senate. This was a step in the right direction, even though it never got out of committee.

The Indiana-Michigan River Valley Trail saw progress in two areas: Niles opened a new section this fall and South Bend neared final plans on another section to be built in 2011.

South Bend received the Bronze Bicycle Friendly Community award, and activities to get to the Silver level are already underway

Additional routes have been added to the South Bend Bicycle Network. At the end of the year, there were 46 miles of bike routes, including 16 miles of painted bike lanes and 12 miles of separated bike/ped trail. The map is on the South Bend website at http://www.southbendin.gov/doc/CED_BikeMap1010b.pdf

South Bend formed a South Bend Bike Committee, headed by Chris Dressel. The first meeting, made up of several civic, business and government groups, was November 17. This committee, which was one of the recommendations to advance the BFC silver level, plans to meet quarterly

A new Bicycle Signage Committee has been meeting. It is part of a larger effort by South Bend called “Powering the New Economy”. Bicyclists are involved with the signage portion of the project.

The number of Safety Education classes grew. In 2009 there were was one class with 83 students, while in 2010 there were five classes with 338 students. Classes are for elementary students.

As I was talking with my mother yesterday, we explored some of her memories of pre-WW II Tokyo. She came from a well-to-do Japanese family and offered some interesting perspectives on cars, bicycles, and pedestrian traffic. She remembered how the streets of Tokyo were narrow and often choked with pedestrians, bicycles and, sometimes, cars. Cars were considered a luxury, a burden, and a nuisance. Since none of her family could actually drive, her grandfather employed three full-time driver/mechanics to drive family members to work, to attend to domestic purposes, and to assist guests in their travel needs. Their garage was full of cars and bicycles. Bicycles were seen as a necessity, since cars often needed maintenance, were often were slowed by pedestrian and bicycle traffic, and roads were not always in conditions fit for cars. She remembered hearing of the challenges to city planners as car owners pushed for wider streets and property owners balked at the expense of moving buildings back from the streets on their small city lots. Bicycles were ridden all year ’round. When winter snows came, bikes were taken to bike mechanics to have chains (?) fitted to their tires (coaster brakes made this possible). Given her fading memory, this was a delightful conversation with her. I never knew of her past dependence upon bicycles.

The above conversation with my mother was spurred, in part, by questions I had in response to the “Modest Proposal” article in the New York Times. I wondered about what transportation was like in cities before cars played such a major role. What did traffic look like? At what point did bicycles become common means of transportation (well-designed, affordable, maintainable, and mass produced)? Did city planners ever take into account the needs of bicyclists? How did this vary from region to region and country to country? What can we learn from that time of industrial revolution and apply to our current need for economic, ecological, and industrial evolution?

Apparently photoshopped, but the point is real: not even helmets will save you from a loose quick-release lever, so make sure everyone you know understands how to tighten one correctly!

http://www.instructables.com/id/Paint_your_bike_bicycle_gear_reflective/

An interesting read on the “topical application of retro reflective microspheres (glass beads).  The concept is that you are essentially making your chosen item reflective via the same manner that your local Transportation Department makes painted stripes on the roadway reflective.”   Photos and instructions and links to other high-visibility reflective materials/tips included.

Have you seen this?  It’s a mechanic who has a few dozen videos of most of the common bike adjustments that you would want to do at home.  I’ve used it twice, and found it a BIG help.  Even for stuff that I know how to do, it’s helpful to see someone else do it first.

Right now there are 34 videos, but there is also a section where folks can request new videos and vote on ones that have already been requested.  This is already a fairly useful site, and soon it could be up to Sheldon Brown status!

Has Sheldon found his rightful heir to web repair helpfulness?