Encouragement, Education & Advocacy for Bicycling in the Real World
General Rees is going to be closed for a few months. Obama bucks are going to redesign it and repave it.
General Rees gets about 6,000 cars a day which will be diverted to Winter Park Road which gets 8,000 cars a day now. General Rees used to get more traffic, but as it turned into a sea of road patches, it’s volume dropped while Winter Park Road’s volume increased commensurately.
Work will begin in April/May and let’s hope it is over by November.
For more info see here
I’ve had two “where’s the video camera when I need it!” moments in 2 days.
Brad Kuhn (the ED of the new Central Florida FBA chapter) and I were riding back from Maitland on Denning when we witnessed the most bizarre stupid-cyclist-trick I’ve yet seen. Continue reading →
I’ve been testing the Google maps bike route feature and I’ll have a more comprehensive post on that soon. During one of my tests, Google sent me up Palm Lane to connect with Lakeside Dr. I’ve pondered this spot a number of times and have been meaning to ride up there and check it out. Google shows it as a continuous road, other mapping tools show it as not connected. The satellite view of the critical spot is obscured by trees. Palm Ln has a “Dead End” sign where it connects with Corrine. There are quite a few “secret” bike connections around town hiding behind “Dead End” signs, but the times I’ve thought about it, I was on my way somewhere and didn’t have the time to turn around and come back if it wasn’t passable.
A few weeks ago I announced my intentions to survey the streets of Orlando to find the most efficient routes to get to and from Orlando’s downtown. My team of friends and I have had several survey rides and have seen lots of interesting conditions, and I want to update you on our progress.
As I mentioned on my initial post, we are riding only in the road/bike lanes or on posted bike trails. We are also maintaining speeds of 13mph to keep all of the rides consistent. Our main focus is to strictly document how long it takes to go certain routes, and how far we can get in a particular amount of time.
The attached graphic shows the time zones that are emerging from the completed rides. We still have a few more rides on the east side of town to make all of the connections accurate, but it is pretty obvious that once you make it out of the downtown core, you can ride fairly easily and go almost 6 miles in 30 minutes, from any direction.
Our steps from here are to continue to fill out this “zone” map for the east side of the city and then head west. We then want to look at several of the influential factors in the areas that we ride (population density, points of interest, existing conditions, etc.) and try to determine if there can be some modifications or enhancement to the current routes to make them more connected and efficient. We will also be looking at some of the alternate routes that some areas may use as options for recreational routes, and not just merely for commuting and getting from point A to B as fast as possible.
We are still making modifications to this graphic and are working to make it as legible as possible. I will keep you posted as this project progresses.
Ride on, because there is No Excuse not to!
Editorial from the Parsippany, NJ Daily Record
OK, maybe we sound like killjoys, but we don’t see anything all that amusing about bad drivers. Oddly enough, the AAA New Jersey Automobile Club does.
AAA affiliates across the country are promoting a new reality show called “America’s Worst Driver.” Shown on The Travel Channel, the show will focus on eight cities — including New York City — and attempt to find the “worst drivers” from a field nominated by friends and associates. Those deemed to be the worst drivers in each city will ultimately compete with each other. Winners along the way win vacations and cars. The ultimate loser gets a bicycle.
Sorry for the short notice, but this is this afternoon!
Get your bicycle and join in for a great ride around town. The Tour will be stopping at local, independently-owned restaurant/bars that choose to carry American-owned craft beers.
The Tour begins at 2 pm at The Virgin Olive (807 N. Orange Ave, just North of 50) where riders will gather and have a chance to grab a bite from their great menu. The ride continues on to Cavanaughs in College Park, a newcomer to the craft beer scene but great selection none the less. Then it is on to The Imperial at Washburn Imports, a new and what just might be the most unique bar in town. The Tour then rolls on to Bikes, Beans, and Bordeaux which is celebrating their 2 year anniversary this week! . . . . The final stop will be Colonial Lanes, plenty of everything there for the finale . . .
There looks to be about 50 people signed up for the ride, so get out and enjoy the beautiful, Florida weather.
Everyone knows the Murphy laws ….. like “If anything can go wrong, it will.”
So what are the Murphy Laws of Cycling?
Here’s a couple I’ve come up with — maybe you have some of your own.
1.) “There is always a head-wind”
(a) the wind is always stronger than predicted
(b) In rare instances of no wind or tail-winds, see the other Laws
2.) “It will always rain when you’re not prepared for it”
(a) Waterproof really means water resistant
(b) Water resistant means it gets very wet
3.) “Flats happen on any ride when:”
(a) You are in a hurry to get somewhere
(b) You say to yourself ”Gee, I haven’t had a flat in a really long time!”
(c) You say to yourself ”Gee, there’s no headwind and it’s not raining!”
Got any others? 
Here’s your inspiration…
Title says it all.
I’ve noticed a lot more traffic on the road just in the last few weeks.
While $3-a-gallon gasoline can be seen as a symbol of economic gains, it’s expected to spark some consumer protests and flashbacks of the overheated markets that led to $4 gasoline. Retail gasoline prices hit their all-time record high of $4.11 in July 2008, a time when Americans were consuming 9.3 million barrels a day. To compare, official estimates put last week’s demand at 8.9 million barrels a day.
People respond emotionally to rising gasoline prices and typically “will drive a mile out of the way for every half a cent a gallon,” said Neal Walters, partner in the energy practice at A.T. Kearney, a global management consultant firm.
