Posts from November, 2009

Is it a ride to see the holiday lights, or a ride with holiday lights on your bike?
Yes!
We’ll meet at Lake Eola Park along Eola Drive near the Civil War memorial, and ride for about an hour-and-a-half or so, ogling at decorated houses and our own manicly-flashing selves.  Afterward we hang out at the park [...]

The best paint in Orlando can be found on the stencils that show cyclists where to stand to trigger a green light. You can thank Mighk for these.
Loop detector wires run through cuts in the pavement. They are triggered by the metal in your bike (not weight, as many people think). The stencils are placed [...]

In the comments to my post on the Primrose bike lane, Bencott said:
…what’s there is completely useless to a cyclist who’s not comfortable commanding their space when the bike lanes get interrupted near the intersection with Central.
I had to smile because Robert had run the video cameras on our way down there. What we captured [...]

Thirty-five years ago nobody gave a damn. Other than the cops, who used to stop me and tell me that what I was doing was dangerous, or detain me to make their point, nobody cared.
Oh, how I long for those days.
Now, unsolicited, I have all sorts of “help.” My new friends tell the City of [...]

Today, for the first time,  I rode Edgewater Drive by bicycle in a passive manner. I’ve done it in an assertive manner with no trouble, but I decided to see how a gutter bunny would handle it.
It took every bit of  skill I had to accomplish this. I rode, as the City of Orlando and [...]

A moment of thanks for the readers and authors of this blog. Your insights and thoughtful articles and comments have enhanced CommuteOrlando more than I ever envisioned. You have made this community richer, and every day you make it better for bicycling. Your input has encouraged me to be a better thinker, writer and teacher.
Happy [...]

As I swerved to miss the pedestrian — who had stopped, started, turned, and then walked backwards at the intersection all without seeing me approach — I had all my attention on making sure I did not startle (or hit!) the person right in front of me.
What I forgot was to watch for turning cars.  [...]

Then ask the City of Orlando to do something about it.
I finally got down to Primrose with my camera and tape measure. Walking around down there, it’s much worse than I remembered. The usable-pavement width from the center line to the sand or grass is often as little as 11 ft. There are several drain [...]

Today I was backing up my little truck rather preciselyand I realized that all the ways I used to look back didn’t work anymore.  After I scratched off over the seat and open the driver’s door to look back, I realized how poorly the mirrors were.
I’m not much better at looking back on a bicycle.
B&W [...]

I am pleased to see that my friend Chipseal has published his fine essay, “The Steps of the Dance.” Saith Chipseal:
Most of us use the roadway system as we do our common everyday electronics—we tend to take for granted what makes them function. There is a practical elegance to the way our streets and roads [...]