Tour de Links - Street gamins and corner loafers.

New York City - Men continue to make up the majority of cyclists in New York City - more so than in other cities. “Within the United States, New York is far behind in terms of the percentage of women cyclists compared to cities like Washington, D.C., and San Francisco,” said John Pucher, a professor of planning and transportation at Rutgers University who is working on a book about global cycling trends. “I’m convinced that one of the reasons New York City has such a low percentage of women cyclists is that it’s dangerous.” I also think there are just more women in DC.  On the Times blog, one writer postulates that it has more to do with how friendly the transit is to cyclists. JSK replies to the Times "female bike ridership is actually increasing at a faster rate than male ridership" and criticizes them for looking only at bike commuting, which represents only 18% of bike trips in NYC. Author Sue Macy adds a story from the 1890's that shows just how far women have come. “We regret to see that cycling has at least one woman who so far forgets her own self-respect as to make a public exhibition of herself for the jeers of street gamins and the jibes of corner loafers.”

Also Ray Deter, owner of the beer bar d.b.a died after being hit by a car while riding his bicycle.

Also, cyclists have gained access to a previously off-limits shortcut across Central Park on an experimental basis, but the speed limit will be 5mph.

Pittsburgh - A bike collector has created a museum/bike shop.

Rhode Island - Republican Senate hopeful Barry Hinckley is biking to every city and town in Rhode Island to kick off his campaign. "He will ride a Heron bicycle — American-made, he is quick to point out. His 11-year-old daughter, Sasha, is planning to ride the full 35-mile loop with him through eight cities and towns. Hinckley hopes [Democratic Sen. Whitehouse] will come along on one of the rides.

Also, the state is opening a new on-road route that connects the Blackstone River Bikeway with the East Bay Bike Path

Jacksonville, NC - A child fell off his bike and broke his leg after hitting a pothole. Now the family is suing the DOT.

Chicago - A youth program tries to keep young men and women off the streets by teaching them bike repair.

Milwaukee - Bike polo continues to grow in popularity. But it won't arrive until it's in the X Games. "Other cities — such as Lexington, Ky., Milwaukee and Washington, D.C. — have been granted space to play from their cities, ranging from worn down tennis or basketball courts to a large enough area for three courts and lights that keep the pickup games going late into the evening."

Idaho/Washington - The Snoqualmie Tunnel on the John Wayne Pioneer Trail, the longest bike tunnel in the world, has reopened after being repaired. It was closed for 2 years. 

United States - Nancy Folbre makes an argument for bike infrastructure at the NYT. I would have liked to see more numbers. If you're going to make an economic argument, tell me what the dividend is. Of course, I agree, but it wouldn't convince me if I'd never read anything about it before.

DOT has announced a third round of TIGER funding, perhaps it's another chance for CaBi super-expansion. It could be an easier sell with the success Capital Bikeshare has had so far. This one is only $527M.

Children who live in low-income homes, with single-parents and in cities are more likely than other children to walk or cycle to school, according to a new study. Also, having friends nearby, having friends who walk or bike and having pedestrian crossings increases the likelihood that one walks or bikes to school. Finally there is a connection between a child's weight and whether or not they bike or walk to school.

Paris - A bike tour to the palace of Versailles is very nice.

Como, Italy - Australian professional cyclist Carly Hibberd died after being hit by a car while training in Italy.

Comments

[Michael H.]

Thanks for posting about the Versailles bike tour. Sounds really cool. I'll have to look into it if and when I ever return to France for a visit.

Did you see yesterday's stage of the Tour de France? A French TV station's car was driving near the breakaway group. The driver tried to pass the cyclists on a narrow road by driving partly on the grass. Then he saw a tree directly in his path so he swerved to the right to avoid the tree.

That meant bumping into the cyclists. He wiped out one of the riders who hit the road hard. Another rider flipped over his bike and crashed into a barbed-wire fence on the side of the road. He landed on his back and suffered deep cuts on both legs. Both men eventually fell back to the main group and finished behind the main peloton.

Those cyclists might have had a shot at a stage win if not for the idiotic driver. The rider who fell into the fence still picked up the King of the Mountains jersey, but it remains to be seen whether he will be able to recover fully before the next stage on Tuesday. He's really lucky that he didn't land in the barbed-wire face-first. That could have been really ugly, especially if he had lost his vision.

[Eric_W.]

Good for New Yorkers to have access to that funky new super-secret double jeopardy route through Central Park. But, seriously, 5mph? That's a 12 minute mile.

Will they now also stop even average joggers for speeding?

[Barry Childress]

Just to note that I am in NYC now and there are lot's of women on bikes here, and I do mean lots. The issue probably is they are not tracking bicycling for utilitarian purposes. A good 80% of the bicycles here have racks/baskets/panniers. I have seen several women with a stylish purse that doubles as a pannier.

Anyway I find it troubling that Andy Clark failed to mention that aspect of cycling as my impression of NYC is that utilitarian use of bicycles takes up most of the bike trips here.