Through photos, video and narrative, RideTHISbike.com demonstrates that folding bikes are a fun, fit, practical and sustainable transportation solution. Topics include use of easy to store/transport folding bikes with mass transit, passenger rail & commercial airlines, epic cycling journeys by folding bike, product reviews, prototype testing, industry news, great cycling destinations and extraordinary long distance bike trails.
If you could buy, lease or rent a folding bike from a US retailer and have the bike ready & waiting for you at your destination (such as London), would you?
Recently, I had the pleasure of conducting a video interview with the head of Bigfish. After the interview, I asked R. Logie (a Bigfish rep from the UK) whether we could arrange a Fly n'Bike program for RideTHISbike.com customers visiting London that want to go cycling there via a Bigfish folding bike. Although the details have yet to be fleshed out, I was told it could be possible and we're working on this now.
Today, I received an interesting email from U.S. Senator David Vitter (the Republican senator representing Southeast Louisiana). Titled "Happy Stimulus Anniversary Taxpayers!", the letter was a cynical stab at the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that was passed last year by Congress to stimulate the economy.
Two things made the letter stand out. First, Senator Vitter selected to focus on $56-57 million of ARRA spending that he considered wasteful (rather than the other $1 trillion+). Second was the timing of the letter. Just the day before, the US Dept of Transportation awarded a $45 million stimulus fund grant to a transportation project in Senator Vitter's district (complete details on page 35 of this pdf).
As one of Senator Vitter's constituents (and a registered, active voter), I decided to contact Sen. Vitter so I could have a clearer understanding of his views. Here's the email I sent him this evening:
Senator Vitter,
As one of your constituents, I'd like a clarification on your position concerning the $45 million TIGER award grant that the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority received yesterday via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Specifically, since you characterize certain allotments of the ARRA or "stimulus" funds as wasteful, does that mean you were against awarding the New Orleans RTA with a grant that fully funds the building of the Union Passenger Terminal - Loyola Loop streetcar line?
Additionally, are you in favor of federal funding of flood control levees in your district but against building levees outside your district?
I ask because the $54 million award you referenced today in your email titled "Happy Stimulus Anniversary Taxpayers!" was designated for the construction of a flood wall and related improvements for the Napa River Flood Control Project, not the Wine Train.
I hope you are in favor of the $45 million award to the RTA. Running from New Orleans' Amtrak/Greyhound terminal to Canal Street, the new streetcar line will connect with the existing, historic Canal St & St. Charles Ave (as well as the Riverfront) streetcar lines. Since the grant requires the RTA to complete the streetcar line within 2 years, this vital & new transit link will soon be transporting locals and tourists to work and play, spurring faster redevelopment of vacant high rise properties downtown such as the old Hyatt Regency Hotel, Plaza Towers, Charity Hospital and a variety of other large structures in the Central Business District that are still vacant almost 5 years after Katrina.
Regards,
Larry Lagarde
RideTHISbike.com
Practical & Fun Bicycles That Fold For Storage, Travel & Convenience
If you'd like to read the original email from Senator Vitter, I've posted it below. Additionally, I will post here any response I receive from the Senator.
Happy Stimulus Anniversary Taxpayers!
Dear Friend,
One year ago, over my strong opposition, President Obama and liberals in Congress passed the $1.1 trillion "stimulus" for our economy. At the time unemployment was at 7.7 percent, and a year later it has unfortunately increased to 9.7 percent.
The stimulus was packed full of wasteful pork barrel spending that has nothing to do with stimulating our economy.
Here are just a few small examples of egregious waste that our money was spent on:
$250 stimulus checks went to thousands of convicted felons while still being held in prison.
$390,000 to study people who consume malt liquor and marijuana went to The State University Of New York At Buffalo.
$1 million to renovate Sunset Boulevard, or "the Sunset Strip" was given to the City of West Hollywood Council.
$54 million went to the Napa Valley wine train.
These projects are hardly the type of stimulus we were promised and are typical of the waste and government growth we've seen this past year. That is why I offered an amendment to the stimulus to cut $40 billion in waste like this and why I joined a majority of our Congressional delegation in voting against the stimulus.
We need to change the focus away from bloated federal spending and away from borrowing or issuing new debt for which the next generation is responsible.
I've introduced the No Cost Stimulus with the specific goal of stimulating the economy by creating jobs, freeing up domestic resources for U.S. citizens, and streamlining regulatory review processes that have choked U.S. business and development. My bill would increase our oil and gas production and create two million long-term, sustainable and well paying jobs.
I'll keep fighting for commonsense proposals like this and to turn the corner to control exploding federal spending and debt.
For years, New Yorkers have been pushing for transportation alternatives that will make it safer & easier to get around NYC without a car. Recent projects (like turning a portion of Broadway into a bike/pedestrian corridor) and initiatives (such as the push for congestion pricing as a means to decrease auto use/congestion in Manhattan) show that residents are serious about making New York more sustainable. So to those in the know, the following news from bike group Transportation Alternatives should come as no surprise...
The East Side Revolution
Manhattan's East Side will soon see some transformative transportation changes.
First and Second Avenues are about to get a whole lot better for bikers, walkers and transit takers.
In response to T.A.'s East Side campaign, the Department of Transportation has committed to building better bus, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure from South Ferry to 125th Street. Included in the agency's plans are bike lanes, bus lanes and improved pedestrian crossings that will not only make these notoriously congested avenues safer, but also better-performing.
Though the DOT has yet to identify the exact configurations it will use when construction begins this June, all of the possibilities are huge improvements over the order-less mess that now rules the roads in this part of Manhattan, and we commend them, as well as the Volunteer Committee members, community stakeholders, local politicians and countless activists who helped the plan come together.
To ensure that this wave of street reform doesn't simply splash on to two avenues and wash away, Transportation Alternatives is organizing an East Side Streets Coalition to help spread these changes. With the support of T.A.'s Volunteer Committees, citizens and civic organizations from East Harlem to Chinatown, the East Side Coalition plans to push for streets that reduce pedestrian and cyclist injuries and fatalities from vehicle crashes by 50% in the next decade.
While this is great news for those on the East Side, it's notable that city planners and residents across the USA are finally recognizing the need for safer opportunities for biking and walking. Just yesterday, a story noted that car centric Los Angeles is creating a major bikeway network to decrease congestion and pollution.
Though the weather in L.A. is more conducive to cycling year round, L.A.'s population density of 1 family/acre makes travel distances longer than in New York City. Nevertheless, the fact that Los Angeles is taking serious steps to improve multi-modal commuting (via bikeway networks integrated with mass transit) holds hope that any community can have more sustainable transportation.
Electric bikes are becoming a recurring topic online.
Take 3 random stories from today for example.
1. Ecological Urban Living mentioned a variety of electric bikes (including the promising CMYK light weight/short distance city commuter).
2. There was an RV forum discussion concerning the Yike (a $5000, extremely short range electric scooter masquerading as a bicycle - no pedal drive option at all).
What all the above (and most posts in general) fail to address are the underlying issues electric bikes have concerning practicality.
For example, I have been evaluating the IF Reach DC, a new, high performance, folding bike with passive electric assist. As electric bikes go, the DC has just about everything going for it - great performance, range, cruising speed, lightweight, quick, on demand foldability, compact folded size and the ability to roll when folded. In fact, the DC performs so much better than other electrics that I now sell it. Nevertheless, as much as I love the DC, with a $2500 purchase price, chances are that the bikes' true value will only be appreciated by first adopters, green thinkers and bike fanatics - at least for now.
When can we expect to see the perfect electric bike (or simply the perfect bicycle)?
As demand for practical, personal transportation increases, more resources will be put towards addressing this issue and a bicycle will be available with all the right features (sub $500 price, light weight, compact for transporting or storage & strong performance/durability). Any date I give would be an educated guess but I expect this to happen by 2020.
Should you wait until that perfect bike is available?
Naturally, this is also a matter of personal opinion; however, I'd rather benefit from obtaining the best bike I can afford now rather than put off cycling until that ideal bike comes. Frankly, the health, environmental and financial benefits of cycling far outweigh the negatives already.
Although I have been out of the Gekko folding bike for some time, customers still contact me regularly about this sturdy, steel folding bike. So for those of you that have asked whether an electric motor can be added to the Gekko, here's a video showing that the answer is yes. The user did have to cut and weld the Gekko's frame to add the electric motor though.
On February 2nd, 2010, I had the honor of interviewing Sandi Cesko, the Bigfish behind the Bigfish folding bike. The interview covers how this folding bicycle came to be, explains some of the unique benefits the Bigfish offers as well as Sandi's hopes for the bike's future.
Earlier today, a RideTHISbike.com reader asked what led to my trip to Taiwan. It's a rather interesting twist of events so I thought I'd post the story here.
For several years, Mark Sanders and I have been corresponding with one another (I finally met him at InterBike 2008). At some point, Mark had mentioned to me that Pacific Cycles had a private museum of bikes spanning 3 floors and that I must see it one day.
Fast forward to Interbike 2009.
Areaware sent me a new Birdy bike to evaluate, with the provision I get it back to them for display at the InterBike '09 convention. I rode the Birdy pretty hard at the Outdoor Demo (it was totally covered in dust) but I got it back to them the afternoon before the floor show.
When I arrived at Areaware's booth, Michael Lin of Pacific Cycles was there. Since Pacific Cycles makes the Birdy, IF Mode, IF Reach, CarryMe and other folding bikes, we talked quite a bit and ended up going to dinner. Before leaving Vegas, Michael invited me to visit the Pacific Cycles factory when I could.
Fast forward again to December 2009.
I had been testing a prototype IF Reach DC since the summer and sent an update to George Lin (owner of Pacific Cycles). George is intimately involved with Pacific's R&D, spending half of each work day in the R&D shop working on future products. So whether it was my feedback, enthusiasm or both, I don't know but George personally invited me to tour their facilities as well as stay free of charge at the dorm Pacific offers to reps of the 40+ bike brands they produce bikes for (such as the new Dreamslide from France).
How could I resist?
I knew this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity so I scheduled my departure for the soonest I could leave (January 13th). Since George had offered me bikes to ride and the weather in Taiwan is dicey that time of year, I gave myself about a week so I'd have at least one good day of riding. As it turned out, the weather was unusually mild and dry my entire stay (though extremely windy at times).
I'm still processing everything I experienced in Taiwan. Meeting and interacting with George Lin (a legend in the industry and a very humble, intelligent and pleasant individual in person), seeing future bikes in R&D as well as production of current bikes like the Birdy and CarryMe, bicycle rides with Michael Lin (George's son), pretty much having full and unrestricted access to the factory, being allowed to ride a variety of production and prototype bikes, browsing George's extensive library, discussing product development with designers like Ryan Carroll, examining Pacific's collection of bicycles (aka the bike museum) including many prototypes and simply being immersed in Asian culture for the first time - all these were just mind boggling.
Having said all the above, there is one more aspect to the back story of my Taiwan trip - Hurricane Katrina. Although Katrina has faded into the subconscious of America, I have been living through the effects of this storm for almost 5 years. With my wife pregnant, our home (and city) devastasted and most of my web design customers either on life support or gone, I found myself at a cross-roads.
It wasn't simply a matter of whether to rebuild in New Orleans or permanently move elsewhere. Like survivors of many other disasters, I wondered why my life had been spared when others I know had died or lost everything. This question left me with the feeling that I was being given a second chance - an opportunity to do more than to simply support my family.
I dove into RideTHISbike.com with the mission of sharing the simple pleasures of bicycling with as many people as possible. From the beginning, I have focused on folding bicycles because they are the most versatile and practical of all bikes, which makes folders the best choice as a true transportation alternative.
So to fully put the back story of my Taiwan trip in context, just as it has led to many other wonderful experiences, it was my response to Hurricane Katrina that ultimately led to this trip. No doubt, as I continue to share and advocate for the joys of bicycling, there will be more extraordinary moments and experiences to look forward to.
As time allows, I will be sharing more videos and info from my trip to Taiwan for your enjoyment. Thanks for visiting RideTHISbike.com and come back again soon.
Here's another video I shot in Taiwan. It's a ride in and around the city of Taipei on an IF Reach DC folding electric bike (a bicycle with pedal actuated, electric motor assist). This bike is agile, fast and folds quickly for storage or transport.
Just posted a short video from my trip last month to Taiwan. The video demonstrates the advantages of having a bike that's as easy to take on light rail, escalators or up a flight of steps as it is to ride. At about 3 minutes in length, the clip is well worth viewing.
If you're curious, the bicycle in the video is a CarryMe folding bike from Pacific Cycles. I visited their factory while in Taiwan and was amazed. More on that later.
by Larry Lagarde
