Having put down some decent winter miles I’m now commuting to work by bike almost every day now the weather is a little nicer. Due to the increase in mileage I’m doing along cycle paths I’ve realised there is a cultural divide between cyclists and dog walkers. I’ve had my fair share of ‘incidents’ with dog walkers in the last few weeks and I think I know the reason why.

Edumecated

As ‘cyclists’ we are a strange bunch and most of the things we do puzzle the rest of the population to the point of ridicule. But maybe that’s because they just don’t understand what we are doing; they need educating on the ways of the cyclist. At the moment there is a small war going on in my town between the sensible masses who want our current cycle paths to be extended for the enjoyment of everyone and those who think that cyclists are crazed speed racers with a maniacal penchant for running over little dogs, children and/or the elderly. Having read a lot of articles and letters in the local paper it seems that we, as cyclists have a duty to explain ourselves and take the moral high ground. That’s why I have decided to submit a letter to the local paper, explaining myself and my actions as a cyclist to those who are willing to take the time to learn… and I need your help.

We may live in different countries and there may be slight cultural divides but I’d really, really love to know your thoughts on the points I’ve listed below which will go in my letter and tell me about ‘rules of the road’ that you abide by. It’s my belief with a little education, we can all get along as super swell friends.

• I am NOT racing, I’m commuting.
• I am not trying to scare, hurt or run over your dog. I will almost certainly come off worse if this were to happen.
• I’m British, so I ride on the left. That is my default even on a cycle path. If you are walking towards me, walk on the left.
• If I approach and you have your back to me, I will politely call ‘behind’ in good time for you to react and move to one side.
• If you are walking towards me, it is NOT ridiculous to expect you to see me and react accordingly. I sit almost 6 feet high on my bike and will almost certainly be wearing something bright.
• If I’m sporting my 800 lumens light and you STILL don’t see me… you should’ve gone to Specsavers!
• If at all possible I will not ride between you and your unleashed dog, that’s just asking for trouble as Fido runs across me to get to you.
• If I feel you’re being unreasonable in your own actions as we try to co-exist in this space, expect me to voice my opinion. This has nothing to do with me being a cyclist, I am a strong-minded human.

If you are a cyclist you probably do these things instinctively but to everyone else, well they may never have crossed their mind. I hope by explaining these things to pedestrians and dog walkers, they will be able to see that it is a behaviour pattern that has rules and that you can rely on rather than just random acts of racing.

Leave your comments below on the things that I’ve missed off the list and I’ll add them into the letter to the newspaper. This is what #bikeschool is about…

WORLD CYCLISTS UNITE

Stevie

I think it’s safe to say that Austin, Texas is one of the top Tech cities in North America….It’s also safe to say that it’s also one of the top cycling cities as well. Because of this, it’s no surprise that CycleTracks is using this city to collect bicycle data through their Smartphone application design.

What is Cycle Tracks?

I don’t know about you, but I always seem to go to Twitter to get a nice little snapshot of what a person or company is all about….so I thought I’d do this for Cycle Tracks as well.  Here is how they describe themselves on Twitter:

If you need a little more than the Twitter bio to give you details on what these guys do, let me give you the low down in a few more than 140 characters. CycleTracks is an IPhone and Android application that collects data on why and where a cyclist rides their bike.  The program was developed by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) and uses a smartphone’s GPS capabilities to track bicycle trip routes.  The only other input required from the user is to specify a purpose for each of their bicycle trips (commuting, shopping, exercise, etc).  All of this data is then sent to the SFCTA servers and added to their pile of Austin bicycle routes.  All identifiable data is kept confidential, of course.

Why Austin?

As I explained earlier, it’s pretty easy to see why Austin was determined to be the city of choice for CycleTracks to get things going, but why do they say they selected our fine city?

Austin was chosen for this project because of its strong cycling culture, its known bicycle-friendliness, and the presence of several universities including the University of Texas which makes it an ideal test environment.

Get Involved

If you live in the Austin area and would like to take part in the data collection, you still have time.  CycleTracks plans to collect data here until the end of October so get cracking if you’re into this.

To get started, download the CycleTracks application for your iPhone/Android phone using the links below. Once you have installed the application on your phone, follow these instructions from the SFTCA website about how to use the application.

For iPhone:

Download Link – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cycletracks/id338203326?mt=8 

Instructions - http://cycletracksaustin.com/cycletracks#iPhone

For Android Phone:

Download Link - https://market.android.com/details?id=org.sfcta.cycletracks&feature=search_result

Instructions - http://cycletracksaustin.com/cycletracks#Android

Other Cities

I would say it’s a safe bet that if all goes well with the Austin test site, the CycleTracks crew will be coming soon to your city.  Keep your eyes and ears open and let’s see how this form of data collection changes or improves things.

For more information on CycleTracks, visit them at http://cycletracksaustin.com/cycletracks.

As you know, I’m primarily a road cyclist.  It’s what I love the most, and what I spend the majority of my riding time on.  But there are times when I want to commute somewhere or get out riding with the kids, so I need something for that as well.

My secondary bike has always been a mountain bike.  I’m not sure why exactly because I don’t really tend to ride on trails at all.  So what I decided to go with this time around was a commuter type bike. Something rugged like a mountain bike, but with thinner tires and a design more conducive to fast riding.  I ended up going with the Rocky Mountain RC10, which they classify as an Urban/Fitness bike.

In last week’s #bikeschool, one of the questions asked was about the names people give their bikes.  I feel like I’m a creative guy, but I’ve never named any of my bikes in the past.  So, with the help of John (aka @thegreenmamba)…my new Rocky Mountain now has a name.  He’s dubbed it “Tina Turner” due to the little mishap I had with the bike before even putting one pedal stroke on it.  You can read about that right here.  John is calling me Ike and referring to my bike as Tina seeing as I gave it quite a beating back there.  (Please don’t take offence to the reasoning behind the new name…and find the humor in it).

Anyway, Tina had her reconstructive surgery and is now back with me (Huge thanks to Jamie and John from Lake Travis Cyclerly).  It’s a sweet bike and I’m looking forward to putting on many miles and good times on this one.  If you’d like to read more about the specifications and technical details of my new RC10, you can check it out at http://www.bikes.com/main+en+01_102+RC_10.html?BIKE=876&CATID=3&SCATID=53.

I’d like to end this post off with one more picture of Tina Turner, as well as a few other bikes that have caught my eye over the past few weeks.  I find pretty much any bike to be a thing of beauty, but these ones stand out just a little bit more.

"Elisabetta" c/o Cassi at www.shebicycles.com

Madsen kg271/BUCKET

Xtracycle c/o Cassie at www.shebicycles.com