ian dewar - circling the world on two wheels

You Can't Hammer A Nail Over The Internet

I love this video - it's simple, straight forward and with no pretention (ok a little pretention since it's a fixie bike shop)...

I especially like the way they lay all the parts out before the build begins. I want that. everytime. this is the way a bike should get built - every part should be thought through. and ultimately the parts might not be the best, the most expensive, the coolest color... but what will happen is every part will have been considered based on price, need, utility, visual excitement, and ultimately what makes us happy.

The Inverted Bike Shop from Show Love on Vimeo.

"you can't hammer a nail over the internet, you can't be a butcher over the internet, you can't be a barber over the internet and you can't be a bike mechanic over the internet.  you have to do it with your hands. it's something that can't be replaced"

At first I thought why are they building such a simple bike, no Chris King, no White Industries Hubs, no carbon, no tri-spoke and i realized this isn't about what coolest, it's about what works the best for every user.

The internet isn't going away. The largest parts distributor in the country just announced today they were creating new ways for customers to purchase off the internet, but announced it in a way that included local dealers.  Check out QBP's new program here: Buy Local Buy Now.  It's a big of a gamble - attacking internet retailers like Chain Reaction and Wiggles by launching your own internet purchase solution.  But it's out there. Trek has a version of this option.  They are both fighting internet shopping with... of all things... internet shopping.  Brands that still focus on a physical location for distribution are trying to give customers a compelling reason to come into the store. Service, information, technology know-how, local knowledge, trail development, advocacy, these are the new tools in the price-war.

Can the independent bike shop survive? Carlton Reid over at Bike Biz talked about this issue today. Are things that different from when this ad came out in 1897?

In the end we all want to have the bike we like the most... So think about every part of your bike next time you buy one, or build one from your own parts, or swap for one, or visit your local bike shop. We make 100s of choices everyday. Make sure the ones you make about your bike help promote cycling.

This Weeks Round Up of Transportation Updates

Friday

Phase 1 of the Transportation Bill is approved in the House

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/bill-forces-decision-on-pipeline-expands-drilling-to-pay-for-transportation-projects/2012/02/16/gIQAP23WIR_story.html

The Republican-controlled House endorsed a plan Thursday to vastly expand oil and gas drilling off the nation’s coasts to help pay for a $260 billion transportation bill.   This bill contains provisions on opening up drilling in ANWR, fast-tracking approval for the Keystone XL pipeline and would open the eastern Gulf of Mexico off Florida and areas off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to drilling.  The Senate is expected to reject this and the White House has threatened to veto it anyway

Thursday

House Speaker John Boehner says Transportation Bill will have some changes

http://transportationnation.org/2012/02/16/boehner-fundamental-change-means-this-bill-stays-in-gop-territory/

The House GOP’s $260 billion transportation and infrastructure bill is facing a revamp, but Speaker John Boehner made it clear Thursday where he’s going for more votes. And it’s not to Democrats.  Boehner (R-Ohio) suggested to reporters he’s not fishing for Democrats to support the bill and will instead tweak the legislation in an effort to woo more Republicans.

Wednesday

Boehner delays the vote on the Transportation Bill in the House

http://thehill.com/blogs/transportation-report/highways-bridges-and-roads/210787-boehner-delays-highway-bill-vote

Boehner (R-Ohio) told his conference Wednesday morning that it was "more important that we do it right than that we do it fast" in explaining his decision, a clear signal GOP leaders lack the votes to win approval of the package.

Boxer sees ‘no path forward’ on Senate Transportation Bill

http://thehill.com/blogs/transportation-report/highways-bridges-and-roads/211001-sen-boxer-right-now-there-is-no-path-forward-on-senate-transportation-bill

"Right now, there is no path forward," Boxer said even as she vowed to continue pushing for a clean vote on the transportation proposal. Boxer said that the bill has been held up by "ridiculously unrelated amendments."

 

Tuesday

White House Threatens to Veto the House Transportation Bill

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/72883.html

“Because this bill jeopardizes safety, weakens environmental and labor protections, and fails to make the investments needed to strengthen the nation’s roads, bridges, rail, and transit systems, the president’s senior advisers would recommend that he veto this legislation,” read the White House’s statement of administration policy.

GOP breaks up the Transportation Bill

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/72851.html

House Republicans are splitting up their mammoth transportation and energy bill in an effort to overcome rising GOP and conservative think tank discontent with the measure.

Since the package has run into reluctant Republican lawmakers and a unified Democratic front, leaders decided to let members vote separately on the transportation, energy and pension provisions that would later be recombined into a single bill.  The five-year, $260 billion proposal has drawn friendly fire for a variety of reasons: Conservatives have challenged the price tag and some of the funding mechanisms, while moderate Republicans don’t like the idea of including oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Nearly 300 amendments were filed to the Rules Committee.

Monday

Obama releases proposed Transportation plan for $476 billion over six years

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-16/obama-proposes-doubling-highway-spending-on-military-savings.html

The White House budget released today proposes $476 billion over six years for surface transportation, and the president calls for an immediate $50 billion infusion in spending this year. It also increases a transportation lending program by four fold while reducing funding for airport grants.  “This transportation budget is fully paid for,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on a conference call with reporters. “This is real money.”

 

Just when you thought ONE Transportation Bill wasn’t enough…

Chairman Mica doesn't want the Feds to pay to include cycling or walking in Transportation projects

Last week the House Transportation Bill - H.R. 7 The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act – made it’s way out of committee after only four days of discussion.  The proposed legislation strips all dedicated funding for cycling and walking from the federal budget and eliminates two key infrastructure programs that support cycling – Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School.  An amendment to the bill presented by two Republican members of the committee (Petri R-WI and Johnson R-IL) failed to restore funding during the mark-up period. 

• More information on the Transportation Bill
• More information on the failed amendment

Now the bill passes to the full House of Representatives for debate before a final vote expected in late March / early April.   The floor debate is scheduled to start next week and will certainly continue for the month of February.

Meanwhile over in the Senate the Committee on the Environment and Public Works continue to work on their version of a proposed Transportation Bill MAP-21.  The America Bikes coalition expressed concern when the bill was proposed about the cuts to dedicated funding to biking and walking and concern about the ability of states to opt out of these programs and funnel all money to highway construction.  One key part of MAP-21 is that Transportation Enhancements, Safe Routes to School and the Recreational Trails programs are all combined into one funding source called “Additional Activities”.

• America Bikes Respond to MAP-21

This week Senators Cardin (D-MD) and Cochran (R-MS) introduced an amendment to the Senate Transportation Bill that increases local involvement in decisions and allows funding to go to local governments.  The main benefit of the Cardin-Cochran Amendment is that it maintains state and local government access to the Additional Activities funding.

So what does this mean for cycling advocates and more important everyday cyclists who want safe streets and improved access to bikes?  It means less money available for our local governments to work with to improve our local infrastructure. It means less Safe Routes to School funding to continue to improve the options for our kids to walk or bike to school.  It means cutting dedicated Bike & Ped staff from state DOTs. 

Today more then ever we need to voice our support for programs that maintain funding to cycling project and we need to voice our concern about programs that do not.  To send a message to your Senators and your House Member please use this League of American Bicyclists Action Alert. 

Neither of these bills are done deals yet and our elected representatives need to know that their constituents care about these issues. This isn’t a Democrat vs. Republican issue, it’s a public safety and transportation use issue.  For perspective the National Household Travel Survey and the Federal Highway Administration data makes this issue clear.  In 2011 cycling and walking represented 12% of all trips in the United States.  Biking and Walking accidents represented 14% of all transportation fatalities.  Yet Biking and Walking projects received only 1.6% of federal transportation funding.

This isn’t an issue of choosing highway funding over bike and walking funding.  It’s an issue of proving support and safe transportation options for all users.

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• To find out more about current cycling issues please visit the Bike League Blog
• To offer support and get updats on issues please sign the peopleforbikes.org pledge
• To help Ian raise money for Bikes Belong please give $5 at Ian’s Pledge Page

 

Step One into the Abyss… or Round One of a Heavyweight Bout?

Today the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee starting discussion on the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, the new Transportation Bill designed to cover all federal transportation funding for the next five year.  You can read it HERE if you have time for 847 pages…  or you can read the assessment of League of American Bicyclists HERE.

As we discussed in yesterday’s POST there are some major problems in this bill for the people who work on developing cycling and walking infrastructure in this country.  Two of the biggest programs that fund biking and walking projects ::  Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School :: have been eliminated.  This is not good news to anyone who hopes for improved bike facilities or who want to bike or walk to school or work.

Today Rep Tom Petri (R-WI) introduced an amendment to re-instate funding for Transportation Enhancements (TE) and Safe Routes to School (SRTS).  It was co-sponsored by Rep Timothy Johnson (R-IL) and Rep Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) and presented to the whole committee.  Take a look here at what Rep Peter DeFazio said today about this bill.

Are you as shocked as I am?  The statement starts with the confirmation that when asked WHO HAD READ THIS BILL – not a single member raised their hands.  I would like to quote him “Not even the chairman has read the bill”. He’s angry and he should be.

After another strong statement from Rep. DeFazio about Safe Routes to School:

 

What happened after this passionate statement?  The committee voted 29-27 against the amendment.   Against a strong partisan environment in congress today three Republican members voted for the amendment.  Representative Tom Petri (R-WI) and his colleagues Timothy Johnson (R-IL), and Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) are the first step in making the commitment to keep cycling as a component of transportation as a bi-partisan issue.  Thank you.

If the statements coming out of congress today aren’t shocking enough to you – Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today It’s the worst transportation bill I’ve ever seen during 35 years of public service.”  You can read his whole interview with POLITICO HERE.  Some other juicy quotes include “This is the most partisan transportation bill I have ever seen”, and “… it is also the most anti-safety bill I Have ever seen. It hollows out our No. 1 priority, which is safety…”

What is the next step here?  The Transportation Committee will vote on the bill and move it to the house.  At that point all representatives vote on it.  If you care about biking and walking in America you should contact your Representative.  You can do that by CLICKING HERE and sending an email.

You can attend the National Bike Summit to make your voice heard and meet your Representative.

You can join your local Bicycle Coalition and learn more about what is going on in your own community.

Finally on the same day that Congress seems to believe that American people do not want more access to bikes the Washington DC Bike Share has announced an extension due to overwhelming demand.  Figure that one out?

The Future of Transportation is Here… and it does not look good for cyclists.

On Thursday Feb 2^nd the House Transportation committee will take the first vote on the new Transportation bill called the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act.  This bill shockingly eliminates all federal funding for biking and walking.  This is a $260 billion bill that will support all federally funded transportation programs for the next five year.  Not only has the bill removed mention to key cycling projects it actively eliminates programs that most cycling funding come from including Safe Routes to School and the Transportation Enhancements program.

America Bikes have prepared a list of the Top Ten Problems with this bill:

1. Transportation Enhancements is gone.
2. Safe Routes to School is gone.
3. The Congestion Mitigation Air Quality program (CMAQ) is less likely to support pedestrian, bicycle, and transit improvements because air quality is no longer the operative measure.
4. States are no longer required to maintain safe bridge access for bicycles.
5. Rails to Trails are no longer eligible for funding under the Surface Transportation program.
6. Pedestrian and bicycle coordinators in state DOTs are eliminated.
7. Pedestrian, bicycle and Enhancements clearinghouses gone.
8. Eliminates the requirement that rumble strips “do not adversely affect the safety or mobility of bicyclists, pedestrians or the disabled.”
9. Eliminates language that specifically includes traffic calming and improvements for ped-bike safety as eligible HSIP projects.
10. Transit Enhancements is gone.

This proposal would roll back over 20 years of infrastructure spending growth, which has resulted in a huge increase in cycling across the United States.  Compare these two charts on cycling spending and cycling participation.

For anyone who rides a bike or walks for transportation of commuting to work this is terrible news.  For anyone who has children in school this is terrible news.  For recreational cyclists who want safe roads and bike lanes to get them out of town this is terrible news. 

There is only one way to stop this bill from going through in it’s current form and that is to make our voices heard and talk directly to the members of the House of Representatives and then our Senators and tell them what we think. 

If you Representative is on the Transportation Committee (you can check HERE) call their office and ask them to put funding for cycling back in the Transportation bill.

If you can go to their local office or the office in Washington DC, do that.  If not write and letter or send an email. 

The League of American Bicyclists has an excellent link which will allow you to write directly to your Representative.  Do it now by CLICKING HERE.

Even if your Representative is not on the Transportation Committee send a letter to them telling them why cycling is important to you and why you want to see this funding preserved.

To find out more about this very important issue please see what the League, America Bikes, The Alliance for Biking and Walking have to say.

Bike League – Horrible Surface Transportation Bill Unveiled

American Bikes – Save Biking and Walking

Alliance – House Bill Erases Two Decades of Progress