apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Sadly, we've had too many deaths from #13 here in Chicago so far this year. So may I please remind everyone:

1) Wear a helmet.

2) Use a headlight at night:
(from the Chicago Municipal Code)
9-52-080(a) Every bicycle when in use at nighttime shall be equipped with a head lamp which shall emit a white light visible from a minimum distance of 500 feet from the front and with a rear red reflector capable of reflecting the head lamp beams of an approaching motor vehicle back to the operator of such vehicle at distances up to 200 feet or a rear lamp emitting a red light visible from a distance of at least 200 feet from the rear.

3) If you're over the age of 12, don't ride on the sidewalk!
9-52-020. Riding bicycles on sidewalks and certain roadways.
(a) No person shall ride a bicycle upon a sidewalk within a business district.
(b) No person 12 or more years of age shall ride a bicycle upon any sidewalk in any district, unless such sidewalk has been officially designated and marked as a bicycle route.
(c) Bicycles shall not be operated on Lake Shore Drive or on any roadway where the operation of bicycles has been prohibited and signs have been erected indicating such prohibition.
(d) Whenever a usable path for bicycles has been provided adjacent to a roadway, bicycle riders shall use such path and shall not use the roadway.

And lastly, I both bike and drive in this city, so I know what it's like from both sides. And if you turn left across me at the North/Milwaukee/Damen intersection (from the right side of my vehicle with its left turn signal) I will shout obscenities at you. This happened on Sunday and I was completely flabberghasted.

I started biking to work about a year ago, and I couldn't be happier. I don't have to deal with gas, the stinky bus, or the gym. I get 40 min. of *free* exercise a day and I feel better about my contribution to a cleaner planet.

Yay bikes!

(To make biking to work a safer option in San Francisco, join the SFBike Coalition. www.sfbike.org )

I'm pretty proud of my husband. He's been riding his bike everywhere, including riding 16 miles a day for work.

I'm not a bike-lover, or a bike-hater, but the title would be more accurate if it read, "Why Bikes are the World's Most Common Vehicle".

"Popular", implies that people prefer them over other choices. The reality is they're often the only choice ... which makes them common.

I remember when the Segway came out and its invetor was hyping it as a way to revolutionize the way we move around in the world.

Bill Nye had a very simple response "why not just buy a bike?"

I couldn't agree more.

Apparently Chicago has had a proposal for Parkway and Boulevard car-free bike Sundays for several years but has been stopped due to various church's complaining about losing parking.

With people in cars on their cell phones and not paying attention, I feel my safety is already greatly reduced in my own car. I value my own well being and that of others too much to ride a bike outside of my own neighborhood. Until Los Angeles errects safe bike pathways, this will be my last choice in transportation.

I couldn't agree more with you, Seaside. In Tampa, you have about a 99.5% chance of dying on your bike. I love to ride, when I go to Europe it's all I do. But here in "On-my-cell-phone-in-my-TV-equipped-SUV-going-30-miles-over-the-speed-limit" land, I only ride in my neighborhood. Tampa has a looong way to go. Public transportation takes an hour for me to get to work (I do it once/wk), as opposed to 12 minutes in my car. God, I miss NY.

This is great and I too have made the switch to riding my bike to work. It has been awesome and an invigorating experience (see my write up
here)! Thanks for sharing this.