2014 - Week 25 - Internet Round Up

23 Jun 2014 – Week 25 – Internet Round Up

Posted at 10:20h in Inspiration by Johnny Lam 0 Comments

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Chino Hills to Joshua Tree Flickr Album – Relive our Joshua Tree bike tour adventure through our Flickr photo album. There are several gems there that you may not have seen yet.

4th Annual Gear Guide: Cargo Bikes – Check out this cool cargo bike gear guide from Momentum Mag. 6 interesting cargo bike model to choose from. My favorite is the foldable long-tail Xtracycle. There are a few front bucket ones and several long-tail options. They also have other types of bikes featured at the bottom of the page.

A flashy idea for cycling safety – We’ve always wondered why there isn’t a turn signal invention. Here is our answer: a $50 unit that mounts underneath your seat and has button controls on your handle bar for left, right, and hazard signals. The hazard signals even has an audible alert for added safety. One of our Facebook Page reader pointed out another option that you can wear on your hands called Zackees. This will save you valuable space for seat bags.

Photo by Ed Yourdon on Flickr

Police: Motorist punches out bicyclist who refuses to go through a red light – People are usually pissed at cyclists who run red lights but what if you obeyed traffic rules? Apparently you get punched out in Boston. It really isn’t fair being a law abiding cyclist or a red light running renegade one. What do you want us to do?

The Bike Board Game – We want to play the bike board game! This was featured on one of Adventure Cycling’s magazine. The board game will teach you about several historical facts of bicycling and the bicycling lifestyle.

Why It Helps the Whole City When More Women Ride Bicycles – Must non-recreational cyclist know that a good indicator on the safety of a city is if you see a woman ride her bikes with her kids. This article goes through 5 reason why this is important for a city. 1. Women usually ride for the utility and efficiency of getting around town. 2. Seeing women riding around seems more culturally acceptable for a city which may drive more positive political change of policies. 3. Women tend to be more risk adverse. This helps the demand for safe bicycling infrastructure in a city. 4. Having safe infrastructure for women helps promote the general safety needs of the general population. Not just for cyclists but for everyone who uses the road. 5. Having better infrastructure encourages more bicyclists to be out on the road. This last point can be something that needs to happen for points 1 to 4 to be valid.

Photo Credit: malias / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Bicyclists Have The Best Moods, Research Finds – Research from Clemson and University of Pennsylvania reports that people who cycle to work are the happiest. Regular exercise like bicycling helps relieve stress, depression, obesity, etc helps releases endorphins which helps keep people happy from exercising and benefit their health both physically, mentally, and psychologically. So get out there and ride!

This Dad Built A $10 Million Business By Reinventing The Bicycle – It’s never too late to reinvent the bicycle and make $10MM. A dirt bike rider himself, Todd McFarland reinvented the bicycle for kids as he was having difficulties with his own 2 year son. By building a bike where kids can quickly mobilize themselves serves a huge need for parents with kids. 695,000 units sold which saw a $10MM revenue last year, his product was well received.

Definitive Guide To Cross The Country Cycling – Russia is discovering bicycle touring. Check out this essential guide. This guide uses links from other popular resources to help one pick a touring bike, pack your bike for travel, what to bring, where to go, and what to eat. Many of these tips are useful for first time bicycle tourists but the article does point to what would work for a trip to Russia.

SpiceRoads Launches New Cycle Tour in China – Ooh a new bike tour in China which offers unspoiled traditions for all you culture lovers. SpiceRoads Cycle Tours are offering 10 days / 9 nights tour through the Karst Peaks of Guilin, China. The tour goes through several villages and includes a boat ride across the Li River. Riders get to see the back-country roads of China with fewer motorized vehicle traffic. If you’re interested, the ride starts August 24, 2014 to September 21, 2014 or April 19, 2015 to May 3, 2015, as well as August 23, 2015 to September 13, 2015. Tour only costs $2,550 which does not include a bicycle rental and travel to the start. It does include most meals, drinks and snacks.

360-degree bicycle helmet cams are here – This is what cyclists needs on the road. A 360-degree helmet cam. This camera was created to fulfill the need to capture evidence during a road traffic collision between cyclists and other vehicles. Each camera uses a 185 degree fish-eye lens to capture a complete 360 view in mp4 video files or jpg image files. This currently a Kickstarter campaign starting at $249. They are hoping to have this ready by Christmas 2014.

Electric-bike advances create utilitarian value in hilly Bay Area – E-bikes changing lives in San Francisco. Electric assisted bikes these days are much more advanced than before as they intelligently detects the torque from a rider and adjusts as needed. Very helpful in hilly San Francisco. The article mentions that you can expect a 70 mile range with these new bikes in between charge. The biggest obstacle is the cost for an electric bike costs between $2500 to $4000.

Video

[youtube=http://youtu.be/Wx2e9jSSK6E]

Rap Battle: Mountain Biker Vs. Road Biker – You’ve seen them rap battle presidential candidates or even rap battle super hero movies. Now there is a rap battle between mountain bikers versus road bikers. Both make valid points but I can’t decide who is the clear-cut winner here.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrCCtpahsBo]

How Many Sunburns Can Cause Skin Cancer? – Bicycle tourists, you can’t be too careful out there in the sun. This video let’s us know the risk of getting sunburned before the age of 20 is greatly increased if you get burned frequently. Be sure to wear your sunscreen especially if you are a youngster!

[youtube=http://youtu.be/l0qdq36hwSs]

In San Franciso, a Bike Lane Between Transit Stop and Sidewalk is Working Beautifully – Separate bike lane is working nicely in San Francisco. The initial concerns was people walking between platform and sidewalk will be injured in collisions with bikes in the bike lanes. This video proves in real-life that this rarely or never happens in San Francisco, which is one of the most busy cities with commuters and tourists constantly filling the streets.