Now this is winter biking. Cold and sunny… and three feet of snow that isn’t going anywhere in Edmonton, Canada. From Miss Sarah Chan.
Human Language in the Palm of My Hand
One of the Rosetta discs was recently bequeathed to the University of Colorado libraries, and the Long Now put out a request for pictures of it in its new home. I eagerly responded by heading to the special collections in Norlin yesterday. It didn’t seem to be on display anywhere, so when the librarian made eye contact, I said I was here to see the Rosetta disc, and she sent someone off to get it. And they took it out of its Pelican case, and set it on the table in front of me (after I’d filled out a reader card and agreed only to take notes in pencil… or by digital means — no pens are allowed near the old books) At first I was hesitant to touch it, and asked if it was okay, and she said “Oh it doesn’t look like the kind of thing that requires any special handling.” So I picked it up.
48 Minutes and 75 Bikes on the Boulder Creek Path
I spent some time this afternoon sitting alongside the Boulder Creek Path out east of where it joins up with the Goose Creek Path, heading toward the ocean of office parks that employ a significant chunk of Boulder, a 7 minute ride from my house at 21st and Walnut. As the sun headed for the continental divide, I took a picture of (almost) every bike that went by. Over 48 minutes, I saw 75 bikes.Â
Looking at the photos after the fact, I did some counting and found some things out about cyclists in Boulder.
Continue reading 48 Minutes and 75 Bikes on the Boulder Creek Path
Winter Bike and Winter Stripes
We occasionally get actual winter here, and it’s not too hard to deal with, but honestly, this is much closer to the essence of winter cycling in Boulder:
Location Efficiency and Housing Type
According to this EPA study, regardless of the type of housing, living in an area with good transit access saves more energy than building a “green home”. Of course, living in a mixed use, transit accessible apartment that’s also energy efficient uses the least energy, but it’s important to realize how limited the potential for cost-effective energy efficiency is in a sprawling suburban context.
A Weekend Bike Tour to Fort Collins
I’m organizing an overnight bike tour from Boulder to Ft. Collins and back the first weekend in April (weather permitting of course, who knows what it will do). If you’ve got route suggestions or know anyone in Ft. Collins that might be interested in letting some weary cyclists camp in their backyard for a night and take showers… we could cook them dinner or take them out as thanks! And if you know anyone who might be interested in giving bike touring a bite-sized try, let them know.
Population density vs. cycling rate
David Hembrow looks at the correlation between population density and cycling rate for a range of cities. Or rather, he points out the remarkable lack of correlation. Clearly there’s an intrinsic relationship between population (# of people) the distances people need to travel to access that population, and the density of the population, but even for cities with densities comparable to the US (1000-2500 people/km^2) cycling can be a very convenient mode of transport.
Activate the Future
BMW is running an ad campaign on the future of mobility. Of course, they call it a “documentary”. It’s amazing how close they come to imagining a future in which we don’t use cars in cities. But of course, since they’re a car company, they can’t quite get there. The fundamental attribute of cities that makes them work — density — is also what makes them incompatible with cars.
Bidder 70 goes on trial
Tim DeChristopher goes on trial Monday. He faces 10 years in prison and $750,000 in fines for punking the last-minute auction of federal oil and gas leases in southern Utah in the last days of the Bush administration. The auctions were later determined to be illegal. He will not be allowed to use a “necessity” defense, or even mention his reasons for disrupting the auction. If found guilty, he should be pardoned.
Why Isn’t Wall Street in Jail?
Nobody from Wall St. but Bernie Madoff is going to jail. No wonder the banksters continue their trillion dollar white collar crime spree. They and their regulators are one in the same. Favorite quote from a congressional staffer: “You put Lloyd Blankfein in pound-me-in-the-ass prison for one six-month term, and all this bullshit would stop, all over Wall Street. That’s all it would take. Just once.” Meanwhile we jail a mom in Ohio for trying to send her kid to a better school across town.