Protected Bike Lanes around the country.

From the pathlesspedaled.com, here's a great video with recent stats and some politicians who seem to get it!  Believe me, I know it sounds far fetched (the politician part)....I used to live in Memphis years ago (one of the featured cities) and I couldn't leave fast enough.  This type of change shows me just how far the bicycle movement has come in 15 years!

More bikepacking stoves.....

Last night I couldn't sleep, so I decided I'd try a few different versions of the alcohol stoves.  If you look at the previous post and the link to the pedaling nowhere you can see the plans.  I opted for a small yac stove and the penny stove.

So you can see the three of them here....sorry about the bad picture.  The tall yac stove (yet another can stove) on the left, the penny stove (center), and the small yac stove currently running.  So, why build or have all these different models?  Basically, the height of the yac stove or the design difference of the penny stove yield different burn rates and characteristics. 

For example, the tall yac stove burns hot and fast and is best for just boiling water (in like 3.5 minutes), while the short yac stove burns longer 5+ minutes on one ounce of fuel and boils in about 5 minutes.  The penny stove burns even longer 10+ minutes on the same fuel and is more of a simmering option (well....it does boil but takes quite a while).  So, depending on what you want/need out of the stove, one design might be better than another.

Here you can see the lower flame profile of the small yac stove with the lights lower.  With the larger yac stove flames licks way up the sides of the kettle.  Anyway, nothing to do with biking but still pretty fun to experiment with.

Bikepacking...stove options.

I have in my head that I'm doing some type of back country bike trip (bikepacking).....at some point.  This is a great open ended way to play with new toys.  It's well documented that cyclist like toys.  Just look at the bike specific GPS, sunglasses, clothing, custom wheel sets, custom frames, the bazillion aftermarket parts available in shiny anodized colors, and everything that you can possibly form carbon fiber into!!!

In this case, however, the toys couldn't be more simple or less expensive.  I'm talking about stove options....specifically, light weight alcohol stoves. They look something like this:

Yep, all you need is a six-pack of cans (I prefer beer cans of course) and you can make several versions of these stoves.  Some require a few basic tools to construct, but I made my first one sitting at my desk at lunch with nothing more than a scissors and an exacto knife.  In fact, here it is making my coffee last week.

And yes, I realize I have a perfectly good coffee pot and press sitting right there.....but you're missing the point.

They take minutes to build and weigh in at under 10 grams (ten paper clips for us imperial system Americans)!  And it will boil water in ~3 minutes with only one ounce of alcohol as fuel!  So, if we need light weigh, small, and simple for bikepacking trips....these things are probably the answer.

So, if you like to experiment and make things (rather than use a complete reliable and commercially available model), this just might be the project for you.  I found out how to build them here at Pedaling Nowhere.

So give it a try and have some fun.

p.s.  These things burn alcohol....they are flammable....if you spill the alcohol on yourself, you are flammable....so be careful!!

Earth Day.

The one day that everyone who never rides a bike is almost required to ride a bike.  It was kinda refreshing to see all the bike traffic on the roads and cars having to wait a bit for them.  The celebration as a whole was dampened a bit by the cool, windy weather but I'd still say it gets bigger every year.  I was genuinely surprised by the number of booths and bands.  Anyway, here's some pics from me wandering around.

Kiwanis bike sale...and there were some nice ones.

The Raleigh Olympian would have come home with me if was a bit larger frame!

People and booths.

More people.

More people and more booths.

Reno Bike Project...Valet Parking!

One of 5 band tents!

Hula Hoop Fun.

Cool tall bike with spiral tubing (an old drill bit I believe).

Plans....they change.

Yesterday evening I was supposed to be playing disc golf.  The wind kinda blew that plan away....pun intended.  So...the revised plan called for mountain biking.  However, my buddy (the Giant) couldn't find his shoes for his clipless pedals (which he finally put on the bike).  This made mountain biking a no go.

Somehow we ended up deciding to meet at REI via bike.  I guess because I need a new helmet.  Easy for me because I work like a mile from REI....the Giant got a bit more than he bargained for.  It was probably only a 5 mile ride for him (with street shoes on clipless platforms), but he had a really fun headwind to deal with!  He was a bit knackered by the time he got there!  

BPAC Notes (Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee)

Ok, just some notes on BPAC last night.

One interesting aspect that's been in the news last week was that we had the official report on the awareness campaign that NHP conducted down by Washoe Lake last week with respect to the 3 foot law.  Officer Andrew McAfee reported they stopped a few less than 200 vehicles over 5 hours (quite a task in that time).  This was because, basically every driver passed their cyclist too closely.  They did write about 20 tickets before deciding it was time to switch from enforcement mode to awareness mode, as it was apparent most drivers didn't have a clue about giving appropriate space.

To be fair, NHP conducted a bicycle enforcement campaign the following week out on the Verdi Loop.  Needless to say multitudes of riders (including a group of 17) were educated about not running stop signs and riding more than 2 abreast.  He had a great video (which I'll try to get) of 17 cyclist blowing through one intersection and making a left turn in front of a large pickup who had the right of way.  They actually split around him passing on both sides.....fricking unbelievable!!  No wonder we can't get respect on the roads!

We also saw plans for a new roundabout on Mayberry Ave at Hunter Lake.  This is a 5 way intersection that's due for a revamp.  The design team has put a lot of thought into how to work with cyclists giving options both to take the lane in the circle and ramps for access to the sidewalks for less confident riders.  I snapped a few pics of the presentation and traffic circle stats.

Next up we heard about a big ultra-endurance bicycle race that is 95% sure it's moving to Nevada!  The AdventureCORPS 508...a 508 mile bike race that can be done as an individual time trial, as a team of 2, or as a relay of 4.  It's long been run through Death Valley, but when the race was disrupted by the closure last year of the National Parks the directory started considering other options.  Looks like we just might get it thanks to the efforts of Rich Staley of Great Basin Bicycles!

In other news, the 2014 bike route maps are just about ready for distribution and will be out before the May 10-16 bike to work week!  You can click on the picture below to link to their site.

So, basically, there are a lot of bicycle things going on!  Be sure to get out there and join in!

So...is this a new source of money for bike projects?

I recently found out (via Reno Rambler) that we finally got a bikey license plate option.  And yes, most people who ride bikes do own cars, so you will be seeing these!  Apparently, they look something like this:

So, this morning I saw this article over at KTVN channel 2 News.

Basically, it says that the Lake Tahoe license plate $$$ are used for projects around Lake Tahoe.  I think this is awesome!  So, my question is, do the $$$ generated from the new Share the Road plates go to bicycle infrastructure projects!?  I know I'll be asking that question at the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board (BPAC) meeting tonight.  And if you happen to want to join the fun...the meeting is tonight at 6:30 pm RTC Board Room, 2050 Villanova Drive, Reno.