Mr. Hartman doesn’t have insurance so his co-workers have setup a collection fund at Coppermark Bank to help defray the medical costs.  You can leave donations at any local Coppermark Bank location.

Click on the image below to see the full story:

by Mr. T in DC

Bike sharing programs are the rage around the world and across the nation (the photo above is of the DC bike share program, Capital Bikeshare).  Oklahoma City first announced the program back in August and additional details were announced yesterday at the Oklahoma City Council meeting.  According to NewsOK, the program has been given an official name of “Spokies” and will consist of 95 bicycles (up from 90) placed at six stations in the downtown Oklahoma City area.  The money for the bikes and stations is coming from a federal grant.

While the locations haven’t been fixed, NewsOK is giving some initial indications of how the stations will be scattered:

The kiosks will have locking bike stands attached. The locations aren’t firm, but the idea is to have them within easy cycling of the Oklahoma City National Memorial, Bricktown, Midtown, Chesapeake Energy Arena and the adjacent Cox Convention Center, Deep Deuce, City Hall and the Civic Center Music Hall.

via Oklahoma City to launch shared-bike program downtown | NewsOK.com.

I’m still particularly pleased to see that the primary purpose of the program is to provide transportation instead of pure recreation which has been my criticism of Tulsa’s program, The Tulsa Townies.

Between the forests and country homes of eastern Oklahoma County, the spandex and carbon fiber associated with cycling are an increasingly common sight.

“Any evening after five 5 o’clock, you’re going to find some bikers coming through here,” Jones Mayor Ray Poland said.

A resident of Jones for more than 30 years and mayor since 2009, Poland said the number of bicyclists peaked two years ago and hasn’t shrunk.

Speed limits are high, but traffic is light and road conditions are good east of Interstate 35, said Roger Welch, president of the Oklahoma Bicycle Society, the biggest cycling club in the Oklahoma City area. The eastern hills appeal to experienced road bikers looking for a more challenging terrain than the wind-swept blacktops around Yukon or the busy trails in Oklahoma City.

“You can only ride them (the trails) so many times, and you’re looking for some variety,” Welch said.

via Eastern Oklahoma County is viewed as prime cycling destination | NewsOK.com.

Drivers are urged to steer clear of Oklahoma’s bicyclists

Bicyclists who haven’t been able to ride recreationally or train during Oklahoma’s historically warmest summer are now hitting the streets. Officials encourage drivers to be cautious and share the road with bicycle riders.

via Drivers are urged to steer clear of Oklahoma’s bicyclists | NewsOK.com.

by Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious

I found this interesting article on The Atlantic about the areas of growth in bicycle commuting. While we’ve all seen the large number of articles regarding the growth of cycling commuting, it is interesting to see the geographic concentrations of this growth. Unfortunately, Oklahoma City shows no growth (we sit at a 0.1% so not any room to drop either). However, Tulsa shows 200% growth, though that only represents an increase from 0.2% to 0.6% of the population, but that is still substantial growth.

As OKC expands the city’s bicycle trails network under MAPS 3 into a system that can start to be used for transportation, it will be interesting to see if we can see similar amounts of growth as Tulsa.

The fact is that the experiment really wasn’t much of anything.  None of the challenges that I expected ever materialized, at least not to the level that prevented me from living my day-to-day life.  There were a few hurdles such as my battles with flat tires and a couple of rides in the rain.  However, the fact is that I made it to work every day, saw friends, bought groceries, ran errands and generally lived my life with no real disruptions.  The amazing truth is that I really could sell my car tomorrow and things would be just fine.

However, I’m not going to go entirely car free.  There are still some things that are still difficult to do without a car in this area.  For example, a lot of my cultural experiences take place in Tulsa and driving really is a must to get there.  Also, my parents live about 30 miles away out in Jones and while that it a great ride, there are times when it wouldn’t just be practical.

That being said, I do think that my day-to-day travels though are going to remain “bike-centric”.  For most of my trips, there really isn’t a need to use the car and the bike trip is always more enjoyable.  That is my big “take away” from the experience, most of the time I will be happier biking and so that’s what I plan to do.  Hope to see you out on the road . . .

by sfllaw

So I started the day furious and frustrated. The car free experiment for this month fell apart today and it fell apart for completely unnecessary reasons. When I left work last night, I found that both of my tires were deflated. I assumed this was some moron’s idea of a “harmless” prank. I filled the tires and successfully made my way home.  However, this morning as I prepared to head to work, I found both tires flat again which means that this pathetic excuse for a human being actually punctured both tires with something that created a slow leak, probably a thumb tack.  It was too late for me to have time to replace the tubes and make it to work on time.  After swearing and fruitlessly shaking my fist I climbed in my car and with heavy heart, drove to work.  I was sooooo close . . .  One day left and I would have done it.   Instead of a feeling of triumph and because of some small-minded imbecile with delusions of adequacy, here I am fighting with stop and go traffic and I can feel my blood pressure is rising.  ”DON’T YOU KNOW HOW TO MERGE????” A headache is coming on.  I can feel that throbbing starting at the back of my head.  This is just awful . . . And just like that I had an epiphany . . .

We as cyclists often feel vulnerable on our bikes.  When we are honked at or buzzed, we are faced with a dangerous situation over which we have very little control.  The same goes when our machines are vandalized.  We can feel like they are all out to get us.  That our lives are forfeit and that everyone has a blood lust.  I know several people who just gave up cycling after last year’s deaths of Clyde Riggs and Alan Spencer.  For some, the roads have become a place of fear.

Of course, the stats don’t really bear this out.  By most calculations, bicycling is safer than driving (http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/health/risks.htm).  Additionally, while there are many drivers who hate cyclists (just read the comments second on the next online newspaper article about bicycles), are they really a majority of the population?  Of course not.  Most of  the population (even if they don’t ride regularly) owns a bicycle and self-loathing is not a majority opinion.

Even if all the stats were true and cycling was a dangerous activity would I still ride?  Absolutely!  Does the fact that there are people out there who hate that I ride a bicycle and have enough malice in their hearts to attack my bike in a cowardly and rodent-like fashion make me fear to ride?  Well, what is the alternative?  Go back to the driving rat race and pouring the contents of my wallet into my gas tank?   Heck no!  I just won’t do it.

The fact is that I feel vulnerable in a car, not on my bike.  I feel impotent and frustrated when I drive through the city.  A trip down May Avenue on a Saturday afternoon is enough to cause my stomach to turn over.  I hate spending money on gas.  I would rather spend it on a nice dinner with Grace. I hate the time wasted sitting in a car just to go someplace else.

Contrast that to the unbelievable power I feel when I get a perfect cadence going and I can watch road lines fly by.  Contrast that to the feeling of accomplishment when I see a great expanse of land open up as I push to the summit of a tall hill, my legs full of lactic acid and my brow soaked with sweat.  Contrast that to the joy of the self-powered journey and you just don’t have an argument.

So to you, the deplorable, sad, miserable lump of protoplasm, if you thought your little stunt sent me a message that I should quit riding, you are sorely mistaken.  You have only opened my eyes a little more to how much I love to ride!  While I would still love to meet you in a dark alley, in some ways, I also owe you some thanks.  Love is best measured when contrasted with absence.  The best part of this car-free experiment has been to experience what not riding does, even for one day.  With your thumb tack, you have helped me to see what an accomplishment this last month truly was.

This is actually a really simple thing to do and it only really requires only two things: a set of good panniers and a slightly increased number of trips to the store.  Firstly, I know people who swear by their front baskets or their rear cages for carrying groceries and if you have a permanently attached system, I’m sure they are great and extremely durable.  Because I’ve only have the one really working bicycle, it has to serve all of my purposes: fitness, transportation, etc, the rack and pannier system has always been a must for carrying stuff on my bike.  However, anyone who does use a permanent basket arrangement, such as those made by Wald, please add your two cents in the comments section.

When it came to groceries, for years I went with the cheapest possible store-bought option which was and still is the Nashbar Townie Basket.  Usually these go for $20 a piece year round which means you don’t have to make a huge investment to get started making grocery store runs.  They fit nicely and fold out-of-the-way when you aren’t carrying a load.  However, they aren’t particularly sturdy and I never had a pair that lasted much more than a year or so.  Additionally, they can’t support an enormous load so you have to limit how much to pack into them.  However, if you aren’t sure you want to go shopping via bike, they are a great place to start.

A little over a year ago I finally got fed up with replacing my grocery panniers every year.  I decided to make a more substantial investment and purchased a pair of Jandd’s Grocery Bag Panniers and I’ve never looked back.  These are extremely well made bags with a metal bar support system that can really support some pretty substantial loads.  I can easily pack a full reusable shopping bag (which generally carry more than a paper grocery sack and can support 20+ lbs a piece) in them and never worry.  However, just like the Nashbar Townie Basket, they fold up nicely out-of-the-way (see photo below) .  They also come with a great shoulder strap that is perfect if you want to go to a farmer’s market and browse the various stands.  At $55 a piece, they certainly aren’t a starter set, but for me they are well worth the money.  You can count on many years of dependable service.

A third option which I’ve never tried but comes highly recommended by people I trust is the DIY bucket pannier (see instructions).  Usually made out of kitty litter buckets, these waterproof sturdy panniers can take almost any load in any sort of weather.  I won’t say they are the prettiest option, but fashion and cycling often don’t mix  and sometimes pure practicality must win out:

by Steven Vance

Now I won’t tell you that you can do a whole week’s worth of shopping for an entire family in a single trip by bicycle.  However, you can carry more than you think you can.  For example, here is my load from last Saturday (there were some juicing experiments going on which is explains the large variety of fruit):

• 1/2 gallon of milk.
• 1.75 liters of orange juice.
• Box of cereal
• 1 lb of sandwich meat
• 1 lb of ground beef
• 1/2 lb of breakfast sausage
• 2 onions
• 3 bulbs of garlic
• 5 limes
• 3 kiwis
• 6 oranges
• 6 apples
• 3 peaches
• 4 mangos
• 1 coconut
• 1 can of coconut milk
• Bag salad

All of that I had still had some extra room left over.  However, even though you can’t stock up on everything at once, this also means that you will have less stuff go bad in your refrigerator.  Those impulse purchases just aren’t as appealing when you have to find space to squeeze them in.  When I shop by bicycle, the amount of food I have to throw out drops dramatically which is a definite help to the pocket-book.  However, if you do need to buy more, this is also a perfect opportunity to go shopping with your significant other or even with the whole family.

Below are two pictures of my bicycle carrying a full load:

Friday, November 4th

John LaPlante will lead a day-long bicycle facility design workshop. Mr. LaPlante is currently Director of Traffic Engineering for T.Y. Lin International. He has over 45 years of professional traffic engineering and transportation planning experience. He is involved in several national committees and was principal author of the 1999 AASHTO Bike Guide. His hands-on workshop, which includes updates from the soon to be published 2011 AASHTO Bike Guide, will benefit professional engineers, city traffic planners, architects, and anyone who is involved with redesigning the urban landscape on a human scale. Planning professionals can receive 8 hours of CM credit from the American Planning Assocation for attending.

Friday Evening

The Oklahoma Bicycling Coalition will host a reception at the Colcord Hotel. You’ll be able to mingle and visit with our speakers in a relaxed environment. Proceeds will go to the Oklahoma Bicycling Education Fund.

Saturday, November 5th

The Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation partners with Adventure Cycling Association to discuss the Oklahoma Historic Route 66 Bike Trail, the US Bike Route system, and bicycle tourism’s benefit for the economy of Oklahoma. Ultra-cyclist Lon Haldeman, RAAM champion and owner of PAC Tours Adventure Touring will be our featured speaker on Saturday morning.

Mr. LaPlante will lead a break-out session to help bicycle advocates learn how to speak with city planners, and understand the development process when they ask for bicycling infrasture and improving access for bicycles in their communities.

At 12 noon the Oklahoma Bicycling Coalition will hold its Annual Meeting. Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclists will be the featured speaker. We’ll conduct a little business, enjoy lunch, and hear from the leading bicycle advocacy organization in the US. All Oklahoma bicyclists and clubs will want to attend!

via Oklahoma Bike Summit – Route 66 – Tourism – Bicycle- Eventbrite.

The events on Friday require registration and have some fees associated with them.  The Saturday events are free but donations are welcome.

I plan on attending several of the sections and will be tweeting from the event.  It would be great to see some of you there.  I want to extended my admiration to the Oklahoma Bicycle Coalition for putting together this event.