Fixit - Fix your bike yourself

The Practical Pedal has launched a new section called "Fixit" with maintenance tips and info promised weekly. They've setup a few tags, including "General Maintenance" and "Pro Tips," so I expect to see a decent range of info here, and mention of accompanying video was made in the PP comments.

Chances are, a lot of the information on Fixit will be old hat to a lot of commuters and weekend warriors. But there are a lot of us who are still evolving our cycling lives. Having made the move to the bike as a mode of transportation, we're now ready to add a little self-sufficiency to the mix. The first article on chain maintenance is key for someone who is just starting to ride their bike enough the justify having their chain cleaned more than seasonally. And the current article, on derailleur adjustment, is exactly the kind of info I am looking for to start making some the tweaks that can smooth out the everyday ride.

Fixit is written with a friendly tone, focusing on important aspects of the fix and leaving the minutae to the various online forums (e.g. chain maintenance is important, but don't stress over the dizzying array of lubes available). There are, of course, already a lot of sites with bike maintenance info, but Fixit looks like it will be a good addition to your bookmarks and RSS feeds.

ATT Pedestrian/Cyclist Bridge over I-40 - Your Feedback is Needed

There has been a lot of buzz within the local bike/pedestrian community about the American Tobacco Trail bridge over I-40. The first public meeting for the bridge project was held last night at City Hall and was a success. Organizers were hoping 60 people would attend, the city estimates the attendance was actually over 110. Bill Bussey of Triangle Rails-to-Trails was counting, but I haven't heard how accurate 110 is. And, to top it all off, the brownies were pretty good too.

There's an excellent summary at Bull City Rising, so I'm not going to spend time re-typing it. Tanner Lovelace made a comment at BCR that echoed my thoughts exactly. Architect/Engineer Steven Grover really seems to get it. He went to great lengths to illustrate that great bridges don't necessarily require a lot of money, nor do they need to be "flashy." They need to meet the aesthetic goals of the community, make sense in context, and function effectively.

But the degree to which form is measured against function is up to us. Grover re-iterated numerous times the importance of stakeholder feedback in designing this bridge. Quite simply, he's from California. He'll learn what he can about the area, but the project is best-served with copious, robust input from those of us who will actually be using the bridge. And, at a more practical level, this is an expensive project, we need to make sure its done right and he is committed to doing so. But, again, "right" is up to us. I'm linking to StevenGrover.com below where you can download a PDF of his portfolio.

The city handed out a survey last night, and it is also available online at the city's website. Please take the time to download and complete the survey and return it to Byron Brady in Public Works at the address on the bottom of the survey. Mr. Brady asks that the form be returned by Tuesday Nov 27, so fill it out over your long Thanksgiving weekend and drop it in the mail Monday the 26th.

• Bull City Rising post, "City, project team provide ATT Phase E / I-40 bridge update"
• City of Durham "ATT Phase E" webpage, which includes links to the meeting overview, the survey and the project maps.
• Steven Grover Associates

The bicycle is the most efficient vehicle

I caught this post a couple weeks ago on TreeHugger. For me, this is a bit of preaching to the choir, I know, but I simply can't resist. The original post came from Transport & Mobility Leuven in Belgium. I don't know anything about them, so I have no idea how much credibility to attribute to them, but (again), this is a matter of faith for me. :-)

Did you know that the bicycle is the most energy efficient transportation mode? It is 3 times more efficient than walking, 5 times more efficient than using the train and 15 to 20 times more efficient than driving a car.

• TreeHugger post
• Transport & Mobility Leuven article