Ya gotta carry stuff to be a utility bicyclist.
Now that I have a Burley Nomad, I can carry a lot more stuff — like groceries and such. And when the farmer’s market opens, well, just look out. I’ll be buyin’ some food.
It’s attached to my Marin Pioneer Trails here. And I’ll soon be able to [...]
Mighk Wilson, of Bicycling Is Better, has decided not to renew his membership to the League of American Bicyclists. He’s a guy with a lot of serious bicycling cred. So when he says the following, I’m inclined to listen:
I don’t want this to be seen as a League-bashing exercise. I’ve been wondering if I should [...]
Jason Peters continues to meditate on the virtues of walking at Front Porch Republic (re: Walk, Damn It!). This week he writes about what it means to walk in the cold.
And by now this walking has become habitual enough that, if for pressing reasons I do not or cannot walk, I feel that an important [...]
The Sanyo Eneloop eclectic bicycle won a Best of Innovations award for eco-design and sustainability at the 2010 International CES sponsored by the Consumer Electronic Association.
Let’s be clear about something first: I have nothing against electric bicycles. They serve a purpose for people who want or need them.
But, really, giving a green award to an [...]
Getting involved in bicycle (and active transportation) advocacy is serious business. How do you discover/plan the right course of action to encourage people to get out of the cars once in a while?
Like many other bicycle advocates, I have approached this question programmatically, i.e. identify a problem or opportunity and then dream up a program [...]
The key is your head and hands — and layers.
Temperature at departure time this morning: 19 F.
So, the usual stuff: I wore leather sneakers, athletic socks, blue jeans, and a shirt. (Professors can be a bit more casual than your average professional, but the point, however, is that I’m not donning anything particularly special.)
Next two [...]
So, how soon until we see the Cannondale Dutchess utility / commuter for women show up in Springfield? (Hat tip to Copenhagenize)
Wytze’s graduation project for Cannondale from Eelke D. on Vimeo.
Here’s the skinny on this design from Bicycle Design.
This bicycle appears to meet my rigid (and arbitrary) criteria for a good utility bicycle. And I [...]
Click here to check out the Biking Rules handbook for New York City published by Transportation Alternatives. Its “mission is to reclaim New York City’s streets from the automobile and to advocate for bicycling, walking and public transit as the best transportation alternatives.” The book is remarkably comprehensive. You don’t have to live in NYC [...]
Well, here it is — my new messenger-pannier. Thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions. You’ll notice that I did not go with the one most people suggested. That’s not to say that I didn’t take your suggestion seriously. I did. In fact, checking out the Ortlieb helped me make my decision to go with [...]
It was a dark and drizzly afternoon.
I left for the STAR Team meeting at about 5 p.m. The meeting spot is slightly less than 3 miles from my house along residential and city streets — streets that were now filled with rush-hour traffic.
The drizzle made the streets slick and cut visibility because it hung there [...]
Disclaimer: While I definitely have opinions about bicycle riding, everything I write on Carbon Trace should be read as my telling you about what I do and not my telling you what you should do. Further, this site is about utility bicycling (including short-distance commuting), not sport bicycling. I am most concerned with promoting the [...]
Daypacks have been the popular choice for carrying one’s stuff on college campuses for decades. There’s good reason for this. Packs are, for the most part, convenient and hold a lot of stuff.
Mine is a simple, inexpensive model made of rip-stop nylon. It’s light, roomy, and very easy to carry. It’s my trunk and my [...]
My daypack is my constant companion. But I’m getting a little sick of it.
It’s been great for carrying all my stuff — from work-related items to bicycle tools to rain rain gear — as needed for the past five years. I am, however, ready for something different — something that I can carry on the [...]
What does Swine Flu have to do with blogging about utility bicycling? Well, when you’re suffering the former you can’t do the latter.
Yep, I’m home sick with the disease du jour. And I’m not feeling much like blogging. Check back in a day or two. And thanks for reading!
Technorati Tags: cycling, utility cycling
Human behavior can be understood as making choices that weigh costs against benefits before taking action, according to the rational choice theorists. I don’t buy it because our choices are always complexly situated.
But this theory can be an amusing lens on bicyclist behavior. For example: I rode my bicycle to the local big-box hardware store [...]
