It’s Bike Month!

This guy is just thrilled about bike month. Now, therefore I, Charlie Crist, Governor of the State of Florida, do hereby extend greetings and best wishes to all observing March 2008 as Florida Bicycle Month – Gov. Charlie Crist. Thanks, Charlie – it’s a lot better than that State of…

The Fastest Man in the World

In honor of the last dwindling hours of the last day (thanks to Mr. Leap Year) of Black History Month, the Bike Blog presents this honorific post to one of the greatest bicyclists of all time, Marshall W. “Major” Taylor…

Need a Car-Ectomy?

It’s like a parasite – a tapeworm taking over your intestines, a leech lapping your vitality like so much vitamin water. It’s emptying your pockets, it’s making you fat; it swallows your time and hacks it back out in your face. It’s your car, man, and it’s killing you slowly…

Dacra A Wet Blanket on Bike Lanes?

Last week, the Bike Blog chatted with Kevin Brown, a planner for the City of Miami assigned to the upcoming project on Northeast 2nd Avenue – a plan which includes bike lanes. The news was surprisingly good . . …

Bike Blog Shout Out To Transit Miami

For those who don’t already know it, Transit Miami is one of the best blogs in town; lately, it’s been one of the best bike blogs as well. This past week or so, they’ve run a number of good articles on biking in Miami, calling for a bike sharing program…

Politicians Get Peek-a-Boo from Bicyclists

Last Saturday, Miami bicyclists riding with Emerge Miami’s Critical Mass were afforded a rare opportunity to engage their elected officials when the ride came upon Commissioners Joe Sanchez, Marc Sarnoff, and Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, schmoozing with locals at the recently-established Legion Park Green Market. The politicians greeted the over…

Bike Blog: Poor, Poor M-Path

A few weekend events are listed below (email the Bike Blog if you’d like your event posted). But first, we wanted to address this comment, left on the New Times website regarding our recent feature on biking in Miami: Ken Murray wrote: “I have been commuting on my bike since…

On Bike Efficiency — And Pricks

The Bike Blog is pleased to see the many comments on our recent bike feature. What with the back and forth, we did want to clarify one point of fact. After being called “a prick,” for remarking that bicyclists should “just get out of the way of those of us…

Old Lady vs. Car

Okay, so there’s no cycling in this video. But in the spirit of bicycle/pedestrian brother/sisterhood, the Bike Blog presents this amazing video, courtesy of another bike blog, Bike Lane Diary. Enjoy, — Isaiah Thompson…

Screw You, Old Man: A Bike Blog Parable

There’s this guy who lives near me. He’s probably in his sixties, mostly bald, perpetually shirtless. He has a house on Normandy Drive, kitty-corner to my apartment building. The house has a small driveway, and parked in that driveway is this man’s chief joy in life, a white convertible. Most…

Tonight: Beer for Bicycles!

Friends, the day of deliverance is come. Just last week, someone posted a comment on the Bike Blog suggesting that downtown club PS14 had a weekly drink special for bicyclists. – By the way, what’s up with there not being a good word for people who ride bicycles? ‘Cyclists?’ Woof…

Bike Blog: To Run A Red

Behind the wheel, I obey traffic laws. On my bike, I pay respect to one law and one law only: survival. If I stop at an intersection, it’s because I’ll get hit if I don’t; beyond that, a red light just means I’d better look both ways before blowing through…

Bike Blog 2008 Wish List

What I really, truly want in 2008, besides peace on earth and free beer, is a flying bike. But putting that dream aside for a few minutes, the Bike Blog has put together a slightly more realistic wish list for the coming year. Any suggestions, additions, or vitriolic ammunitions? Leave…

Bike to Florida City

Good news — two quickies, bikers: First, this Friday will mark the opening of the last stretch of the “Miami-Dade Busway Project,” a six and a half-mile multi-use path from the Dadeland South Metrorail that connects all the way to Florida City – that’s about twenty-one miles. The busway is…

Bike Lane Bureaucracy

Last night, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) held a meeting – one of many held already, one of many more to come – to solicit input from an advisory panel made up of seven Miami Beach residents on the upcoming Alton Road repaving project, expected to go into 2009…

Get Shower-Fresh at Staples

The thought of sudsing up next to the guy lurking behind the paper stacks may make one a bit squeamish. But at least the dude scanning your ballpoint pens will smell fresh as a daisy. As part of a pitch to become Miami’s first retail building stamped with a U.S…

Bike Blog Pic of the Week: The Little Fish

This week’s Pic of the Week is of Miamian Gary Rhaney and his bicycle, which he put together himself using a kiddy wheel in front and a regular sized, but tireless, rim in the back. He calls the contraption “my security system – you got a tire, they’ll steal your…

Green Mobility is Finding Its Way

Tuesday night, the fledgling Green Mobility Network met for its second meeting ever at the Dice House in Kendall. The group was started over the summer by John Hopkins, a South Miami resident and bicycling advocate who writes the blog Spokes N’ Folks. About 20 people showed up for the…

Bike Blog: We’ll Never Have Paris (Will we?)

This week’s Pic of the Week (courtesy of AFP photo) is Chicago’s Mayor Richard M. Daley riding a bicycle in Paris. During a visit to the City of Lights, he proclaimed yesterday that he wants a bicycle rental system similar to the Velib, a Paris’ new and truly revolutionary plan…

Bike Blog: Happy Friday

Good Friday All kinds of end-of-the-week news on the Bike Blog. First off, if you’re peddling around South Beach this weekend you might notice a new bike lane on 16th street. It’s been there just a week or so, according to Miami Beach Transportation Coordinator Christine Leduc. The Bike Blog…

They’re Hashers – Not Terrorists!

Last week, I was contacted by Richard “Virgin Dick” Paris, a member of the Miami/Fort Lauderdale chapter of the Hash House Harriers – the self-described “drinking group with a running problem.” Put simply, hashing works like this: hashers meet (once a week, here) and one or two of them, called…