It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, wait — it’s a politician! So the citizens of Miami shouted to one another last Saturday as City Commissioner Joe Sanchez whizzed past them on a rusty old Raleigh mountain bike last Saturday, flanked by a motley crowd of riders that included Mr…
In case you missed it, South Florida NPR affiliate WLRN ran a short piece on Miami’ Critical Mass last Friday. Shannon Novak, a freelancer for the station, had showed up along with someone from the Herald’s Neighbors section (although it still hasn’t run in Neighbors, and we don’t know why)…
Yeah yeah, you love your road bike. You love riding hunched over, craning your neck around to see what’s coming, you leather saddle sticking into your crotch like it’s trying to rob the family jewels. And bully for you. But secretly, in your heart of hearts, don’t you wish you…
Bicyclist James Wurm after the ‘Loose Cannons on the Run” race, basking in the glow of a dollar beer at PS14. A little while ago, the Bike Blog mentioned a new, bike-only beer special every Wednesday at PS14. The special, crated by local party promoted Joel Meinholz, still stands –…
It may not be time to take out the aged scotch yet, but you can at least crack a celebratory cerveza this weekend, thanks to a ruling this week from the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee that said bicycle groups have the right to sue the Florida Department…
I’m ashamed to tell you this Mr. Construction Worker with an East Coast accent and sandy hair but, I usually cross the street when I see a group of hard hats clustered. I won’t again. You were near last week when, after 25 minutes of circling for a parking spot,…
Kyle Munzenrieder “Where did all these beautiful people come from?” asked a shoeless man wandering along strumming his guitar for pocket change. Maybe he felt a sense of kinship with the 35 cyclists who had gathered at the corner of Lincoln Road and Washington Avenue for a politically charged, alley…
Last week, Miami lost Abraham “Al” Chasser, who built the oft-mentioned and little-understood “Farm” in Little Haiti (usually referenced in terms of the gigantic tree-house on the property), now owned by Chasser’s son Ray. Al was ninety-one when he passed away. Chasser lived an exciting and supremely independent life –…
Well, it happened: last week, we wrote that Miami mayor Manny Diaz was expected to announce the formation of a bicycling committee at last Thursday’s City Commission meeting. He did: from high on the dais, the mayor announced the formation of the Miami Bicycle Action Committee, a subcommittee of the…
Last week a group of bicycling advocates, including members of the Green Mobility Network, Emerge Miami, and others, met with Miami Mayor Manny Diaz to lobby for the city to take a stronger stand on biking. Although there had been several mass emails about the meeting before it took place,…
Flotsam: Behind the times, that’s what I’ve been. Toiling away, rummaging through my drawers for long-lost, outdated maps of vague bike routes that I got from the county when I first moved here a year ago – and the answer was before me all along: the internet, man – it’s…
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…
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…
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…
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 . . …
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…
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…
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…
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…
Rides: Sorry for the late notice on this one, but: Tonight, the Emerge Miami’s Critical Mass will be riding bikes at Shark Valley in the Everglades. Meet at Coconut Grove Metrorail stop at 6:00, or at Shark Valley at 7:00. If you’d like to stay closer to home, the other…
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…
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…
