Celebrating Mass Some time ago, the Bike Blog wrote about our city’s burgeoning Critical Mass, noting that Miami’s is a pretty tame incarnation of the worldwide pro-biking event. The confrontational nature of Critical Masses in some larger cities – in which riders completely stop traffic – is absent in Miami’s…
The guy knows his bikes The other day, I was griping to Mr. Bike on the phone about how much crap I had hauled to work on my bike that morning. “Have you thought about getting a trailer?” he asked. “Most people find that once they start using their bikes…
Well, it’s been about two weeks since the Great Rickenbacker Fiasco made landfall, and it shows no signs of letting up. Last week, the Bike Blog reported on a number – we still don’t know how many — of accidents on the Rickenbacker as a result of repaving that left…
For the second year in a row a survey has determined Miami has the rudest drivers in the country? No. This is blasphemy. We demand a recount. –Emily Witt…
Earlier this week, the Bike Blog spoke with several people who saw a phenomenal number of bicycle accidents on the Rickenbacker Causeway last weekend, as a result of repaving by the Miami-Dade Department of Public Works that left the bike lane uneven with the road. The Bike Blog took action:…
After a few months of ragging on Miami for its pathetic/nonexistent bike lanes, mean drivers, sluggish progress, and general muddle-headedness when it comes to making the city bike-friendly, the Bike Blog resolved to spend a week posting nothing but good news. But not this week. This morning, I received an…
Miami resident Richard Strell recently told the Bike Blog about a little amendment to the Miami 21 plan that troubled him. Here it is, as faithfully copied and pasted from a list of Miami 21 amendments posted on April 19:…
A quick update from the Bike Blog for anyone needing a little reaffirmation of human kindness in Miami: Last week, I wrote about a couple of times when I’d gotten a flat while biking through Overtown – in both cases, friendly passers-by had immediately offered their help. This morning, as…
Hazards of the road the Bike Blog has known. Vicious country dogs, dudes hurling beer cans out of pickups, girls (of every race, color, and class, interestingly) hissing at me to get the fuck on the sidewalk; invisible pot-holes, shoulderless bridges, noxious bus fumes, wrong turns into drug deals-in-progress. I’ve…
When I moved into my first apartment in Miami three months ago, one of the first things I asked my landlord was whether it was even possible to ride my bike to work, from the Orange Bowl to the New Times building on 28th and Biscayne. He stared a minute…
Yikes! Critical Mass Miami meets Saturday for a ride down Calle Ocho. Meet at Government Center at 10:00, and dress as a rooster or a chicken, if you can, for a chance to ride with Mr. Clucky himself! On Sunday, the Everglades Bike Club meets at 7:30 a.m. (woof) at…
The bike blog recently wrote about bike shootings and felons on bicycles, and this week brings more news from the world of organized crime on two wheels: Sasha Wright, founder and leader of the local bicycle gang “Bycle Jackson,” is relocating, and likely taking the gang’s logistical core with her…
On April Fool’s Day, Beach Towing Service punked Karl Willman. The unemployed college student pulled into the parking lot of the CVS Pharmacy at 1421 Alton Road around 7:45 p.m. He parked his 2005 gray Honda Element, got out and walked next door to Lime Fresh Mexican Grill to grab…
Nobody gives Calvin T. Godfrey a parking in a restricted zone ticket on Jesus’s Birthday. Nodody. I pledged to fight this affront to goodwill. It only took three months to get my day in court, but at 1:08 p.m. yesterday afternoon, I came armed only with a bible. Officer Samaria…
A group of eight cyclists biking around the state stopped in Miami Tuesday to talk about drunk driving and safe driving. The group, called 180 S.A.F.E. Ride, is comprised of five first responders. Stay Alive from Education, based in Orlando, brings its “Street Smart” program into high schools and colleges,…
Windy, yes — and bikable A couple of weeks ago, the Bike Blog was chatting with Miami Beach City Commissioner Saul Gross about the city’s Master Plan for bicycles, a fairly ambitious scheme that would include miles of bike lanes and a much-needed bike path along the beach. Sounds great,…
On Saturday, the Herald reported this shocking bit of bike news: a man found dead in the back of a pickup truck in Little Haiti last Thursday was believed to have been shot by two men riding bicycles. So far, no arrests have been made. It turns out this isn’t…
It was a dark and stormy night — or something like that, anyway — when Mark Buckley took a welding torch to the metal before him, gave it a final blast, and stepped back to survey his creation. Cobbled together from the pieces of five bikes, a tricycle, and a…
Wednesday was an ominous day for three-wheeled taxis. As New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg hesitated over signing a bill which would regulate the Big Apple’s three- to four-hundred strong pedicab industry, the Miami Beach City Commission discussed a possible ordinance which would have established a single-vendor bike taxi business,…
Technically, Bike to Work Week ended last Saturday — but who’s counting? Not Juan, whom I met biking home from his job at a downtown construction site. Juan declined to give his last name and exact place of work because, he said cheerfully, he has no papers — he’s illegal…
Riding off into the sunset In celebration of last Saturday night’s full lunar eclipse, I joined Critical Mass Miami to ride the 16-mile loop at Shark Valley Slough in Everglades National Park. The route, it turns out, is open to the public 24/7 — if you go at night, you…
Carrrrrreful This Sunday, the county Parks and Rec Department and the Florida Bicycle Assoctation will host a “Road 1 Bike-Ed Class” at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Biscayne Nature Center in Crandon Park. Class curriculum includes fixing flats, choosing a bike, and riding safety. The flyer boasts that “Students will gain confidence…
