An occasional update on items from the Velo-city.
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HELMETS FOR FASHIONISTAS
Hövding is a bicycle helmet unlike any other currently on the market. It’s ergonomic, it’s practical, it complies with all the safety requirements, and it’s also subtle and blends in with what else you are wearing.
Hövding is a collar for bicyclists, worn around the neck. The collar contains a folded up airbag that you’ll only see if you happen to have an accident. The airbag is shaped like a hood, surrounding and protecting the bicyclist’s head. The trigger mechanism is controlled by sensors which pick up the abnormal movements of a bicyclist in an accident.
The actual collar is the visible part of the invention. It’s covered by a removable shell that you can change to match your outfit, and we’ll be launching new designs all the time. Hövding is a practical accessory that’s easy to carry around, it’s got a great-looking yet subtle design, and it will save your life.
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SINGALONG: “I’M BIKIN’ IN THE RAIN …’
A practical guide from a Portland weekly on commuting year-round in a town with weather much like ours:
Don’t wait until the weather’s so nice that your morning ride feels like a gift. Instead, earn your badges and chuckle at the fair-weather commuter crowd that retreats back to cars and buses at the slightest sign of cold. Start now—the worst of winter is over, but there’s still plenty of sodden weather ahead. If you can make it through the next three months, the subsequent nine will pose no challenge.
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DOES CYCLING FOLLOW THE FUNDAMENTAL LAW OF ROAD CONGESTION?
Specifically: Do Bike Paths Promote Bike Riding?
The “fundamental law of road congestion” tells us that building roads creates traffic. There’s such a latent demand for space on the highway that no sooner does it appear than it’s filled. But whether or not a similar law applies to bike paths and bike lanes remains a mystery….
… with each study of this kind that’s completed, it seems more clear that in many cities, for many different purposes, there does appear to be some fundamental demand for sustainable transportation just waiting for a share of the urban landscape. In some places, tapping that potential just means adding a bike path. In others, it may take a bit more.
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BEST PRACTICES FROM THOSE WHO KNOW
A recommendation from Ron Richings:
A summary of approaches and techniques that can be used to boost cycling.
Nothing radically new, but not a bad compilation. Incorporates ‘Pedelecs’ (electric boost bikes that must be pedaled to function). Always interesting to look at the experience of cycling promotion in a different setting from the north American norms.
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