Join the members of BikeDenver and other advocacy organizations nationwide in being independent of oil for our daily transit needs.  Starting this Independence Day, we will be observing “Gas-Free Fridays“, every Friday.

While most of the members of BikeDenver also own or have access to cars, I believe it is safe to say that none of our members depend on their cars to meet their daily transit needs.  Between our bikes and the public transit system, we can all get to and from work, stores, and to our various personal and professional commitments (in style, I might ad).  Join us in recognizing Fridays as a special day to prove that you don’t depend on foreign oil to survive in America.  It will be a statement of independence, solidarity and national pride.

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Hot enough for ya? Here are some tips on keeping your cool when riding in the heat. From BikeRadar.com.

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Kryptonite, makers of fine locking apparatus,  have once again released their list of the worst cities for Bike Theft.  While it’s still a drag that some adults choose to spend their time and energy stealing from the rest of us, this is one bicycle ranking for which I’m proud we are behind Portland.  Here’s the breakdown according to Kryptonite:

1. Philadelphia, PA
2. Chicago, IL
3. New York City, NY
4. San Francisco, CA
5. Tucson, AZ (tie)
Portland, OR (tie)
7. Denver, CO
8. New Haven, CT
9. Cambridge, MA
10. Austin, TX

The big mystery this year… Where’s Seattle?

I think this also indicates that our bike culture is big enough and awesome enough to have thieves preying on our equipment, so you see, there’s a silver lining after all.  So why don’t I just get to it and tell you how to best avoid getting your bike lifted:

-NEVER LEAVE YOUR BIKE UNLOCKED IN A PUBLIC PLACE - seriously, don’t do it if you want to keep it.

-Lock Your Bike With A U-Lock or Heavy Duty Chain or Cable - descending degrees of protection in that order

-Get the lock around the frame of your bike - no, the seatpost doesn’t count.  Get the lock through the frame so only cutting the lock or cutting the frame can free it.

-If you want to keep your wheels and seat post, get rid of the quick releases - sure they are convenient, for thieves too.  Upgrade to locking skewers if it’s going to be left outside for any duration of time.  You can also try locking your front wheel with the lock if there is room, but lots of posts are too wide to get your frame and wheel within the lock.

-Don’t abandon your bike for more than a day - I see a lot of bikes still chained to a post, but missing any component that can be stripped (what thieves would carry bottom-bracket tools?).  Don’t leave anything you treasure outside, or it could be picked clean by vultures.

-Lock your bike inside your garage or apartment bike room - If a thief gains access, your bike is as good as gone if it’s unlocked.  This happened to my roommate when she left the garage open and unattended for an hour, her bike was gone… but, guess whose bikes were safely locked with a long cable through all the frames and were still there when she got back… that’s right, lock your bikes in any detached structure… if it’s in your bedroom under your covers, it’s probably OK unlocked.

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If you were wondering why there were four times as many cyclists on the paths this morning, and a surprising lack of car traffic, it’s because June 25th is Bike To Work Day.

It was good to see many of you at our table in Civic Center Park.  I hope you got a chance to rub elbows with the mayor, the governor, or the director of public works.  If you happen to see any of them  in person, do us a favor and tell them how much you love the new Sharrows, and how the town would be perfect if they’d only paint them on such and such street.  These first sharrows took a long time to get approved and painted, let’s keep the momentum up.

Thanks to everyone for buying up all the new 2008 DBTC maps we had on hand, I know we ran out, so if you want to buy one, place your orders here, and we’ll mail them out this week.

Have fun riding out there today, and if you are frustrated by the new people who don’t know the ropes yet, please take the opportunity to help these nascent bike commuters ride safely and efficiently on our roads and bikepaths.  Happy Riding.

-Will

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It looks like Portland’s Sunday Parkways program was a rousing success! This is a fantastic effort with a lot of neighborhood support and provides an excellent example for what could be done in Denver. I can envision a park-to-park connection from Washington Park to Cheesman Park to City Park with roads between them closed to auto traffic. Anyone with me?

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Six miles of public thoroughfare in Portland will be shut entirely to traffic in the hopes people show up on foot and by bike to mingle, dance, shop and dine. Read: no cars allowed, but mass transit routes through the area will remain open to pack ‘em in.

This bold experiment, modeled after a popular street shutdown in Bogota, Colombia, is timed to a conference starting today in Portland where hundreds of planners from around the world converge to discuss how they can create cities with no cars.