On March 3, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced The Complete Streets Act of 2008, which would work to promote the design of streets that are safe for all of those using the street— including motorists, bus riders, bicyclists, and pedestrians, including people with disabilities. There’s not much detail on the Senator’s webpage, but this clearly indicates that the concept of Complete Streets is becoming widely known. Keep an eye on this one…

For all of you bike junkies who can’t get enough of policy topics, BikePortland has some excellent coverage of all of the goings-on. Take a look and see what might be heading our way in terms of bicycle policy in the coming months. Sounds like the Summit was a great time, maybe I’ll get there one of these years.

Oil prices set a new record high…

“OPEC announced its decision to not increase production…” I wonder if that’s because they CAN’T because of a little phenomenon called Peak Oil.

Stick it to the man and keep riding!

The news is out this afternoon that Sheldon Brown has passed away.

For those of you out there who don’t know about Sheldon, he’s an icon in the bicycling community. His website is packed with information on all things bicycling, among other tidbits. He was a fascinating guy and a gentleman. I have yet to hear of an email he didn’t reply to, and he undoubtedly received a ton of them daily. Sheldon had been dealing with health issues in recent years, yet his passing comes as a surprise.

I spent many hours on his website reading articles about fixed gear riding before I finally worked up the nerve to try it. I loved it, just like he said I would.

We’ll miss you, Sheldon, and thank you for all that you’ve done to promote bicycling.

Want to save the world through ingenuity and the power of your planet-friendly quads? Want to earn 5 grand in the process?

Specialized Bikes and Google have teamed to bring us a contest ready for anyone with a few bike parts and some engineering skills.

Myself, I’m planning to turn my bike into a personal transportation machine! That’s right, it’s going to supplant the automobile with near-zero emissions. Oh dream of dreams.

www.innovate-or-die.com

Was it a Schwinn? Red, purple, blue? Maybe a banana seat, a basket, and streamers coming off the handlebar grips? Mine was a yellow Huffy with a flowered banana seat. I never did get that Schwinn, and I wanted an Apple Krate in the worst way. Bikes Belong is capitalizing on the nostalgia we all have for our first bike. They are starting a “Remember Me” campaign, aimed at getting non-riders back on their bikes. Take a look at their ads for a taste of nostalgia.