I’ve forgotten where I first read about this invention, but I wish I could get my hands on a Speed Vest of my very own. At the moment, it’s not being mass-produced – each one is a labor of love – but the very fact that it exists makes both the nerd and the cyclist in me very happy.

The Speed Vest is the brainchild of Brady Clark and Mykle Hansen. According to their website:

“The Speed Vest was invented because we were curious to know if putting more information in front of drivers might change their awareness of bicyclists. That, and we suspect a lot of people don’t realize that an average person can bike 10-15 mph (15-25 km/h).”

The FAQ states that the vest:

• Increases awareness of the bicyclist and bicycling as an efficient way of getting around
• Educates drivers about overtaking bicyclists safely, and
• Illuminates that an average person can easily bike 10-15 mph (15-25 km/h)

The vest works by “using a sensor on your wheel to send a signal to a microcontroller that then turns the numbers on and off on the vest.” Top speed it can display: 70 mph. If you want more detailed info (and lots of it) on how it was constructed, check out Mykle Hansen’s site. Actually, it’s worth clicking that link just to see the photo series on the making of their do-it-yourself mannequin “Packing Tape Brady”.

Although you can’t buy one for yourself (just yet), Brady and Mykle have been touring the vest around. If you’d like to be updated, or if you’re a bicycle advocacy organization and would like to use the Speed Vest for outreach and education, send them an e-mail: info@speedvest.com.

After doing a little research, it turns out that Seattle first tested the “Bike Circle” rack in 2005. Thanks to them running the rack through its paces, the refinements it needed have already been made. The company who makes the rack is Creative Metalworks, based in Seattle. It’s worth checking out their site, because they’ve done all kinds of crazy custom bike racks for various companies and organizations. The “Bike Circle” (pictured here) is part of their line of Production Racks, and it’s still my front-runner for the next generation of bike racks in Oakland.

If you want to get an idea of what other bike rack companies are making, visit the websites of Cora Bike Racks, Urban Accessories, and Park-a-Bike. After seeing the sites of all four companies, I still think that the Bike Circle is the way to go for Oakland. The rack is simple, inexpensive, and easy to install, which means that the time frame from purchase to use seems like it would be relatively short.

As far as the coolest thing for home bike racks/storage I came across in researching this post, it’s the bike hoist style of ceiling-hung storage (which you can see if you click through). I always figured that a system like that was out there, and now I know.

Now that Oakland is moving to the parking station model of paid parking, and away from the old individual meter system, every removed meter means lost bike parking. A recent visit to Boulder, Colorado, showed me that there’s a pretty simple (and seemingly low-cost) way to retrofit old meter posts and turn them into bike parking. It’s cheaper than U-racks, doesn’t require post removal or concrete work to install, and is more secure than locking up to a single-headed meter. Once I track down the actual manufacture of the racks (based in Seattle), I’ll post more info (and definitely pass it along to the Bike/Ped planners for the City of Oakland).

Wow, how great is Oakland?  I mean, are you serious?  It’s 65 degrees out while the rest of the country is in weather smack down.  So after going to the Dr. (I should be Ok) I just kept on going out for a wonderful ride up into the east bay hills.

HOW COULD YOU NOT DO THIS?  You simply owe it to yourself.

While I am hoping for rain to drive back the current drought, I feel the need to celebrate the inevitable period of great weather we get this time of year.  It’s a great reminder to get out, live, ride, be active, and enjoy.