We’re stoked for Saturday night’s group ride with the amazing Speed Vest! It’s looking to be an epic event. If you’re not hip to the Speed Vest yet, check out our blog post from a little while back.

Besides the folks from Oakland, Speed Vest inventors Brady Clark & Mykle Hansen will be there, we’ve got cyclists crossing the Bay to join the fun (thanks to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition spreading the word), and as an added bonus Brady & Mykle will be bringing some cyclist inventors and their high-tech bike contraptions up from the Maker Faire just for this, a kind of Speed Vest Tour de Oak. You won’t want to miss it.

We’ve chosen a route that will give us a nice Saturday night cruise and the opportunity to see the Speed Vest in action. We’ve also made our ride’s final destination a watering hole downtown, so if you didn’t get the chance to talk with Brady, Mykle or any of your fellow cyclists on the ride, you can do it once the wheels have stopped turning.

You’ll find ride details below, but in case you want to let people in your office, neighborhood, etc. know about it, we’ve created a flyer you can print out or link to. See you Saturday!

WHERE/WHEN: 8:30pm at Broadway & Water St. on Jack London Square (map). We’ll meet in front of
Barnes & Noble. Ride is approximately 8 miles and will finish up at Pacific Coast Brewery (906 Washington St).

BRING: Front and rear lights and a helmet. Cash suggested if you plan to socialize post-ride.

RIDE ROUTE: http://tinyurl.com/ku44ga

FLYER: http://tinyurl.com/mvkfry

FOR MORE INFO: Email Alec or call him at 720.304.6049.

I’ve heard more reports of bike thefts from people I know in the last two weeks than I remember hearing in the last few months. I even had my bike stolen off my roof rack a few days back (it looks like they used a Sawzall to cut through my fork-lock, but couldn’t cut through the U-lock securing a spare wheel). As this article suggests, now that it’s “bike season” it’s worth being more mindful of your locking technique.

In order to help you make your bike-locking Kung Fu strong, we present the video below – from an article called Hal Grades Your Bike Locking 3: The Final Warning! Hal is like the Yoda of locking bikes, so it’s worth a view (and Hal’s a trip). One bike in the video even gets an unheard-of A+. How does a bike-locking job qualify for such a high grade? Watch and see.

Historically, the bicycle has been a stand-in for the horse for riding, hauling cargo and bike polo, but not much else. So you can imagine how interested we became when we found out that another horse-based activity had migrated to the bicycle. Introducing, the Bike Joust:

2008 Mini Freak Bike Joust Roll Up Bazaar October Oakland CA

These cyclists are truly (to quote the theme song of an old TV series), “knights without armor in a savage land.” Don’t try this at home. For more footage, visit this page on YouTube.

These days, the Bay Area isn’t the only hotbed of bicycling fervor. As part of an overall strategy to reduce auto traffic and pollution, Mexico’s capital has launched Cambiate de Carril (Change Your Lane) program, to nudge commuters out of their cars and onto bikes. To encourage future riders, Mexico City aims to install 1,000 bike racks at key locations this year, starting with the city’s historic center. Major streets such as the Avenida de la Reforma, government buildings, and Chapultepec Park will get dozens of the U-shaped bike stands—a familiar sight on many Oakland streets.

Strategically, the program adds bike facilities to many of the city’s mass transit stations. Integrating bike amenities into existing transit options makes two-wheeled commuting both practical and convenient—factors critical for convincing residents to make the switch.

One amenity in particular should fill Bay Area bikers with longing—metal ramps that let cyclists roll their bikes up and down stairs. Ramps sure would take a load off those of us who bring our bikes onto BART and currently hump our trusty two-wheelers up and down the many flights between platforms and streets.

This well-designed biking program even includes courses for residents in bike safety, and the city has purchased 2,500 training bikes just for use in the classes. Teaching people how to ride in traffic will not only get aspiring cyclists out on the road, but ensures they’ll get from point A to B in one piece. To learn more about the program, click here.

Wow, WOBO has just been blown away this glorious Bike to Work Day.  Blown away by All of You, out there biking (almost 700 cyclists counted at our two Energizer Stations) and helping (are you kidding me?  TEN DOZEN home baked goodies to power Oakland’s cyclists today!)!!!!

It’s been a long day already, after helping set up at City Hall, 27th and Broadway, and Oak and 14th.  But well worth it!!!!  Thanks to all of you that stopped by, volunteered, baked, or otherwise were involved.  And a special shout to WOBO’s own Dom(inic) who just made this BTWD the best!

See you at the Bike Away from Work party, Telegraph and 49th!

Good hearted Residents of the O, the time is upon us!!!

The time to ride, in large packs, with your City Council member, your friends, the world, to show you CARE! To revel in Energizer stations and to get energized.  To feel the love of your fellow pedalers, fixies, mashers, and cruisers.  It’s BTWD, Thursday May 14, and it’s a Day to Be Seen and to Share the experience of riding this fine City.

Click here to find out about Pedal Pools – group rides to City hall where pancakes and coffee await, with City Council members and staff.  This year, all the Council Members are committed to riding! Bring a camera!  Document it, tell them you care, you vote, and you are looking to them for change. Council Members Jane Brunner – District 1, Patricia Kernighan – District 2, Nancy Nadel – District 3, Jean Quan – District 4, Ignacio De La Fuente – District 5, Desley Brooks – District 6, Larry Reid – District 7, and Rebecca Kaplan, At Large are all committed to riding.

And help ‘em stay upright on their bikes!  Check our site for more info, find out how to help and where to go.  We, along with our friends at the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, look forward to seeing you out there.

from Councilmemember Pat Kernighan and her staff:  If you like what you read, and we sure do (and it hasn’t been easy!) please let her office know:

pkernighan ” at” oaklandnet.com

Lakeside Path to Open Soon! Update on Lakeshore-El Embarcadero and Measure DD Improvements

I’ve received lots of questions about the construction work between Lakeshore Avenue and the Lake. The good news is that the path at the edge of the lake will open by the end of April. Many of us who have missed walking and running next to the lake will welcome the reopening of the pathway.

Work has seemed to progress very slowly in the Lakeshore project during the fall and winter as crews re-contoured the site, built forms and then poured concrete for a continuous path curb and concrete benches, constructed a retaining wall, and laid conduit for electrical lighting. All this work was preparation for the shoreline path’s new surface, which will comply with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. The surface will be made of decomposed granite with a polymer added as a hardening agent in order to support wheelchairs. The hardening agent is a stabilizer that requires five days of dry weather and at least 60-degree daytime temperatures in order to set up. Now that spring weather has arrived, the conditions are right for pouring the path’s surface. (more…)