LATEST NEWS:

Good news from the national Bike Summit that occurred in D.C.  this week- Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced that “This is the end of favoring motorized transportation at the expense of non-motorized,” adding that next year’s budget includes initiatives for more bike and walking paths planned around affordable housing, and more money for public transit.

He continues:

“People want to live in livable communities. People want streetcars that are made in Portland, Ore. People want walking paths, biking paths, and opportunities for families to really do the things they do best — which is to hang together and have fun… They want out of their cars; they want out of congestion; they want to live in livable neighborhoods. We are integrating the needs of bicyclists in federally-funded road projects. We are discouraging transportation investments that negatively affect cyclists and pedestrians. And we are encouraging investments that go beyond the minimum requirements and provide facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians of all ages and abilities.”

You can read the entire article at The Trucker.

THIS Saturday March 13

11am – ???

Our buddies over at Nashville’s Dead have put together one whopper of a killer weekend, aka THE FREAKIN’ WEEKEND!!! It is three nights of good bands, good friends, and good times. Check out the madness!

We are happy to be hosting the official Freakin’ Weekend “Rock’n'Roll Yardsale,” which I guarantee you will be a yardsale for the books. Vintage clothing and housewares, records, musical equipment, AND MORE! There will be folks spinning records, and I even heard there will be a leather jacket for sale. Seriously.

OH AND THAT’S NOT ALL. Food will also be available, by Chef Brian, a man of many talents. He tells us the menu will be American classics infused with Asian influence. Exotic. Get ready for:

-THE SHIMANO: Asian pork burger stuffed with ginger and garlic and then laced with a teriakki  glaze on a toasted bun.

-THE FIXED GEAR: friendly all vegetable veggie-dog grilled to perfection on a toasted bun.

$3 bones each and comes with a side of:

-DEGREASER: Asian style spicy slaw containing sauteed cabbage, onions, carrots, garlic, ginger and sarracha.

Basically, you have to come.

NASHVILLES DEAD (stay educated)

Finally! Google Maps has just released bike-friendly directions, which will include trails and bike lanes. The feature will also help cyclists avoid congested streets, large hills, and other potential problems. To use the feature, go to Google Maps, click on ‘directions’, and select ‘bicycling’ from the pull down menu (the other options are by car, by public transit, and walking).

The bike maps are only available on the web right now, and are in beta. After playing with the option a bit this morning, I would say so far, so good. The coolest aspect, in my opinion, is that once Google maps a route for you, you can adjust the route by dragging across the map. This way, you can compare different options. We all have favorite routes around town, but it is always fun to go a new way.

This is a huge step for cycling, giving millions of people access to biking as transportation. It will make biking in new cities much easier, and hopefully will encourage more people to dust off their bike and ride it to work, if even just a couple days a week. Small changes yield great results. Thanks, Google!