LATEST NEWS:

photo by Chris Callis

First off, thank you to everyone who came out and celebrated our first birthday party this weekend. Between the tacos, the records, and the kegs…I’d say we had a good time. The alleycat to benefit the Bike Workshop was postponed due to weather, but plenty of people went on a group ride and spirits were high. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the love you have shown us in our first year. We plan to do it big in 2010.

Moving on… Music City Cycling is an awesome new site/discussion board for all things cycling in the middle Tennessee region. It was launched late last week, but there are already a number of threads up, with discussions ranging the full spectrum of bicycles. I am so happy to see this site up and running, and think it will be a great place for all cyclists in our region to discuss! Jump on there and get involved, post a group ride, and get connected to other cyclists.

Also, I encourage everyone to check out Nashville Urban Bicycle League Google group. It is a email list that has been in circulation for over a year now, and is also a fantastic way to communicate with other locals. Unite!

Which basically means:

Featuring Mas Tacos, artwork by Manda Hackney, and music by guest djs:

^^^Willy T^^^ (of Silver Jews, Lambchop, The Paperhats and Cortney Tidwell)

^^^Jamin Orrall^^^ (of Jeff the Brotherhood)

^^^Whit Smith^^^ (of So Jazzy and Pita Party)

^^^Nashville’s Dead^^^ (of nashvillesdead.com)

Rickshaw cyclist in Harbin, China. Photo by Allison Waid

Makes your back rack look pretty…shoddy.

NPR reported this week about road rage targeted at cyclists. Scary, scary stuff. Apparently a cyclist in L.A. was intentionally hit and then beat up by a driver, who said he was “teaching cyclists a lesson.” The case went to court and the driver was convicted, but the fact that any driver would do this baffles me.

The relationship between drivers and cyclists is one of the most important obstacles we face in pedestrian politics. It is encouraging to hear a national media outlet report on this, so help spread the word and educate!

You can listen to the entire story on the NPR website.