Welcome to volume 3! We hope you had a great Christmas and that Santa bought you all the snazzy new cycling gear you asked for (and that you can still fit into your Lycra after hitting the mince pies!).
Before you get the pitchforks out, though, read on. It was reported in The Age, an Australian newspaper, that bicycle-equipped police officers will be patrolling a busy Australian street (and accident hotspot), educating cyclists who break the rules.
On their naughty list is “running red lights, not wearing a helmet, jaywalking, and distracted driving”.
These measures have been implemented after a series of accidents occurred on the road, and represent an effort to educate to reduce future incidents. The officers have the power to fine cyclists who they feel are causing undue risk to themselves and others, but their first recourse is information.
A stirling effort!
Another cool cycling Kickstarter was covered in Gizmodo recently, and has already smashed it’s target. Check out the campaign here [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cobi/cobi-worlds-smartest-connected-biking-system].
The COBI system claims to be “the smartest way to upgrade your bike” and aims to “make every ride more rewarding and more fun”. It achieves this by integrating all features of your phone with its interface in an effort to make the whole experience more seamless and intuitive. Control of maps, calls, music and all other aspects of your phone is via a funky looking thumb grip that mounts onto your handlebars, giving easy control:
It’s getting a lot of attention and with a week left, there’s still time to get involved!
This popped up in our news feed at the start of December. It was posted by ‘The Story of Stuff Project’ – an organisation that aims to “change the way we make, use, and throw away Stuff so that we have a happier and healthier planet”: a fantastic goal! The project began in 2007 with a video titled “The Story of Stuff” which you can see below:
It’s nice to get a reminder exactly why cycling is so great. It represents a way to save money, stay fit, socialise, commute, and so much more. We recommend printing this out and sticking it on your fridge (or mirror, desk, handlebars, wherever you’ll see it most!).
A cracking piece on The Guardian a couple of weeks ago about the stagnation of cycle infrastructure improvements in recent years, and the resulting implications on cyclists with disabilities, women, and older people.
The article explores utilising the angle of social justice to campaign councils to improve cycling infrastrucutre and make them more accessible. Currently it’s only in the idea phase at it requires somebody with “a big bank balance and a buccaneering spirit when it comes to legal challenges” to move it to the next phase.
Who knows – perhaps this idea will mark the roots of another cycling Kickstarter campaign in coming months?!
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