[DB!-Announce] August Bike Announcements

[Davis Bicycles Announcements]

*Fifth Street campaign
*

Davis Bicycles! is conducting a campaign to urge the Davis City Council to
correct  traffic flow  problems on Fifth Street by re-striping it to include
bicycle lanes. If you care about the quality of life in Davis and support
goals to:

   - Improve car, bicycle and pedestrian safety
   - Reduce vehicle emissions
   - Enhance access to Downtown Davis
   - Promote alternative transportation
   - Make downtown Davis more people friendly by making Fifth Street bike
   and pedestrian friendly

  These are the ways you can help:

   - Sign our on-line petition<http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/5thstreet>
   - Join our Facebook group: Supporters of the Fifth Street
Redesign<http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=105676916834>
   - Urge your friends to do the same and to spread the message (forward
   this email)
   - See our web page <http://davisbicycles.org/projects/5thstreet> for
   information, updates and action alerts
   - Send your comments to the City of Davis
staff<http://cityofdavis.org/5thstreetcorridor/comments.cfm>(even a
brief expression of support counts)

And this Monday (August 3rd) at 9:00 AM the City Council will be having a
special morning meeting which will include discussion of SACOG Community
Design Grant Applications<http://cityofdavis.org/meetings/councilpackets/20090803/05%20SACOG%20Community%20Design%20Grant.pdf>.
Staff is recommending only submitting an application for a project that
combines improvements along the First, Third and B Street corridors, and not
to include the 5th street redesign. Please come to the meeting and voice
your support for also applying for a grant to implement the 5th street
redesign.

Thank you!

*Ride to the Perseid Meteor Shower Party, Tuesday Aug. 11*

Join DB! for a fun night ride to the Perseid Meteor
Shower<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseids>Party of the Davis
Astronomy Club at Fairfield School (west of Davis) on
August 11. To encourage more people, especially families, to ride to the
Perseid Party, DB! is looking for bicyclists to escort viewers to Fairfield
School and back at scheduled times. If you are interested in helping escort
viewers, please e-mail Christal Waters at chrystal2waters at yahoo.com.

*Ride information: *Meet in the parking lot of the Lutheran Church of the
Incarnation, NW corner of the Russell-Arthur intersection at 7:45 PM. Sunset
is at 8:06 PM and civil twilight ends at 8:34 PM. Assembled groups will ride
together at a leisurely pace for approximately four miles to Fairfield
School. The entire ride from West Davis is along a path to the side of
Russell Blvd. Telescopes and binoculars will be available for viewing the
shower. Groups will assemble to bike back, about the time of the rising
gibbous moon. All participants will receive a specially designed "spoke
card" commemorating the ride. Bring a blanket or folding chairs in a trailer
if you like, insect repellent and a paper bag to cover your flashlight (it
preserves night vision!).  There are no restroom facilities at the school.
The Davis Astronomy Club is organized by The Explorit Science
Center<http://www.explorit.org/news/save-the-date-aug-11-meteor-shower-party/>
.

More information on community bicycling events can be found at
http://www.davisbicycles.org/events.
*Ongoing Bike Activities*
*Bicycle Advisory Commission*, Monday, August 3rd, 5:30pm, Community
Chambers, 23 Russell Boulevard

*Davis Bicycles! Steering Committee*, usually the 4th Monday of each month,
6-8pm, 123 C St. (reply to this e-mail for more info.)

Velolution <http://www.kdvs.org/shows/view/show_id/823> radio show,
8:30-9:30am Thursdays, KDVS 90.1 FM

*Davis Bike Collective*. Bike
Forth<http://daviswiki.org/Davis_Bike_Collective>the volunteer-run
nonprofit community bicycle organization at 4th and L
streets is going strong and can use your support! Have an old bike to
donate?  Want to get that old town bike running well? Come by during open
hours to check it out:
Wednesdays 4-8 PM
Thursdays 4-8 PM
Saturdays 12-6 PM

*Green Routes to Work legislation addresses limitations on commuter bike
provision
* Tax incentives will make it easier for non-automotive commuters. Congressman
Earl Blumenauer <http://blumenauer.house.gov/> (D-OR) is set to introduce
legislation that will implement a series of tax incentives for individuals
and employers to make it easier for commuters who wish to commute to work by
bicycling, walking, carpooling or using public transit. The legislation
titled Green Routes to Work will also make changes to the bicycle commuter
provision passed last year by allowing employees to receive both transit and
bike benefits in the same month. The Green Routes to Work legislation will
also revise the bike commuter benefit
language<http://www.bikeleague.org/news/pdfs/grtw_one_pager.pdf>to
allow employees to elect to reduce their salary by the value of the
Qualified Bike Provision.

Source: League of American Bicyclists <http://www.bikeleague.org/>

*Video: Carmaggeddon averted as Broadway in NYC comes to life
* Video demonstrates convincingly that fewer streets create less traffic. When
New York City opened up new pedestrian
zones<http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/05/26/the-crossroads-of-the-world-goes-car-free>in
the heart of Midtown Manhattan this summer, naysayers predicted a
traffic
nightmare. Nearly two months later, we're still waiting for the much-feared
"Carmaggedon." In this
video<http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/on-herald-squares-transformation-and-disappearing-traffic/>,
Streetfilms funder Mark Gorton takes us on a tour of Broadway's car-free
squares and boulevard-style blocks, where conditions have improved
dramatically for pedestrians, cyclists, and, yes, delivery truck drivers. As
Mark says, the counterintuitive truth is that taking away space for cars can
improve traffic while making the city safer and more enjoyable for everyone
on foot. There are sound theories that help explain why this happens --
concepts like traffic
shrinkage<http://urbanomnibus.net/2009/05/broadway-the-counter-intuitive-traffic-curative/>and
Braess's
paradox <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braess%27_paradox> which are getting
more and more attention thanks to projects like this one. While traffic
statistics are still being collected by NYCDOT, there's already a convincing
argument that Midtown streets are functioning better than before: To
understand it, just take a walk down Broadway.
Source: Streetfilms.org <http://streetfilms.org/>

*And of course, some bike links for your enjoyment:
*
Roswell adds a bike box to pedal-friendly
streets<http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/northfulton/stories/2009/06/23/roswell_bike_boxes.html>
Even Georgia has bike boxes now. Roswell, a suburb of Atlanta, has borrowed
an idea from Portland, Ore., to make life safer for bicyclists.

How Much Can I Save Bicycling to Work?<http://www.kiplinger.com/tools/bike/>
Riding to work is not just good for your health and good for the
environment, it can be good for you pocketbook too. Kiplinger has published
this simple calculator to help you figure out how much you are saving.

You too can have a bike bell ring
tone<http://bike-pgh.org/2009/07/09/bikepghs-official-bike-bell-ringtone-download-it-for-free/>for
your cell phone, thanks to Bike Pittsburgh.

Lance Armstrong to race for Team RadioShack in
2010<http://velonews.com/article/95712/lance-armstrong-to-race-for-team-radioshack>-
VeloNews (23 July 2009)
Lance Armstrong has said that he will race in 2010 and promises to return to
the Tour de France. He also said he will race the 2010 Amgen Tour of
California in May instead of the Giro d'Italia, which means he (and his
20,000 fans) may be coming back to Davis.

So the Tour is over. If your are tired of reading about Armstrong vs
Contador then here is a nice article about Jens
Voigt<http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/tdf2009/columns/story?id=4344207>
.

All pumped up and ready to
go<http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/jul/26/cycling-britain-dave-cameron>
Just across the pond, Brittan is dealing with many of the same cycle
commuting issues as the U.S.

Enjoy the Ride...

   Leo Rainer
   President, Davis Bicycles!
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