Nine and a Half Things Motorists Should Know About Bicycles (and it wouldn't hurt for more cyclists to know them too).

Even though Texas' existing "safe passing" law doesn't specify what the distance is, or classify a cyclist as a "vulnerable user", or excuse bicycles from the requirements of all other legal vehicles (setting the stage for bicycles to no longer be considered as such), nonetheless it is the law that motorists must pass cyclists "by maintaining a safe distance".

Thanks to Commute Orlando and Metroplan Orlando.

The Auto and its Enemies

The Auto and its Enemies

A very interesting, and insightful, review.

Posted using ShareThis

Amsterdamnation: The Lowdown-under on cycle tracks.

Photo courtesy of Treadly and Me

The Friends of the Katy Trail, and some City of Dallas and Dallas County politicians and staff, are proposing cycle-tracks in Dallas, specifically in the Uptown/Arts District, and along Industrial Boulevard. Alta Design of Portland has convinced these well-meaning folks that they will turn Dallas into a vision of Holland or Denmark... but a very large city in a Commonwealth nation (with perhaps more in common with Dallas than the Low Country cities) experienced a different reality after being Amsterdamned.

Perhaps Dallas' experience will be more like Amsterdam's than Melbourne's. Perhaps not... and looking at that dangerous street-scape, you can certainly see why the segregationists want bicycles out of the way.

The City of Detroit and New Bicycle Facilities

As the nation looks on in horror at the financial meltdown in California, many individual cities are facing a similar disaster. The latest shipwreck to make the papers in any detail is the City of Detroit. While their situation is dreadful, the underling basis of their financial distress is not unique to areas dependent on automobile manufacturing.

As reported in the Free Press:

Detroit is in danger of running out of cash if the city doesn’t take steps to eliminate a $20-million to $25-million budget shortfall before Oct. 1, Mayor Dave Bing told the Free Press on Thursday.

After spending most of his first two months in office poring over Detroit’s financial books and organizational structure, Bing said the city is so deeply in the red that the following measures must be taken to avoid bankruptcy:

• The consolidation and elimination of some city departments.
• A reduction in nonessential city services.
• Concessions by city employees, including job losses in some cases.
• The hiring of an outside emergency collection agency to help recoup some of the debt owed to the city.

“We’ve got a cash-flow problem in the second quarter,” Bing said, referring to the autumn period of the city’s budget cycle. He told Free Press editors and reporters in an exclusive interview: “The city could actually run out of cash if we do nothing, and I’m not going to sit back and do nothing.”

To repeat myself, the municipality near you may not be flirting with bankruptcy, but they are seeing revenues from all sources decline while simultaneously they face a higher demand for social services. Not only will new bicycle projects not get approval, projects already approved will be delayed or canceled altogether. What is a bicycle advocate to do if the popular and beloved bike lane and bike path projects are stalled?



Perhaps it is time to get creative. Perhaps it is time to change our focus from changing the infrastructure to changing attitudes. Changing our focus from creating bad laws to repealing bad laws. Seizing the opportunities that are presented to us in these troubled times, rather than following old and tired ways.

Making new laws, especially laws that are redundant, is futile without removing the laws that are restricting cyclist's liberties. The law discriminates against cyclists with Far-to-Right rules (FTR), and mandatory bike lane rules.(*)

Motorists never have to demonstrate that they have the right to travel on the roadway, while cyclists do. Motorists can be fined for violating the rules of the road, while cyclists can be ticketed unless they can show that they have the right to obey them!

We should work to repeal or modify any law that places a higher duty on operating a bicycle than than it does on other drivers. We could modify Sec. 545.055.(b)(**) with another exception allowing an operator of a motor vehicle to overtake a bicycle in a no-passing zone if it can be done safely.

If penalties for violating certain laws have become mild due to the passage of time, we can make them stronger, being mindful that we don't make enforcement efforts more burdensome.

We need to lobby our local law enforcement agencies to step up enforcement of traffic laws. We must insist that all violations contributing to vehicle collisions be enforced. Some of the many examples are violations of following too close, failure to pass safely, reckless driving, and failure to yield.(***) There are many traffic laws that are violated around cyclists that are not cited, or if reported, not followed up on. Physical attacks, and aggressive bullying need to be taken seriously by police departments.

We need to lobby local law enforcement to enforce bicycle specific laws. We need to insist that they focus on dangerous scofflaw behaviors, like ninja, salmon and sidewalk riding. Injured cyclists create a lot of preventable costs to our police and make cycling seem more dangerous than it really is. An emphasis should be put on these behaviors rather than stop sign running, because a failure to come to a complete stop at a stop sign is unlikely to cause a wreck. We should focus police efforts on the most dangerous practices first.

These efforts will appeal to local municipalities as a revenue enhancement. Politicians can become an ally in this part of the strategy.

We need to advocate, along with automobile associations, that resurfacing of streets needs to have a high priority for available funds. No more new roads, better surfaced old ones that benefit the whole of the community. (Why advocates are not doing this now is a mystery to me. Smooth roads are far more important to cyclists than bike lanes!)

We could recruit insurance companies and other interested organizations as we find them. They will be glad to rally to our side, as they will perceive a change in our cultural attitudes will benefit their businesses. They will make the connection of how they will personally benefit sooner than many of the general public will.

This Great Recession we are enduring is changing peoples attitudes about the value of property, money and goods. There is a new frugality working it's way through our communities. We are valuing what we have more. We look to fix things rather than replace them. We want our stuff to last longer. Americans are becoming more frugal. Less tolerant of waste.

Now is the time that appeals to reducing collisions and the resulting property damage will have more resonance with our neighbors. Public education campaigns to exercise due care, to operate in the public streets in a safe manner as an obligation to your community will be likelier to be heard now.

We can change how our communities view public streets and how we expect them to be used by ourselves and others. We can return to the more traditional view of rights-of-way, courtesy, duty and cooperation.

Advertising agencies are hurting for business, so advertising rates are down, and will likely drop even more. The costs of a public campaign are less once a campaign message has been decided upon. Bringing alongside other interested groups to share the costs and promote the campaign through word of mouth would magnify our efforts.

As bicycle advocates, who have no more money for infrastructure, we can model the cultural changes we promote, in out driving habits in both automobiles and bicycles. If we come to the end of a bike lane, demonstrate how to integrate with traffic.

We can develop and execute cyclist education, with a goal of reducing dangerous practices. This effort would dovetail with advocating stepped up enforcement of dangerous bicycle violations. It would also lend credibility to other advocacy efforts. We need to encourage kids and children to ride their bicycles on our streets, in spite of no new bike lanes. We need to teach skills that are needed when there will be no more bike lanes created for a while. We need to teach cyclists of all ages, how to integrate with traffic lanes, so they can be safe when the separated lanes end.

Now that bicycle advocates can be freed from their myopic bike lane fixation, perhaps we can move forward on these other neglected areas.




* Texas Transportation Code Sec. 551.103

** Texas Transportation Code Sec. 545.055.(b): "(b) An operator may not drive on the left side of the roadway in a no-passing zone or on the left side of any pavement striping designed to mark a no-passing zone. This subsection does not prohibit a driver from crossing pavement striping, or the center line in a no-passing zone marked by signs only, to make a left turn into or out of an alley or private road or driveway."

*** In an incident discussed HERE, this motorist was charged with only one crime, and it is perhaps the only one he complied with! What's up with that? He could be charged with each of the listed above violations, but wasn't.

Image credit: Top photo courtesy of Val Dodge

Last two images are from an advertisement of Oregon Corrections Enterprises

This is how it happens.

Bike Accident painting. From Mo's Photostream on Flickr.

There is a very fortunate, and foolish, cyclist in Austin Texas today.

Driver charged after hit and run of cyclist

By Andrea Lorenz | Thursday, July 23, 2009, 04:54 PM
Austin American-Statesman

An Austin man, Gregory Feazell, was charged with failure to stop and render aid, a third-degree felony, after police say he hit a cyclist Tuesday evening on Brodie Lane near William Cannon Drive.

A witness told police the driver of a PT Cruiser hit a cyclist near the H-E-B at 6900 Brodie Lane. The cyclist flew over the top of the car and rolled onto the street, according to the arrest warrant.

Police say Feazell, 26, left the scene for a nearby apartment complex, where police found him. According to arrest documents, Feazell told police he had returned home to tell his mother what happened and that he had had no phone service at the scene of the crash.

The cyclist, Ross Clurman, told police he was within a few inches to the curb - as close as he could get - when he was hit. Clurman said the driver got out of his car and asked him if he was alright, according to police. Clurman responded, “What do you think?”

Clurman was taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge with complaints of pain in his neck and back, according to the documents.

This is a typical "hit from the rear while being overtaken" collision, and was easily avoidable had the cyclist not been riding in the "fear zone", as close to the curb as possible. Had Mr. Clurman been riding five feet out from the curb (instead of five inches), Mr. Feazell would have changed lanes to pass him. Instead, Mr. Clurman signaled to Mr. Feazell that it was "OK" to pass him without changing lanes, by pulling over as far right as he possibly could.

The Texas Transportation Code defines the travel lanes on Brodie Lane as being of insufficient width for a bicycle and an automobile to share side-by-side, and that a cyclist has the legal right to control the entire lane. It's not just a "right", rather it's a defensive imperative for cyclist safety.

Notice that Mr. Feazell, according to this report, was not charged with the existing and applicable statute of failure to maintain proper distance while passing.

Of greater value to cyclists than a new, unenforced "safe passing" law, would be an insistence that the existing law be enforced (perhaps even adding a specified minimum distance during the next legislative session). But of even greater value, and one that would truly save lives, would be the removal of the "Far Right as Practicable" language in the Texas Transportation Code, so that cyclists like Mr. Clurman wouldn't be lured into the death trap they think they are supposed to ride in.

As much as Mr. Feazell is at fault in this collision, Mr. Clurman had the power to prevent it. Had Mr. Clurman controlled his lane as a slow moving vehicle, he almost certainly would not have been struck, whereas the lane position he chose increased the probability. Those who refuse to recognize this fact are simply more comfortable in the Fear Zone of victimization than they are in taking responsibility for their own safety.

Hat tip to velociped for bringing this to our attention.

Bike toilet? No.

It is, however, a stylishly clever bike rack.

Ride Like a Girl. Part 2

photo by Lovely Bicycle!

..or like a boy, too.

A delightful, refreshing, logical, and new (to me) cycling blog has come to my attention (thanks, Ryan): O what a Lovely Bicycle!

Roadsters, cruisers, civility, etiquette, happiness, tranquility, no fear-mongering, and even vehicular cycling methodologies. What more could you ask for in a cycling blog?

Dude?! Where'd my bike lane go!?

For those in the survey below who chose to ride in the striped shoulder, thinking perhaps it was a bike lane (it isn't), here's what happens to it a little further up.

Thus the end of all bike lanes: a dead end. But fear not, for a sidewalk begins at that very intersection!

Cribbing from the NTVC site again.

Glossary

A collection of terms commonly used when discussing the bicycle transportation issues. As time permits, a discussion of each definition will be expanded through content elsewhere on the site in order to facilitate further discussion. If the reader feels additional terms merit inclusion on this list, please feel free to contact the administrator.

Glossary of Terms

Bike Lane
an on-street facility deigned for use by bicycles, which is separated from the regular travel lanes by a painted stripe.

Bike Path
a grade separated cycling facility located away from the normal roadway on which bicycles can operate free of motor vehicles. Usually interchangeable with an MUP.

Bike Route
a signed or stenciled route on a local street which has been identified as being friendly for novice or timid cyclists; also used for directional purposes.

CIC
Cyclist Inferiority Complex: an unofficial psychological disorder afflicting some cyclists. It is manifest in the belief that operation of a bicycle in a vehicular manner, on the roadway, will lead to certain serious injury or death. It can also be influenced by or manifest through the attitudes of motorists and governmental staff toward cyclists.

Cycle Track
a segregated cycling facility located adjacent to the roadway. Similar to a sidewalk, it is usually separated through the use of bollards, curbs or other architectural features to protect against incursion by motorists.

FTR
Far to Right: a statutory rule specifically requiring a cyclist to stay as far to the right as practicable.

MBL
Mandatory Bike Lane: a statutory requirement that cyclists use a delineated, on-road bike lane if one is present.

MSP
Mandatory Side Path: a statutory requirement that cyclists use an adjacent, off-road MUP or sidewalk if one is present.

MUP
Multi-Use Path: a recreational facility designed for use by a wide range of pedestrian and non-motorized conveyances (e.g. bicycles, skaters, scooter, equestrians, etc.)

SMV
Slow Moving Vehicle: a vehicle which, by its very nature of operation, is incapable of achieving a speed comparable to other roadway users.

SWSS
Single Witness Suicide Swerve: ascribing blame to a cyclist following a fatal crash involving a motor vehicle and whose only surviving witnesses is the instrumental motorist.

VC
Vehicular Cycling: the philosophy and practice of operating a bicycle on the roadway and in the manner of a legitimate, legally recognized vehicle. This term must not be confused with the more general concept of bicycle commuting.

More enlightened content here.

Contributor to Global Warming?

Chevy Tahoe hybrid, or Thule trunk-rack.

Yes.

One of the problems we've long recognized with bike paths is the large numbers of people who will drive cars to the trails, unload a bike, and then ride. We have seen that people will drive three miles to ride a bike ten miles. From a purely "recreational" perspective, there is no problem in this activity. But from a transportation perspective, there are immense problems with it.

All bicycle facilities that are constructed with transportation funding are supposed to have a primary transportation benefit, usually either congestion relief (fewer cars on the roads) and/or improved air quality (fewer "cold starts" of cars).

In the case of too many trails, we are probably seeing a negative impact on both air quality and congestion relief (by generating more automobile traffic). The Katy Trail is a prime example. Out of the estimated 1200 users a day, only 6 are identifiable as commuters (about 1/3 of the .03% mode-share cyclists have as on-street commuters in Dallas), although I presume the actual number is higher (just as is the on-street mode share). The adjacent parking lots are well represented with bike rack equipped automobiles, as are the parking lots at White Rock Lake and along White Rock Creek.

Perhaps this is unavoidable from a recreation facility standpoint, but it's inexcusable from "green bicycle movement" perspective. My small efforts to combat this has been to oppose the construction of parking lots adjacent to urban bike trails, unless the trail's built with park funds.

I have no problem with the recreational use of trails, or the construction of trails for recreational purposes. I do have a problem with thinking they are going to make a serious impact of bicycle-commuting or air quality/congestion relief in Dallas, as they too often support the mindset that the streets are unsafe, and thus become a self-defeating transportation element.

So, if you are carrying your bike a short distance to ride it... stop it. Disembark, leave your car in your driveway, and ride your bike to the trail (or even just in your neighborhood). Use your bicycle as a vehicle, not just a toy.

"The Hippster" dies.

Chris Hipp died July 14th. Condolences to the family and friends of a man synonymous with high-level bicycle racing in Dallas (and Texas) for many years. I always had great respect for "the Hippster", and in our few conversations found him to understand the differences between bicycle racing, recreational riding, and transportation cycling very well.

Like Jim Fixx, he died of natural causes doing what he loved... in Chris' case, going for an early morning training ride.

Rest in peace, Chris.

The Lady or the Tiger? Where do I ride?

Here's a one-way couplet street. It has three 10' wide lanes in one direction, along with an area to the right side of the road beyond the edge stripe (this road use to be two-lanes, two-way, with roughly 18' wide lanes). It's both an urban thoroughfare, and a State Highway... and by the way, this is morning rush hour peak in bicycle unfriendly Dallas. Where go ye?

Department of Redundancy Department: Further Adventures in Missing the Point.

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Support Bikie Friendly Communities and Team C.R.I.N.G.E.! Get your very own Please Don't Kill Me! cyclist's T-shirt, with a bonus image on the front befitting the sentiment.

Act now! Orderbots are standing by!


This product is not recommended for those who must limit their intake of irony.

How can cyclists change motorist behavior?

A good question, and some good thoughts on the subject, for those with ears to hear.

There's at least one answer that most of us agree upon. That is, lawful cyclists generally are treated better than unlawful cyclists. But that's purely individual.

Beyond that, what kind of behavior is our candidate for change? I suggest that there are two distinct kinds: traffic errors that lead to car-bike collisions; behavior that expresses anti-cyclist views, ranging from political to merely noisy to assault.

I assert that motorist traffic errors that lead to car-bike collisions are not volitional; the motorist would much prefer that no collision takes place than that one does. (The volitional type in which a motorist chooses hitting a cyclist to avoid the greater danger of being hit by a more dangerous vehicle must be very rare indeed.) So far as I know, there has been no study to compare car-bike collision types against car-car collision types to determine differences in individual rates and probable causes. But the idea exists that much of the difference, if any, is in the smaller optical image of the cyclist in the motorist's eye and in the less significant perception in the motorist's mind.

Bright clothing and confident positioning have long been advocated, although there is no statistical evidence as to their effectiveness. There is also no empiric evidence that the less significant degree of perception in the motorist's mind is associated with anti-cyclist views; there may be a correlation, there may not be. So, for the moment at least, there's no point in trying to discuss how to change motorist traffic errors that lead to car-bike collisions, beyond applying normal traffic engineering procedures.

I suggest that what is desired by those asking the question is a method of changing the anti-cyclist views held, in various strengths, by such a large portion of the public. There is no doubt that the majority of the public hold that assault of a cyclist is as discreditable and as punishable as any other kind of assault. Punishment of this extreme end of the behavior distribution ought to keep this under control, although the frequency is likely to vary along with the general strength of the
anti-cyclist views among the population. For example, I see no chance that hatred of cyclists would become so advanced as to excuse assaults against cyclists. However, the anti-cyclist view in all its lesser expressions is so widespread in the population, is so deeply rooted, and is so supported by both society and by government, that, in my opinion, it will be changed only by a thorough revolution in the social views of both motoring and cycling. The anti-cyclist view is so deeply rooted in our society that what is done in the name of cyclists is merely more expression of the anti-cyclist view that cyclists are neither as legitimate nor as competent as motorists.

Do sharrows change motorists' attitude and actions? Or just their actions where sharrows exist, without changing the underlying attitude? We don't know either.

I repeat: in my opinion, the anti-cyclist view in all its lesser expressions is so widespread in the population, is so deeply rooted, and is so supported by both society and by government, that, in my opinion, it will be changed only by a thorough revolution in the social views of both motoring and cycling. The ability of cyclists to change that attitude, so widespread in the population, is substantially nil. We have fought the motorist oppression of bikeways and have consistently lost; what then can we expect about the public attitudes that produce bikeways?

My advice is to put up with the public's anti-cyclist attitudes, knowing that they are no more than silly superstitions. I've lived with them for more than sixty years, and they worry me only as they are implemented by anti-cyclist facilities and laws, especially the laws. Getting rid of the anti-cyclist traffic laws is the most important task we have before us. Motorists can honk and jeer as much as they like, just so long as we cannot be prosecuted for cycling lawfully and competently.

For those of you who want to significantly increase the amount of bicycle transportation being done, you have to face the paradox. It is the anti-cyclist program that is supposed, in some quarters, to produce this increase of bicycle transportation. Which do you want, less powerful anti-cycling attitudes or more bicycle transportation? That is, if the supposed correlation actually exists, for which there is no evidence.

--
John Forester, MS, PE
Bicycle Transportation Engineer
7585 Church St. Lemon Grove CA 91945-2306
619-644-5481 forester@johnforester.com
www.johnforester.com

Team C.R.I.N.G.E. takes the Yellow Jersey!

Is this what bike-lane segregationists think you need?

The level of reliance on external assistance is comparable.

Look at this, and read the comments. These comments are all too typical of fear-governed "cyclists" who really just want to play in the streets.

Where now?

A little trickier this time. This is a two-lane local street that's 40' wide, back-to-back, with no parking allowed. Oh, and just over the rise? It narrows to 14' (the whole road, not just the lane) for about 100', and then widens to 20' for another 75', before ending at a T intersection.

Eureka!

"First, we put in some swing sets. Nothing. Then we added a pool. Still nothing. But when we put in a bike lane down our driveway... !!!"

Some people believe stories like this.

The Art (?) of the Bicycle

June 20th – Aug. 1st

The Art of the Bicycle

ArtCentre of Plano presents a group show featuring the works of three Texas artists, all inspired by an everyday object. Photographer Kelly Berry was inspired by commuters and other folks on bicycles in Europe. Painter Todd Gutmann seeks to depict the mood of bicycle races and Janet Karam is known for her abstract bicycle series. The show will be on view through Aug. 1.


ArtCentre of Plano
1039 E. 15th St.
Plano, TX 75074
(972) 423-7809

I'll withhold judgment for the time being, but I pass this along as a public service.


Can you find Art in this picture?

The Joy of Inferiority.

Even fear of the boogie man in the closet can be comforting.

Read about it here at the North Texas Vehicular Cyclist.

Suspended reality: Monday morning edition.

An argument in favor of mandatory helmet laws...

...for everyone in Australia.



Unless you are an Aussie Hoon, don't try this at home.

Friday bike-lane special.

Apartheid for bicyclists in Phoenix, Arizona.

Sadly, as we have seen from other cities, this is not uncommon, and advocates for segregationist bicycle facilities like being treated this way (or rather, they like treating cyclists this way, as many of those who push for such facilities really just want bicyclists out of the way of cars).

I can't tell if this is supposed to be 3' wide, or 4' wide bike lane (gutter pans are usually either 12" or 18" wide). Giving them the benefit of the doubt (because that's the kind of guy I am), let's presume it's 4' wide. The usable width, from the gutter pan seam to the bike lane stripe, is only two feet. Veer to the right, and you run the risk of falling because of the pavement irregularity. Veer to the left, and you've suddenly swerved into the path of overtaking motorists (a potential SWSS).

This bicycle-handicap facility is typical of the AASHTO non-compliant designs (the bike lane should be a MINIMUM of 4' out from the gutter pan) that transportation engineers are being forced into approving under political pressure. You can see these in Austin, Phoenix, Houston (?), Ft. Worth, and probably soon in Dallas.

This is what happens when logic surrenders to nothing more than feelings.


LATE NOTE: I had this image for several weeks before I posted it. Apparently, it was an error by the Phoenix DOT, and the road was supposed to have been signed as a "bike route", and not as a bike lane. Last Friday, the signage was changed (undoubtedly due to Phoenix's being held up for scrutiny here on Cycle*Dallas). Now if only other cities with similar "facilities" would follow suit.

Where am I gonna ride now?

Where am I gonna ride?

The Weather Channel 4

A.K.A. Davis, CA

The Weather Channel 3

The Weather Channel 2

Ft. Worth, TX

Boulder, Colorado

Seattle, WA

Houston, TX

The Weather Channel

106˚ on the ride home today... and then all hail broke loose. God, I love Texas.

Reflections About Helmets

I do not always use a helmet. I do not always ride without one.

If I thought riding a bicycle were a dangerous activity, I would be more concerned about using one all the time.

Statistically, I crash on my bicycle around every 1,500 miles of riding. I am overdue for the seventh crash since I returned to cycling in 2006. On one of them I hit a bollard on a MUP. The other five happened when it was raining. I was wearing a helmet for all of them.

I always wear a helmet if I am going to ride in the rain. I seem to be unable to slow down properly for turns in wet weather. (Sigh.) So the primary reason I wear a helmet in the rain is because I tend to crash in the rain. But there is a second reason I use a helmet in the rain. I do it to improve my visibility.

To me, the primary utility of a bicycle helmet is that it serves as a platform to attach reflective tape. I have covered the entire surface of my helmets with reflective tape. The more area reflecting light back to it's source, the brighter it is percieved.

So I also wear a helmet whenever I am planning to be riding at night.

When I got my latest helmet, among Bell's claims was that it had reflective accents on it. Here is a picture of all the reflective parts that the manufacturer put on the helmet, looking directly down onto the top of it.

 

That small white triangle is the reflective accent. It may be useful for police helicopters to spot you at night, but it is otherwise non-functional. When the helmet is worn in a normal cycling posture, a head-lamp's light would not fall on that part of the helmet! Here is how they ought to reflectorize them.

 

I always have a front and rear light on my bicycles, because I am frequently out at night, and I have a substantial amount of reflector tape facing to the front and back on my seat-stays, forks fenders and the like. Side reflectors are useless when traveling, because by the time a head-lamp's light falls on them it is too late to avoid a collision.

Another advantage of a reflectorized helmet besides area is that it is the highest part of the cyclist, and it will catch light sooner on hilly roads. Here is a view of my helmets from the rear at approximately the angle seen from sitting in an automobile.



The newer and less banged up helmet on the right is still a work in progress.

New, exclusive bikes from Mercedes-Benz

Maybe this will help folks in North Dallas, the Park Cities, and Collin County become bike commuters.

Mercedes-Benz Bike Sports Selection 2009/2010: New, exclusive bikes from Mercedes-Benz

Stuttgart - Mercedes-Benz has presented a new collection of exclusive bikes with an outstanding level of technical features. In addition to the Mountainbike and the racing bike, which are limited editions to a particularly high technical standard, the Foldingbike impresses with its unique fold-down technology. Mercedes-Benz has also carefully updated its tried-and-tested bike models, with several detailed improvements. This means that for its bike collection, Mercedes-Benz offers the same outstanding level of quality as for its premium automobiles.

The Foldingbike is a real gem in technical terms. It features a patented folding mechanism that impresses by being particularly easy to operate. Folding and unfolding the bike takes only a few seconds, and no tools are required.

The cleverly designed mechanical system allows two different folded positions:

* In the Shuttle position the frame is folded together, but the bike can still be pushed and steered - ideal for easy carriage using public transport.

* When completely folded down, the Mercedes-Benz Foldingbike requires very little space indeed. In this position it only measures 80x80x35 cm, enabling it to be stowed in the high-quality carrying bag which is also supplied. Accordingly the bike can be easily accommodated in the car boot, camper van, office or yacht as a constant companion.

The folding frame of aluminium has a suspension travel of 40 mm at both front and rear, and this is adjustable for individual riding comfort. A Shimano 8-speed derailleur gear makes for relaxed cycling, while disc brakes ensure a high level of safety. A side stand, protective metal cover and a variable luggage rack make this extraordinary bike outstanding for day-to-day use. The new Mercedes-Benz Foldingbike is available in silver or white, and costs 1699 Euro.

Let's talk helmets.

Here's my preferred helmet for downtown and neighborhood riding. Notice the excellent ventilation. It's made of resin-impregnated organic fiber strands, it's stiff, and the 2-ply woven fabric gives it good crush/impact absorption. It stays on my head, has an integral sweat pad (removable for cleaning), and is very cool in 100˚F temperatures. It even has an ANSI sticker in it.

I would love to see a cycling-specific helmet manufactured from the same material.