Yesterday I was in Las Cruces, New Mexico. It’s a fairly sprawling place, but much smaller than Tucson. They have clearly made a few efforts to improve the lot of bicyclists, but whoa, I sure would not want to have to ride a bike there.

The separated bike path on University requires riders to dismount at every intersection! Imagine having to get off your bike and walk across every cross-street. I saw no one using this bike path, despite the fact it went right alongside campus.

There were a few other narrow striped bike-lanes, but of the few cyclists I saw, almost all of them were riding on the sidewalk.

I was in Albuquerque last year and noticed the same thing. I even rode my bike there, and found it to be fairly harrowing.

Tucson has a long way to go and there are many things we desperately need, like some fixes with the Fourth Avenue Underpass fiasco, but as bad as you might think it is in Tucson, we’ve got it better than most in the Southwest. Hopefully that trend will continue.

–Erik Ryberg

– EBR

According to KOLD, authorities say there likely will be no charges for the 85 year old woman who hit two cyclists from behind last month in Oro Valley. She apparently had a stroke. From the article:

Butler said what he suffered is nothing compared to his riding partner Dennis Peterson, who was still in the hospital Tuesday afternoon. Pictures of Peterson’s fractured bike were proof.

“What did happen was terrible, my friend is in critical condition and that’s very difficult for me to handle right now,” Butler said.

“A witness observed the female driving the vehicle strike the two bicyclists,” said Oro Valley Police spokeswoman Liz Wright. She said that Oro Valley Police know who hit Butler and Peterson and that she left the scene, but have not charged her with hit and run.

“For the interest of the community and for this person, they’re just not going to put somebody in jail, an 85 year old woman that clearly appears to have a medical condition going on,” Wright said.

Thanks Mike M for the link.

Erik Ryberg

A lot of people don’t know this about me, but I invented the mountain bike.  I invented it in 1979 as a means of getting from my house up to Reeder Reservoir to go fishing. I was fourteen.

I started out with a three-speed modified to take a wheel with a coaster brake and a double front chainwheel (and derailleur chain tensioner) but I kept burning up the coaster brake on the treacherous ride home, so eventually I advanced to handbrakes and a freewheel on the rear.  There were some dicey test-rides.

I was talking to my friend Dave B. a few weeks ago and it turns out he invented the mountain bike, too, right around the same time.  He lived in Flagstaff and used it to ride out in the woods on multi-day trips.

I’m thinking the mountain bike light bulb went on in a lot of people’s heads in the late ’70s.  But of course it’s Tom Ritchey and Gary Fisher who really got that ball rolling.

–Erik Ryberg

A very sad holiday for his family and friends. As always, my condolences to all who knew the victim.

–Erik Ryberg

It’s called a Christiania trike and does not seem to be available in the U.S.

Yet.

There’s a nice review of them in yesterday’s Guardian.

–Erik Ryberg

My friend and former legal assistant Lauren is, as most of you know, on a permanent bike tour. She is currently in Austin for a few days and wrote a long review of that city from a bicycling perspective on her blog, here. She discusses the bike culture, the bike co-op, and (goodness!) the weeklymonthly bike swap meets they have.

I’ve always wanted to visit Austin, and now more than ever. Seems like they have a strong bike community there, and they even have Mercurio Cargo Bikes!

–Erik Ryberg

Sadly, I have been a little too busy to go gathering these materials lately, so I am pleased that the folks at AZBikelaw.org are so on top of it. Also, I received a call from Rep. Patterson who says the bill is making its way forward in the legislature and he is hopeful it will be put to a vote. We will need Arizona cyclists to weigh in with certain legislators soon, so please be ready to write a letter or two in the coming week.

–Erik Ryberg

Mexico City is full of bikes, but most of them are used for transporting goods.  There are three-wheeled cargo bikes everywhere, and I’ve now seen three of the elusive bikes with sidecars, used for transporting ice.  I am desperately trying to purchase one, but apparently they are fabricated by the ice companies and not for sale.  I am still trying though.

I am also thinking about buying a bike here.  I can get a re-marked Chinese Flying Pigeon bike for about a hundred bucks.  Naturalemente, the arguments against doing so are legion.  Por ejemplo, the bike wouldn’t fit, and riding a bike in Mexico City seems all but suicidally dangerous.  Also, getting it home would be difficult, particularly if it has a sidecar attached to it.

But I really want one of those sidecars.

I am also going to pick up some of those rad 28-inch wheels, the old-fashioned standard from India and China.

There’s a Wednesday Night Bike Ride that starts downtown I would like to go on, too.

More to come!

–Erik Ryberg

UPDATE GARY STUEBE:
Gary opened his eyes yesterday. I asked him if he could hear me to blink his eyes. He did!
He is on Dialysis right now but doctors believe his kidneys will regain their function now that he is waking up. He is still very critical.

Please pass along this to anyone and everyone in the cycling community.
Gary Stuebe medical fund at any Bank of America. It is in Gary Stuebe’s name. Gary’s wife Angela is not working so she can take care of the family and be with Gary as much as possible. Gary obviously hasn’t worked in almost 4 weeks now.
Christmas is a time of giving. If just everyone who gets this could donate $10.00 it would help Angela pay monthly household bills, buy food, and some Christmas gifts for their children.
Thank You
Gene Landers

ps – Gary’s 42nd birthday is this Friday the 19th.

The driver who drove into Stuebbe and left him unconscious on the pavement while he inspected the damage to his car and then drove home to wipe it down has been identified, but still has not been charged by the County Attorney’s Office. If you wonder why this is, you can always ask them — they are easy to reach:

Barbara LaWall
Pima County Attorney’s Office
32 N. Stone, Suite 1400
Tucson, Arizona 85701

–Erik Ryberg