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Today Brooklyn’s William Alexander School MS 51 was the first school in the five boroughs to host a Bike to School Day.   MS 51 celebrated Bike to School Day with the help of the New York City Department of Transportation, Bike New York and Matthew Modine's Bicycle for a Day. Throughout the week Bike New York held workshops to educate the students about bike safety and riding techniques to prepare for this day. There were two escorted rides to MS 51 this morning, one started in Sunset Park and the other in Carroll Gardens. The rides had "pick up" spots along the way where more...

San Jose, California, recently joined cities around the world in promoting car-free streets by hosting its first ciclovía, the Mattson Technology ViaVelo, which opened a portion of San Fernando Street in downtown to pedestrians, bicycle riders, and skaters. San Jose's first foray into ciclovía events was a hit with sponsors, elected officials and the throngs of people who showed up to enjoy the day. Though the city hasn't yet committed to more ViaVelos, the foundation has been set and the community seems poised to embrace them. See video here at Streetfilms.org

Cars promise mobility, and in a largely rural setting they provide it. But in an urbanizing world, where more than half of us live in cities, there is an inherent conflict between the automobile and the city. After a point, as their numbers multiply, automobiles provide not mobility but immobility, as well as increased air pollution and the health problems that come with it. Urban transport systems based on a combination of rail lines, bus lines, bicycle pathways, and pedestrian walkways offer the best of all possible worlds in providing mobility, low-cost transportation, and a...

In a world where many strive for outstanding achievements, there are still only a few who have cycled around the world.

Petro Lubben, however, lives on his bicycle and has been cycling around the world for 24 years. Since leaving his home town in Germany, Lubben has cycled across 38 countries.

In his shorts and sleeveless shirt, wearing a black headband and black goggles, Petro has the defiant look of a crazy pop star, not a polished cyclist.

He has featured in newspapers in every country he has visited and, although he has crossed seas and oceans, he has flown...

Do you want more proof that encouraging car use in a city is only going to lead you to traffic hell? Take a look at Sao Paulo: the city of ridiculous car jams, where there are more privately held helicopters than anywhere else in the world.

The thing is, not even the air has solved the traffic problem, and the new highways that are being planned for the city won't solve it either. It seems so obvious that the right way to go is to discourage the use of cars (like Bogota or Curitiba did), but now we have proof (a great treat for World Car Free Day).

A...

8:43 AM Thursday May 20, 2010
An 11-year-old boy has died after a mountain biking accident.

Police say he was riding with friends on a mountain bike track in Gisborne late yesterday afternoon when he lost control of the bike coming down a steep section of the track and went over a bank.

He was taken to hospital by St John Ambulance and died overnight.

source- NZ Herald / NEWSTALK ZB

When we saw Beatrice Holiday bicycle seat covers made with vintage upholstery fabric, which slightly resembles our grandmother's old couch--at least the plastic cover helped preserve it--on Modish, we were curious. And when we checked out their shop on Etsy and discovered these brightly-colored handlebar bags which double as shoulder bags (they come with an adjustable strap)--and read their tag line, "wheel cute couture"--we were hooked!

"Camo-Flower" handlebar bike bag, vintage vinyl fabric. Credit: Beatrice Holiday

The Denver-based company makes...

A few years back, Randy Cohen, writer of the NY Times Magazine "The Ethicist" column, visited the Streetfilms set for a unprecedented interview with Mark Gorton about "Transportation Ethics.".  Well we wanted to talk more, so this time we got out of the studio to take a two-wheeled jaunt around New York City and visit many of his favorite spots and take in the alfresco enchantment of the capital of the world.

As you'll see during our ten mile journey, Mr. Cohen offered up some very decisive opinions about car-free Central Park, weighed in on the ethics of  "bike salmoning...

San Francisco set a new record for Bike to Work Day this year. Bicyclists accounted for 75 percent of the morning roadway traffic on Market Street, a big increase over last year.

Throw in sunny skies, some new shiny green bike lanes, just-installed bike corrals, door zone warnings, and other infrastructure, and you realize there was quite a bit to celebrate. Hear from the Mayor, members of the Board of Supervisors, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, and bike commuters about why this year's Bike to Work Day was so great. See video here at Streetfilms.org