The above video was recently uploaded to Vimeo. The shot above shows Theresa James, then 10-1/4, leading two other students (off-screen uphill) in a bike education class as she heads south on N. Elizabeth Ave., Ferguson, Missouri, preparing for a left-turn onto Hudson Road.

I taped this originally using a Panasonic PV-43 VHS camcorder weighing 2 lbs. during the on-road part of a comprehensive class I taught in September-October 2000. This was after classroom sessions which included discussion of crash statistics, bike mechanics and adjustment, and video and PowerPoint presentations, followed by bike handling and crash avoidance practice in a large parking lot. Four students enrolled initially. Theresa, 13-year-old Annie, and Sarah, 15, were the three oldest of four sisters from the James family in Ferguson, joined by Verna, an adult living in St. Louis.

Sarah dropped out during the parking lot practice. She had been persuaded to enroll by…

I’ve just finished editing the film you find below. A young filmmaker friend of mine, Violeta Brana-Lafourcade went to Copenhagen recently to interview for this blog, the famous Mikael Colville-Andersen.

Mikael is a film maker by background whose life, chance has turned in a different direction.

The uploading of a photo of his several years ago onto Flicker, a mysterious snap of a long skirted biker in high heels (she was waiting for the lights to change) catapulted him into a a new life.

The wild response prompted the creation of the blog, Copenhagen Cycle Chic, dedicated to the discovery that not only are bikes beautiful, but they present those who ride them as very beautiful as well.

Whilst the word, Chic, suggests fashion, even the fashion industry, catwalks, etc. Mikael’s observed cycle world is peopled by riders who wear their own clothes, who are not posing, who are…

In December 2012, Dr. Fred Rivara gave an alarming TED Talk about the spread of bikeshare programs across the nation. This was a big problem, he argued, because bikeshare riders generally do not wear helmets. He predicted mass carnage as a result, and published a paper that purported to show a 14% increased risk of head injuries as a result of bikeshare.

But when the data in the paper was examined, it was clear that bikeshare had the opposite effect. Cities with bikeshare programs saw a substantial reduction in head injuries.

It is not the first time Dr. Rivara has cried wolf.

Beginning in 1989, he published a series of papers claiming that bike helmets reduce the risk of head injury by a whopping 85%. He is the original bike helmet alarmist. And while his papers were heavily criticized for their methods and conclusions, that did not prevent legislators from passing…

Let me start with these three statements:

1. Safety doesn’t exist. It’s an abstract concept that’s incorrectly utilized by cyclists to justify fear based reactions to the world around them.
2. Fear is a reactionary emotional state that results in impulsive decisions that are not arrived at using rationale thought processes.
3. The number one threat to cycling in North America is fear – nothing else comes close to doing the same damage.

Safety, as the term is used colloquially, is trying to express the lack of a significant negative outcome. So you rode your bicycle home from a friend’s place and you might text them when you get home..”Made it back safely.” As social shorthand for “I didn’t have an incident on the way home” I have no problem with word “safety”.

Where “safety” has started to hurt cyclists is when people disconnect the term from its meaning “lack of significant negative…

This story first grabbed the headlines back in April of this year, after cyclist Cherokee Schill was repeatedly ticketed for controlling the outside lane on busy multi-lane roads on her way to and from work.

Cyclist Cherokee Schill on her work commute She’s finally had her day in court but justice was evidently not done. The judge stated that she could have used the shoulder instead of controlling the lane, to which she replied: “I’m not going to change how I ride.”

This is the result of the discriminatory Far To the Right (FTR) law common in states throughout the U.S. It requires a cyclist to ride as far right as “safe” or “practicable,” with certain exceptions, including the ill-defined “when the lane is too narrow to share.” Repeal of this law, which may be easiest to accomplish at the local level, should be a major goal of cyclists…

Often, we become “stuck” in our own minds. We worry about the same things, we are defeated by the same obstacles, and we feel there is no escape. This “stuck” feeling can quickly transform into feelings of depression, hopelessness, and/or anxiety.

The “stuck” described above leads us to live repetitive, stale lives. It is a road to nowhere.

It may seem surprising, but using the bike as a model by which to live may be very helpful. Why is this? How could using a bike as a role model be helpful at all!?

The number one reason…….. THE BIKE HAS NO DEAD ENDS, IT IS NEVER STAGNANT.

A bike is unlimited in its capabilities.

Is there traffic? ………..Go around it with a bike.

You’re broke and have no money for gas? …….Ride your bike.

You have a large load to carry from the store?…….. Grab some panniers and a rack.

Warning: this is a graphic post–not the pictures, just the content. I felt like I needed to write this as soon as possible to get it out of my head and start my own healing. My intentions aren’t to scare anyone but this is what I went through on Saturday when Adelaide was almost killed by an inattentive driver.

I’ve been planning a blog post for a few weeks now, letting the exciting incidents of my life build so I have material to work with. It’s my usual routine, especially when there aren’t race reports to write. With a number of writeable things going on of late, I figured I had plenty of options 1) Adelaide and I got mountain bikes 2) I saw three black bears on a mountain bike ride the other day 3) I got on a bike team for 2015 4) I saw a house burn down while on a run with Maybellene. A baby…