‘The Red Bicycle’ by Jude Isabella

In North America, a young boy, Leo, saves the money he earns by doing work for his neighbors so that he can purchase a new bicycle. When he outgrows “Big Red,” his beloved red bicycle, he donates it to a bike-relief organization that transports it to the West African country of Burkina Faso.

“Big Red’s” story is told in The Red Bicycle by Jude Isabella with illustrations by Simone Shin (Kids Can Press, 2015).

This book offers an informative look at what can be accomplished by bicycle, when the luxury and privilege of automobile driving simply do not exist.

Take back the tap for ‘environmental justice’

Ashland Food Co-op in Ashland, Ore. has eliminated the
sale of single-serving bottled water.
Photo from the Ashland Food Co-op website, www.ashlandfood.coop 

Continuing with my suggestion that a nonprofit organization focus on individual impacts as part of an “Environmental Justice” campaign, “taking back the tap” could be another essential plank in an “Environmental Justice” platform.

‘Environmental Justice’ campaign must emphasize personal choices

In correspondence to an organization planning an “Environmental Justice” campaign, I urged that it consider the role of individual choices made by organization members.

Transit agencies honored as ‘Bicycle Friendly Businesses’

The League of American Bicyclists has released this year's list of Bicycle Friendly Business awardees. Most interesting to me are transit agencies profiled among this year’s awardees. In the words of Rob Borowski, sustainability officer with Capitol Metropolitan Transportation Agency, “It’s only natural” to connect bikes and transit. “It’s the best way to expand the transit shed, and it greatly increases the flexibility of both modes of transportation.”

MicroLED lights for night bicycling

Winter holidays coincide with the year’s fewest hours of daylight and it gets dark ever earlier. Fortunately MicroLED lights lend a festive flair to my rides. They were an early Christmas gift from Jonathan. Add a bright yellow-green reflective rain jacket from the local hardware store and I’m confident that I’m doing the utmost I can to make myself visible to motorists.

Oregon drives less, reduces CO2s

“Making a difference ... one trip at a time” was the latest Drive Less Connect headline, paired with an email subject line that emphasized collective impact. Drive Less Connect declared this year’s Oregon Drive Less Challenge a success, with a total of 777,119 miles in bike, bus, train, carpool, vanpool and walking trips, plus teleworking reported in 14 days.

Its newsletter notes that if those miles were driven alone, in a single-occupant vehicle, those miles would have resulted in 548,457 pounds of CO2 emissions. So those are 548,457 pounds of emissions not created, because people walked, rode their bicycles or took the bus. It feels great to be part of the solution, every day, every week, all year.

Blog posts classified with Dewey numbering

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been researching Dewey Decimal classifications for the subject tags in my blogs, beginning with my blog about library service and now extending to “Librarian on a Bicycle.” The project seemed thematically appropriate, with both blogs’ emphasis on librarianship.

Comments help justify ‘MORE ZIP in SIZE LARGE!’

@CynthiaParkhill Jonathan's thoughts will definitely be used to justify MORE ZIP in SIZE LARGE! We’re all for it.

— Nutcase Helmets (@nutcasehelmets) October 15, 2015

From Nutcase Helmets’ Twitter account, here is feedback I like.

Why no large Nutcase helmets?

Large, please

Guest writer Jonathan Donihue asks why the Nutcase company’s most colorful helmets are not offered in large sizes.

I recently bought a Nutcase helmet for my wife. We were both very pleased to see that your company has extremely high quality products and imaginative designs. I decided to purchase one for myself but, on visiting your website, I was discouraged to see that all your most imaginative and artistic designs are only available in small and medium sizes.

Oregon Drive Less Challenge

The Oregon Drive Less Challenge begins on Monday, and is highlighted in the October “Way to Go” eNewsletter from Rogue Valley Transportation District.

Appliqued bicycle jerseys

Applique designs give exciting new appeal to second-hand bicycle jerseys. On the mint-green V-neck, the peace medallion was made of T-shirt knit fabric layered onto brocade.

Mystery bicycle light

Here’s a mystery twist to my bicycle commute. I worked at Bellview Elementary School this morning, then rode to Body Support Systems, Inc. Someone attached this light to my bicycle fork at some time during the day. When did it arrive? At which work site did someone attach this to my bike? I didn’t notice it when I left Bellview, but the light’s cheerful green contrast against my bike’s teal frame caught my attention right away when I left Body Support Systems, Inc.

Cross-country librarian

Laurie Chipps is a librarian and a cross-country cyclist. On May 10, she quit her job at the Art Institute of Chicago and began a cross-country bicycle trip from Yorktown, Virginia. On Aug. 10, she arrived in Astoria, Oregon — completing a 4,477-mile ride across the United States along the Adventure Cycling Association’s Transamerica route. Chipps told DNAinfo writer Justin Breen that after visiting with friends in Portland, she planned to move permanently to one of her stops along the route, Missoula, Montana — chosen for its accessiblity to trails and because “she really liked the lifestyle there.”

Zagster bikeshare in Ashland, Oregon

There’s something so cheerful and optimistic about this bright-yellow bikeshare fleet, viewed off Water Street in downtown Ashland, beneath the Lithia Way Overpass.

‘Like riding a bike’

Cartoon image created with Bitstrips

I'm always fascinated when the links I read and share, speak to seemingly disparate interests. A recent Wall Street Journal headline resonated both with my interest in colloquial expressions and my passion for traveling by bicycle.

‘Bikenomics’ by Elly Blue

My latest “Suggest a Title” recommendation to my public library concerns Bikenomics, How Bicycling Can Save the Economy by Elly Blue (Microcosm Publishing, 2013).

In a recent eNewsletter, Utne Reader magazine directed my attention to an excerpt from chapter 1, “The Free Rider Myth.” In it, Blue challenges the “myth” that auto users pay for the roads they drive on.

Blue argues that drivers only pay for half the cost of our roads. The rest is paid for through sales, property or income taxes — whether or not we drive.

And much of the money goes to pay interest on loans that financed road construction projects.

Bicycle-assisted yarnbomb

A bicycle provided more than transportation, it also lent necessary height during an installation by yarnbomber Jenny Brown at her local library. Her adventure installing the Truffula Tree Yarnbomb makes an entertaining read and as a fellow cyclist (who rides a yarn-bombed bicycle), I appreciate Brown’s crocheted seat-cover.

ALA Conference by bicycle or bus

How many library professionals will travel by bus or bicycle during the American Library Association conference (happening in San Francisco this year)? Sarah Stone, a librarian in the Collection Development Office at the San Francisco Public Library, has compiled tips for getting around via public transit, ride services and bicycling. Her essay was published on the official blog of the Association for Library Services to Children.

Rogue Valley travelers log 4,000 miles by bike

Rogue Valley travelers logged more than 4,000 miles by bicycle during Go By Bike Week, according to recent email correspondence from Rogue Valley Transportation District. “That’s equal to a reduction of 4,360 lbs of CO2 from our air vs. driving alone in a car.” And even though, in a sense, National Bike Month is observed every month in my family — ever since we joined the 12 percent of U.S. households that do not have a car — I’m still proud to contribute toward a concerted effort to reduce society’s dependence upon automobiles.

‘Bike to Work Week’ encouragement

Need help or encouragement to ‪ride your bike‬ during Go By Bike Week, May 11 to 16 (alternatively known as National Bike to Work Week)? For Time Inc. Network’s “Money,” Brad Tuttle offers tips for first-timers with a photo gallery of the best places to walk or ride.

Social sharing credit: Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center

National Bike Month and Go By Bike Week

Source of image: Rogue Valley Transportation District

I work at four part-time jobs and commute via bicycle for all of them. In that sense, National Bike Month is something that I observe every month, every day. But each year May offers a chance to showcase biking’s benefits.

From the League of American Bicyclists, comes an encouraging statistic: that commuting by bicycle increased by 62 percent from 2000 to 2013. But the league points out that National Bike Month is about “so much more than just getting to and from the office.”

Roller-derby librarians!

These librarians aren’t on the usual sort of “wheels” that I showcase, but I couldn’t resist passing along an article from the Arizona Daily Star, which proclaimed that “Librarians become new selves when not between shelves.”

Aboard VINE Transit: Inspiring letter about travel by bus

Source of image: VINE Transit

From the community I grew up in, California’s Napa Valley, Jane Kensok offers inspiring testimonial about getting around by public transit.

Ashland, Oregon: Bike lane connectivity through downtown

Fliers about a proposal to connect existing bike lanes through downtown Ashland, Oregon have been taped up next to bicycle parking racks at locations around town. A meeting has been scheduled to inform the bicycle-riding public about the proposed “East Main" project.

Yarn-bombed bicycle

On Facebook, I accepted an artist’s invitation to post photos of my own art (in a sort of art-sharing chain called the “Facebook Art Challenge”). Today I shared an image about “yarn bombing.”

Rogue Valley Transit: Saturday service ends in March

Photo by rickie22 on Flickr. Reused under terms of Creative Commons

From Rogue Valley Transportation District comes word: the last day of Saturday service will be March 21. This will be a disappointment, but it doesn’t inconvenience us nearly as much as it would have one year ago.

Test-riding the Sirrus Sport

I’ve been test-riding bicycles, and so far my preference is for a Specialized Sirrus Sport sold by Siskiyou Cyclery Inc. in Ashland, Oregon. It’s bright teal blue, has a diamond frame and with a 700-cm wheel size, its height and weight are ideal fits for me. Most significantly, it has three- and nine-gear shifters, which would effectively double the gears available to me when I ride my seven-speed Schwinn. Considering the range of elevations I face when I ride around Ashland, it will be nice to have extra assists when climbing steeper hills.

Bracing for cuts to Rogue Valley Transit

Image source: Rogue Valley Transportation District on Facebook

A loss of bus service on Saturdays and reduced-frequency of weekday routes will make a huge difference in when and how my family travels between Ashland and Medford, Oregon.