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.