It's starting to rain

We have been advised by many Oregonians that it is about time our fascination and love for Portland should end soon....well at least until summer comes again. Apparently from September till next May, it will be raining and just grey clouds will fill the skies.

The song that comes to my mind from one of my favorite movies starring Brandon Lee, The Crow - Jane Siberry's 'It can't rain all the time'. Well not at least till 8 months after.....

Summer is coming to an end

It is starting to get chilly and the trees are starting to turn color....better get more rides before I need to don a jacket while cycling.

Arty bell..sounds good too

This is such a cool bell...it has a nice sound too...unfortunately, my Ferrari bike already came with a cool looking bell though this is way cooler, but I will give it a miss as I am trying to pull back my online shopping and wait for my other Kickstarter pledge - The HandleBand!

My small cool bell on the bike

Cycling Economic advantages

Here's an excellent article on what a mile on a bike vs a mile on car means to your economy.
Maybe our government should start sitting up and read. Unless you are just planning to line your own pockets for profits?

Copenhagen in Denmark published these results:

“When all these factors are added together the net social gain is DKK 1.22 per cycled kilometer. For purposes of comparison there is a net social loss of DKK 0.69 per kilometer driven by car.” 1.22 Danish crowns is about 25 cents and a kilometer is 6/10 of a mile, so we are talking about a net economic gain to society of 42 cents for every bicycle mile traveled. That’s a good number to have in your back pocket.

A number of factors are included in the equation such as transport costs, security, comfort, branding/tourism, transport times and health.

Since the total health benefit of Copenhagen residents’ healthy cycling habits is DKK 5.51 per km, the annual benefit is worth the equivalent of approx. DKK 2.0 billion.

Which means that Copenhagen, a city of 1.2 million people, saves $357 million a year on health costs because something like 80 percent of its population commutes by bicycle, even in winter. That’s $300 per person per year. Clearly, the reason the new Danish minister of the interior said she’d “rather invest in cycle tracks than freeways,” is that only one of those has a positive return. 

Cycling in Vancouver

Just sharing some interesting pics when I was in Vancouver recently.

As you can see again, cyclists can freely cycle here and co-exist in this city, pretty much like Seattle and Portland....when will Singapore ever embrace and change?

Even on pedestrian/cycling tracks, they made it wide enough to separate the two.