Tag: California

State Your State!

State-JerseyWant to show some state pride while you ride? Pactimo’s new line-up of cycling jerseys includes design’s for California, Colorado and New York. Each State jersey features a full length YKK zipper along with hidden elastic sleeve openings, and a silicone gripper at the waist. These new 2014 jerseys are also quipped with the standard three rear pockets, while the jerseys even have a race radio earpiece opening in the rear pocket with a cord loop in the collar.

We’re not sure if more states will follow, but Pactimo could certainly help encourage a race between the states!

Pactimo State Series Official Website

Water Skates

httpv://youtu.be/FmHDfTBXEE0

Skating or boating? You want to skate but you’d like to get out on the water. Well, you can always do what Bob Burnquist did and float a skateboard ramp on Lake Tahoe. This particular ramp was constructed as part of Visit California’s Dream365 tourism campaign.

Bob Burnquist Official Website

California Protected Bikeways Could Benefit From Canadian Research

It is something everyone who rides on bike on city streets or even rural roads has encountered – the car that got a little too close for comfort. But fortunately riders in California will soon get some protection as a CalBike-sponsored law will accelerate the construction of protected bikeways throughout the state.

This also comes as new research from Canada shows that bikeways that provide even a little protection from adjacent vehicle traffic an cut bicyclist injuries a lot. In this way a little goes a long way. The research has shown that the chance of injury can drop by almost 50 percent relative to that of major city streets, when riding on a similar road with a bike lane and no parked cars. When a barrier is added the risk of injury drops for riders by 90 percent. Continue reading California Protected Bikeways Could Benefit From Canadian Research

Weekend Reading List (9.15.2012): The Ending Summer, Cycling Apps, Shoe Tests, US Army and NFL Team Up

The Ending Summer

From Surf Magazine: Summer’s End
They say Labor Day marks the end of the summer, and what better way to end it then with a sizable south swell tearing through California.
Continue reading Weekend Reading List (9.15.2012): The Ending Summer, Cycling Apps, Shoe Tests, US Army and NFL Team Up

Fitness Healing the Arizona Economy

There is no denying that getting out and doing some hiking, biking or running is good for the body – but according a recent study from economic consultants Brigitte Bavousett and Gerald O’Neill Jr. fitness can be even better for the economy. The pair prepared a study, titled “Sustainable Economic Benefits of Human-Powered Recreation to the State of Arizona,” and found that the “human-powered” outdoor recreation industry produces $5.3 billion in annual retail sales and generates nearly $471 million in state tax revenues.

The study concluded that 86,000 jobs were directly created from the fitness sector, while 100,000 jobs were indirectly created. The economic consultants even noted that closing state and national parks actually had a negative impact on economic recovery. The thinking hers is that keeping parks open encourages people to use them, and thus buy new products, which puts people back to work.

Meanwhile, Arizona’s neighbor to the west, California, is looking to close state parks to save money. Maybe the new governor should hire these consultants so residents in the Golden State don’t go without those parks.

[Via Arizona Daily Star: Hikers, mountain bikers, climbers boost economy]

Bike is “Slow-Moving Vehicle”

Bike safety is promoted on the LAPD Website

This week Sgt. David Krumer of the Los Angeles Police Department in a presentation admitted that even members of the LAPD are “not well-versed in the Vehicle Code as it pertains to cyclists.” Krumer, who serves as the department’s liaison to the cycling community, analyzed sections of the California Vehicle Code, which identifies bicycles as “slow-moving vehicles.”

This in itself is not innovative, but it should help make the road friendly for riders overtime as it could create better understanding between riders and drivers. Some of the key points of California traffic law that were discussed:

• Cyclists may ride in the middle of a lane as long as their speed does not impede traffic flow.
• To avoid the “door zone”—the space occupied by an open door from a vehicle parked curbside—cyclists must ride three feet from parked cars.
• Riding side-by-side, also called “two abreast,” instead of in a more lane-space-efficient single file line is legal if there is more than one lane in the direction in which the cyclists are traveling that motorists can use to pass on the left.
• A cyclist is impeding traffic if followed by five or more motor vehicles. The law requires a turnout to the right in such an instance.
• Cyclists in crosswalks are a very gray area and for the most part left to an individual officer’s judgment as to whether a citable offense has occurred.
• Traveling the wrong way on a street is never legal for a bike rider, but it is sometimes permissible when riding on the sidewalk, which cyclists are allowed to do.

So will this help ensure that drivers share the road? Maybe, but knowledge can go a long way.

[Via Sherman Oaks Patch.com: Law Defines a Bicycle as a ‘Slow-Moving Vehicle’]

Tour de France: Specialized Did Dominate

While the last few days of this year’s Tour de France were pretty exciting to watch, one fact was missing from a lot of the commentary. Both over all winner Alberto Contador and second place finisher Andy Schleck rolled into Paris on Specialized bikes. This was the first-ever Maillot Jaune for California-based Specialized.

For a company with the name “Specialized,” it makes a range of products that aren’t limited just to the road bikes either. The company’s gear was used throughout the peleton, not only with both the Astana and Saxo Bank teams sponsored teams, but notably with many other riders using shoes, saddles and other Specialized accessories. Alessandro Petacchi also sported the new Prevail cycling helmet as he sprinted his way to winning this year’s Green Jersey.

“Winning the Tour is a dream for us that has taken 36 years to come true,” said Mike Sinyard, founder and owner of Specialized. “It’s a clear example of successfully following our founding principle to focus on the rider’s need for technologically advanced products that provide true performance benefits.”

With a one-two finish for the bikes we can’t but agree!

Specialized Official Site