Jessica & Kassia's First Real Bikes - 1992, Rockford, IL

My nieces Jessica and Kassia both got new bikes this day...

Jessica

Jessica must've liked Pinky a lot! She got her own Pinky! Interestingly, this is a different bike - I'm not sure which pink bike came first now...

Jessica & Kassia

Kassia with the tuff new ride!

All-in-all, a great bike day in our family history!

Ride on,

Dan

My Sister Lori's First Bike - 6th Birthday Present

A Brand-new Spyder!! Happy birthday, Lori!!

Helping Sis celebrate her 6th birthday.

And she rides off into the sunrise of Madison Past...

I can't remember the make of the bike, but I remember it being really pretty and Lori loved it! It said "Spyder" on the chain guard, which you can see if you magnify the picture of both of us.

Ride on,

Dan

My Son Justin's First Tricycle - June, 1992

My nephew Chad giving two-year-old Justin a helping push

With Dad & Cousin Chad...

We got my son Justin a brand-new tricycle for his second birthday. He was only two, and didn't quite have the concept of pedaling just yet, but he was able to scoot around on it pretty well.

Ride on,

Dan

EcoRide 2013 attacted more than 100 'very enthusiastic' riders

Annual event and regional tradition raises thousands for Ecology Center programs

More than 100 "very enthusiastic" cyclists, as well as dozens of volunteers and other supporters, enjoyed beautiful summer weather for the 2013 EcoRide, June 23.









Full story: http://www.ecocenter.org/newsletters/ecolink/ecoride-2013-attacted-more-100-very-enthusiastic-riders

Send Illinois to the top of the list

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "PeopleForBikes" <info@peopleforbikes.org>
Date: Jul 25, 2013 9:21 AM
Subject: Send Illinois to the top of the list
To: "Daniel Stafford" <aquarianm@gmail.com>
Cc:

Hi Daniel, So far, July has been a fantastic month for our movement. More than 14,000 riders have joined PeopleForBikes! That means 14,000 more people working for better biking conditions in your community and across the nation. Earlier this month, we launched a competition to see which state can sign up the most new PeopleForBikes members in July. We asked you to invite three riders from Illinois to join. The results are in, and the leading states are California (most total new members) and Hawaii (greatest percentage growth in members):  Want to show your state pride? It's as simple as clicking the buttons below to reach out on Facebook, on Twitter, or by email. We'll reveal the final winners next week. Thanks for helping make our movement bigger than ever! -The PeopleForBikes team

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Forty More Miles...

Click on pic to view full-sized

I made it to the Eastern edge of Geneva today.

Along the way, I saw several golden finches, and one doe grazing alongside the path.

Ride on,

Dan

Villa Park Community Bike Ride Coming Up...

I'm out on the IL Prairie Path on Big Blue this morning, and spotted this sign.

Ride on,

Dan

"Pinky"

My niece Jessica riding an old 50's girls' cruiser she called "Pinky" at the farmhouse we used to rent.

I have no idea of the actual make, model, or year of this bike.

1989 or 1990, Janesville, WI.

I shared this pic with my sister's kids on Facebook today. I knew it would be nostalgic for all of them, as it was my mother's bike.

I've been scanning old family photos by the hundreds. There are some from when my sister got her first bike at six years old - for her birthday. There are some from when my nieces and nephews got their first bikes, and my son's first tricycle. (It was his 2nd birthday.)

I'll occasionally be posting pics of these kids with their bikes here under the tag "Kids' Bikes."

Reminisce...and ride on!

Dan

Cargo Bikes: The New Station Wagon

http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/a/SB10001424127887324328204578572011343756542?mg=reno64-wsj

*The latest issue of Bicycle Times has a FANTASTIC article on cargo bikes, with a comparative review of various types, and interviews with several experienced cargo bike riders. This is becoming a devoted subculture of bikedom. - Dan

Petty Theft Of The News...

I had set up this cute little news stand in the bike storage area of our condo building, to share Bicycle Times with the other bicyclists on the property. One of the kind editorial staff mailed me about 40 BT stickers to decorate it with.

The little stand was $7.98 at Target.

It lasted only a month. A few days ago, I went into the storage area to get my floor pump, and found the magazines lying on the concrete floor, the stand gone. A sad commentary on community spirit.

On the upside, the magazines had been read and returned, with a thank-you note on a paper bookmark in one of them.

Ride on,

Dan

Letter From The Publisher, Tour De France Issue, Bicycle Times

I totally agree spend the money on bicycling infrastructure. You'll do more for bicycling than a million races could. While you're at it, start getting States to designate all North & East sidewalks for bicycles, and South and West sidewalks for pedestrians. Sidewalks are woefully under-utilized, and you'd open up massive bicycle commuting possibilities with mostly paint and signage. I spent yesterday morning riding my '72 Continental 24 miles round-trip up and down the Lakefront trail in Chicago from McCormick Place to the North end and back. One if the most beautiful rides on the planet, and two-thirds of it I was getting passed by mad Lance-alikes with their heads down doing 30.   Give me blue jeans and my Nutcase Airmail helmet any day.

Dan Stafford
Oak Brook, IL
http://1975continental.blogspot.com

Fwd: Daniel + 3 other bicyclists

From: Tim Blumenthal, PeopleForBikes <info@peopleforbikes.org>
Date: Thu, Jul 11, 2013 at 7:45 AM
Subject: Daniel + 3 other bicyclists

Daniel, July has arrived -- which for many biking fans means the Tour de France. Here at PeopleForBikes, we're heating things up with another kind of competition, and you don't need to be a world-class rider to participate. The contest: Which state can collect the most new PeopleForBikes supporters this month? With a little push from you, Illinois can outsprint all the other states and dominate the monthly rankings of new PeopleForBikes members -- helping us reach our national target of one million united bicyclists. Know three people in your state who ride? Great! Share PeopleForBikes with them now. It's as simple as clicking the buttons below to reach out on Facebook, on Twitter, or by email. How will Illinois stack up in July's final tally of new PFB members? That's up to you. We'll reveal the leading states next week, and you can help put your home state on the route to victory. With 24,109 bicyclists in Illinois already behind you, we're well on our way toward transforming bicycling in the U.S. Forty-seven percent of Americans would like to see more bike paths, lanes, and trails in their communities. In our six Green Lane Project cities, and in communities across the country, we're delivering on what we all want -- bicycling that is safer and more convenient -- through direct advocacy, legislative action, and cash investments. Getting more people for bikes helps our cause and puts our goals squarely in sight. Know a neighbor, friend, or coworker who bikes? Get them to join and be a part of the movement fighting for a better ride for all. Thanks, and stay tuned for the next stage.   Tim Blumenthal, President, PeopleForBikes.org

Contact Us

Biking Chicago on the Lakefront Bike Trail

http://www.markfile.com/chicago_bike.htm

* I put in 24 miles round-trip on the Lakefront this morning after work. I rode from McCormick Place to the far North end of the trail and back on the Lightning Bug. BEAUTIFUL weather and gorgeous scenery. One of the best morning rides ever, 6-9am. -

Ride on,

Dan

Janesville surveys bike trail users, hopes to use results to improve trail -- GazetteXtra

http://gazettextra.com/news/2013/jul/05/janesville-surveys-bike-trail-users-hopes-use-resu/

BWC Driving Change

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Better World Club" <marketing@betterworldclub.com>
Date: Jul 3, 2013 9:12 AM
Subject: BWC Driving Change
To: "Dan Stafford" <aquarianm@gmail.com>
Cc:

Driving Change July 3 2013 TOP STORY: What's The Fuss Over E15? Big oil says cars shouldn't run off of highly combustible liquid fuels... For decades, the oil industry has done just about anything to protect its monopolistic control of the motor fuel marketplace. When the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 forced gasoline refiners to utilize 2% oxygen (by weight) to improve combustion efficiency and emissions, oil companies avoided the use of ethanol (the cheapest and safest way to add oxygen) with Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE). A decade of MTBE use left tens of thousands of drinking water wells across the country polluted with a turpentine smelling, toxic gasoline additive; Exxon just settled this spring with New Hampshire for hundreds of millions of dollars for MTBE pollution. MTBE's failures proved to be an opportunity for ethanol. Ten percent of nearly every gallon of gasoline in the United States is now ethanol. Today's ethanol is made from corn and Brazilian sugarcane, but a new generation of ethanol producers is just breaking through at commercial scale. Many of these advanced ethanol fuels reduce carbon emissions by 90 percent or more. Don't know that much about ethanol? " Read More". Want to support ethanol and the development of cleaner fuels? There are two big things you can do: 1. Vote with your money. If your vehicle can use E15, and you support alternative fuels like ethanol, use them. 2. Contact those public officials who are most influential for and against Ethanol, and let them know your thoughts. A quick list of influential senators as well as more information about ethanol fuels can be found by selecting "read more" below. Read More.  GREEN LIVING Want to Take Steps Towards a Plastic-Free Life? Have You Kicked the Habit? Seriously, The Plastic Habit Has Got to Go. As we have all come to understand, the plastic we use and throw away does not decompose- ever. It becomes smaller bits of plastic and ultimately floats on the ocean's surface or chokes out the life at the bottom of the sea floor. Thirty two percent of seafloor trash is plastic, and, of that trash, most is single serving plastic containers. So what is the best thing we can do to prevent plastic from choking off sea life (which is essential for our existence) while also taking a huge bit out of fossil fuel consumption and combating climate change? Kick the habit! The plastic habit, that is. Enter myplasticfreelife.com. Myplasticfreelife.com was started by Beth Terry as she sought to free her life from use of plastic and is a great resource to reduce the amount of plastic you use (and ultimately how much produced). Check out her free plastic-free guide for "Plastic-Free Grocery Shopping" or "Plastic-Free Eating and Drinking on the Go", read her blog, or buy her book to support her work. The top two ways to kick the habit? 1. Carry reusable shopping bags. 2. Give up bottled water. Check Out More.  OIL SPILL UPDATE DOJ & Arkansas sue, as emails show Exxon misled public about oil spill contamination Oil industry supporters in Congress swear "The Pegasus Pipe...I mean, Deep water Horiz...I mean, XL Pipeline is 100% safe...Wait, what was the question again?" by Chris Tackett Near three Months ago Exxon Mobil's Pegasus pipeline ruptured in Mayflower, Arkansas spilling hundreds of thousands of gallons of diluted bitumen or tar sands oil from Canada into a residential neighborhood, nearby marsh and eventually contaminating Lake Conway, a popular fishing spot. In the past week, the Department of Justice and State of Arkansas have filed a lawsuit against Exxon, while internal Exxon emails have revealed the oil company intentionally misled the public about the extent of contamination in Lake Conway. As cleanup continues, some residents and local politicians feel everything is going okay, some going so far as to claim things are even better than before the spill. I suspect the sick and still displaced Mayflower residents would disagree. Details about these and more updates below. Get Mad  BIKE PROJECTS California Bicycle Coalition Requests Support for a Bikeways campaign. Give a little green; Get a little greener. We recently got great news on our friends at the Better Bikeways campaign in California: To comply with AB 819, our successful bill last year to encourage new bikeway designs, Caltrans is proposing to permit local agencies to build protected bikeways without needing Caltrans approval. We are so close to victory, but we need your help for the next step. Despite their new freedom, local traffic engineers will not immediately take advantage of it. They'll need our encouragement and advice regarding design and liability. This is a winnable campaign, but we need your help. A donation will help us to mail information packets to the mayors of the 50 largest cities in California and to bicycle coordinators and key Supervisors and City Councillors throughout California. We will follow up with phone calls and be available for consultation. We'll address every concern a local leader may have so that your community will soon see protected bikeways, green lanes, and other modern bikeway infrastructure! This on-the-ground education and advocacy is essential to the success of our campaign. Caltrans won't do it, so we have to. Please support our Better Bikeways campaign with a donation today. Every donation is valuable. We are on the verge of a new era of bikeways that will help us meet our goal of tripling cycling in California by 2020. For better health, fewer tragic crashes, and a more prosperous California, help us enable more bicycling. Support CalBike today, and we'll see a new era of betterbikeways tomorrow. Learn More or Donate  Likes on Facebook: A New Source of Transportation Funding? By Carl Larson Want to see some street improvements in your neighborhood? It might be worth it to think out of the box. That's what one East Portland, OR Neighborhood Association is doing in an effort to improve a crossing of the Springwater Corridor Trail in their neighborhood. Read More  Get Out of Town in a Hurry With Our Spiffy Booking Engine Bicycle Transportation Alliance releases 'blueprint' for new bike projects in Portland area Will Portland, and the US develop model transportation systems for bikes? By Joseph Rose, The Oregonian An ambitious new "blueprint" from the Northwest's largest bike-advocacy group calls for separated tracks to make big, busy streets safer for bicyclists and creating a network of low-traffic neighborhood greenways in Washington County. The Portland-based Bicycle Transportation Alliance's "Building Our Future: A Blueprint for World-Class Bicycling" recommends 16 projects, a smaller number than a wish list released by the organization in 2005. Read More.  Bike To Work Week Video Contest WINNERS! We are excited to announce the first of two winners for the Bike To Work Week "Video Contest!!" BWC Wants to be sure everyone knows, advocacy pays off (and ultimately with much better gifts than our cool prizes) Watch Their Video Our first winner, or winners rather, is a group of friends from San Diego California, Leylla Badeanlou, Khalisa Bolling, and Brian Kranson who produce beautiful videos of their adventures with hopes to inspire others to seek adventure themselves. These guys are all working professionals who advocate for healthy living and for biking as a transportation way of life. Watch Their Video The award for "Bold, Not Cold, Bike Advocacy" and "Being Hip on Your Bike Trip", for dedication to cycling as a transportation lifestyle and for bringing professional talents into their advocacy work, we are happy to award BWC memberships to cover Leylla, Kahlisa, and Brian as they cycle around town and across the states with their stylish and bike-attachable Po Campo hand bag. Congratulations, and we hope you continue to share your passion and love for adventuring and cycling for many years to come. Learn More About Our First Winners  Have a comment, rant, or suggestion? Email us!

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