Fixing bikes for the neighborhood block party. Early days of the Durham Bike Coop.
The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Repaving N.C. not right for Durham
Phillip Barron The Herald Sun David Hartgen’s plan to repave the state of North Carolina might be accepted in some towns, but not in Durham. Hartgen, a professor at UNC-Charlotte, recently released a study of transportation planning that looks at urban areas around the state. His conclusions simply amount to statistically backed reasons why urban areas should reduce transit spending, divert saved funds to highway construction and road widening, and embrace the private automobile as the keystone species in the ecology of economic progress. The 200+ page study is available for download from the John Locke Foundation‘s website, and I […]
The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Taking on toxins is worth it
Some winter mornings, while riding in Cornwallis Road’s new bike lanes, I can smell Counter Culture Coffee roasting those fairly traded coffee beans two or more miles to the south. The same still air that pools summertime ozone over the region’s largest employment hub wafts the unique smell of coffee beans expanding in heat, releasing their caffeinated oils. Whenever I ride through one of those invisible, aromatic clouds, I breathe deeply. Problem is, I can also smell the exhaust from the surrounding cars at every intersection. No doubt, on-road cyclists are more vulnerable to their environments than drivers. It’s not […]
The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Ice puts focus on need for different kind of cities
Phillip Barron The Herald Sun DURHAM — Cafeteria conversation at work on January 31st revolved around the predicted ice storm. Bread, milk, and bottled water would be cleared off grocery store shelves by the time we left work that evening we all joked. We also guessed that the next day’s news would be littered with images of cars skidding off the road. It’s not that Southerners can’t drive in wintery conditions. Neither can the local transplants from New England or the midwest. No one can drive on ice. And since no one can drive on ice, the answer is not […]
The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Take time to unplug, be outside and watch the sunset
DURHAM — There was a year when I watched the sunset almost every evening. Across the street from the school I was attending at the time began a neighborhood of houses that had been built in the 1950s. These streets and dwellings brought unprecedented order to the post-war town, carving their grid-like stamp into Southern countryside. The streets parallel to the main road separating the campus from the neighborhood ran only four or five deep, and the last street had houses on only one side. The far side of the street faced an open pasture where a farmer kept cattle. […]
The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Durham roads may get even better for bicyclists
Phillip Barron The Herald Sun If a sport is defined by the rules that compose a game, then I don’t think of cycling as a sport. Sure, there are sporting events that are based on riding bicycles, from homegrown mountain bike races on the Cane Creek circuit to the NORBA Nationals and even the Olympics. Some people say that multi-stage road races like the Tour de France are the purest expression of cycling’s ethos. Those lean trained bodies, the glossy frames with glittering flawless componentry, the self-organization and strategy of the peloton for some add up to what cycling is […]
The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Make some idle time to relearn lost art of exploring
You see more from a bicycle than you do from a car. You see even more from a balloon-tire Schwinn than you do from a carbon fiber Pinarello. That’s why author John Stilgoe, in Outside Lies Magic, says to choose the cruiser. “Bicycle to the store,” he says, “then ride down the alley toward the railroad tracks, bump across the uneven bricks by the loading dock grown up in thistle and chicory, pedal harder uphill toward the Victorian houses converted into funeral homes, make a quick circuit of the school yard, coast downhill…, tail the city bus for a mile […]
The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Drivers must always be attentive and responsible
Phillip Barron The Herald Sun DURHAM — A Herald Sun article this past week described a hit-and-run by saying, “a recent Duke University graduate was critically injured when she was hit by a car late Friday on South LaSalle Street near McQueen Drive, according to police. The vehicle left the scene without stopping, police said.” One from a few months ago, describing an altogether different incident, says that “two women walking next to Kingston Drive were injured when a teenage driver left the road and hit them Friday afternoon.” A later article concerning the same incident says that “a motorist […]
The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Doping scandals spoiling the spirit of sports
Phillip Barron The Herald Sun Allegations that cyclists are doping are so common that anyone accused is guilty until proven innocent. And that’s taking its toll on the sport. The cover of the October Bicycling, arguably the sport’s leading monthly, makes plain why it matters – whether Floyd Landis doped or didn’t, “either way, we lose.” Did Landis pull off one of the greatest accomplishments in cycling’s history? The night before stage 17 of this year’s Tour de France, Floyd Landis told his wife he was going to “go out in the morning and do something big.” He attacked – […]
The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Can mountain bikers be green?
Phillip Barron The Herald Sun DURHAM — Many mountain bikers pick up the sport as another way to spend time in the woods. But not all trails let an environmentally conscious rider enjoy the ride. Improperly built trails soon develop deep ruts in the ground and can damage sensitive vegetation, especially if those trails are carved through low-lying areas that stay wet. Perhaps worse are the poorly constructed stunt zones where deep holes are dug or wooden structures are built hastily. If built of untreated lumber, these structures quickly rot becoming both neighborhood blight and safety hazards. Trails like these […]