Global Warming

or the beginning of a tidal wave? Via Andy in Germany, Earth Hour 2009: 8:30pm on Saturday 28th March, wherever you are. Doing this sort of thing routinely (like, every day) is probably an indication of the scale of change that’s needed. Business as usual isn’t an option any more.
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There was an interesting question raised on the Commute By bike blog yesterday, as to why the world at large seems to view cyclists as “Kooks, Freaks and Weirdos”. Basically in societies where the car has usurped the bicycle as the mode of transport of choice about town, people riding bikes are very much...
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So this afternoon, on my way back from the Team Valley, I dropped in to my local Apple dealer to see about some more memory for my PowerMac. The guy I usually deal with was outside indulging in his recreational drug (nicotine), chatting with a friend of his. As I rode up, this guy looked...
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So. Yesterday, Amsterdamize put up some charts about the Dutch population’s ways of getting around. Great stuff, showing how far people travel, and what mode of transport they use depending on journey length, and how far people cycle. As an engineer, I like numbers,  so I thought it would be fun to compare our part...
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Well, car manufacturers don’t seem to be having a good time of it right now, do they (”Hey, Congressman, buddy, can you spare $35bn?”). This might seem good for the environment - after all, transportation accounts for a boatload of our carbon emissions, so fewer cars means less of that going up into the...
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I had a meeting on Friday in York. That’s about 85 miles each way . . . even at my most mileage-obsessed, that’s too far to ride, so once again, I had to choose between the car or an alternative - in this case, public transport. This was an economic argument: My car’s good for...
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I’ve been thinking a little about this over the last couple of weeks. Trying to reconcile my driving with my cycling, walking, and use of public transport, that is. So here’s my problem. My parents & sister live some 350 miles from here. Wife’s sister in Wales is 400 miles each way, and Wife’s parents...
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I guess I’m just one of those guys who likes to jump on a bandwagon. I’d probably make a great political leader - see which way my people are headed, and then rush after them so that I can lead ‘em. Anyway. This thing about bike helmets. Everyone else is posting about it (like here, here,...
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So here’s where I am with the Pashley tandem I bought a few weeks ago. As I write this, it’s components are in a small box. In front of that is the frame - stripped of everything except the head tube badge. Over the weekend, I’m going to strip the paint and clean up...
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I’m ashamed to admit that I drove into Whitley Bay today on an errand. That’s about 0.8 miles each way. Sorry. My excuse was that it was absolutely p!$hing down, and I’d just had enough of getting soaked - soaked last night on the Tandem, soaked this morning when I ran to the shop to...
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