Montez-vous une bicyclette et parlez le français? Then we need you!

As our project to translate our Bicycle Ambassadors Bike Safety literature moves along, we are still looking for volunteers to help translate into a few more languages:

-French
-Korean
-Cambodian

If you know anyone who speaks one of these languages (especially if they're a bicyclist), and can volunteer a few hours of their time to help the Bicycle Coalition include new communities in our bicycle safety and encouragement, please have them get in touch with Max at Max@bicyclecoalition.org or 215-242-9253 x8.

We currently have completed/are working on: Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Mandarin, and Vietnamese. Thank you to all our hardworking translators!


Also, check out this amazing poster from a similar project in Toronto:

Philadelphia Courteous Mass!

Join your fellow cyclists for a fun, semi-organized and casual ride on Philadelphia streets celebrating the tremendous growth of bicycle culture of all kinds in our great city!

Date: Saturday, April 10^th
When: 10am
Where: Meet at the Locust Street crossing of the Schuylkill River Trail
Distance: 1 hour
Who: ALL RIDERS!!! (helmets are highly recommended)
RSVP on Facebook.

Courteous Mass is an effort to change the tone of recent debates about bicycling and bicyclists in Philadelphia. Bicyclists who join this ride are asked obey the rules of the road. Courteous Mass provides an opportunity for all bicyclists to demonstrate that sharing the road is a two way street requiring action on the part of all road users.

Courteous Mass Guidelines:

• Stop at all stop lights
• Stop at all stop signs
• Use hand signals when turning
• Be as friendly as possible to all road users throughout the ride (bring your bells!!)

Riders will be provided the route for the ride on Saturday morning. Because riders will obey the rules of the road on this ride, participants will naturally spread out as the ride proceeds. Enjoy the morning with the knowledge that there are bicyclists spread for blocks ahead of you and behind you all in an effort to bridge the gap between motorists, pedestrian and cyclists.

Please help raise awareness of the growing number of cyclists in the city. Let’s make this a celebration - invite your friends to come along too!

RSVP for Courteous Mass on Facebook!

Thanks btjones for the original photo.

(Quick & Easy) Spring Cleaning for Your Bike!

Now that it's suddenly spring-time, lots of people are pulling out their bikes to ride for fun or commuting. But if your bike is anything like mine, it got pretty dirty between all the recent rain and snow.

Keeping your bike clean makes it look nicer, but more importantly it will help make your ride easier and your bike last longer. If your chain is rusty or squeaky, this will definitely help! Luckily, cleaning your bike doesn't have to be hard or mechanically complicated.
1. Find a small space outdoors, on a porch or sidewalk, or put some newspaper on the floor. All you need is 2 rags, a kitchen brush or other kind of brush, and chain-lubricant.

2. Using some soapy water, wash the bike with a rag until the dirt gets off (an old t-shirt or other clothing will work). If you have a hose you can use that too (just make sure it's low water-pressure). Use a clean rag to dry off the frame.

3. Using a damp rag (such as the dirty rag you just used above), hold it loosely around the chain and pedal so that you wipe a lot of dirt off the chain. You can then use a kitchen brush (or a toothbrush) to brush the gears.

4. Add a drop of chain-lubricant to most of the links of your chain, then run the pedals backward about 30 seconds so that the lubricant gets spread around. Chain lube can be found at bike shops, and isn't too expensive- don't worry if it seems like a small amount, you won't need a lot.

5. The time it is most important to clean your bike --especially the chain-- is after it rains. Once you get dried off, spend a minute wiping down your bike (the dirt will be wet still and will come off easier). Wiping off and re-lubricating the chain is especially important, because it will start to rust.

What are some other easy tips you've found for cleaning your bike?

Biking, Obesity, and the Public Health Approach?

Michelle Obama visited a North Philly grocery store and school last week and spoke about her campaign against childhood obesity.


Last week, Philadelphia’s City Council held a hearing on obesity; and among many others, the Bicycle Coalition’s Breen Goodwin and Neighborhood Bike Works’ Andy Dyson testified. Even though the problem of obesity is sobering, it was exciting to hear about how bicycling (and walking) have important roles to play in addressing this public health problem.

Lack of physical activity is one of the main causes spoken about last Wednesday. But more than just promoting physical activity, advocates of biking promote ‘active living’: valuing physical activity as an integral part of the individual and social development process. And one of the simplest ways to make active living a part of daily life is to incorporate physical activity into what we already do each day. Going to work. Going to school. Running daily errands.

However, many of the speakers last Wednesday emphasized that there are many environmental barriers to encouraging a healthy and active lifestyle, such as TV watching, lack of access to affordable healthy food, insufficient physical education/after-school activity.

But, the speakers also emphasized, this means that small structural changes can make big differences in behavior and health. Which is where biking and walking have a role to play. As Breen commented in her testimony:

It is important to understand the importance of infrastructure change in the entire picture of creating a healthy environment and community. Changing the streets encourages people to have a more active and healthy lifestyle. The Spruce and Pine buffered bike lanes are not only a nice neighborhood amenity but they are a direct health initiative. A lack of bike lanes, unsafe road conditions and the speed/volume of traffic were cited by bicyclists as the top three reasons for not riding more (after weather conditions).

It seems to me that, even when biking advocates discuss active living, we don’t often frame it in the language of public health. But at last week’s hearing, it was exciting to explore the intersections between bicycle advocacy and many other public health endeavors. Structural changes like infrastructure improvements can encourage people to bike more, but biking is just a means to any number of ends, everything from healthier living to academic success.

How would approaching bike advocacy from a public health perspective change the tactics/message of bike advocates? Would this be a useful tool to have? Do people already make this argument and it’s just the first time I’ve heard it?

Some of the other cool structural changes we heard about in Philadelphia to combat obesity:
-The Food Trust's Healthy Corner Stores Initiative
-Improving access to affordable supermarkets
-School Health Councils
-An upcoming Farm-to-Family project, featuring a collaboration between Neighborhood Bike Works students and St. Christopher's Hospital!

More info and statistics on obesity from the CDC.