bike the strike

If you are not commuting by bike already and don’t have a ready to ride bicycle it might be a good idea to start looking for this pump of yours and put some air in those tires you’ve been ignoring for too long.

Traffic is already bad in central Stockholm but it’s about to get worse as a public transport strike appears likely to kick off on Wednesday night and since I believe it’s unlikely you’re going to get your hands on an automobile from the royal carpool you’d better be considering the bicycling option already.

Bus lanes will be free from public transportation and – I give you that – it’ll be quite tempting to just use them as bonus car lanes but you probably won’t get away with it. Because you know, for you and me, well, certain things are allowed and others are just not and driving in a bus lane falls in the latter category.

Tomorrow evening there will be two kinds of taxpayers in Stockholm: those who’ll choose the cycling option and those who’ll be stuck in traffic behind the steering wheel.

And there will be a third kind of Stockholmers, the kind that won’t ride a bike, will drive in the bus lane and get away with it, the kind of Stockholmers who, given the circumstances, can do whatever they want. Because you know, for that third kind of people, certain things are allowed and others are just not but given the circumstances those things that are not allowed well… they are.

Bike the strike or get a royal blood transfusion. You have two options. Really.

shared paths look different in Järvsö

Thanks to – “because of” would grammatically be more correct but completely wrong expect for some spandex retards out there – the massive amount of people who choose to walk or ride during summer commuting by bike in Stockholm is quite an enjoyable hassle at the moment.

This is especially true on shared paths that are ridiculously narrow in some parts of the city and that only fuels the annual summer war between pedestrians and cyclists. But it does not have to be that way! Let’s look at how the smart brains of Järvsö solved the problem: with only a couple of wood boards and the help of gravity they created a nice segregated cycle facility leaving enough space for pedestrians on the left of the bicycle lane.

Wall ride, Järvsö
me trying out the bicycle lanes in Järvsö last Saturday

Thumbs up to Järvsö for solving the shared path problem so well! I can’t wait to see Stockholm urban planners follow these guys ideas on streets design: imagine a double wall ride (first to the right, second to the left) to connect Götgatan to Skeppsbron. Wouldn’t it be sweet? Or am I just day-dreaming again?

stop wasting time & ride a bike

I have a big announcement to make so let me get straight to the point: I haven’t been on LinkedIn for 7 years yet but, a couple of days ago, I found a use for it!

The social network recently invited me to answer two surveys and paid me $25 (each) to do so! I chose not to withdraw the money from my Paypal account but went looking for cool bicycle stuff on Etsy instead where I came across Brittany Slopey‘s work (she’s a graphic designer from Philadelphia): I liked two of her posters and just ordered them.

No fuel, no insurance & free parking
No fuel, no insurance, free parking

Stop wasting time and ride a bike
Stop wasting your time and ride a bike

The two posters are now framed and ready to be put up on a wall. What do you think? Do you like them? Should I spend next surveys’ money on such items by young artists and creators or should I just be on LinkedIn for the sole sake of being harassed by recruiters over the phone?