Riding around Crater Lake

Welcome to the Bike Bulletin, getting you up to speed faster than a mountain pass downhill.

As always, reply directly to this email. I love reading all the thoughtful replies.

—Sam Westby @samcwestby

Here’s what we have today.

• 🌍 RIDE: Crater Lake National Park

• ❓ RESEARCH: Do Separated Bike Lanes Work?

• 💡 TIP: Where Do You Go to the Bathroom?

• 🎥 WATCH: The 90 Year Old Cyclist

• 🚲 ARCHIVES: The Original Bicycle Helmet (1979)

• 📰 NEWS: Bike shares, Congress, and Palm Beach

RIDE ON MY RADAR

East Rim Drive - Crater Lake National Park

Two Saturdays every September, Crater Lake National Park has Vehicle-Free Days.

You know what that means???? CYCLING

The dates are September 6th and 13th this year.

Here’s what you’d be getting yourself into:

• 32 miles (51 kilometers) with 4000 feet (1220 meters) of climbing.

• Panoramic views of the deepest lake in the United States (and 5th deepest in the world).

• Riding with a bunch of other people

• See the route on RideWithGPS.

• See the official event at ridetherimoregon.com.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Do Separated Bike Lanes Work?

You know I love Strava. Now, academic researchers love Strava, too. Strava started a new program in October that lets researchers use their ridership data. We’re just now starting to see those papers come out.

In a research paper released this week, Spanish researchers looked at bike rides in Valencia, Spain, from 2018 to 2022. Here’s what they found:

• Separated bike lanes got more people to bike (it nearly doubled, woohoo!).

• Separated bike lanes closed the gender gap between men and women cyclists. Safety has historically been a larger barrier for women, so separated bike lanes benefit them even more than men.

• Investing in cycling infrastructure works.

Strava Metro data access is a huge win for cycling advocacy. Since you’re here reading the Bike Bulletin, you already know that bikes are great. And you know that not everyone loves them like I do. Having fine-grain ridership data brings us one step closer to persuading neighbors and municipalities that bikes are the best.

You can read the paper in the Research in Transportation Economics journal.

BIKE TRIP TIP

Where Do You Go to the Bathroom?

This is a common question people ask about my bike trips.

The more remote you are, the easier it gets. When I’m riding in the middle of the woods in Vermont, it’s easy to just pull off the trail.

Please, please, please - Leave No Trace.

• Dig a hole 6 inches (15 centimeters) deep

• Bury your business

• Stay 200 feet away from any water source or campsite

If things are urban, things are trickier. Gas stations, public parks, and fast food restaurants are your friend. Walk in, say hi to the cashier, [REDACTED], walk out.

You won’t always be so lucky.

There have been times when I’ve been in the open plains with no tree coverage or toilet in sight. It was a waiting game. Hopefully, highway traffic is light the day that happens to you. Worst case, you can set up your tent for some shelter.

P.S. I’m a big fan of wet wipes when I’m traveling.

WHAT I’M WATCHING

The 90 Year Old Cyclist

Florent Piovesan made a 22-minute documentary about his grandfather, Benjamin Piovesan. He’s an inspiration and will hopefully be cycling for many years to come.

Watch on YouTube.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

The Original Bicycle Helmet (1979)

Bike helmets have been around since the 1800s, but it took a long time for them to become mainstream.

Helmets became popular with professionals in the 1990s and were finally mandated by the UCI in 2003 after the death of Andrei Kivilev.

They’ve come a long way since then and have saved countless lives.

• Palm Beach, Florida. ​Residents and officials said the new road plan is unsafe for cyclists during a heated workshop.​ (Palm Beach Daily)

• Mid-March. The estimated date that the Columbus, Ohio bike share will restart operations. (Axios)

• 300 West. One of Salt Lake City’s worst bike network gaps may be closed soon. Bill SB195 threatens to shut down this project. (SLC Weekly)

• Links. Strava recently banned all links on their platform but is now backtracking that decision. (Bike Radar)

• RTP Full Funding Act. A new bill in Congress to shift bike trail funding to ATV/UTV trails. (bikeleague.org)

A Note From Sam

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