There's ya problem right the-ah

New Jersey Turnpike. Going 65. Snowing. Someone cut me off. I took evasive action. Lost control. Rammed into the rail. Spun around. Hit a guy in the next lane. Sat trembling for a while, out of cold and out of fear. Cops came, wearing baby blue. Asked me if I'd fallen asleep. "No," I said. "I lost control." Got a summons for careless driving. Tow truck arrived. Hauled me and my car off the Turnpike. Said he'd had another dead guy just yesterday. Uncle came to pick me up. Took a bath. Popped a vicodin. Pled not guilty. Rode in to the city for the title. Rode back out. Signed the title over to the wrecker. Checked the box saying "has been wrecked." Took the plates and one last look. And walked away.

Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Tragic Hero

An addendum to the Earl Blumenauer saga. The New York Times noticed that Congressman Blumenauer had inserted the bike commuter act into the $700 billion bailout bill.

But they also noted that Congressman Blumenauer voted against the bill.

Bicyclers, collect your $20-a-month credit starting in January, and think of our bike-lapel-pin-wearing hero when you do.

Rise and Stall of the Moto-Taxi

Outside's October issue is now online.


(photo by Sand Paper, on flickr)

The Big Idea
Rise and Stall of the Moto-Taxi
What gets 50 miles per gallon but not a second look in the U.S.?

A COUPLE of years ago, while living in Cambodia, I stumbled onto a sketchy street on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. My Khmer was good enough for me to understand that the residents really didn't want me around but not good enough to negotiate a graceful exit. As one woman's shouts began to elevate, I raised a finger and said the magic word: moto! Three moto-taxi drivers peeled out to my aid. The red Honda in the middle looked fast, so I leaped on and shouted, "Go! Go! Go!" The driver opened the throttle and weaved through pedestrians and cars until we reached the safety of the wider city.

That ride left me thinking, Why don't we have these in the U.S.?

READ THE REST at Outside.

Interview with Congressman Earl Blumenauer

Two Wheeled Act
Bike-friendly Congressman Earl Blumenauer talks to Outside’s Matthew Fishbane.

Tucked deep down behind the new leases for off-shore drilling in the Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act, a broad energy bill that the House passed last week , were the tiny remains of something called the Bicycle Commuter Act. Congressman Earl Blumenauer, of Oregon's Third District, originally sponsored the bill last session in hopes of bringing bicycles into the commuting mainstream by offering reimbursements and subsidies to the calorie-powered. We caught up with the Congressman, who regularly bikes to his DC offices, to talk about bike safety, infrastructure, and how the Portland model might spread.

What's the basic idea of the Bike Commuter Act?

The concept is to provide equity for people who burn calories instead of fossil fuel.

READ the rest of the Q&A at Outside

Photo: BikePortland.org

Tuk-Tuk Tsk-Tsk: The Case for American Motorcycle Taxis

What's the Big Idea?

Why have moto-taxis --those clever, efficient little tuk-tuks and boda-bodas that move people everywhere else-- never made it to the U.S.? That's the premise of this month's Big Idea column I wrote for Outside, on newsstands now.

(Online in a couple of weeks.)