Should bicyclists be licensed to ride?

Here's a subject that will get plenty of commentary from both sides of the argument:

Should bicyclists be licensed to ride?

A few months ago I was lambasted on a forum for suggesting that bicycle licenses should return in this area. I think the benefits outweigh what some would consider "loss of freedom." With more and more bicycles being ridden around - especially when gasoline has gotten so expensive - it make sense that bicyclists should accept more responsibility for safe travel.

Merry Christmas from Old Rusty Bike!

Here's to the hope that you have a safe and memorable Holiday. Onward to 2008!

Kurt

Sherry Grindeland | Teen is part of the cycle of giving | Seattle Times Newspaper

This is how it starts!

Sherry Grindeland | Teen is part of the cycle of giving | Seattle Times Newspaper

A kid sees a need and fills it. Great job on her part, getting 28 bikes fixed up and donated to Hope Link!

December Update

After five great years providing bicycles to those who don't have any, Bikes For Tykes has taken a break. Last summer it was announced that our shop building was being sold, and that we would need to move. With nowhere to go, we stashed our stuff - tools, bikes, workbenches, bike stands etc. - and went underground for awhile. During this time we aren't able to accept any more bike donations, because we simply don't have anywhere to put them.

But we're not dead.

While we aren't able to operate at the levels we did last year, we still function as a contact point for folks who don't know what to do with the bike that's been hanging in their garage for 20 years. We still get the calls, and I still answer them. In some unusual situations we still take a bike or two if we have a place for it (namely a kid who needs something now).

Bikes For Tykes will be back. Look for us to reappear in the Spring of 2008, based out of Bellevue. Stay tuned!

Bike Meets Track, Then goes SMACK

As much as I love bicycling, I get aggravated reading articles like this because all the thought and hard work that went into the Lake Union Trolley project is downplayed for the presumed "neglect" of one group - bike commuters. The tracks were aligned on the street in a way that people are now discovering to be dangerous if bicyclists aren't careful. Future tracks will be aligned differently, but unfortunately that's not enough for those who disagree with what's already in the ground.

Me? I just want them to get back on their bikes and ride away.

Don't get me wrong; I am also a bicyclist. I've taken a header on obstacles like tracks and such; it's no fun. Frankly, it's even more dangerous on a motorcycle. But to say that the rights of bicyclists were trampled - a notion alluded to by a local "think tank" (a phrase that scares me enough on its own) - is self-centered and pathetic. It gives no consideration to all the different levels of complication, bureaucracy, and activism that hindered the project from the get-go. Yes, activism. The same people who push for rapid change on whatever subject they bellow about are also the ones who delay any effort to make it right, because of their protests and legal action. I contend that the ordered structure of Western society is getting trampled by those who are not willing to live within that order, for they seem to scream the loudest. The protest banners come out, the bull horns get new batteries, and a small group of entitled citizens pat themselves on the back for stickin' it to The Man.

My solution? It's simple. Be friggin' careful around tracks. Not every road will be perfect - especially in Seattle - and no tracks are safe for peds or bikes. And not every road can stay the same either. Progress means exactly what it says, and sometimes it's not entirely accepted.

Anyway, my soap box is put away now. Read the article for yourself and decide on your own terms. Comments welcome.