This And That

My bicycle pal Chip Haynes, who created some past Bicycle Bash fliers, is turning 60 on March 26 and is planning a tweed bike ride to celebrate.

Here's a summary of the event from his blog at www.peakofthedevil.blogspot.com

"So here it is mid-January, and I’m planning for a comfy little bicycle ride in late March. Specifically, I’m planning the First Annual Pinellas County Tweed Ride on my 60th birthday, Saturday, March 26, 2011, and I would be absolutely honored to see you there. The ride will begin at 10 a.m. at Eagle Lake County Park on Keene Road in Largo, Florida. (The park has a parking lot designated for trail parking right in the middle of it. We’ll start there.) The ride will go from there, ten miles out to Safety Harbor, Florida, for a nice lunch at the classic Safety Harbor Spa.

And what, exactly, is a Tweed Ride? A Tweed Ride is a casual bicycle ride for owners of vintage English three-speed bicycles, and the proper cycling attire is required of all participants. I’m having a pair of pants altered to cycling knickers even as I type. They’ll be ready next Tuesday. I’ve a fine vest and cap, but I’m going to need just the right tie. And no, I am not joking. You’ve probably never seen me in a tie. Few people have. And now you will."

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Then there's the famed Ghost Rider -- Jack Sweeney of www.bikecommuters.com

Jack raised the issue about how anti-bicycle car drivers will talk about gas taxes paying for roads as a reason why bicycles shouldn't be on the roads. Well Jack cited Creative Loafing, which put it quite it nicely in its edition:

"» Federal gasoline taxes were originally intended for debt relief, not roads.

» Highways, roads, and streets have received more than $600 billion in subsidies over the last 63 years in excess of the amount raised through gasoline taxes.

» The amount of money a particular driver pays in gasoline taxes bears little relationship to his or her use of roads funded by gas taxes. Drivers pay gasoline taxes for the miles they drive on local streets and roads, even though those proceeds are typically used to pay for state and federal highways."

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Hillsborough County has a draft set of recommendations for the bicycle safety action plan that is being crafted in response to the bicycle deaths in metro Tampa. Contact Gena Torres at torresg@plancom.org if you want a copy. Gena presented them last night at the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee meeting. Thank you Tom Krumreich for getting copies of the recommendations and they were handed out at last night's Sierra Club Tampa Bay chapter meeting.

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Becky Afonso, an advisory board member of the Florida Bicycle Association, is inviting Tampa Bay bicyclists to attend a Florida Bicycle Association Meet & Greet on Friday January 28 from 6-8PM at Peggy O'Neill's Irish Pub in Tampa -- SE corner of Race Track Road and Hillsborough Avenue.

Becky says you can you address Florida cycling matters in a casual atmosphere prior to the FBA Winter Board Meeting on Saturday, Jan. 29. Becky adds that you please pass this along to fellow cyclists and for more information, check out the FBA web site or follow FBA on Facebook.

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Trouble in mountain bike paradise at Santos. Rob Ern, vice president of the Ocala Mountain Bike Association, says that "important portions of the Santos trail system are currently in jeopardy."

To find out why, read this.