cycling

Bikehugger has a cool video showing the basics of Google’s new bicycling directions for Google Maps. Biggest thing to keep in mind is that, with it being a beta, be sure to sanity-check the directions before sallying forth.

Taking a more local example to me, going from downtown Redlands to downtown Riverside:

View Larger Map

It’s cool to start with, heading out Barton Road, and it’s making for the Santa Ana River Trail like it should, but it makes a right turn on Waterman and heads north to the cycling path trailhead off Hospitality Lane in San Bernardino. What it should do in this case is just keep going west and get onto the SART in the Cooley Ranch/Colton area.

Still, it’s exciting to see Cycling get its (preliminary) due on Google Maps, along with “Walking” and “Public Transit.”

Now we just need “Hiking.” :D

The Eastsider LA: “Life’s last journey on a street car named Descanso” (via @MetroLibrary):

Railway fan and Angeleno Heights resident Kevin Kuzma was checking out a railroad preservation forum when he came across a recent photo of the Descanso, a 101-year-old Los Angeles street car built to transport mourners as well as the deceased to burial services.

CarFree.us: “By the Numbers: My Financial and Environmental Impact of Commuting by Bicycle” (via @bikecommutenews):

I knew I was benefiting myself and the environment by commuting without a car, but to see the real impact is very amazing. These numbers don’t take into account the savings because of improved emotional and physical well being I am getting because of the exercise. They also don’t take into account the benefit to my community from interacting with my neighbors and fellow commuters. These numbers don’t measure the impact of the 40,000 people every year who’s lives are cut short because of car crashes.

LA Times: “Women pilots from World War II to be honored”:

The groundbreaking Women Airforce Service Pilots were buried without military honors and long denied benefits. But now they’ll receive the Congressional Gold Medal.

Vendr.tv combines three of my favorite things in their latest episode: cycling, food, and Los Angeles.

“One thing about LA – you can’t escape the sun. Everywhere you look people are tanning, swimming, and running. So, a mobile ice cream vendor is often the perfect fix to beat the heat. Enter Locali, a bicycle powered ice pop shop that focuses on serving local, organic, and sustainable ice cream products all over Los Angeles.”

Here is some cool stuff, only some of which is tangentially related to American football. ;D

LED Football?!

Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts (now on ESPN LA) points to a nostalgia-inducing awesome thing: LED Football for iPhone, which is, as he puts it,

A replica of the greatest game ever, Mattel Handheld Electronic Football.

It’s also free for today only.

The more you know…

Speaking of tweeting and football, Bob Timmermann informs us,

Little known Super Bowl fact: Because New Orleans is playing in the game, the NFL rulebook will be replaced by the Napoleonic Code.

Yes, yes I am!

“Inside the Dodgers” asks the rhetorical yet vital question, “Are you ready for some baseball?”:

It’s the last official day of football season, so get it out of your system now and get ready to start watching America’s pastime.

Good gracious, yes!

Streaking Kings

The LA Kings have reached a franchise-record nine-game wins in a row and are going for 10 against crosstown rivals the Anaheim Ducks tomorrow. They’re currently in fourth place in the Western Conference.

Blaming the victims? ;)

bikecommutenews tweets,

Cyclists on busy roads a nuisance http://ow.ly/14NvT #bikenews

which prompted me to reply,

@bikecommutenews Yeah, to me, it seems like the *cars* are the nuisance on a busy road, not bicycles. :)

Noteworthy

Slashdot mentions a blog post by a computer science student who sticks with a pen and paper instead of a laptop for note-taking during class, “My Classmates Are Taking Their Notes Digitally, But I Can’t Fathom How They Keep Up”

I noticed today that as I frantically scribbled to keep up with my philosophy professor’s lecture, there was an audible hum of typing in the classroom. It was the first time I noticed that I could count more students using netbooks than notebooks to take notes in class.

Call me old-fashioned, but I like to take notes with a pen and paper. As I’ve discussed previously, the act of writing helps cement the lecture material in my mind better than passive listening does, and studies have shown that it’s not just me.[…] Still, I know that my old-fashioned ways are quickly going out of style.

Pedaling.tv is a new web series that combines two of my favorite topics: cycling and food! :)

PEDALING: is a web-based cycling travel series featuring unique characters, regional food and wine activities, special guests, and unexpected curves in the road. PEDALING: is an original production of BrakeThrough Media and Panforte Productions.

Via Cyclelicious, who mentioned that they will be launching January 5th and will start with NYC.