Finding non-car ways to get around is a crucial part of making life on Earth sustainable. But bike-culture types can be really off-putting (search your feelings; you know it to be true). So we try to bring you cool bike designs, bike accessories, and bike-related stories to make the world of human-powered conveyance look more accessible. Here are some of the most popular ones from the last year.
London’s elevated bike network
“A London architect is trying to convince the mayor that the way to expand the city’s bike infrastructure is not on the streets but in the air. His firm calls the idea SkyCycle, and it looks totally awesome, like a cross between the High Line and the credits of Futurama.”
A couple that moved all their worldly possessions by bike
“Granted, they were only moving a mile down the road, they’re skilled bikers (he works at a bike shop), and one imagines that they aren’t the sort of people who have an overwhelming amount of stuff. But for short hops, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to move house with nothing but 25 friends, a LOT of pizza, and a 300-pound-capacity bike trailer.”
The cancer surgeon who rode a little girl’s bike to work to avoid traffic
“Breast cancer surgeon Catherine Baucom is six feet tall, but she rolled up to work last Wednesday on a little girl’s pink bicycle. Baucom had been stuck in nightmarish traffic after a serious accident that shut down the interstate, but she knew her patient was waiting at the surgery center. So she hopped off the highway, drove to a friend’s house, and commandeered his 8-year-old daughter’s bike.”
$10 bike made entirely of cardboard
[vimeo 37584656]“This bike is the most beautiful object made out of cardboard that I’ve ever seen. It’s incredibly lightweight, apparently, and Gafni argues that at a retail price of $60 to $90, it’ll be cheap enough that it won’t really be worth stealing (or would be easily replaced if someone does take it). And riders can pretend they’re 6 again, when a cardboard box could be imagined into any vehicle.”
A coconut-based gadget that makes your bike sound like a horse
“If you’re a mustache-waxing, arm-garter-wearing, chicken-raising hipster — and you are, right? I think that is Grist’s audience — obviously you find the humble bicycle depressingly modern. Sure, you could switch to a velocipede, but for maximum retro, why not kit out your bike to sound just like a horse?”
The best Craigslist bike ad ever
“The guys at the hipster store don’t tell you fixies don’t stop. So I will. Fixies don’t stop. Stop sign? Fixie don’t care. Car coming turning in front of you at a three-way stop? Fixie laugh. Want Chipotle? Nope. Fixie want protein powder/beet/purple carrot/bee pollen juice and won’t stop till he gets it. Fixie has a mind of his own.”
