Bike Thieves - Beware!

Anyone in North Oak Cliff (Dallas) know these guys?

Stealer #1

Stealer #2

There's a great story over at Bike Friendly Oak Cliff about a thwarted bike theft. Well, a theft did indeed occur, but the bike was recovered by the neighborhood bike shop as the thieves were trying to sell it to them. And the bike is now back in the loving arms of it's rightful owner - a nine year old no less! Shame on them for stealing from a child! Great job, Oak Cliff Bicycle Company! Keep up the good work! -Carrie

Hard Headed v. Hard Helmeted

Kenny here. It is said that there are two kinds of cyclists. Those who have crashed, and those who are going to crash. As I mentioned in my last entry, riding a bicycle can be dangerous. As you may recall, I am not so proud to belong to the “have crashed” category. Your accident does not have to be as traumatic as mine, and I hope to impart some helpful safety tips to prolong your time in the “has not crashed yet” category.

Here we go:

1. Wear a helmet. Of course we look goofy wearing it, but at least the mush stays inside the skull as a result of the goofiness. I know that we never wore one as children and we turned out just fine, but why tempt fate?

2. Maintain a keen awareness of your surroundings. I fully believe that I could have avoided my brush with death had I not been listening to my I-Pod. I could have heard the vehicle behind me and taken evasive action. Don’t talk on the phone or text while riding either. Duh!

3. Wear bright clothes. There is a term for cyclists that wear dark colors and have no reflectors or blinking lights. Ninja. Ninjas are undetectable. Until they get hit by a car or truck that is.

4. Learn the motor vehicle laws. While riding your bike on public roadways, it is your responsibility to be familiar with the laws of the road. A bicycle is considered a vehicle and is afforded the same laws as any other vehicle. In Dallas, it is against the law to ride on the sidewalk. I know this seems counter-intuitive, but I was hit by a Mini-Van because I entered the intersection from the sidewalk, practically invisible to the motorist.

5. Ride during daylight hours. Remember the term Ninja? If you are going to ride at night, have a headlight system and an extremely bright red blinky on the back. This is a must and is the law in most municipalities. I also have a reflective orange triangle that I sewed to my backpack.

6. Stop at Stop Signs. This seems like a no brainer, but you could not imagine how many cyclists feel as though the aforementioned motor vehicle laws don’t apply to them. I must admit that I spent an afternoon getting a ticket dismissed for this one. Never said I was perfect….But now I know. And knowing is half the battle.

I hope that you are taking this seriously, there will be a quiz soon. -Kenny

Green Ingenuity: Bicycle Wheel Windmill

On the heels of Kenny's bike post, I thought this information would be appropriate. While searching the internet on another topic, I recently came across a great idea to use an old bicycle wheel as a windmill. We've never seen this before, and figured many of you haven't either, so I thought I would share.

The Basics...

The initial item I came across shows a very basic way to make this type of windmill, but doesn't include any information on how to harness the energy produced (or even talk about how it may be possible). Still informative and it's cool to see how well it does its "windmill thing" with such rudimentary ingredients.



A Bit More In-depth...

Doing a bit more research for this post I came across another example on Instructables. This one gives more information on how to harness the energy produced.


The inventor devised these to be easily reproduced using fairly easily available items in third world countries. Some of them can be made for only $80. Check it out! Ted Baer's Bicycle Wheel Windmill -Carrie

Man vs. Machine

I believe that bicycles are the transportation of the future, or will at least a big role in it. I would like to offer more insight on our blog about the ins and outs of bicycles, but to do that, I'm going to turn to my friend and avid bicyclist, Kenny Cotten. -Jason

Why I ride

I ride a bicycle for many reasons. I ride for fun. I ride for fitness. I ride to save money. But one reason stands out above all. I ride for advocacy. You see, I advocate cycling as it is my legal right to share the road. It is also a means of reducing our carbon footprint. It is a means to reducing a litany of health problems. It is a means to reduce stress and burn anxious energy built up throughout my day. It is so many things to me. I want to share my story with you, why riding a bike safely is so important to me.

Invisible me

You see, about four years ago, I was involved in a hit and run accident on my way home from work. It was a cool March afternoon and all was right in my world. Until, POW! I was lying on my back in the middle of an intersection. I remember hitting the ground hard and thinking that this was very bad. I knew my left knee was dislocated and my elbows were bleeding badly, but what I didn’t know yet was how I ended up in this dismal situation. I was hit from behind by a person in a mini-van. The individual was talking on the cell phone and I presume never saw me.

Now before you get all upset about poor little ol’ me, I want to share my part in the fault of this accident. You see, I had just begun commuting to work on my bike. I knew very little about the law as it relates to operating a bicycle on public streets. I had been riding with my earbuds in and my music volume loud. I was also riding on the sidewalk and entered the intersection at about 15 mph. I was basically invisible to the motorist. So I share the blame in the accident.

I came away from the accident utterly dismayed that I almost died and was shocked at how little humanity is left in this world. Not a single person at the intersection bothered to render aid or check to see if I was okay. Beckley and Ninth Street is a killing zone I discovered. The motorist watched me stumble from the wreck and then screeched toward the highway! WOW!

A Proposal

I would like to begin a series of posts on how a person might manage to avoid this situation and actually share the road with cars while enjoying a childhood pastime. So I leave you with this, riding a bike is no more dangerous than it was when we were kids, it just seems that we are merely mortals after all. -Kenny

Kenneth Cotten has been a European Import Auto Tech for the past 17 years. He's taught Automotive Technology at W.H. Adamson High School (Dallas, TX) for the past eight of those years. He drums for two locally performing bands, and works part-time for a custom bicycle manufacturing company as the sales and marketing specialist. Kenny has been married for over 14 years and has two young daughters (6 and 9). Four years ago, Kenny quit driving a car as he discovered it is not a necessity for him here in Oak Cliff... so long as he has a bike.