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We've been posting maybe once every week or two on the Bicycles blog. We have a lot of people signed up as posters, but many of them haven't written or finished any posts. Perhaps people just don't have any ideas for posts?

After a conversation in chat, we're going to try using meta for post ideas.

If you have an idea for a blog post but don't want to write it up:

Please answer this question, one idea for a post per question. Keep it simple, maybe a sentence or two. Anything bicycle-related is fine, no matter how tenuous the connection.

Ideas can include threads closed for being too chatty or speculative or whatever. The blog is not Allergic to Fun. :)

If you're a writer looking for an idea for a blog post:

Look through these answers, and pick one. Post a comment that reads "Hey, I'm all over this!" Write, post, repeat.

If you're neither of these:

Vote up the ideas you like, vote down the ones you think are boring.


Remember, you can be silly, opinionated, write pointless rants, whatever you like on the blog. Did a question of yours get closed? Go ahead and write it up as a blog post! We'd love to see it!

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  • I don't see anywhere a link to the blog, from the main site or from meta.
    – ChrisW
    Feb 10, 2012 at 15:25
  • @ChrisW - Finding the site blog is not easy. My suggestions about improving the header interface have been met with indifference. And there seems to be some agreement that the current system makes sense, which bufuddles me; it seems pretty unusable to me. There is a "blog" link at the bottom of every site page, but it's easy to miss and doesn't lead to the site blog. If you'd like to open another Meta.SO thread on this, I'd love to see it. Feb 10, 2012 at 18:51

12 Answers 12

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Cool cycling apps for iPhones

Anyone here use an iPhone while riding?

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Cool cycling apps for Android phones

Anyone here use an Android phone while riding?

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  • Just got a Galaxy Tab (wifi only), would like to figure out how to use the GPS when cycling. Jan 23, 2012 at 21:31
  • Strava, Wahoo fitness, edmondo, ridewithgps...
    – Jacob
    May 17, 2014 at 1:23
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Could we have a regular interesting cycling links blog?

We've had a few closed questions which were pretty much "I saw this cool cycling thing and I'd like to share it" (e.g. cycling to the South Pole, Mayor crushes car parked in cycle lane). I've seen a few things myself that I thought were interesting but didn't fit the Q&A format (e.g. this interview with Victoria Pendleton).

If we had a way for people to submit interesting things they'd seen with a short description (one or two sentences) then this could be published as a blog maybe once a week.

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  • We've already had one, it'd be great to make this a regular thing. Do people want to leave links here in the comments with commentary? Jan 10, 2012 at 18:13
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How cars can be nice to cyclists

Intended audience: people driving cars.

List of easy to follow things with explanation for each. Stuff like:

  1. Have a little patience
  2. Give bicycles some room
  3. Merge into the bike lane before turning
  4. Don't yield excessively to bikes
  5. Signal, damnit!

Note: How cars can be nice to cyclists, posted on 16-Jan-2012

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3

A review of affordable headlights

We already have a review of affordable taillights being worked on. A review of affordable headlights would be the next obvious thing to do.

Note: Review of the Best Bicycle Tail Lights in 2012, posted 05-Mar-2012

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My favorite road shoe

Not just what your favorite shoe is, but what makes it so awesome, etc. Or perhaps a review of multiple different road shoes.

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Doors of Death

Dunno what this is about, aside from getting doored; I just like the title.

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So, you want to ride your bike to work?

This would be a summary of many, many commuting questions we already have on the site.

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  • I want to take this one when/if I get set up to do it. I currently commute back and forth to work every day and I think I can do a good job on the piece. Feb 17, 2012 at 2:36
  • Send me your email address? I'll set you up for a blog account. Feb 17, 2012 at 3:22
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Badly implemented bike lanes

Lanes behind parking cars, behind trees, to narrow curves which slow you down, problems at bus stations, ending in construction sites, unannounced end of bike lanes, bad traffic organisation at crossings (bikers have to stop 2 times to go left (in right sided traffic)), ...

Everything with diagrams and photos.

Example: http://home.arcor.de/hirnstrom/rak/index.html

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Giving a bike away to charity

Or a review of different non-profits that will take a bike or parts, etc...

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Bike to Work week

...and bike to work day. This would have to be something inspirational, to amp new riders up to trying this out.

According to the League of American Bicyclists, the week is May 14-18, and the day is Friday, 18 May. Perhaps something to come out on May 1?

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Wrong-way bike lanes

This answer, while possibly not proper for the question, raises some interesting points. Anyone want to tackle a blog post on bike lanes designed for wrong-way cycling? (I've been on a few of them.)

From the answer:

The issue is actually quite complex. Some "wrong-way" routes can be quite safe if well-designed, marked, and implemented. Much of the data and research in this area is in French because "contresens pistes cyclable" have been implemented in several French cities such as Paris, Bordeaux, Strasbourg, and Lyon, among others. In addition, a few other countries have implemented similar bike ways, such as Belgium, Switzerland, Japan, and the Netherlands. In general, these "counter-direction" bikeways are in dense urban areas with many narrow one-way streets and restricted speed limits (usually, 30 to 40 km/h, or around 20 to 25 mph). A 200 page report from the Institut Federatif de Recherche sur Les Economies et Les Societes Indutrielles (one of the French research institutes) of the experiences in 5 French cities can be found here (in French) and a short PowerPoint presentation by the lead author of that study can be found here (again, in French). No accidents were observed on contresens bikeways in the study area during the period from 2002-6. A two-page illustrated brochure advocating the expansion of contresens urban pistes can be found here.

On a personal note, I was surprised when a contresens piste cyclable was marked on my narow one-way street in Paris. I initially thought it to be suicidal but after riding on it for two blocks I understood why it could be safer: a study of every bicycle fatality in Paris in 2005 had shown that the single largest cause of death was being right-hooked at intersections, and the contresens bikeways completely eliminated this danger.

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