Street Vending on Wheels

Here are a few pictures of street vendors and distributors that make use of the bicycle to earn a living in Colombia

This lady makes a living by celling candy and cigarettes in a corner of Bogotá. Street vendors must have a license to work these types of jobs.

Even though they don't pedal, these art vendors make use of bike trailers to work

I was completely impressed by this vendor. With only one arm, this gentleman not only bikes, but he also manages to serve ice cream around residential neighborhoods in Bogotá - Colombia

Another Ice Cream vending Tricycle

Anchorage's Coastal Trail

A map of the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail in Anchorage covers the perimeter of the city overseeing the Cook Inlet. An impressive sight of water, mountains, snow, birds and occassionally a moose or a bear.


(photo - Ryono.net)

 You can ride the approximately ten miles of coast on the trail while enjoying the views of the Knik Arm and Mount Susitna.

Bici Limo

A special occasion happened to coincide with the pedicab that was peddaling in the area on a rather cold afternoon next to the water by the Anchorage Coastal Trail.

Ready for a Coastal Trail ride with Diana.

Would you believe that my whole family was there?

The Alaska Pedicab Limo

Ciao Bambini!!!

Cargo Bikes

Here is a compilation of work bikes photos taken everywhere I have been.

Enjoy

This is the distribution method of the local grocery store - Bogotá -Colombia

I saw this retired hybrid bike/tricycle in the corner of a parking lot in Chiquinquirá - Boyacá - Colombia

A Currier or a small distributor in Ubaté - Boyacá - Colombia

A passer by with some cargo on his (panadera) cargo bike - Ubaté - Boyacá - Colombia

 Bicycle with two plastic containers

on the back rack.Passerby with small cargo in the front basket

Cargo in the front and in the back - Ubaté - Boyacá - Colombia

Merchandise Distribution - Bogotá - Colombia

Running Errands on a Bike - Ubaté - Boyacá - Colombia

Don't try this at home

Humans' Most Efficient Locomotion Tool - The Bicycle

I think that one of the things that really separates us from the primates is that we are tool builders.  I read a story that measured the efficiency of  locomotion for various species on the planet. The condor used the least energy to move a kilometer and humas came in with a rather unimpressing showing; about a third down the list. Not to proud a showing for the crown of creation. 

That didn't look so good, but then someone at Scientific American had the insight to test the efficiency of locomotion for a man on a bicycle, and a man on a bicycle blew the charts away surpassing the condor, which is the most efficient.

(speech - Steve Jobs - mlfilms.com)

I want to see what this movie really is like. It's coming out in 2012.

INSANE RIDE

I don't know exactly how to describe this kind of rides and this one in particular; As I visited the Treehugger website, I came accross this crazy? loco? insane? Wow ride.  It looks like this competitor is about to fall off his bike a few times, but he doesn't. You be the judge.

Biking in Anchorage in the Fall

The fall in Alaska comes too soon, in particular for those of us that pay attention to the outdoors and actually go out and feel the cooling air of September in our faces. I bought an old classic bike for my girlfriend/wife now. Her first encounter with Alaska was not as shocking as we thought it would be. This only shows us one more time that global warming is here and probably to stay.

Nowhere else in the country is global warming so evident as here. In 1991 when I arrived in Alaska, my mother and I went to see the Portage Glacier since there was a new visitor center at the mouth of the glacier. Well, the visitor center is still there. Last month my wife and I went to the same place.  I wanted to show her this pride of Alaskans... but to my dismay, the glacier is no longer. Only a lake-like body of water remains.   



Diana in Anchorage - Fall 2011

My point is that if you look at the pictures and pay attention to the trees, the leaves are yellow. This time we are experiencing an Autumn like the ones the lower 48 states experience; A season in which the temperature decreases gradually, giving time to nature to prepare for winter. Leaves change color, wind blows them off the trees, the entire picture says fall. It used to be that the temperature drops were so drastic and winter arrived so suddenly in Anchorage that leaves turned from green to dark brown in a matter of one week and spent the rest of September and October falling.  As it is, we can still bike some very nice sunny evenings of September and even October.  Perhaps the old bumper sticker is coming to be a granted wish... "Alaskans for global warming".

A Message from the Sierra Club about Bike Commuting

The humble bicycle is one of the most efficient modes of travel in the world. But that's just the beginning — it's also a helluva good time. In fact, there are few climate-changing actions you can take that are more fun than riding a bike to get around. (Okay, changing lightbulbs has its moments.) Wondering how to get started? We've brought together all the information you'll need to start bike commuting in a hurry.

By Kyle Boelte