Thursday, December 28, 2006
Here and there
Copenhagen times its traffic signals for cyclists at 20 km/h. Our Conservative Government has the same plan, and it's scheduled to be implemented across the county in 2049.
Speaking of the "new government of Canada", Rona Ambrose is getting demoted for delivering her boss's message.
The United Kingdom is considering carbon rationing. I wonder if this would involve passing on the carbon ration as an item gets resold. I guess it could be up to the market to decide. If a grocery store buys a mango, it might pay for the carbon ration that the truck driver had to buy, which would mean the grocery store might choose to pass that cost on to the customer. For electricity consumption, this would help those very efficient families who pack 14 people into one house and are paying premiums because they look like a very wasteful family of 4. Who’s demographic is that?
Toronto Sun writer Moira MacDonald goes car free. It’s not one of those articles where someone rides a bike for a week to prove “it can’t be done and this is why I need my SUV.” She’s doing it for real and it’s working for her and her son.
Speaking of the "new government of Canada", Rona Ambrose is getting demoted for delivering her boss's message.
The United Kingdom is considering carbon rationing. I wonder if this would involve passing on the carbon ration as an item gets resold. I guess it could be up to the market to decide. If a grocery store buys a mango, it might pay for the carbon ration that the truck driver had to buy, which would mean the grocery store might choose to pass that cost on to the customer. For electricity consumption, this would help those very efficient families who pack 14 people into one house and are paying premiums because they look like a very wasteful family of 4. Who’s demographic is that?
Toronto Sun writer Moira MacDonald goes car free. It’s not one of those articles where someone rides a bike for a week to prove “it can’t be done and this is why I need my SUV.” She’s doing it for real and it’s working for her and her son.
Labels: foreign affairs
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Cuban practicality
My wife was in Cuba recently. She met a friendly man who worked at their hotel. Any story that starts off like this sounds like bad news for me, but it turns out that as well as being an amicable guy, he had an interesting bicycle. My wife took a photo for me.
It's a single speed, probably with coaster brakes, but I can't see the actual brake. Could it be a fixed gear? Possibly, but I doubt it, since this is a popular model there. The land is generally flat in this part of Cuba, so the one gear gets the job done.
The steering is unusual on this machine. It looks like the carrying platform rotates with the front axle, which means that to turn right, the handlebars would need to be pushed to the left.
Apparently this is the standard workhorse of a tricycle in the hotel area. Strangely, my wife said outside the hotels, she didn't see a lot of bicycles. Gasoline is expensive and the most popular solution seems to be to walk or hitchhike.
It's a single speed, probably with coaster brakes, but I can't see the actual brake. Could it be a fixed gear? Possibly, but I doubt it, since this is a popular model there. The land is generally flat in this part of Cuba, so the one gear gets the job done.
The steering is unusual on this machine. It looks like the carrying platform rotates with the front axle, which means that to turn right, the handlebars would need to be pushed to the left.
Apparently this is the standard workhorse of a tricycle in the hotel area. Strangely, my wife said outside the hotels, she didn't see a lot of bicycles. Gasoline is expensive and the most popular solution seems to be to walk or hitchhike.
Labels: foreign affairs, hpv, utility cycling