Have you ever gotten grease all over a good pair of pants while riding your bicycle? Well, those disasters can now be at an end with Trek’s replacement of the bicycle chain with a carbon-fiber belt. They have two models, the 8 speed Soho and the single speed District. Read the AP article here. According to the article, the District is supposed to begin selling in December; but my local Trek dealer expects a ship date of March if you order now.
Personally, I’ve been considering a single speed bicycle. That and my many pairs of greasy pants have me drooling over the District. While I normally ride in biking clothes, changing is pointless for short trips around the neighborhood.
“I used to only ride this street on the weekends, you know it can be sketchy. But now I feel there are more bicyclists everywhere and its safer because the cars are starting to expect it.”
–Fellow bicycle commuter on SW 7th Street, heading west from downtown to his job near the airport.
Regardless of weather or not you were in favor of the “bailout bill” or not, enough of our representatives were. While the short term and long term effects of this monumental piece of legislation will play out in the coming weeks, months and years, one thing is for sure: riding a bicycle to work just became even more legitimate in the eyes of our nation’s leaders.
Indeed, the bicycle blogs have been abuzz over the past few days with the potential for Earl Blumenauer’s(D-Oregon) $20 per month bicycle commuter tax credit to finally see the light of day.
Our friends over at Streetsblog had this to say:
“Section 211 of the “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008″ allows for a ‘qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement’ for ‘reasonable expenses incurred by the employee during such calendar year for the purchase of a bicycle and bicycle improvements, repair, and storage, if such bicycle is regularly used for travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment.’
Other transpo-related items in the bill include credits for biofuels and other “alternative” mixtures, plug-in electric vehicles, and what looks like a few goodies for oil and natural gas producers. Another section includes incentives for green construction and renewable energy production.”
$20 dollars a month is not a hug sum, but I look forward to putting it towards the upkeep of my trusty two-wheeler.
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