Bike Gov press conf.

A study conducted by the University of Wisconsin – Madison that seems to be primarily interested in justifying the city’s bike lanes has been a great success. A friend described Madison as, “An overgrown college town that’s hell to drive in.” That might be accurate, but it’s a divine city for cycling. Madison consistently scores near the top of those lists about ‘Best Outdoors Cities’ that magazine editors love putting together, and it’s thanks to their network of great bike lanes. The latest study found that cycling generates over $1.5 billion annually in Wisconsin and creates 13,193 jobs.

A new bike in every garage...er, home.

South Korea is leading the way in lowering carbon emissions with a plan to build a nationwide network of bike paths that will be completed by 2019. The network will cover 3,100 kilometers, more than seven times the length of that country’s longest expressway. Meanwhile, Copenhagen’s Minster of Finance has recommended that everyone in her country use their stimulus money to buy another bike. Sounds like a damn fine deal to us. The U.S. might be too big for an extensive, national bike lane network, but there’s no excuse for not building them out in cities. Oh wait, Ford had a banner year, so I guess we need room for all those new cars.

photo stolen from allhailtheblackmarket.com

This is one of those things that briefly crosses your mind whenever you’re at a bar on your bike. A man in Florida was charged with a DWI after police stopped him for riding his bike Saturday night without any lights. His eyes were bloodshot and he had a couple empties in his front basket, so the police tried to give him a breathalyzer. He refused the test, and was charged with a DWI, refusing a breathalyzer, and an open container. He was arrested and is being held on a $9000 bond. Biking while drunk might not be a fantastic idea, but at least you’re only endangering your own life. It’s not like you’re going to run over a van full of orphans. The lesson here is to just consent to a breathalyzer. It’s tough to imagine that a judge would crush you for riding your bike while drunk once you make it to court. And even if you do get crushed by the judge, at least your car insurance won’t go up and you’ll know you’re on the right side, morally.

Proving once again that cyclists are superhuman, a man in China stopped two men on a moped from stealing a woman’s purse. Two guys riding tandem on a moped? Of course a biker’s going to kick their asses when it comes down to it. I love watching the guy calmly climb off his bike and then throw it at the duo as they drive past. He wins this week’s badass award.

Researchers at MIT have developed a new way to bring an electric-assist motor to your ride. The new Copenhagen Wheel works similarly to hybrid cars in that it stores up a charge when you hit your brakes and then later turns on the motor when you need a boost. What’s interesting about this new design is that the motor and battery is entirely encased within the back wheel and controlled from your iPhone or Blackberry via Bluetooth. There are no external wires or batteries, and installation is as simple as putting a new rear wheel on your bike. Unfortunately, the setup is still a bit ugly, but it’s an important step in the right direction. They have yet to list a price or distribution, but it’s not like you’d want to buy a first generation version of the wheel anyway. What’ll be more exciting is a few years from now when they get the size of the hub down a bit and start selling them at reasonable prices.

Click image to get full-on Bikesuitized.

You’d be so drenched in sweat by the time you arrived at work that it wouldn’t have mattered if you’d worn a rain jacket at all. The Bikesuit is a real product that we’ll begin seeing in stores next year. It’s as close as you can get to wearing a full on SCUBA diving dry suit, or hell, even a wetsuit when you ride your bike. You wouldn’t have to worry as much about cars hitting you since they’d definitely take note of your outfit; you might have to worry more about them throwing empty beer bottles at you. I would advise putting fenders on your bike and getting slightly less bio-hazard-looking rain clothes.

via Cycleicious