Ride the Cape Cod Rail Trail

Welcome to the Bike Bulletin. It’s the newsletter where we think it’s a great idea to take PTO to hop on your bike, leave home, sleep on the ground, and eat gas station food. Name a better vacation?

The biggest update from me is that I might start IRONMAN training soon. Still a couple of balls in the air, but it’s looking pretty likely.

Here’s what we have today.

• 🌍 RIDE: The Cape Cod Rail Trail

• 🛠️ Project: Bike Frame Sconce

• 🎥 WATCH: Fixed Gear vs 18% Descent

• 📰 NEWS: New bridges and pedestrianization

Written by Sam Westby, @samcwestby

ROUTE ON MY RADAR

Cape Cod Rail Trail

Here’s what you’d be getting yourself into.

• 26 miles (42 kilometers) of paved off-road bike trail up Massachusetts' Cape Cod

• Lobster rolls, seafood, ice cream, and beaches

• The trail follows the route of the Cape Cod Railway, which was active until 1960

• Pass by tons of ponds, lakes

• Lots of great campgrounds

• Planning is underway for extensions to the trail

• Official website: https://www.mass.gov/locations/cape-cod-rail-trail

PROJECT REPORT

Bike Frame Sconce

My destroyed Madone has reached its final resting place. This was a simple project and only took a few hours.

1. Buy the bulb, a lamp socket, and some silicon sealant

2. Cut the frame in as straight a line as possible. It took a couple of adjustments before it sat flat on the wood

3. Drill 2 holes in the wood behind the down tube and top tube

4. Feed a string through the frame and the holes, then tie it to secure the frame in place

5. Seal the edges of the frame to the wood

6. Tadah! You have a bike frame sconce.

Here’s a short video of my full build: YouTube Shorts

WHAT I’M WATCHING

Fixed Gear vs 18% Descent

Listen to chill background music while watching Terry B’s POV of 3rensho spinning at an absurd RPM. I’m happy to experience this one from my couch.

Watch on YouTube

Strava Routes on Your Apple Watch

I regularly talk to newer cyclists who share how routing is a barrier to entry. They don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on a bike computer. Now, they have a new option: routes on the Apple Watch, with Strava’s updated app. You can access pre-made Strava routes to get turn-by-turn directions on your ride or run.

Don’t have an Apple Watch? Another cheap place to start is a bike phone mount + RidewithGPS subscription.

Source: techradar.com

Quick Hits

• Ute Pass Regional Trail. This trail system in Colorado received $3 million to continue connecting the regional communities. (KOAA)

• Missing bike lane. The Seattle bike network has a notable gap - a 2-block stretch on Yessler Way. Crews started building the missing link last week. (seattlebikeblog.com)

• Columbus, Ohio. This city is adding 2 protected bike lanes on Frebis Avenue later this year. (NBC 4)

• Indianapolis. This city just opened a new pedestrian/cyclist bridge, connecting 17 miles of trail. (WTHR)

• $100 million. In Los Angeles, nearly 9-figures worth of funding might go to waste because the city says they don’t have the staff to handle the projects. (LA Times)

• Pedestrianized. London finalized plans to fully pedestrianize Oxford Street by the end of the year. No taxis, no scooters, no bikes. Just feet. (The Guardian)

• Pedestrianized. Miami Beach also just voted to fully pedestrianize Ocean Drive. (Miami Today)

• Doubled. E-scooter injuries in Oregon have doubled in the past 4 years. (KGW)

• 840,000 km. The distance logged on Lime micromobility in Milan during the Winter Olympics. (Zag Daily)

• E-Motos. Washington just passed an amendment separating the definition of e-bikes and e-motos. If it goes faster than 20 mph with motor-power along, it’s not an e-bike. This starts to close the loopholes in deceptive marketing. (seattlebikeblog.com)

A Note From Sam

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This is mostly a joke. The Cape can have full rainy days, but the occasional short rain shower is much more likely.