1. Learn Stuff – Carry the Load: Taking your bike from toy to tool
As far as we're concerned, we'd love to never have to drive a car to get around. Obviously, this can't work for everyone all the time, but for most trips a bicycle can be just the right vehicle. This edition of Learn Stuff is aimed at helping convert your bike from toy to tool.

A 1995 National Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS) found that 40% of automobile trips in America were less than 2 miles in length. That represents a 10 minute bike ride for even the most novice of cyclists. By planning right, and making a few key equipment choices, you can take a step towards cutting down on your automobile usage.

There are several ways to make your bike cargo-ready. The easiest and most common step would be to get a hold of a big backpack or messenger bag. This will allow you to keep your essentials with you on and off the bike. The downside is that it can sometimes limit the amount of payload you can carry. Messenger bags are very fashionable, but the one strap design doesn't work for everyone. A decent backpack with a padded belt is pretty easy to come by and can carry a load of groceries just fine. Chrome Transport makes pretty sweet bags of all kinds and Vaude makes excellent cycle specific backpacks.

The second way to haul on two wheels is to add a front or rear rack and a set of "panniers" or saddle bags. Panniers are great because they allow you to carry more weight than would be comfortable on your back. They also drop your center of gravity by placing the weight much lower on the bike. This can help keep you cool in hot weather and free you of the cumbersome weight of a pack, making you less top heavy. Our Eco Rack is a steady workhorse that will fit just about any bike. There are a number of companies out there making panniers with all kinds of bells and whistles, but if you can get something that goes on and off easily and is weatherproof, you'll be happy. Arkel and Ortlieb make a great selection of dry, easy to use bags. Some even convert to backpacks for off bike use.

Front racks, or "Porteur" racks, are starting to gain popularity in certain circles, as well. For a pretty reasonable price, CETMA makes a few varieties for those who like to keep an eye on their payload. And our friends at Paul Components make a classy wood-decked Flatbed rack.

It should be noted that having a bag or pannier will allow you to be prepared for things like flat tires and rain by allowing you to permanently pack those items in your commuter bag.

For really big loads, another option is a bike trailer. Trailers are great because you can leave them at home when you don't need them, and they are easy to get on and off. There are several companies currently making trailers that fit different needs. Burley is the original and their Nomad trailer is perfect for grocery loads and camping duties. They also make great trailers for hauling kids around as well. B.O.B. makes a single wheeled trailer that is single track worthy. Bikes At Work make trailers that can carry mind boggling amounts of cargo.

The popular mode of cargo transport around Planet Bike HQ is the Xtracycle (for our staff of 5 we have 4 Xtracycles in the mix). The Free Radical is a kit that attaches to your current bike and extends the wheel base by 14 inches. It allows you to carry more than150 lbs of whatever you desire from water, to food, to lumber, even another person. Surly will also be coming out with a new frame "The Big Dummy" this fall that will work with Xtracycle components.

The ultimate grocery getter solution is to get a hold of a European issue cargo bike or trike. There a few companies out there already producing them like Bakfiets, a Dutch cargo bike company, or Christiana, based in Copenhagen. Or you can get one custom bike like the "Frontaloadontome" built by someone like Mike Flannigan of Alternative Needs Transportation (A.N.T.) or Bilenky Bike Works.

Everyone's reason for needing to carry stuff is different. Maybe you need to take the kids to school, get your tools to the garden plot, pick up some firewood, or maybe just grab a 'sixer. Perhaps combining one or more of these suggestions can help reduce your dependence on the automobile. If nothing else, being able to use your bike to run a couple of errands a week can, at the very least, get you more time in the saddle, and that's what it's really about.

2. Accessory Handbook – Choosing a Light Set
Fall is here, and these days it’s getting dark earlier and earlier. Over the years, we’ve found that having a decent set of lights is one of the most important accessories you can put on your bike to keep you safe when old man autumn begins to steal away the daylight.

Currently, Planet Bike offers four light sets to fit just about any situation. Below are some details to help you choose the set that’s right for you:

If you aren’t interested in illuminating your path, but simply want a light set so that you can clearly be seen by motorists and other folks while out on your bike, then the Blinky Safety Set will fit the bill. Our low profile Blinky Safety light set features two, one-LED lights that offer enough light to be seen, and mounts and clips to attach them to your bike, helmet, bag or clothes. Despite being inexpensive, these little lights use the same top-notch LEDs and components as our other more expensive lights.

The economical choice is our 1200 light set hat features the venerable halogen technology of the 1200 headlight and the Blinky 3 LED tail light. The beam of the 1200 headlight is wide and bright but since it utilizes a halogen bulb, the run times are a fraction of our LED lights.

Let’s say you’re looking for the most economical light set, with the longest run time, and the best combination of being seen and providing light with which to see. The Beamer 1 light set is a work horse that puts light where you need it. The set features the long run time and ample light of the Beamer 1 headlight and the popular Blinky 3 tail light.

If you’re looking for a set to light your route home on dark streets, and that will also provide you with the most visibility, then the “Super Set” is what you seek. The Superflash/Blaze light set (aka Super Set) is the Cadillac of light sets and features the powerful and focused half-watt Blaze headlight and the brightest tail light on the planet, the Superflash, which also happens to be our all time best selling product.

3. Advocacy Update – Safe Routes to School
Now that all the kiddywinks are back to school, bicycle advocates, schools, government agencies, and businesses are working hard to ramp up for an even more successful year of the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program.

Safe Routes to School is a burgeoning national and international movement that helps local communities make bicycling and walking to school a safe choice for our children.

Parents always want their children to be safe, but in recent years the growing buzz of traffic surrounding neighborhood schools has increasingly caused a growing number of parents to drive their kids to school. This, of course, only adds to increased car congestion. Some studies show that these short car trips to school account for up to 30% of morning rush hour traffic.

In an attempt to break this car-dependent cycle, Safe Routes to School was born. Some of the elements of this program include mapping routes from home neighborhoods to schools, ensuring that streets, paths and sidewalks are safe for children, and mobilizing neighborhood parents to organize and chaperone “walking school buses.” Further, program funds pay for police enforcement of traffic laws within school zones and define and create “home zones” which limit speeds to 15mph around schools and surrounding neighborhoods. All of these efforts allow our kids to get safely to and from school in an active, self-propelled way. Not only does this program reduce traffic around schools, more importantly it counters the national trends in childhood obesity by encouraging children to be more active.

In the communities where it has been implemented, Safe Routes to School programs have succeeded. Kids are safer and more active and automobile traffic has lessened. Grassroots bicycle advocates know the positive transformations that result from programs like Safe Routes to School and that is why they worked hard to get $612M for SRTS in the 2006 federal transportation budget, SAFETEA-LU.

Learn More:
Marin County Bicycle Coalition
Bike Texas
The SRTS National Partnership