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"Fanatic ethnic or religious or national identifications are a little difficult to support when we see our planet as a fragile, blue crescent fading to become an inconspicuous point of light against the bastion and citadel of the stars."
—Carl Sagan
This blog was originally about training for my first Ironman triathlon. Now, its about me training for my second Ironman triathlon and all of the adventure in-between!
The bike commuter tax benefit — which was introduced to Congress by Earl Blumenauer last March and passed a House vote last week — has been stripped out of the Energy Bill by the Senate.
The U.S. Senate passed the Energy Bill yesterday, but not before removing several “green initiatives” included in the bill by the Blumenauer-led Ways and Means Committee.
Along with removing Blumenauer’s effort to close the “Hummer tax loophole” (which sought to end the additional tax incentive for business purchases of luxury SUVs weighing over 6,000 lbs), the Senate removed the part of the bill that would have expanded the existing transportation fringe benefit to include bike commuters.
The bike commuter provision was based on The Bike Commuter Act and would have given a benefit of $20 per month to employees who biked to work “for the purchase, storage, or repair” of their bicycles. It would have brought bike commuters in line with existing tax benefits for transit users and car drivers.
Addressing National Bike Summit attendees on Capitol Hill last March, Blumenauer said the bike commuter benefit was simply a matter of equity and it would have stopped, “The discrimination against people who burn calories instead of fuel.”
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Posted by Jonathan Maus (Editor) on December 14th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
From Cycleliciousness (the “Copenhagen Bicycle Culture Blog”), comes word of two interesting bike safety measures.
Given that we are in the midst of making some major bike safety improvements at dangerous intersections, I thought it might be useful to take a look at new technology being considered by the Danes.
The first is being tested in Copenhagen to reduce the number of right-hook collisions between bikes and trucks. It’s what the blog’s author calls, “a new system of diode lights” (similar the one in their photo at right) that would potentially reduce bike/car conflicts at dangerous intersections.Today, Wilbur Smith Associates released a long awaited Economic Development and Transportation Summary related to the Corridor K project. While I have not yet had time to review this report in detail, I am making it available for concerned citizens to look at here.
Corridor K in a Global Economy: A Summary of the Economic Development and Transportation Study. (113 KB)
Stay tuned for more information about Corridor K as studies related to the project, including the development of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) are completed. This process will take several years to unfold, but we will follow along closely until our concerns are resolved.
Junior | Elite Junior | Age Group | Elite | |
Sprint | 20 | n/a | 40 | n/a |
Triathlon | 40 | 70 | 60 | 80 |
1/2 Ironman | n/a | n/a | 90 | 120 |
Ironman | n/a | n/a | 180 | 200 |