If for no other reason, the revised bailout plan (Adobe PDF), currently being considered by the Senate, should be passed because of the following passages:

SEC. 211. TRANSPORTATION FRINGE BENEFIT TO BICYCLE COMMUTERS.

(a)  IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 132(f) is amended by adding at the end the following: “(D) Any qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement.”.

(b) LIMITATION ON EXCLUSION.—Paragraph (2) of section 132(f) is amended by striking “and” at the end of subparagraph (A), by striking the period at the end of subparagraph (B) and inserting “, and”, and by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: “(C) the applicable annual limitation in the case of any qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement.”.

(c)  DEFINITIONS.—Paragraph (5) of section 132(f) is amended by adding at the end the following: “(F) DEFINITIONS RELATED TO BICYCLE COMMUTING REIMBURSEMENT.—

• “(i) QUALIFIED BICYCLE COMMUTING REIMBURSEMENT.—The term ‘qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement’ means, with respect to any calendar year, any employer reimbursement during the 15-month period beginning with the first day of such calendar year 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.
• “(ii) APPLICABLE ANNUAL LIMITATION.—The term ‘applicable annual limitation’ means, with respect to any employee for any calendar year, the product of $20 multiplied by the number of qualified bicycle commuting months during such year.
• “(iii) QUALIFIED BICYCLE COMMUTING MONTH.—The term ‘qualified bicycle commuting month’ means, with respect to any employee, any month during which such employee—
  • “(I) regularly uses the bicycle for a substantial portion of the travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment, and
  • “(II) does not receive any benefit described in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1).”.

(d) CONSTRUCTIVE RECEIPT OF BENEFIT.—Paragraph (4) of section 132(f) is amended by inserting “(other than a qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement)” after “qualified transportation fringe”.

(e)  EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2008.

Exactly what all this means is a little unclear to me, but it looks like it allows for a $20.00/month reimbursement from employers to bicycle commuters … this was included in the Division 2, Title II, Section 211 of the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 provisions included in the overall bill.

early morning bike ride

lamppost
lamppost
lamppost

changing
of the lead
between my shadow
and myself

my shadow looks
to be in
better shape
and currently
has the
lead

but i am
catching up quickly.

  — justin.barrett

… on which candidate to vote for come November, let these two vid clips point the way.

Barack Obama rides a bicycle (albeit with a saddle that’s WAY too low).

John McCain will veto beer.

If that’s not a clear sign, I don’t know what is.

Million dollar Olympic bike | Video | Reuters.com

Jun 3 - Cycle maker Koga Miyata is hoping that a one million dollar bike built for Dutch track cyclist Theo Bos will secure him a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics

Koga has spent three and a half years developing a revolutionary frame for Bos, who narrowly missed out on the gold medal at the Athens Olympics four years ago.

Helen Long reports.

Ride your bike and come see what is selling out 16 cities across the planet!

What: 5th Annual Pedal Pusher Film Festival

Where: The Depot (a private club for members)

When: May 10th, 2008 doors open at 7:30pm

Cost: $10 online or $12 day of

Activities: One time only showing of hand picked films from the Bicycle Film Festival, as well as Salt City Sprints, a Track Stand Competition, Silent Auction and music by the Vile Blue Shades. Ride your bike! There will be Valet Bike Parking.

Sponsors: The Depot, Baxters, SLUG Magazine, Chrome, backcountry.com, streamline industries, James Frames

If you rode a bike, you’d be home by now … bicycles on the L.A. freeways.

… and another birthday almost past …

I’m having a Douglas Adams kind of day; and while I know that 42 is the answer, I still don’t know the question.

Picked up the Surly from the shop today; getting it ready as a commuter bike … all I need now is the motivation to actually get my ass out of bed early enough in the morning to actually ride in, rather than driving.

But at least (and at last) I’m preparing … pretty soon I won’t have any excuses left to not ride other than “I don’t want to …”, and that’s the lamest excuse of all.