Editorial: Advancements continue to make cycling more accessible to everyone

Cycling continues to grow in popularity throughout the US, with many major cities seeing a boom to the number of people who are interested in biking not just for recreation, but to use it as a means of daily transit as well. This growth has been in part spurred by major advancements in cycling technology that have made cycling more accessible to a broader audience. Whether it is bikes that make traveling by bike more convenient or systems designed to help cyclists propel themselves more easily over greater distances or even technology that simply makes it easier to protect your bike, they are all making a difference in getting more people to ride. The growth has also been driven by advancing legislation that has swelled the number of miles of bike lanes and dedicated bike paths to provide safer, less frightening conditions for cyclists and rules that are intended to create buffers between cars and cyclists when they interact on the road. All of this adds up to greatly boosting the number of cyclists on America's roads today.

Innovation: BikeSpike

Image courtesy of BikeSpike on Kickstarter

For those of us who rely on two-wheeled forms of transportation, security is always a concern. Not having solid sheet metal and glass to prevent access and entry to our bicycles and motorcycles, riders of all kinds continue to look for innovative ways to protect our investments. That is why the BikeSpike caught my attention when I saw it. This small device, which was originally developed for bicycles, that can be attached to any two-wheeled vehicle, offers a way to GPS track the location of your bike or motorcycle from your smart phone. While the idea has been around, it has only been available for motorcycles as a part of expensive alarm systems and never as a low-cost standalone option.

The BikeSpike allows total control from its smart phone app and allows a user to enter the details of their ride into the app to keep track of the vehicle's information and make it available to law enforcement at the touch of a finger in the event that the vehicle is stolen. The app also allows you to set a geo-fence around the vehicle, triggering a warning if the vehicle is moved out of the designated area. In many ways, this is exactly the kind of thing motorcyclists and bicyclists are looking and for once, it is not so cost prohibitive that only those with money to spare can afford it.

Read more about the BikeSpike at the link after the jump.