Editorial: Riding bicycles across bridges designed for cars is both scary and thrilling

At the start of this National Bike Month, my wife and I participated in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure Ship to Shore cycling event in the city of Long Beach. Kicking things off in the shadow of the Queen Mary, the longest route takes a circuitous path around the local area and totals up somewhere around 100 miles. As this was our first time doing the event, and the first charity event that my wife has ever ridden, we opted for a much more manageable 11 mile route. The important thing is that the route allowed us the opportunity to cross the Gerald Desmond and Vincent Thomas bridges. Ever since I had learned last year that there was a chance to do such a preposterous sounding thing, I knew I had to make it happen, even if just once. Of course, experiencing this also got me thinking about just how different, yet still the same our needs are with different modes of transportation.

Editorial: The West Coast Port Labor Dispute

Image courtesy of Zero Hedge

A few weeks back, I posted an editorial about how the aftermarket parts industry hit a sales slump due to the new generation of drivers and the cars that are important to them. While these factors have made an impact, another more recent situation has created another problem for the aftermarket, as well as the automotive, motorcycle, and cycling industries in general. For anyone that follows the news, you should already be familiar with the recent port congestion situation that created a massive backlog of vessels and containers along the entire West Coast. If you are not familiar with this event, it simply boiled down to the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) working without a contract since July of last year. In order to force the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) to agree to the ILWU's terms, a labor reduction situation occurred, causing massive backups at all of the major ports along the West Coast. The details of the "slow down" are a story for another time though.