Author Archives: Khal

About Khal

I am a staff scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), where I have worked for nine years after having spent 10 years on the graduate faculty of the University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology and four previous years on its technical staff. I started to “ride lots” (to quote Eddy Merckx) at SUNY, Stony Brook, Long Island. I’ve been actively engaged in bicycling and bicycling advocacy, and in transportation planning as a citizen volunteer for most of twenty years. For the past five years, I have been the chair or vice-chair of the Los Alamos County Transportation Board, which advises county government on surface and air transportation policy. During that period, I have also served as the chair of the LANL Traffic Safety Committee, which works with the institution under 10CFR851 to improve the safety of the Laboratory’s traffic systems. I served several years on the Bicycle Coalition of New Mexico Board of Directors. I am an LCI. Prior to moving to New Mexico, I was active as a Board member, vice President, and President of the Hawaii Bicycling League, sat on the Honolulu Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Bicycling, and on the U of Hawaii at Manoa Bicycle Planning Committee. I was a contributor to the 1999 Honolulu Bicycle Master Plan (as VP of the Hawaii Bicycling League, which coordinated cyclist input) and a co-author, with our county traffic manager, of the 2005 Los Alamos County Bike Plan. Back when I dreamed I was fast, I raced USCF. It was only a dream. I remain committed to a strong and effective League of American Bicyclists, but demand that membership be given a much more meaningful role in League governance. That, after all, is the only way to ensure that members have meaningful control over the direction of their League. All comments I make here or on my own blog are my personal opinions alone. Others are welcome to agree or laugh. Aloha, Khal Spencer

Momentum Magazine vs. John Allen on Cycling Infrastructure

Rather than retype everything, go here: http://labikes.blogspot.com/2014/02/when-did-momentum-magazine-lose-its.html

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I Am Traffic Goes Live

I Am Traffic, a web resource put together by the Cycling Saavy folks, is up and running.  This is a product of the group that’s meeting in February in Orlando to create a new, national bicycle education organization. The CyclingSavvy … Continue reading

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Beyond Spandex: Where is the traditional cyclist in this movement?

The League of American Bicyclists posted a recent entry titled “Beyond Spandex, Toward Social Justice: Women Redefining the Movement“. Men, who have made up the statistical vanguard of ridership in the past, are relegated to an acronym, MAMIL, i.e., Middle … Continue reading

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Is Cycling about to die?

There is some pretty dire prose over at the League web site about saving cycling.  While I share the concern with the Federal transportation bill being ludicrously auto-centric and energy-intensive, and I personally worry that the House Republicans are attacking … Continue reading

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Why does a bicycle-friendly community need door zone bike lanes?

We recently took our tandem to Durango, CO to escape the thick smoke of the Wallow, AZ wildfire. I like the Durango area and have tossed a bike in the car on our trips there. Durango is a Silver-level bicycle … Continue reading

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LAB “Election” Results are in

Interestingly, the three LAB-Reform candidates obtained almost as many signatures (411) as LAB collected votes (560) for its highly restricted “election”. Congratulations to Diane Albert (current President, Bicycle Coalition of New Mexico), at any rate. She signed our petition and … Continue reading

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Additional FAQ’s for the League’s Election Process

Some FAQ’s inconveniently left off the League’s list. Disclaimer: these are my comments. The League HQ had nothing to do with them. Were members meaningfully consulted on the expansion of the Board to 15 members, or the change from regional … Continue reading

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Bill Hoffman resigns from LAB Board

This is more bad news for the League of American Bicyclists. I’m sorry Bill will resign at the end of his current term and and has withdrawn from the elections. His letter, of which I’ve only snipped some short excerpts … Continue reading

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