As a precursor to Earth Day on April 22, a Bedford company Pietzo, an innovative provider of hybrid electric bicycles, today announced a full-service program to help Massachusetts corporations, universities and commuters gain environmental, transportation, and health benefits........

Google announced at the National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C., that bicycling directions for 150 U.S. cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver and New York City are now part of its map service. Previously, Google Maps was able to provide driving, walking or public transit directions. More than 12,000 miles of trails are now included in biking directions and outlined directly on maps through the service thanks to a partnership with the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.........

Topeak's has introduced a new child seat, BabySeat^TM II, that installs and removes in seconds and offers a six point harness for the utmost in child safety.........

Utilizing the five categories Engineering, Education, Encouragement, Enforcement and Evaluation & Planning rated by The Bicycle Friendly Communities Campaign a list of the world's most bicycle friendly cities has been created by Virgin Vacations........

Critical Mass is an event that was started in San Francisco in 1992 for the purpose of drawing attention to the need for more bicyle lanes and streets. The idea was that if enough cyclists got together for a group ride it would become obvious that the city needed to do something to make the streets more bicycle friendly. Since then the movement has spread all over the world to hundreds of cities. The number of participants can be as few as 20 in smaller towns to as many as tens of thousands. Typically in larger ciites there are several hundred to over a thousand bicycle riders.......

In an ironic turn of events bicycle riders are pitted against electric cars in Amsterdam - the "Bicyle City". Known for promoting the use of cycling to the point that it makes up more than 50% of transportation the city now wants to replace gas powered cars with electric. Of course cycling is the cleanest major transportation vehicle in the world while electic cars are only "green" if the energy used to recharge them is derived from clean sources such as hydo-electric, windmills and solar. Most electricity is generated using coal and other sources that create considerable pollution.......

NACTO the National Association of City Transportation Officials launched it's new project "Cities for Cycling" near the Capitol in Washington D.C. It's mission as outlined by NACTO President Janette Sadik-Khan, is to collect and share best practices for the introduction of local bike lanes and other cycling infrastructure. This has succeeded in many cities but not yet been added to the Federal Highway Administration's traffic control manual, also known as the MUTCD. Sponsored by the Brookings Institution, Cities for Cycling will help create federal and local policies to encourage bicycling expansion and more sustainable community development.......

When Winterfest first started in San Francisco 14 years ago it was very different than this year's event. Back then a few hundred ardent bicyclist would buy an assortment of gear and then sit around a fire, drink beer and talk about their latest cycling adventures. Now the party has turned into a major event that includes an art exhibit, raffle, silent auction and fund raiser.......