* It’s that time a year when one encounters sub-32 degree weather on the morning commute. While freezing temperatures make for beautiful frosty white landscapes, it can be dangerous for cyclists. BikeRadar features an informative article with tips on how to ride in icy, rainy and windy conditions

* Memphis aims to be a friendlier place for cyclists, the New York Times reports. Memphis, which has long been among the country’s most perilous places for cyclists, has seen  an increase in bike ridership like never before, spurred by a mayor who has worked to change the way residents think about commuting.

* University of Iowa’s bicycle simulator is used to study bike safety for children.  One focus of the bicycling simulator is to compare how kids and adults cross intersections filled with virtual on-coming cars and trucks.

* Would you trust a helmet made of cardboard? BikeRadar reports that a helmet made of cardboard-like material by a student at the Royal College of Art in London has passed safety tests.

*All year, Atlantic Cities keeps track of emerging trends across the world’s major cities, and not every new idea or enthusiasm is worth repeating. Among them are trends like pedestrians fighting bikers and cities focusing on fancy bike lanes. See here, the full listing of urban trends they hope will die in 2013.

*Bikes were a hot topic in 2012. Sightline featured a listing of their most popular articles from 2012 and the clear theme among those articles was “getting around”… by bicycle preferably.  And Co.EXIST also counted the bicycling in general among the top transportation stories of 2012.

* LeBron James  rides his bicycle to practice instead of driving, the Huffington Post reports.

* Redefining “protected” Grid Chicago looks at CDOT’s new bike lane terminology.

* Portland bike component maker, Chris King, sees made-in-USA demand from overseas, Business Week reports. 

* Seattle’s bike mom, Madi Carlson, blogs about family riding and why it is safe.

*Seattle’s Mayor McGinn calls on Seattle to divest from fossil fuels.

* Cyclists dominated the sporting section of the British New Year Honours list as Bradley Wiggins and Dave Brailsford were knighted and Sarah Storey made a dame for their achievements.

* Happy Holidays!

* Seattlites get excited! Puget Sound Bike Share is one step closer to launching.

* Scientists are confirming what most bicyclists instinctively know – that riding a bike makes you happy.

* Often times conventional bells have little effect on a driver’s attention when bicyclists try to give advanced warning, so Jonathan Lansey, a mechanical and aerospace engineer, decided it was time to think like a four-wheeled vehicle and create a car horn for his bike commute.

* Young Reno activists demand bikeable streets – and get them.

* Check out the “safest bike on the road”.

* It’s getting really close to Christmas. Need some ideas on what to get your pedaling loved-one? Check out our Bicyclist’s Gift Guide.

* Chicago is making headlines with a plan to become the most bike-friendly city in the US. The City is planning to lay down 645 miles of bike lanes by 2020!

- Plus, Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants Seattle and Portland to be envious.

* The League of American Bicyclists is hosting its next Women Bike event in March 2013. Titled “Women Mean Business”, the conference will bring together hundreds of bike advocates and enthusiasts working together to engage more women in bicycling.

* How does Santa deliver presents in Finland? With a cargo bike of course!

* For a truly walkable, accessible, friendly American streetscape, city planner Jeff Speck  argues that “cycling has got to be the most efficient, healthful, empowering, and sustainable form of transportation there is.”

* Bike commuters in Washington D.C. (and elsewhere) power though the winter cold, the Washington Post reports.

* Speaking of winter commuters, did you know that during the dark and rainy weather of February 1974, school children were “forced” to use their bicycles on field trips. During the fuel crisis that winter, there simply wasn’t enough gasoline for school buses to be used for extra-curricular activities.

* LA Streetsblog looks at the bike collisions that go unreported

* A London bicyclist has kickstarted a new innovation for urban cyclists: The BLAZE bike light. Aimed at preventing a bicyclist from being caught in the blind spot, the BLAZE is a front light with super-bright LEDs that also projects the symbol of a bike down onto the road ahead of the cyclist, alerting road users of the bicyclist’s presence.

* “It’s too cold/too hot”, “I don’t want to get sweaty”, “It’s too far”: Bicycle Magazine provides solutions to the five most common excuses to not ride to work.  

* Traffic safety cameras in Seattle school zones to help keep kids safe. The City of Seattle is implementing a program to help curb dangerous speeding in school zones, reduce collisions and enhance the safety of children and pedestrians. In the one-month warning-citations period, cameras caught nearly 6,000 speeders near four Seattle schools.

* DC Streets Blog reports that a group of British health researchers have found that biking is safer than sitting on a couch. The British national health authority is advising UK residents to make walking and cycling the norm for short trips, in order to reduce the risk of chronic diseases associated with the nation’s obesity epidemic.

* Two-Way Protected Bike Lane Coming to the Heart of Downtown Chicago.  Chicago has made some real strides toward becoming a world-class bicycling city since Rahm Emanuel was elected mayor, promising 100 miles of protected bike lanes. The city DOT is moving ahead with a new, two-way protected bike lane on Dearborn Street, bringing safe cycling to the heart of downtown.

* Seven ways to make bike-share more accessible: Bike-sharing has been one of the most rapidly spreading transportation innovations in American cities but one cloud looming over this happy development is that not all residents have benefited equally from bike-share. which has tended to generate a disproportionately affluent ridership.

* USA Today reports that bicycle-specific stoplights, which are common overseas, are now used in at least 16 U.S. cities. (Locally, there is one located on North 34th Street in Fremont).

* Dutch pro cyclist and journalist Marijn de Vries goes on a humorous rant about electric bicycles and how these “fake cyclists” destroy her morale.