The Great Big Tweet and Run Bike Blog Roundup

OK, so we had hoped that the big story this week would be 4000 people asking for change in Edinburgh - but it turned out to be one silly girl on twitter who allegedly knocked a cyclist off his bike in a protest against tax evasion, or something. With m'learned friends getting on board, and the driver herself backpedalling furiously, Karl on Sea places his bets on the likely outcome. Cambridge Cyclist looks at the bigger picture while what shocked Helen Blackman was her very ordinariness. The People's Cycling Front wonders what BBC Norfolk was doing stirring up hatred while Levenes compiles the best of the Daily Mail comments so you don't have to - and the Environmental Transport Association attempts to knock the road tax myth on the head for once and for all. Or at least until next week, anyway.

Well that was depressing, so let's go back to Pedal on Parliament which was extensively covered through pen-and-ink and audio files as well as in words and photographs from Kats Dekker, Eva Groeneveld of the WWF, John Lauder from Sustrans, and many more. Lynne McNicoll, whose step son was killed in Edinburgh writes about why she was there, Dead Dog Blog says we're not 'bloody cyclists', we're everyone, Wisob managed to go at the last minute, Hazler enjoyed the sheer diversity, the Innertube map was struck by how many cyclists were left over, Auld Reekie Cyclist enjoyed taking the kids along and CTC noticed more families and novices out while Denise Marshall hopes that if she has kids they'll be able to cycle as freely. Weathered Cyclist was glad Graeme Obree wasn't setting the pace, Greener Leith ran a feeder ride and Rosie Bell sums up the day. MSPs Sarah Boyack and Alison Johnstone consider the political agenda - with Alison prompted to ask questions in Parliament while Cycling Dumfries considers the implications locally (and they were Pedalling on Athens too). Despite the success of the day Magnatom is getting angry - and news of a child cyclist killed in Aberdeen won't have helped.

In a very interesting post, ibikelondon looks at how all those cyclist-unfriendly road narrowing schemes came about - blame the cycle campaigners. The Ranty Highwayman considers the highway engineer's perspective. At least the City of London has acknowledged the problem while the Bristol Cycle Campaign are campaigning against pinch points. With Cycle Space wondering if whole cities could be said to be intelligent, Vole O'Speed visits one of the brightest - although not always"> - and says ignore the fluff about Copenhagen (an inspiration to Americans as well as Brits), and consider the 'meat and potatoes': separated cycle tracks on busy main roads where people want to go, as endorsed by the Harvard School of Public Health. All something CROWize Vienna would entirely agree with - and Carlton Reid would point out was nothing new (and even pre-dates bicycles). As Chafe City is baffled by the view that when there's no room to share it's the bicycles that should be banned, Dave Horton steps back and sums up his cycling struggles series while Dead Dog Blog wonders why of all the activities taught in schools only cycling has to rely on volunteers and Bikeable Jo points out that bikeable politics are all part of a bikeable style. Meanwhile, as driving continues to fall in the US, Oregon's Department of Transport moves away from being a Highway department. Perhaps one day the UK will follow...

Maybe it already is, with a new cycle corridor planned in Wales, and Dutch-style tracks planned in Manchester - so exciting the GMCC had to expand its newsletter. Leeds Cycle campaign supports the city's bid and Cottenham Cyclist wins a minor victory over a dangerous junction. Kennington People on Bikes has some suggestions for improvements in Lambeth while NewCycling has some suggestions for Newcastle city centre. But lest we get too carried away, there's always Westminster's cycling strategy to bring us back to earth, along with Network Rail, construction traffic on a supposedly child-friendly network, a lack of ambition in Sheffield and a threat to Boris's revolution before it's even begun. WillCycle tries to get a straight answer out of Plymouth Council, Dead Dog Blog wonders why the little things are so hard to sort out and Newcastle cycling are concerned about plans for Gosforth, so it's business as usual.

Further afield, the big news internationally continues to be the countdown to New York's bike share scheme (assuming the locals will ever let them put the stations in - although some have been nicely placed). People for Bikes makes some predictions, the Guardian busts some of the myths, Streetsblog considers the knock on effects while Seattle is still raising funding for its own.

Beyond the Big Apple, Keving Mayne sees Germany's grey cycling revolution for himself while Copenhagenize admires Hungary's marketing brilliance and Seattle puts bikes at the heart of disaster relief plans. One Dutch commuter doesn't let a little thing like a border get in the way of cycling to work, while Chafe City positively enjoys roadworks on her commute. San Francisco gets a new bike barometer and bikes on rush hour trains, Austin gets a new green lane, Hyderabad gets a bicycle master plan, the Dutch get bicycle accessory vending machines and even Las Vegas is getting more bike friendly. With a new mayor reversing Memphis's reputation one of the worst cities for cycling, the Pittsburgh candidate may be similarly transformative. Elsewhere, removal of protective bollards makes a bike lane into a death trap, it turns out Dutch cyclists are just like everyone else and cyclists in Auckland would like to know how bikes and buses can safely coexist. How about 'separately'?

With the last ripples still subsiding from last week's advice-for-women-gate, in America youn women are leading the way, in bike shopping anyway. Women on a Wheel is encouraged by the news although Lets Go Ride a Bike will be purchasing online next time. Let's not forget that for many women, bikes are a symbol of freedom - indeed for everyone. After all, if you want to retire at 30, get a bike (bit late for some of us, but never mind)

As ever, bikenomics was to the fore this week with a study showing that increased cycling brought £4m to Glasgow's economy, with infrastructure improvements part of the reason why. It wasn't just Glasgow either, with Oregon attempting to quantify the impact of the bicycle economy, the Germans considering the benefits too and yet another infographic looking at the benefits to individuals. A US firm slashes its healthcare costs by encouraging its emplyees to cycle while the ECF suggests that congestion and parking charges should be used to fund cycling (nobody tell the 'bikes don't pay road tax' brigade about that...) while national governments need to support local projects as well..

More seriously, icycleliverpool adds sentencing data to the tally of cyclists killed and looks at fatalities by population while Drawing Rings points out that safer streets (and fewer collisions) also make traffic flow. Buffalo Bill attends a cycle safety event and encounters a lawyer foolhardy enough to encourage eveyrone to wear a helmet, while Tech Addiction works out why she really wears hers (although it does turn out that those geeky ankle straps might actually be a good idea... that and avoiding tram tracks. Meanwhile Lewisham cyclists remembers a 17-year-old killed just over a year ago - and a Canadian father has to resort to a freedom of information request to discover why charges were dropped against the man who killed his son.

As the 'war' between cyclists and drivers rumbles on, The Urbanist points out that no matter how many red lights you stop at motorists will still resent you (after all we're stopping them speeding) - but it's the pedestrians who should benefit (and at the very least please don't hit a guide dog - although in Scotland it was the cyclists who came to one dog owner's rescue). Slate proposes a cyclist-pedestrian armistice while proposals to introduce cyclist awareness modules in driving schools are widely welcomed - Downfader finds one driver who could do with a few lessons. In Baltimore there's a crackdown on perfectly legally parked bikes, while in Tokyo you can break the law and win a prize while in the UK it seems fashion police really do exist. Bristol Traffic discovers there's just not enough pavement to go round while at least G4S are responsive to complaints.

And finally - if that last link wasn't enough to blow your mind - then this one will.