The ugly ripple effect when a major retailer closes its doors.

Bicycle insurance: Idea whose time has come? With more folks, especially Gen/pick your letter/ers, relying on bikes only for transportation, maybe so. If it does happen it will tell us something about a major demographic shift. Insurance always runs the numbers first.

From a cop: Bicycles have a right to the whole friggin’ lane.

DirtBowl.net: Dave Wiens is coming to the Marin DirtBowl! Not many cyclists have gone head to head with Lance Armstrong and emerged the winner. Dave Wiens, the standout Leadville 100 retired pro, can make such a claim. Although it’s certainly a distinction in his long and glorious career, it’s far from his signature accomplishment, and Wiens is a generous, modest and exemplary representative for the cycling community. Be sure to join Wiens, the Marin County Bicycle Coalition and the NorCal High School Mountain Bike League for a big fundraiser ride starting 10:30 a.m. Feb. 7 at the golf course in San Geronimo. Don’t worry, you won’t miss the typically boring, overhyped football game where the commercials outshine the onfield “entertainment” — unless, like me, you want to. Cyclelicio.us has more.

The Perfect Crime: If you’re out to kill someone but don’t want to serve any jail time, all you have to do is make sure they’re riding a bicycle at the time. What could be easier!

Speaking of Aptos, we were riding there the day before Christmas Eve, coming down the road in Forest of Nisene Marks, when who should pass us driving up but Cam McCaul & the boyz, pickup full of bikes ‘n lads. It’s kinda cool when you can see the stars from Crankworx and DVDs cruise by like any other day in the woods. Hope they did some maintenance on the trails, someone took out the jumps and the lips are all ragged on one of our favorites anyway.

Seattle’s Cascade Bicycle Club, along with Silverdale Cyclery, will host a bicycle advocacy workshop for Kitsap cyclists beginning 9:30 a.m. Saturday Jan. 9 at the shop, 9242 Silverdale Way NW in Silverdale on the peninsula. RSVP at cyclery@silverdalecyclery.com or 360 692-5508.

And Cascade’s Transportation Advocacy Day will be Jan. 28 in Olympia. RSVP to Chris Rule.

Mobiky the folder king

Chris Kovarik tells his secrets.

Bike sharing in Silicon Valley now has a date — March.

Reason No. 2,369 to ride a bike: It helps your marriage last … and last!