We’ve had quite a bit of bike talk the past week or so, but hey, ’tis the season, so here are a couple more related links.

The first is to a fellow Strib blog, BodyTalk, which looks at a Blue Cross program to give bicyclists discounts on some merchandise if they bike a certain number of miles; the post is here, and Josephine would love your comments.

The second link is from the New York Times; yesterday’s paper had this story about the huge success of Paris’ bike-rental program. More than 20,000 bikes, 1,450 rental stations, 120,000 rides a day, millions of euros for the city. On the less-rosy side, bike-car tensions are rising (surprise), and there have been three fatalities among bike renters. Overall, it’s going vastly better than our local yellow bike experiments of past years. We’ll have to see whether any U.S. cities try this on a grand scale.

Roadguy does not always wade through his mail as fast as he should, and he tends not to pay as much attention to mail that comes from P.R. firms, so he apologies for the short notice on this, but…. The folks from BlackBerry are sponsoring “a physical and mental contest to navigate Minneapolis” on Saturday from 10 a.m.-1 p.m., and it sounds like it might be an interesting time. The event is free, it starts and ends at the Guthrie Theater, and participants get to play with a new BlackBerry (and possibly win one). Registration is full, but a spokeswoman I contacted this afternoon says that it’s not too late to get on the waiting list, and that when the event was held in Boston a few weeks ago, about 20 teams from the list got to participate. (150 two-person teams will take part.) She also said there will be giveaways to people who don’t do the actual race. You can check it all out here.

First, a little something from alert reader Coco:

Thought you might enjoy this beautiful example of parallel parking I found outside my apartment:

Good grief — that’s pretty exceptional. Given the cost of gas, maybe the driver decided to stop right there to save fuel.

There’s also the possibility that the person holds the contrarian view that gas prices aren’t that high — alert reader Matty found a story in Slate titled “Gasoline is Cheap.”

Alert reader BarryS, meanwhile, directs our attention to this USA Today story about freeway removal — Oklahoma City is the latest to join this urban trend. Roadguy was thinking that the Twin Cities largely escaped the elevated-freeway boom back in the day, but BarryS notes a couple of examples:

Oklahoma City is doing something that I wish would happen in the North Loop — removing the highway and replacing it with a park and a boulevard. I’d like to see the I-94 viaducts in the North Loop removed, and 3rd and 4th streets become connecting thru streets.

That’s the catch with elevated roadways — they can be handy to drive on but are unpleasant to live near.

Finally, I got an e-mail from a P.R. firm for Verizon Wireless that offered tips on phone usage in the car; you can view the list here. My favorite was this:

Do not engage in complex, stressful or emotional calls while driving.

Roadguy notes that it’s not so great to have such conversations with your passengers, either.

May your Memorial Day weekend be full of pleasant chatter — and entirely moron-free.

• Moving up at MnDOT: An engineer takes the No. 2 spot; news brief here.
• A 3-minute limit on vehicle idling? Minneapolis is considering an ordinance, and there’s a committee meeting on the topic Thursday morning; a news release is here.
• Should a man give up his bus seat to a woman? This MNspeak post asked the question and got more than 100 comments.
• Street furniture: Minneapolis is looking at its benches, bus shelters and more; a Strib story from Tuesday is here.
• Bike celebrations: The new Freewheel Midtown Bike Center on the Midtown Greenway has a grand opening this Friday morning from 7-9 a.m. (and, for late risers, an open house from 4-7 p.m.); click here for the city news release on the event, here for more details on the bike center, here for a Greenway Coalition announcement. And on Sunday, there’s a naming ceremony for the Sabo bike and pedestrian bridge over Hiawatha Avenue. The celebration is from 3-5 p.m., with a program at 4 p.m; more info here.
• Speaking of bikes: Steve Brandt’s Wednesday column looks at bicycling in Minneapolis.

And speaking of MNspeak, if you have any insights as to why a post on that site referred to me as “the ironically named John Foti,” I hope you’ll share. (Is it ironic that my name isn’t John?)

• Slower trucks: Schneider, the Wisconsin-based trucking firm, is lowering its company speed limit from 63 to 60 mph to save fuel costs; a story out of Milwaukee is here.
• Faster speed limits? This post says Utah drivers could be allowed to go as fast as 85 mph.
• Higher gas prices: Watching them climb is almost a daily ritual; a Strib story is here.
• Meet some local bicyclists: Click here for five vita.mn profiles.
• Free bikes for visiting Republicans: An AP story, via Minnesota Public Radio, is here.
• New driving rules? The Legislature is still working it out; one story is here.

• Lakeville joins TransitWorld: You’ll be able to take the bus starting in September 2009; Strib story here.

• Duluth sings the Gusset Plate Blues: The Blatnik Bridge to Superior is getting some work done; Strib story here.
• Two New York Times stories that talk about red-light cameras: This one looks at the fine print of car-rental contracts, which allow companies to plead guilty to your traffic violations and bill you; this one takes a more general look at the cameras and also mentions technology that can tell you about speed traps.
• Another groundbreaking for the Northstar line: Big Lake takes its turn here.
• Free parking for carpoolers: On Wednesdays, at least; a news brief on the ABC Ramps is here.