Dan on Bike

Just one commute this week – rain and parent/teacher conferences kept me off the bike the other days.  However, my vacation starts on Friday, so I plan on several rides over the next week – and none of them to work.

With more wonderful weather today, I decided to perform my errands by bike.  First was a quick visit to Greyhouse Coffee for a Bulldog Root Beer and some web surfing.  The bike racks near the shop were full, so I had to find a place down the street.

Next, I rode across the river to the downtown bus depot to catch a ride to the east side of town. As I waited for the 11:15, I noticed families dressed in green walking to the parking lot.  It was then I realized that I had just missed the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade over the Myers Pedestrian Bridge.  Maybe next year.

Maybe taking the bus up the big hill is a cop out, but I enjoyed the ride – and the rest.

Not surprised to find out that there is no bike rack at the Comcast office.  After leaning the bike on the window (so I could watch it from inside) I took my place in line.  The new digital cable box I picked up was smaller than expected, and it fit easily in my pannier briefcase along with my laptop.

A quick stop at Jethro’s BBQ brought me a tasty lunch, including my 2nd root beer of the day – a TripleXXX.

Next stop was Lowe’s hardware – about two blocks to the north.  The intersection of Creasy and South streets is a busy intersection, and there are no special facilities for cycling.  However, a vehicular cyclist like myself has no problem taking his lane and getting where he needs to go.

I picked up a paint scraper and some light bulbs.  These two items fit in my grocery sack pannier with the bike lock and some other stuff.

Heading home I had no problem riding down the same hill that the bus helped me up.  Too bad I always seem to hit the red light at the bottom.

Riding the final leg on South River Road, I started feeling the sunburn on my arms, and the week’s worth of riding in my legs, along with a strong thirst in my mouth.  Apparently, two root beers isn’t enough liquid for this long of a ride! A lesser man would have made the call for a pickup, but I instead decided to tough out the last five miles.

I have declared this ride a success, and I look forward to many more this year.

The warm March weather this year has helped me get on the road and ride to work three times this week.  I also had a Sunday warm up ride to get my legs started.

For my first rides in my legs felt pretty good, and I still felt strong the days after.  That is a good sign for the rest of the year.

Looking forward to a good year of biking.

I’m wondering how the crew on the 231 bypass project will cart off the debris from the former culvert.  The pieces are much bigger than the SUV in the foreground.

Can you believe I signed up for 30 Days of Biking?  And I’m the guy who totally failed at my goals last year.

Here’s how this will hopefully be different.  I was reading recently about Jerry Seinfeld’s Productivity Secret on Lifehacker.  Basically, to build a habit to do something every day, put up a big calendar and put a big X on each day to perform the task.  I’m trying this now with the March Photo a Day Challenge, and it’s going pretty well.  Haven’t missed a day so far.  In an earlier trial, I took a self portrait every day for over two years!

• Year 1
• Year 2
• March (so far)

Although, with photos, my big calendar becomes a daily post on Flickr or Instagram.  It may sound like I’m breaking Jerry’s one rule, but I think it adds an extra dimension of social responsibility, as I’m participating with friends.

30 Days of Biking has a similar facet, as we are encouraged to post notes and photos from each day’s ride.  I will post here with a Flickr photo and a Tweet pointing back.

Wish me luck!  And I suggest you may want to try it as well.

I was reading this post by the Citizen Rider that discussed “feeling safer” while riding, and I was reminded of thoughts I have had many times while talking with co-workers, family, and friends about cycling.

Many people don’t feel safe riding on a road without a separate bike lane or ample shoulder in which to travel.  Drivers who have no intention of hitting anyone worry about cyclists not being safe when taking the lane.  Other, less polite, drivers think that a cyclist is wasting their time and in their way.

To me, these view point out an attitude that we in the US are subtly taught from birth, and reinforce every time we travel anywhere.  An attitude that is demonstrated by transportation design, and strengthened by everything from gasoline prices to penalties to drivers for harming cyclists.

ROADS ARE JUST FOR CARS

To anyone that regularly bikes using a vehicular cycling technique, this is not a new thought.  However, for those that don’t ride, the idea is not that obvious.

I read on in a webpost once (Sorry I don’t remember where) an account of a bicycle commuting speaker presenting to a community group.  During the Q&A portion, a nice older lady talked about cyclists riding through an area that included an interstate highway.  As one can imagine, there were no bike lanes on this part of the road, so the cyclist took his lane.

As the lady came up on the cyclist from behind, she says that she was worried about hitting him, and asked what she could do.  The speaker very politely told her that she should slow down to the cyclist’s speed until it was safe to pass.  She was shocked, and maybe a little embarrassed.

If it were a tractor travelling at the same speed, the answer would be obvious.  However, we are not taught to think that way about non-motorized traffic – or pedestrians for that matter.

I don’t have a solution that will change the attitude of drivers in the US (and maybe other countries as well) except this:

• Ride your bike safely, legally, consistently, and considerately.  Only by demonstrating to others that not all bike riders are dangerous scofflaws can we ever obtain an equal footing.
• Teach your children, friends, and cycling mates about proper biking behavior.  All riders must understand the laws and best practices in order to follow them.  ”Common sense” is what tells people to ride on the wrong side of the road, use sidewalks, run stop signs, salmon on a one way street, etc.

Based upon the readership of this blog, I imagine I’m preaching to the choir with this article, but I hope I can convince a few riders to think a little about what they are doing and how it could affect everyone’s safety and enjoyment while travelling.

A recent article on edmonds.com outlines 10 rules for motorists to coexist with cyclists.  I read them more as guidelines or advice, and these points could really apply to interactions with any slower moving vehicle.

3. Adjust That Attitude: Motorists tend to think of cyclists as ”in their way,” Clarke says. Rather, they should think of them as equals, just as entitled to the roadway as drivers are, says Clarke and other experts in the cycling community.

Drivers who get impatient with bicyclists might want to stop for a moment and think about the human being on that bike, says Bob Mionske, a Portland cycling attorney and cyclist: What if that rider was my friend, a friend of a friend, or a neighbor? Somehow, seeing bicyclists that way makes people a little more patient, he says. When drivers don’t humanize cyclists this way, he finds, they often perceive riders as mere objects.

If you can pinpoint the moment when a bicyclist is starting to irritate you — because you can’t see where he is going or because he’s moving slowly and is making you late — picture him as a family member or friend. That might calm you down, Mionske says.

Discussing these rules with your cycle-annoyed friends may be the first step to convince them that most cyclists are more like them than they think.

Have you seen this commerical?

The lady comes down the driveway, looks only to the right, turns left, and proceeds to ride around the block on the wrong side of the road. Now, it is possible it is set in the UK, but with a company named Liberty Mutual, I don’t think so.

They probably didn’t mean to show someone riding so dangerously; more likely they didn’t even think about it.

The other morning, I was driving to work and came upon my neighbor on his bicycle. Now, he is a great guy, and I enjoy riding with him, but he does have one less than safe behavior – he tends to ride as far right as possible. When I slowed behind him (and he didn’t know it was me), he moved right against the grass line. (There is not room for a cyclist and driver to share the lane on this narrow road.) He finally pulled over in the grass and stopped to let me by.

I have mentioned here before that I have found that riding too far to the right invites bad, risky behavior on the part of some drivers. They will pass unsafely, trying to squeeze between me and the inevitable oncoming car. To discourage this, I position myself approximately two feet away from the fog line. TAKE THE LANE!! My neighbor has seen me do this hundreds of times, but hasn’t taken the hint.

I felt the need to write out my frustrations, so I had planned to write a post called “Don’t Be a Gutter Bunny”. However, I instead came across this post by Dave Moulton with the same title that voices the problems of taking this position and shows how taking the lane can help avoid injury in some dangerous situations. His writing style is much clearer and more entertaining than I could ever be, so I saw no need to try to top it. Please give it a read and share with your friends. I may anonymously mail the link to my neighbor.

Don’t Be a Gutter Bunny

Making a beer delivery at work today.