a tipping point for bike commuters and a silver lining

Post Hurricane Sandy blog 11/2/12
Okay i've resisted for 4 days, but now that Mayor Bloomberg suggests biking as a way to move through the city (NYC) i'll share the others who are jumpin on that wagon train. i also did so on the frankenstorm worry page i set up while the storm was brewing and no one could reach anyone. 2 links are articles and 2 are videos that all suggest that right now, a bike is a perfect solution to the logjam that is NYC. with subway, airport, and transit lines still underwater and connections impossible to lower manhattan, one is faced with long lines to wait for cross town busses, ferries from the docks, or waits at working petro stations for fuel, to only then sit in gridlock while folks figure out how to circumnavigate their city given the obstacles. oh, new yorkers can do it if anyone can, and some have already figured out a better solution and are even boasting about how quickly they can arrive for work, BY BIKE. what? yep by bike. so when i say silver lining or tipping point, it is not without concern and appreciation for the loss and devastation that the super storm victims are feeling, but it is with some hope that an idea's time (a perfectly good one in fact), has finally come.
bicycle commuting.
not bike racing, not spandex, and certainly not tour de l@^(* armstrong. no i mean bikes as transportation, and the freeing, economical, healthy, unscheduled, zen-like, creative, and practical solution to how to get to work. or school. or the doctor. or the transit museum (i hear they are open and free to visit).
now certainly the ground work was already laid for bicycles as transportation by J.Sadik-Khan - NYDOT, Ray LaHood - USDOT, NYC Mayor Bloomberg, Mike Lydon - Street Plans Collaborative, ALTA bike shares and many other advocates. so to know that the city has been acclimatizing to bikes on the streets, bike facilities have increased exponentially, and citizens have become more aware are all great foundations for a moment when all else fails except the bike. and then what does the city do?
just hop on a bike, pump up the tires, and take off, as usual. to know that NYC might, from this day forward, or for many months currently, rely heavily on and dedicate space to and make policy for bikes/pedestrians as a preferred way of travel is why i say that it is the silver lining in Sandy and possibly a tipping point to set us on the path to look and function like copenhagen or amsterdam one day. and with all of that will come better health, less diabetes/obesity, cleaner air, less stress, alternative commutes, and fatter purses.

1 http://go.bloomberg.com/hurricane-sandy/2012/10/31/advice-for-post-sandy-new-york-traffic-take-the-bike/
2 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/nyregion/with-transportation-snarled-in-brooklyn-bicycles-roam-free.html?ref=nyregion&_r=0
3 http://www.nytimes.com/video/2012/11/02/nyregion/100000001880180/after-sandy-two-wheeled-commute.html
4 http://player.vimeo.com/video/52640864

My Review

Originally submitted at Trek

light as a feather, and a great fit

By maplover from griffin, georgia on 10/16/2012

 

5out of 5

Pros: Light Weight, Saddle, Ergonomic Grips, Easy shifting, Color

Best Uses: Commuting, Rail trails, Weekend Rides

after 15 years on the 7500 hybrid, i finally let myself buy a new trek, my 4th over my lifetime. the FX7.4 is so light weight, well specked for women's torsos, has comfy grips, well formed saddle and lovely pearl color with eggplant + gold accents and all trimmed out in black vs. chrome. i commute daily and ride weekend rail trails or charity rides. bike has mounts for future rack w/panniers and a wireless bike computer (no more messy wires!) the ride is smooth, fast, shifts well, and if i enter another duathlon with my partner i bet i'll even place better. i love it. oh, and its so much easier to lift this to my subaru roof rack than the last 15 years. i'll probably need a replacement arm workout now. :) oh, and with the bomber kevlar tires, lets just say i wont be stressing any flats. all this for $799, only $150 more than i paid 15 years ago. Way to maintain a bargain on a fantastic product over the years Trek.

taking the new ride home

Tags: Picture of Product

bike commuter parking...if you're the only one

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(legalese)

a new ride, after 15 years...and new homes for the others

15 years! at this rate it means i'll have this beauty til I'm 60-65. that's okay, i'm content just thinking i've laid the foundation to still be moving at 65...the bonus will be this beautiful set of wheels lasting til then. oh, and it will. i'm a trek devotee, and they've all lasted quite a while. i recalled all my previous bikes today and here's the purchase history:

• 1st trek = 420 touring bike, bought in DC at citybike in 1987...oodles of miles
• 2nd trek = 7500 hybrid bike, bought in Berkeley at missing link in 1997...~800 miles per year commuting for 15 years
• 3rd trek = 1000 road bike bought from YHC pal paige in Athens in 2010...barely tried it
• 4th trek = FX7.4 hybrid bought in ATL Trek southside in 2012...we shall see

an interesting part of the story to me, is not just how long they lasted me and where they went, but who they went to for the 'next' chapter of their lives.

• i sold the touring bike to a para-athlete at lake tahoe who wore a blade on one leg; she needed a bike without those clipless pedals, in other words, an old fashioned pedal cage was best suited to balance her prosthetic on the pedal and not trap her
• i still have the hybrid bike, and as recently as this weekend, she was my go to ride. but admittedly she was much heavier than aluminum or carbon fiber frames, with a welded seat post, and well worn shifters, and thus holding me back a bit. she'll serve as a bike for weekend guests
• i sold the shiny red road bike to my pal Ilka who loves her and prefers the road style ride whereas i could no longer hunch over and knew pretty quickly after i rescued her from paige's dusty garage, that i  preferred a sit-up straight style and there was no use denying it.
• that brings me to the new pearl hybrid beauty that i will commute on, and do charity rides, rail-trails, and as of last weekend,  perhaps a few more events, like the duathlon jeff and i entered in griffin, which was great fun. and she only weighs 24 lbs. so i will finally find it easy to load my bike on top of the subaru for travelin.

a bicycling event in October, thank you!

Finally someone got it right, or listened to other Georgians on the seasons/weather down here. it's a bicycling event with lots of interest and opportunities to participate from all over the state NOT held in the scorching summers we have here in the deep south. bravo! and yes' i'm in. and blogging it.
http://www.cleanaircampaign.org/Blog/Biking-to-Work-It-s-Not-Just-Economical-it-s-a-Lifestyle

what's great is october is truly autumn here and colorful, crisp, and sunny which is such a welcome relief from swampy, hot, humid, sticky summers. so holding a bicycling challenge now might actually get some participants...AND more importantly they'll like it and do it again. this one is called:
Bike to Work Challenge by the Clean Air Campaign.

update: our little team in griffin, georgia placed 7th in the state! now that frickin rocks, all of ATL was competing and a few outlying cities, anyone could, but most thought it was an ATL thang. well, we are only 45 minutes south or so and on some days even get included in the metro ATl boundary, so we entered.
we rocked it, Traci H on our team even placed 7th individually!!! go october.

but alas, there are other, not so brilliantly timed events:

• BRAG - bike ride across Georgia held every year in early June when the asphalt cant get much hotter...and then it does.
• Peachtree Road Race - hot July 4th, but mostly for the slow cabooses b/c at least the race does start early.
• Bike Tour de Farm - held on Memorial Day weekend, fabulous event but even the organizers were in the SAG van by the end of it, too hot.
• Athens Triathlon Tri to beat Cancer- held annually now in late August, probably just b/c one dare not challenge the fall SEC calendar dates.

and luckily we have a few on the horizon that seem to have consulted the farmers almanac:

• Cohutta Springs Triathlon, which given that it was at the extreme northern border of GA, might be borderline cool if staged early October, reported 2 chilly dudes last weekend
• cLips of Faith bike/beer/film tour by New Belgium, runs all summer, but doesnt get to GA til October (smart)
• Presidents and Patriots bike ride / camp out across peanut country in way south GA and thru 2 state parks in early November :)
• Atlanta Beltline tour by bike - held in early May before it heats up
• Firefly Trail tour - held in late march in Athens to inspire folks to dust off the wheels and spring out

And the coup de grace, just to prove how brilliant October is for gathering and holding events in Georgia...the statewide annual bike summit is held mid month. i'm so glad we got that right! see you there. Oh, and dont mind me, I just like to whine about the heat...meanwhile I ride yearround, admittedly slower and with less layers in summer.
peace.

but how do you dress for work and cycle?

Me and Jeff biking w/Muscogee indians in Macon, 2012

its easy once you embrace it. just buy a-line skirts, boots, skinny leg pants, lots of fun $1 gloves at target, and scarves for winter. a good jacket with windbloc is pretty key to winter riding. i dont deal so much with the rain gear b/c i dont live in seattle or portland. if i did, i'd be gettin some new gear.
meanwhile i leave enough time to cover my 2-4 mile ride such that i roll leisurely thru my community, check out folks mailbox gardens, wave at neighbors, and enjoy the cruise to work. i'm not sweaty b/c i'm not rushing, even in summer. now i do have a desk fan at work just in case a commute gets sticky. but really a quick freshen up with say a lovely scented baby wipe, a moment in front of the fan and one is ready to go.
oh, i also have crazy curly hair and i havent met a helmet yet that can defy it, so no muss with the hair.
all in all, you have to want to be out there on the bike, you dress for it, you ride like you own it, and you love it. pave your own way, and fill it with your own style. it gives you a good excuse to transform a wardrobe with a specific goal in mind. oh, a some velcro leg wrap bands are key for keeping the cuffs outta the chain. and those 'slap band' styles, wrap right around the bike tube when not is use. keep it all loaded and a bike station by the door of your house so when you head out you have all you need.
here's some facebook album pix over the years of how i've dressed for commuting to work, my bike (a hybrid with city tires), and a link to the real cycle chic going on over in copenhagen. enjoy the ride!

out and about in the autumn-like weather

15 folks jogging the sidewalks or streets of griffin on the way to work this morning! family of 4 biking home today with kids in the cargo pull along...did the weather change or what? hellooooo griffin.

summertime bike-to-work scene around griffin

so far i've biked to work every day of June and July, not that those are the most preferred or pleasant months in the south mind you. it's dang hot and sticky so i try to ride early. and home is a downhill coast so even tho 530pm is blazing hot, its working out fine and a quick journey home.
now when i relocated here, i searched for a house less than 2-2.5 miles from work which is downtown. knowing that the streets felt pretty flat and many had sidewalks and gorgeous tree lined lanes, i knew it'd be a scenic, easy, pleasant and downright enjoyable route to work. and it is. indeed. i can tell you when neighbors change out their flower bed, when another repositions their sprinklers (woo!), when the nannies take the babies out for walks, and if the public works crew is lining up a project. i have several errands on my route if need to stop like: Ace hardware for essentials like felt pads for furniture legs, extra citronella candles; RiteAid to grab a Rx or pack of gum; the dry cleaner (best to pick up things like boxed up wool sweaters) and put them in bike basket; and even the local bottle shop.
the real challenge is just getting folks used to seeing me on the road and respecting cyclists they encounter. after that we'll tackle actual bike/pedestrian installations (bike lanes, sidewalks, bike racks, busses w/bike racks, links to city parks and schools) to make it safer and easier. in GA, bikes are legal on the roads and have enacted a 3-foot passing law but many motorists are not aware of this.
so i do my part and, i obey all traffic signals, i wave at friendly folks, i signal my every move, and i dress in work clothes. employing a bit of the 'mary poppin effect' there. (the idea is that motorists see folks in dress clothes headed somewhere by bike and are simply more likely to identify with and thus respect them and thus not endanger them or get as fed up if delay them 10 seconds or so.) folks in lycra often appear to motorists as simply 'that guy trying to go fast for pleasure on a bike' and in my way. note, i've adopted this philosophy of attire ever since i left DC bike commuting behind in the late 90s. in those days my workplace built showers and offered free metro cards for folks willing to try an alternate commute. and i did live further away back then.
nowadays i make all career/home moves in life with my commute in mind and i design it as best i can to fit withing the 2 mile radius rule. data shows that 40% of all auto trips we take in the US are under 2 miles and yes, that includes going to work, errands, school, eating out etc. so those are the ones to target as easily doable by bike! yes, i have a car and i turn the key every couple of weeks just to make sure it cranks. :)

my latest flyer to get neighbor ladies involved

dedication to bike commuting isnt always fun, but i'll never be short on stories

kaboom! thunder rattles the 2nd floor office building and Aronda confirms, yep typical summer-in-the-south, 5pm afternoon t-storm overhead. 'you want a ride home?' nah, i'll wait it out and work on a facebook pitch i'm designing for the boss. should be fun, thanks anyway. i'll call a taxi later if it doesnt pass.
5 hours later...i'm finally home and drying out and boy do i have a story for you.
so i met the only taxi driver in griffin and surrounding area, mary dee. but she's not the only one i called, i let my fingers do the walkin and YP told me there were a few...but none of them answered. so 2-3 hours into my delay (i forget exactly b/c i was watching the olympic videos and ben harper online since i dont have a TV at home). anyway 2-3 hours after 5pm, the rain, or shall i say the big ass hovering thunderstorm, full of lightening is not moving and radar shows its settled in over griffin. so i am calling taxis and watching the olympics...and watching the sky, and no one is answering the taxi line.
so with what little fading light there is, i decide to grab my umbrella, and my bike with bright flashing taillight ON, and start walking the 1.5 miles home on the sidewalk. 3 blocks into the walk, and conveniently in front of a favorite bar/restaurant of mine (6th Street Pier) i feel the heat of a few lightening strikes and decide that walkin about all mary poppins with my brolly is not the wisest move and i would like to live to tell this story.
so, pop into 6th Street Pier, wave at the regulars and ask the owner if she knows of a taxi company in town that answers their phone. surprisingly and thankfully, she says yes, i have this one lady's number and the coppers gave it to me to send home the drunks when noone else would. great i say and ring up Mary!
and as jackie gleason used to say "and away we go", the fun really begins now. mary says she'll be 10 minutes or so and in the meantime the 9pm crowd is now finishing dinner and sees me outside under awning with bright flashy bike lights and averts their eyes and whisper, 'what is that all about' or some such confused, never seen that in griffin look. at this point mary pulls up to the curb and buckets begin to pour out of the sky as she asks me if she should let the seats down to fit the bike or just shove it in the back and tie the van door closed? i assure her it will fit and that I even know how to lift it in just so.
we shove off and i remind her that i have no cash, as i mentioned on the phone, and that we'll have to pull thru a drive-thru ATM down the block. we do and are all set to drive the now 1.25 miles to the house. and lucky enough she lives nearby too, and says she doesnt feel right charging me much, so how bout $5 bucks. deal i say and we roll to bieze street. upon arrival she turns off the elderly van to assist me with the unload and even holds the brolly over me while i pop out the bike, and head to the porch which is now 15 feet away...but before i can get there, i hear that definitive sound, grind, grind, click, click, click, click, silence. dead battery. but not totally silent b/c thunder & lightening are still booming and lighting up the sky which helps us locate the battery under the hood.
'um, mary, you want help?' 'no, its fine, i just hit these cables with the wrench sometimes and she fires right up.' i go in to let anxious charlie brown see that mom has indeed finally come home, albeit with a new friend, and learn that the wrench trick isnt working and lazy boyfriend who was called, advises mary, 'check the fuses'. mary insists i go in but i say the only reason you are out in the bitchin storm is me, so lets figure this out. an expert  manuever of the subaru thru the front yard grass (which the lease says i'm not supposed to drive/park on) positions little roo well to assist old tired mary van and what's required is actually a combo of jumper cables AND the wrench tap tap, which i expertly deliver and VROOM, she fires right up.
mary now rolls off into the night, telling me not to worry if i never call her again, she knows i think she's crazy and its okay. of course i assure her that even if she is, she is the only one who answered and given my dedication to bike commuting, i'll likely be seeing her again.