Another "commuter biking more popular" story

http://www.mnn.com/eco-biz/sustainable-business-practices/blogs/biking-to-work-is-becoming-popular?hpt=Sbin

Green a.m.; Black Bike

Compare to my earlier "Gray a.m." What I see in the morning these days on the Black Bike, which I am renaming "Bête Noir" as a nod to its urban sophistication.

Success

I am now firmly established in the habit of riding my 2.3 miles to and from work each day via electric bike. It is such a joy. I am pleased to report the overhaul has been a great success. It rides so smooth now and it is just so much fun. After six months, the routes I take in and out have been refined so that I am usually physically separated from any traffic, and I have figured out how to cross the intersections in a harmonious fashion. In fact, it feels safer to me than driving a truck in the midst of all the snarling vehicles. The warming weather (trees are already starting to bloom here and the high is supposed to be 78'F today) and lengthening daylight make it that much nicer. The ideal commute, at a cost of $1 per month.

Serenery

Some scenery from a bike ride home.

Gray a.m.

The view along the canal I bike past in the mornings. It was foggy yesterday. I'm amazed at how black-and-white this photo turned out without any post-processing. (c) 2009

Catching up

Well the situation at the fuel pumps has settled down, but I have not been driving much lately. The Jeep is attracting cobwebs.

The weather has been so nice I have been biking in to work in the mornings. We just had a cold snap, so I had to pull out some of my SLC-proven Cold Weather Biking Gear: Specialized biking gloves, a fleece jacket (allegedly wind resistant), and some reflective 180s ear muffs. The last item was surprizingly relevant today; it was windy and wet (low last night wsa 38'F), but at least my ears weren't cold.

It was a beautiful ride. The wind was driving the mist off the canal, like a big magical boiling pot. Just much colder.

Urban Bikes

We've had some nice cool, dry weather recently and it's got me biking to work regularly. With repetition I have refined my route considerably, esp. on the inbound leg.

I pass egrets in the mornings as I pedal along a canal. I have managed to cut the steepest hill out of the picture by turning left into a lightly traveled residential area near the Governor's Mansion.

On the way home, I generally follow the traffic lights. I do stay on the sidewalk if the roads are crowded. Basically I am following the free space. The only time I am assertive is when a light turns green and I am in the pedestrian walk, then I go in front of the cars.

I see several other bikers every day. There is one girl in particular that rides a bike with a basket past my office. Trek is playing to the commuter segment of the market with its "Urban Bikes." The models are named after cities; I wonder if Specialized had that idea first with their Langsters. They offer decent refinements like fenders and racks but the frames are aluminum, which I hear is a rough ride.

I am glad to be riding more regularly, even if it's not very far. It is so much more fun than driving. It makes more sense than ever with the hurricane-inspired gas shortages lately. There are still some stations out of fuel in Atlanta. After two years though, the batteries on my e-bike seem noticeably less efficient. It's still enough to get me to work and back, but yet another of many bike costs lately. Even so, it doesn't compare to paying near $50 to fill up every time. Last time I bought gas, a couple of weeks ago, it was $4.29.

The river was angry and swollen

Another day biking to work. I ditched the Riverwalk this time in favor of a lesser used street.

The way in was otherwise routine but during lunch my bike showed further evidence of falling apart. The cover came off one of my tail lights and I ended up losing one of the AAA batteries (I need to secure them with a rubber band or something). On the way home my left Grip Shift somehow separated so that I only had the lowest gear up front.

It was amusing to think that I was down to one derailleur, and one brake. I had a skinnier wheel in the back from my mountain bike and the brake was too loose to grip it. Why the wheel swap? I just got the spoke repaired on the original one---$20 right there. Me and my redundant systems. If it got dark I would be relying on just a single tail light too.

The general feeling I got was of substandard readiness, if not pending collapse. I swapped the rear rack with the one on my other mountain bike, but even that doesn't seem heavy duty enough for the 30 pounds of lead-acid batteries. The newest thing on the bike is the seat, and it's not really all that comfortable. I'd like to redo everything so it is all aviation grade.

The river on the way home was brown and swollen from all the recent rain. It seemed kind of cranky.

I'm a real bike commuter now

It's hard to be a real bike commuter when you work at home. Now I've taken a real job a bikeable distance away: about three miles, part of it along a river walk.

There is a short but incredibly steep incline involved. I actually rode my bike to the job interview yesterday and arrived in reasonably presentable condition thanks to the electric drive. I carried a blazer in my back basket. Temperature was only in the mid-80s.

Of course, the lifestyle is not always a walk in the park. I have to ride next to a canal where an alligator is known to live. I am more concerned about maintenance issues right now. That broken spoke presents a thorny issue, one that may require the services of my local bike shop. In general, my electrified entry-level mountain bike is showing the strain of hard, fast riding under a heavy payload of lead-acid batteries.

On the plus side, I have some nice scenery in my daily life now. This will get me out of the house more. And the repair issues give me an excuse to have two bikes.

They noticed I rode a bike yesterday but didn't mention it until after they offered me the job. Apparently they don't hate bikes/bikers. Maybe it is the cool thing to do now.

Late summer bikin'

It's hard to believe fall is just around the corner. It is so green down by the river. The green of Ireland or Hawaii. That's how green it is.

It's still been getting hot as heck lately, 98'F today. My patio plants are holding on though. I harvested some aquaponic herbs and a couple of little ornamental peppers lately. My remaining poblanos are looking good, but they'd be happier in bigger pots.

I have been biking more and even pedaled to a tennis tournament. After playing two hard matches it was quite a slog riding it back home. Fortunately I found two new pedestrian bridges near the university that cut out two busy street crossings. Still, the ol' e-bike has not been performing too well. I must have forgot to charge it because the low battery light was on when I left and it was completely dead on the way back.

I found part of the problem today: a broken spoke. This put the wheel out of true and made it rub against the breaks. These cheap bikes are high maintenance. I also had a staple in the tire, giving it a slow leak, which is the only reason I was even looking at it. I am also trying to bolster the lame rack in the back, but there is still a wobble.

Quote du jour

"When the Republican governor of the reddest state in the union is promoting bicycling as a preferred mode of transportation, you know people are paying attention to the price signals."---Keith Batholomew, U. of U., on the State of Utah's bike-to-work program, in Jim Carey's "The Real Question: Should Oil Be Cheap?" Business Week, August 4, 2008, pp. 54--59.

MSNBC blames the cyclists

The problem is all the cyclists... says MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25695376/?GT1=43001

NYC Bike Commuting Up

An awesome article on the bike commuting scene in NYC, from the LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bike7-2008may07,0,3555170.story

Ironic transport du jour

According to the November Men's Vogue, the design chief at Bugatti Automobiles gets to work via train and a "modest brown 10-speed." His company produces $1.5 million supercars that produce 1,001 horsepower and accelerate with rice rocket quickness (0 to 60 in 2.5 seconds). Is that a change of pace or what? But it is also somehow appropriate, for the firm's founder Etorre Bugatti began his career as an apprentice at a bicycle manufacturer.

Cargo bikes

Hauling? You can put it in the back: http://www.rideyourbike.com/xtracycle.html
or in the front: http://clevercycles.com

I think they both look awesome.

Congressman's DC bike commute

Thought this was interesting... of course the guy is from Oregon:

For Congressman, Life in Bike Lane Comes Naturally --- Earl Blumenauer of Oregon Rides to the White House; Look Out for Motorcades
Greg Hitt, 29 December 2007, The Wall Street Journal, p. A1

WASHINGTON -- A little after 6:00 one morning, Earl Blumenauer emerged from his Capitol Hill row house. The temperature hovered near 40 degrees and it was really raining. The Oregon congressman hopped on his rust-colored Trek Portland, an aluminum-frame bicycle with a carbon front fork designed to absorb road shock, and pedaled to his office. . . . [find it on the web or through ur WSJ vendor.]