From the Pavement's Edge (Old Blog)

NEW LINK!!!

2011-04-04T16:47:00.000-07:00

Please update your book marks, links to my page, etc, etc. to:

pavementsedge.blogspot.com

I will no longer update the blog at: jerseyguys.blogspot.com. I wanted a cleaner URL and it seems as if now is the time to do it. I have exported all of the posts here over to the new blog, so you won't need to come back here for archives.

Please, please continue to follow me over there!

For reference the first post at the new blog is this one: http://pavementsedge.blogspot.com/2011/04/streamlining-before-its-too-late.html

Climbing Like Wildfire

2011-04-04T12:08:00.000-07:00

Peak oil...

Apocalypse...

People trying to take my bike right out from under me...

Brent crude is at $121/bbl. It had hovered around $115 for a few weeks. Now its on a rocket to the stratosphere? WTI is holding around $108/bbl for now.

I almost swallowed my tongue the other day when I was out with my family and saw gas over $3.50/gal. Of course it's my wife who feels the sting more than I. She's the one who usually fills up. I've only put gas in our family car a few times (like 3) in 2011.

Should I swing by 5280 Armory tonight and get some 8mm and 12 ga. ammo? Should I go ahead and buy that 50 lb. bag of brown rice? Probably not just yet. But I'm keeping my eye on things.

Monday Propaganda: Vehicular Cycling for Dummies

2011-04-04T09:12:00.000-07:00

I came to a fork in the trail this morning. Usually I've already decided whether I will strike off the shortest route through suburbs and across the dreaded Denver West Parkway to get to work with ten extra minutes to spare, or to plod on due west between the mesas along the CCT and into downtown Golden for a climb up through Mines campus and then along highway 6. My decision is usually based on surface conditions, the current temporal proximity to my start time at work and my mood.

This morning my brain was still in standby mode and no route analysis had been performed. I say that as if there is some conscious process to it, usually there is not, but this morning I was faced with smoking wires, grinding gears and blank screens. I was almost to the split and no decision had been made.

And of course as I tried repeatedly to fire up the backup generators my thoughts wandered to an analysis of my current views on vehicular cycling and my experience with John Forester's philosophy.

When I first discovered Forester I was enthralled. Vehicular cycling just made sense. Back East, trammeling the crumbling edge of narrow ribbons of asphalt I had ALWAYS been following Forester's mantra: Be Traffic! But I had always known from my stints living, working and bike commuting in big cities that there was another way. Of course there had been times in the cities when I had embedded myself in the thickest of urban traffic streams so I knew there were degrees of traffic participation for cyclists.

So while I had been living Forester's vehicular cycling from time to time, it wasn't until 2008 or 2009 that I could mentally articulate what I had been practicing. We lived in Denver at the time, Wash Park in particular, and my commutes and our recreational rides carried me on paths, bike lanes, in shared lanes and to places where no cycling infrastructure exists. I was comfortable in all of those situation, though admittedly I preferred the routes that involved fewer cars, whether that meant less because of a decreased presence in the automobile's own habitat, or less because I went places they could not.

But I slowly drifted from orthodox vehicular cycling. While there is a devious part of me that would love to obstruct as many motor vehicles as possible each day out of pure spite, I truly do not relish the idea of fighting for space in narrow, high speed lanes with people who do not have any human consideration for cyclists and who pilot vehicles that are absurdly huge.

So when a wide shoulder opens up to my right, or I see bike lanes up ahead as I pedal along I relax a little bit, ease over and get out of the way. If I can avoid antagonizing moto-fascists I figure its less stress-related weight gain for me.

That's not to say that at times I still don't fully take the lane even when I know its going to piss off the funeral procession that builds up behind me. Sometimes that's just the way its gotta be. Sometimes the only way to ensure my own safety it to totally command the space around me and sometimes that means prohibiting ANY cars from passing. I see that as a method of last resort these days though, and not the norm. While I believe in being visible, to show a cycling presence as much as possible, I don't feel the need to ride in the road for the sake of riding in the road. I will take the shoulder, or a good bike lane, any day.

A previous (warmer) commute

These things were bouncing around in my head as I rolled up to the split. Left would take me through Applewood and into Denver West. Traffic is light these days since I've been going in earlier, but spring break is over and the school traffic would have been back in full force this morning. I pass three schools if I go southeast around the mesa. To the right, continuing on the CCT into Golden I avoid the worst traffic and can sneak through Mines early before traffic gets heavy.

I didn’t slow, but the decision was made as I cruised right and rolled alone into No Man's Land and on toward Golden around the north side of the mesa. The quiet and solitude of a crisp, snowy morning was enjoyable.

The Great Longtail Revolution: No More Obstacles

2011-04-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

The obstacles are real, but so are the tactics for overcoming them. And the feelings of accomplishment you'll have once you've surmounted a rainy or snowy commute, or when you've hauled a week's groceries home on your bike are hard to replicate sitting behind the wheel of a car.

A run-of-the-mill bike with a carrier rack and panniers can empower you to transport your work clothes or moderate sized loads. So once you become schooled on overcoming the commonplace hurdles of the car lite or car free lifestyle you will be ready to tackle bigger challenges. You'll seek to solve more of your transportation problems with the bike.

And that's when you'll have found yourself immersed in the Great Longtail Revolution. Call it a hitchless trailer, a longtail, a cargo bike, an SUB (Sport Utility Bike), a utility cycle or whatever, but realize that the evolution of the bicycle as a vehicle lies down the path of extended or modified frames that allow you to portage greater loads and passengers with increased stability and efficiency.

Stop feeling the despair of rising gas prices. Be free from the confines of traffic and stop circling the parking lot looking for a space.

Why do you need a car? For your commute? To transport your family and stuff? There is another option. There is an option that frees you from oil dependency, traffic, and the cost of owning and operating a car.

Join the longtail revolution. Don't replace that second (or first!) car with another four-wheeled monstrosity. Get a longtail bike! If you have a bike, make the easy transition by upgrading it with an Xtracycle FreeRadical kit.

The Things I Did Not Haul

2011-04-03T12:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning we rode our bikes to Olde Town and had breakfast at Ophelia's. With bellies full of eggs and pancakes we got back on the bikes and rode past the east end of Water Tower Flats along Allison down to the Interurban Trail. We followed it to Echter's Nursery & Garden Supplies. Afte browsing for awhile we left with a new garden hose, nozzle and a nifty kneeling pad which we're utilizing as a padded seat for the kiddos on the Ute deck. Those are the things we did haul with the Ute yesterday.

We've been talking about putting in a clothesline, so Bean and I rode down to ACE Hardware looking for the supplies we'd need to erect a passive solar clothes dryer. ACE only had the cheap-o flimsy umbrella type clothes lines. They don't even have lumber I could have bought to fashion posts for a clothesline.

But even though we didn't get what we needed, we at least made the attempt on the Ute. Later Boone, Lily and I drove in the Suburbaru over to Home Depot (after making a bona fide effort) and bought 4X4s, two bags of concrete and clothesline.

April is 30 Days of Biking. I rode on the 1st and the 2nd. Yesterday it was 82ºF. Right now, as I write this, I look outside and see huge flakes of snow falling onto the ground outside my kitchen window.

I don't have anywhere I need to go this afternoon, so I have opted not to ride, even though it means I have already failed only 2 days into the 30. Oh well...

Within the next couple of days the Cannonball frame should be finished and my stuff should be in at Salvagetti. By the weekend I should be astride the Cannonball X!

LATER

At 8pm we had a grocery need. I swung a leg over the Ute, fired up the Laser and plowed through the wet snowflakes down to King Soopers. 30 Days of Biking BACK ON!

Ramming Speed Friday: Get That Aluminum Foil Off Your Head Edition

2011-04-01T15:56:00.000-07:00

I have recently confirmed that I AM NOT a wacky conspiracy theorist. I typically don’t buy into them. I'm not a superstitious person. I am pretty skeptical when it comes to things like climate change, Charlie Sheen actually being a "winner" and Santa Claus.

Being a "professional" Planner I am a member of the American Planning Association, or APA (NOT the American Psychological Association!!!), and each month I get a barrage of email newsletters and one printed magazine. What ever happened to the days when newsletters only came out ONCE a month due to the printing costs? Oh yeah, Al Gore invented the internet.

Anyway, I was recently perusing the current issue of Planning: THE Magazine of the American Planning Association and came across two items which made me scratch my head through my foil hat. I had started reading from back to front, don’t ask why, and I first came across a book review for the Post Carbon Reader: Managing the 21st Century's Sustainability Crises, which is edited by Richard Heinberg (author of The Party's Over and Powerdown) and Daniel Lerch (no relation). The Post Carbon Institute, which puts out the reader of the same name, is a pro-peak oil organization. No, "post carbon" is not the latest bike frame technology.

I figure if the APA (NOT that one) gives them a favorable review there is some credence behind the effort, and not the bad moon type.

Team Pavement's Edge - 1

Haters - 0

Then as I flipped forward through the shiny mag I came across a bit about Jeremy Rifkin. While Rifkin doesn't seem to be a peak oil cassandra per se, the article mentions peak production and peak production per capita and discusses Rifkin's belief that our time in the sun is running out.

"Time is running out on our oil-based global economy, he [Rifkin] says. He refers to the growing consensus that peak oil is a real phenomenon, with most experts disagreeing only about the time frame (10 years? 20 years? sooner?)."

And this is what I have said very recently. You can’t deny that "non-renewable" resources are going to decline to the point of being useless as an energy source. And I have heard all the arguments that fossil fuels actually ARE renewable, but the reality is that they may as well not be renewable considering we are consuming them a hundred thousand-fold faster than they are being replenished. The only argument is when fossil fuels will become the energy source of yesterday and will we get there willingly and in control of the situation or going down in socio-economic flames.

It's one thing to find some website or blog, read up on an idea and say: "Hey, that sounds like the aliens that abducted me!" It's another thing altogether to read about abductions in a publication put out by a professional organization that you’re a member of.

Team Pavement's Edge - 2

Haters - 0

Speaking of education…well, somebody did! Oh, that was all in my head.

Anyway, the first couple of days of this week I marveled how quickly two schools closed after it was announced that Jeffco would be making huge budget cuts. How could they? It's the middle of the school year for crying out loud! Those poor kids! Where are they going now? What are they going to do with the empty buildings? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm happy for the lighter traffic and the reduction in stress-related weight gain as the moto-fascist soccer moms have disappeared from the roadways, but I don't want to see schools close.

And then yesterday on the way home I realized…it's spring break in Jefferson County!

Team Pavement's Edge - 3

Haters - 0

There are no conspiracies. The world really is going to hell in a handbasket. The Middle East is ready to go up with the slightest spark. The Global Economy is teetering. Japan is bringing back the glow-in-the-dark craze. Our energy and sustainability crisis isn't going away. The US government is a farce. People are ignoring those who have solutions in order to follow Charlie Sheen (Winner!) and Lady Gaga on twitter.

So I flew. I flew away from it all…cranked my little heart out. The knobby tires on the OBS whined like the twin ion engines of an Imperial TIE fighter as I chased that rebel scum down the trench of the CCT greenbelt. And for the briefest of moments all of those troubles blurred, fell away behind me and were forgotten.

In All Seriousness...What Carlite and Carfree Mean to Me

2011-04-01T11:01:00.000-07:00

Recently Xtracycle tweeted: "What does living and riding #carlite and #carfree mean to you?"

My quick reply tweet was "freedom and empowerment" but as you all know, Dear Readers, I can’t express myself fully in a mere 140 characters. I thought I would elaborate a bit and then tweet my FULL response from the Pavement's Edge.

I had lived carlite as a young single person, attending college and working menial jobs. It was normal and usual for someone in my positions at those times. As a young married person without kids I had a decent car and no need to rely on my bike so there was no incentive then to go carlite. In fact, I was happy to drive everywhere. The Cannonball collected dust for a few years.

But at the end of my undergraduate toil I began to dream about giving up the cursed car. I was tired of the autocentric lifestyle I was stuck in as a matter of geography and circumstance. I wanted out.

We planned and schemed and we eventually found ourselves in a place where we could leave the four-wheeled beasts idle for long stretches of time. And soon after we let one of the four-wheeled beasts go free.

Living car free as an individual and car lite as a family has awakened a sense of environmental awareness in me, provided some economic freedom for us, and has made my family more resilient. I've found my lost self-sufficiency. In the past few years I had stopped being the solo-adventurer of my twenties. My mind hasn't been as attuned to being self reliant and innovative. Choosing the bike over the car has helped me to sharpen those skills once again, to find new ways to do things, new ways to reach my destinations. Building the confidence to stop relying on automobiles for every minor errand has boosted my self-esteem, my energy for life and my overall mood.

For me, carlite and carfree is the freedom to choose where I spend my life energy. For me carlite and carfree is the empowerment of the strength in my own body, the experience and knowledge of my own mind and the dirty little secret of always taking the path less traveled and never having to sit in traffic.

Car free is true freedom in modern society.

March Mileage

2011-04-01T07:50:00.000-07:00

So let's run the numbers:

January I rode 363 miles.
February I rode 313.
March? Get ready for this…you're not going to believe it…

977.32 miles. No kidding!

At this rate I'll have 6,000 miles be the end of the year and about 9,000 between now and the end of the Mayan calendar. You should see my calves. Speaking of calves…I got this interesting email this morning. Seems as if Cat Eye wants to sponsor me! I'll get free lights and computers for LIFE!

And the best April Fool's joke of all would be if PCS and Salvagetti were to both call me today and tell me everything is ready!

Seriously, my March mileage was 488.66 which isn't bad at all. My average for the first three months was 388 miles. My 2010 monthly average was 209. We're looking good so far!

ADDENDUM:

I forgot to tell you, Dear Readers, that the guy who had listed the second Ute on craigslist finally got back to Mandy. It was still available. I hate craigslist.

Astute Ute Salute

2011-03-31T12:54:00.000-07:00

[with sincerest apologies to Dr. Seuss]

You have a bell on your bar.
You have a saddle of leather.
You can ply the roads in any kind of weather.
You're lean and long. And you roll where you roll. And you are the bike to take us where we'll go.

You'll cruise up and down streets. Pedal 'em over with care. About some you will say "I don't need to go there." With your bags full of goods and your deck as a seat, you're too sharp to go down a not-so-good-street.

Next time you are thinking about replacing one of your cars, or even the last one standing, make the right choice: buy a longtail bike. More specifically: buy a Kona Ute. I'm certain you won't regret it. From its happy little bell to its solidly built aluminum butted frame and fork, the Ute is a fun bike, but it is also a workhorse.

It looks great, rides great and is made to fulfill its purpose. What is that purpose? We'll get to that.

I say it looks great, so bear with me when I say it reminds me of a WWII-era European made motorcycle with its black finish, fenders, swept back Hand Plant handlebars with faux cork grips, wooden rear deck and waterproof pleather panniers big enough to haul a four year old princess and some groceries. But having said that, I have to say it has a certain elegance, a certain poise. The bike makes you want to ride it. The Ute turns heads, but not like a clown car turns heads. It still looks like a bike. It takes people a few seconds to figure out exactly what is different about the Ute. It almost fits into preconceived notions most people hold about what a bicycle should look like. And then they take a second look. And the second look is longer than the first. Then they ask questions.

The Ute has a very practical 16 speed drivetrain. For be-bopping around town and knocking down the small hills around home it's amazing. You can gear down and crank on, pulling food and family up suburban hills. On flat ground or down long easy grades the Ute is a dream, flying along like an elegant black bird. It's quiet, smooth, rolling over cracks and small potholes with its 700c wheels and Continental City Contact tires. Where it falls short is in the high end, lacking a big ring to really pull down ramming speeds on long commutes. And for the Ute that's probably not a bad thing. With eggs in your basket you don't want to be rattling along at 30 mph. With a kiddo or two surfing the Acacia wood deck you don't want to be laying it down in sharp turns. But that said, you can maintain a respectable 20 mph no problem and carve the turns on any bike path. The Ute handles like a bike.

The wood deck is ample for seating. A bit hard on the rump, but you can easily add padding. There is also a accessory composite deck (sold separately) that allows you to put an Xtracycle Pea Pod LT on the Ute. But for older kids or adult passengers a seat cushion and a tandem stokerbar make the Ute into a real sportster. The deck is solid and you can lash heavy loads to it. Check your balance and head off into the sunset with whatever you can imagine perching there.

The panniers are enormous. You can literally put a four year old girl in one where she will be comfortably supported by the nylon webbing that wraps completely around the bag for excellent kiddo support. The bags are waterproof and durable. They are a bit unwieldy, but empty you'll hardly notice they're there. The bike has a tendency to tip over when you only have one bag loaded and the kickstand down. Once you see the bags you'll understand why, they have such a broad, flat bottom the weight ends up far out from the center of gravity of the bike itself. Just make sure to distribute the load evenly between both sides or don't leave the half loaded bike unattended. It's a bit inconvenient, but then again, you're not fighting for a parking space.

In 2011 the Ute features TWO panniers and both front and rear disc brakes for the first time. While the bike looks to weigh a ton, the aluminum construction helps the beast to carry its weight well. There's no problem taking off or stopping with an unloaded Ute. With the step through frame you can wrangle big loads and once you get moving even the most wriggly kid is a breeze to haul.

I can't say enough good things about the Ute. I have risked divorce for the better part of a week, commandeering my wife's new bike for the sake of sharing with you, my Dear Readers, the pros and cons of owning a Ute. It is a fantastic daily commuter. The over-sized bags might be too much for good weather, but in cooler weather it has been nice to just stuff in a sweater and an extra jacket. I folded a week's worth of dress shirts flat in the bottom and they came out unwrinkled after the ride. The bike is a great grocery getter and errand runner. The bags allow compartmentalization and are large enough to cover and enclose whatever you can conceive to put within them.

The Ute is bigger than a standard bike, slightly longer than most, but it does fit in an elevator and I stored it all day in my cubicle with only a few inches of wheel sticking into the walkway, not enough to impede foot traffic in the office. In fact, with the two-legged kickstand the Ute almost took up less space than my other bikes normally do because it would stand upright against the wall of my cube.

The Ute fulfills many wishes, dreams and purposes. Ute is utilitarian. Ute is transportation, passenger hauling, cruise about town, weathering any obstacles, taking it home to meet your parents bicycling. I give it a big two thumbs up, five stars, the pros far outweighing any cons.

Go buy a Ute.

But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though the moto-fascists prowl. On you will go though the chinook winds howl. Onward up the trail of Clear Creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will bike. And I know you’ll bike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many lap dogs as you go. So be sure when you roll. Roll with care and great tact and remember that Cycling’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)
Kid, you’ll haul mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!

Today is your day!

Your longtail is waiting.
So…get on your way!

Family Ute

2011-03-31T11:21:00.000-07:00

We are a rolling spectacle. Mandy, Bean and I cruised down to the grocery a couple of nights ago to pick up some dinner supplies. It was interesting trying to get the balance and momentum right. Mandy "drove" from our house down to the store. There is a short hill to a crest and then a roller-coaster ride down to Ralston Road. The little climb up almost did us in. Mandy "drove," Bean came next and I held the sprout in place.

"Wheezy" as I like to call my wife after she's taken a kick in the chest from her asthma, had to stop and recuperate a minute before we made the Big Descent. We should have heeded the advice of the nice and helpful female moto-passenger who yelled "Switch places!" at us as the SUV whizzed past. Regardless, Mandy is determined to make this work and I have the utmost confidence that in a very short span of time she will be hauling the whole family AND groceries up Mount Evans on the Ute. I know she has it in her.

We regrouped and swung back onto the bike. We poised at the top of the big hill on Independence and she rolled us over…

It went well. For the first time since I was a small child I rode on a bike and felt the distinct feeling of NO CONTROL. We were flying, and it was all in someone else's hands. Just about the time I had come to grips with the situation and was starting to relax we hit a pothole. I bounced and started to slide off the deck, the bike began to wobble toward out-of-control. I screeched like a little girl. I was already feeling the road rash. And then we lined out, I eased back onto the deck and we continued on to the store. It wasn't pilot error, but nearly ejected passenger. We survived.

On the way home we did switch places and I took the much more gradual 57th to Garrison. With a wobble start we cut across the shopping centers and ambled home.

She loves the Ute and I am glad we got it for her. The weekend weather is looking nice and we're probably going to cruise 'til the tires fall off. Boone really hasn’t gotten to ride his new bike much and I know he is itching to.

I turned the Ute back over to Mandy. I rode the OBS to work this morning. It felt odd, to be riding on 26" wheels instead of 28" with a long wheelbase. Flat bars vs. swept back, knobbies vs. slick commuters. Man, I miss that bike! Be on the lookout for my official Kona Ute review coming soon. It is a solid beast, a fantastic commuter machine. I wish it were mine. But soon, I will have my own longtail!

Cannonball X update: Frame is still off being powder coated. It won’t be before Monday. Might be more like Wednesday of next week. The fork and brakes are in at Salvagetti. Still waiting for the Xtracycle kit. Once I have everything I just need to put it together. Scott had mentioned something about some closeouts at the store. I'm not sure if he was talking about the brakes or if he was referring to my emailed query about getting a new set of wheels in the future. For now the plan is to share wheels with the OBS. It'll be a pain, because I'll probably switch to the commuter tires at first since I'll be riding the CBX most. But then when I want to go MTBing I'll have to change tires. Regardless, I'll make it work.

Unless a miracle of logistics and chemical reactions occurs I won't have it all to put together over the coming weekend. But middle of next week I should be wrenching hard. Keep you posted.

Naked Ute

Ute in a Cube

2011-03-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

Another pretentious commute under my belt. Of course, all of my commutes are pretentious. While participating as traffic I concurrently critique, scorn and direct traffic.

I discovered that the Ute fits in my cube. So I've brought the smug-tastic pretention into the workplace. But ultimately I did it for the Cannonball X. After the build is complete I would not want to subject it to the indignity of rolling all the way up to my cubicle-domicile only to be denied by the simple laws of physics and real estate. In a week or so I will be able to park the bikes side by side and ascertain the feasibility of fit without risking the remorse of constraint.

It MOSTLY fits

But good enough for government work for sure

Have I mentioned that the Ute reminds me of a WWII era motorcycle with its swept back handlebars, fenders, black finish and leather bags?

Don’t get me wrong! I love the look. It's vintage, right?

Ah, I'm sure you've already asked yourself, and your co-workers reading over your shoulder, the question: "What's this galoot doing still riding his wife's bike?!

I know, I said I was going back to the OBS after yesterday. Slight medical malady thwarted my commuting preparations last night. I believe it was simply dehydration when my vision went wonky and it felt like my head was sheathed in a clear plastic bucket around 8:30pm last night. Needless to say, I didn’t get the OBS ready for the morning commute. My lovely wife took care of me and even made my coffee for this morning. I couldn’t ask her to do all the bike and gear prep I needed. In fact, I wasn't sure I would pedaling anywhere this morning. Thankfully the worst of the effects had subsided and I got here okay. I've felt increasingly better as the day has wore on. At noon I'm finally able to look at a compute screen without almost passing out. That's a plus.

I've got an appointment with those people who take a huge amounts of our money every month and spend it on hiring "scheduling specialists" instead of letting me talk to a real, live medical professional. Hopefully a complete lack of diagnosis will cost me thousands of dollars.

THIS JUST IN: Mandy referred me to the term ocular migraine via Google. I believe she has landed squarely on the target. The graphic shows a monochrome representation of what I saw before I started to lose clarity.

I'm going to head out early today and give my eyes a rest from this modern lifestyle. I'm still going to go to the medical mall that is Kaiser Permanente.

Cranking on…

Cannonball Evolution: Powder Coating Blues

2011-03-28T16:42:00.000-07:00

Well, after slogging to work on the Ute this morning I faced a sunny, but cool and windy commute home. I swung by Powder Coatings Specialties in Golden and entrusted them to strip and apply color to the ole frame.

Don't bother asking the color I chose, it's a secret.

The big bummer is that it's going to take 5 to 7 working days before I get it back. So the stuff I've ordered through Salvagetti (FreeRadical kit, fork, brakes) will be in a few days before the frame is finished.

It felt smug and pretentious to portage the frame to work on the Ute and then run my errand over to PCS with the bike. The guys there speculated I must be serious about bikes. I explained that the Ute was my wife's new car. The didn't look at me like I had a horn growing out of my head, so that's a plus.

Hopefully I will become immune and oblivious to my own smug-tentiousness soon so I can get on with starting the Grand Longtail Revolution.

I'm shooting for a grand reveal of the Cannonball X around the 9th or 10th of April. Of course, this could complicate things, as Boone's birthday is that weekend.

If I don't get it all together soon I may gnaw my fingernails off. O-F-F off.

Galoot on a Ute Commute

2011-03-28T07:19:00.000-07:00

[Somtime yesterday]

Mandy: If you want to ride the Ute to wor…

Me: Well, I wasn't going to ask, but I had been hoping. If you really don't mind…

Mandy [with slight grin]: No, I don’t mind.

Me [jumping up and down doing the Snoopy dance inside]

I'm really trying to supress the smugness factor, but its so hard. We love the cargo bike. We'll never go back. While I don’t expect my wife to commute with Boone to school next winter, I do see us leaving the car parked more often, much more often. And Boone has taken up that rally cry. Yesterday I had parked the car in the drive and out from under the carport. Boone lined up all the bikes underneath and declared the carport off limits to the car and to be used only for the bikes from now on. The bikeport.

So I tooled through a rain/snow mix to work this morning, hauling the Cannonball's frame, a week's work clothes in the pannier, homemade bagel for breakfast, homemade lasagna for lunch and dinging the Ute's bell just because I was so darn happy we have finally attained longtail nirvana. Try as I may, I couldn’t leave the hippie smugness behind. I was the most superior vehicle on the road this morning. There! I said it.

Bean and I got our first comment about the Ute last night when we ran down to the grocery store for eggs, salt and butter. A couple stopped as I was locking the bike up and getting Bean out of the sidecar bag and said they thought it was a great idea. They asked her if she liked riding in the bag and she nodded enthusiastically. We made it home without breaking an egg or spilling a Bean.

I'm going to call in a little while about getting the Cannonball frame powder coated. I may drop it off for that process this afternoon and that will absolve me of the responsibility to strip, clean and paint it myself. I'll be able to stop stressing about it. If the cost is too high I'll just paint it myself. It can’t look much worse than it looks now.

I need to stop riding her bike, even if she offers. I feel like such a heel! I am the Ute Thief. Of course I'll be able to offer a reliable comparison between the Ute and the Xtracycle in a week or so.

Well, back to the grind. It feels a little more worth it today.

QUICK ADDENDUM:

You'll have noticed some changes around the ole Pavement's Edge blog recently. I moved my sidebar items around a little bit. Everything is still there, mayhap just in a different location. No, I didn't sell out. No one has paid me for advertising space. I posted a photo of Salvagetti, Pedal Pushers Cyclery, Xtracycle and Kona, each will take you to a link. PPC and Salvagetti have been really good to us and I want to give them kudos. And I can't say enough good stuff about the Ute and the concept of the Xtracycle. My belief is that if you truly endorse a product then compensation isn't necessary.

Also, check out Mandy's blog: Cute on a Ute for updates on her entrance into the world of cargo bikes.

Better Than a Car

2011-03-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

Mandy was in baking mode today and the kids asked to go to the park. Of course we took the Ute.

Me, Boone and Lily...

Too bad the Bean is going to keep growing. She won't fit in the bag too much longer. Boone is far too big, or he could ride in one, Bean in the other and Mandy and I taking turns between driver and shotgun.

We rode all the way to a park down along the Ralston Creek Trail and then back home through Olde Town. Even with 30 pounds of pink princess in the bag the bike rode amazingly well. Climbed hills like a dream. We finally got to use the bell for real as we cruised along the path weaving around the pedestrians.

Tomorrow I'm going to haul the Cannonball frame with me to work and then on my lunch or after I'm free for the day I may drop it off to have it powder coated. The cost will be the deciding factor.

Well, the Bean is reminding me we need to run to the store for some eggs. Off again!

Year of the Longtails: Resolute on the Ute

2011-03-26T18:18:00.001-07:00

Yeah, that was a good idea.

We've put the Ute through its paces since we got it, and it performs wonderfully.

Last night we all rode down to Olde Town for dinner at Ophelia's Restaurant. A) Ophelia's rocks! B) The Ute rocks even more!

This morning I took Boone down to Englewood to Trips for Kids Denver's annual bike sale. We found a nice six speed Trek Mt 60 (kid) mountain bike and a cool pink princess Trek for the Bean. So it was our second New Bike Day in a row.

Again, TFK has been a great place to get a good bike for the kids. Two years ago we bought Boone's 20" Giant BMX bike for $10. The bike we bought him today we paid $60 for. And the money goes to TFK which is a great program. They get underprivileged and inner city kids out mountain biking.

Well, after we got back home Boone and I jumped on the Ute and Mandy and Bean climbed on Mandy's Giant and we cruised over to the ACT offices for the Family Bike Clinic. We had 10 families show up and we got almost everyone out on a bike for at least a few minutes. There were 31 people there total and it was a lot of fun. We spent awhile getting the tandems lined out and ready to ride, and then we worked to get everyone fitted on the bikes.

After the clinic was over our clan cut over to the Van Bibber Creek Trail and pedaled east to Chuck E. Cheese for Little Glen's birthday party. By the time we got there we were really getting warmed up to ride.

From Mr. Cheese's it was short pedal home. Mandy took off by herself to go get a haircut and finally got to put a few good miles on the Ute herself. Now we're relaxing to the smell of homemade pizza cooking.

The Ute was a great idea we should have had ages ago. Once we get the Xtracycle up and running we're going to really rock on the bikes.

Mandy suggested we have "No Car Weekends" frequently in the future. I agree. I think whether we plan them or not, we're going to start having a lot of "No Car" days and weekends.

The kids love the Ute too. And we haven't even added a seat and stoker bar. Seeing the tandem stoker bars made me realize that we need a couple of those stems for both of our longtails. It's really amazing, the Ute is really like a new family car. Earlier Mandy asked if I wanted to take it down to the store to pick up some stuff for dinner. Even though its her bike, it's really like a family bike.

Wow, today was just satisfying and a whole lot of fun. I'm convinced the cargo bikes are a good idea.

Year of the Longtails: Brute on a Ute

2011-03-25T19:33:00.002-07:00

...and Ramming Speed Friday: Quest for a Ute Edition

Checked the bank account this morning, tax return had been posted, begged off work early, blazed home on the OBS.

And then we headed east to Salvagetti. I've ordered the Xtracycle stuff, new fork and disc brakes. Got a bottom bracket tool for the Cannonball, got the old fork loose and will get the stuff for painting over the weekend. I've got about a week from today to get the frame painted, then next weekend will be Build Time.

As soon as we got in the store at Salvagetti they got Mandy set up for a test ride on the Kona Ute. She cranked out toward downtown Denver, crossed the river, circled Commons Park and returned to the store a Longtail Captain.

Back home we got the front fender and wheel back on (no quick release) and away she went.

Then we took turns riding up and down our street. The kids both took a spin. It was so much fun riding that bike. There is part of me that would get a Ute in a heartbeat over the Xtracycle. But I think I'm gonna love my Cannonball X.

Brute on a Ute

We decided a trip to Olde Town was in order so we loaded up the kids. Because we haven't worked out a seat for Lily yet I rode the Ute with Boone on deck and Mandy rode her Giant with Lily in the child seat. I'm going to work out a Bean seat really soon.

The bike rides so well. Mandy is so excited and loves the bike more than we expected. She said she never wants to drive again.

I felt bad riding over to Olde Town on it. I'll admit I'm a tad jealous because she got her bike first, but I'm really happy for her too. This bike is going to work out great for her.

Oh! As we were riding giddily up and down the street one of our neighbors asked if we wanted a bike trailer. Turns out she had bought a child trailer for her daughter, but before she could give it to her the daughter had gone and bought one. It's dirty and needs new tires and tubes, but it looks like a nice one-kid trailer.

In the morning Boone and I are going to run down to Englewood to check out Trips for Kids Denver's used bike sale and see if we can pick up some gears for him. Then ACT has a family clinic and we're going to help out with that, then a birthday party for a little guy we know. Busy day ahead, and full of bike related silliness.

Thanks to the guys at Salvagetti for hooking us up and helping us out. Kudos to Kona for making an excellent product, and continued love for Xtracycle for the longtail to come.

Year of the Longtails: Nailbiter's Lament

2011-03-24T17:10:00.001-07:00

The anticipation is killing me. Tomorrow (FINGERS CROSSED!!!) the tax return will be posted and the order will go out for the ClassicCargo kit.

I've been gnawing my fingernails all week. The Cannonball needs to be painted! How will I get it painted? I'll paint it myself! Where can I get the stuff? What if I do a bad job? What about the bottom bracket? What about installing disc brakes? What if I screw it all up!?

And then there is the Quest for a Ute. Mandy found TWO on craigslist for $750. One was a really nice looking 2007 which is now gone and the other is a 2010 that's been on there most of the week. She sent an email on the remaining one but hasn't heard back yet.

$750 would save us $450 over a brand new one from Salvagetti. We'll go with the used one if we can as long as its the smaller size. Even if we had to buy new bags for it or something, the savings would be worth it.

So I have a little more research to do on the painting, but we hiked down to Auto Zone and found Aircraft Paint Stripper (DO NOT USE ON AIRCRAFT!) and a wide selection of automotive paints. Confidence is swelling in that department.

Even after tomorrow I'm thinking it may be a couple of weeks before I'll be captain of my own longtail bike. Mandy will be swinging the tiller on hers way before I.

The weather has been crazy and I'm keeping fingers crossed and praying diligently that spring snow or rain will hold off until I get the Cannonball frankensteined back together.

Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day.

How The Bike Has Saved My Economy

2011-03-24T08:28:00.000-07:00

Not to detract from Elly Blue's series on Grist, but she has inspired me to explore my own history and how the bike has been a boon to me throughout my life and how it has led me along the path I've pedaled. And to put my current thoughts in context a bit I should explain that I've been reading and thinking on the ideas of Transition and Resilience. Of course this all stems from my fascination with peak oil which was born out of cycling literature (specifically Hurst's The Cyclist's Manifesto) and has grown into at the very least a confirmation bias supporting my lifelong post-apocalyptic fantasies. As I've (and many others have) stated recently: you're hard pressed to find someone who absolutely does not believe we are ever going to run out of fossil fuels, specifically crude oil, but people are going to argue about the timing of the Big Trickle until the spigot dries up.

ANYWHO! What this means for the purposes of this post is that what I've been discovering lately, confirmation bias or not, supports the gut feelings that have driven me in my life choices since I was a teenager. I never understood WHY I believed the US was headed for socio-economic meltdown, but I've always seen us as too big to resist falling. It was just a matter of time before a gust of wind toppled the whole house of cards. So without really going into that WHY so much in this post I will leave it at that and continue to the main point, hopefully with a few Dear Readers still in tow. I apologize in advance for the impending long-windedness that will ensue.

1988. I was infatuated with a petite beauty that lived at the opposite end of my neighborhood. It really was a love triangle. It was me, she and my Mongoose BMX. I cruised past her house relentlessly under the non-blistering southwestern Ohio sun day after day after day for hours on end. I'm surprised there wasn't a bicycle tire sized groove in front of it. I saw cruising past her house on my bike as the most efficient means of attracting her favor. I didn't have the esteem capital to throw at the problem, so I substituted it with a propaganda campaign designed to remind her of my presence and show her I would always be there for her. At least as long as it wasn't raining.

Moving back to Kentucky at the start of my sophomore year I tried to choose the bike, but in a rare moment of defeat by peer pressure I stopped riding my bike everywhere because no one else rode a bike. Ever. I gave it up. I didn't choose the bike for a long time. But when the prospect of going to college in a big city arose I decided I would buy a new bike to take with me. At 18 I was already somewhat disillusioned by the idea that the automobile represented freedom and independence. I had hada series of lemons in my late teens and lacked the capital or the knowledge to keep the clunkers rolling. When my parents hauled me and all my stuff to Nashville in the fall of 1992 my car, a 1985 Mustang, stayed parked in my parents driveway with a busted motor. But a shiny new Huffy "mountain bike" I had bought at Walmart lay nestled amongst the tokens of my adolescence in the back of the van as we made the four hour drive.

The first semester I didn't have a car on campus, and I didn’t really miss it so much. I rode all over the area of Nashville around the school and got to know the city and suburbs rather well. I don’t remember being stressed by traffic despite Nashville drivers having a wretched reputation. Even after I brought my car back after Christmas break I rode most of the time. I even rode to my job over the summer quite a bit. It was in Nashville that I was first hit by a car. It was a minor incident, but awakened my to the reality of riding in traffic. I didn’t have a lot of money to blow on entertainment, but I had plenty of juice in my legs to make up for it.

One thing led to another and I dropped out. Wow, such a diminutive sentence to convey the events of that year...

Back in Kentucky I settled into a completely unsatisfying life of shift work in a series of low paying factory jobs. For three or four years when I wasn't at work or sleeping I was driving between my bed and my job and back. I hated it. I wanted a better lifestyle, and while I didn’t see a solution that involved the bike my love for cycling slept somewhere in the stew of my brain. I spent so much money on my car during those years, keeping it running and keeping the tank full.

After a few years I was finally fed up enough with the lack of prospects that I decided to confront higher education again. I enrolled in a photography school in Dayton, Ohio. I would be moving back into another big city. And again, my first instinct was to buy a bike. A friend had a year old Cannondale mountain bike. I offered him $300, which he initially turned down, but later accepted. My long relationship with the Cannonball was born.

With an ailing car and a shiny new bike I landed in Dayton. I spent a winter in Dayton, riding to work most days and to school almost every day and night I had class, returning home after sunset with the benefit of streetlights and faith that the potholes would dodge to avoid me in the darkness. Despite my cyclo-centric lifestyle I couldn't afford to continue in school and with hat in hand I once again dropped out and returned to Kentucky. In the few months I was in Dayton I probably averaged two car trips per week. It wasn't enough to save me then.

And it was after that time that I truly started to recognize the economic and individual benefits of the bicycle as a primary mode of transportation. The car that ailed when I moved to Dayton was wheezing its last when I moved back to Kentucky to take a job working for an outdoor business located in rural Eastern Kentucky on the edge of a national forest. It was 15 miles to town, any town, and I was flat broke with almost no income. My socio-economic connection to the world was my bicycle.

I never believed I could ride the bike out of poverty and into financial success. I never really thought much about my bike. I didn’t maintain it, I didn't refer to it as the "Cannonball" then. I didn’t really romanticize it at all then. I never wore a helmet or a cycling uniform. I didn’t carry extra tubes or a patch kit or even a pump with me for years. The only cycling accessories I had were a cable and a U-Lock from when I lived in Dayton, which I rarely used in the backwoods of Kentucky. I had defaulted to the bike with little mental effort when the car failed to start or when I didn’t have money to put gas in the tank.

The bike got me through those lean times. When I was bored and lonely I would ride. I rode further because I found I had more time than I knew what to do with and no money to fill it with. I discovered I could ride upwards of 50 miles and not die and that began to rebuild the fragile framework of my ego. And it was truly then, when I realized I could cover great distances under my own power, that I did begin to gain some perspective on my other efforts in life. I began to realize that so many things that I thought of as insurmountable problems could be overcome by doggedly cranking away until the gulf was spanned. The steep hills of life could be conquered in a lower gear.

In the summer of 2000 I was married to the love of my life. She inspired me, for the fourth time in my life, to go back to school. For seven years I persisted and for seven years she and I commuted by car back and forth over winding, narrow eastern Kentucky roads to get Eastern Kentucky University degrees. During that period of time the bike was not a solution for us. The distances were too great and the time too short.

Being on campus all the time awoke in me the desire to live a condensed life. Campus living is great when you can walk out of the dorm and then walk or bike everywhere you need to be in half an hour or less. I wanted to build a life that resembled that. I wanted to be free from parking hassles, traffic congestion, vehicle maintenance costs, and rising fuel prices. By then September 11 was a cool memory. But it had burned hot on my brain and it was only after 9/11 that I had any care for the wide world. I became more aware of larger issues in the world and in our country. I started to see the bigger complex machine I had been fighting against in oblivion for so long. I started to care about my impact in the world.

The last few years of my undergraduate sentence was a time when I really tried to pare down what I wanted out of life and what I believed in politically and socially. I'm still working on that, five or six years later, but I've come a long way. During the last couple of years of school Mandy and I talked long and often about what we wanted out of life, where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do. We wanted to provide opportunity and perspective for our children. We wanted them to get out of our hometown where there is not much future for a young person and see that the world is an amazing place full of life and beauty. As we tried to pin down criteria to determine what would be an appropriate area to relocate to I kept returning to one in particular: I wanted to be free from the car. I wanted to be able to walk, or ride the bus or ride my bike to work, to school for the kids, to church, to play and everywhere in between. I wanted a smaller scaled life. After so many years of sitting behind the wheel dreaming about a better life I was tired.

And so we ended up in the Denver Metro area. While not exactly what I had envisioned for us, I think it has been the best compromise of what Mandy and I both wanted. We're happy here. And despite many unforeseen hardships we've endured. We've transitioned away from that old life. We've become more resilient in so many ways.

And so the last chapter, not the end, but the most recent has been our evolution from the auto-centric people we were when we arrived here to the bike-centric people we are becoming. Our evolution has been a long process, incremental and slow, exacted with the patience of Job. But each time we could make a decision that put us closer to the goal we did. And with each baby-step the distance closed and it has become easier and easier.

So how has the bike saved our family economy? When the choice came: dump money into a polluting clunker or sell it and commit to the bike, I chose the bike. Then when we decided we needed to get out of the two bedroom apartment for our sanity's sake we were able to afford to move into a modest 3 bedroom house in a good town. If we had held onto the car we would still be screaming through the walls in that 2 bedroom cell or stuck in traffic, or circling the parking lots like vultures. The bike freed us from those things. I believe it wholeheartedly. It has only been since we sold that car that I have FULLY come to realize the value of my bike and how it has benefited me economically over the years. It saved me at times when I had cars that I couldn’t afford to maintain or replace. It has saved money on gas and upkeep and wear and tear. Bike tires are so much cheaper than car tires, and there are only two!

We've been living with little surplus income for the past three years like so many in this country. By not having to put gas in two cars, and often getting away with buying no gas at all for days and days we have had more money to pay our other bills and to buy food. We are better able to weather economic hardships. We are more resilient than our neighbors.

My vague survival instinct against the apocalypse has reinforced our day to day resilience. In preparing for the worst, we've more enjoyed the best. My confidence in the face of what I see as impending turmoil in our world surprises me sometimes. I've weathered the storms of life riding on my bike. And at times I took it for granted and never gave much through to how I was staying afloat. I realize there was more to my success in life than just my two-wheeled steed, but I have to acknowledge that it was a key component throughout it all. The bike was my backup plan, my safety net in some of my darkest times. When I lived alone in big cities, when I lived alone on the edge of a wilderness…I could always pedal back to safety.

We're planning for leaner times now. I'm upgrading my old standard, the Cannonball, into a longtail cargo bike. Who needs a car when you can carry a family on your bike? Mandy is also going longtail with a Ute. We found one on craigslist that will save us a few hundred dollars. Lord willing it will still be there tomorrow. Regardless, we're stepping away from the car. We're putting distance between ourselves and the complexity that can lead to collapse. Without a car to worry over we will be able to give more attention to more important things as the socio-political and socio-economic climates begin to change.

As an individual I believe I have almost completed the transition from petro-centricism to a more sustainable life. As a family we are making big steps in the right direction. And we're first seeing the health and economic benefits and I believe eventually we'll see the fruits of a more resilient life.

There is no danger from living a simple life. I embrace the limitations of this era, which will be the freedoms of the next.

Double Headwind Wednesday

2011-03-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

I was magically transported to my cubicle from Kansas/OZ after my last post. I'm writing a scathing letter to the customer service department of the makers of the Ruby Slippers. They shouldn't advertise that "all you have to do it click your heels together and say: 'There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home.'" when in fact the darn slippers don't take you home, but to work.

Oh well.

To add insult to injury I fought an EASTERN headwind all the way home. The wind is starting to wear on me. Literally. My skin feels raw. My eyes have been gritty for two days. Maybe I can add a wind generator to the Xtracycle conversion...

Well, it's all training right? More wind equals more resistance. I'll drop roadies and MTBers all summer with my head start on "the season."

Hopefully tomorrow things will settle down.

Tuesday's Gone With the Wind

2011-03-23T07:26:00.000-07:00

...and maybe Wednesday through Friday as well. Heck, I might have been blown proverbially into next week.

My ride home yesterday was interesting. I battled gusts of thick wind just to get to the Six. I expended more energy in the first half mile of my commute home than I usually do in the entire 10-ish miles. I stopped just before the path to put on my gloves and a gust almost blew me off my feet.

So then I dropped into Golden. Usually I can hit 25-30 mph going down to Illinoising, but yesterday I may have been going 10 mph and pedaling as hard as I could. In fact, it was like pedaling through hardening cement.

I cut across 24th to Pedal Pushers and a gust from the north almost slammed me flat into the ground. Luckily it was just a short burst and before I completely lost control it subsided and almost dropped me windward in the vacuum.

Side note: saw the small floor stand bike rack PP has outside the front door. Kinda made me happy.

As I was leaving, four True Goo tubes richer, a gang of BMXers blew into the side of the building. I dodged their laughing forms and cut through the thick, smokey wind out onto Johnson and plowed headlong into the fray.

It was a slog, but eventually I reached 10th and turned east with the 70-80 mph wind gusts suddenly at my back. I was riding the brakes most of the way then, wrestling with the handlebars and fighting to keep the OBS under the speed of sound. I'm pretty sure my tires hardly touched the ground all the way through No-Man's Land, past I-70 and into Wheat Ridge. Space and time seemed to bend in front of me. I was pretty sure I was going to be humming "Dust in the Wind" as I flew OVER Kansas.

Just past the giant pringle cans I saw I was gaining on another mountain biker. So even though I was far beyond the legal speed limit on a bike in all 50 states and most territories I jumped on the pedals and rocketed past him so fast I blew the color out of his lycra. I saw him give a sharp glance as he heard my approach, and he jumped on his pedals, but I was long gone before he could match my speed. Then the race was on. I straightened some curves in the CCT and carved tightly through the rest. The OBS' knobbies whined as I crossed under I-70 and blasted between the lakes. The meandering curves between the lakes and 41st felt like a pump track as I whipped the handlebars back and forth. Thankfully all of the pedestrians had already been blown off to OZ, so the trail was free of potential obstacles.

But I let my guard down, and my monochrome adversary caught me. I had relaxed my efforts as I climbed up the gravel road from the path to 41st, just before the Wheat Ridge Rec Center and he passed me, ninja-style! I had glanced back just before leaving the paved path and he was nowhere to be seen. I wonder if he didn’t take the dirt path shortcut (bikes prohibited!) or if he just put forth a herculean effort to catch me. Anyway, I believed I was home free but he proved me wrong!

I caught him again within a couple of hundred yards, but he turned into the parking lot at the WRRC and I continued on.

It was okay, I had to fight the wind the rest of the way home as I first turned north, then WEST and then back north and finally WEST onto our street. It took me a solid hour to get home despite my insane rocket ride from Golden into Wheat Ridge. And I was only at the bike shop for a couple of minutes.

This morning the wind was mild until I got into Pleasant View (get your car sandblasted for free!) and then I was hunched over the handlebars, eyes closed against the onslaught, pedals turning slowly as I crawled ever so slowly toward work. I crested the hill on 10th and could see the building. The wall of wind was so high, so wide, so solid…I just wanted to turn around and go home. I believe from that point I could have gotten home quicker than I could have gotten on to work.

So I sit writing this in a greasy spoon in Wamego, Kansas. The Scarecrow loaned me his laptop. The Tin Man is out looking for the OBS. I think it's caught on the branches of a tree out in the prairie.

The ride home is going to be rough.

Year of the Longtails: Waxing Poetic

2011-03-22T16:38:00.001-07:00

I sit at the kitchen table and stare out the window at my neighbors' Trek mountain bike leaning against the front of their house. I fantasize about putting a Free Radical kit on it one weekend while they’re out of town.

Every time I see a bike in a Facebook photo, an REI ad, or rolling down the street I imagine what it would look like with a BigStoker conversion. I've started hating the bike trailer, tow bar and bike seat because they're not Xtracycles. Everyone should have one, whether they think they want one or not. I've decided to convert my mid '90s Cannondale mountain bike, but I often look at my 2009 Specialized and think it should have an Xtra too. Could I put one on my son's 20" BMX? Why aren't all the bikes displayed at my LBS Xtras?

I fantasize about strapping my climbing gear or my crashpad onto the Xtracycle-to-come and then biking to Golden, or Boulder or even Evergreen for a day of climbing with my family. We will bikepack like a family of fiends. We'll tour the countryside astride our longtail bikes. We will surf the prairies and foothills, the mountains and canyons. We'll go farther than we ever have on bikes. We'll go down the long road, tread the pavement's edge for miles upon miles. We'll be loathe to return home and let the Xtras sit idle for even a minute.

We'll answer with grins when people ask about our longtails. We'll gladly share our conversion story. We'll write that story every day, as we ride around town, running errands, going to and fro and to work and school, passing by our neighbors and friends, goofy grins painted across our faces. We won’t be content to sit at home. A glance outside at the waiting Xtras will draw us into the sun (or rain) and we'll find ourselves pedaling toward the horizon with no need of a destination.

We'll forget to notice the price of gas, the passage of time, the angst of youth. Fit and lean, we'll captain our longtails into an era of increasing limitations, beyond economic trials and into the Post Carbon World. We'll go quietly, but loaded down with the cargo of our lives in tow.

I've parked my car. Now I'm working on converting my bicycle. In my mind it's already an Xtracycle.

If Bike Lanes Equate to Terrorism, Then Just Call Me Osama

2011-03-22T09:52:00.000-07:00

I take offense to many of the comments in the New York Magazine article entitled: Not Quite Copenhagen: Is New York too New York for bike lanes? by Matthew Shaer.

Perhaps the most outrageous comment is this tirade, uttered by Jack Brown, a former bike shop owner in the East Village:

"'The anarchy that has been allowed to prevail is astonishing. According to butterfly theory, according to chaos theory, I am sure that the level of emotional and psychological damage wrought by the bicycle far exceeds the damage done by cars.' And then Brown goes there: 'It is homegrown terrorism. The cumulative effect is equivalent to what happened on 9/11.'"

While I will openly agree there is an element within the cycling world that ignore any and all traffic laws, manners and common sense, lumping ALL cyclists in with terrorists is a bit overly dramatic.

When I go out in the morning I don't think "Wonder how many moto-fascists I can annoy today?" I don't go out with the intention of slowing traffic or causing any kind of harm. And while I feel I would be justified in some righteous anger when MFers almost kill me, I do my darnedest to let it go and start out with a clean slate, emotionally speaking, each day.

But if what I, and the masses of cyclists in the world, do each day is akin to terrorism then I will gladly step up and join the ranks of cyclo-terrorists. I'll wear a badge. Put me on the FBI's ten most wanted list. Call me Osama bike Laden.

Really Brown? Bike lanes equivalent to 9/11? You need a stiff dose of reality dude. I'm not even sorry that you have more trouble finding a parking space in New York these days. I could care less that you have to slow down for 1.5 seconds and have to THINK for a split second to decide how you’re going to pass the cyclo-terrorist ahead of you on the boulevard. What is truly terrorism are those who put foot to gas pedal and harass everyone in their path with excessive speeds, reckless behavior and aggressive tendencies, combined with inattention and a strong, but unreasonable, sense of entitlement.

Cars are the real terrors on the road, not bikes, not pedestrians. I recently joked about hitting pedestrians, but I would NEVER consider hitting someone on purpose, and I maintain a speed that is reasonable for me to control, and cease if necessary. I never pass within arms reach of a pedestrian and give them as much space as I can. I can’t say the same for every driver on the road that passes me. In fact, it seems as if some try to see how close they can get.

...

Sorry, the red rage is building up within me and prohibiting the flow of coherent words from my mind. I was planning my next terror-related act.

Home grown terrorism? So I'm like Timothy McVey? When I go out in the morning I am the embodiment of evil. My headlight blinds innocent motorists. My presence fouls the air that passes over me and is a scourge to all who gaze upon my hideousness. I SHOULD be run over on Ridge Road. Right?

Terrorism. The War on Terror. Oh, let's go there! What is the War on Terror, but a huge propaganda campaign designed to bolster popular support for wars for oil resources in foreign lands? What real interest did we have in Iraq? And if we were so keen on bringing the real Osama bin Laden to justice why, after TEN YEARS is he still a free man? Weapons of Mass Destruction? We had "proof" that Hussein had WMD. But then it turned out he never had them after all. Oh, I believe he was a scoundrel, and possibly an evil dictator, but we had no need to go in and root him out. I believed in the propaganda at the time. I believed we needed to oust him. But with the benefit of hindsight, what were we doing there? Why did so many young Americans die and get maimed? What legacy are we leaving behind? I hold the utmost repsect for the willingness of young Americans to serve in the military. But I have no respect for leaders who misrepresent their intentions, and misuse human capital to secure a foothold in the biggest puddle of oil in the world.

New Yorkers who choose a better and more responsible way to travel than the single occupancy (motor) vehicle are members of the same club as Hussein, Qu/G/Khaddafi, McVey, the Unabomber and countless other monsters. At least in the minds of moto-fascists in NYC.

What is truly amazing is that the anti-bike lane rhetoric isn't confined to just the NIMBYs. It is also expelled by elected officials:

"Congressman Anthony Weiner reportedly told (Mayor) Bloomberg that if he becomes mayor, he is 'going to have a bunch of ribbon-¬cuttings tearing out your ******* bike lanes.'"

Wienie later said the comment was just a joke, but Freud would disagree I believe.

To top it all off is Louise Hainline, a Prospect Park resident with way too much time on her hands. Hainline:

"'I’m not saying bikers are ignorant,' she said. 'They’re just holy. They really think they’re doing work for the environment if, instead of taking the car a block, they take the bike to go to the food co-op. That’s touching, and it’s in the right direction. But it’s silly.'"

Well, Ms. Hainline, do you want to know what is truly silly? Believing the SOV is the answer to all of humanity's transportation needs. Believing that someone who wants to make responsible and educated decisions concerning their ecological footprint and legacy for future generations is somehow less valid than you and your decision to drive a block instead of walking. Believing that a slight inconvenience to your daily routine is somehow "monstrous" and "truly offensive."

What is monstrous is the moto-fascism that has run rampant throughout our country. Why are pedestrians and cyclists seen as freaks, and only those piloting thousands of pounds of steel and plastic revered as being "normal?" THAT is a travesty and a crime.

There are those of us are tired of all the resources and money that have gone into building up an environment only suitable for the SOV. We could divert those billions of dollars earmarked for more highways and roads to nowhere into building communities and neighborhoods that are resilient and worth caring about. We could dump some of that money into rebuilding our dying education system, into health care and the future of our country. But no, we as a nation have chosen to put all of our dwindling wealth into building more roads which will attract more congestion and more sprawl.

I'm going to keep riding my bike. Thankfully in my town, and in the greater metro area, the bicycling infrastructure in place is more than adequate. I hope that the NYC moto-fascist attitudes don’t infect my neighbors. As much as I grumble about the MFers here, they exist in far fewer numbers than in other places I've lived and biked. For that I am truly thankful.

Ramming Speed...What Day is This?

2011-03-21T16:31:00.000-07:00

In an effort to escape Monday I blazed home. "Blazed" is apt, as I cranked through the haze of Golden with a front row saddle for the Indian Gulch Fire. The crazy downslope winds pushed me home, and while that was good for me it's not so good for the citizens of the Golden Gate Canyon area.

Golden proper doesn't seem to be threatened, but over 700 acres have burned and a pre-evacuation notice had gone out on reverse 911 earlier in the day.

As I pedaled across I-70 on Tabor I could also see wisps of smoke from the fire near Bergen Park up in the foothills. Hopefully these are the only two, and hopefully no homes burn. My job could get really "interesting" really quick.

I discovered low PSI before I left work which explained my "funk" this morning. My front tube was at 30 PSI and the rear just under 60. Ugh! So I pumped up some get-go and that also helped with my energetic ride home. Apparently I have a slow leak or two. I was going to pause within the haze at Pedal Pushers and get a few Goo tubes, but I remembered they're closed on Mondays. Boo hoo!

Anyway, tomorrow I'm taking my camera and if the fires are still raging in the foothills I'll provide some visual stimulation for your enjoyment.

Oh! I also passed three roadies as I was headed out of Golden. I was on the OBS and I left their skinny lycra-clad frames behind. And I did it with a backpack full of clothes and bike gear as well as a trunk rack (improv fender) and in my work clothes to boot! They probably had a power bar to split three ways and a tire lever each. I am Jack's smug self-satisfaction.

More roadie dropping updates in the weeks and months to come.

Monday Propaganda: The Era of Limits

2011-03-21T09:13:00.000-07:00

In the Cyclist's Manifesto, Robert Hurst makes the bold statement early on that the bike won't solve the world's problems. As a cyclist looking for fuel for my fire I was taken aback. But he immediately goes on to quantify that the bike may solve the reader's problems. After a bit of reflection, a second reading and finally finishing the book, Hurst's point becomes more clear. He's right. Cycling won't save the world. Even if everyone alive began cycling for their individual transportation needs the world would not suddenly become a magical utopia.

But, Dear Reader, you can carry a little utopia in your pocket. You can ride your bike. I can ride my bike and we can solve a lot of our own problems while rolling along upon two wheels.

According to the Regional Air Quality Council's "log your commute" tool I've saved just over $1,000 since October 19, 2010 when I started keeping track. They use the figure of 50¢/mile to operate a motor vehicle. The tool lets you set up a profile and you can choose different modes of transportation: from walking to biking, to carpooling to public transportation, to driving alone. I set my typical commute profile at 10 miles each way and bicycle as the mode. If I ride in with someone I change from "bicycle" to "carpool" in a drop down menu and log the commute(s). I've been fairly accurate in tracking my transportation usage so I feel as if the savings, while in no way accurate, reflect a tight grouping at the very least.

Its good to have a remote idea what I'm saving by choosing the bike over the car. Of course the benefits go beyond mere economics. My stress levels are way down. I've actually, after a long time managed to shed a few pounds, and by riding almost everyday I'm more encouraged to ride and so it is a positive feedback loop.

When I started using the RAQC's online tool I was not riding out of any sense of environmental conservation or a sense of needing to save the planet. But in those five months since I've slowly evolved into the reduction monkey I am today. Again, I'm a climate change agnostic. Whether or not the science truly points to a warming trend we should live as if it does and cut back on our ecological footprints and on our consumption. That is just good living and good sense. There's no benefit to over-consumption. And to those who will argue that it boosts the economy I say, the Economy is a monster that does not need to be fed anymore. Saying "Let the market decide!" is akin to saying let the trained attack dog decide between canned food and the warm, fresh meat of your leg. The market has no care for the future of humanity, only for its own appetite.

The problem with the market, with our infrastructure and with our society, is that the levels of complexity have exceeded manageable levels. The Economy/Market/Government/Culture/Infrastructure Monster is so overwrought and beyond comprehension by the human mind that trying to find a quick fix, or even a long term solution is nigh to impossible.

I'm a climate change agnostic, but I'm a peak oil true believer. And most people, whether they realize it or not, are also peak oil believers. Any time you refer to fossil fuels as "non-renewable" you are admitting the reality that eventually carbon based energy will run out. "Peak oil" simply refers to the graph that illustrates how oil is first discovered, produced and then declines. Where the true controversy lies is in the timing of the ultimate decline. Most liberal (while still being reasonably intelligent) estimates seem to put the Big Trickle around 2035, and maybe as late as 2050.

!!!

My children will be 47 and 43 in 2050. Theoretically they'll have children, and perhaps grandchildren of their own. I'll be 76 if, Lord willing, I'm still alive. I will be in no position to affect any kind of change, nor will I be fit enough to survive a collapse of society.

Many conservative estimates predicted a global peak somewhere between 2006 and 2010. After oil ultimately peaks and begins to decline we will see a steep increase if cost and decrease in quality of the remaining oil on the planet. We will never completely deplete the fossil fuel resources of the planet. But at some point, the extraction of non-renewable energy resources will cost more than those resources are worth.

It doesn't matter if that point has already come and gone, and we have entered the long decline, or if we reach that point in 2050 or 2051; once it comes (as any reasonable person would agree it most definitely will) it will be too late to change our bad habits then. We must begin now, even if it's already too late. Some have begun. But a majority of people on this planet need to go through the stages of grief and finally come to acceptance of the fact that the Great Oil Glut that was the 20th century is over and we must transition into the new era of human existence.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm riding my bike into that new era: The Era of Limits. And the bicycle is a wonderful limitation now that will represent freedom and empowerment in the new era.

Year of the Longtails: Tearing Down So We Can Build Up

2011-03-20T16:55:00.000-07:00

I feel productive, even though I spent the afternoon stripping the Cannonball down to a bare frame.

It's ready for the Xtracycle conversion. I'm wrestling with the prospect of getting the Cannonball and the Xtra frame painted before I put it all back together. I could get it done for a couple of hundred dollars, but on the other hand I could save a couple of hundred dollars by not getting it painted. It needs it.

So now that we're down to a frame, fork and front derailer (the only thing still attached) I am ready to put on the extension, new fork, disc brakes and then stick on the stem, drop bars and shifter/brake levers from the Giant (RIP). I've taken apart the crank arms and cassette and cleaned them really well. The cassette will go on a new set of wheels with disc brakes eventually.

I've already made a stoker bar from spare parts. It will attach to the seatpost for either adult or child passengers.

Everything else is accessory and unnecessary for the most part. I want a new saddle, but can make do with the one I have for now. I will need to do some work to my bottom bracket, but that should be relatively minor.

The only big decision left to make is to paint or not to paint. I think it needs it, but I don't want to drop the money. Of course, since I've decided to do the build myself, instead of paying the bike shop to do it, I will save a little money.

I've got until the end of the week to get it done. We won't have the money for the xtra until Friday at least.

On a related note: Mandy has found two Kona Utes on craigslist, each for $750. There is the remote possibility that if they're both still available when the fundage breaks free we may have matching vehicles once again.

More to come...

LATER

A quick thought...I may try to paint it myself.

3rd 1st Annual Front Range Cyclist Bicycle Show

2011-03-19T15:49:00.000-07:00

A quick drive (but long bike ride) down I-25 to the Springs this morning deposited Bob Matter and I at the 3rd 1st Annual Front Range Cyclist Bicycle Show. There's a story behind the "3rd 1st Annual" I'm sure. I'm guessing it's because the second annual show got canceled?

We set up the ACT booth and then waited for the crowds to file in. It was slow, but there were a few people there.

For me it was an opportunity to get to meet some people I have corresponded with via phone and email through the special event process at work. There were a lot of Colorado Springs area shops and organizations and a few Colorado businesses as well as the regional events. There were representatives from the Tour de Cure, the Bailey HUNDO, the Tour of Colorado and ACT shared info on the Denver Century.

My favorite was the Angletech booth. I've never seen a recumbent tandem (or would it be tandem recumbent?).

Angletech has Yuba cargo bikes. I got to ride a couple around, as well as a recumbent trike. If money were no option (money is always obstinate about flowing my direction) I would go out and buy one today.

The smugness factor was low, but spiked at times, particularly when the bamboo bike made a showing. Then there was the...dragster...chopper...bike...thingy?

I chatted with the ladies at Alchemist Threadworks out of Boulder. They ride their bikes to pick up stock and for meetings and deliveries. They have some nice looking clothes as well: t-shirts and hoodies as well as cycling specific articles that are organic and sustainable. I really do want one of their custom wool jerseys (Team Pavement's Edge across the chest).

I drooled over Tessier Custom Bikes and Victoria Cycles. I'm not a huge fan of custom bikes, but again, its more economics than a real lack of desire for one.

The show was fun, though small in size. I'm looking forward to bigger venues and developing my trade show presence and observation skills. I basically just took it all in and rode a few bikes around. Looking forward to Interbike in the fall...

For me the highlight was the Xtracycle someone rode to the show. I saw it locked up in the bicycle parking area.

Ramming Speed Friday: Pedestrian Death Edition

2011-03-18T16:19:00.000-07:00

Okay, I didn't really kill any pedestrians. But not for lack of trying.

I stopped at the credit union on the way through Golden to get some cash for tomorrow and after the detour I just couldn't muster the muster to go really, really fast. That, and there was a headwind from the east.

I cranked on as hard as I could. I felt strong. I forgot to check the time when I got home. It might have been a record commute for all I know. I can't say.

Blazing through the greenbelt in Wheat Ridge I had to dodge slow moving and erratic pedestrians. I was not trying to be a cyclo-facsist, but after a long day and gazillions of phone calls (okay, maybe only billions) I didn't have the patience to muck about, slowing down and biking all safe like.

I tried, I really did, to heed my own advice and not scare the bejeezums out of the pedestrians. And I was in a sort of FLOW mode, carving into turns, weaving between unpredictable bipeds and generally ramming my way home through space and time.

Wednesday was in the 70s, yesterday in the 60s and today started out with snow and ended in the 50s with the sun shining bright. Gotta love spring!

I did verfiy: no bike racks at Pedal Pushers in Golden, but Big Ring does have racks beyond just those provided by the city. In case you were wondering...

Absolutely Nothing About My SuburBubba Encounter This Morning

2011-03-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

After an extended hiatus from bouldering (climbing close to the ground without ropes) my recent, though brief, over-indulgence has affected my ability to apply my brakes with the appropriate level of diligence. I was concerned because despite the 60 and 70 degree temps of the past couple of days I woke up to snow on the ground. Icy commutes necessitate fine control of the steel steed. Thankfully there was no ice even though Steve Casey told me it was one degree below the point of freezing.

I'm currently "ate up" with excitement for the impending longtail assault on Arvada. My head is ready to explode. I am salivating. Its hard to sit still to compose this post. There, I got up and did a little dance and am now back to go on and on and on and on and on about Xtracycles, Radishes, Big Dummies and Utes. Waaaaahhhh!

I had to get that out of my system.

I'm headed to the Front Range Cyclist Bicycle Show with Bob Matter of Assisted Cycling Tours tomorrow. I'm excited. This will be my first "industry" event. I wanted to go to the Colorado Bicycle Summit in February, but the cost and a brief bout of flu-ish symptoms in conjunction with much snow kept me away. Look for a write-up over the weekend, or Monday. Why, oh why didn’t I gravitate toward a career in cycling back when the choices were easier? Oh well, this will be fun, and a good break FROM work.

I'm looking forward to taking Bike Arvada to local events over the summer and into the fall. The cycling community seems so much more inclusive of all abilities all interests compared to the climbing community. In the climbing realm, if you're not a hard or extremely prolific climber you really don't matter. And despite the perception, I don’t think that's the case in cycling.

Case in point: Salvagetti's Commuter Cycling Team. I have been so encouraged to be part of the inaugural year of the effort, and I hope next year it will continue. I'm working on ideas to share with Scott for the future. I think it can be a great effort, and also involve people who are committed to cycling that are not athletes per se, but who may actually be more dedicated cyclists than road and mountain bike racers and cyclocrossers. The crux of a commuter team is keeping involvement up while not having regular organized events.

Well, got to go back to my day job now. Remember, smart people ride bikes.

Rackless Bike Shops

2011-03-17T18:43:00.000-07:00

"Bicycle parking is the indicator species of this new economy, with a business's enthusiasm for its two-wheeled clientele being easy to gauge by the quantity of bike racks out front." --Elly Blue, How Bicycling Will Save the Economy (If We Let It)

The places we frequent are typically bicycle friendly. All the businesses in Olde Town have the cool hitching posts. The grocery store we patronize has racks as well. In fact, the ARC Thrift Store adjacent to King Soopers also has sheltered racks and they sell used bikes. The McDonalds in the same shopping center has a weird mini-swingset type rack. The local Kmart and Target both have bike racks, though only Kmart's is under cover. What is profoundly puzzling to me though is the complete lack of bike racks outside the two nearest bike shops.

Our "neighborhood" bike shop, Foothills Cycling in Wheat Ridge, not only doesn't have bike racks, but there's nothing nearby to which you can lock a bike. We found out the hard way when we took a family ride down to pick up some tubes and had nowhere to lock our bikes. We cabled them together and hoped for the best. At least there's an overhang where you can get the bikes out of rain or snow while you go inside. That's the only plus.

Arvada Bike also has a paucity of bike racks and every time I've been there I've had to lock my bike up to a "No Parking" sign next to the main entrance. While I love their customer service and their selection of bikes and accessories, I wonder why there is no rack. There is a good east-west bike route (W 66th Ave) that passes right by the store, and Olde Wadsworth comes up from Olde Town to the south which is a great short connector route between Ralston Creek Trail and 66th. There is an entryway just inside the first door where you could get out of the weather, but I don't believe there's anything to lock a bike to inside the vestibule.

Most, if not all, of the other bike shops we've visited in the metro area have bike racks. The Golden bike shops rely on the sidewalks racks provided by the city. I won't count it against them, but I wonder if the roadie stronghold Big Ring would provide racks if they weren't already there. I can't remember if Pedal Pushers has outside racks, but if they don't they make up for it with customer service.

Cycle Analyst in Denver has racks by the front door, as does REI. Salvagetti not only has outside racks, but also has a floor stand inside the main door where customers can prop their rides. I think this is a truly bicycle friendly gesture and a rare one indeed. I can't remember the setup at Red Rocks Cyclery in Morrison, but I believe there are outside racks there. It is more of a waystation along the road for cyclists riding from the Lakewood/Littleton suburbs up into Bear Creek Canyon, up through Red Rocks or MTBing into Matthews Winters/Dinosaur Ridge or Mount Falcon Open Space. And then there is Wheat Ridge Cyclery: they have ample racks, but not on the wall where the customer entrance is located.

I just wonder what kind of bike shop owner doesn't cater to ride-up cyclists, the cyclist patron. Why would a bike shop welcome only customers who arrive in a motor vehicle?

Is there a problem when non-cycling oriented businesses (grocery store, fast food, thrift store) have better bicycle related fixtures than a bike shop?

Year of the Longtails: Making Room

2011-03-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

This afternoon we cleaned out our carport shed and rearranged to make room for the longtails to come.

A quick note on our setup: we bought the house in July. Its a '50s era ranch of about 950 sq ft. There is a small shed in the backyard that was built as a playhouse and really isn't big enough to swing a cat around by the tail inside. I've not tried. I don't really like cats so we don't have one available to use as a test pilot. Might have to try one of the crazed squirrels soon.

Anyway, the carport shed is basically a shallow closet on one side of the carport with a wider section at the end opposite the street. I've had trouble storing the OBS in it. I actually have to take the front wheel off and turn the handlebars sideways to get it to fit at all.

I had considered building a bike garage at one end, but my appropriations committee doesn't really like that idea, so we're going to work with what we've got.

The skis and some other random junk ended up in the playhouse shed and the carport shed is all cleaned out with a wall between the wider and narrower sections removed so at least one bike can just roll in and out without having to be hung up. I'm stoked because that will make life easy with the longer bikes.

I also want to put up a bike rack somewhere outside so we can just lock them up good when we're going to be around but may need the bikes on short notice...say for example: APOCALYPSE!

We're short on storage and there's not much room inside for stowing bikes, but we'll do okay. The problem is going to be when the kids need full sized bikes. I think we may need a proper shed in the future.

Okay, now back to Xtracycle porn.

Year of the Longtails: Bikenomics

2011-03-15T19:16:00.000-07:00

We're counting days now. I'm trying to pin down the final components and cost. It will be soon. I will be insufferable in my Xtracycle love pronouncements. Just prepare yourself.

There will be photos. There will be sickly sweet love poems about my bike. I'll be riding more, thinking less. I may miss work as my commutes extend beyond the office.

For now I am going with the basics. The Cannonball X 1.0 will consist of the FreeRadical ClassicCargo extension w/FreeLoader bags, a new front fork and disc brakes front and rear, and drop bars with the SRAM shift/brake levers from my Giant (RIP). In the future I can (will) add a better saddle (maybe a Brooks!), WideLoaders and the KickBack (kickstand).

I'll make my own StokerBar and seat for the kids and I saw an awesome improv adaptation for rooftop racks for the longer wheelbase bikes while perusing the Xtracycle gallery which will save money because we won't have to buy new rooftop racks.

Mandy's going to go with the Kona Ute (Cute on a Ute). Other than an extra u-lock and a pump she'll be set. We'll add lights and a basket as soon as we can afford them, and I'll make it kid friendly so Lily and/or Boone can ride (on both bikes) but otherwise we'll be set to face higher gas prices, social calamity and new family adventures in bikepacking, bike supported cragging and hardcore bike commuting.

Tonight I blazed home on the OBS. I needed to return some library books and pick up a hold so I rocketed over to the library in Olde Town. Then after dinner we needed butter for our dessert of homemade strawberry shortcake so I was back out again to the grocery store. My total mileage for the day was 23.6 miles. That's not a ton, but its a lot for non-recreational riding. And that was 23.6 miles I did not drive a car. There is the distinct possibility that March 2011 will be my highest mileage month ever. It's the 15th and I have ridden almost 250 miles already.

At a rough estimate of $0.50/mi. to own and operate a motor vehicle I have saved $125 this month easy. I don't participate in or contribute to congestion. I don't have to worry about parking there is one more space every day that I ride. I have only put gas in a tank twice in 2011 that I can remember and I am not contributing to pollution or resource depletion with the same intensity as I have in the past. I can't think of a single negative externality that results from my riding. Of course a die-hard moto-fascist would give you a laundry list.

I came across a phrase in a book recently. The author stated we have entered the "Era of Limits." This concept goes along with Kunstler's idea that the 21st Century will be less about going places and more about staying where you are. And it echoes musician Ben Sollee's sentiment that going by bike is a beautiful limitation.

Elly Blue of Grist has started a series of articles entitled: How Bicycling Will Save the Economy (If We Let It).

In the first installment she talked about the "bicycle economy" and the generalities of bikenomics. One thing I really liked from the first article was this statement:

Bicycle parking is the indicator species of this new economy, with a business's enthusiasm for its two-wheeled clientele being easy to gauge by the quantity of bike racks out front.

And I totally agree. I've found myself, over the past year, sizing up bike racks, sheltered areas where I could lock up a bike and the bicycle friendliness of business, offices and public spaces in general. I can tell what areas of the Denver Metro are truly bicycle friendly. And I find it disturbing that many bike shops don't have bike racks within walking distance of their stores. What kind of bike shop doesn't cater to cyclists?

In Ms. Blue's second piece in the series she makes a bold suggestion, but a valid one, that instead of building more roads we could take the funds for a single mile of freeway in an urban area and fund thousands of miles of high-end bicycle infrastructure. And why not? We all know building more roads only increases traffic and congestion. Why not try a solution that might actually work, instead of beating that poor old dead horse for another year?

I know I am going to continue creating as many positive bicycle externalities as possible in the coming year. How 'bout you?

I'll leave you with one last thought. Elly Blue tweeted after a live Twitter chat on bikenomics today:

My secret mission with #bikenomics isn't to berate you into giving up your car, it's to make you want more than what car-centrism gives us.

I think I can wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment here on the edge of the pavement.

Tuesday Propaganda: Perceptions

2011-03-15T07:36:00.000-07:00

I may have graffitied this here previously, but I wanted to elaborate a bit, and perhaps articulate a bit more clearly what I believe about the topic.

On one of my commute options there is a stretch of road that is a four lane divided "parkway" with low traffic and a 30 mph speed limit. I've been using the road for two and a half years to get into Golden from the east. I had only ridden it a few times in "heavier" traffic before I started taking the right lane for the duration to avoid getting smashed by cubiclites in a hurry to park their Audis and Beamers.

When I say low traffic I mean groups of three or four cars spaced two to five minutes apart. The section of road is less than a mile long, so there are days (though rare) when I will only encounter one or two clusters of cars. Heavy traffic would be groups of six or so cars spaced two to three minutes apart. We're not talking gridlock.

Those are the facts. I guess I could sit and do a traffic count one day and verify my numbers, but I'm pretty confident with my extensive experience riding this particular stretch of road that I'm spot on. I find it terribly frustrating that I have to take the lane. There really is no reason I should have to, but it is a stark reality. The few times I've ridden far right I've had the lead car in a pack pass completely in the left lane only to have the next car gun between me and the lead car in the right lane crowding me while accelerating, I've been buzzed by buses, shuttle buses, garbage trucks, said Audis and Beamers, and I was honked at and yelled at almost continuously.

So I experimented one day with taking the entire lane. I ride dead center or slightly left of the hump. I had only discovered the concept of taking the lane and this particular location was my testing ground. The results were positive. I've never ridden far right on this road since. I still get buzzed, I still get honked and yelled at, but the instances are far fewer than before. The majority of drivers pass completely in the left lane and traffic is really not inhibited by my presence. Like I said, the traffic volume is so low my impact is truly minimal.

The perception of my impact to moto-fascists must be gargantuan. With the realities of the low traffic volume, wide road and low speed limit I can't imagine why my presence would invoke such ire. I mean, this is the area where I had a guy pull over in a parking lot and come wheezing out onto the road to confront me as I rode past.

Its this unrealistic perception that makes me think a major social issue (and increasingly socio-economic) is a deeply held sense of entitlement. Its this unhealthy sense of entitlement that pervades our culture that is going to ignite major social calamity when the fun money really runs out. Suburbanites are going to be terribly unhappy when they can no longer watch Two and a Half Men, haul their four wheelers into the wilderness for some drunken fun and when the lights go off. They will loudly proclaim blame on everyone but themselves. The president will be at fault, and Congress, the school board, their obnoxious neighbor down the street, academics, those bastards in Planning & Zoning and that cashier that took their money when they had to pay $10.00 a gallon for gas to fill up their extended cab F250. Unfortunately it will be the poor cashier (and Planners) who get dragged into the street and beaten senseless or maybe worse. Most SuburBubbas won’t have access to the president or their congresspersons to vent their frustrations.

I don't know about the gas station cashiers, but us Planners are going to fight back. Well, at least I will. I'm not going to pretend I haven’t been a part of the problem. But I will defend myself with some justified self-righteousness and say now that I am beginning to understand the true gravity of our situation on Planet Earth I am trying to make a difference by conserving energy and resources. I'm doing my part to keep the TV on and the gas flowing into the tanks of the oblivious hoards who continue burning it with no thought for the future. But I can’t keep quiet about it. I can’t pretend the world isn’t spiraling out of control just to avoid looking like a crazy person or a conspiracy theorist.

Regardless of how much time we have before calamity is imminent, we are heading toward a shortage of all things modern and convenient. Whether I have to face it as the head of my household, or whether my children or their children bear the brunt of the collapse, I cannot ignore it and leave the mess for my heirs to clean up.

Who's with me?

Mufflo-fascist Can't Even Cheer Me Up

2011-03-14T07:52:00.000-07:00

Ah, Monday...you suck!

It's been ages since I've had a flat, period. And it's been even longer since I had a flat on a commute (like, two years). And I've NEVER had a flat on a morning commute. There's a first time for everything.

As I was nearing the furthest edge of Denver West...almost home free...two things happened simultaneously: first, I realized there was excessive bounce and drag in each pedal stroke. I looked down to see if my tire looked soft. Before I could visually ascertain what I knew to be true through the use of my proprioceptive sense the second thing happened; namely a jackass redneck in a '70s era Chevy pickup became too impatient to just pass me in the full left lane in the 30mph speed zone and "gunned" what must have been at some time a Chevy V8, probably a 350. This morning it was masquerading as a slant 6 or maybe a 4.5 cyl. Oh, and when he put the pedal to the floor and the truck "surged" forward it sounded like his muffler was going to explode and shoot off over the plains, never to be seen again as it rocketed through the skies toward Kansas. The Mufflo-fascist gave me a scathing glare through the dirty rear window of the truck as he tried to cut me off. The effect was a bit weak, since he barely got up to the posted speed limit. I chuckled even as I scowled back at him.

I stopped just shy of NREL (where the Mufflo-fascist finally came to a stop in a cloud of mortal smog) and checked the tire. Yep, mostly flat. I jammed a few pounds of air into it and took off as fast as I could. I didn’t make it. I finally gave up in Pleasant View, just after turning on 10th Ave and put a new tube in. The stupid "Quick Stik" I had in my saddle bag wasn't so quick. I'd rather have had my tire levers. But alas, I rode the OBS this morning and the levers were in the pannier of the Cannonball at home. Then the tube was welded into the tire. It took me a few minutes to peel it out and then get the new one in. I had taken off my gloves to make the change and by the time I got back on the bike to cover the last mile or so my fingers were numb and I was beginning to feel the cold everywhere else.

Its really hard to jack up your mood when the jack has sunk into the mud and the frame of the beast is firmly resting on terrafirma. I was only 20 minutes late, and no one fussed, but it was still hectic getting in and getting ready. I had to go scrub my hands to try and get the road grime and chain grease off. Foul mood persists even now. In the immortal words of Brenda Ann Spencer: I don't like Mondays.

I want to go home.

Back Where It All Began

2011-03-12T17:50:00.000-08:00

Epic.

We took a trip to Denver today. The weather was gorgeous. The bikes were ready. We pedaled. And pedaled. And pedaled. Oh, how I wanted a longtail bike today.

We went with Boone on the towbar with the trailer jouncing behind. Lily rode in the bike seat on Mandy's bike to Auraria campus where Mandy was meeting Bob of Assisted Cycling Tours for a transition fair there. Lily got in the trailer there and the kids and I took a 9 mile (round trip) side trip to our old haunt of Wash Park. That's where the original idea for this blog was conceived.

Originally the blog was titled "Jersey Guys: Adventures in Idiocy." I quickly dropped the subtitle and changed it to "Jersey Guys: Taking the Lane." When I failed to make a writing career out of banging on the roadies and hipsters I changed the name to what it is now.

The kids played on their old favorite playground for a bit. Then we headed back downtown. The ride along the Cherry Creek Trail (CHT) made me realize I am not biased toward motor vehicles. Apparently there are moto-fascists going upon two-wheels (cyclo-fascists?)in the MUPs of America. We were cut off and almost clipped more times than I could count in three miles. Oh well...

We swung by Salvagetti. Scott gave Boone a shirt with his design on it, a water bottle and a $50 gift card for the store. Boone got a bell for his bike and a new pair of bike gloves. Mandy and I got shirts for ourselves. They were out of Lily's size so we're waiting for the next batch for her.

This year in April is Salvagetti's seven year anniversary. Boone's eighth birthday is in April too. These are the seven year shirts.

After visiting for a few minutes we headed out and took the long way home via the South Platte, Clear Creek and Ralston Creek Trails. It was 17 miles from the Confluence area. By the time we got home Mandy had ridden 28+ miles and the kids and I had gone 37. I was running on fumes by the time we returned to Arvada. The four pancakes I'd had for breakfast had been spent along the way and my legs were watery and my brain was crashing hard.

It was a great day. Everyone had a good time. I'm so itching for a longtail right now...the taxes are out, returns will come shortly. By April we'll all be on new longtails!

Ramming Speed Friday: The Great Escape

2011-03-11T16:15:00.000-08:00

I took the long way home. My average speed was 17.8 mph. It would have been faster, except for all the people out walking their lapdogs on 15 foot leashes. I had to keep slowing down to avoid ramming them.

This has been a long week. It started out encased in ice and today it was sunny and 70F. We've been short at work and for some strange reason, even though its March it feels like summer in the ole permit review area.

I won't go into the details. In fact, I don't want to think about it anymore at all. RSF helped a bit, but the frustration of dodging all of the meanderers on the CCT has got my brain buzzing. I need some sweet oblivion. The biscuits and gravy my wife made for dinner has helped somewhat. A vat of carbonated caffeinated soda would soothe a bruised soul. Its strange, I really think dueling with the moto-fascists on Ridge Road would have been less stressful.

Its supposed to be nice tomorrow. It looks like we might be taking a trip to Denver by bike. I might take the kids over to Wash Park. Of course we'll swing by Salvagetti. Who knows what sort of mischief we'll get into?

There's too much bouncing in my brain to try and be coherent. I'm glad the potential protests in Saudi Arabia were quelled, though I think the circumstances point to greater turmoil down the road. Those people are dissatisfied. They're not going to be appeased just by an increase in police presence. The inevitable has only been delayed.

Hopefully the damage from Japan's earthquake has been contained. Its bad enough what has happened so far. Time will tell how this will affect the global economy.

Wind Burnt and Ready to Blow Home

2011-03-11T06:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I almost got blown to Kansas on my way in. We'll get to that in a minute.

The early half of my ride was full of Moto-brethren. All the cars that passed me on Ridge Road did so legally in the opposite lane. As I sat at 44th waiting to cross a school bus driver turning left onto the road I was on stopped and waved me across.

But once I crossed into Denver West, specifically the last leg to NREL the Moto-fascism ramped up with gusto. Idiot redneck in a jacked up, extended cab Ford pickup gunned his V8 and cut me off. The only irony would have been if he'd had a "coexist" bumper sticker. But I think it actually was actually Mean Calvin peeing on a cross. Or was it a Chevy logo?

NREL has some huge construction project going on so there are lots of rednecks in oversized pickups and SUVs gunning their engines in the neighborhood. Oddly, they fit in with the cubicle crowd in their luxury-esque sedans. They all race along Denver West Parkway (and Boulevard) well above the 35 mph speed limit, trying to get who-knows-where. I'm guessing if they don't get to the office ASAP the coffee might get cold or they might miss an important Charlie Sheen tweet. I'm hoping for live twitter updates in all new cars starting this year. Then maybe the cubicle monkeys would slow down.

The Moto-fascist stupidity only subsided, not ebbed completely away. But you don't want to hear about boring old traffic sins of random strangers do you?

To the wind...

Its possible the Ridge Road crowd and the bus driver on 44th could sense the impending beating I was going to get form the chinook winds later in my ride. From Arvada through Applewood the wind was just annoying. In Denver West it started to get some oomph behind it and once I got into Pleasant View it was downright brutal.

All along 10th Ave I was geared down, hunkered over the handlebars of the OBS and cranking to beat the band. As I climbed over the hill between Ulysses and Johnson the wind became gale force and I was in my lowest gear, crawling, head down, bike weaving. I crested the hill and as I descended a hill I would normally be clocking 20-30 mph with little effort I was in low gear, head down, cranking away and still almost getting blown to a full stop. I considered letting the wind just take me and blow me back to Arvada. Or Kansas beyond. Or Oz. I really didn't want to keep fighting it just to get to work.

As I approached my building there is a short stretch where I actually travel east for about a hundred yards. Its a slight uphill grade, but when I turned with the wind my bike took off like an electric scooter. I stopped pedaling and coasted most of the way with the wind.

I'm predicting a Ramming Speed Friday of epic proportions...as long as the winds remain out of the west...

Coexist, But Don't Share the Road

2011-03-10T06:57:00.000-08:00

I didn't think it was funny when the Moto-Fascista with the "COEXIST" bumper sticker cut me off turning into the middle school this morning. I guess all religions are accepted in her mind, but not all modes of transportation.

I saw another bike commuter in Denver West this morning which was heartening. I caught him at the same intersection where the boy was almost squished by MFers yesterday. I tried to acknowledge that it was a fine morning for riding but he took off just after I stopped and a few seconds before the green. He seemed like he was in a hurry, but then crawled up the easy grade into NREL as I passed him at my normal pace. I finally did offer a "good morning" as I passed, and he mumbled something through his beard.

Speaking of coexisting...I read an article yesterday about the 2008 presidential campaign and how both major candidates were not emphasizing how important it was and is for Americans to conserve, truly conserve, energy. We consume a hugely disproportionate share of the earth's resources out of selfish national greed, driven primarily by Corporate America and their advertising propagandists. But instead of McCain or Obama telling us the straight truth, much like Carter did in the '70s, they both pandered to our desire to see the American Dream come full circle.

What we DO need in the U.S. are leaders (not politicians, but LEADERS) who will tell us the straight truth and who will get us going down the right path of conservation and sustainability. There is nothing wrong with cutting back on our consumption. Look at us: fattest nation on earth, driving-est MFers on the planet and chugging full steam ahead with no thought for how our children are going to survive the collapse of our fragile framework for economics and politics.

I think of the Flying Party from Douglas' Adams completely misnamed Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "Trilogy". In the story there is a large party that had been (that is, the building containing the party had been) fitted with engines to make it fly through the sky over a certain planet. It flew about for generations as the party continued. And so the story goes…

"One of the problems, and it's one which is obviously going to get worse, is that all the people at the party are either the children or the grandchildren or the great-grandchildren of the people who wouldn't leave in the first place, and because of all the business about selective breeding and regressive genes and so on, it means that all the people now at the party are either absolutely fanatical partygoers, or gibbering idiots, or, more and more frequently, both. Either way, it means that, genetically speaking, each succeeding generation is now less likely to leave than the preceding one. So other factors come into operation, like when the drink is going to run out. Now, because of certain things which have happened which seemed like a good idea at the time (and one of the problems with a party which never stops is that all the things which only seem like a good idea at parties continue to seem like good ideas), that point seems still to be a long way off."

And then:

"The transition from full-time cocktail party to part-time raiding party came with ease, and did much to add that extra bit of zest and swing to the whole affair which was badly needed at this point because of the enormous number of times that the band had already played all the numbers it knew over the years. They looted, they raided, they held whole cities for ransom for fresh supplies of cheese crackers, avocado dip, spare ribs and wine and spirits, which would now get piped aboard from floating tankers. The problem of when the drink is going to run out is, however, going to have to be faced one day. The planet over which they are floating is no longer the planet it was when they first started floating over it. It is in bad shape. The party had attacked and raided an awful lot of it, and no one has ever succeeded in hitting it back because of the erratic and unpredictable way in which it lurches round the sky."

And perhaps the most telling point of Adams' story is this one line, predicting the collapse, the end of the party:

"The party was now a mortally wounded party - all the fun had gone out of it, and the longer it avoided the ground, the heavier was going to be the crash when finally it hit it"

How fitting, what a perfect metaphor for modern America. I'm going to leave it at that.

Love from the Local Bike Shop

2011-03-09T21:04:00.000-08:00

My son the entrepreneur. The other day I walked in from my afternoon commute and he handed me this drawing:

So the next day I posted it on Salvagetti's facebook page. They thought it would make a good t-shirt for the shop and have since ordered the shirts. Last count there were over 20 people on facebook that wanted a shirt.

When Mandy told Boone his drawing was going to be on a t-shirt he thought he was going to be rich. He's been wanting to earn money so he can buy a TRON lightcycle toy. We might have to arrange "compensation" for his work.

Moto-fascism: Why I Am Certain Our Handbasket is On Fire

2011-03-09T06:57:00.000-08:00

I saw a wonderful display of moto-fascism this morning, and oddly it wasn't directed at me. I was traveling through Denver West on my way to work. Quick aside: I had a CSP trooper slow down beside me as I was taking the entire right lane just prior to my encounter with the MFers (Moto-facsists). He didn’t stop, or roll down his window and say anything to me. He just slowed down for a second, matched my speed and then went on.

Anywho! I was approaching the intersection of Denver West Parkway and Denver West Boulevard (I'm not kidding) from the east. The light was changing from green to red and a woman and two kids were crossing my path on the opposite (west side). When they started across the light was still green, but the road is divided four lanes so it took them a bit to get across. They were trying to make the bus on the opposite side. The bus was sitting at the stop. Mom/nanny could have waited for the next light, but they would have missed the bus for sure. Halfway across she notices that the little guy has dropped a glove back at the corner. It was about that time the left turn arrow turned green and traffic surged forward like lemmings toward the seacliff.

Now, the little guy was probably ten. When mom/babysitter said: "You dropped your glove!" he immediately turned back across the lanes of traffic to go get it. I'm sure he believed in the good of humanity and that the approaching cars would not ruthlessly mow him down. I'm sure he didn't think: "Those crazy MFers aren’t going to stop!" He's a kid. He knew they needed to make the bus, he knew he couldn’t leave his glove. 2+2=4. But in this particular case 2+2=MFers.

Cars crowded through the intersection, horns blaring, creeping closer to the terrified kid as he snatched his glove and fled back across the road in terror. He did have the presence of mind to look right as he crossed the other lanes to the opposite corner. Thankfully they made the bus without getting squashed by moto-fascists.

I really wanted to jet across the intersection and run interference for the kid. I would have gladly positioned myself between the boy and the steel menaces, smacking a hand on their hoods hard enough to dent when they blared their horns. But I have the benefit of years and judgment. I glanced around before jumping on my pedals and realized I would get creamed trying to get across to him. Thankfully he didn't need the services of myself and the Cannonball. We so wanted to offer them.

People baffle me. Those moto-fascists that were impatiently harassing that child were three minutes or less from the parking lots their hunks of metal would occupy all day. Denver West Parkway dead ends at NREL one block further west. Basically the development is a cul-de-sac with no exit. If they were turning onto DW there, they were home free.

I have issues with people who get so impatient they will harass another human being so ruthlessly. I guarantee that none of those people were so late they could have justified their behavior toward that kid. And what if that had been their child and some other MFer behaved that way? I bet all of those involved raced to their parking spaces and then moseyed from car to office. They took their time getting settled in, wandered to the coffee pot, chatted with Bill or Mary a few cubicles down the way and then updated Facebook before starting their completely useless day. None of them were driving an ambulance, or a fire truck or a police car. And even if they had been, there would have been no justification for harassing that poor kid. Or anyone else for that matter.

This is the reason why I wish we could just get on with the post-carbon-apocalypse so we can begin restructuring this really, really sick society. It won’t be easy. But the MFers will have a rough time dominating the world when they have to push their cars everywhere.

Long Live Anarchy!

2011-03-08T07:34:00.000-08:00

Some days I secretly can't wait for gas prices to get so high that the moto-fascists will feel the pain. And then reality sets in and I remember that not only will the moto-fascists suffer from the dead dinosaurs' curse, but also my friends and family who drive and all the motorists who are considerate and not absolutely crazed behind the wheel. And then there is the Big Implication that food prices will rise as well as all other costs. So I stop wishing the pain of high gas prices upon those undeserving rapscallions and instead wish burst heater hoses and dead batteries on their heads.

Its funny how a deep sense of entitlement permeates our society. It goes back to what I've said before, and will continue to say: the concept of "Freedom" for many people is little more than anarchy. Just because we live in the good ole U.S. of A. doesn’t mean we can do anything we want. If the speed limit is 35 mph, then going 36 is wrong. If there is a 3 foot passing law, no matter if you agree with it or not, passing a cyclist closer than 3 feet is wrong. Laws protect people from the anarchists who rail continuously about how "Nobody can tell ME what to do with my land/how to drive/where I can dump my toxic waste!!!" and then make a lifelong series of bad decisions which adversely affect their neighbors, communities, and hopefully at least themselves.

Anarchy is bad because people are prone to make bad decisions. Its funny (HaHAHaha!) that the people who make the most noise about "Freedom" also seem prone to the worst history of decision making on the block. So what about "free speech?" While I believe in free speech, I also believe there should be limits. "Freedom of Speech" doesn't mean you can vocally advocate violence against cyclists, or those of different races, or any other human being.

Again, the "Freedom" that Americans think they are supporting isn't at all related to William Wallace/Mel Gibson slinging a broadsword through the sky and screaming "FREEDOM!" at the top of his lungs. That was a different type of freedom born out of tyrannical oppression and Hollywood glitz. When a redneck thumps his chest and screams "FREEDOM!" in defense of his perceived entitlement to drive a gas hog and run over pedestrians and cyclists that get in his way (as a hobby) I start to believe the handbasket is coming in for a landing and its awful hot here.

While Billy Bob thinks its funny to run the cyclist off the road and Benzinger gets off virtually scot free I think there should be more serious repercussions for the improper use of a motor vehicle. The Billy Bobs and Benzingers of the world want all the "Freedom" they can get short of choking on it without ANY of the responsibility of civilized human beings.

Most of us would agree that the automobile represents freedom in our society; especially for the young and immature. I would argue that the freedom it represents also comes with a dose of anarchistic fantasy that, if unchecked, blooms like algae in a cow pond.

I have never understood how a person could rationalize that their choices and their perceived freedoms and entitlements supersede the rights, freedoms and entitlements of all others and that the cost of their "freedom" is irrelevant as long as it is borne by others. But again, this concept has permeated our society. The US consumes a disproportionate amount of the Earth's resources, promising through mouthfuls of McDonald's gristle the same standards of living to the rest of the world, all the while knowing good and well that there isn’t enough to share. We only promise them the American Dream to delay the inevitable erosion of our entitlements once the rest of the world decides they've had enough of the U.S. running them off the road.

I've stopped thinking about and planning what car will replace the Suburbaru we sold in 2009. These days I think more about what bike(s) will replace our remaining car when the time comes. The other day when we were out for a family bike ride I was proud of my wife as she reached an intersection ahead of me and she took the lane, commanding her space on the road, to prevent a car from squeezing beside her. She will be a hardcore bicycle commuter. I am confident of this fact. I can see it in her eyes.

Woe to the Sheeple!

2011-03-07T07:55:00.000-08:00

Did you know that once there is a coating of ice over wool the garment is essentially wind- and waterproof? Amazing!

Today was the first day ever as a bike commuter that I walked a significant distance. The low-slung clouds I could see as I pedaled west on Ridge Road became freezing fog after I had climbed into them in Golden. Illinoising was a sheet of ice. I walked up the sidewalk, feet on the ice/snow covered grass along the edge and a hand firmly on the saddle and one on the stem. Then I had to walk up the long hill along Highway 6 using the same tactics. I only fell once, and that was early on, as I made a sharp turn on the CCT. I discovered very quickly that keeping perfect posture is key on solid ice.

Oh! And I also logged my first fixed gear commute today to. No, I didn’t convert the Cannonball to a hipster machine. My front and rear derailers froze in place. The rear was in the optimal middle position. Unfortunately my front derailer locked up on the big ring (what was I thinking!) and it was mainly because of that fact that I had to walk the hills. I stopped once and tried to bully the hanger over but it wouldn't budge. Locked solid, like a caveman in a glacial ice.

I opted not to travel (travail) through Applewood and Denver West. The few cars (moto-fascists) I had the pleasure of encountering on my jaunt along Ridge Rd and Tabor acted like there was NO ICE on the roads. Idiots. I decided I wanted to maximize my chance of survival, so I stayed off the roads for the most part after that.

The ride home is going to be fun. I think the snow has started in earnest since I got to work. There's nothing like a coating of snow on a sheet of ice to make you feel silly slamming your 4WD SUV into a telephone pole.

What's So Stupid About Smart?

2011-03-06T11:20:00.001-08:00

This past week I read in the comments section of some online article about (I believe) rising gas prices a statement to the effect of: "Well, I'll be fine because I bought a Smart Car?"

I restrained myself from replying to the comment, but its been bouncing around in my head for a few days now and I finally have to let it free.

What is the problem with that statement? Before I get to problem inherent with the statement, let me first identify what I believe the commentator sees as the benefits of driving a so-called Smart Car. There is the presumed high fuel efficiency. A quick read of the Wikipedia entry for the Smart Fortwo shows a paltry 36 mpg city and 43 mpg highway. Huh? I expected something like 80-90 mpg. While the Smart's efficiency is better than say, a Hummer, its not leaps and bounds beyond a well running new moderate sized sedan. But the perceived intelligence of owning one of these flashy little go-carts just doesn't compute.

So what IS the problem with the notion that ownership of a Smart Car will somehow save individuals from a crumbling economy and maybe also save our environment? It's in the name: Smart Car. As long as we rely on the car our society will be dependent on fossil fuels. It doesn't matter what type of SOV you own and operate. Because the scale of our lives exceeds that of a human we necessarily need diesel driven trucks to cart our food from hundreds, if not thousands of miles away. As long as we are dependent on cars to move us around for the most minimal of trips we are making necessary a huge support fleet of fossil fuel powered vehicles.

The real problem with focusing on high fuel efficiency is that we aren't finding solutions to the problem of scale. As long as we continue to perpetuate a society built on the scale of the automobile and not on reducing the scale of our economy and culture to that of a human we will be dependent on oil (domestic or foreign matters not) we will be dependent on huge corporations to supply our basic needs and we will be living with a tenuous connection to the earth. We need a solid connection, to understand our personal impacts. We need that solid connection to guard against disease, famine and pollution.

I'm sure if you have email you have recently gotten another round of the "Don't Buy Gas" forwards. Remember the "Gas Outs" of a few years ago? Last time gas was $4.00/gal I was a big proponent of a concerted effort against Big Oil. Of course the effort is futile. If the Gulf Oil Spill this past year didn't put BP under it's obvious no boycott on the part of consumers is going to affect long term stability in oil prices, nor will any such consumer protest really hurt the oil companies.

Have you heard that the current administration is considering tapping into US oil reserves? Should we be tapping into our reserves just to keep prices down? Again, we're focusing on a car problem, not really a problem associated with human beings. Oh, I know most people would argue that high gas prices are oppressive and create financial hardships for average citizens. But those financial hardships related to high fuel costs would be much less if we weren't dependent on fossil fuel.

If we can reduce and scale back our use of fossil fuels and transition to a more locally scaled economy we can stop worrying about turmoil in the Middle East and the associated sticker shock at the pump.

Smart Cars won't save us. In fact, cars with a range of I.Q. are our major problem.

Choosing Bikes

2011-03-05T21:55:00.000-08:00

Today the kids and I chose bikes over the car. We wanted to get out of the house, get out of the yard and the neighborhood and do something. At first I wanted to drive up in the foothills and get some photos of the bigger mountains.

After a breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls we headed out for Majestic View Park on the bikes.

Wait, that photo was supposed to be of Majestic View, not the homemade cinnamon rolls.

Here's THE view:

It was cool and overcast today and driving would have given us more options and just made life easier, but in the end I just couldn't justify loading the kids up in the car and driving them around. And they really wanted to go for a bike ride once I mentioned it.

There was no reason for us not to take the bikes. I just had to muster the gumption to put it all together and drag the train out of the driveway. After we got moving I really wanted a longer ride. Looking out over the western plains toward the foothills reminded me that there is a lot of space to move about in around here.

I'm really itching to get going on the Xtracycle conversion. It won't be long now. Today we went with the tow bar and bike trailer. I just hooked Boone up before we left home and hauled both kids there and back again. It was only a 5.6 mile round trip, so it wasn't a bad ride. I would have loved to have had the Xtra today though.

I've got some plans for this summer...we're definitely going to do some bike-packing.

Anyway, there is snow coming this week. I had complete confidence that winter had not left for good. I've had enough of a break. Might as well bring the snow...

Ramming Speed Friday: Headwind Edition

2011-03-04T18:50:00.001-08:00

Arg! It was a mixed bag today. There was an evil wind out of the north along the base of the foothills across Golden as I left work. It was a struggle to go fast, even on the steep descent to Clear Creek.

Then when I turned east through the mesas I got a reprieve until I was back out in the open plains. Then another headwind hit.

Y'know, a headwind as you're commuting in to work makes you think the universe is out to get you, makes you want to turn it around, go home and call in sick. A headwind on your way home just pisses you off.

I was in a dark mood anyway. I've been reading too much Peak Oil and too many political articles and analyses. On top of that I had a disturbing dream last night. The details are irrelevant, but it put me in a surreal perspective all day. The sky looked fake to me, I felt a bit detached...and then my mind was racing along lines of food stockpiles, methods for procuring safe, clean water and trigger events.

To say I've hit a spiritual headwind wouldn't be too far off the mark. To say I need some relief from serious matters is an understatement.

I did come across some positive aspects of the Peak Oil phenomenon. If you want a ray of light, check out the Transition Movement.

In particular check out Transition US, because a lot of the sites tend to focus on the UK. From Transition US:

"For all those aspects of life that our community needs in order to sustain itself and thrive, how do we significantly increase resilience (in response to peak oil), drastically reduce carbon emissions (in response to climate change) and greatly strengthen our local economy (in response to economic instability)?”

I just discovered this movement and I plan on looking into it a little more. I came across the quote in Confronting Collapse by Michael Ruppert today: "The term 'sustainable growth' is the quintessential oxymoron," and it struck a chord. Through all my planning classes I heard the phrase "smart growth" and the catchall "sustainability." In the hallway at work there is a sign that reads "Governor's 'Smart Growth' Award 1998" but none of our policies really seem to focus on the concept of smart growth. And what exactly does "sustainable mean? Sustainable life? Or sustainable economics? Mr. Ruppert killed the smart/sustainable growth idea for me, or rather he directed me to the kitchen knife and I hacked up the concept myself.

So I found a reference to the transition movement through Ruppert's Collapse Network. I had heard the phrase "transition town" and I think I actually had the correct concept of what that meant from whatever context I first read it in, but now I actually understand it is a movement, and an effort to stave off the effect of our current downward spiral.

If my wife wouldn't stab me with a kitchen knife we'd be packing up for Willits, California right now. Google it.

I need a good recreational bike ride to clear the head...

Fill 'Er Up With Technology

2011-03-03T18:34:00.000-08:00

Crude is $101.92/bbl today. Have you checked the PSI in your bike tires yet? If you've read this blog for very long you'll know I'm a fan of post-apocalyptic science fiction. Always have been.

When I was younger those PA fantasies were in a Red Dawn or Mad Max vein. Of course with the end of the Cold War and the fading of the "ICBM" in common usage the PA visions have also faded.

At least until I began to see the reality of Peak Oil and the implications...

Oil is finite. At some point it will cost more energy to extract it from the ground or under the sea than a gallon of gas will produce. At that point there is no point. If we have twenty years before that happens then NOW is the time to begin changing our mindset, our expectations and our way of living life.

If we don't have 20 years we might just be screwed. It takes time, money and fossil fuel resources to build new nuclear power plants, to manufacture solar panels and wind turbines and to do research and development on new forms of energy. Technology isn't going to save us. You can't pull up to the gas pump and say: "Fill 'er up with technology!"

There is no equal substitute for oil. So far it has been the cheapest, easiest form of stored energy with the most return on investment humanity has ever discovered.

Hydrogen takes more energy to create than it produces. It is, in effect, an energy storage method, not a source of energy.

Hydroelectric, solar, wind and geothermal are great sources of electricity, but electricity will not replace diesel in our trucking fleet, in construction and in our military. Even if we put all of our effort into converting our existing fleets of vehicles to electricity NOW, there is no time, no money and not enough resources to effectively do that before the gas tank runs dry.

I'm seriously considering hoarding bike tires and tubes. In the post-carbon apocalypse any petroleum based products will become scarce or very expensive.

Wednesday Propaganda

2011-03-02T07:26:00.000-08:00

Well, the "No Processed Food Diet" is going well. I call it "diet" not in the sense that I wanted to make the change specifically to lose weight but instead to improve the health of my family. I've lost a little weight and I think the further I can stay from processed food the closer I'll remain to what is a natural ideal weight for me. I joke about falling off the wagon, and there are days like yesterday when I feel like I'm just chasing along behind as the wagon rolls on toward the sunset, but overall I'm sticking to it and I feel much more energetic and my mind seems to be somewhat clearer. The few pounds I've dropped is a plus.

Yesterday I read the first of a Grist series by Elly Blue entitled: How bicycling will save the economy (if we let it)

I know it is really a two pronged issue, but I'd like to see more focus on how utility cycling is a boon to the economy and less about tourism. The problem with cyclo-centric tourism is that people will drive 500 miles with their mountain bikes hitched up to an SUV to ride 20 miles on the bike. Most of the spending on a trip of that nature is still going to be primarily auto-centric. In that sense there is no more economic benefit over taking a trip to go hiking, or climbing or paddling somewhere. UNLESS you’re doing a bike trip from your front door your cycling is most likely only contributing to the economy of the automobile.

I think Ms. Blue has taken the utilitarian attack, and I hope she continues to develop it. I'm not saying cycling tourism isn't important. I think it is, especially in areas where cycling isn't mainstream or widely accepted like my hometown. I think the more cyclists you bring into an overwhelmingly non-cycling population the greater the chance that you will convert the locals, or that the cyclists will become locals and entwine with the community fabric.

Sometimes a recreational path installed to bring in dollars ends up being a huge asset for the community as it provides a way for people to cross distances on foot and by wheel apart from the roads. I say sometimes, I can’t think of an instance where this isn't the case. Someone argue with me on this one. You may win. I haven’t deeply researched my claim.

Elly Blue's article has also inspired me to reopen a topic I started writing on many, many months ago. Myrinda Ray Siciliani Dixon posts in the comments section: "why don't these articles ever suggest what I should do with the kids though?"

So I'm now working on my own piece/series about how to travel with kids by bike. Keep your eyes peeled. I'm probably going to post it over on the Bike Arvada blog, but I'll cross post here, or at least provide a link and explain what's going on.

Boone is seven now and we've been riding with him since he was at least two years old, maybe a little younger. And going beyond that, I used to ride in a bike seat behind my mom as she rode all around the rural county where I grew up. That was in the late '70s even. We've always found ways to carry the kids with us and to incorporate cycling into our family activities and I think I am, at least a little bit, qualified to speak on the subject.

Until next time: RIDE YOUR BIKE!

This Just In...

2011-03-01T11:03:00.000-08:00

A New York State Assemblyman has proposed a bill that would require every bicycle in the state of New York to have a license plate. Michael DenDekker (Don Dokken) a democrat from Queens (fuhgetaboutit) is proposing to mandate licenses for all cyclists in an effort to "give(s) more credibility to cyclists" on the road. While I appreciate the heartfelt sentiment, I would venture to say that anyone who is not a die hard cyclists could care less about the "street cred" of cyclists.

But let me pose this question: if putting cameras along bike lanes will help to enforce this new law and hold cyclists accountable, how 'bout putting them in high traffic areas along the roads to enforce ALL moving violations, not just those committed by cyclists? I mean, we're talking more than just a traffic light camera, right? These camera's he is proposing will probably be live, not just still images of cyclists running red lights, right? Theoretically they would, as so many commentators have pointed out, show cars and trucks parked illegally in the bikes lanes. That would be a good thing for cyclists I guess.

He makes one statement that I wonder about: "They're sharing roadways now…"

He didn't say "We're sharing roadways now" he specified that cyclists are sharing roadways. Maybe it was an unconscious use of language, but we all know about Freudian slips and the implications (Don Dokken, you were in love with your mother all along)

This is still an US vs THEM issue. For cyclists the best thing would be for increased enforcement of traffic laws for ALL vehicles upon the road, no matter how many wheels they have. For moto-fascists like Don Dokken the best thing would be for a big wake up call. Like $8.00/gal.

You can read the entire Gothamist article on Don Dokken and his crazy idea HERE.

Marching On

2011-03-01T09:06:00.000-08:00

With the change in schedule I went back to my road-intensive commute. The earlier times, both coming and going, result in less traffic and less stress-related weigh gain on my part. The jury is still out on whether I'll go back to riding home on Ridge Road. But the trip west this morning was devoid of moto-fascists; or moto-anything for that matter.

My ninja-like avoidance of traffic over the past two months has been a nice break from the stresses of Ridge Road, Denver West and all of the busy intersections between here and there. I'm sure I'll visit No-Man's Land in the coming months, maybe just for fun, maybe out of frustration at the moto-fascists, maybe in protest of all things petroleum based. Who knows?

That said, I'm in a strangely chipper mood this morning. I'm definitely a morning person. I'd rather get up, get everything done as quickly as possible and then relax. I hate the days where its after 6pm and I'm still going. I'm sure its helping that there is more sun each day than the day before. Spring's coming and I'm oddly happy for that. I usually hate to see winter go. I've gotten my fill this season for sure.

Makes me think I should avoid Ridge Road this afternoon to preserve my good mood.

In related news, I read this article from the Augusta Chronicle which describes (Georgia) HB 180 which is basically a "3 Feet to Pass" law. Colorado has a similar bill, and while I am glad to see the law in effect the main problem is enforcement.

"Hello, I'd like to report a moto-fascist who 'buzzed' me on my bike."

Garble, mumble, garble

"Well, about half a foot."

...

"Hello? Hello?"

But having the law in place is important anyway.

February and Cars Go Together

2011-02-28T19:10:00.000-08:00

It's that time again...end of the month. Let's tally it up.

I rode 313 miles in February. That's pretty good considering I carpooled an entire week when I was sick, I had one holiday off and February is the shortest month of the year. I drove on the first of the month. The snow was piled high and the rest of my family had a snow day. I would say it just made sense, but I regretted it as soon as I turned the key.

But compared to February 2010's deplorable 46 miles this past month was worthy of a freakin' gold medal! Last year I drove a lot because of the weather.

Anyway, the past few days haven't inspired much rambling about cycling, other than to report Bean's new cycling status (two wheels good, four wheels bad).

My counter coverage changes in March. In theory my schedule will be 7:30 to 4:00 for the next two months. We'll see.

Learning to Fly: Pink Princess Edition

2011-02-26T16:14:00.001-08:00

The Bean rode on her own this afternoon. Her mom has the guts to let go without too much practice. I'm not sure if she has more faith in our kids or if she has a more sadistic maternal instinct than most. Regardless, her courage at their expense has gotten both of our kids on two wheels.

Bean is still a little ways away from taking off and stopping all on her own, and she rides only on the downhills, but she's taken the first big step.

Anti-Speed Friday

2011-02-25T22:04:00.000-08:00

Without getting all "AA" on here I think I should explain a little bit about myself and how I truly feel about cold weather commuting (and briefly on commuting in general).

During the last semester of my undergraduate incarceration I was officially diagnosed with ADHD. Now, before you go jumping to the obvious conclusions, ADHD is sort of a sliding scale of symptoms that can be manifested in degrees. On one end there is "attention deficit" and on the other is "hyperactivity." I weigh in hard on the "attention deficit" side, if at all. I say that because there is also speculation on Team Pavement's Edge that a more accurate diagnosis would have been SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder, or for those more sticklery about it: Sensory Integration Dis-whatever).

I'm gonna throw out a fancy word and then completely fail to explain it. Co-morbid. Anyway, my exhibited behaviors seem to me (and to my in-house professional) to lean more toward sensory defensiveness and sensory cravings than actual attention deficit, but my official diagnosis (by a grad student) is ADHD not SPD. I could go into a long anecdotal history, but I'll spare you the anguish. What this means in the context of a cycling blog is not this: money.

What it does mean is that my desire to ride a bike goes beyond mere cognitive awareness of the health benefits associated with cycling, or a hipster need to feel all green and ecological and is in fact wrapped up in the more "primitive" parts of my brain.

Riding a bike is sensory therapy for me. What "Ramming Speed Friday" means to me is that I have put forth all of my physical effort into getting that bike going as fast as I possibly can to carve into turns, blast down grades and feel the earth moving around me. I need to feel gravity and inertia on a massive scale to wipe away a day and a week of sitting still, unmoving, staring at a computer screen and talking into a phone. I need to get my nervous system fired up to clean out the sensory pipes and put the whole affair behind me.

It's kind of unfortunate that my commute to work is uphill. It would be great for me if I could get the same effect before a day of work. I'm not saying my slow crawl up to Golden is without merit, but I think I get more out of pushing the bike to maximum warp.

That's one form of therapy. The other is cold. I have always preferred cold, or otherwise inclement weather. I enjoy being out in the rain, the wind, the cold and the adverse pounding conditions that can blow through in winter. I like the conditions of winter for the same reason I like to get the bike going on a headlong course toward destruction: sensory input.

I am fortunate to be a little heat engine anyway, so I can stave off the chill of cold air fairly well. What I get out of the exchange is total sensory stimulation: my skin, lungs, eyes, and wiggly piggies all reacting to the cold. It's not entirely uncomfortable now that I've started learning to dress more appropriately for winter commuting.

Because of all of this I find it terribly amusing when people look at me as I walk in from the cold, covered in snow, skin angry red and they shiver and call me crazy. I've never really explained to anyone why I actually enjoy the cold. I guess it wouldn't make them think me any less crazy. I will add that because of this lifelong predilection for adverse weather I am truly competent at getting out in the worst of it and surviving with the greatest margin of safety. I know what I'm doing.

Some of the happiest moments in my recreational life have been staring into the face of a howling winter storm with a happy grin on my face.

My prediction was correct. This evening was not another edition of "Ramming Speed Friday." While the roads and paths appeared free of snow they did appear damp and the temps were lacking in Fahrenheit. I held my speed in check, enjoying the cold.

Dodging...

2011-02-25T09:10:00.001-08:00

...the ground unsuccessfully.

I think I'm going to go ahead and call it…no Ramming Speed Friday this afternoon. We've had a faux-snowpocalypse. At 6am this morning the local news channel (Weather Propaganda Experts) were showing "live" footage of snow falling. I looked out the window. No snow. I live 9 miles by bike from the TV station.

Anyway, I got ready and dressed for the alleged temps in the teens with single digit windchills. Of course I would be sweating like a hog being interrogated by the House Judiciary Committee (Have you ever been associated with the communist party?) by the time I reached work.

As I rolled the old Cannonball out the door there was a "dusting" of snow on the ground. And away we went.

The streets had that windblown look but didn’t seem too slick. My standard commuting uniform was keeping me comfortably warm. I was glad for my new glove liners for sure. When I reached the CCT I saw one set of tire tracks in the half inch of fresh snow. Within a hundred yards they veered off onto a neighborhood street and I was alone in the greenbelt accompanied only by the hiss of my slick commuter tires over the snow.

It was a most uneventful ride into Golden, except for the fact that the further west I rode the deeper the snow got and the heavier it fell. I never did start sweating like a communist hog.

The site of my failed attempt to fly (see Douglas Adams' exhaustive study of the subject in his seminal "trilogy" The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) was the 90° turn from the paved path onto the wooden bridge over Tucker Gulch just south of 10th Ave in Golden. I guess after riding for 45 minutes or so over the snow I had become complacent. As I coasted down the slight grade toward the turn I realized (too late) that I was going far too fast for the conditions. I probably completed that thought as I slid headfirst toward the bridge railing. Luckily the bridge has a rough wood surface with maximum friction. I slowed immediately and did not crash into the steel railing. Thankfully, because of the coating of snow and my bulky clothing I didn’t get any splinters either.

Y'know, when you're riding along at a good clip on a bike you're only connected to the earth by a small oh, so very small chunk of real estate. It does feel like you've slipped the surly bonds of earth. But once you start gliding across frozen water crystals you know what it truly feels like to fly.

I got up, did a quick mental diagnostic, realized I was still the quirky, goofy guy I've always been with no new bodily injuries and continued along toward my place of gainful employment. The hill on Illinoising was tricky. I was trying to maximize my weight over the rear wheel, and I could have used those five or so pounds I've lost recently. I made it okay and endured the stupidity that runs rampant on the higher education campus every time it snows.

So here I am. I won't rocket home tonight. No, I'll be taking it nice and easy so I can continue to torment you with my tales of mediocre cycling "adventure."

Ex-Peds and Positive Externalities

2011-02-24T20:34:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking lately about the example cyclists set for other cyclists and motorists alike. I've recently read a few articles (one in particular) that have made me think long and hard. One article suggested that chasing down a motorist who almost killed you would do little to educate that motorist or any others. I tend to agree, but it sure makes you feel good to righteously pound on a drivers' side window and give 'em both barrels.

And then the infamous Bike Snob (NYC) chimes in in his book:

"However, the enraged part of me feels that this person has no idea what they almost just did to me, and that they must be told - loudly, and with lots of obscenities. I want to drown them in the melted pepper jack cheese of my anger. And I do feel there's some validity to that. After all, if someone has no idea they almost killed a cyclist, how can they be expected to drive smarter and more carefully in the future?"

So on one hand we have the "turn the other cheek" approach and on the other hand we have the "burning righteous anger for the sake of educating drivers" approach. I like to use a combination of the two.

The other day as I dodged pedestrians on the CCT I made an oddly perceptive connection (for me):

Cyclists should take extra care to be polite and considerate of pedestrians because when pedestrians cease to be pedestrians they typically become motorists and not cyclists.

It's not beneficial to harass pedestrians, no matter how random or just plain dumb they act. I know, I know...sometimes they just step into your path. Sometimes they wander all over the MUP with no regard for the laws of physics. But you have to refrain from mowing them down because there is no guarantee that will wise them up.

A happy ex-ped/motorist will be more likely not to intentionally maim the next cyclist they see. A "buzzed" ex-ped/motorist may decide to return the favor to the next cyclist they see.

Put some positive energy into the system and make another cyclist's day better.

Where's the Xtracycle?

2011-02-23T10:50:00.000-08:00

If you can give me minute and second count I'll post your name in BOLD on the blog.

Tuesday's Gone

2011-02-23T10:01:00.000-08:00

With the wind...

It's not the day after a holiday anymore, but the full moon effects are lingering far into the week.

In my "Xtracycle vs. Ute" blather I forgot to mention one other possibility: the Radish. Xtracycle makes a bike not just the frame extensions. But having discussed it (briefly) with Mandy, she likes the Ute and will go with it as long as she can successfully tame the giant beast. I don’t think she'll have a problem once she actually takes one for a spin.

For me I would pick the Ute over the Radish without much thought for two reasons: 1) The Ute is black, the Radish is white or off white. 2) The Radish does not have disc brakes and the Ute does.

And then there is the Surly Big Dummy. I knew you'd bring it up, so let me go ahead and shoot your idea in the food my minions…er, Dear Readers. Even if I could afford the Big Dummy it goes against my philosophy that an excessively expensive bike, no matter the purpose or utility, will cause me unwanted stress-related weight gain and therefore I will not own a bike that costs more than $2,000 to replace. In fact, I'm thinking about $1,200 is my hard and fast ceiling and for my first longtail I'm trying to keep it under a grand because we're going to be getting one for me and one for Mandy.

THIS JUST IN: I'm not sure where I saw the $2,000+ price tag (I know I saw it somewhere), but the Big Dummy is listed for $1,849.00 on Xtracycle's website. That's still a lot more than I want to spend on a new bike in the Year of the Longtails, but $1,850 is a lot easier to swallow than whatever exorbitant price I saw elsewhere. Still, it puts the BD lower in the running for my first longtail cargo bike, but if I were to find one closer to a grand I might seriously consider it.

Anyway, so the options as I see them in order from least to most preferred are:

Xtracycle Radish $999
Surly Big Dummy $1,850
Kona Ute $900-ish
Cannonball X (my early '90s Cannondale M300 with a Classic Cargo Free Radical) $438 + $80-ish for front disc fork + $100 (estimate) disc brakes = $618 (and possibly build costs unless I do it myself)

As I mentioned previously, I think going with the Cannonball X I will have a more versatile and satisfying longtail. I will be able to tour in more comfort and with some quick changes (i.e. flat bars and MTB tires) I could take it off road as well.

From a general utility standpoint I think the other three are all comparable for commuting and riding around town. The Big Dummy looks best for off road applications, but would definitely cause suffering for hard core road touring. It might be easy enough to swap out bars for a big trip. It would be good to ride the Ute and the Big Dummy for comparison.

Questions, questions...

Enough With Tuesday Already!

2011-02-22T16:48:00.000-08:00

Yeah, it's another three post day. I'm not like other bloggers who can just be satisfied with one post on multiple topics, or one who can just shut up and say enough is enough.

Today has not been the best day. Full moon lag effect, I predicted it! I said it first! I told a co-worker last Friday, "You know they'll come in here in droves on Tuesday because they can’t get to us during the actual full moon."

I was right. Crazies on the left of me and crazies on the right. I argued with one guy twice, and gladly went and got my supervisor at his request. I wasn't nice to him after his not-so-subtle slams and after he accused me of being on a power trip. For those of you that don’t know me beyond this blog, while I perceive you all as my minions I don’t really have any aspirations of power and I almost never use my position to elicit any kind of joy. I'm not going to say it never happens, but typically I really, really don’t care enough about the situation to act vindictively when someone is being cranky. Today was one of the rare occasions when I make exception.

Mr. Surly Mouth spent quite a bit of time in our lobby, or as some would call it "waiting" room. He made good use of his space while I did "research."

And there were others, all of whom have paled in memory after Mr. Surly Mouth.

How is this a Pavement's Edge issue? You could ask me that, Dear Reader, but I'm going to go with the flow today and clam up. I don’t have to justify my argument, I just have to beat you over the head with it.

Anyway, having a bad day makes me dream of getting on my bike, turning it toward the sunset and pedaling away. Away.

Summer can’t come soon enough. We are going to express our cycling freedom on the open roads. I have some schemes and plans. I am giddy of mind at the prospects of trammeling the light fantastic over prairie and foothill. I will climb many glorious feet into the bluebird skies to escape beyond treeline and the edge of civilization.

I look back on my life and I wish I had fully realized the opportunities I had when I was younger. I wasn't a "cyclist" in the strictest sense. I had a bike, I occasionally rode the bike, but I didn’t use it fully and completely in the best way I could have.

I keep myself sane by planning the Grand Adventure in my head, and in planning a series of Lesser Adventures along the way. One of these days…

On Any Given Tuesday

2011-02-22T11:53:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I get that the day after a holiday our office would be busy. We basically do double duty on those days. I understand. What I'm not so sure about is why there were MORE cars on the road today than a regular Monday or Tuesday. Don’t the same number of people have to be at work on any given Tuesday, I mean, generally? So where did all the cars come from? And where did all the bikes go? I didn’t see a single other cyclist out today.

Oh, wait, maybe the cyclists drove today! Nah, couldn’t be that. The difference between additional cars today and the total number of cyclists on any given day is much greater and offers no explanation for the disparity.

It's a mystery to which I will offer no hypothesis. Instead, let me offer my views on the book The Party's Over by Richard Heinberg which I finished on my lunch today: read it.

If you aren’t scared to pieces and depressed beyond repair after reading it, you may have a chance in the coming calamity. It plays on my long standing post-apocalyptic fantasies. But it also helps me to better understand why I've always had this sense of dread about our modern socio-economic arrangements. I think the best message to take away from the book is this:

Our cultural obsession with good news, promises, and hope is humanly understandable, but there comes a time when the best thing to do is accept that a bad situation has developed and find intelligent ways to manage it.

Now is that time. Do you see what's happening in the Middle East? Gas prices might do more than "go up." Gas may become scarce. I was born at the end of the oil embargo of the '70s, and I'm a child of the build up that led to it. While I didn’t personally experience those times, I did watch that Cheech and Chong movie that portrayed the events of 1973-4 and I am certain if you light up a doobie in a gas soaked Thunderbird you will meet with much more dire results than did those Beaners. No seriously, rationing of gasoline may become a reality. $5.00++ prices could become the norm. Food prices will shoot up, consumption will go down, the economy could tank even further.

Regardless of whether there are five or fifty more years of petroleum supply still in the ground, the problems of supply lines, political access to oil and the extreme delicacy of our fossil fuel dependent infrastructure could lead us quickly into ruin.

Heinberg also states:

Human beings have always had problems: competition for scarce resources, natural disasters, diseases, accidents, and so on. It is the SCALE of the problem that besets us now that is unique.

The scale of our dependency is going to be the real crux of the matter. We haul too much (ourselves included) too far, too often.

I highly recommend reading The Party's Over. IN a sense it better summarizes the Peak Oil dilemma than other more focused pieces do. For me it would be a tossup between The Party's Over or The Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler if I were going to recommend only one book on the subject.

Ride a bike!

Tuesday Propaganda

2011-02-22T08:47:00.000-08:00

I say DOWN WITH PROCESSED FOOD!!!

Not too long ago, after watching a slew of "Dark Social Commentary" and "Fight the System" and "Recommended for Chris" movies on Netflix, we decided to completely go off processed food. And while I'll readily admit I fall off the wagon at the slightest bump my intake of processed food has dropped significantly. When I say significantly I mean from 100% consumption previously to less than 10% over the past few weeks.

So what does this mean? I could go back and list off the Grist articles I've read on food, I could post my "Recently Watched" list from Netflix, but suffice it to say that based on my "research" in recent weeks I've finally found the impetus to get myself on a healthier diet. Nothing in my past has enabled me to do that. Since my late 20s my health and energy have been on a steady decline. While I still consider myself healthier than average, I'm not the unstoppable force I used to feel that I was. The past few years this has bothered me, yet I've been unable to curb my ravenous intake of fast food, soda and junk food.

I've only been able to maintain my weight under 200 pounds because I've forced myself to be active even as my motivation and energy has waned. I worked at UPS for a few years toward the end of my undergraduate sentence. And for a time I worked at an online textbook warehouse hauling armloads of books around for eight hours a day after my four hour stint at UPS. I'm sure I was consuming thousands of calories more than I do now. I was also expending calories at a frightening rate. I knew the minute I quit both of those jobs my weight would...well, "spike" seems so inadequate to describe a round condition. My energy levels dropped off significantly as well.

I've struggled to avoid gaining weight beyond 200 pounds and I've ventured there only a couple of times and briefly then. But nothing- no fitness goals, no recreational goals, no desire to live longer, be healthier or have more energy -has helped me to kick the habit. What it took for me was understanding the modern "food chain" and being mad enough to chew nails (my own) that helped me find the motivation and the resolve to change my horrid eating habits.

Actually, I think the motivation came from realizing what effect all of the food industry monkey business will have on my children, and I decided for their sake we had to stop eating the Corporate Approved Diet.

Remember I stopped wearing the cycling costume and started wearing real clothes? Remember I stopped showering at work and have been showering before my commute in the mornings? Well, I used to weigh myself daily in the locker room. I stopped doing that when I started getting ready at home. I'm not sure why, maybe it was inconvenient to tap on the digital scale to get it to come on. I'm not sure.

After my recent cyclo-commuting hiatus while I was sick I stepped on the scale at home. I was 198. Groan. I'd been sick. I hadn’t been riding my bike. But 198?!

Yesterday morning I stepped on the scale after breakfast and with a full belly I was 191. A week of full on commuting every day and eating almost no processed food whatsoever had burned off the pounds amazingly fast. I had two sodas early in the week before reading Tom Philpott's article on Grist about what is really in diet (and otherwise) soda.

This morning with my gastrointestinal tract empty I weighed in at a mean 188. I don't remember how long its been since I've been less than 190 lbs. (I stood up to do a little dance after writing that)

No wait, I do. November-December 2005: I had a really bad bout of flu and lost 20 lbs. over a month. I'd lost my sense of taste with all the congestion and stopped eating compulsively until I got over the flu; then I put the weight right back on and then some. Immediately after recovering from the flu and just before I started to pack the pounds back on I went on a backpacking trip with my good friend Travis. It was a whirlwind trip to the Smokies in December and I ended up hiking 28 miles with 3,000 feet of elevation gain in postholes and over frozen snow in a 24 hour span. And that was including 9 hours of sleep...

I've not really increased my activity level this past week. We've only drastically changed our diet. I owe big kudos to my wife for having the mad June Cleaver skillz to make homemade bread, bagels, pasta and put together some amazing meals for us. She always makes good food, and has typically made healthy and more and more whole foods, but since this big decision came down she's stepped it up and has gone so far as to make crackers (Gromit) and has really made it all come together.

Our goal this summer is to start a garden. We're researching and planning. We're hippifying hourly.

And on to the other propaganda: you'll hear from moto-fascists that encouraging people to get out of their cars is akin to their own brand of fascism. How dare we challenge the freedom of tax paying American citizens to buy and drive Hummers?!

Well, let me tell you something, being a cyclo-commuter has given me freedom that I never knew possible. I'm free from traffic. I'm free from gas prices (and becoming more free). I'm free to choose my mode of transportation. I'm free to step outside of blind convention and walk (ride) a different path. I'm free to hang on to more of my hard earned money by not cramming it into the gas tank. By embracing the car-free (ALMOST) lifestyle I've started to learn to be satisfied with much, much less. Living simply allows you to take the truth path of least resistance, and not the perceived path which requires throwing money at all of your problems.

So yeah, I guess I would advocate taking away the "freedom" of being allowed to own a Hummer and I'd exchange it for true freedom and true liberation.

Get on that bike!

Gears

2011-02-21T20:11:00.000-08:00

While I go on about the Year of the Longtails my kids have their own cycling dreams.

Last week I took the pedals and training wheels off of Bean's pink princess bike and put the Balance Buddy on it. She hasn't taken off like I expected her to, and I realized she can actually brake with the pedals, so I put them back on today. A couple of paces up and down the street with her has me convinced she'll be riding on her own by spring. She wanted to keep riding all afternoon. I finally convinced her to take a break for awhile.

On the other hand, Boone is ready for gears. After our Tour de Arvada on Saturday we've all realized he would be much happier if he could just gear down for the hills. And I'm certain that he can figure out shifting and using hand brakes pretty quickly. It's been hard for him to keep up with me and Mandy on our recent rides because he has a single speed 20" BMX bike.

What's funny is after we went to Assisted Cycling Tours' (ACT) open house and saw the Matters' tandem, Boone has been talking about us getting one. I had mentioned it to him once that a tandem would be fun for us because he could ride with me and we could go a lot of places. He seems to be all for it.

I've never really liked the idea of a tandem before, but as I've looked into the Xtracycle and other longtails and read up on the Vogel family's adventures I can see how a tandem would be a great addition to our fleet. I'm not saying we're in the market for a tandem, but I'm not saying I wouldn't happily take one if someone were to give it to us.

Going beyond the standard single rider bicycle and stepping into the world of utility and family bikes is exciting. We've always been open to the idea of using our bikes for more than just riding up and down the street and around the park. It's incredible how having access to the 800+ miles of paved trails, the hundreds of miles of bike lanes and good roads and the untold miles of off-road trails and paths within a day's ride will inspire you to jump on your pedals so much more often.

I look forward to a summer of two wheels for all four of us. The kids are little cycling fiends, and usually up for any adventure. We're going to test that theory this summer.

We'll conquer distance. We'll overcome weight and mass. We'll build endurance, confidence and strength. We'll do all this while propelling the most efficient means of transportation ever devised by man.

The plan is that the kids will go visit family in the East in a few months, yet we fear with building turmoil in the Middle East, with interruptions in oil production and political unrest that gas prices may jump pretty high and we won't be able to afford the trip. That's becoming a distinct possibility. If we can't afford to travel this summer then we'll be riding out from home a lot more often and we'll be exploring our limits and stretching out along the roads and byways.

There are as lot of destinations within striking distance of Arvada. I'm really good at pulling the logistics together for a fun adventure. Hope you'll come along.

Xtracycle Vs. Kona Ute

2011-02-20T18:33:00.000-08:00

Okay, here we go. After I took Mandy to Salvagetti to look at the Ute I've been thinking it might make sense for me to go with a Ute too instead of converting the Cannonball with an Xtracycle kit. Historically Mandy and I have had matching vehicles from the beginning. When we met we both had Chevy Celebrities. Then we moved to matching Honda Accords, and since then we've had Suburbarus.

Then when I bought my Giant OCR2 (R.I.P.) we went back a few days later and got her an OCR3 which she still has.

When it first came up in discussion I began thinking a Ute for me just made the most sense. But then I had a thought: I want a good touring bike, and the Ute just doesn't seem to fit the bill. However, my plans for the Cannonball would essentially make it into a touring longtail bike. It would still be a "fire road" bike if I slapped MTB tires on it or a good road touring bike with the commuter-type tires (or even skinnier) I have on it now.

So let's break it down with the current info.

First, handlebar configuration: The Ute has swept back cruiser/commuter type bars. That means limited hand positions. That's fine for a 10 mile commute or trips around town, not so good for all day riding. The Cannonball X will have drop bars for multiple hand positions. Hands down (pun intended) a plus toward touring.

Second, riding position: The Ute has an upright riding position, again good for around town or a commute, not so good when you're trying to cut through a headwind on an all day ride. The Cannonball will allow varied positions for any riding conditions.

Next, the Ute will be a brand new bike, all new components with associated warranties and a year of maintenance. The Cannonball will need new (disc) brakes, the frame is about 16 years old and eventually I'll need a dedicated set of wheels for it. I plan on sharing with the OBS at first.

And then the Ute doesn't seem to have appropriate gearing for touring (16 speed - 2X8). The Cannonball is set up with 27sp (3X9) already and is a proven climber, even better than the deceased Giant. I can climb a wall with that thing.

Lastly, the Ute will cost a little more but need no other work initially. The Cannonball X will need to be built and may need some tweaking in the first few weeks afterward. The Cannonball X will be longer and harder to store, but not by much.

One thing, I need to ride the Ute and see how it feels. But I think the decision is ultimately going to come down to the touring questions. I don't want to have to buy another bike if I get the opportunity to go on a multi-day tour. The OBS is a full on MTB and the Ute just doesn't seem like a long-haul bike.

The Cannonball X might just have to be that bike.

Thoughts?

Fuel

2011-02-20T07:03:00.000-08:00

I watched the movie Fuel last night. I highly recommend that you watch it. It is produced by Josh Tickell, the man driving around the country in the "Veggie Van" since the late '90s. He's been promoting and educating about the use of biofuels as a replacement for gas and petro-diesel. The movie offers a lot of good information about our fuel consumption habits in this country.

He actually, briefly, mentions using bicycles near the end of the film. And I have seen the recurring theme recently, in the writings those Cassandras that are trying to get the word out about Peak Oil and the impending effects, that the bike is NOT touted frequently as the salvation of the material world.

And it occurred to me as I watched Fuel, the bicycle will never replace heavy transport, and the scale of our economy is such that to find a solution pre-collapse we need to find alternate ways to move goods over even short distances.

Therefore, the bike is the solution for individuals. It is the best choice for those that have a choice, or who can put themselves into the position to make the choice. For the shipping and trucking industries the solution would seem to be biofuels.

I've also seen the criticism about biofuels that the production takes up cropland and leads to starvation in other parts of the world. The film also addresses that issue and I think there are viable solutions if we just accept them and at least give them a try. It's not about black and white lines drawn: here are crops grown for fuel where crops for human consumption could be grown. I think we need to examine what resources in land and space we have and make a strong effort to allocate them wisely.

Bikes (and walking and public transportation) for people; biofuels for plains, trains, trucks and ships.

I know there are "conservatives" out there who would smack me down saying I'm a socialist or that I am promoting fascism, taking away the freedoms of God-fearing, hard-working, tax paying republicans. Well, yeah, maybe that's what I'm saying.

"Freedom" is a dubious concept in our country. Freedom originally meant freedom from oppression. Today many people conceptualize freedom as little more than watered down anarchy.

The "freedom" to drive a Hummer is basically the allowance of certain individuals to make choices which others ultimately pay for.

Remember: smart people ride bikes.

Oh, and for the record, I consider myself very "conservative." But when I say conservative I am cognizant of the root: conserve.

Four Years of Hauling Beans

2011-02-19T15:36:00.000-08:00

This is Silly Bean's first ever bike ride:

And this is her most recent bike ride with mom:

Ramming Speed Friday: Three Day Weekend Edition

2011-02-18T17:43:00.000-08:00

Do you think the sitting president gets gifts from his friends and family like a birthday or Father's Day on President's Day? I wonder.

I'm going to proclaim it a valid Ramming Speed Friday, but only because none of you were there with me to refute the claim. I should have left a trail of fire behind me, but for whatever reason I didn't feel like I would have been able to ram my way through a flock of Canadian geese, much less the usual suspects.

With three days of leisure and no permit review woes ahead of me I should have flown like their were wings on the Cannonball. Instead the Cannonball fell like a cannonball before rolling along the ground, to burst upon the front stoop.

I speculate that much like my tires I need to be at the proper PSI. I just feel flat.

I was welcomed into the house by the smell of homemade pizza and the sight of Ale-8s sent by our good climbing friend Di Clark back in Kentucky. For those of you not familiar, Ale-8 is a soft drink made in Winchester, Kentucky. It's sort of like ginger ale, but way better.

Anyway, the week is done, and thankfully so. My brain is tired and needs some relief from all this bicycle nonsense. I'm not saying we aren't going to ride tomorrow...because we are. How can we not? The weather is supposed to be sooo nice. Maybe we'll go up in the foothills. There's this place called Black Hawk...

Roads Still Open For Now

2011-02-18T11:34:00.000-08:00

Riding home from Denver last night under a full moon I had time to reflect on the proceedings at the Capitol. For me it was a completely new experience. I can’t think of anyone in my immediate circle of trust who has ever testified before a governmental committee. At least I was not asked if I was now, or ever had been associated with communist party or anything like that. It was a much more inviting environment than you’d expect, even for a generally attention-shy person like myself.

I'm familiar with the workings of public hearings. I've sat in on a few related to my job so the format was familiar to me. The mechanics of state government were a bit fuzzy to me, but after grilling Rep. Kerr for a few minutes I started to understand a little better.

I had a good conversation with Chris Santriano who works with Midnight Sun, Inc. He came to testify as a cyclist and as a a bicycle industry representative.

Time passed as we sat outside the hearing room. The frantic ride east to get to the Capitol by 1:30 yesterday was wasted energy. I don’t know how many bills were before HB 1092 but we waited. We waited. We waited. Around six-ish we went into he hearing room.

As is customary, the opposition went first after Andy presented the bill. First up was Corey Hoffman, city attorney for Black Hawk. He made two points defending Black Hawk's ban: 1) There is a real world danger by putting bikes and other vehicles on the roads together in Black Hawk and 2) Legislation of the movement of vehicles on roads should be left to local municipalities. The he cited the narrowness of Black Hawk's roads. He stated that bicycles on the roads in Black Hawk are incompatible with the cars and motor coaches that travel through the city.

Hoffman went on to state that the city didn’t want to find out what would happen if bikes and cars continued to share the roads in Black Hawk (paraphrasing here) and that they didn’t need to do a traffic study. It was a common sense solution. He made the claim that the streets had been designed for horse and buggy and were narrow and curvy.

State Highway 279, Black Hawk

Then he cited other places where bikes are prohibited, including US 6 through Clear Creek Canyon, which is closed to bikes because of a series of tunnels. He also stated that it was impossible to find an alternate route for bikes through Black Hawk that they would literally have to "move mountains" which would be costly and not practical. Hoffman also pointed out that Black Hawk limits the time deliveries can be made within city limits and that there is a time restriction on semis passing through the city.

He concluded by asking if there would really be a controversy if the ban had been on skateboards instead of bikes.

The committee had a few questions for Hoffman. He basically reiterated the same rhetoric about safety and the narrowness of the roads.

My quick take on Hoffman's points: 1) there is more danger for cyclists to walk their bikes along Black Hawk's narrow roads than to ride them, a point Dan Grunig later articulated very well. 2) By leaving the decision to local municipalities you give one community the power to cut other communities off from through bicycle traffic. For that reason alone they should not be allowed so much power. 3) If the streets were designed for horse and buggy, then the modern vehicle best suited for the roads in Black Hawk would be the bicycle. The problem in Black Hawk is a car (and motor coach) problem, not a bike problem. 4) There are other places in Colorado and around the nation where bikes are prohibited for safety reasons such as US 6 through Clear Creek Canyon, but HB 1092 does not prohibit local governments from closing a road to bikes. It only mandates that they justify the decision to do so with a study and provide an alternate route. 5) By lumping bikes with skateboards Hoffman was attempting to move the perception away from bikes as vehicles and put them in a category with "toys". Given that he was speaking to a room full of…well, shall we say, all of a certain party, it was a sly tactic.

After Hoffman Peg Ackerman testified in record time that the County Sheriffs of Colorado opposed the bill and though the local authorities were best able to determine if a road is safe for bicycles thank you. While I agree on that point I also think they should justify the closure and provide an alternative.

Mark Radke of the Colorado Municipal League rounded out the opposition stating this was simply a local control issue and that the response to the ban was a gross overreaction. He concluded by saying the CML and its affiliates had been promoting cycling around the state.

Then the ball was in our court. Chris Satriano spoke first, and briefly and emphasized that the bill was a good common ground for the bike vs. car debate. Then it was my turn. I spoke briefly and somewhat nervously about being a bicycle commuter and relying the freedom to move through five municipalities between my house and my job. Andy wanted my focus on this aspect and we talked about a couple of other view points I could elaborate on, but of course under scrutiny my brain tends to vaporize and I got a little stuck.

It was okay though because Dan Grunig, the Executive Director of Bicycle Colorado batted us all in with his well delivered testimony and rapid fire and concise responses to the questioning that followed.

In the end I think it came down to an issue of local rule. One committee member in particular said even though she agreed with the bill to an extent, she still felt it was best left to the communities to decide.

The bill could be resurrected. At the very least it can make its rounds next session in another form. It's not looking good.

For me it was a good experience. If I am ever given the opportunity to testify on a bill in the future I'll know what to expect and I can prepare more effectively. I met a couple of good people in the bike industry and learned a bit about state government in the process.

I have ideas and schemes running through my head. I am more motivated to increase my knowledge base in advocacy, and oddly in state government, and I am starting to build up experience where I want it. We'll see where the white line takes me from here.

Flopping Like a Fish

2011-02-17T19:57:00.001-08:00

I'm going to do a more in depth write up later, but for now the bullet points:

There were three that testified for the bill, myself, Chris Satriano of Midnight Sun Inc. (makers of a bike safety light) and Dan Grunig Executive Director of Bicycle Colorado. Of course Andy (Kerr) was presenting the bill and he spoke as well.

HB 1092 (the Open Roads Act) was motioned to move back to the floor of the House with favorable recommendation and that vote failed, but a close vote.

Then it was motioned to move the bill to another committee. I forget exactly which one. That motion failed.

Then it was motioned to table the bill indefinitely. That motion failed.

The bill is in limbo. From what I understand the Chairman of the Committee can bring the bill back to vote again, but he voted against the bill initially. There was one committee member that was absent who was reported to support the bill and his vote would have made a difference. The likelihood of the bill coming back for another vote is slim, but still possible. It's kinda like a fish out of water. If someone throws it back in it can swim again, but otherwise it will eventually die.

More to come...

Black Hawk, Colorado: Welcome, But Leave the Bike at the Door

2011-02-16T16:20:00.000-08:00

Black Hawk. Bike Ban.

They sort of go together these days. The Black Hawk ban of riding bicycles on public roads within city limits has spawned a lot of press, mostly negative, since its going into effect this past year.

Oddly, I have seriously failed to address the matter here on the Pavement's Edge. "What?!" You scream incredulously. It's true. I live a mere 27 miles and change from the well known casino town and I've just avoided chiming in on it because I have felt like the ban hasn't really affected me directly, though it most definitely affects one item on my cycling tick list: Ride the Peak-to-Peak Highway.

Before I get too far along in my rant to come, let me explain that I am anti-gambling. This traditional value I hold dear is most definitely going to bias my opinion about the entire matter.

Anyway, Black Hawk (pop. 118 in 2000) deemed it necessary to ban riding a bicycle within city limits on public roads for the welfare and safety of cyclists. Of course they failed to take a few things into consideration. First, walking a bike along a public highway pushing a bike is far more dangerous than riding the @#$%! bike. Second, let's just be frank, it's not about "protecting" cyclists. It's about the money. I'm sure some bigwig involved in Black Hawk's illustrious gambling industry got hung up behind a cyclist and stormed into Boss Hogg's office demanding the city ban all bikes from roads. Boss Hogg, being the fine upstanding crooked politician he is decides its best to keep the guy with deep pockets happy and screw those @#$%! cyclists. They’re just @#$%! liberal hippies from Boulder who are always pushing for tax reform.

But of course they can’t come out and say it that way. So Roscoe P. Coltrane comes up with this idea that the purpose of the ban can be to ensure the "safety of the cyclists on the dangerous narrow roads in town." Yeah, that'll work!

Of course what makes roads unsafe? Not bikes. CARS! @#$%! Cars!!! If only bikes were on the road there would be no such thing as a rollover crash, the jaws of life or flight for life. Plain and simple. So Black Hawk took a car problem and solved it by banning bicycles.

But of course this gets us back to the point that a person walking a bike along a road has a wider profile than a person riding a bike. They're going to be moving slower and have less control of the bike, so in effect, forcing cyclists to get off their bikes and walk is increasing the danger to cyclists.

Maybe the Black Hawks thought if they banned people riding bikes in town it would eventually dissuade cyclists from even coming within 20 miles of town. Well, not so much. Black Hawk is situated between the Peak-to-Peak Scenic Byway and the Central City Parkway. CCP allows better access to the PTP from Idaho Springs as the southern terminus of the PTP kinda peters out into no-man's land. On one side you have Highway 6 (yeah, the same one) which is Clear Creek Canyon and already off limits to bikes (truly a safety concern with all the shuttle bus traffic full of gamblers) and the only other option is US 40 over Floyd Hill along I-70. If you've never seen Floyd Hill just imagine the worst climb in your state and times that by three. In a car.

So the best option for those wanting to ride the PTP and perhaps string it together with the nearby Mount Evans Scenic Byway is through Idaho Springs and over the Central City Pakrway. Of course cycling is prohibited on the CCP just outside of Central City proper. Seems like there is a pattern. And it's not three lemons. Or is it.

An interesting note about Gilpin County (where Black Hawk is located): when you peruse the handy dandy Trails Illustrated map for the area (Central City-Rollins Pass) you see a lot of little bike icons along the roads through the national forest to the north and west of Central City (county seat) and Black Hawk (partner in crime). So you decide you’re going to head up into the high foothills to do some mountain biking (or hiking, or skiing, or bird watching) and when you turn on Apex Road you see a bunch of signs that inform you that parking along county roads is prohibited. You drive further and see more signs. After you totally fail to find a trailhead you wonder where the access to the public land is. Yeah, they don’t want that either.

There is a small treasure of forested 10,000 foot peaks immediately east of the James Peak Wilderness Area. Unfortunately there is little to no access. But of course if you continue on up the rough and rocky road you eventually wind up in Elk Park. It is a nice little alpine meadow with amazing views of James Peak and the surrounding mountains along the Continental Divide and it provides a small amount of safe public access to the area. Wow, I love it up there!

I wonder how the residents truly feel about mountain bikers in the national forest near their land? I think I can guess.

What it all boils down to, as I stated recently in a post is: "You're inhibiting my God-given right to go anywhere I want as fast as I am comfortable going and I don't like it," and in the case of whomever got this ugly ball rolling in Black Hawk: "And I have the money, power and influence to get rid of you."

So it all boils down to a strong sense of selfish entitlement. My road. My rights. I pay taxes. Blah, blah, blah.

Dodging Minivans

2011-02-16T10:25:00.000-08:00

I'm not playing games. When I go out on the road on my bike I am not playing games. I'm not there to intimidate anyone, to prove anything or to make any kind of statement. I use this blog to make my statements and to try and logically (Ha!) hash out the issues related to riding on the road. But when I strip it all down I am on the bike because I need to be on the bike going from point A to point C.

So when moto-fascists decide to play games I kinda get pissed off. When I'm abiding by the rules of the road and minding my own business, not inhibiting anyone from their travels, I expect the same treatment. I expect some common courtesy and a bit of consideration for the difference in my mass and the mass of the behemoth that the moto-fascists propel around with only the merest tap of their foot.

This morning I was stopped at Illinoising and 19th Street in Golden, on the south edge of Mines' campus, waiting for the light to change. In the past I've oriented myself over the left-most sensor to allow someone wanting to make a right turn on red to get past me. But after too many close calls from MFers (moto-facsists) turning too tightly left onto campus from east bound 19th I've decided its just not worth scuffing the paint on my bike, so recently I've moved to the center of the lane over the central sensor. This blocks anyone behind me from making a right on red, but I'm still within the bounds of the law and the close calls are not so close.

Today was a little different. I was situated just behind the white line and directly over the central sensor waiting patiently for the light to change. I saw the 19th signal turn yellow and I cocked a pedal up to get ready to take off. Then one guy tried to slip through. A Mines student in a minivan ran the red light not only cutting into the lane I was occupying, but cutting into it so far I could reach out and touch his van from where I stood astride the Cannonball. How do I know this? Because as he passed I reached out and smacked his back drivers' side window as hard as I could.

The light was already green, so with stinging hand I pedaled across 19th and continued slowly south on Illinoising. Why slowly? I was hoping in his self-righteous outrage he would drive by and call me on smacking his car. He didn't.

If I were childless and single I probably would have made a quick u-turn and chased him down to give him down the road. But y'know, it's just not worth it.

But like I said, I'm not playing games out there. If someone stepped on your foot on the sidewalk you'd yell "Hey!" Unfortunately when moto-fascists cut it too close or almost run you down there is typically little you can do in the way of calling them out publicly. I wanted that opportunity today and because Mr. Soccermom was apparently on his way to a fire I didn’t get it.

Maybe when I smacked his car he realized the error of his ways and immediately repented of his traffic sins. I'm not counting on it.

I know some would think what I did was not the smartest thing a person on a bike could do. What if he turned around and came back? What if he ran me down? What if someone saw me do it?

Well, to answer all three, what if next time he cut even closer and I just let it happen? What if I didn’t do anything to protect my personal space on the road? Would things get better? Or would moto-fascists take more liberties with my safety?

I know, I may have pissed that guy off. I may have caused him to hate cyclists and he may harass someone else. But I believe people need to be called out on their unsafe and inconsiderate behavior. We can’t tolerate rampant harassment on the roads. This is how we got to the point of "road rage" being a common phrase in our language.

Any suggestions on what I could have done better to call this guy out without inciting anti-cycling rage?

Deconstructing Common Anti-Cyclist Sentiments #1

2011-02-15T16:20:00.000-08:00

Anti-cycling Sentiment #1

"They're always riding three abreast and blocking the lane. Its not safe to pass. If they rode single file blah, blah, blah."

The other day I was riding to work along the Clear Creek Trail, a multi-use path that strings together Denver, Wheat Ridge, Arvada and Golden. I rounded a bend in a wooded area and saw three elderly pedestrians walking abreast with their backs to me. I approached slowly, hoping they would notice so I wouldn’t have to decide on "On your left" or "On your right," but they didn't. I slowed to a crawl and called out "Excuse me". The middle walker stepped to the side, leaving a gap between the other two who slowed and meandered in confusion. The middle one said, with just a tinge of exasperation, "It's another cyclist."

Excuse me?! Sorry, no matter how much of the trail I decide to take up on my way to work, I'm still only taking up as much as any other single user. They were taking up the whole trail, oblivious to any other user.

I understand that once you’re older the prospect of being struck by a cyclist while out getting your morning exercise could be stressful. That's specifically why I didn’t blaze by on the edge of the trail in righteous anger. In courtesy I slowed down, called out and waited until they had time to make way. And I was greeted with disdain.

I have a feeling that Ms. Exasperation may also be of the ilk that would complain when cyclists ride side by side on the road, "prohibiting" her from passing safely. I'd love to check her wheel well and undercarriage for mangled body parts and bicycle components.

I myself become exasperated when cyclists ride side by side or three or more abreast especially when they could ride on the shoulder or when they're in no hurry to get on down the road. And when cyclists take up the whole MUP it's just as annoying for other cyclists as it is for pedestrians, equestrians and aviators.

But why does Ms. Exasperation feel as if it is okay for her and her cronies to take up the whole path, but for another user to come along and break up their party is detestable? I imagine it is a strong sense of selfish entitlement that breeds that attitude. And that is the underlying foundation of the sentiment that "it's so unsafe" to pass cyclists who are not riding single file. It's not so much that motorists are scared to death to pass in a curve or against the double yellow line; because any time it suits them to do so they go ahead and do it. I think it's more "You're inhibiting my God-given right to go anywhere I want as fast as I am comfortable going and I don't like it." Of course to express their thoughts that way would reduce their credibility, so they have to craft this argument that cyclists are creating a situation that endangers everyone involved. In fact, the car is the most dangerous element in the equation, with its gargantuan weight and potential for deadly speed. A bike really does not threaten anything. How can it?

The way most motorists pass a cyclist who is alone, or a group that's riding single file, is typically unsafe. Why do motorists so blatantly disregard the safety of cyclists (and other non-motorized users of the roads) and try to pin the blame on the other users? Why won’t they accept their commensurate level of responsibility? The answer: a strong sense of selfish entitlement. My road. My rights. I pay taxes. Blah, blah, blah.

It doesn't matter if cyclists ride single file. The moto-fascists just come up with some other responsibility-shifting argument about why no one else is entitled to the roads. If we ride single file the roads are too dangerous. If we ride in dedicated bike lanes or on segregated paths too much money has gone into developing that infrastructure. The only right answer for moto-fascists is "no bikes." Or at least nothing that costs motorists anything. Again, the want of something for nothing. I want to use the road, but on my terms alone.

Presence and Essence: Valor Over Discretion?

2011-02-15T08:24:00.001-08:00

Prior to moving to Colorado the decision to ride my bike on the road was ultimately the decision between riding a bike and driving a car. Where we lived in Kentucky there were no off-street bicycle facilities and painfully few sidewalks even if I had been so craven as to ride on them. But even back then I realized that a greater presence of cyclists on the road meant better awareness and more safety for all.

Unfortunately back then, establishing a greater cycling presence just meant riding more myself. There were few who rode for other than court mandated reasons. The Denver area has a great cycling presence on the roads, but it obviously could be greater. We could convert scads to cycling and take over the streets. Of course, the catch 22 is that for more to ride, the streets would have to be safer for a greater cross section of riders. I understand that not everyone is comfortable riding in heavy traffic. I really don’t prefer it myself. I like my quiet rides through No-Man's Land.

And while riding through the empty and peaceful space between I-70 and the Coors industrial scab I have plenty of time to ponder the roads and whether I should be ashamed for denying them my cycling essence. For the benefit of my fellow cyclists should I be taking a higher profile route? Should I be out there, advocating with my presence and essence, on the more highly traveled roads? Should I be the example to motorists and cyclists alike? There IS safety in numbers, and I am diminishing the numbers by skulking along on the Clear Creek Trail; out of sight, out of mind.

So have I conceded the field to cars? Have I thrown in the towel and given up my space on the road so more SUVs can trammel cyclists at will?

Discretion is the better part of valor they say. And sometimes it is better to lay low and regroup. I had some bad experiences traveling Ridge Road and I decided for all involved it was best if I stayed away. I was not being the good example that I should have been. And the motorists were provoking me. That was apparent. It was not going to come to a happy conclusion in clover spackled fields with the sun shining and birds singing. We were approaching darkest post-apocalyptia on the roads. I was ready to start carrying items with which to defend myself against the impending confrontation.

But what of the rest of my road routes? They're typically lighter in traffic and I've experienced a fraction of the hostility that flies about on Ridge Road. I guess the biggest reason I've avoided Applewood and Denver West has been because the surface conditions have been painfully unforgiving the past few weeks. Applewood is all side streets (and thus irrelevant in this argument) and Denver West is the jurisdiction of Lakewood. Lakewood does not maintain the streets in Denver West satisfactorily and I refuse to ride on the horrid mess that it becomes.

I think I am exercising prudence these days. I wish I could say it didn’t matter, and that on principle alone I would return to the shortest and most expedient route to and from work. One iteration of commuting on Ridge Road was the result of me deciding I had as much right to ride on that road as the moto-fascist Mad Maxian fiends that tried to dominate it. But the final analysis is that no matter what my principles: when the eventual convergence of fender and flesh occurs I will lose and lose big.

Cyclists should be able to enjoy the same rights as motorists and travel on the roads that are most expedient for them. After all, all destinations in our universe are along roads and because of that incomprehensible simplicity the most expedient route between two points is typically going to be on roads, not MUPS, not single track trails, not the long way along the CCT and the Highway 6 Path. While these routes are peaceful, even serene and offer the traveler a lower heart rate and less stress-related weight gain, they are not the best choice every time. On those days I need to swing by the store on the way to work I have no choice, I must take to the roads. At least I'm comfortable doing so. Many are not. So I'll try to make a conscious effort to add my essence to the meager pool that exists on the Pavement's Edge in my community. I will, when prudent, make my presence and essence known.

Roll Out the Red Carpet: We'll Leave Tire Marks

2011-02-14T12:07:00.000-08:00

Grammys. Let's hash it out. I attended the Grammys for the sole purpose of reporting back to my minions…er, Dear Readers. The Red Carpet was red, Mick Jagger is old, and Jewel is pregnant. Sob.

I really, really liked Cee Lo Green (Best Urban/Alternative Performance) and Gwyneth Paltrow's performance of the Song Also Known As "Forget You." I think Cee Lo's Elton John inspired costume might have been the single best visual element of the entire show. I love the song, especially the clean version. The vocals and the accompaniment are stellar. If I were younger and still single I would probably identify very well with the lyrics (both versions) as well. Gwyneth's Glee version is very good, so to hear both of them performing the song together was a special treat.

I could have lived my entire life without having saw Lady Gaga's (Biggest Loser) "Born This Way" debacle. This is progress? And I hope Madonna is ramping up the lawsuit against Gaga for stealing her image. It's one thing to pay homage to your heroes. It's another to blatantly steal their gimmick. I should know, I've resisted the urge to change my blog title to "Bike Snob DEN."

The highlight for me was Mumford & Sons followed by the Avett Brothers and then I left the room for Dylan's performance. Don’t get me wrong, I acknowledge what the man has done for American music, I just happen to like covers of his songs better than the originals. Jimi Hendrix's rendidtion of All Along the Watchtower? Joan Baez's live version of Blowin' in the Wind? GNR's butchering of Knockin' on Heaven's Door? I just couldn't sit through a live Dylan performance. I'm probably not the newest Mumford & Sons fan, but I'm fairly green when it comes to their catalog. Gonna have to remedy that soon. On the other hand, I've been a HUGE Avett Brothers fan for at least the past year, and have been familiar with them for about four years. It was awesome to see them on the Grammys.

I'm not anti-Bieber (Prettiest Hair) in the strictest sense. I think the kid's got talent and I hope once his voice changes he will still be able to sing. I don’t relate well to the content of his songs, but I think as he grows up many more of us may learn to like him. Or not. Basically, I'm saying: Justin, if you’re going to keep getting popular, write some songs that people who aren’t twelve year old girls will like.

I'm not a fan of rap, so the yawns became oppressive during Eminem's performance and his Crazy Charles Manson-eyed acceptance speech (Best Rap Solo Performance, Best Rap Album, Most Righteous Anger). I don’t really like the guy. I can appreciate righteous outrage, but it seems to me that he should channel his rage into something constructive like blogging about cycling.

I was stoked to see Ray Lamontagne (the man's a GENIUS!) nominated for Song of the Year. Lady Antebellum's (Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Country Song, Best Country Album, Best in Show, Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals, Best Gratuitous Use of the Word "Belgium" in a Feature Film, Best Latin Jazz Album, Best Use of the Word "Antebellum" in Conjunction with the Word "Lady") domination of all things Grammy snubbed that.

Truthfully, I think the Avett Brothers should have been the conquering hoard. They rock! I was glad to see them perform even though my wife is not as big a fan as I am. I vow that next time they play Red Rocks I'll be there even if I have to sell my plasma, the plasma of random strangers and a few organs. I don’t see why they couldn't have swept the field. They truly are the best at just about everything.

We were stoked Train's Hey Soul Sister won Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals. It's the Bean's favorite song. We sing it a lot, and at high volumes, despite low talent (Bean sings good).

And finally, who the HECK is Arcade Fire?! Well, at least they had the good sense to have bicycles on stage. They can't be all bad. I might have to queue up some Mumford & Sons and Arcade Fire on the MP3 player for a future commute.

And there you have it, my completely useless contribution to the amount of bandwidth dedicated to the Grammys today.

AND, one last award: CGinAKR wins the Movie Trivia Question from Friday's "Absolutely Nothing to Do With Cycling" Post

She guessed Mad Max which was as close as anybody else got. Anybody? The correct answer is The Road Warrior. The quote is from the opening sequence.

So here is your award:

CGinAKR

But seriously, thanks for playing. I always hate playing against myself.

Monday Propaganda

2011-02-14T09:48:00.000-08:00

I opted to ride this morning when I went out to start my new Hummer and…well, I don’t actually have a new Hummer, so there was really only one option. For you, Dear Readers I any living a life of Hummer-deprivation. It's a good thing though, because there was enough ice lurking about that I may have crashed the ole Humm-dinger. The bike ride was nice, except for the Meteorological Propaganda Fiends inaccurate reporting of the weather. I mean, c'mon, Denver is not so far from Arvada!

"40°F" was displayed at the bottom of my TV screen this morning. I dressed for 40°F. It was a bit nippy on the front stoop as I prepared to push off with the Cannonball. I muscled through the worst of it until my heart rate got up to "Rabbit." On the way up from my resting heart rate to max capacity I looked down and noticed I had forgotten to put on my leg band. Remember all that hoopla about not wearing a cycling costume and wearing my regular work clothes on my commute? Yeah, I did. I realized my mistake just after my newly lubed chain (and I promise, well wiped down afterward!) had "marked" my pantleg. Just adds character, right?

After dodging ice for about fifteen minutes I had a brief visit with Mr. Steve Casey. He again explained why my mode of dress just didn't seem adequate and why there was ice on the ground with temps supposedly so far above freezing. Grrr! Down with the MPFs!!!

The rest of my ride was a bit uneventful. I snapped a few photos of Illinoising Street through CSM campus to share with my beloved readers.

Illinoising Street looking south toward Mines' campus

Top of the hill

Illinoising south of Mines

Obstinate Accumulated Precipitation

2011-02-13T07:31:00.000-08:00

I like snow when it is falling from the sky, drifted against the front door or piled up deep and fresh awaiting skis, snowshoes, or my stubborn post-holing-edness.

When I stop liking snow is when it starts to get transparent and you can see the grossy, muddy ground or grimy asphalt underneath. I stop liking it when there are huge patches of dry (or sodden) ground interspersed by lumpy, unconsolidated, slushy, icy hunks of thawing snow.

Monday is not looking good. Despite 50s and 60s yesterday and today the thawing just can't happen fast enough. It's going to be a messy ride for sure. Oh well.

I had a great idea for a post, and now I can't remember what it was. For now: remember that smart people ride bikes.

Longtail Dreaming

2011-02-12T15:57:00.000-08:00

I took my birthday girl to Salvagetti's today. I'd love to say that for her birthday I bought her the Kona Ute. I wanted her to see it up close and personal and I think it scared her.

We looked at the 18" and to her it seemed a bit overwhelming. Of course when the weather gets a bit better we'll go back and she can take a test ride. Scott assured her that if she didn't like the Ute they could come up with a donor bike and Xtracycle kit that would be comparable that she would be happy with for about the same price.

With our magical bag of tax loot we're going to get her a longtail and convert the Cannonball with an Xtracycle upgrade. As the days tick away I grow more and more excited about the prospects. We'll not put Gump out to pasture just yet, but having the utility bikes will make our lives interesting in so many ways. To paraphrase a recent twitter post I saw: "Having the longtails will make me want to find reasons to use them."

The kids seem to like the Ute too, and I think Mandy actually likes it, but the size of the thing scares her. I love all 5 feet and 2 inches of her, and I understand her apprehension, but I believe once she takes one for a spin she'll love it.

With birthday money I also picked up three different sock liners for commuting and I found some glove liners. I should have complete digital security next cold snap. Look for some comparative reviews sometime this winter. For you, dear readers, will I brave popsicle toes to get to the bottom of that age old question: which is better - silk, merino wool or polypro sock liners?

Ramming Speed Friday: Slushy Side Streets Edition

2011-02-11T17:46:00.000-08:00

CGinAKR, I would kill for a blast from your eye-healing lazer! I hardly made it home tonight due to extreme drying of the contact lenses.

Yeah, I continue to have eyewear issues. I started out with the @#$%! motorcycle goggles. I should just throw them out. I stopped just outside of Golden to switch to my wraparound sunglasses because the @#$%! motorcycle goggles were fogged up, but the sun had set. Finally, just past the Wheat Ridge Rec Center my eyes were so dry I was having trouble seeing due to the glare from lights everywhere and the tint from the sunglasses. So I stopped and put on my ski goggles.

Why didn't I just start out with them, you might ask. Egad! I wasn't skiing! I would have looked like a moron. I know, I know...I left myself wide open on that one.

Anyway, I made it home in an hour, which considering the ice and slush lying in wait along my route was a pretty good time. When I ride the OBS on Ramming Speed Fridays I always have Powerman 5000 ringing in my brain. Y'know, it's the pounding music they play in Race Across the Sky 2010 when Levi Leipheimer is blasting across the flats of the Pipeline toward glorious, heroic victory.

Let me dream...

I bombed down Illinois this evening in hopes of seeing the Silver Whale again. I guess Mr. Merry Man had had enough of being inhibited by cycling traffic on the Mines campus. No show. And I was ready to joust with him.

Other than the side streets the conditions were slightly better than wretched. There was still a lot of ice and a lot of meltwater freezing even as I was gliding across it. The side streets were a mess of unreadable and alternately packed snow and slushy pitfalls. I had to laugh as I stopped cold in the middle of 46th and had to walk the bike onto more consolidated snowpack. Haha.

Hoping for better roads on Monday...

A Friday "Absolutely Nothing to Do With Cycling" Post

2011-02-11T13:02:00.001-08:00

Name the movie:

"Without fuel, they were nothing. They built a house of straw. The thundering machines sputtered and stopped. Their leaders talked and talked and talked. But nothing could stem the avalanche. Their world crumbled. The cities exploded. A whirlwind of looting, a firestorm of fear.

Men began to feed on men. On the roads it was a white line nightmare. Only those mobile enough to scavenge, brutal enough to pillage would survive. The gangs took over the highways, ready to wage war for a tank of juice."

First with the correct answer gets their name posted on the blog in bold.

So does it bother you that people in Iraq are now demonstrating in the streets? Wait, didn’t we set up a democracy there? Democracy is the perfect form of government. What more do these people want? Oh…water, food and electricity. Those things aren't inherent in a democratic state.

So what exactly did we do while we were there? Why don’t the Iraqi citizens have adequate access to the basic needs of human survival? Why does a country so oil rich have problems affording enough food for its population?

Well, dear reader, I'm here to totally flub it up for you. I'm flying by the seat of my pants after all. I'm not a professional political analyst or even an amateur pundit. I just see what I see and make judgments based on the laws of nature that I've witnessed in my 37 years on the planet.

We spent how many years in Iraq? We're the most powerful economic, military and cultural entity on earth. What the blue blazes were we doing all that time? I mean, I understand we were getting blown up by IEDs and driving our humvees around a lot, but didn’t we have experts on hand to help those poor desert dwelling nomads put together some semblance of a civilization. For crying out loud! It’s the Fertile Crescent!

We're investing at least $18 billion in reconstruction in Iraq, and most likely we're well on our way to $100 billion. Some of those projects happen to be water treatment plants and such. And then we've obviously started to invest in OUR interests in Iraq. I mean, we do have interests in oil there, right? Who would argue that point? I can't find a decent breakdown of the dollars flowing there, and it may be because of my incompetent stirring of the interweb and not because those numbers aren’t there. He is a piece of flotsam that is interesting: http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=51965370

And then there are the parking lot vultures.

If the Iraqis aren't happy with all that we've done for them then maybe we should just take our stuff and leave. We don’t need friends like them anyway. What oil?! That was ours! We brought it with us! How dare you accuse us of stealing!

Anyway, the Middle East is a ready to blow. The US assumes they all want democracy so we'll continue to give them advice. Of course our advice is laced with subliminal messages saying "We need your oil. We need your oil. You WILL give us your oil" while we do the Jedi hand wave thing. Remember Watto? He was the Toydarian? Jedi Mind Tricks didn’t work on him. He was a desert dweller too. Jabba, he was a Hutt, a desert gangster. Jedi Mind Trick? Didn't work.

It might be time to get out of the sandbox and park the SUV for awhile.

Dodging Silver Backed Whales [Updated]

2011-02-11T08:38:00.000-08:00

All is sunshine and rainbows, the OBS and I cruised in to work in record winter commuting time. I guess the "rest" was good for me. And despite the local news station's efforts to sweat me out, I made it.

I dressed for the reported 16°F but stopped 15 minutes into the ride to shed my sweater and fleece hat. Then as I passed out of Wheat Ridge (Thank Dawgs!) Mr. Steve Casey explained to me why I had been sweating under a sweater (do you see the irony?), a cotton tee and a long-sleeved polypro...27°F!

I grumbled a non-verbal curse under my breath toward meteorologists in general and slammed on the pedals as I moved into No Man's Land.

There was a lot of icy patches this morning. There was very little snow to plow over, but I definitely had to keep my speed in check as I wound between glassy humps. Who am I kidding...when I ride to Golden I poke along pretty slow. Its an elevation gain of about 700 feet. Tonight will be another edition of "Ramming Speed Fridays" as the joy of the impending weekend, the catastrophic loss of elevation and the reduced friction of the ice on the trail will allow me to ride home in about 30 seconds flat. Stay tuned.

But that's not my whole morning story Morning Glory. Oh no! There is more!

I opted to climb up to work via Illinois Street in lieu of the 13,000 ft Steep Climb Ahead that is The Six. I was pretty sure the ice would cause issues. So I took to the streets. Almost immediately I realized what complete imbeciles were using Illinois as a conduit for their stupidity this morning.

Was that too harsh? Tell me the truth. I can take it. I should tone it down a bit, huh?

So I took to the avenues. Almost immediately I realized what generous and thoughtful morons were using Illinois as a conduit for their homicidal stupidity this morning. I rode one block south from the CCT, and as I approached the stop sign I took the lane and slowed to a stop. And a Baby Boomer whale pulled up beside me in a silver sedan with Maryland plates.

I don’t know why coming from such a merry place he would think it okay to completely ignore traffic laws after he got East of the Mississippi, but he did. He was going to pull ahead and I gave him a Superbark. He stopped.

Then I proceeded to assert my dominance over inferior vehicular transportation by continuing on through the intersection as mandated by traffic code. But the Silver Backed Whale, being West of the Mississippi and out on the "Frontier" decided to mix it up and completely ignore all traffic laws and polite manners. What a rogue! What a dashing example of "Frontier" spirit! If he had been riding a horse it would have died from sheer depression. He gunned through the intersection and passed within millimeters of me on the snowy and icy road to continue up the steepness that is Illinois and onto the Mines campus. I hope he couldn't find a parking spot and had to walk. And was wearing dress shoes. And thin socks.

Good riddance!

Anyway, as I continued my crawl up Illinois my faith in higher education was restored as a Mines student gunned the engine in his SUV and barreled past me on the steepest part of the Illinois Ski Slope; again, within millimeters. He only reached the top of the hill about ten seconds ahead of me. I opted not to chase the guy down and give him a tongue lashing (with his own tongue of course).

The rest of the ride was pretty anticlimactic. Crawl, crawl, crawl, crawl. Open door, roll bike up to cube. Go back down to kiosk and get coffee. Sit down and compose new post as coffee cools.

BTW, how many more posts til I can go on a self-righteous rant again? We gotta be getting' close.

LATER

A recent Op-Ed in the Denver Business Journal proposed a startling alternative to the I-70 ski traffic cluster of problems. Neil Westergaard, the editor of the Journal, suggests restricting trucking traffic during peak recreational traffic times. What?!

He goes ahead and parries the obvious killing blow from the trucking lobbyists who would jab "Disrupting Commerce! Costing Consumers More! Profits down!" Westergaard points out that much of the cargo crawling toward the Divide isn't really time sensitive anyway. He prefaces that by explaining that much of the problem stems from trucks crawling up the long grades and having to continuously stop and start to put on and remove chains. Traffic just can't flow around the beached whales of commerce.

The solution sounds pretty viable. The peak times are Friday evenings, Saturday mornings and evenings and Sunday morning and evenings and the occasional Thursday or Monday thrown in on the random holiday weekend. As Westergaard states: its roughly 15 hours of the week, or about 9% of the time. I don’t think that's asking too much. It would give the truckers crossing the Divide more rest time, and we know they all need a little more shuteye. They could use that time to call and talk to loved ones so their hands are cell phone free while they navigate their behemoths through the mountains. The could resume their commerce driven treks east and west fully rested and all caught up on crucial communication.

The other options really aren’t viable. You can't cost-effectively widen I-70. If you've never driven west from Denver up to the Continental Divide let me explain it briefly. I-70 goes up a steep, deep, rocky gorge between 12-14,000 foot peaks. The weather varies drastically from that of the plains and once traffic snarls and/or the weather goes in the toilet there's nowhere to go. At one point in the canyon even bicycle traffic is relegated to the shoulder of the interstate (though reportedly there is a new paved bike path between the last exit east and Loveland).

Why not challenge the machine? Trucking is important, especially until we find a better solution than shipping stuff from everywhere to everywhere, but trucking shouldn't have top priority over all other uses. With careful, thoughtful and creative logistics we can keep the supply lines moving and no one will lose a single beach house in Maui.

The link for the article is found HERE, but you have to subscribe to read it online. Unfortunately to read the entire article for free you will have to find a copy of the most current Denver Business Journal laying around like I did.

City Contrast

2011-02-10T09:22:00.000-08:00

I just saw an awesome graphic entitled "city contrast"over at Walkable Dallas-Fort Worth and I had to share.

It describes the Lively City Vs. the Empty City. Think about big cities (or even small ones) you've visited and compare what you've seen.

Cities are inherently dense places, and dense places are not appropriate for low density (SOV) transportation. There is a reason cities experience traffic congestion: cars are everywhere! You can fit far more pedestrians within the CBD than you can fit (and park) automobiles.

But let's step outside the city for a moment. Does this make sense in a small town? In a town of say, 3,000 souls, does it make sense to incorporate transit, pedestrian and cycling infrastructure to offset motor vehicle use?

Of course! In a town of 3,000 there should be no reason for a human being to get into a car for any reason other than to leave the town. Even in the lowest densities, 3,000 people won't occupy a huge amount of real estate. In fact, I'd wager a bunch of beans (literally) that any town in the US with a population in the neighborhood of 3,000 could be walked end to end in less than an hour.

But then I would also wager some beans that in many of them you'd be taking your life in your hands to do so because the other 2,999 people would be bombing past in their cars and the pedestrian infrastructure no longer exists as it did prior to WWII.

Think about movies that take place in small towns. What do the filmmakers typically portray? Pre-1950s architecture, sidewalks, street level shops with permeable walls facing the street, few parking lots, few cars, people walking, people interacting...a lively city.

Did you know that location scouts have a difficult time finding small towns in which to film?

Anyway, I wanted to share the graphic. Check out the original article if you have a chance.

I'm in Transportation Limbo

2011-02-10T09:04:00.000-08:00

I'm scared.

Will I be able to do it? Will I need assistance? What will the trails be like? Will I fall? Will cars run me over? How will I stay warm?

I'm considering riding tomorrow. But it's been a week today since I commuted to work by bike. I've either carpooled or called in sick for five days. It seems like a long time...

The chain on the Cannonball has rusted. Sob.

So before I can ride I need to do some maintenance, both mechanical and mental. I need to step it back up. I am confident I can return to pre-illness levels within a fortnight. Gosh, I hope so!

Anyway, I haven’t decided about tomorrow yet. There's still a lot of snow on the ground and most certainly there will be ice in places. I've got plenty of time to get there in the morning and scout things out. The temps in the morning should be warmer. I'm riding.

There. Brain fixed. Got to apply some loving attention to the bike tonight. Tire pressure. Lube. Restock the survival pannier. Have Boone show me how to ride the bike again...

I need some two wheeled therapy. I've noticed as I've carpooled in warm cars all week that I've been grinning like an idiot as the landscape flashed by. But then again, I've not been driving. Speaking of which, the last time I rode with my family Mandy got behind the wheel. I asked if she wanted me to drive.

"Nah, I'd rather not listen to you go on about how bad everyone else is driving."

...

So I didn’t drive. On one of my rides in eons past I contemplated what would happen if I just "forgot" to renew my drivers license in 2013. Well, assuming the Mayan calendar is just a ruse. Other than writing the occasional check or getting on an airplane (snicker!) I really don't have a huge need for it. I could go to a state issued ID.

Nah, we're not there yet. But we're closer than most.

Gulp....Here I Go!

2011-02-09T10:07:00.000-08:00

Big Paradigm Shift over at the Edge of the Pavement…I've just had enough. No, not on the blog itself but in my lifestyle.

Warning: since I've not been riding much lately this post will be less about cycling specifically, but as previously stated, I think it all relates. Also, this is going to be a long read and I promise at least five light-hearted posts to offset the effects of the doom-and-gloom to follow.

I've always been skeptical of the climate change chest thumpers. I remember hearing in science class how the Earth was moving toward another ice age twenty years ago. And up until recently I've still been harshly against the idea that humans can do enough to impact the climate of the planet. My views have slowly evolved from that to a new outlook which is more of an agnostic "I don't know if climate change is real, but let's pretend it is and err on the side of caution." Is junk food bad for you? Well, it doesn’t matter, carrots are better, so if you eat carrots you're going to be healthier regardless. More on food later.

This recent Grist article has kind of made me see it more along the lines of the Peak Oil issue and I see one thing very clearly: our climate change problems are going to go away when the oil runs out. It's that simple. We're not going to be able to sustain our levels of pollution when there aren't so many pollutants to fling into the skies and dump in the water.

Oh, we'll still have coal, we'll still have nuclear power plants and all the waste we've processed in the past century. We'll have increasingly leaky barrels of all kinds of good filth everywhere. But our ability to produce new poisons are going to be limited to soot from burned coal and wood, human and animal waste and diseased bodies. I hate to be that stark about it, but unless we seriously address our addiction things aren’t going to get better.

On a more positive note (bear with me) I have decided, and Mandy agreed (not a new idea for her) that we need to make a huge change in diet and lifestyle choices. We're stepping away from the processed food table and hopefully we can do it decisively and completely enough that we're not temped to go back anytime soon. I weighed myself yesterday and after my few short days of not being on the bike I weigh 198 pounds. At 5'9" that's just getting to be too much. I'm active. I ride my bike to work and back almost every day for crying out loud!

Hippocrates said: "Let Food Be Your Medicine and Medicine Be Your Food". When you look at what Corporate America has done to our food and our health care it is obvious that those who we have entrusted with our well-being violated that trust in the madness of greed. I, for one, am sick of it. And I know there are those who will start to argue in defense of our modern lifestyle and all its supposed benefits and to quell those arguments I say: Truth is one sided. I don’t need to hear the other side when I've seen overwhelming evidence in my life and documented so pervasively by those who would speak out against the corruption that is apparent that Big Business puts profit before health, safety and welfare. Our food and our medicine are poisons to us. They have caused us to be fat, stupid and lazy. And we defend the "American Way" wholeheartedly as we slurp soda and gobble burgers. I am chief sinner in this respect. I am tired of lending my strength to that which I wish to be free from. No more.

I used to be fit. I used to be active. I used to have energy and drive. I can feel the energy ebbing in me and I know it is not my age. I should have the physical power and stamina to attain my goals. My mind shouldn’t be as foggy as it is.

This revelation has come from recent months as I've read, viewed well regarded documentaries and as I've examined what I knew all along in my life but have been unable to verbalize and articulate in a meaningful way until recently. I've had so many "Ah-HA!" moments I've lost count. I've never really bought into the environmental movement, hippie-fied dogma or the leftwing liberal agenda. And I'm not giving in to all that now. I have always regarded myself as a realist. And it's funny because any time I've mentioned this to others I've been accused of being a pessimist. Could that be because from an optimistic point of view realism seems more negative? If you think the world is all sunshine and rainbows you probably don’t like it when people point to the storm clouds on the horizon.

Americans are dogged optimists in the face of impending doom. And on some levels that's admirable. But being a dogged optimist that refuses to admit that doom could be imminent is a bit blind and naïve. Just sayin'.

Conventional thinking goes like this:

You’re born into the best country on earth. You grow up with loving parents who want more for you than they had themselves as children. You are supposed to go to the "best" schools, get the "best" education. You should always be wearing nice clothes. You should have opportunities to be enriched as a child. You should have opportunity to go to museums, entertainment events, have access to the best digital devices, as much food and toys as you want. You should be safe from all physical harm to a fault. You should never be faced with tragedy or terror. And all of this should be within the context of you being a well-adjusted, attractive, talented child who makes mom and dad proud.

Let's stop there for a moment. Every statement I have made above is a piece of marketing that has been sold to us over the past few decades. Each item is believed to be TRUTH. And somehow we all can see the holes in all of those conventional beliefs, but we continue to believe them like some sort of demented religion.

Trials build character and prepare a child to face the world. We should not deprive our children of the opportunity to face real challenges, not some mockery of challenge out on the football field, but real challenges that make souls. Excessive comfort breeds complacency and apathy. There is nothing wrong with being cold in winter or having a grumbly tumbly between meals. Sometimes you get splinters in the real world and sometimes you fall down. Those experiences better prepare us to avoid more dangerous experiences in a real world. Grief is a natural part of life. When we buffer ourselves from hardship and hard work we rob us of our God given opportunities for health and well-being.

Conventional thinking continued:

You grow up presumably well adjusted. You've graduated with an acceptable GPA and test score. You go to an approved college. You accept the debt as part of your "American Dream" dues and you graduate in six (or seven, or eight) years and fail to get a good paying job. You struggle to pay the bills on your two cars and suburban house with a three car garage full of stuff that is not three cars. You participate in all kinds of requisite activities. Your kids all play sports, just like you did, you go to movies on date night, rent movies on Netflix, keep in touch with old friends and acquaintances on Facebook and you make an appearance at church every once in awhile. Or not.

You don't think too long or too hard about the big issues. Someone will find a solution to our energy problems. We're (The US) too big to fall. We've accomplished so much in such a short time. We're more advanced that ancient societies. We're more efficient. We've conquered most disease and hardship that our ancestors suffered through. Why worry about the future? It'll take car of itself. Right?

Why are we better? What proves that we've got it all figured out? All the great empires of antiquity failed. None persist. Some were amazingly advanced. Why can't we fail? What magic shield do we have that protects us from the same calamities of history. We have warning, in the media it seeps through. What would happen if SARS went airborne and global? What would happen if a few key economic pillars were to fail simultaneously? What if global warming is real?

Everything in America today is a mockery of something we have avoided in the natural environment. We drive miles to gyms for our health and we're still not healthy. We suck on entertainment for social sustenance and the society represented within popular entertainment is totally fictitious. We've crafted virtual social interaction because we've distanced ourselves geographically from each other. Our workplaces involve abstract ideas shifted around to appease those with no ability for abstract thought.

I said I wasn't a leftwing, extremist liberal. And neither am I an extremist rightwing "conservative." You can’t imagine how disgusted I am that the right calls itself "conservative." I don't go on these rants often, especially infringing on a small place in my life where I go to express my less serious side. But here it is. Its ALL related. My growing abhorrence of motorized vehicular transport is leading me down a path of clearer thinking. I've tried to keep my distance from the neo-hippie crowd for so long. And I imagine I will continue to do so from an political and religious standpoint. I can no longer in good conscious ignore the truth in much of the environmental movement. Our addiction to oil is clouding our judgment and decision making. Our abidance of Corporate lies and interests in our lives is destroying the dwindling inheritance and legacy we leave to our children. This is self evident.

I promise this blog won't turn into a nasty political soapbox, but I wanted to give a preface to where I'm coming from these days. I don't believe the evidence shows that we can continue business as usual indefinitely. But our policies, laws and cultural thinking support the notion that we can. I want my children to be healthy and to have a healthy respect for the world and not take for granted where we stand on this Earth.

Rant over. Don't think less of me if you disagree with my viewpoints. I promise I am not angry at you. I feel like no matter what the truth about all this is, that we've been enshrouded in such a cloud of uncertainty about the facts by so many who are only out for profit that the only way to weather all of this is to err on the side of caution. I'm going to ride my bike. I'm going to stop relying on fossil fuels for my food and my ability to provide for my family. It makes sense no matter what you believe about everything else.

Go ride your bike!

Two Wheels Anchored

2011-02-08T08:43:00.000-08:00

The Cannonball has not moved from it's place against the window since Friday. It is sad.

The snow is piled high on the highway tonight. I'm a ship lost at sea, in an ocean of white...how does that song go?

Still sick. Still snowing. Love the snow. Hate the sick. Bean and I are watching Despicable Me. That cheers the soul.

Most likely won't be riding tomorrow either, but the highs are supposed to be back in the 50s by the weekend. We'll see...

Holing Up

2011-02-07T12:09:00.000-08:00

It's hard to think about anything meaningful to write when you don't feel good. I opted to bum a ride this morning and found a ride home once I got to work. I'm at the mercy of motorists this week. Hopefully I'll get it together by Wednesday, but by then the weather may be prohibitive.

The weekend wouldn’t have been great for riding even if I had felt okay. Saturday was passable, but my energy levels were quickly siphoning away into the ether. Sunday I was useless. Riding would have been out of the question. I would loved to have broken out the cross country skis though…

Tomorrow's up in the air. I think I made a poor decision to go in to work today. I've wrestled all morning with the prospect of going home when Mandy picks the Bean up. I've finally decided to stick it out for the rest of today. I have a feeling tomorrow will be a sick day after all.

The Colorado Bike Summit is today and tomorrow. Bob, of ACT, had offered to let me go one day on his dime, but even if I felt like it tomorrow the snow is supposed to come back to whoop up on us again and I don’t think I'm going to feel like slogging it over to Denver on my bike. I'm going to shoot for next year, make it a plan and goal to attend the whole bike summit, both days. By this time next year Bike Arvada should have a much more prominent presence and purpose. It will make sense for me to make an appearance.

Unless the fog clears from my brain you may not hear too much for me for a few days. Don’t be alarmed, I've not headed for the survival cabin in the hills just yet. I'm giving my legs and my brain a much needed rest.

Excuses! Excuses!

2011-02-06T14:54:00.000-08:00

The conundrum is not ideological. It's purely logistical.

I want to ride tomorrow; assuming the office is open. There is still the chance that the water damage will prohibit my return to the beloved cubicle. I'm fairly certain the water damage didn't affect our department and I'm going to go with that theory until further notice.

Anyway, if the building, and particularly my department, is open tomorrow I have a logistical conundrum. We have first hand reports of 9" of snow in Golden. We have at least 4" here in Arvada. I'm getting over some sort of cold and really don't have the surplus energy to go plowing through unplowed snow on my bike. And we're supposed to get more snow tomorrow, though late. Tuesday's not looking much better, but I'm hoping to be back to full strength (and determination) by then.

The logistical issue is more with tomorrow evening. I think I can get a ride (carpool) to work no problem, but getting a ride home in the evening will be tricky.

And then my mileage is down already. Last week I only managed a little over 48 miles total. Monday and Tuesday the weather was bad and Friday the office was closed.

I'm not fretting so much, because I know as the year moves on I'm going to have plenty of opportunities to crank out the miles. It's always a bummer to start off slow though.

Tomorrow the car may be my transportation salvation.

But if I had it my way we would have been able to afford a house within easy biking or walking distance of where I work. It just didn't work out that way. We tried. It was a valiant effort, but to no avail.

What Did I Do To Deserve This?

2011-02-04T10:12:00.000-08:00

Went to update my new snazzy PavmentsEdge twitter account this morning (was going to tweet: "Time to make the donuts" because I was working early and had to get out the door and on the road by 6am) and I saw that I had a voicemail from my boss. A cheery voice informed me that a water main had broken and the offices would be closed.

I reset the alarm so my wife would not oversleep and then crawled back under the warm covers. An hour later when the alarm went off I gave an elbow to the cause but the cause didn't move. Snooze a couple of times and then a hearty: "Are you going to get up?"

"Mmbble grffle hffble," was the reply.

Since we share a brain I could easily translate. What she projected non-verbally from under the covers amounted to This bed is SO warm!

I trusted her judgment and went back to sleep.

She did make it out the door before her work sent goons to bring her in. I made an appearance with enough time to implore my son to put his belt on, and then went and sat in the car as it idled to warmness (because its not unoccupied if I'm sitting in it).

In a flurry of activity the house was emptied and the car filled. I salmoned back into the warm house against the flood to see about gobbling up some of the banana bread Mandy made last night.

The car was pulling out and I noticed something was amiss. The four year old was standing in the middle of the living room floor wearing a maniacal grin. Spongebob grated from the TV. I wanted to run out into the street shouting: "You forgot one!"

Instead I stumbled on into the kitchen and completely failed to make myself coffee. I'm regretting that failure four hours later.

The Bean and I got along okay until she decided she...well, no, I take that initial statement back, she was hauling toys from her brother's bedroom as fast as she could when I caught her. We didn't get along okay at first. Then the situation de-escalated as I managed my town on Cityville. Yeah, I used to play SimCity and this is just a hopped up version. Since my degree was in Urban & Regional Planning I am qualified.

Anyway, she played like a four year old should for a couple of hours until she decided to put a puzzle together, or rather, get a puzzle out and wail for me to put together. Finally I gave in and when all the pieces were utilized we found that one was MIA. Drama ensued.

Princess Drama Pants collapsed with vapors or something and wailed about how she didn't love her brother anymore because he lost her puzzle piece. I'm pretty sure he didn't. She wailed about how terrible life was without the missing piece. She wailed.

Finally I made coffee. I was desperate. In my desperation I overdid it, much like I overdid my dress on my commutes earlier in the week. Instead of taking my medication black I added some flavored latte stuff I purchased a few weeks ago, thinking it would enhance my coffee drinking experience. I knew better on both counts.

So as we sit at the kitchen table, watching snow softly fall through the double window I type in an effort to ignore the situation developing across the table and Beano paints the kitchen table. Bean wanted to paint. I didn't want to let her because I'm not privy to the craft-type protocols around the house. Finally I gave in because we had previously reached our quota of disagreement during the Puzzle War.

I ignore the remains of my coffee.

"The table gets messy too, like it wants to be painted or something," she just informed me. She's painting lightcycles. Her art transcends the need for paper. Her brother's fascination with all things TRON has rubbed off on her. She really looks up to the little guy.

I'm debating a ride to town. To get to the point of posting all this to my cycling blog...

It's snowing, but it's warmer than it has been. I have a library book ready for pickup. I have a broken YakTrax to try and return (YakTrax! YakTrax!) in town. And I am in desperate need of some industrial strength coffee. La Dolce Vita is calling my name.

"Bean, wanna go for a ride in the trailer?"

"Yeah! To Arvada Olde Town?"

So, off we go.

LATER (EVENING)

I got up from the computer and got dressed just in time for Mandy to walk in the door. We delayed our trip to town long enough to eat lunch and then Lily and I headed over to Arvada Surplus to see about exchanging my broken YakTrax. A quick aside, I bought a pair for me and a pair for Mandy last Friday with birthday money. We went hiking on the Beaver Brook Trail from Windy Saddle in Golden and near the end of our four mile trek I discovered that one of the rubber bands had broken.

Anyway, the good folks at Arvada Surplus are willing to exchange them for a new pair, but they'll have to order a pair in my size.

Pulling the trailer on snow is completely different. The weight and resistance are centered differently and it made it hard to take off, especially from a foot-down stop.

Seems like Boone and I are getting sick. not a good way to start out the weekend...

Giving Back: Who Took It Away In The First Place?

2011-02-03T16:15:00.000-08:00

Oil Supremacists (moto-fascists) have all kinds of good anti-cycling rhetoric that really accomplishes nothing. I mean, the car rules the road. What war are they really winning by railing against cyclists?

What I'm talking about is common decency. We're all at least citizens of the same planet, if not the same race, country, state, county and hopefully community (burg, town, city, etc). So why is it okay for someone behind the wheel of the car to behave in a menacing manner toward ANYONE else on the road, be it other moto-fascist, cyclist, pedestrians or puppies out walking their kids?

Why aren’t motorists more accountable for their actions and behaviors? I understand that enforcing polite behavior on the roads would be totally unfeasible. But why is the general, run-of-the-mill attitude toward the carless one of blatant disdain? How many buzzers (those who buzz cyclists) would behave the same way toward me if we were walking alongside each other in Walmart? Would they shove me out of their way and yell "HEY!" as I perused the home décor section? Well, actually, I have been hit by carts before. So maybe they would?

But how is this acceptable behavior in public? Some people's kids, man! It's the Parthian Shot mentality. They think because they don’t like MY behavior (riding a bike on a public road) that they can terrorize me quickly with a horn, revved motor or shout out their passenger side window, and then they can speed back up to 40 (or 70) mph and leave me in the dust to stew.

That's not cool. No, that's rude, childish and accomplishes absolutely nothing. And when a moto-fascist behaves in a menacing manner, recklessly endangering a cyclist's life with their steel behemoth there is absolutely no excuse. Threatening serious injury or possibly death because of some perceived superiority or smug self-righteousness goes beyond mere bad manners. It's sinister and evil. And believe me, when a moto-fascists uses their vehicle to intimidate a cyclist the only way to take it is as a threat to life and limb. It's no laughing matter. It's not fun or funny. And I believe using a motor vehicle to menace another human being should be punishable as terroristic threatening, assault with a deadly weapon, and in the case of death: murder.

The reality is that most of the arguments moto-fascists use to rationalize their barbaric behavior are related to selfishness and pettiness. Cyclists aren’t slowing you down!!!
This is a misconception you have deluded yourself with! The problem of traffic is a CAR problem, not a BIKE problem.

So the moto-fascists will beat their breast in superiority with their status as property owning tax payers and as card carrying licensed driver. They'll come up with the most absurd arguments against cycling to suit their own perception of the world. They'll insist that the problem is that bicycles are not registered like their beloved automobiles. What they fail to accept is that the cyclists they scream at and about also own property and also carry drivers' licenses. And what their arguments don’t address is that if we gave in to all their demands and paid MORE taxes, got special bicycling licenses and license plates is that it would not improve the situation for either the moto-fascists or the cyclists. There would not magically be five extra feet on the road, motorists would not be expected to behave any better, nor would they suddenly decide to adhere to pro-cycling safety laws. If they're not going to do it now out of spite, what is going to magically change when I get a license plate on my bike? How will they know if I have my riders' license? Do they check to see if I've paid my taxes before buzzing me?

It's a car problem and I'm going to continue to argue along those lines for years to come. There was much resistance to the automobile when it was still in its infancy, and due largely to slick marketing campaigns the car won out against all other forms of transportation, not because the market demanded it, but because those who wanted to supply the car to the masses didn’t want any competition. (There is a link to an article that I just read that I am having trouble finding, when I do I'll add it here)

Let's give the roads back to the masses.

Unfrosted!

2011-02-03T10:04:00.000-08:00

A very recent post over at Carfree With Kids describes how one household's financial situation actually improved when they opted not to replace their truck when it died.

Over at our place on the Pavement's Edge we have had the same revelation. It took eight months or so for it to sink in after we gave up the second car, but once it did we haven’t looked back. I used to think about what kind of car I wanted to get when we finally replaced the old polluting Subaru, but I've finally given up that train of thought and now I mostly think about how I can increase, maintain and enhance our (mostly) car-free lifestyle.

Based on fifty cents a mile we saved about $1,450 since we sold the car in December 2009. It breaks down to about $100 a month, but for the first half or more of 2010 I relied on the car too much. After we moved into our new house in Arvada I began riding a lot more consistently and the average for the last part of 2010 was closer to $150-200 a month.

While that doesn't seem like a whole lot, remember, we've been living on a single income for three years with two mortgages (in different states). My income isn't huge; though thankfully we don’t have much debt other than our school loans.

Keeping a mindset of modesty in spending while living in our society is hard; unless you don't have much choice. The wonderful thing about semi-voluntary simplicity is that you find all kinds of ways to get by on less and you eventually start to enjoy the game.

The frustrating thing for me is that while I love my bike commute every day, I don’t really care so much for the destination anymore. I just want to keep riding until I find that magical place where I can feel fulfilled in my career and feel like I'm accomplishing something important and worthwhile. But I digress...

A nod over to Mrs. BOTW, I had the same problem she had recently, but not quite as bad. I will attribute my milder affliction to a drier climate. Yesterday my brake cables froze up when I went outside. I keep the Cannonball inside at night and apparently when the warm metal hit the subzero air some condensation and simultaneous freezing occurred making for some sluggish braking action. Thankfully the conden-freez-sation didn't affect my shifters because while I can stick to one gear configuration for most of my ride, there are some hills that I just won't make without granny-ing it.

It's okay because riding on snow and ice I've sort of learned to ride mostly without brakes anyway. But the few times I needed brakes on my commutes yesterday I really had to flex my muscles.

I am happy to say that this morning I was not afflicted with the same problem and had free working brakes all the way to work. It was a balmy 7°F according to Mr. Steve Casey this morning and my toes stayed toasty until I was pushing hard on the pedals to climb up out of Golden. Ironically that was the same time I ripped off my facemask and propped my goggles (UNFROSTED!) up onto my forehead for the remainder of the ride.

Keep riding!

Descent into Darkness

2011-02-02T18:34:00.001-08:00

Riding in subzero temperatures is daunting to say the least. Motivational and external pressures are major obstacles to your best laid plans and most hearty good intentions to ride no matter what.

Last evening I endured some stern looks when I announced that I would be riding come morning. I was (am still am) confident in my abilities to mitigate the effects of cold temperatures on the human body. I know how to layer. I know how to keep warm.

I've worked and played outdoors during winter my entire adult life. As a matter of fact I prefer recreating outdoors in winter. So when I say I am confident that I can do this, it’s not a blind confidence in perceived abilities. I've tested my theories on dress. I've suffered through bad decisions. I've improvised and adapted. And of late I've applied all those years of experience to riding a bike in winter in Colorado. It wasn't a huge deal.

Having said all that: be it known that I benefit from an engine that always runs a little hot. I can stay warm when many other people are cold. I sweat when my co-workers are complaining about it being too cold in the building. I'm the Little Furnace That Could. What works for me might be dangerous for someone else.

"But negative double digits!" you exclaim. I don't stay warm in my birthday suit romping about in weather like this. I'm not superhuman. There is at least a minimum effort I need to make to stave off hypothermia.

So what did I do right that made my ride tolerable this morning? First of all, I was cold. I wasn't shivering or shaking. I didn’t get any frostnip or frostbite, but my toes were numb and my stomach looked like it did after one of those red-belly sessions the freshmen received from the upperclassmen back when I ran cross country. Hazing is wrong.

I started out with the typical dress from back when it was between 20°F and 40°F. I had an underlayer (my chamois tights on bottom), work pants, polypro t-shirt over long sleeved shirt, a long sleeved wool shirt and a shell over that. I had a thin pair of socks under my thick socks and I wore my insulated boots.

On my head I had a thin balaclava and my thick fleece balaclava over that, then my helmet lashed over everything. The last pieces were my ski goggles and Thinsulate Gore-tex gloves.

After twenty minutes of riding I stopped, removed the shell, took off the thick fleece balaclava and helmet. Then I put on a thinner fleece hat over the thin balaclava to replace the thicker one, with the neoprene face mask underneath both to protect my face. I should have started out with this configuration. I think if I had, I would not have had the problem with my goggles frosting over.

My fatal mistake was covering over my breathing holes, as previously noted, but otherwise I think I've discovered the perfect configuration. The problem I run into is that I second guess myself and when I see temps 20 degrees below what I'm used to I think I need to add more. By the time I got to work I was basically dressed the same as a 40 degree day. I was only slightly colder.

The only time I really felt cold was when I was descending down the CCT into Golden and was going 10-12 mph. That's when my belly turned red and started to sting from the cold air blowing through my shirts.

What is always at the forefront of my mind, and what should always be a consideration for anyone heading outside when the temperature is below freezing, is that there is ALWAYS the possibility that you could be sitting or standing still, exposed to the elements, if something goes wrong.

Say you crash your bike on some ice and break your knee or ankle or (heaven forbid) knock yourself out. You should be prepared to sit and wait for help. This might mean carrying a down jacket in your panniers or the trunk of your car. Shoes that will protect you while walking through snow are important. It really sucks to be wearing dress shoes and changing a flat in the snow, or walking two miles in bike shoes in the snow because you bent your fork when you hit the tree.

It's one thing for me to assure you I can get from point A to point B on my bike over snow and ice and successfully battle the cold. It's another thing to accept the fact and prepare for the eventuality that my winter bicycle commute may involve activities other than riding my bike. I assure you: I am prepared. It's as much a mindset as being physically prepared with adequate clothing and the knowledge of where warm shelter is and where help in forms other than a cell phone lifeline lie.

Tonight I reached home, well after sunset, the Laser ebbing in power with frost-less ski goggles. It was strangely peaceful to drop down into Golden as the sky turned a pale orange off behind the Flatirons. As darkness closed around me I took comfort in the effort it took to keep the bike moving toward home. It was cold, but my furnace was stoked.

I walked through the door to be greeted by my family with warm chili, homemade cornbread and grilled cheese sandwiches. It made the ride worth it.

Don't Hold Your Breath: It Was a Cold Ride

2011-02-02T11:19:00.000-08:00

"You didn't ride your bike today at least. Right?"

"Of course I rode."

"You're insane!"

And you’re rude. I can't believe you’re the guy who brings his mountain bike to work to ride at lunch. Though he never commutes because it's too far. 15 miles.

It was -10°F when I left home this morning. I dressed in layers. The roads and trails were in good shape. The sun was shining. Of course 20 minutes into the ride my ski goggles were again frosted over and useless. I've got to sort out my face issues (not the obvious ones regarding asymmetry). Short of spending $80 on the Snowtrooper facemask I'm not sure what to do when freezer burn threatens.

And then there was the issue of my inherent stupidity. I have a neoprene face mask with nose hole and breathing holes over the mouth area. I wear it under a thin balaclava and between those two and my ski goggles there is no exposed skin on my head. I was almost to work and had been laboring for breath most of the way, fogging my goggles and then after pushing them up on my forehead I had ice forming on my eyelashes.

I decided I was close enough I could risk exposing my face to the cold and fumbled with gloved hands at my neoprene facemask. I couldn't get it to come free, so I pulled off a glove and reached up to find my balaclava pulled all the way up over the breathing holes and holding the facemask firmly in place. I had not intended to block my airways so effectively. (It's clear in the linked photo, but I had no idea at the time)

After numb-fingering the balaclava out of the way I yanked the facemask off, stuffed it in my pocket and could suddenly breathe…

Back from my tour of duty on Hoth

Vision and Direction

2011-02-01T15:41:00.000-08:00

You might see some new changes here on the Edge of the Pavement soon. I think I want to finally stop using this solely as my online cycling journal/wailing wall and make it into something worthwhile. I want to use it as a focus point and an avenue for my development as a writer.

Please feel free to send some constructive criticism my way at any time. I want to create something of value and usefulness and I don't want to ramble aimless and quell any interest that I might have previously garnered through my rambling. Any input that helps me shave away the useless layers will make this a better place for me and for you.

Having my first driving day of the year, after resolving not to drive, has opened up the floodgates in my mind and has helped me to see the general direction I need to be going.

My one goal that will underpin everything on this site from this point forward is this: by the end of 2011 I will (as an individual) be completely car free.

Unless I'm traveling with my family or others I do not plan on driving a car...for any reason. And with you, my dear reader(s) I will share the solutions to the problems and conundrums that result in the pursuit of a completely car free lifestyle.

It may be at some point that I will need to explore public transportation options. Perhaps I will rediscover the lost art of hitchhiking. Just kidding! But the trials, the tribulations, the (hopefully not) failures and foibles...all will be yours at my expense.

Hopefully I can enable you to reduce your dependence on the automobile, inspire you to greater adventures upon two wheels and give you the courage to take the lane when you need to.

Throwing Goose Eggs

2011-02-01T12:32:00.000-08:00

My kids always ask "Is there a bike on top?!" as we pull into our driveway. The Great Carport Massacre (of 2010) has instilled in them a great concern for their dad's prolonged sanity. We could get in the car (no bike on top) drive around the block and return to the driveway three minutes later to a chorus of "Is there a bike on top?!" In fact, we often do get in the car, drive around the block and return three minutes later, just so we can fit in with the migratory suburbanite population around us.

So as we enter February I had a big goose egg effort for my 100% bicycle commuting goal for the year. January was so-so. I did ride about 363 miles over January 2010's paltry 120 miles.

I was doing good last month. At the end of the first full week I was 100%. On the 10th I headed out despite snow and cold temps but was thwarted by unplowed bike paths. I got a ride in to work with my boss and then a ride home that evening. Technically I was carpooling, but it was still a mar on my record. No chance at 100% for the year.

The 17th was a holiday and I took sick (mentally) days on the 20th and 28th.

So really, until yesterday I had only one blot. Last morning I had a brief interlude of clear thinking and opted for a ride to work over the prospect of biking over a sheet of ice blanketed by cold, dry snow in frigid temps.

Today I threw the baby out with the bathwater (instantly froze into ice and baby crystals) and I DROVE IN ALONE!!!

My cycling cohorts should hunt me down and beat me senseless. I'll be easy to find in the white '99 Forester with rooftop bike racks, stuck in traffic between Golden and Arvada around 5:45pm tonight. You'll know it's me because I'll be sobbing all over the steering wheel.

2011 Driving Day #1

2011-02-01T06:41:00.000-08:00

-10°F

The windchill is -9.8°F

So it's so cold that the wind makes it feel warmer?

My family has a snow day. There is a sheet of ice under the covering of snow we have and the high today is forecasted in the negative single digits. Alas, I do not have a snow day today!

I absolutely hate to say it, but I'm driving Forester Gump to work today. I have to work until 5:30, so my ride home (if I were to ride, sniffle!) would be after dark over ice and snow with dangerously low temperatures.

If I had a fighting chance with studded tires I'd do it. The cold really isn't the issue. I have the appropriate clothing, I just don't have grippy tires.

Oh well...

THE AFTERMATH

The drive was painless. Getting the car started was not fun. I was already running late and Gump wouldn't kick over. Since we only have one car there is no other car to jump Gump.. A glance up and down my block revealed most of my neighbors are better prepared for the cold and were obviously not running late like I was. Gone. The street was desolate.

I almost, almost rode. I was thinking: The bike never has a problem starting. But then the car turned away we went.

It was strange, because last night even after I knew my family would be staying home today I was trying to arrange a ride to and from work with a co-worker. Then when I got home I realized I would have access to the car. Duh!

It was odd to be in the car, all alone. I didn't think it would feel so odd. Hopefully next time this happens I will have forgetten this particular time. I'm thinking instead of "2011 Driving Day #2" you might see "2017 Driving Day #1" next.

Discretion and Valor

2011-01-31T07:48:00.000-08:00

I bummed a ride in an automobile this morning.

I went out to see what the "freezing rain turning to snow" thing they were blabbering about on TV was all about. I almost fell flat on my face one step from the door.

I went back in the house immediately and said in a clear, loud voice, my head held high:

"I ain't ridin' my bike today!"

It worked out okay, but I've ended up at work an hour early without my bike, and there is supposed to be inches of snow on top of the layer of ice by quitting time.

My lovely chauffeur is going to have to get both kids out in the mess to come get me or I'm going to have to con a co-worker into taking responsibility for my car-hating carcass. I think I can get a ride home.

Sometimes you just have to call it on account of freezing rain...

In the mean time, check out the latest Bike Arvada post, which is essentially a repost from a Rhode Island Bicycle Coalition article which was a repost from a Team Estrogen forum thread.