The bookstores of the near future will be a cold dead (nonexistent?) place in cyberspace. As the triumphant transition from analog to digital creeps further into our lives/minds/lifestyles we are losing something. Actually we're losing alot of things...
The art of 35mm film printing/processing is dead now, this was something I once took great pride in as my only marketable skill. I was good at printing. I enjoyed printing images and modifying images that would turn into people's storable memories, laughs and cries in the future. But now, try to drop off a roll of 35mm film somewhere and come back in an hour to pick it up. Just try it. Search your neighborhood, search online. Go ahead. In fact buy a roll of film and look around your house or apt for 2 hours for that old 35mm camera and shoot it first. Take pictures of things that are important to you. Your dog, your cat, your wife or husband, your kids, your bicycles, whatever you love. Get some images burned into that roll to give it value. 35 mm film used to have tremendous value. And now go try to get it developed and printed. Good luck. It's a scary world out there for weirdos like you who don't want to follow the herd...
I remember when a 2.1 megapixel digital camera used to cost $1000 and people bought them...for a year, then kicked themselves for not waiting for the prices to come down. But isn't that what this whole digital thing is about? Instant gratification! Expensive instant gratification, but no less instant. I remember listening to the sales guys at the camera store i worked in explaining all the benefits of digital and how you wouldn't need to print all your photos anymore. You could now delete the ones that didn't look good, that were out of focus, the ones that didn't catch everyone eyes open and smiling. And you could just download them to your computer instead of printing them if you wanted to. All these "benefits"! You could email pictures instead of mailing them! I remember the standalone Fuji thermal printer that made the crappiest prints I'd seen at that point at the bargain price of something like 90 cents per print! I remember preaching to the sales guys back then that this digital push in the photo industry was going to make the whole industry eat itself. 12 years later Ritz Camera has pretty much disappeared. A quick "Ritz camera wiki" google search just revealed that the company which started in 1918 in an Atlantic City Ritz hotel by Benjamin Ritz as a portrait studio, 18 years later in 1936 opening it's first film processing facility has just last month decided to liquidate it's assets after 4 years of chapter 11 bankruptcy protection couldn't get it back on it's feet. Eastman Kodak which at one point controlled 90% market share in photographic films, started in 1889, (yep read that one more time, EIGHTEEN EIGHTY NINE!!!) founded by George Eastman hasn't made a profit since 2007 and is dumping it's photo film, digital camera and digital photo frame lines and pretty much just trying to stay alive in the motion picture film market so it doesn't disappear as well. They filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January this year. This is not a good sign. (Understatement of the century) Yesterday Stacey, my significant other got out her 35mm camera and took a picture of our cat. My eyes widened and I got this jealous/anxious/almost annoyed feeling. I starting interrogating her about how old the film was, as expired film won't make good pictures, where she was planning on getting the pictures developed and why she still has film in her camera. She told me it wasn't old, she'd bought it at the drugstore and took pictures recently at her annual Ladies Weekend beach house getaway on this roll. Later yesterday afternoon we spoke with a couple friends we ran into at a coffee shop about where to get film printed, and our friend Dave recounted a recent experience at the drugstore that he tried to drop his film off at and how they had all the equipment back in the corner but told him "that stuff doesn't work". He suggested a place that we could send out film to get developed. The days of cross processing slide film through a c41 machine at your local camera store and getting it printed with crazy colors/contrast are long gone friends. Long gone.
Music is one of the things that I've failed the most to "keep up" with in the digital age. I do not currently own anything that will play an mp3 other than this computer. (Actually my phone might but I don't know how to do it and it's not a smart phone) I recently joined the 99.99999% of people in western civilization who download music. I have not been to itunes yet, i have not paid for any digital music yet. I also recently purchased a record player and have been listening to vinyl at home, and have only downloaded records that I've purchased the vinyl copy of using the free download cards that came with them and I've downloaded a song off of lastfm. I have been listening to cd's since the early 90's and owned the first cd player in my parents house at age 13, but I just never got on board with the downloading thing. I guess I always just wanted to hold and look through my collection of music, this concept certainly applies to how i feel about books as well. I love having a decent book collection. I love the way it looks. I like looking through other people's books, getting to know them through the books that they've chosen to buy and what they've read. But, i digress...
Music for the majority of people is becoming a dead, meaningless thing. Young people hear a song in the car when they're driving with their friends or in a television commercial or in a store they're shopping in and they can immediately go on their phone and download it, just that one song. Not that long ago, young folks would hear a song on the radio and go to the record store and buy the record to take home and enjoy listening to it in it's entirety. This isn't a new complaint, it's been brought up billions of times since the concept of downloading music showed it's ugly little head. This isn't even a good place to complain about it, this is supposed to be a bicycle related blog! (hahahaha!) But it's still valid as there are still stores that we can go to buy music! They're called record stores! And we should be in them! Or mail ordering from small record labels!
Dare i even start on the book industry's transition to digital? I really don't even want to start typing about it. I find myself screaming inside when I talk to people about their kindles or nooks or whatever the newest e-reader is these days. I worked at Borders Books for a little while and Stacey worked there for around 10 years. We watched the sales drop, we watched the digital readers arrive and sit in the displays, we watched the seemingly slow transition and then we watched the store close. Part of Borders and most chain book store problems were when the economy went downhill, people stopped buying things that we sold there. The store also sold dvds and cds (see above paragraph about downloading music and then add the concept of netflix and you can easily follow the path to a culture no longer willing to pay $20 for a movie on dvd). But I can't help but point out that our culture as a whole is transitioning to never touching music, movies or books these days. We're only touching our electronic devices that "contain" these things, or that we can access them through and I don't think this is a good thing. Music and movies and books are losing value in our lives while our culture races ever faster into newer better faster ways to access the things that entertain us without the liner notes. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy being able to search through record label websites, bandcamp.com and bands' websites to hear songs of bands I've never heard before, but I'm getting to a point that when given the option, I'm going to buy it and listen to it on vinyl.
And I'm going to dig out my 35mm fixed lens Olympus Stylus point and shoot and do just that!
Friday, October 19, 2012
Friday, September 14, 2012
Sobriety, looking behind you while riding and The Idaho Stop Law
If you turn your head to look behind you on a bike, you'll swerve out into the road.
Not true. You can, with your handlebars raised high, riding in a completely upright position (or almost completely upright position...) turn your head without your shoulders moving pulling your bars to the side, which i'm 99.99% sure is what causes this phenomenon. On my last 2 commuter bikes, that i should mention i log the most miles on, the handlebars have been either level with the saddle or just above the saddle and I have gotten very comfortable in staying straight on my line in the lane and turning my head to glance behind me to see why the car behind my isn't passing or if that scary sound is a semi truck trying to slow down and pass me while i'm hauling ass down a hill. So more often than not, I think it's a weird riding position that causes the pulling out into the lane thing when cyclers turn their heads. If you're riding a beach cruiser with your arms completely extended out to hold on to the ridiculously wide or ape hanger style handlebars, this position will also force your shoulders to roll and pull you off your straight line. Where I'm going with this is that a "normal" upright riding position with your arms comfortably holding your handlebars and not super extended straight out in front of you, will allow you to turn your head comfortably and look behind you to check out the gaggle of geese you just passed or the old lugged steel bicycle that just cruised by.
If you don't support the Idaho stop law, you're an idiot!
In Idaho, they have a law that allows bicycle riders to run red lights and stop signs. Here's how it works: You roll up to the stop sign and if it's clear, you don't stop, you treat it like a yield sign and keep on a truckin. If it isn't clear, you wait so you don't get run over or collide with another bicycle. Simple huh? At a red traffic signal, you have to stop, and if it's clear, you roll through. The red light is treated like a stop sign. I'll repeat this: YOU MUST STOP AT REDLIGHTS!!! But!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! then you can roll through when it's clear! Yep. Makes sense to me. The safety of this simple concept is still constantly debated among cycling groups including some heavy hitters on a national level. It's just dumb. They make points like "we don't want kids running redlights and getting hit!". Well what the heck do you think is happening all over the United States right now?!?!?!??!??!?!?!?!?!?! Kids are doing really stupid things on bikes and getting hit by cars! Everyday!!!! So why not let bicycles be a bigger part of the traffic system and let them be what they are, which is a vehicle that takes a lot more human energy to propel than a car. They are not cars! ARE NOT CARS!!! and shouldn't be treated just like cars. But if we're going to "Share the road" then we need to acknowledge the need for more bicycle positive ideas like this. And get these things signed into law in our localities. I'm not going to get started on the need for more than a 10 second investigation into bicycle involved traffic accidents and fatalities either, well at least not here (I'll spare the 2 people that will read this the hour of ranting!!!).
On a much more personal note, being sober has been an amazing experience. At day 83 this is possibly (more than likely) the longest I've been sober in more than 10 years. I am done drinking. Most people who know me have never seen the negative impact drinking has had on my life. They've only seen the happy drunk out in public hanging with friends. They haven't seen the guy that hates himself for not being able to control this aspect of his life. They guy who drank alone. Frequently. The guy who couldn't quit, the guy who cried when he admitted this aloud to his girlfriend after denying it to himself for years... Emotions are all real now. This has been the most profound transition in my life. I feel more alive than i have for years. I get sad. I get happy. I get angry. It's all real. I'm not living in a slightly disconnected state, distancing myself from the people i care about the most by always holding up a wall of emotional numbness. It's been an interesting experience, social anxiety is something that I haven't dealt with since my late teens or maybe early 20's, but it's real and I'm experiencing it occasionally now. Friendships are more solid, love is more true, time spent so much more valuable.
I'll quit with this little bit of thought: No one walking down a sidewalk yells to cyclers speeding down the road to "GET ON THE FUCKING SIDEWALK!"
Not true. You can, with your handlebars raised high, riding in a completely upright position (or almost completely upright position...) turn your head without your shoulders moving pulling your bars to the side, which i'm 99.99% sure is what causes this phenomenon. On my last 2 commuter bikes, that i should mention i log the most miles on, the handlebars have been either level with the saddle or just above the saddle and I have gotten very comfortable in staying straight on my line in the lane and turning my head to glance behind me to see why the car behind my isn't passing or if that scary sound is a semi truck trying to slow down and pass me while i'm hauling ass down a hill. So more often than not, I think it's a weird riding position that causes the pulling out into the lane thing when cyclers turn their heads. If you're riding a beach cruiser with your arms completely extended out to hold on to the ridiculously wide or ape hanger style handlebars, this position will also force your shoulders to roll and pull you off your straight line. Where I'm going with this is that a "normal" upright riding position with your arms comfortably holding your handlebars and not super extended straight out in front of you, will allow you to turn your head comfortably and look behind you to check out the gaggle of geese you just passed or the old lugged steel bicycle that just cruised by.
If you don't support the Idaho stop law, you're an idiot!
In Idaho, they have a law that allows bicycle riders to run red lights and stop signs. Here's how it works: You roll up to the stop sign and if it's clear, you don't stop, you treat it like a yield sign and keep on a truckin. If it isn't clear, you wait so you don't get run over or collide with another bicycle. Simple huh? At a red traffic signal, you have to stop, and if it's clear, you roll through. The red light is treated like a stop sign. I'll repeat this: YOU MUST STOP AT REDLIGHTS!!! But!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! then you can roll through when it's clear! Yep. Makes sense to me. The safety of this simple concept is still constantly debated among cycling groups including some heavy hitters on a national level. It's just dumb. They make points like "we don't want kids running redlights and getting hit!". Well what the heck do you think is happening all over the United States right now?!?!?!??!??!?!?!?!?!?! Kids are doing really stupid things on bikes and getting hit by cars! Everyday!!!! So why not let bicycles be a bigger part of the traffic system and let them be what they are, which is a vehicle that takes a lot more human energy to propel than a car. They are not cars! ARE NOT CARS!!! and shouldn't be treated just like cars. But if we're going to "Share the road" then we need to acknowledge the need for more bicycle positive ideas like this. And get these things signed into law in our localities. I'm not going to get started on the need for more than a 10 second investigation into bicycle involved traffic accidents and fatalities either, well at least not here (I'll spare the 2 people that will read this the hour of ranting!!!).
On a much more personal note, being sober has been an amazing experience. At day 83 this is possibly (more than likely) the longest I've been sober in more than 10 years. I am done drinking. Most people who know me have never seen the negative impact drinking has had on my life. They've only seen the happy drunk out in public hanging with friends. They haven't seen the guy that hates himself for not being able to control this aspect of his life. They guy who drank alone. Frequently. The guy who couldn't quit, the guy who cried when he admitted this aloud to his girlfriend after denying it to himself for years... Emotions are all real now. This has been the most profound transition in my life. I feel more alive than i have for years. I get sad. I get happy. I get angry. It's all real. I'm not living in a slightly disconnected state, distancing myself from the people i care about the most by always holding up a wall of emotional numbness. It's been an interesting experience, social anxiety is something that I haven't dealt with since my late teens or maybe early 20's, but it's real and I'm experiencing it occasionally now. Friendships are more solid, love is more true, time spent so much more valuable.
I'll quit with this little bit of thought: No one walking down a sidewalk yells to cyclers speeding down the road to "GET ON THE FUCKING SIDEWALK!"
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
GET ON THE FUCKIN SIDEWALK!
"GET ON THE SIDEWALK!" I hate when people yell stupid things at me from passing cars when I'm riding my bike. Me and my favorite riding friend Shawn had a guy who was crossing the street on foot yell "GET ON THE FUCKING SIDEWALK!!!" at us right after we passed him. What a dickhole! Wait until the cyclists ride by, THEN yell something stupid at them. I guess he thought at that point if we were offended enough we'd have to turn around and ride back to continue the dialog and maybe by that time he could've ran if he needed to? I wish I could personally talk to anyone and everyone who thinks that everyone (including adults!!!) should "GET ON THE SIDEWALK!!!!!" while riding their bikes. I'd ask them if they ever walk on a sidewalk? Or do they ever turn there cars into shopping centers where there's a sidewalk? Or can they actually see the sidewalk when they drive? If we rode on sidewalks it would be dangerous... FOR EVERYONE!!!!! When I'm taking a leisurely stroll on foot down a sidewalk relaxed arms swinging by my sides, mind wandering over 50 things, watching geese that are eating whatever it is they dig out of grassy areas, the last thing I'd want is a cyclist flying by me at 20mph, whether they ring a bell or honk a squeezee horn from 50 feet away to warn me or not. I wouldn't want it to happen. I don't want to have to watch out for cyclers passing me on the sidewalk. I also wouldn't want to stop in traffic that's moving 45-50 mph to wait for a cyclist to cross the intersection of a sidewalk or play the you-go-NO-YOU-GO! game while traffic behind me is trying to figure out why I'm stopped. No thanks. I'd rather the cyclers just ride in the street and shuck and jive with the cars.
The next day after I typed up that post, when i was riding to work, I had two separate drivers yell "GET ON THE SIDEWALK!" while they drove by me. The second one was a lady who sounded so agitated and annoyed by me riding in the street her tone of voice was kinda saying "I KEEP YELLING AT YOU ASSHOLES ON BIKES BUT YOU KEEP RIDING IN THE ROAD!" Like it was something that she'd figured out and was sharing it with us, but we JUST AREN'T LISTENING!
It's interesting to me the mentality of the assholes we share this society/city/community/state/country/world with, the idea that it's okay to very loudly and publicly display your dissatisfaction with someone who isn't doing anything wrong, but is just "in the way". If someone is in the lane your traveling in and not traveling in the same type of vehicle you're traveling in, and they're moving kinda slow, instead of safely passing them by slowing down a little and moving to the edge of the lane and passing, just scream at them and tell them to get the fuck out of your way. They shouldn't be in your way, right? Because you've gone through the incredibly difficult process of getting a drivers license and you've paid for your automobile or are making payments and (HOPEFULLY!!!!) your auto insurance and now you've got the right to the road and to not have some asshole slowing you down when you're driving from point "A" to point "B" as they say. If it's another driver that's driving slow, honk your horn and yell at them. Tell them to get the fuck out of your way! Are they doing the speed limit? Yes?!?! YELL AT THEM! TELL THEM TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF YOUR WAY!!! WHO DOES THE SPEED LIMIT!?!?!?!?! We can't have people trying to cross the street either! Someone's trying to cross the street when you're trying to turn right on a red light? THEY'RE SLOWING YOU DOWN!!! YELL AT THEM!!! HONK AT THEM!!!!! TELL THEM TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF YOUR WAY!!!!! They shouldn't be walking where you're trying to drive!!! THEY ARE SLOWING YOU DOWN!!!
and where are we going in such a fucking hurry anyway? To the grocery store? To buy something at a retail store? Could we get to the store in 45 more seconds and still have the same great quality of life that the average American enjoys? I think so.
Sean's bicycles update: I just recently put together my new commuter/go everywhere bicycle. It's a 1987 Trek Elance 400T. I had my friend/bike mechanic extraordinaire Nathan build a 650B wheelset for it with the hubs that were originally on my Bridgestone and I can't say enough great things about my new cushy super comfy tires! I wish all bikes fit tires 32mm or wider! It's just a whole different world. The end.
The next day after I typed up that post, when i was riding to work, I had two separate drivers yell "GET ON THE SIDEWALK!" while they drove by me. The second one was a lady who sounded so agitated and annoyed by me riding in the street her tone of voice was kinda saying "I KEEP YELLING AT YOU ASSHOLES ON BIKES BUT YOU KEEP RIDING IN THE ROAD!" Like it was something that she'd figured out and was sharing it with us, but we JUST AREN'T LISTENING!
It's interesting to me the mentality of the assholes we share this society/city/community/state/country/world with, the idea that it's okay to very loudly and publicly display your dissatisfaction with someone who isn't doing anything wrong, but is just "in the way". If someone is in the lane your traveling in and not traveling in the same type of vehicle you're traveling in, and they're moving kinda slow, instead of safely passing them by slowing down a little and moving to the edge of the lane and passing, just scream at them and tell them to get the fuck out of your way. They shouldn't be in your way, right? Because you've gone through the incredibly difficult process of getting a drivers license and you've paid for your automobile or are making payments and (HOPEFULLY!!!!) your auto insurance and now you've got the right to the road and to not have some asshole slowing you down when you're driving from point "A" to point "B" as they say. If it's another driver that's driving slow, honk your horn and yell at them. Tell them to get the fuck out of your way! Are they doing the speed limit? Yes?!?! YELL AT THEM! TELL THEM TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF YOUR WAY!!! WHO DOES THE SPEED LIMIT!?!?!?!?! We can't have people trying to cross the street either! Someone's trying to cross the street when you're trying to turn right on a red light? THEY'RE SLOWING YOU DOWN!!! YELL AT THEM!!! HONK AT THEM!!!!! TELL THEM TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF YOUR WAY!!!!! They shouldn't be walking where you're trying to drive!!! THEY ARE SLOWING YOU DOWN!!!
and where are we going in such a fucking hurry anyway? To the grocery store? To buy something at a retail store? Could we get to the store in 45 more seconds and still have the same great quality of life that the average American enjoys? I think so.
Sean's bicycles update: I just recently put together my new commuter/go everywhere bicycle. It's a 1987 Trek Elance 400T. I had my friend/bike mechanic extraordinaire Nathan build a 650B wheelset for it with the hubs that were originally on my Bridgestone and I can't say enough great things about my new cushy super comfy tires! I wish all bikes fit tires 32mm or wider! It's just a whole different world. The end.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Why don't people say hello to strangers anymore? riding the wrong way in the road
Today I rode 3/4 of my usual route around Norfolk, coming home a little sooner than I normally would to avoid extended periods of sitting in traffic (it was a little after 5). I was really excited to test out my newest piece of "riding gear", my Patagonia El Ray shirt that had just arrived today! It's not a cycling shirt. It's not tight. It isn't fluorescent colored either. It is light colored, kind of a checkered pattern of green, light green and white and is supposed to help keep you cool and protect you from the sun while outdoors for extended periods. Kind of a hiking/camping shirt. It's a lightweight synthetic material although it feels like new cotton to me, and is long sleeved/collared and has snaps on the cuffs too. It seems to wick away sweat okay although I definitely had a nice case of sweaty back by the time I was ready to call it quits on my ride today. I'm ranting already and about a shirt, I almost hope no one really reads this crap. Anywho... so I feel great about this new shirt, cause now I don't feel it necessary to wear 2 layers of shirts while i ride (my long sleeve jersey shirt with my bright yellow vest over it). And the shirt is super comfy.
So I'm riding along and I see a couple spandex clad guys on road bikes up ahead coming toward me and as they approach I look toward them start saying hello and realize they are talking to each other, one guy looks at me and neither say anything or wave or smile or give me a peace sign, a thumbs up or any sort of acknowledgement to say "hey you're on a bike! we're on bikes! How's it going?" Maybe I'm old fashioned, maybe I read too far into things. But it annoys the poop out of me when I pass other people on bikes, especially grown men who are clearly out on a recreational ride and they don't acknowledge me. We're on bicycles. There's an unspoken (it's actually not that unspoken these days!) rule that you greet other people on bikes. I smile and wave at little kids on bikes, at elderly people riding trikes down sidewalks, at "homeless crackheads" on bikes, teenagers being obnoxious on bmx bikes, at anybody who's on a bike. It really makes me happy to see other people on bikes! So a couple turns later, I see another guy on a trek "hybrid" ( i hate the phrase "hybrid" btw, i feel like it gets abused in the bicycle industry these days. My bridgestone rb-2 could probably be defined as a hybrid just because it doesn't have drop bars and super skinny tires. It's just getting watered down. Why don't we just say utility bike or commuter bike?) and as he passes, he doesn't say anything to me either, doesn't look in my direction, doesn't smile, doesn't nod...nothing. I found this weird, and kept riding. I rode down Powhatan back by ODU and saw another guy wearing spandex on a road bike and didn't get the time of day, and by "didn't get the time of day", I mean I didn't get a nod, wave, smile, peace sign, thumbs up, hello, nothing. Oh well. I guess I shouldn't let it bother me. I have a different taste in bicycles than the majority of the other people who take their bikes/cycling in general maybe a little too seriously around Norfolk, maybe these people see my bike and see me wearing shorts that aren't "bike shorts" ( i wear my Rivendell Musa shorts over my Specialized BG comp bikeshorts) and no cycling jersey and they think I'm not "like them" and I'm not. They would certainly be correct to a degree. But we're all out enjoying ourselves on bikes! Why not acknowledge the fact that the people we're crossing paths with are doing WHAT WE'RE DOING?!?!?! and just WAVE or SAY HELLO?!?! How hard is that?!?! I did say hello to an old man who was out for a walk right after I got dissed by the roadie guy on Powhatan. I found this interesting. The old man who was out for a walk, I'm assuming for a little exercise, smiled, waved and said hello to me as I rode by and smiled, waved and greeted him. I was also acknowledged by a few people walking dogs, and at least one person on a porch that I said hello to, said hello back. So is it a classism thing going on? Is it that the guys I passed on bicycles today didn't acknowledge me because I have a beard and big holes in my ears and tattooed knees and am riding a bike that's almost 20 years old? I'm clearly not a clean cut business man out for a recreational spin on my modern carbon fiber status symbol. But to me, my bikes are status symbols as well. They are awesome! All of them!!! Except my fixed gear Raleigh Supercourse which will soon be parted and retired, as it has only been bad luck for me since it's come into my life, I won't get into that here. Anywho... I don't think it's even a matter of class symbol "that guy's bike is shitty" politics, I think people just aren't polite to strangers anymore. When someone walks by a the sidewalk, isn't it polite to say hello to them? When I walk places, I say hello to people I pass and I expect them to greet me in return. This is what everyone should expect. So everyone out there, when you ride your bike, say hello to other people on bikes. I, personally am becoming a big fan of the thumbs up and a hello as a greeting. People on motorcycles have an unspoken wave or point or greeting, Jeep people (usually Wrangler drivers) have an unspoken wave as well. (Don't believe me? Ride in a Jeep and wave at everyone else that's driving a Jeep and I guaranty 80-90% will wave back!!!!!) It's not hard for us all to be nice to each other!!! I'm done ranting about this for now.
There are a particular breed of people out there who throw caution into the wind and risk their own and almost everyone else' safety in their method of travel. We've all encountered these folks. They usually wear dark clothing and like magic, appear out of thin air with nothing reflective or illuminated on themselves or their vehicles: I'm talking about those people who ride the wrong way on the road. Against traffic. Why? Why? Why? Would anyone think this is a good idea? I've had people tell me that the older generations may have thought this was the safest way to travel by bicycle as you can see the approaching cars. I don't think I can make sense of this. But at the same time, 50ish years ago they put lead in paint and asbestos in insulation. Back then there were alot of things that weren't known yet about safety and weren't 100% investigated before being practiced. I had this conversation at my local bike shop recently about why riding against traffic is a terrible idea, and I started crunching the numbers and explaining to a younger guy that hangs out there regularly how much less time drivers have to react to seeing a cyclist in the road ahead when you ride against traffic vs riding with traffic. Please feel free to skip this boring math part...
So... If a cyclist is traveling at 20 mph riding against traffic that is going 45 mph. In reality, it's giving those drivers the same amount of time to react to the "obstruction" in their lane as if they were traveling at 65 mph passing something that is stopped/stationary in the lane ahead. Because the objects are traveling oward each other, the speeds are added. Reverse the situation and if the cyclist is traveling 20 mph flowing with traffic, that same traffic going 45 mph, now has more than twice as much time (2.6 times the amount of time to be exact) to react to the object in the lane ahead as if it were stationary, because the objects are both moving in the same direction subtracting the speed gives you the effective speed that allows for more reaction time (which is all that matters in this equation!!!!!)
This is simple math. Alot of people don't get this. Alot of people have trouble looking at situations like this from another perspective (THE DRIVER'S PERSPECTIVE!!!!!), which creates a VERY unsafe situation. It bothers me when I see people riding at night with no lights on their bikes. A rear red blinky light is a no-brainer to me. BUT!!!!!!!... I see people all the time with no rear blinky lights. Riding against traffic is a no-brainer to me as well. You SHOULD NOT DO IT! BUT!!!!!! i see people do it all the time. They almost always seem to pick out there darkest clothes and just go ride against traffic. It's crazy. I wish bicycle safety were taught in public schools. Elementary through highschool! If it is these days, maybe i should be a bicycle safety instructor. One last statement relating to this: Motorscooters are NOT bicycles, and if you ride a motorscooter in the BIKELANE going THE WRONG WAY!!!!!!!!!!! I'd like to kick you in the shins, 3 times in each shin. (for Joe B a friend who I rant to at work about stupid things like this all the time)
Until next time. Wear your helmet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So I'm riding along and I see a couple spandex clad guys on road bikes up ahead coming toward me and as they approach I look toward them start saying hello and realize they are talking to each other, one guy looks at me and neither say anything or wave or smile or give me a peace sign, a thumbs up or any sort of acknowledgement to say "hey you're on a bike! we're on bikes! How's it going?" Maybe I'm old fashioned, maybe I read too far into things. But it annoys the poop out of me when I pass other people on bikes, especially grown men who are clearly out on a recreational ride and they don't acknowledge me. We're on bicycles. There's an unspoken (it's actually not that unspoken these days!) rule that you greet other people on bikes. I smile and wave at little kids on bikes, at elderly people riding trikes down sidewalks, at "homeless crackheads" on bikes, teenagers being obnoxious on bmx bikes, at anybody who's on a bike. It really makes me happy to see other people on bikes! So a couple turns later, I see another guy on a trek "hybrid" ( i hate the phrase "hybrid" btw, i feel like it gets abused in the bicycle industry these days. My bridgestone rb-2 could probably be defined as a hybrid just because it doesn't have drop bars and super skinny tires. It's just getting watered down. Why don't we just say utility bike or commuter bike?) and as he passes, he doesn't say anything to me either, doesn't look in my direction, doesn't smile, doesn't nod...nothing. I found this weird, and kept riding. I rode down Powhatan back by ODU and saw another guy wearing spandex on a road bike and didn't get the time of day, and by "didn't get the time of day", I mean I didn't get a nod, wave, smile, peace sign, thumbs up, hello, nothing. Oh well. I guess I shouldn't let it bother me. I have a different taste in bicycles than the majority of the other people who take their bikes/cycling in general maybe a little too seriously around Norfolk, maybe these people see my bike and see me wearing shorts that aren't "bike shorts" ( i wear my Rivendell Musa shorts over my Specialized BG comp bikeshorts) and no cycling jersey and they think I'm not "like them" and I'm not. They would certainly be correct to a degree. But we're all out enjoying ourselves on bikes! Why not acknowledge the fact that the people we're crossing paths with are doing WHAT WE'RE DOING?!?!?! and just WAVE or SAY HELLO?!?! How hard is that?!?! I did say hello to an old man who was out for a walk right after I got dissed by the roadie guy on Powhatan. I found this interesting. The old man who was out for a walk, I'm assuming for a little exercise, smiled, waved and said hello to me as I rode by and smiled, waved and greeted him. I was also acknowledged by a few people walking dogs, and at least one person on a porch that I said hello to, said hello back. So is it a classism thing going on? Is it that the guys I passed on bicycles today didn't acknowledge me because I have a beard and big holes in my ears and tattooed knees and am riding a bike that's almost 20 years old? I'm clearly not a clean cut business man out for a recreational spin on my modern carbon fiber status symbol. But to me, my bikes are status symbols as well. They are awesome! All of them!!! Except my fixed gear Raleigh Supercourse which will soon be parted and retired, as it has only been bad luck for me since it's come into my life, I won't get into that here. Anywho... I don't think it's even a matter of class symbol "that guy's bike is shitty" politics, I think people just aren't polite to strangers anymore. When someone walks by a the sidewalk, isn't it polite to say hello to them? When I walk places, I say hello to people I pass and I expect them to greet me in return. This is what everyone should expect. So everyone out there, when you ride your bike, say hello to other people on bikes. I, personally am becoming a big fan of the thumbs up and a hello as a greeting. People on motorcycles have an unspoken wave or point or greeting, Jeep people (usually Wrangler drivers) have an unspoken wave as well. (Don't believe me? Ride in a Jeep and wave at everyone else that's driving a Jeep and I guaranty 80-90% will wave back!!!!!) It's not hard for us all to be nice to each other!!! I'm done ranting about this for now.
There are a particular breed of people out there who throw caution into the wind and risk their own and almost everyone else' safety in their method of travel. We've all encountered these folks. They usually wear dark clothing and like magic, appear out of thin air with nothing reflective or illuminated on themselves or their vehicles: I'm talking about those people who ride the wrong way on the road. Against traffic. Why? Why? Why? Would anyone think this is a good idea? I've had people tell me that the older generations may have thought this was the safest way to travel by bicycle as you can see the approaching cars. I don't think I can make sense of this. But at the same time, 50ish years ago they put lead in paint and asbestos in insulation. Back then there were alot of things that weren't known yet about safety and weren't 100% investigated before being practiced. I had this conversation at my local bike shop recently about why riding against traffic is a terrible idea, and I started crunching the numbers and explaining to a younger guy that hangs out there regularly how much less time drivers have to react to seeing a cyclist in the road ahead when you ride against traffic vs riding with traffic. Please feel free to skip this boring math part...
So... If a cyclist is traveling at 20 mph riding against traffic that is going 45 mph. In reality, it's giving those drivers the same amount of time to react to the "obstruction" in their lane as if they were traveling at 65 mph passing something that is stopped/stationary in the lane ahead. Because the objects are traveling oward each other, the speeds are added. Reverse the situation and if the cyclist is traveling 20 mph flowing with traffic, that same traffic going 45 mph, now has more than twice as much time (2.6 times the amount of time to be exact) to react to the object in the lane ahead as if it were stationary, because the objects are both moving in the same direction subtracting the speed gives you the effective speed that allows for more reaction time (which is all that matters in this equation!!!!!)
This is simple math. Alot of people don't get this. Alot of people have trouble looking at situations like this from another perspective (THE DRIVER'S PERSPECTIVE!!!!!), which creates a VERY unsafe situation. It bothers me when I see people riding at night with no lights on their bikes. A rear red blinky light is a no-brainer to me. BUT!!!!!!!... I see people all the time with no rear blinky lights. Riding against traffic is a no-brainer to me as well. You SHOULD NOT DO IT! BUT!!!!!! i see people do it all the time. They almost always seem to pick out there darkest clothes and just go ride against traffic. It's crazy. I wish bicycle safety were taught in public schools. Elementary through highschool! If it is these days, maybe i should be a bicycle safety instructor. One last statement relating to this: Motorscooters are NOT bicycles, and if you ride a motorscooter in the BIKELANE going THE WRONG WAY!!!!!!!!!!! I'd like to kick you in the shins, 3 times in each shin. (for Joe B a friend who I rant to at work about stupid things like this all the time)
Until next time. Wear your helmet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, June 22, 2012
Riding when it's hot, driving negligance, and getting flipped "the bird"
Dear People/person who invented the first concept cars, I hate you. Dear People/person who invented the first car cup holder, I hate you even more. Dear People/person who invented the first light up mirror on a car visor, I think i might hate you the most. Dear People/person who invented the system for an automobile to park itself, I was previously wrong about the person who invented the light up mirror in the visor, because I definitely hate YOU the most!!!
A quick must share story about my commute to work a couple days ago: I'm in the left most turn lane of 2 left turn lanes on St Pauls in Downtown Norfolk getting ready to turn to get on Waterside Dr to take the interstate ramp towards Virginia Beach. The light changes to green, I start driving/turning, I noticed the car in the other turn lane is kinda creepin over into my lane halfway through the turn, I slow down and watch the driver casually take the lane, no turn signal, no driver looking back with an urgent look to see if there was room, no abnormal acceleration to get out in front of my car to make sure they could get into the lane and not miss an exit or whatever. Nothing. Just this person not looking and swerving into the other turn lane negligently. If I'd accelerated at the same rate the other driver did, which i was til i got the weird stomach feeling of "THAT PERSON IS GOING TO HIT MY CAR!", the other car would've hit my car. The shitty thing is when I'm on my bicycles, I see this ALL THE TIME!!! Waiting at the front of a red light, almost halfway in the intersection being 6' 2" tall, I have a pretty nice view of the flow of cars and their lane positions. I see it at almost every major intersection. People always lazily cut into the inside lane next to them whether there are other drivers there or not, then the driver in the inside lane has to slow down or travel outside of the lane to the inside to avoid a collision. This is crazy. When I turn, I stay in the lane I'm traveling in! It got me thinking though... What if I stayed there? What if I held my lane position? Would they run into me? Would I be blamed for the accident? Would my insurance premium go up? Would it ruin my day? What if the other driver didn't have insurance? BUT?!?! What if they did and I called the police and went through the whole process and let's say my fender and door or my rear bumper got damaged. Would I somehow profit from the other driver's negligence? Probably.
The day after that happened, i rode my bicycle to work and got honked at then flicked off and had another driver do the pass then slam the brakes maneuver after realizing they weren't going to get in front of me in time to turn right in front of me (the right hook almost got me!!!!!). I hadn't been flipped the bird in a while. Does anybody still call it "the bird"? Am i old because I just called it that"? Oh well... So the driver honked as they passed, I turned around abruptly to see what was going on right behind me and saw the little pickup swerve around me without slowing down at all. Realizing this was the source of the offending honk, I put one hand up with a shrug of my shoulders to say "why are you honking at me?" and I got an aggressively extended middle finger. The classic "get the fuck out of my way you idiot" response that even on roads with slower (35mph) speed limits, some drivers still look at cyclers as something that shouldn't be in their way on the road. (THERE'S A SIDEWALK RIGHT THERE!!! I haven't heard that one in a while!) I don't get too worked up by drivers giving me the middle finger while I'm riding anymore. I don't remember the first time it happened but I'm sure I was furious. Eventually you almost expect it. I remember a time when i chased and caught up to a car at a red light that had a couple teenaged girls in it who had just yelled "GET ON THE FUCKING SIDEWALK!!!" and honked at me while passing. When I rolled up in front of that car and saw how young these people were, it was somehow MORE upsetting to me. I screamed at them, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT SHARE THE ROAD MEANS?!?!?! IT MEANS SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!" I scared them. I knew it. I saw the fear in their eyes as a man obviously older than they were and fuming with anger screamed at them while they sat in their four wheeled steel pod of "protection". I wasn't ashamed of my self reaction and in some ways I'm still not. Alot of people might never understand what that's like. But i hope those teenagers felt vulnerable in that car at that intersection and I hope they never yell ignorantly at cyclists again. Sometimes there's no reasoning that will teach people things. There's certainly no reasoning that's going to teach someone driving a car to not swerve around a cyclist while honking and immediately maneuver their vehicle to the extreme right side of the lane that the cyclist is traveling in to "cut them off". Someone that would do this can't be reasoned with. They feel invincible in their car. Most people do. Cars create what some perceive as an impenetrable force field of protection. Yelling at them while you're riding a 20ish pound metal bicycle in the same flow of traffic they are is only going to make things less safe for you. Yelling at the teenagers that I yelled at surely was not the safest thing but sometimes, it's just the right thing to do. That doesn't make sense. Let's move on.
It's hot outside right now. and really humid. My ride to work the other day when i got honked at and flicked off was the hottest ride I've been on this year so far and I was thinking that day that I should blog about smart riding habits when it's 100 degrees outside. So here we go: DRINK WATER!!! Don't even go out for a 5 mile quick ride without water. When i go out for recreational bicycle adventures, I usually have an idea of how far or how much time I'm intending on being out, but it usually doesn't end up being what I intended. I usually end up going a little further or cutting my ride short and hanging out in a park watching squirrels for an hour (still outside, still needing water when it's this hot!). I also don't like to expose more skin than necessary when riding. I wear shorts, usually 2 pairs, my bike shorts (specialized bg comp, which I'd highly recommend to anyone!!!) and my Rivendell MUSA shorts over the bikeshorts. Some think I'm crazy, but I don't wear short sleeve shirts when I bike commute in the summer. I try to keep my arms protected from the sun as much as I can. I wear moisture wicking long sleeve shirts with my screaming yellow vest over it. I'm intending on acquiring a seersucker shirt or one of those outdoorsy hiking/camping patagonia shirts that has a decent sun protection rating soon. I've been wearing the moisture wicking athletic long sleeve shirts for a few years now and still by the end of summer my arms are always super tan which brings me to: ALWAYS WEAR SUNSCREEN!!!!! AND PUT IT ON YOUR FACE!!! Ask any 65-70 year old what their dermatologist tells them about protecting their skin from the sun, my Dad wears specialty shirts and hats from a company that only makes sun protection clothing. After going through cancer treatment for his throat cancer 9 years ago, his body has taken a beating, but he's also had minor procedures to remove cancerous tissue from his face in little spots a couple times, so have several other older folks that are near and dear to my heart. We have to be smart about these things now so later on we can enjoy our lives! And people who are are now in their late 60's and early 70's had a more intact ozone layer, blocking out more of the harmful uv rays than we do now. So... we need to be even more careful to protect ourselves! Don't push yourself too hard when it's uncomfortably hot outside, be proud that you're riding your bike, but don't be a rockstar about it, when you work hard, you get hot, when the air around you is already hot, you're going to be alot hotter and there's not much relief when your water bottles get warm and you're sweating like OJ Simpson trying on a crusty glove (90's reference +50 points!). Be smart. I've learned this the hard way. I used to get headaches alot in the summer time. Then I did some research and found out about "overexertion head aches", i still don't 100% understand what caused them, but i kept riding and stopped pushing myself as hard, drank more water, started wearing a cycling cap to keep the sun out of my eyes (less squinting!) and now I don't get them anymore. I never thought I'd be comfortable riding when it's 90+ degrees outside, but you can be. You're going to be soaked in sweat, probably almost immediately after you start riding. You need to keep up with how much you're sweating, don't chug a bottle of water as soon as you start sweating but be conscious of how you feel. Is your mouth getting dry? Take a sip of water. Don't wait to start drinking your water til it's too late. If you start feeling super shitty, it's too late. Pull over, find some shade, drink some water and dump some on your head too. When commuting, give yourself some extra time when it's hot outside. I like to get to work and stop outside and relax for a minute, let my heart rate come down a little, instead of rushing into the cold air conditioned building soaked in sweat and roasting. I try to convince myself that maybe some of the sweat will evaporate when i do this too, the math of it makes sense, but i probably still look like a sweaty monster when i walk through the store after a 95 degree bike commute. Oh well.
I really planned on this being a short post, it never turns out that way. Welp, until next time, WEAR YOUR GOD DAMN SUNSCREEN AND DRINK WATER!!! and when you drive, don't cut that inside lane short when you turn, or the guy in the red civic with really faded paint might let you hit him. He'd rather be riding a bike than driving that car anyway.
A quick must share story about my commute to work a couple days ago: I'm in the left most turn lane of 2 left turn lanes on St Pauls in Downtown Norfolk getting ready to turn to get on Waterside Dr to take the interstate ramp towards Virginia Beach. The light changes to green, I start driving/turning, I noticed the car in the other turn lane is kinda creepin over into my lane halfway through the turn, I slow down and watch the driver casually take the lane, no turn signal, no driver looking back with an urgent look to see if there was room, no abnormal acceleration to get out in front of my car to make sure they could get into the lane and not miss an exit or whatever. Nothing. Just this person not looking and swerving into the other turn lane negligently. If I'd accelerated at the same rate the other driver did, which i was til i got the weird stomach feeling of "THAT PERSON IS GOING TO HIT MY CAR!", the other car would've hit my car. The shitty thing is when I'm on my bicycles, I see this ALL THE TIME!!! Waiting at the front of a red light, almost halfway in the intersection being 6' 2" tall, I have a pretty nice view of the flow of cars and their lane positions. I see it at almost every major intersection. People always lazily cut into the inside lane next to them whether there are other drivers there or not, then the driver in the inside lane has to slow down or travel outside of the lane to the inside to avoid a collision. This is crazy. When I turn, I stay in the lane I'm traveling in! It got me thinking though... What if I stayed there? What if I held my lane position? Would they run into me? Would I be blamed for the accident? Would my insurance premium go up? Would it ruin my day? What if the other driver didn't have insurance? BUT?!?! What if they did and I called the police and went through the whole process and let's say my fender and door or my rear bumper got damaged. Would I somehow profit from the other driver's negligence? Probably.
The day after that happened, i rode my bicycle to work and got honked at then flicked off and had another driver do the pass then slam the brakes maneuver after realizing they weren't going to get in front of me in time to turn right in front of me (the right hook almost got me!!!!!). I hadn't been flipped the bird in a while. Does anybody still call it "the bird"? Am i old because I just called it that"? Oh well... So the driver honked as they passed, I turned around abruptly to see what was going on right behind me and saw the little pickup swerve around me without slowing down at all. Realizing this was the source of the offending honk, I put one hand up with a shrug of my shoulders to say "why are you honking at me?" and I got an aggressively extended middle finger. The classic "get the fuck out of my way you idiot" response that even on roads with slower (35mph) speed limits, some drivers still look at cyclers as something that shouldn't be in their way on the road. (THERE'S A SIDEWALK RIGHT THERE!!! I haven't heard that one in a while!) I don't get too worked up by drivers giving me the middle finger while I'm riding anymore. I don't remember the first time it happened but I'm sure I was furious. Eventually you almost expect it. I remember a time when i chased and caught up to a car at a red light that had a couple teenaged girls in it who had just yelled "GET ON THE FUCKING SIDEWALK!!!" and honked at me while passing. When I rolled up in front of that car and saw how young these people were, it was somehow MORE upsetting to me. I screamed at them, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT SHARE THE ROAD MEANS?!?!?! IT MEANS SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!" I scared them. I knew it. I saw the fear in their eyes as a man obviously older than they were and fuming with anger screamed at them while they sat in their four wheeled steel pod of "protection". I wasn't ashamed of my self reaction and in some ways I'm still not. Alot of people might never understand what that's like. But i hope those teenagers felt vulnerable in that car at that intersection and I hope they never yell ignorantly at cyclists again. Sometimes there's no reasoning that will teach people things. There's certainly no reasoning that's going to teach someone driving a car to not swerve around a cyclist while honking and immediately maneuver their vehicle to the extreme right side of the lane that the cyclist is traveling in to "cut them off". Someone that would do this can't be reasoned with. They feel invincible in their car. Most people do. Cars create what some perceive as an impenetrable force field of protection. Yelling at them while you're riding a 20ish pound metal bicycle in the same flow of traffic they are is only going to make things less safe for you. Yelling at the teenagers that I yelled at surely was not the safest thing but sometimes, it's just the right thing to do. That doesn't make sense. Let's move on.
It's hot outside right now. and really humid. My ride to work the other day when i got honked at and flicked off was the hottest ride I've been on this year so far and I was thinking that day that I should blog about smart riding habits when it's 100 degrees outside. So here we go: DRINK WATER!!! Don't even go out for a 5 mile quick ride without water. When i go out for recreational bicycle adventures, I usually have an idea of how far or how much time I'm intending on being out, but it usually doesn't end up being what I intended. I usually end up going a little further or cutting my ride short and hanging out in a park watching squirrels for an hour (still outside, still needing water when it's this hot!). I also don't like to expose more skin than necessary when riding. I wear shorts, usually 2 pairs, my bike shorts (specialized bg comp, which I'd highly recommend to anyone!!!) and my Rivendell MUSA shorts over the bikeshorts. Some think I'm crazy, but I don't wear short sleeve shirts when I bike commute in the summer. I try to keep my arms protected from the sun as much as I can. I wear moisture wicking long sleeve shirts with my screaming yellow vest over it. I'm intending on acquiring a seersucker shirt or one of those outdoorsy hiking/camping patagonia shirts that has a decent sun protection rating soon. I've been wearing the moisture wicking athletic long sleeve shirts for a few years now and still by the end of summer my arms are always super tan which brings me to: ALWAYS WEAR SUNSCREEN!!!!! AND PUT IT ON YOUR FACE!!! Ask any 65-70 year old what their dermatologist tells them about protecting their skin from the sun, my Dad wears specialty shirts and hats from a company that only makes sun protection clothing. After going through cancer treatment for his throat cancer 9 years ago, his body has taken a beating, but he's also had minor procedures to remove cancerous tissue from his face in little spots a couple times, so have several other older folks that are near and dear to my heart. We have to be smart about these things now so later on we can enjoy our lives! And people who are are now in their late 60's and early 70's had a more intact ozone layer, blocking out more of the harmful uv rays than we do now. So... we need to be even more careful to protect ourselves! Don't push yourself too hard when it's uncomfortably hot outside, be proud that you're riding your bike, but don't be a rockstar about it, when you work hard, you get hot, when the air around you is already hot, you're going to be alot hotter and there's not much relief when your water bottles get warm and you're sweating like OJ Simpson trying on a crusty glove (90's reference +50 points!). Be smart. I've learned this the hard way. I used to get headaches alot in the summer time. Then I did some research and found out about "overexertion head aches", i still don't 100% understand what caused them, but i kept riding and stopped pushing myself as hard, drank more water, started wearing a cycling cap to keep the sun out of my eyes (less squinting!) and now I don't get them anymore. I never thought I'd be comfortable riding when it's 90+ degrees outside, but you can be. You're going to be soaked in sweat, probably almost immediately after you start riding. You need to keep up with how much you're sweating, don't chug a bottle of water as soon as you start sweating but be conscious of how you feel. Is your mouth getting dry? Take a sip of water. Don't wait to start drinking your water til it's too late. If you start feeling super shitty, it's too late. Pull over, find some shade, drink some water and dump some on your head too. When commuting, give yourself some extra time when it's hot outside. I like to get to work and stop outside and relax for a minute, let my heart rate come down a little, instead of rushing into the cold air conditioned building soaked in sweat and roasting. I try to convince myself that maybe some of the sweat will evaporate when i do this too, the math of it makes sense, but i probably still look like a sweaty monster when i walk through the store after a 95 degree bike commute. Oh well.
I really planned on this being a short post, it never turns out that way. Welp, until next time, WEAR YOUR GOD DAMN SUNSCREEN AND DRINK WATER!!! and when you drive, don't cut that inside lane short when you turn, or the guy in the red civic with really faded paint might let you hit him. He'd rather be riding a bike than driving that car anyway.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Speed limits. Horn honking. Moving from point A to B slower and safer.
A couple days ago i was driving to work in the morning, getting on the interstate and a driver in the lane next to me started coming over into the lane I was driving in. No turn signal, no blindspot check, no attention paid to the flow of traffic in the lane the driver was moving into, just the front of my 95 Civic and the driver's side of their suv almost trying to occupy the same space. I noticed the suv creeping over the lane line & started slowing down immediately and then very abruptly got on my brakes to avoid the collision, and for the first time in longer than I can remember... I honked my horn. Not a little 1/4 second honk to say "HEY!" I pushed my little horn button on my steering wheel and held it for 5ish seconds letting the little almost cute beep sound that civic horns make ring out long enough to say "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!!!!!" and maybe "hey! dumbass! YOU ALMOST JUST RAN INTO ME!!!" I didn't extend a middle finger to the other driver or drive aggressively after this incident happened, i did look at the driver when i passed to give them the you-are-an-idiot-face and i just kept driving.
If i were on my bike, i would've been dead. Or would've yelled really loud and grabbed my brake levers as hard as i could and maybe avoided the collision. Of course on the bicycle I wouldn't have been traveling 60ish mph either, so this situation and the time to react to it would've been much different. Which brings me to something I'd like to rant about briefly:
Do faster speed limits really help traffic congestion problems?
I don't think fast speed limits are an answer to anything. While riding my bicycle at 15ish to 18ish miles per hour on the busier parts of Virginia Beach Blvd, i see the same cars for mile stretches of my commute. Because although they are traveling faster than I am on my bicycle, they are not getting further down the road faster than I am. Which is thought provoking to me! Why is this? I do get a little jump start here and there on a red light (yes, I'll admit it here and elsewhere, sometimes I'll blow through a light if i can clearly see that there are NO CARS COMING FROM ANY DIRECTION), and as i approach the back of a line of cars stopped at a red light I pass them on the right until I get to the front to wait or until they start moving and I safely tuck back into the line as it gets moving again. But I'm still not moving fast. So this tells me that maybe the faster speed limit isn't helping, all it's doing is allowing cars to accelerate to a faster speed before stopping at the next light. What's the point?!?!?! If you're moving faster, you can certainly get through the intersection faster, and you might make it through the intersection before the yellow light changes to red, but is this really helping the congestion? I'll completely remove the obvious problem that there are TOO MANY FUCKING PEOPLE in this world and TOO MANY PEOPLE DRIVING on the roads, and just focus on the current situation of moving the people that ARE traveling on the roads. So... what do we do? Lower speed limits. Make traffic lights respond to traffic sensors instead of timers (I've sat for minutes at red lights in downtown Norfolk TOO MANY TIMES AT 4AM WITH NO OTHER CARS IN SIGHT!!!) and plan traffic infrastructures with safety in mind, not just "How can we move the most cars beyond this point in the least amount of time?" I'm by no means, an engineer, but i do like to crunch numbers and some might say I think outside the box, but the current traffic systems don't seem to be working towards more safety, less fatalities, and more bicycles and pedestrians moving around in populated areas and shopping areas. It seems to me that if the traffic on Virginia Beach Blvd or Lynnhaven Rd or Rosemont Rd or were moving slower, there wouldn't be a need for as many traffic lights. Maybe replace a couple with stop signs as the slower traffic would be easier to merge into, and drivers would still get where they're going in the same amount of time with less accidents and less traffic fatalities because the slower your vehicle (car, van, motorcycle, HRT bus or BICYCLE) is traveling the more time you have to react to the everyday unpredictable happenings on the road ahead of you (like a cycler traveling in the lane you're traveling in, or a cop who has someone pulled over in the lane you're traveling in, or a car that died in the roadway). How many times have you been driving or riding a bike or on a bus or whatever and seen a traffic accident and then 100 feet further down the interstate or road, you see another one? How do you think THAT happened?!?!?! Someone was looking at the wreckage on the side of the road and didn't pay enough attention to the traffic and then didn't have enough time to react to the happenings on the road ahead and BAMMMM!!!!!!! ANOTHER ACCIDENT! I know the insurance companies love it, cause they can now raise your rates because there are more accidents in the zip code and/or city that your vehicle is garaged/parked in, but it sucks for everyone else on the road!!! My point is that no matter what's going on up ahead, you can always react to it better with more time, how do you create more time? YOU SLOW THE FUCK DOWN!!! I've had conversations about speed limits with quite a few friends and I've heard lots of different ideas, some people feel like i do, others think there shouldn't be ANY speed limits because the government shouldn't dictate to us how fast or how slow we can travel. I get it. I don't want the government telling me how to "live" either, but as human animals we live in "communities" usually referred to as "cities" or "counties" and on a larger scale "states" and "nation states" and for the common good of these communities, there needs to be some basic rules so people don't fuck things up for everyone else. And traffic rules are a very basic thing to keep order and maintain the common good of our "communities" on all of these levels. For bicycles to be able to travel safely on any road, there needs to be speed limits. For people to be able to safely walk anywhere in an area that cars are moving, there needs to be speed limits. For drivers to share the roads with other drivers safely, there needs to be speed limits. To make all of these methods of travel on our roads safer, they should be slower.
If i were on my bike, i would've been dead. Or would've yelled really loud and grabbed my brake levers as hard as i could and maybe avoided the collision. Of course on the bicycle I wouldn't have been traveling 60ish mph either, so this situation and the time to react to it would've been much different. Which brings me to something I'd like to rant about briefly:
Do faster speed limits really help traffic congestion problems?
I don't think fast speed limits are an answer to anything. While riding my bicycle at 15ish to 18ish miles per hour on the busier parts of Virginia Beach Blvd, i see the same cars for mile stretches of my commute. Because although they are traveling faster than I am on my bicycle, they are not getting further down the road faster than I am. Which is thought provoking to me! Why is this? I do get a little jump start here and there on a red light (yes, I'll admit it here and elsewhere, sometimes I'll blow through a light if i can clearly see that there are NO CARS COMING FROM ANY DIRECTION), and as i approach the back of a line of cars stopped at a red light I pass them on the right until I get to the front to wait or until they start moving and I safely tuck back into the line as it gets moving again. But I'm still not moving fast. So this tells me that maybe the faster speed limit isn't helping, all it's doing is allowing cars to accelerate to a faster speed before stopping at the next light. What's the point?!?!?! If you're moving faster, you can certainly get through the intersection faster, and you might make it through the intersection before the yellow light changes to red, but is this really helping the congestion? I'll completely remove the obvious problem that there are TOO MANY FUCKING PEOPLE in this world and TOO MANY PEOPLE DRIVING on the roads, and just focus on the current situation of moving the people that ARE traveling on the roads. So... what do we do? Lower speed limits. Make traffic lights respond to traffic sensors instead of timers (I've sat for minutes at red lights in downtown Norfolk TOO MANY TIMES AT 4AM WITH NO OTHER CARS IN SIGHT!!!) and plan traffic infrastructures with safety in mind, not just "How can we move the most cars beyond this point in the least amount of time?" I'm by no means, an engineer, but i do like to crunch numbers and some might say I think outside the box, but the current traffic systems don't seem to be working towards more safety, less fatalities, and more bicycles and pedestrians moving around in populated areas and shopping areas. It seems to me that if the traffic on Virginia Beach Blvd or Lynnhaven Rd or Rosemont Rd or were moving slower, there wouldn't be a need for as many traffic lights. Maybe replace a couple with stop signs as the slower traffic would be easier to merge into, and drivers would still get where they're going in the same amount of time with less accidents and less traffic fatalities because the slower your vehicle (car, van, motorcycle, HRT bus or BICYCLE) is traveling the more time you have to react to the everyday unpredictable happenings on the road ahead of you (like a cycler traveling in the lane you're traveling in, or a cop who has someone pulled over in the lane you're traveling in, or a car that died in the roadway). How many times have you been driving or riding a bike or on a bus or whatever and seen a traffic accident and then 100 feet further down the interstate or road, you see another one? How do you think THAT happened?!?!?! Someone was looking at the wreckage on the side of the road and didn't pay enough attention to the traffic and then didn't have enough time to react to the happenings on the road ahead and BAMMMM!!!!!!! ANOTHER ACCIDENT! I know the insurance companies love it, cause they can now raise your rates because there are more accidents in the zip code and/or city that your vehicle is garaged/parked in, but it sucks for everyone else on the road!!! My point is that no matter what's going on up ahead, you can always react to it better with more time, how do you create more time? YOU SLOW THE FUCK DOWN!!! I've had conversations about speed limits with quite a few friends and I've heard lots of different ideas, some people feel like i do, others think there shouldn't be ANY speed limits because the government shouldn't dictate to us how fast or how slow we can travel. I get it. I don't want the government telling me how to "live" either, but as human animals we live in "communities" usually referred to as "cities" or "counties" and on a larger scale "states" and "nation states" and for the common good of these communities, there needs to be some basic rules so people don't fuck things up for everyone else. And traffic rules are a very basic thing to keep order and maintain the common good of our "communities" on all of these levels. For bicycles to be able to travel safely on any road, there needs to be speed limits. For people to be able to safely walk anywhere in an area that cars are moving, there needs to be speed limits. For drivers to share the roads with other drivers safely, there needs to be speed limits. To make all of these methods of travel on our roads safer, they should be slower.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
eating. riding more. blogging more.
The resilience of the human body is an amazing thing to me. I'm getting back into the swing of riding almost everyday after only riding to work once a week for a few weeks in a row, due to weather issues and work schedules and social events and blah blah blah.... ( read : "i don't really have a good excuse for not riding...i just chose to drive because I like to sleep alot sometimes") and I was really surprised at how quickly i started to gain a little pudgyness in the old spare time area. I like muffin-top as much as the next little-bit-out-of-shape guy who likes to wear shirts that are a smidge too small for him, but when the shirt doesn't reach down to the belt area in the front, you got to get back to riding, or eating less or something! I love to eat though. and sometimes that's an issue too. I love food. I'm vegan, but i love eating. I love chinese food and I know I shouldn't eat the whole container they give you with the whole separate carton of white rice, but... I LOVE CHINESE FOOD!!! It tastes good and i don't want to stop eating it once I start! So I usually eat the whole thing. This could be related to addiction problems and I won't get into that here. But I love to eat. I love burritos, I love pizza, i love veggie dogs, i love french fries, i love pasta, i love avocado, i love pickles, i love peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Yep. But it was never an issue when i was riding 130-160ish miles a week. But now that I'm not putting in 12 hours or more or low impact cardio (cycling) per week, the eating is catching up with me. And my thighs just went from being about as ripped as I'd ever hoped they could be, to still big but a little flabby on the inside ( to use technical language). Yep our bodies are resilient.
So lately I've been getting back into commuting more and I've been really enjoying long recreational rides on my days off which is something I wasn't really that into when I didn't have a car. Because I rode so much from point A to point B, I didn't really want to just go ride for fun. It feels good to start riding with nothing but time on your hands and no specific place to be and just ride for a couple hours. It also feels good to ride to the Virginia Beach oceanfront and hang out for a half hour and eat a sandwich at your girlfriend's work and then ride back home. Riding has always been therapeutic for me but these days the recreational rides are more therapeutic than ever. A friend once told me that riding a fixed gear is supposed to be "zen like", I think only this week I realized that I agree with this. When he told me that, my reaction was more along the lines of : "no it's not because you have to pay attention or you'll stop pedaling and WRECK!", but now that it feels second nature to ride fixed and just let my legs spin with the crank rotation when I'm cruising, it DOES feel zen-like! I don't have to think about pedaling anymore, I just do. The bike wants to keep going and this makes it easier to pedal on a flat straight surface because the crank keeps spinning because the bike keeps moving and you just keep helping it spin. Unlike a freewheeled bike that you must constantly apply force to keep the bike moving, the fixed gear bike's drive train, once moving, wants to keep moving. I like riding fixed more than I ever thought I would. After crashing my fixed gear 1977 Raleigh Supercourse the VERY FIRST TIME i rode it home from Norfolk Bicycle Works, it took me awhile to actually get comfortable with riding this way. I kept forgetting that you can't stop pedaling, and I'd catch myself locking my legs up in a certain position after I get up to a certain speed, where I'd normally cruise on a bike with a freewheel/freehub and the crank would drag my legs around with it forcing me to keep pedaling and PAY ATTENTION!!! Anyone who loves bikes and hasn't ridden a fixed gear should have at least one fixed gear bicycle. I may have 2 soon!
Anywho........ So I feel like I've been failing at this blog lately since I haven't been posting as often as I'd like to, but i haven't had much to rant about or discuss since I've been driving to work so much more. But it's spring time, I should be riding more and should have plenty of blog material!!!
So lately I've been getting back into commuting more and I've been really enjoying long recreational rides on my days off which is something I wasn't really that into when I didn't have a car. Because I rode so much from point A to point B, I didn't really want to just go ride for fun. It feels good to start riding with nothing but time on your hands and no specific place to be and just ride for a couple hours. It also feels good to ride to the Virginia Beach oceanfront and hang out for a half hour and eat a sandwich at your girlfriend's work and then ride back home. Riding has always been therapeutic for me but these days the recreational rides are more therapeutic than ever. A friend once told me that riding a fixed gear is supposed to be "zen like", I think only this week I realized that I agree with this. When he told me that, my reaction was more along the lines of : "no it's not because you have to pay attention or you'll stop pedaling and WRECK!", but now that it feels second nature to ride fixed and just let my legs spin with the crank rotation when I'm cruising, it DOES feel zen-like! I don't have to think about pedaling anymore, I just do. The bike wants to keep going and this makes it easier to pedal on a flat straight surface because the crank keeps spinning because the bike keeps moving and you just keep helping it spin. Unlike a freewheeled bike that you must constantly apply force to keep the bike moving, the fixed gear bike's drive train, once moving, wants to keep moving. I like riding fixed more than I ever thought I would. After crashing my fixed gear 1977 Raleigh Supercourse the VERY FIRST TIME i rode it home from Norfolk Bicycle Works, it took me awhile to actually get comfortable with riding this way. I kept forgetting that you can't stop pedaling, and I'd catch myself locking my legs up in a certain position after I get up to a certain speed, where I'd normally cruise on a bike with a freewheel/freehub and the crank would drag my legs around with it forcing me to keep pedaling and PAY ATTENTION!!! Anyone who loves bikes and hasn't ridden a fixed gear should have at least one fixed gear bicycle. I may have 2 soon!
Anywho........ So I feel like I've been failing at this blog lately since I haven't been posting as often as I'd like to, but i haven't had much to rant about or discuss since I've been driving to work so much more. But it's spring time, I should be riding more and should have plenty of blog material!!!
Turning right to turn left, roads to avoid in Virginia Beach
Traffic flows like a river. When there are a lot of cars or bikes or motorcycles/scooters in the river, it forces cyclers to stick to the right edge of the roadway, to be predictable, to move faster (maybe not everyone does this, but my friend Mary has mentioned that she tries to ride faster in traffic to "keep up" as well, even if the traffic is going way faster than you can ride on a bicycle, so at least one other person does this) and sometimes to not try to get over 3 or 4 lanes to turn left because there is too much traffic flowing in the current to allow you to do this, which isn't a bad thing. Sometimes, in fact I'll say usually the safer thing to do is to turn right out of the fast paced rushing wild river you're moving in to a quiet barely moving kiddy pool where you can easily make a U-turn and then go straight through the intersection you were trying to turn left at. This seems like common sense to me. But I've seen people stop their bikes on the side on Virginia Beach Blvd (SPEED LIMIT 45, TRAFFIC MOVING 50ish) and wait for the traffic to clear before they proceed to the left to turn, and people who casually cruise out into the middle lanes where it's clear and let a couple cars pass and then continue to the left. I've seen so much dumb shit and so many bad decisions made by other cyclists that it could fill an encyclopedia. But I'm not sure what some of these folks don't understand about this equation: you, human (130ish-200ish lb sack of water, organs and some bones) on a bike (steel tubes and a couple sharp parts) + car/truck/bus (3000-????? lbs of steel) moving at a rate of 50 miles per hour, momentarily occupying the same physically space = your bones crushing, your bike turning into a twisted pile of steel (or aluminum) + you probably dying. My point: do the safe thing! Don't blast through red lights like you've got an invincible force field around your bike, not everyone is PAYING ATTENTION TO YOU!!! Wait the extra 20 seconds til the intersection is clear instead of blasting through it like you've gotta find a toilet in t-minus 20 seconds or you're going to shit your pants. Turn right to turn left when traffic is crazy and you're not going to get that break in it. And something I have done for a while now that I didn't used to think about when I first started commuting (among many other things!) : when I'm rolling by stopped cars heading toward the front of a red light, I will stop and stay behind a dump truck or semi truck or work van with mirrors extending out 3 feet from the sides of it, or any unusually wide vehicle, because when we get rolling, they will have to pass me. I don't want a dump truck to pass me in traffic any more than this needs to happen, or that van with the mirrors or a semi truck. If you can avoid potentially dangerous situations, DO IT! Don't be a jackass, don't try to prove anything to motorists, it will never work. It's all in your head, and it makes you ride carelessly.
On to the next thing:
I don't ever want to ride on these roads in Virginia Beach:
Great Neck Road : Bike lane, really? So... if you paint lines on the wider-than-normal SIDEWALK, it makes it a "bike lane"??? No Virginia Beach, this is still a sidewalk. It's still as dangerous to ride on as a sidewalk as there are intersections every 20 feet that cyclists have no right-of-way at because there are painted stop signs on the "bikelane" for the cyclist to stop, it still has short rectangular sections that make for a not-so-smooth ride like a sidewalk, and it's obvious to most... IT'S A FUCKING SIDEWALK!!!!! And Great Neck Road is dangerous, definitely don't ride in the street, traffic is speeding, and not really looking for cyclists.
Rosemont Road: Speed limit is 35 for most of it, i guess i'm referring to the area of rosemont between virginia beach blvd and lynnhaven road, which is a pretty decent stretch of road. There's a legit bike path past lynnhaven on rosemont that goes all the way to dam neck road, which is really nice. But the other part of rosemont is super SHITTY! interstate on ramp and off ramp, not so wide lanes. drivers don't give a shit about you, don't ride on rosemont!!!
Indian River Road: Everytime i ride to Virginia Beach and i go down Campostella over the bridge and all that, when I get to the part of Indian River where the interstate on and off ramps are, I say to myself that I'm never going to do this ride again. And then I do it again, and i say to myself again "I'M NEVER GOING TO RIDE DOWN INDIAN RIVER AGAIN!!!!" and i haven't in a while, it's a dangerous fuckin road! Those on and off ramps are possibly the most dangerous place I've ridden a bike. Maybe not, which leads me to the ABSOLUTE LAST PLACE ANYONE SHOULD EVER THINK OF RIDING A BIKE IN VIRGINIA BEACH!!!!!!!! ..........................
Independence near Best Buy: You are an idiot if you find yourself riding on Independence over in this area!!! This is the most dangerous place a cyclist could ride a bike in Virginia Beach. Trying to navigate through the on and off ramps here is suicidal. And trying to ride through the underpass heading North on independence around here should also be considered suicidal. DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On to the next thing:
I don't ever want to ride on these roads in Virginia Beach:
Great Neck Road : Bike lane, really? So... if you paint lines on the wider-than-normal SIDEWALK, it makes it a "bike lane"??? No Virginia Beach, this is still a sidewalk. It's still as dangerous to ride on as a sidewalk as there are intersections every 20 feet that cyclists have no right-of-way at because there are painted stop signs on the "bikelane" for the cyclist to stop, it still has short rectangular sections that make for a not-so-smooth ride like a sidewalk, and it's obvious to most... IT'S A FUCKING SIDEWALK!!!!! And Great Neck Road is dangerous, definitely don't ride in the street, traffic is speeding, and not really looking for cyclists.
Rosemont Road: Speed limit is 35 for most of it, i guess i'm referring to the area of rosemont between virginia beach blvd and lynnhaven road, which is a pretty decent stretch of road. There's a legit bike path past lynnhaven on rosemont that goes all the way to dam neck road, which is really nice. But the other part of rosemont is super SHITTY! interstate on ramp and off ramp, not so wide lanes. drivers don't give a shit about you, don't ride on rosemont!!!
Indian River Road: Everytime i ride to Virginia Beach and i go down Campostella over the bridge and all that, when I get to the part of Indian River where the interstate on and off ramps are, I say to myself that I'm never going to do this ride again. And then I do it again, and i say to myself again "I'M NEVER GOING TO RIDE DOWN INDIAN RIVER AGAIN!!!!" and i haven't in a while, it's a dangerous fuckin road! Those on and off ramps are possibly the most dangerous place I've ridden a bike. Maybe not, which leads me to the ABSOLUTE LAST PLACE ANYONE SHOULD EVER THINK OF RIDING A BIKE IN VIRGINIA BEACH!!!!!!!! ..........................
Independence near Best Buy: You are an idiot if you find yourself riding on Independence over in this area!!! This is the most dangerous place a cyclist could ride a bike in Virginia Beach. Trying to navigate through the on and off ramps here is suicidal. And trying to ride through the underpass heading North on independence around here should also be considered suicidal. DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, May 18, 2012
The dead art of craftsmanship in anything...
There are alot of things in life that have lost the value in their craftsmanship. More things are mass produced, with a quality control guy or gal glancing at the finished product and every once in a while pulling a "bad" or "defective" widget off the conveyor belt and tossing it into a trash can, because making things by hand just isn't cost effective when you've gotta make hundreds or thousands of something. This is the world we live in. Throwing away defective widgets that machines and humans built with materials that have already been paid for, is the norm, because it's easier/cheaper/more "efficient" than slowing down production and making things the "old way".
But there are still a few people out there who find a value in things made "the old way". People that don't mind things taking a little extra time and costing more if what they're getting in the end is a product that will last a really long time and do what it was designed to do well.
I was having a conversation with some friends about bicycles the other day and they were both trying to make the point that bicycles produced with "modern" processes/modern configurations are better or not worse than lugged steel bicycles. I was arguing points about the steel frames being repairable (if your down tube or any tube fails/breaks, it can be replaced), that steel frames absorb more bumps/cracks/road imperfection jolts than other frame materials making the ride more comfy. And that a steel frame is recyclable if your bike does get completely destroyed. As Rivendell says, (about their Sam Hillborne) "if it dies, it is easily repaired. If it really dies, the steel is easily recyclable." But the thing I feel is more important than these is the craftsmanship that goes into a lugged steel bicycle. I constantly look at Rivendell's frames on their site to see what's new, what they've got on clearance and to generally keep hope alive. These guys are pretty much the last hope for non-custom bicycle frames made with lugged steel and threaded steerer tubes. It's a dead art. It just is. Like wood windows. A hundred years ago, windows were made of wood. Doors were too. They were made of wood for a long time. (Bicycles were also made out of steel and had forks with threaded steerer tubes) for A REALLY LONG TIME!!!) Houses had wood "siding" finishing the outside. Then one day... Aluminum (windows/patio doors/siding) showed up!!! (which is actually not a good window or patio door material for a lot of reasons, but this didn't stop the industry from making hundreds and thousands of Aluminum windows and patio doors) and then VINYL!!! THE END-ALL-BE-ALL BEST BUILDING MATERIAL!!! It never rots, never rusts, never needs to be painted, and is cheaper to make things out of than wood (not including, of course, the impact on our environment that pvc manufacturing has... i won't get started on that here). Let's face it, nobody enjoyed trying to find time to paint their doors and windows or patching little rotten spots in the wood here or there every 5-10 years(I'm also not going to even touch on termite damage, for a few reasons, but mostly because termite damage still happens). So the industry gave us a lower maintenance "solution". People's lives were getting busier (who has time to paint a door or window or fence) and then we get to the question: why shouldn't everybody just get vinyl windows/patio doors molded out of plastic that will never rot, never breakdown, and NEVER need to be painted?!?!?! Well, because there's no craftsmanship that goes into them. They're molded pieces of plastic. You can see the not so beautiful exposed "welds", where the vinyl gets melted together and then trimmed down on every corner where the vertical and horizontal materials meet. Same thing on vinyl patio doors. (On modern bicycle frames you can see the exposed welds where every tube touches another tube... do you see the connection? i mean figuratively?)
Everyday at work, I show people sliding patio doors, we have Andersen doors that are made of wood with the exterior clad in vinyl and we have vinyl vinyl doors, that are molded solid vinyl. The Andersen doors start at around $900 with the screen/handle etc, the vinyl door is $350 with everything. People ask "but which one is better", and I usually explain that the all vinyl $350 door is a good door, but it lacks the craftsmanship that goes into the Andersen wood doors. And that "better" is relative to what you see value in. If you see more value in a door that you will never have to paint, that will never rot and will always be bright white vinyl, then the $350 door is probably going to be the better choice. Both will need new rollers for the sliding panel eventually, and/or a latch for the lock. But the biggest difference is how they're made, and what the finished product looks like. Weight also makes its way into the equation with doors, like with bicycles, but the opposite. A lot of people think if a door feels "heavy", it's better. Gotta be. Sliding doors, hinged doors, even storm doors. People open the storm door displays and say "that feels nice and heavy" or "sturdy", but the thing that makes a storm door feel "heavy" is the amount of (usually adjustable) tension on the hydraulic closer, it has almost nothing to do with the door itself. But it's about perception. Like a steel bicycle frame weighing 2 pounds (or 1 pound....)more than an aluminum frame making it not "better", when in the end it's going to weigh closer to 200 pounds when it gets all it's parts and wheels and RIDER on it! Again, it's about perception. Not reality. I'm losing focus here, sorry. On the rare occasion that I get to mention this to people, I like to talk about Jeldwen's wood window line. They are the only windows I can order at work that are wood on the inside AND outside. And I've told several people that my "dreamhome" would have wood Jeldwen windows. Most people just look at me like I'm dumb at this point because I've usually just talked to them for 30ish minutes and qualified them for an all vinyl window, because they hate painting, have painted white trim on the inside of their homes(wood interiors are stainable to match stained trim work) and they don't care or value the aesthetics or craftsmanship of a wood window. This is where I am not like most people. I very much value the craftsmanship that goes into the wood windows and doors and shutters. I like that they're fastened together with screws & nails, not melted together with crappy looking corners! and I would also like to take a can of paint outside every 4 or 5 years and do some touch up or repaint a door or some windows, or shutters. People did this for decades and decades before vinyl showed up as a building material and took this away from us. People used to appreciate the fancier lugs on steel bicycle frames in the 70's as well. I've mentioned this in a previous blog and I'm sure this won't be the last blog that goes on and on about lugged steel being the best bike frame material but I wish I could've been around when the mid-70's Raleigh International got to bike shops and cyclists were drooling over the beautiful lugwork on that one particular year's frame! To follow the industry and the art of frame building that was going on back then would've been amazing. Back before vinyl replacement windows!
This concept really applies to alot of goods that people buy though. My Chrome messenger bag for example. Someone made this bag in the USA, by hand. The bag retails for $140 as of 5/18/12 on Chrome's website, I got mine for a really good deal at a trendy Richmond clothing store that was blowing them out at the time because they probably didn't move them enough to keep stocking them. Anywho, I could've bought a bag for less than half of what i paid for this bag, it might have lasted awhile before the stitching started to quit on me, and I may or may not have been satisfied with its lifespan and the amount I paid for it. But the Chrome bags seem to me to have a lot of value in the details, the tough materials they choose, the fact that someone in the USA made this, makes me happy, The bag wasn't shipped from china or taiwan after going down a conveyor belt with a guy glancing at it to make sure the shoulder strap was actually attached.
I feel that value in craftsmanship was lost somewhere. Maybe somewhere between middle class American families having one parent working and the same families with the same lifestyle/income level/quality of life having both parents working to try to keep the bill collectors away. Maybe somewhere between a 15 year old having a pager and a part time job, being the coolest guy on the block and now a 10 year old isn't "happy" (whatever that could mean to a 10 year old these days) unless he/she has the new iphone? Maybe it got lost when families stopped going to hardware stores together? When husbands and wives don't go to the hardware store together because they don't have enough time when they're both off to even consult each other about their home improvement needs? When families stopped riding bikes together? When that field or wooded area you used to disappear into for hours as a kid and play "fort" in, got paved and turned into another gas station/cvs/711/starbucks/or condos? I find myself dumbfounded when people don't understand that most appliances (fridges, washing machines, etc) aren't made in America anymore, I feel like people should assume that things aren't made here anymore, but then sometimes I take a step back and I realize they're like me! They are looking for the CRAFTSMANSHIP! They want to see it on the box, they want to see "MADE IN USA" on the box and when they don't, it's heart breaking. Their existing washing machine that lasted 30 years was probably made in the USA, their existing fridge that's lasted 35 years and is still kicking was probably made here, but they realize now, as they look at a bunch of overpriced options, that whatever they choose to spend their hard earned money on, will not last nearly as long and it wasn't meant to.
So whether someone hears steel bicycle and cringes when I meet a new person who also rides or whether my bike friends try to tell me that my quill stems aren't as stiff as modern stems for threadless steerered forks, (Stiffness? why would I care if my stem is stiffer? OH! Stiff! Like when people are working their handlebars side to side as leverage to assist them while pedaling in a climb or when they're trying to get out in front of the other guy they're racing against on the sunday "Hammerfest"?) or when I mention pletscher kickstands and get blank looks from other bike people, I think about Rivendell frames and wood windows and I appreciate the value in their craftsmanship....and I smile.
But there are still a few people out there who find a value in things made "the old way". People that don't mind things taking a little extra time and costing more if what they're getting in the end is a product that will last a really long time and do what it was designed to do well.
I was having a conversation with some friends about bicycles the other day and they were both trying to make the point that bicycles produced with "modern" processes/modern configurations are better or not worse than lugged steel bicycles. I was arguing points about the steel frames being repairable (if your down tube or any tube fails/breaks, it can be replaced), that steel frames absorb more bumps/cracks/road imperfection jolts than other frame materials making the ride more comfy. And that a steel frame is recyclable if your bike does get completely destroyed. As Rivendell says, (about their Sam Hillborne) "if it dies, it is easily repaired. If it really dies, the steel is easily recyclable." But the thing I feel is more important than these is the craftsmanship that goes into a lugged steel bicycle. I constantly look at Rivendell's frames on their site to see what's new, what they've got on clearance and to generally keep hope alive. These guys are pretty much the last hope for non-custom bicycle frames made with lugged steel and threaded steerer tubes. It's a dead art. It just is. Like wood windows. A hundred years ago, windows were made of wood. Doors were too. They were made of wood for a long time. (Bicycles were also made out of steel and had forks with threaded steerer tubes) for A REALLY LONG TIME!!!) Houses had wood "siding" finishing the outside. Then one day... Aluminum (windows/patio doors/siding) showed up!!! (which is actually not a good window or patio door material for a lot of reasons, but this didn't stop the industry from making hundreds and thousands of Aluminum windows and patio doors) and then VINYL!!! THE END-ALL-BE-ALL BEST BUILDING MATERIAL!!! It never rots, never rusts, never needs to be painted, and is cheaper to make things out of than wood (not including, of course, the impact on our environment that pvc manufacturing has... i won't get started on that here). Let's face it, nobody enjoyed trying to find time to paint their doors and windows or patching little rotten spots in the wood here or there every 5-10 years(I'm also not going to even touch on termite damage, for a few reasons, but mostly because termite damage still happens). So the industry gave us a lower maintenance "solution". People's lives were getting busier (who has time to paint a door or window or fence) and then we get to the question: why shouldn't everybody just get vinyl windows/patio doors molded out of plastic that will never rot, never breakdown, and NEVER need to be painted?!?!?! Well, because there's no craftsmanship that goes into them. They're molded pieces of plastic. You can see the not so beautiful exposed "welds", where the vinyl gets melted together and then trimmed down on every corner where the vertical and horizontal materials meet. Same thing on vinyl patio doors. (On modern bicycle frames you can see the exposed welds where every tube touches another tube... do you see the connection? i mean figuratively?)
Everyday at work, I show people sliding patio doors, we have Andersen doors that are made of wood with the exterior clad in vinyl and we have vinyl vinyl doors, that are molded solid vinyl. The Andersen doors start at around $900 with the screen/handle etc, the vinyl door is $350 with everything. People ask "but which one is better", and I usually explain that the all vinyl $350 door is a good door, but it lacks the craftsmanship that goes into the Andersen wood doors. And that "better" is relative to what you see value in. If you see more value in a door that you will never have to paint, that will never rot and will always be bright white vinyl, then the $350 door is probably going to be the better choice. Both will need new rollers for the sliding panel eventually, and/or a latch for the lock. But the biggest difference is how they're made, and what the finished product looks like. Weight also makes its way into the equation with doors, like with bicycles, but the opposite. A lot of people think if a door feels "heavy", it's better. Gotta be. Sliding doors, hinged doors, even storm doors. People open the storm door displays and say "that feels nice and heavy" or "sturdy", but the thing that makes a storm door feel "heavy" is the amount of (usually adjustable) tension on the hydraulic closer, it has almost nothing to do with the door itself. But it's about perception. Like a steel bicycle frame weighing 2 pounds (or 1 pound....)more than an aluminum frame making it not "better", when in the end it's going to weigh closer to 200 pounds when it gets all it's parts and wheels and RIDER on it! Again, it's about perception. Not reality. I'm losing focus here, sorry. On the rare occasion that I get to mention this to people, I like to talk about Jeldwen's wood window line. They are the only windows I can order at work that are wood on the inside AND outside. And I've told several people that my "dreamhome" would have wood Jeldwen windows. Most people just look at me like I'm dumb at this point because I've usually just talked to them for 30ish minutes and qualified them for an all vinyl window, because they hate painting, have painted white trim on the inside of their homes(wood interiors are stainable to match stained trim work) and they don't care or value the aesthetics or craftsmanship of a wood window. This is where I am not like most people. I very much value the craftsmanship that goes into the wood windows and doors and shutters. I like that they're fastened together with screws & nails, not melted together with crappy looking corners! and I would also like to take a can of paint outside every 4 or 5 years and do some touch up or repaint a door or some windows, or shutters. People did this for decades and decades before vinyl showed up as a building material and took this away from us. People used to appreciate the fancier lugs on steel bicycle frames in the 70's as well. I've mentioned this in a previous blog and I'm sure this won't be the last blog that goes on and on about lugged steel being the best bike frame material but I wish I could've been around when the mid-70's Raleigh International got to bike shops and cyclists were drooling over the beautiful lugwork on that one particular year's frame! To follow the industry and the art of frame building that was going on back then would've been amazing. Back before vinyl replacement windows!
This concept really applies to alot of goods that people buy though. My Chrome messenger bag for example. Someone made this bag in the USA, by hand. The bag retails for $140 as of 5/18/12 on Chrome's website, I got mine for a really good deal at a trendy Richmond clothing store that was blowing them out at the time because they probably didn't move them enough to keep stocking them. Anywho, I could've bought a bag for less than half of what i paid for this bag, it might have lasted awhile before the stitching started to quit on me, and I may or may not have been satisfied with its lifespan and the amount I paid for it. But the Chrome bags seem to me to have a lot of value in the details, the tough materials they choose, the fact that someone in the USA made this, makes me happy, The bag wasn't shipped from china or taiwan after going down a conveyor belt with a guy glancing at it to make sure the shoulder strap was actually attached.
I feel that value in craftsmanship was lost somewhere. Maybe somewhere between middle class American families having one parent working and the same families with the same lifestyle/income level/quality of life having both parents working to try to keep the bill collectors away. Maybe somewhere between a 15 year old having a pager and a part time job, being the coolest guy on the block and now a 10 year old isn't "happy" (whatever that could mean to a 10 year old these days) unless he/she has the new iphone? Maybe it got lost when families stopped going to hardware stores together? When husbands and wives don't go to the hardware store together because they don't have enough time when they're both off to even consult each other about their home improvement needs? When families stopped riding bikes together? When that field or wooded area you used to disappear into for hours as a kid and play "fort" in, got paved and turned into another gas station/cvs/711/starbucks/or condos? I find myself dumbfounded when people don't understand that most appliances (fridges, washing machines, etc) aren't made in America anymore, I feel like people should assume that things aren't made here anymore, but then sometimes I take a step back and I realize they're like me! They are looking for the CRAFTSMANSHIP! They want to see it on the box, they want to see "MADE IN USA" on the box and when they don't, it's heart breaking. Their existing washing machine that lasted 30 years was probably made in the USA, their existing fridge that's lasted 35 years and is still kicking was probably made here, but they realize now, as they look at a bunch of overpriced options, that whatever they choose to spend their hard earned money on, will not last nearly as long and it wasn't meant to.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Remembering Kurt Miller. And riding on.
My friend Kurt is the reason I am "into" bicycles. (the ultimate understatement, any way you read it). We worked together at a camera store for a few years. He was 20ish years older than me, into jazz, photography, old Raleigh bicycles, geology, and a million other things. He had a million hobbies. He really liked to take things apart, had a moped in his storage place he'd torn down to rebuild and never got back to, as well as an old Volkswagon he'd done the same to. There were boxes of parts and pieces of that car everywhere when i visited his storage space. There were also lots of bicycle parts and a couple of old Raleigh 3-speeds. I'm steering away from where this story is meant to be going... Let me rewind.
Within a couple days after I bought my Rampar R1027 from the thrift store (for $60!!!) I'd made plans to visit Kurt at his brother's place where he'd been staying and show him my new bike. He'd been diagnosed with lymphoma for a while already, was in and out of treatments and I'd been hanging out with him and a few other old camera store friends frequently in those days. Kurt had cancer, we all knew it, we just hung out and tried to stay positive and thoroughly enjoyed his company. He was sitting on one of those swinging metal framed porch bench/swing things when i got there. He was really excited about my bike. Told me some stuff about how they don't make bikes like this anymore, I didn't know anything about how bikes were made or what they made of at that point, so it was all a foreign language to me, but Kurt seemed to know about bikes and said this bike was good, so I was happy with it. It was certainly in good physical shape, being 25ish years old, made of steel and not rusty. Me and Kurt talked about him "getting better" and us riding together. He had a 3-speed Raleigh folder that he loved, it was his favorite bike at that point, and he couldn't ride it cause he was scared that he'd get dizzy or disoriented and wreck. We always talked about riding when he got "better", I don't think it really occurred to either of us at that point that he wouldn't "get better".
Over the following few years Kurt was in and out of hospitals and rehabilitation facilities so often that it was hard to keep track of what hospital he was in. I think I visited him in every hospital in Virginia Beach at some point or another. On top of the lymphoma situation he'd also had a stroke and was in the rehabilitation places the most. These places were full of elderly people recovering from all sorts of things. Most barely hanging on to their sense of reality. It drove Kurt nuts. He was probably the smartest guy I'll ever know, definitely in the top 3 at least, and it was torture for him to be living in these mind numbing conditions. I'd go visit him and we'd talk for hours about life, about politics (he was always the liberal blacksheep in his family(so am I), so he couldn't talk to his brother or his brother's wife about politics at all), about our old friends, and we spent a lot of our time talking about bicycles. He'd tell me about bikes he'd owned or ones he'd always wanted and we'd discuss Sheldon Brown articles I'd read recently. Sheldon Brown was very passionate about old English Raleighs and his website contains a wealth of knowledge on all sorts of old bike/old Raleigh related things. The more I read about these 70's English Raleighs the more I could talk to Kurt about, we talked about the beautifully lugged Raleigh International from the early 70's, there was one year in particular that they used the most intricate lugs on any of their frames ever (73?). He told me a story of going to the local bike shop in the 70's (probably the mid to late 70's) to order the newest Schwinn whatever and the owner told him they were on back order but he had these Raleighs that were a little less popular but definitely just as good and he test rode the International and fell in love with it. This is what made him a "Raleigh guy". He definitely liked all kinds of bikes though. He was into roadbikes, the sleek sexy roadbikes of the 70's! and had the calves to show for it! He also had a modern Bianchi roadbike in his collection that he'd acquired a few years before. I think it even had brifters(or sti shifters, whatever those brake levers with built in shifters are called... i don't know). I wore his old Masi cycling cap for a while after he died, it's too big for my head, but i wore it anyway. At his funeral an old friend told a story about Kurt convincing him against his better judgement to allow him to draft behind the guy's car on a Schwinn that Kurt had converted to fixed gear with no brakes up to around 40 mph. He laughed as he told the story, which was the only point I broke down and cried during the ceremony. This man loved bikes. He motivated me to ride more, to always have fun on my bikes and to never forget that sometimes life doesn't steer the way you want it to and that you've got to appreciate the days you have and the people you spend your time with. He was an amazing man and a great guy to know. I can't express in words my gratitude for being able to know Kurt Miller and have the good times that I had with him.
I inherited 2 of Kurt's bicycles when he passed away. I had already took into my possession his 60's Raleigh 3-speed that he told me to get from his storage space when he was in the rehabilitation/assisted living place, and his brother brought me his prized Raleigh Folder after he died.
I'm just getting back to this several days after I started it. I just couldn't figure out how to end this blog. It was hard to write as it was, but trying to finish it was harder. Not a day goes by that I don't think about my old friend Kurt. I rode my Raleigh Supercourse fixed gear bike to my Dad's place today, 17 and a halfish miles both ways and I mentioned to him that I wanted to get him a bike. He said his health isn't good enough for him to ride a bike. This was hard for me to hear. He doesn't give a shit about riding bikes, but it's hard for me to imagine getting to a point when one day I won't be able to ride a bicycle. I don't want to accept that my Dad isn't healthy enough to trust himself on a bicycle. It's something I don't want to try to wrap my brain around...at all. But with his growing list of health issues he's been dealing with lately, I understand. I guess at the end of the day I just want to feel like I'm enjoying this life while I'm here. Riding often and having fun.
(soon I plan on rebuilding Kurt's old three speed and making that my main commuting/go everywhere bike)
Within a couple days after I bought my Rampar R1027 from the thrift store (for $60!!!) I'd made plans to visit Kurt at his brother's place where he'd been staying and show him my new bike. He'd been diagnosed with lymphoma for a while already, was in and out of treatments and I'd been hanging out with him and a few other old camera store friends frequently in those days. Kurt had cancer, we all knew it, we just hung out and tried to stay positive and thoroughly enjoyed his company. He was sitting on one of those swinging metal framed porch bench/swing things when i got there. He was really excited about my bike. Told me some stuff about how they don't make bikes like this anymore, I didn't know anything about how bikes were made or what they made of at that point, so it was all a foreign language to me, but Kurt seemed to know about bikes and said this bike was good, so I was happy with it. It was certainly in good physical shape, being 25ish years old, made of steel and not rusty. Me and Kurt talked about him "getting better" and us riding together. He had a 3-speed Raleigh folder that he loved, it was his favorite bike at that point, and he couldn't ride it cause he was scared that he'd get dizzy or disoriented and wreck. We always talked about riding when he got "better", I don't think it really occurred to either of us at that point that he wouldn't "get better".
Over the following few years Kurt was in and out of hospitals and rehabilitation facilities so often that it was hard to keep track of what hospital he was in. I think I visited him in every hospital in Virginia Beach at some point or another. On top of the lymphoma situation he'd also had a stroke and was in the rehabilitation places the most. These places were full of elderly people recovering from all sorts of things. Most barely hanging on to their sense of reality. It drove Kurt nuts. He was probably the smartest guy I'll ever know, definitely in the top 3 at least, and it was torture for him to be living in these mind numbing conditions. I'd go visit him and we'd talk for hours about life, about politics (he was always the liberal blacksheep in his family(so am I), so he couldn't talk to his brother or his brother's wife about politics at all), about our old friends, and we spent a lot of our time talking about bicycles. He'd tell me about bikes he'd owned or ones he'd always wanted and we'd discuss Sheldon Brown articles I'd read recently. Sheldon Brown was very passionate about old English Raleighs and his website contains a wealth of knowledge on all sorts of old bike/old Raleigh related things. The more I read about these 70's English Raleighs the more I could talk to Kurt about, we talked about the beautifully lugged Raleigh International from the early 70's, there was one year in particular that they used the most intricate lugs on any of their frames ever (73?). He told me a story of going to the local bike shop in the 70's (probably the mid to late 70's) to order the newest Schwinn whatever and the owner told him they were on back order but he had these Raleighs that were a little less popular but definitely just as good and he test rode the International and fell in love with it. This is what made him a "Raleigh guy". He definitely liked all kinds of bikes though. He was into roadbikes, the sleek sexy roadbikes of the 70's! and had the calves to show for it! He also had a modern Bianchi roadbike in his collection that he'd acquired a few years before. I think it even had brifters(or sti shifters, whatever those brake levers with built in shifters are called... i don't know). I wore his old Masi cycling cap for a while after he died, it's too big for my head, but i wore it anyway. At his funeral an old friend told a story about Kurt convincing him against his better judgement to allow him to draft behind the guy's car on a Schwinn that Kurt had converted to fixed gear with no brakes up to around 40 mph. He laughed as he told the story, which was the only point I broke down and cried during the ceremony. This man loved bikes. He motivated me to ride more, to always have fun on my bikes and to never forget that sometimes life doesn't steer the way you want it to and that you've got to appreciate the days you have and the people you spend your time with. He was an amazing man and a great guy to know. I can't express in words my gratitude for being able to know Kurt Miller and have the good times that I had with him.
I inherited 2 of Kurt's bicycles when he passed away. I had already took into my possession his 60's Raleigh 3-speed that he told me to get from his storage space when he was in the rehabilitation/assisted living place, and his brother brought me his prized Raleigh Folder after he died.
I'm just getting back to this several days after I started it. I just couldn't figure out how to end this blog. It was hard to write as it was, but trying to finish it was harder. Not a day goes by that I don't think about my old friend Kurt. I rode my Raleigh Supercourse fixed gear bike to my Dad's place today, 17 and a halfish miles both ways and I mentioned to him that I wanted to get him a bike. He said his health isn't good enough for him to ride a bike. This was hard for me to hear. He doesn't give a shit about riding bikes, but it's hard for me to imagine getting to a point when one day I won't be able to ride a bicycle. I don't want to accept that my Dad isn't healthy enough to trust himself on a bicycle. It's something I don't want to try to wrap my brain around...at all. But with his growing list of health issues he's been dealing with lately, I understand. I guess at the end of the day I just want to feel like I'm enjoying this life while I'm here. Riding often and having fun.
(soon I plan on rebuilding Kurt's old three speed and making that my main commuting/go everywhere bike)
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Riding off the longest work day...
On monday I woke up at 2:40am and dragged myself out of bed to start getting ready for my day, i was planning on riding in for my 5am to 2pm shift, which ended up being a 5am to 6pm shift, yep, super shitty day. I just recently got a promotion at work and am now a Department Supervisor, I'm running the Millwork Department at the Home Depot I work at(doors, windows, moulding, exterior shutters, porch posts, awnings, things like that), and I've been working some long days. Monday turned into the longest long day I've ever had at work. I didn't get much done that I'd planned which is turning into the norm, and it seemed that we just couldn't buy a break from the steady flow of customers. Lots of customers is a good thing, but so is ordering product, and checking my departments out-of-stocks, status of incoming po's and making sure we have what we need to ensure that our business is doing good. Well all that went out the window on monday, and we just helped customers and did orders all day. When i clocked out at 5 minutes til 6, I turned from the timeclock in the breakroom and saw my 1977 Raleigh Supercourse fixed gear in the corner of the breakroom where I'd left it at 5am and smiled. I knew I needed the ride home as much as I needed my next drink of water. I hit the road after changing and started riding off the long day I'd had, my mind wandered over what I didn't get done during my shift, what the rest of the week might be like and what me and the lady might be eating for dinner later. I didn't push myself hard on the ride. It just felt great to be anywhere but at work, and on a bicycle.
When I fantasize about what I'd do if I win the lottery, I always think about buying a new bike, a Rivendell, and what kinda adventure I'd go on first with it. Would I try to do the epic ride through Back Bay Wildlife Sanctuary into False Cape State Park and through to Corolla North Carolina? Would I just ride around Norfolk all day one day? And then I check the numbers, realize that I am indeed going to work later, and keep dreaming.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Bicycle Adventure. Sandbridge Saturday.
This past saturday after not riding to work a single day all week (not too proud of this myself, trust me...), i decided I was going on a long bicycle adventure. I really needed to put in the miles and I planned a ride to the sandbridge area in Virginia Beach. More specifically, I was trying to ride to the edge of the wildlife sanctuary area where there's a hiking/biking path that one could take through to North Carolina's False Cape State park and come out somewhere in Corolla. I have been toying with the idea of riding a bike through this state park/wildlife sanctuary as a bicycle tour/camping trip for a couple years now and it was a good opportunity for me to go check out what the beginning of the path looked like and see if it's bike-able. I packed a couple clif bars, my u-lock and an apple into my messenger bag and hit the road. Almost 6 hours later I returned, cold, soaked from the rain I'd ridden the last 16 miles in and physically/emotionally defeated. I did 66 miles, my longest ride so far. I wasn't 100% prepared for how chilly it got closer to the oceanfront and certainly wasn't prepared for rain! When I got to Sandbridge, 30-31ish miles into the ride, I stopped at the Sandbridge Market and grabbed an orange and a 22oz bottle of New Belgium's Fat Tire Amber Ale, which seemed a fitting choice for this adventure. My intentions were to ride a couple more miles down the road to the beginning of the state park area where I planned to rest, relax, stretch out and enjoy my lunch (a peanut butter clif bar, an orange and the beer). I got less than a mile down the road and I felt the first couple little rain drops. I already knew my trip wasn't going to end good. I didn't have a jacket, there wasn't really a good place to take shelter and as far as you could see the sky was a slightly darker gray than when I'd started the ride. I started riding back the way I came, down Sandfiddler Rd towards Sandbridge Rd and eventually the rain sprinkles kinda died off. I kept looking for a little park area that I'd seen on my way in, didn't find it. I kinda had to pee, really needed to stop and stretch my legs and REALLY needed to take a break. I never got the break. When I was coming down London Bridge Rd 50 miles into the ride, the rain let loose. I took cover under some trees and watched the rain for a few thinking it couldn't rain for too long (the sky is gray/black everywhere at this point, common sense told me I was fucked but denial is a powerful drug...) I waited, waited, drank that 22 of Fat Tire that had been getting warm/slightly shaken in my bag for 20ish miles at this point and waited some more. I started thinking about what options I had at this point to get home... ride to somewhere i could get a bus home? ride to the lightrail station? Either option would've been miles away, I'd be soaked through and miserable by the time I got to either and then would more than likely have to wait when i got there for the next bus or train, so I started riding again. Legs more sore and tired than they've probably ever been, knees starting to not feel great, hands getting numb from the constant pressure of my bars on the same 2 1/2 positions i can hold them in for 5ish hours and feet already getting a little numb/sore as well. I was soaked through within a mile of riding away from those trees. I was cold, trying to keep my cadence up to keep my body moving faster to keep my blood pumping to keep me warm, but my legs and my body just couldn't do it. I was exhausted. I ate the apple between Kempsville Rd and Military Hwy while riding and getting rained on. Passing motorists looked out their windows at me like I had a 3rd arm growing out of my head, I must've looked completely insane to them. As I approached the 60 mile mark on my computer, I was starting to crunch the numbers to see how much further I was from home, I started obsessing over it, started looking at my embarrassing slow speed at this point and figuring out how much longer I'd be on the bike( i was down to 11-13ish mph at this point, really not feeling good...). I also started thinking about what I'd do when I got home...Take a shower?...NO!!! A BATH!!! A HOT FUCKING BATH!!! GOD DAMN IT'S GONNA BE GREAT!!! Should i try to eat something? or rest for a little while first? Am I going to be able to do ANYTHING LATER?!?! or am I going to be this tired all night... SHIT! I hope not! Before I knew it, I was coming up to the light at Redgate and Hampton Blvd and then I was home. I wish the ride had gone smoother. I learned some hard lessons about being prepared for unexpected conditions, particularly WEATHER CONDITIONS! I didn't even wipe down my Bridgestone RB-2 when i got home, i leaned it up against the commuter bike and turned on only the hot water in the bath tub...
I can't wait to try this ride again. I think I'll go a different time of day next time. Not on a Saturday afternoon. Maybe super earlier morning on a weekday.
I can't wait to try this ride again. I think I'll go a different time of day next time. Not on a Saturday afternoon. Maybe super earlier morning on a weekday.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Bike cops. traffic (f)laws?
I saw a pair or Norfolk Police Officers riding bicycles this evening on my way home from work. (Although I almost didn't see them) They were wearing their black uniforms, black helmets, had no headlights on and were riding down the sidewalk towards the intersection i was waiting for the traffic light at. I said hello to them, they didn't respond... I sometimes wonder what it's like to be a bike cop. I've never seen a bike cop with lights that i thought were bright enough, or with light colored clothing, or riding in the street for any more than a block or 2. I wonder if they know that they are supposed to be riding in the street with traffic? I wonder what they think when they see me? A guy with a bicycle tattooed on his leg, wearing an extremely bright vest and a white helmet. Riding a 30 year old bike, in the street, with traffic. Today i was on my 77 Raleigh Supercourse that I've built up as a fixed gear (with a front brake!!!). I wonder why bike cops aren't more friendly with me... Are they bike commuters themselves? Do they enjoy riding their bikes? Why don't they seem to know/obey the traffic laws regarding bicycles? Are they picked on by the officers who drive around in the police cruisers all day? In the same manner that I am harassed by motorists? When I was hit by a car a few years back, I was referred to on the accident report as a "pedestrian" by an officer who'd been on the street for a few weeks. The training officer wasn't concerned with the cyclist being loaded into the back of the ambulance enough to help his trainee fill out the accident report accurately and completely. Why? I don't understand how my life or bicycle riding police officer's or anyone else's life is marginalized when we choose to ride a bike on the roads instead of driving. Why aren't all the Norfolk police officers trained on laws regarding bicycles? An officer directing traffic exiting a baseball game at Harbor Park asked me and my girlfriend and the couple we rode to the game with, if our flashing headlights were legal? We kinda laughed, realizing that he really didn't know...
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Punching cars? Predator/prey relationships. staying alive
When is it okay to punch a car?
This is a very interesting question, and depending on where you are viewing the punching from, it drastically changes the rightness or wrongness of this. First, we have to consider from an outside perspective, someone punching a car. What does this look like to other people on the road(or to pedestrians)? What would anyone on a bicycle accomplish by punching a car? Relief from pent up aggravation and aggression? Letting a driver who just did something really stupid and dangerous know that you are pissed and being pushed to react violently? At the end of the day, every verbal or physical expression of "roadrage" is almost guaranteed to be regretted (I don't mean by motorists, i mean cyclers. As I've seen some of the craziest shit happening/being thrown back and forth between motorists while operating their vehicles on public roads). Reflecting back on incidents has always made me question my reaction, and wonder how bad things could've gone if the motorist who cut me off, or passed really close, or yelled something stupid, had reacted as aggressively as I was reacting to their action? Things could go bad...really bad. There's always the concern of does the person you're yelling at as you straddle your bicycle with no protection AT ALL have a gun? Are they unstable? and/or just got fired from their job? wife just banged out their best friend? We live in a society of INSANE FUCKING PEOPLE who think that capitalism and industrial civilization is always going to protect them and humans as a species. People who feel invincible in their cars. Gun crazy people who think their sunday afternoon trip to the home improvement store should involve packing their 9mm. And alot of people who don't know/understand that bicycles are vehicles, and are meant to be ridden in the road with the other vehicles (that's what "SHARE THE ROAD" means) and that most states in this glorious country of ours have traffic laws specifically stating the rules of the road regarding bicycles.
A few stories and then my point:
I ride up to the front of an intersection one day heading to work and i suddenly realize that the van that was at the front of the line of cars i passed to pull up to the front is around a foot from me on the left, I was startled and before i could get out a "WHAT THE FUCK?!?!" The driver started yelling at me. He said "Hey man! Are you one of those guys that thinks that people on bikes have the same rights as cars do?!?!" and I replied "No, I'm one of the people who KNOWS that bikes are vehicles and are meant to be in the road with other vehicles???" Him: "Well what the fuck gives you the right to roll up here past all these cars that are waiting for this light and come up in front of ME!?!?!?" Me: "The same law that allows cars to pass me in the lane back there. And because there's plenty of room." The guy started yelling and calling me a stupid asshole blah blah blah and the last thing i said I yelled: "SIR, PLEASE DON'T LET YOUR OWN IGNORANCE OF THE STATES TRAFFIC LAWS ANGER YOU! I HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY!" The light was already green at this point, the driver then almost ran me over as he started driving and i started riding through the left turn we were both waiting to make. You can't fix stupid.
A week or so ago I almost got killed by an HRT bus, giving me another reason to hate our shitty public transit system in this area. When passing me, the driver got just the very nose of the bus by me and then immediately started coming back over to the right. He actually didn't just return to the center of the lane, he kept coming right til his right side tires were in the drainage runoff area on the edge of the road. When i realized the bus was coming over and was a foot or so from making contact with my handlebar, i grabbed both brake levers and cut to the right as hard as i could without running into the curb. My heart was racing and I was heated, I couldn't believe that this bus driver would've made such a negligent/dangerous mistake! I kept riding and further down the road I saw the same bus, as I passed the bus I stared in to get a good look at the driver and make sure that he saw me and saw my face. Then after a few more traffic lights the bus came up behind me again and the driver passed me again, DOING THE SAME THING AGAIN. ALMOST KILLING ME AGAIN. At this point i was shaking with fury and fear and a million other emotions. I avoided getting killed again and started angrily pedaling to try and catch the bus, fantasizing about what was about to happen when i caught up with the bus at a traffic light. I caught up to the bus. I pulled my bike up inches from the front right corner on the bus, knocked on the glass of the folding door and yelled at the driver that if he ran me out of the lane again we're going to have a problem. That he almost killed me and he just did it twice. To which he responded by laying on his horn, i guess telling me to get the fuck out of the way. Which was probably his attitude when he saw me in the road and then maybe tried to show me that i need to stay the fuck out of his way by running me out of the lane when he passed me. I was even more angry now. I pulled off to the side of the road and called HRT. The person who answered asked me the bus #, which in all this chaos I didn't get. I told him what time it was, what time the incident had happened, what direction we were heading, and what crossroads we were at. He didn't seem to care that I almost died, i don't think he apologized and he transferred me to a voicemail complaint line before I could finish asking for his name.
Sometimes letting that person get away with saying something really ignorant at a traffic light or letting that person cut you off without trying to catch up to them and yell at them, which in the end makes you look crazy as shit to anyone nearby, is the safest thing. I've had a ton of intersection arguments with motorists who were ignorant of the traffic laws regarding bicycle riders and only in maybe a few of them did I feel okay after I rode away. The more you ride, the more stupid shit you're going to encounter. Private neighborhood security harassment, parks and rec cops "pulling you over" to tell you that it's dangerous to ride a bicycle in the road (do parks and rec cops not get trained on the same laws as regular cops?)I'll probably share both those stories in full at some point, there are lots of em. But having fun while riding should definitely be priority #1. Actually staying alive should be #1, enjoying it could be #2. Either way, if you're not enjoying it, then why do it?
The point: Bicycle commuting or bicycle riding in general puts you in a predator/prey relationship with motorists. Fortunately the predators aren't always trying to kill you. You can probably safely assume that they are never trying to kill you. But they certainly have the potential to. Sitting in traffic is nobody's idea of a good time, but being on a bike is alot more fun than being stuck in a car that isn't moving fast enough to get you home in time to watch your favorite TV show. In one second of misjudgement, one second of looking at a text message or a crying kid in the backseat, could be it. The only thing you can do is try to make yourself as visible as possible. Get the brightest lights with the most eye catching blinking pattern and WEAR A FUCKING HELMET!
This is a very interesting question, and depending on where you are viewing the punching from, it drastically changes the rightness or wrongness of this. First, we have to consider from an outside perspective, someone punching a car. What does this look like to other people on the road(or to pedestrians)? What would anyone on a bicycle accomplish by punching a car? Relief from pent up aggravation and aggression? Letting a driver who just did something really stupid and dangerous know that you are pissed and being pushed to react violently? At the end of the day, every verbal or physical expression of "roadrage" is almost guaranteed to be regretted (I don't mean by motorists, i mean cyclers. As I've seen some of the craziest shit happening/being thrown back and forth between motorists while operating their vehicles on public roads). Reflecting back on incidents has always made me question my reaction, and wonder how bad things could've gone if the motorist who cut me off, or passed really close, or yelled something stupid, had reacted as aggressively as I was reacting to their action? Things could go bad...really bad. There's always the concern of does the person you're yelling at as you straddle your bicycle with no protection AT ALL have a gun? Are they unstable? and/or just got fired from their job? wife just banged out their best friend? We live in a society of INSANE FUCKING PEOPLE who think that capitalism and industrial civilization is always going to protect them and humans as a species. People who feel invincible in their cars. Gun crazy people who think their sunday afternoon trip to the home improvement store should involve packing their 9mm. And alot of people who don't know/understand that bicycles are vehicles, and are meant to be ridden in the road with the other vehicles (that's what "SHARE THE ROAD" means) and that most states in this glorious country of ours have traffic laws specifically stating the rules of the road regarding bicycles.
A few stories and then my point:
I ride up to the front of an intersection one day heading to work and i suddenly realize that the van that was at the front of the line of cars i passed to pull up to the front is around a foot from me on the left, I was startled and before i could get out a "WHAT THE FUCK?!?!" The driver started yelling at me. He said "Hey man! Are you one of those guys that thinks that people on bikes have the same rights as cars do?!?!" and I replied "No, I'm one of the people who KNOWS that bikes are vehicles and are meant to be in the road with other vehicles???" Him: "Well what the fuck gives you the right to roll up here past all these cars that are waiting for this light and come up in front of ME!?!?!?" Me: "The same law that allows cars to pass me in the lane back there. And because there's plenty of room." The guy started yelling and calling me a stupid asshole blah blah blah and the last thing i said I yelled: "SIR, PLEASE DON'T LET YOUR OWN IGNORANCE OF THE STATES TRAFFIC LAWS ANGER YOU! I HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY!" The light was already green at this point, the driver then almost ran me over as he started driving and i started riding through the left turn we were both waiting to make. You can't fix stupid.
A week or so ago I almost got killed by an HRT bus, giving me another reason to hate our shitty public transit system in this area. When passing me, the driver got just the very nose of the bus by me and then immediately started coming back over to the right. He actually didn't just return to the center of the lane, he kept coming right til his right side tires were in the drainage runoff area on the edge of the road. When i realized the bus was coming over and was a foot or so from making contact with my handlebar, i grabbed both brake levers and cut to the right as hard as i could without running into the curb. My heart was racing and I was heated, I couldn't believe that this bus driver would've made such a negligent/dangerous mistake! I kept riding and further down the road I saw the same bus, as I passed the bus I stared in to get a good look at the driver and make sure that he saw me and saw my face. Then after a few more traffic lights the bus came up behind me again and the driver passed me again, DOING THE SAME THING AGAIN. ALMOST KILLING ME AGAIN. At this point i was shaking with fury and fear and a million other emotions. I avoided getting killed again and started angrily pedaling to try and catch the bus, fantasizing about what was about to happen when i caught up with the bus at a traffic light. I caught up to the bus. I pulled my bike up inches from the front right corner on the bus, knocked on the glass of the folding door and yelled at the driver that if he ran me out of the lane again we're going to have a problem. That he almost killed me and he just did it twice. To which he responded by laying on his horn, i guess telling me to get the fuck out of the way. Which was probably his attitude when he saw me in the road and then maybe tried to show me that i need to stay the fuck out of his way by running me out of the lane when he passed me. I was even more angry now. I pulled off to the side of the road and called HRT. The person who answered asked me the bus #, which in all this chaos I didn't get. I told him what time it was, what time the incident had happened, what direction we were heading, and what crossroads we were at. He didn't seem to care that I almost died, i don't think he apologized and he transferred me to a voicemail complaint line before I could finish asking for his name.
Sometimes letting that person get away with saying something really ignorant at a traffic light or letting that person cut you off without trying to catch up to them and yell at them, which in the end makes you look crazy as shit to anyone nearby, is the safest thing. I've had a ton of intersection arguments with motorists who were ignorant of the traffic laws regarding bicycle riders and only in maybe a few of them did I feel okay after I rode away. The more you ride, the more stupid shit you're going to encounter. Private neighborhood security harassment, parks and rec cops "pulling you over" to tell you that it's dangerous to ride a bicycle in the road (do parks and rec cops not get trained on the same laws as regular cops?)I'll probably share both those stories in full at some point, there are lots of em. But having fun while riding should definitely be priority #1. Actually staying alive should be #1, enjoying it could be #2. Either way, if you're not enjoying it, then why do it?
The point: Bicycle commuting or bicycle riding in general puts you in a predator/prey relationship with motorists. Fortunately the predators aren't always trying to kill you. You can probably safely assume that they are never trying to kill you. But they certainly have the potential to. Sitting in traffic is nobody's idea of a good time, but being on a bike is alot more fun than being stuck in a car that isn't moving fast enough to get you home in time to watch your favorite TV show. In one second of misjudgement, one second of looking at a text message or a crying kid in the backseat, could be it. The only thing you can do is try to make yourself as visible as possible. Get the brightest lights with the most eye catching blinking pattern and WEAR A FUCKING HELMET!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
bicycles: adventure equipment, not athletic equipment
I don't like the concept of the bicycle as a piece of athletic equipment. I like to go on adventures on bicycles if I find myself riding with no particular place to go. I feel like most adults who ride have lost that child-like sense of adventure when they are pedaling themselves down the street. I hope not, but I think this is true.
I wish the majority of adults i see riding roadbikes weren't wearing spandex. I also wish i lived in a city/area where drivers wouldn't yell at me and tell me to "GET ON THE FUCKING SIDEWALK!" when I'm riding home from a crappy day at work.
I wish the majority of adults i see riding roadbikes weren't wearing spandex. I also wish i lived in a city/area where drivers wouldn't yell at me and tell me to "GET ON THE FUCKING SIDEWALK!" when I'm riding home from a crappy day at work.
Friday, April 6, 2012
don't ever play the "you go, no, you go" game
In many areas of life we find ourselves playing what i call the "you go, No, YOU GO" game. It's when you're grocery shopping and you come down an aisle with a cart and someone else is coming down the same aisle from the opposite direction with their cart and only one of you can fit, so you both wait, in a feeble attempt to be nice, them realize the other person is also waiting, then you both tell the other person to go ahead, then you usually move at the same time. It happens all the time. When walking toward someone and then realizing your path and their path are going to collide in a few more steps, you both stop and step to the side at the same time, then sometimes step back at the same time and sometimes they offer to dance or you'd offer to dance, which in my opinion is the only polite way to verbally acknowledge this situation. Anyway, that's what I call the "you go, No, YOU GO" game. In traffic situations it usually gets more dangerous than in the supermarket, which in a worse case scenario, you may bump a shopping cart, but I'm pretty sure no one would get that hurt from this. I get put in the game by drivers all the time while riding my bicycle. I would say 80% of the time, they are trying to be nice and let the cyclist go ahead first to help out, but more often than not when I'm in this situation, the motorist is fucking up the flow of traffic and then urging me to pull out in front of them. For example if I'm approaching a stop sign and a motorist pulls up to the intersection and they don't have a stop sign (or even a yield sign sometimes!), they will stop and wave for me to go first. This is the most common example of the game. But i have the stop sign and they don't. So i always stop, as this is the intended flow of traffic through the intersection and is how it SHOULD flow. Sometimes I will stop, put a foot down and cross my arms to really hammer down that I AM NOT GOING TO RIDE THROUGH THE INTERSECTION. Which seems to be the ultimate checkmate of a game of "you go, No, YOU GO" so far. I've also had motorists on several occasions make a left turn in front of me while I'm going straight through an intersection with the right of way and then they almost hit me, slam their brakes, stop in the middle of the intersection with cars now approaching from behind me and then urge me to go ahead of them. UH.... not only no, but FUCK NO! This is the worst time to play the game, because the driver is now probably frantic and shaken cause they just tried to haul ass through an intersection to beat the oncoming traffic and then almost hit a cyclist they SOMEHOW didn't see, and they aren't going to be thinking calmly and clearly. Everytime this has happened to me, I have stopped, put my feet on the ground and taken both hands off my handlebars to make sure that the driver understands I AM NOT GOING TO GO! YOU GO! But the moral of the story here is that you should never play the "you go, No, YOU GO" game on a bicycle, EVER!!!!! It's way too dangerous. And if you lose, you may lose big, cause getting hit by a car isn't going to make anybody's day any better.
Having said all that, this is my theory on 4way stop signs: 4way stop means BIKES GO! I'll explain. I'm not saying that cyclers should blast through stop signs with no regard for the flow of traffic or approaching cars whatsoever. What I'm saying is that when I approach a 4way stop sign and there's a car approaching from one of the other angles, I will typically watch the driver very carefully and not stop at all. This may sound crazy to alot of people, but it alleviates all confusion of who goes first and thus avoids the "you go, No, YOU GO" game. Which I think I've beaten this point to death, but is best avoided at all costs! I would always suggest that you be prepared to stop like your life depends on it, as it very well may if the driver doesn't see you and/or doesn't stop, but look at the driver and ride through the stop sign. 99.999999% of the time, the driver will come to the stop and you'll cruise through just fine. Every once in a while you'll see that the driver is not going to stop and you'll have to slam on your brakes and swerve to the side to avoid catastrophe, but it's pretty rare, at least in residential areas in Norfolk.
Having said all that, this is my theory on 4way stop signs: 4way stop means BIKES GO! I'll explain. I'm not saying that cyclers should blast through stop signs with no regard for the flow of traffic or approaching cars whatsoever. What I'm saying is that when I approach a 4way stop sign and there's a car approaching from one of the other angles, I will typically watch the driver very carefully and not stop at all. This may sound crazy to alot of people, but it alleviates all confusion of who goes first and thus avoids the "you go, No, YOU GO" game. Which I think I've beaten this point to death, but is best avoided at all costs! I would always suggest that you be prepared to stop like your life depends on it, as it very well may if the driver doesn't see you and/or doesn't stop, but look at the driver and ride through the stop sign. 99.999999% of the time, the driver will come to the stop and you'll cruise through just fine. Every once in a while you'll see that the driver is not going to stop and you'll have to slam on your brakes and swerve to the side to avoid catastrophe, but it's pretty rare, at least in residential areas in Norfolk.
ride slow and often
Alot of people ride their bikes really fast all the time. I'm not one of those people. Keeping in mind that "fast" is relative, and to someone who hasn't ridden a bike in years, I might ride "fast", my point is that riding a bicycle should always be fun. If it's not fun, then something is wrong. I got into riding bicycles for utilitarian reasons, to get from point A to point B without driving. But then started to realize that you experience the world around you alot more when traveling by bicycle instead of by automobile. You smell things that drivers don't smell, you hear things they don't hear, and you certainly see things they don't see. I love when a gaggle of geese fly over me when I'm riding to work, i usually try to look up and watch them as much as I can while still paying just enough attention to my lane position to not swing out into the middle of the lane. I usually hear their honking noises first(the geese, not the cars), then i start looking around and catch them just as they fly over. I also say hello or good morning to 12-20ish people everyday that i ride my bike to work (although sometimes i ride by another cycler and they don't even look over and smile...). Nobody speaks to random people at bus stops or strangers walking down a sidewalk while they're driving. That would be weird. It makes you feel good to smile and say hello to people waiting for the bus in the morning and have them smile back. Makes you feel more connected to the world outside. The changing seasons bring with them different smells. The smell of rain in the summertime is something that i learned to appreciate again in my late 20's from riding, just like when i was a kid and the rain wouldn't drive me inside like it does to most of us now that we're adults. Whether it's a 5 mile commute or a 20 mile recreational ride, i think the more we ride our bikes the more we will feel our connection with the world we're living on, the cities we're living in and the people, trees, and animals living around us.
If fear that fenders and/or a basket (or at least a rack) on a bicycle might slow you down, then you might be missing the point. or maybe you need more than one bike......
We need to slow down. Most cyclists also need to slow down. Look around and take in the world around us. Breathe it in. This is our life. We shouldn't rush through it.
Politics, don't mind if i do: This blog is certainly going to be all over the place, and by "all over the place", i mean it's going to pull alot of topics toward bicycling and my life and turn into a bunch of random rants about how i think this world/society/country/state/city(Norfolk) could be a better place, but mostly in regards to bicycling/bicycle commuting... Anywho, where was i? politics...
It is my belief that if our government wanted to do something to help our environment have the slightest chance of survival as "we" slash and burn our way through wilderness in the name of human progress, or if the powers that be really cared about the health of the citizens and the diminishing supply of oil that we need to create medical supplies and all the other plastic shit in our lives, that they would take a very cold, rational look at bicycle paths/lanes/infrastructure as an alternative to constant highway repair, lane painting, traffic signal fixing, stop sign replacing, guard rail repairing system that is currently failing us. The solution to the "traffic problem" isn't to try to move more cars faster, it's to get less cars on the roads. More cars means more road maintenance and all the above stuff. More cars means more space needed for them to park on. More cars means more emissions (or if we could all afford to buy electric cars or cared enough to, it would still mean more road maintenance, as electric cars still weigh alot when compared to bicycles and would still damage the roadways). So, where does this leave us? We need safe bikeways. We need to teach bicycle safety in public schools and teach children about the financial and environmental benefits of riding instead of driving, even to young teenagers, who will be lured into the idea of the independence of that first car. The amount of money that would be saved on the upkeep of roads if the majority of 5 miles or less trips were by bicycles instead of cars would free up so much money that it would open up a world of options for how to make a new safer traffic system for cyclers. We could even just designate the right lane of all existing roads to be bikes-only and build flyover exits for the cars to turn right when the speed limits are 45 or higher. I guess in this dream world i live in, the speed limits would all be lower as well, so the flyover exits may not even be necessary. Well for now, I'll keep dreaming.........
If fear that fenders and/or a basket (or at least a rack) on a bicycle might slow you down, then you might be missing the point. or maybe you need more than one bike......
We need to slow down. Most cyclists also need to slow down. Look around and take in the world around us. Breathe it in. This is our life. We shouldn't rush through it.
Politics, don't mind if i do: This blog is certainly going to be all over the place, and by "all over the place", i mean it's going to pull alot of topics toward bicycling and my life and turn into a bunch of random rants about how i think this world/society/country/state/city(Norfolk) could be a better place, but mostly in regards to bicycling/bicycle commuting... Anywho, where was i? politics...
It is my belief that if our government wanted to do something to help our environment have the slightest chance of survival as "we" slash and burn our way through wilderness in the name of human progress, or if the powers that be really cared about the health of the citizens and the diminishing supply of oil that we need to create medical supplies and all the other plastic shit in our lives, that they would take a very cold, rational look at bicycle paths/lanes/infrastructure as an alternative to constant highway repair, lane painting, traffic signal fixing, stop sign replacing, guard rail repairing system that is currently failing us. The solution to the "traffic problem" isn't to try to move more cars faster, it's to get less cars on the roads. More cars means more road maintenance and all the above stuff. More cars means more space needed for them to park on. More cars means more emissions (or if we could all afford to buy electric cars or cared enough to, it would still mean more road maintenance, as electric cars still weigh alot when compared to bicycles and would still damage the roadways). So, where does this leave us? We need safe bikeways. We need to teach bicycle safety in public schools and teach children about the financial and environmental benefits of riding instead of driving, even to young teenagers, who will be lured into the idea of the independence of that first car. The amount of money that would be saved on the upkeep of roads if the majority of 5 miles or less trips were by bicycles instead of cars would free up so much money that it would open up a world of options for how to make a new safer traffic system for cyclers. We could even just designate the right lane of all existing roads to be bikes-only and build flyover exits for the cars to turn right when the speed limits are 45 or higher. I guess in this dream world i live in, the speed limits would all be lower as well, so the flyover exits may not even be necessary. Well for now, I'll keep dreaming.........
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
I think the world would be better if we all rode bikes.
but not road bikes. I remember when i first saw my Rampar R1027 10 speed at the salvation army thrift store. I knew very little about bicycles, & hadn't had one since a spur of the moment purchase of a bmx bike when i was 19 or 20,which i sold to a friend within a year of acquiring it. But I was excited about having an old 10 speed to ride to work instead of driving. It didn't matter that it was 35ish pounds (which is pretty heavy for a road bike!), it didn't matter that i didn't know how to work on bikes or that i didn't have any friends to ride bikes with. I was going to start riding this bike to work. And that really sums up my transition to bicycle commuting(I'll babble on more at a later date I'm sure). I rode over 6000 miles last year and probably only did 20 recreational rides. I still have that bike, it's my commuter bike right now. The one that get's beaten up, rained on, and seen traveling up and down Virginia Beach Blvd almost daily. Through trial and error i eventually learned what i could fix and what i should let the bike shop fix on that bike & I developed a great relationship with the bike mechanic at a nearby bike shop in Virginia Beach who was always excited to work on my "old" bike. This was way before i understood that lugged steel bikes just aren't made anymore (except by custom builders and people like Rivendell) and way before i was riding between Norfolk and Virginia Beach. I definitely didn't know i was at a transitional period in life that would have as profound an influence on my life(/outlook on life) as much as me becoming vegan.
So i really don't know how this blog is going to be structured as far as subject matter, it will certainly be a "cycling blog" but I'm not a competitive cyclist. I'm a bicycle commuter and an environmentalist, who really loves bicycles as vehicles and as vehicles for change and as art! Because there's few man made things in this world as beautiful as an elegantly lugged steel bicycle frame! So...... There will be rants, more rants, maybe some advice for novice bicycle mechanics and commuters and stuff.
So i really don't know how this blog is going to be structured as far as subject matter, it will certainly be a "cycling blog" but I'm not a competitive cyclist. I'm a bicycle commuter and an environmentalist, who really loves bicycles as vehicles and as vehicles for change and as art! Because there's few man made things in this world as beautiful as an elegantly lugged steel bicycle frame! So...... There will be rants, more rants, maybe some advice for novice bicycle mechanics and commuters and stuff.
first blog......
So a friend suggested i create a cycling blog, so i just did. I will try my hardest to update this everyday, but i make no promises. If i ran for president i would also operate on a "no promises" policy. Are things gonna change? maybe. Maybe not....
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