When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.
Once you have a notion stuck in your head, it can be nearly impossible to change it - even when you prove it wrong every day. I've timed my seven mile commute in a car: 25 minutes on a light traffic day, 45 minutes on a bad day. Most days are bad days. I've timed it many many times. It is impossible to get across town, by any route, any faster than that. I've tried at least 5 different routes including freeways, arterials, backroads, and shortcuts - not including the many variations of each. My primary route on a bicycle takes exactly 33 minutes, regardless of traffic conditions. That means that powering myself, at a steady 18mph, gets me there faster at least 80% of the time. But everyone knows cars are faster than bikes! You know it. I know it. We've known it all our lives. It's obvious and logical. I believe this is one of the biggest reasons 98% of our population remains planted firmly in their automobiles for most of their travels, even trips of 2 miles and less.
Apparently they are putting in some new bikes lanes on 85th street. There are some markings along the edge of the road that indicate where the stripes are to be located, etc. I followed the route for about ten blocks, and found a different symbol painted freehand at every block.
I can just imagine the tortured look on some poor city employee's face as he tried, time and again to recreate the mysterious geometry of the bicycle on pavement, with a spray can in one hand and a smoke in the other. The guy probably hasn't ridden a bicycle in over ten years, and certainly never thought he would be judged on his artistic talents after tenth grade. Sorry buddy. You can see where he gives up and starts thinking about lunch.
These are some of my favorites:
Not bad:
The excitement has since passed, but I'd like to recall for you what has become a meaningful event for me. I have raced only three bike races in my life. Two of them were WSBA sanctioned criterium races and I had fun, but I got whooped. At least I finished the second race, and by the way, I've heard that that particular course is a really hard one. The third race is the one that matters. I almost didn't go. I'm glad I did…
I've always taken the phrase "Know your limits" to mean that you should hold back when you might otherwise go too far. I no longer believe that. In fact, the saying has quite the opposite effect on me. My limits, it turns out, are quite often much higher than I first believe...
Every time I ride at Seattle's Colonnade Bike Park, there is someone there for the first time who "just heard of it" - amazing. This place rocks. With thousands of volunteer hours, and a huge helping of their own hard work and creativity, the Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club (BBTC), has designed and built this park right off the northwest side of Seattle's Capitol Hill. If you are a mountain biker, you need to check it out, but be careful - you will probably get addicted to a new level, and probably buy a new bike (or two) before you know it. On 2 acres of hill-slope land ingeniously located under the I-5 freeway decks (no rain here - ever!), the park features 1.5 miles of twisty single track trail, ladder bridges, skinnies, jumps, berms, chutes, pump track, wall rides, rock gardens - everything to please your aching mountain bike tooth. If you know what these things are, you know how cool this is. If you don't, then you are about to enjoy a huge upgrade in life-happiness. The park is a perfect place to learn new bike skills or just have fun. I hit it about twice a week and it's never enough.
I saw this guy riding a unique (and very cool) looking single-speed mountain bike the other day, so as per usual, I obnoxiously stuck my nose right in his business and asked him what kind of bike it was. He had to remove his headphones and ask me to repeat myself, which I did. He told me that he had made it himself, frame and all. Cool. I sort of thought that maybe he had. Not in a that-sucks-so-much-it-must-be-home-made sort of way. More of a that-is-so-cool-and-unique sort of way. Mostly I just had a feeling about it. Might have been the lack of logos, who knows. I chatted with him for a mile or two and he told me that he and some other folks had gotten together and made some bikes, and if I'm not mistaken they teach a university-level engineering/shop class on exactly that topic, at Stanford, I think (or some other place outside of Seattle, which might as well be off the end of the Earth to me).
At least they're being honest. On the plus side, all reports (Like this one) seem to say that bikes sales are through the roof, which by itself doesn't matter much to me, except that there also follows government attention and spending on bike lanes, facilities, etc. I'm one of those jerks who has for years been saying "good" when gas prices go up - with the hope that once there was a squeeze, people would start looking for other options. So I guess that's where we are. Keep voting with your dollars, peeps. That's one vote that even GWB can't steal.
If you haven't found a creative way to kill yourself tomorrow (Thursday), here's an idea. Looks like some folks will be mounting their bikes and racing Seattle's new streetcar on it's 2.6 mile route. I might suggest paying your fare and watching from the train if you're not interested in getting run over yourself.
A little more sketchy info about this sketchy ride here.
Thursday, July 24th
7:15pm START at westlake hub (5th & olive)
After Party at HOOTERS on South Lake Union
Yesterday's Critical Mass demonstration ride, seems to have turned ugly with a confrontation between a driver and some cyclists. People seem to be pre-disposed to sympathize with one side of the story or another. I'll try to give you both sides here...
I ordered a little wallet for myself from these guys over at Totally Tubular Design because I heard they were made of recycled bike tubes. Cool. Then I got a little purse for my wife because they looked so cute and girly. It was so cool, I got one for myself (a little less girly). The products are great. They are made from recycled bike tubes and tires, and the liners are made from other random scraps of recycled cloth, leather, etc. They are sturdy and solidly-built with big fat threads and heavy materials - I love that. I can't say that they are particularly precise - they don't lay exactly flat, they are not perfectly rectangular - but that's part of the charm. Besides a cool product though (and great friendly service), I had a great idea that makes my commuting happier: Put your little loose nonsense (keys, wallet, phone, quarters, whatever) in this little bag and then put that in your big bag (I'm thinking messenger bag or panniers). Then it will all be there in one handy place instead of loose amongst the sweaty clothing, spare tubes, bottle caps, U-lock and all that other crap in there. It's working great for me, and it makes me happy every time I grab it and unzip that super-chunky zipper.
I found this on YouTube. I now realize that everything I have been saying about bike commuting has been a waste of time. This sums it up right here. This is the real reason. Done - once you get over the notion that it's a balls-eye-view anyway.
Oh, and listen to the music if you can, it's nice.
I have a special place in my heart for BMX bikes, even though I haven't ridden one since I was a kid. Lots of adults do, as proved by our recent X-games, but for some reason I'm stuck on big bikes now. I imagine a lot of us still remember BMXs fondly though. My first bike was a Huffy "banana bike" - bless my mom and dad - but I wanted a BMX so bad I could taste it. They came though before long and got me an awesome chrome one with pads, hand brakes, knobbies, the whole package. I loved that bike. Blue tires to match the seat, grips and pads. I don't know why they were so color coordinated, but it was bliss.
Sunday, like a good pilgrim, I attended the early service at the church of Tiger Mountain. Once again, it was dumping rain. As usual, my faith was tested at the trailhead. Car parked. Warm inside. Windows instantly foggy. Quiet except for the pitter patter of rain on the roof. Wet bikes. Should we go for it? Maybe we should bag it. The parking lot is empty, no one is as dumb as us. I've been tempted like this before....
Last night I entered my first XC mountain bike race. Late in the season, as usual. Haven't been training, as usual - although lots of recreational riding. Lots. I studied up, asked plenty of questions. Thought I was ready - and I was ready - as ready as anyone will ever be for their first race. That's what I learned. It's about experience. About what's in your head more than what's in your legs...
I'm kind of pissed that I keep figuring this out at the end of the season, but like I've said before - this time I mean it. Racing is hard, but it is worth it. This week I entered my second ever mountain bike race and improved my standings 1000 to 1. What that means is that I finished the race this time, and had a blast, as opposed to last week, when I blew up after one lap, called it quits, and then had to live under the dark shadow of shame and regret for the next 167 hours…
The official Grand Opening of Seattle's most raddest bike park is upon us. Saturday, Sep. 13th is sure to be a great turnout under the freeway with raffles, vendors, etc. I'm mostly looking forward to throwing a few tail whips, hucking some drops with all the other kiddies enjoying themselves on their burly bikes, and grubbin' some BBQ.
Here's your sneak preview at the park map I've been working on for the past year. This has involved many photos of the park, lot's of sketches and revisions and plenty of riding "research" in order to capture the spirit of the park (hard work, I know). The hand-drawn line art is finally complete and scanned, and we are now adding digital color late into the night for the next 9 days. If everything goes according to plan, this will be finished and installed in the form of a large sign, in time for the grand opening. We'll see about that...
Progress continues late into the night! A pile of lumber and some plexi-glass which now resides in my garage will soon be converted into a finely-crafted sign fixture to house the artwork seen above. This is the latest not-quite-final map illustration and layout overview (still subject to change).
Look for the final map (hopefully) installed at the Colonnade Park grand opening party this Saturday (Sept 13, 2008) - and bring your bike!
The days are getting shorter again, the fair-weather commuters are returning to their exoskeletons and the cyclists are turning on their headlights again. I'd say that 80% of the night riders (knight riders!) have headlights. They are the same ones that have yellow bike jackets or anything made from lycra. That guy that commutes in jeans on a crackle-paint mountain bike with half-flat tires does not (but you can usually see even him sufficiently because of his flapping flannel shirt). A little glowing LED goes a long way to improve your visibility. A bike with a light is much safer than a bike without a light. Common sense and statistics back it up. But might we be even safer?
Probably everything I've ever said about cycling involved the phrase "It's all mental" - not that that makes it any more true. But it keeps coming up in my head, so there must be something there, at least for me. I'm going to start a little collection here, and as time marches on and the experiences pile up, I will come back and add things, as I think of them...
As night falls earlier every day, I'm looking into commuter lights with renewed interest. I've recently upgraded to a high-output rechargeable LED headlight, and am very pleased with the results. More about that. While digging for safety statistics for 900MPG, I found another product which is pretty interesting. The idea is that the light illuminates the RIDER (not the road), so that you are more visible to other road users. Interesting. I don't think you need a particularly special light for this, and it's a good thing, because as far as I can tell, you can't buy these anywhere.
Flat tires piss me off so much I will say foul words in front of old ladies and little children. I don't want to do those things, but it's not my fault. Commuting by bike is God's sweet perfect plan for mankind. A humble man and a simple machine, moving quietly and efficiently, like a fish in the sea. Using no more energy than is required to get the job done, costing very little, keeping the rider fit and healthy. Sweet, glorious perfect harmony and balance. If the rest of the world worked this way, paying your bills would get you a tan, and the whole process would taste like chocolate. Last week my head was about to explode with sheer joy as my daily rolling-meditation was augmented by a glorious magenta-sherbert sunrise over Green Lake. Only a goddam complete blowout caused by a two-inch long, self-tapping sheet metal screw could bring me back down to earth, and that's exactly what happened. That's my third flat tire in two weeks. Cover your ears, grandma...
I once read that bicycles have a safety advantage over cars because of the rider's improved visibility. I took this as the ravings of an unreasonable car-hater that probably couldn't really be taken seriously. I couldn't have been more wrong...
Every time I ride at Seattle's Colonnade Bike Park, there is someone there for the first time who "just heard of it" - amazing. This place rocks. With thousands of volunteer hours, and a huge helping of their own hard work and creativity, the 
I saw this guy riding a unique (and very cool) looking single-speed mountain bike the other day, so as per usual, I obnoxiously stuck my nose right in his business and asked him what kind of bike it was. He had to remove his headphones and ask me to repeat myself, which I did. He told me that he had made it himself, frame and all. Cool. I sort of thought that maybe he had. Not in a that-sucks-so-much-it-must-be-home-made sort of way. More of a that-is-so-cool-and-unique sort of way. Mostly I just had a feeling about it. Might have been the lack of logos, who knows. I chatted with him for a mile or two and he told me that he and some other folks had gotten together and made some bikes, and if I'm not mistaken they teach a university-level engineering/shop class on exactly that topic, at Stanford, I think (or some other place outside of Seattle, which might as well be off the end of the Earth to me).
At least they're being honest. On the plus side, all reports (
If you haven't found a creative way to kill yourself tomorrow (Thursday), here's an idea. Looks like some folks will be mounting their bikes and racing Seattle's new streetcar on it's 2.6 mile route. I might suggest paying your fare and watching from the train if you're not interested in getting run over yourself.
A little more sketchy info about this sketchy ride 
Yesterday's 
I ordered a little wallet for myself from these guys over at 
