It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are.
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.
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.
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.
Sometimes there is nothing better than brand new bar tape to make me fall in love with commuting again.
$12.02 does a world of good to put a new shine on this old girl. She rides faster than ever before, getting me to the bus stop on time. Just when I was growing tired of the tedious commute and my dirty bike, I realized that with a new outfit, all was young, fresh and new again. Off I go, conquering the streets of Boulder and Denver during my AM and PM commute.
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?
Recently, I attended an all-day concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater and noticed many signs of how increasing gas prices have changed peoples minds and transportation habits. Of the over 10,000 people in attendance, the parking lots weren't full. And, the cars in the parking lots were mostly 6-seaters. What a joyous reason to drive an SUV. However, maybe the greatest sign of the times was how fashion has become THE place to make a personal statement :
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.
At least they're being honest. On the plus side, all reports (
$12.02 does a world of good to put a new shine on this old girl. She rides faster than ever before, getting me to the bus stop on time. Just when I was growing tired of the tedious commute and my dirty bike, I realized that with a new outfit, all was young, fresh and new again. Off I go, conquering the streets of Boulder and Denver during my AM and PM commute.
