I have such a backlog of half-formed posts. One thing biking (and running, for that matter, started doing a lot of that also) does is allow time to think through and compose various blogsays.
Mozilla totally thinks that's a word,"blogsays," even though I just made it up.
Right now I am scurrying to finish a major overhaul of a short story I wrote a long time ago for hopeful publication (actually, it's just so that my query letter will in fact have a real story behind it), so the backlog won't be coming just yet.
The trouble with composing while biking is that I mostly compose bike-related posts.
There are three reasons I bike what I think is a considerably distance in considerably traffic to work, and they are not necessarily hierarchical. One by itself isn't enough, two together make me feel vaguely wistful if I end up hitting the snooze alarm on any given day instead of doing it, and three together are why I do end up doing it.
1)I am concerned about climate change and think I have a moral duty to try to do what I, personally can do to help us reduce our collective carbon emissions by the scientifically-advised amount in the scientifically-advised amount of time. I hear people argue that what one individual does matters not at all in the face of tons of individuals probably never doing what many individuals ought to to make a difference. Like my 1 ton less CO2 a year does a damn thing to alter climate change--but to me; the moral obligation remains the same. If everybody waited for everyone else to do the right thing before doing it for his or herself, then any will or vision to create a world that is better than the world that currently exists would be essentially nonexistent, and that would be a terrible world indeed. (Is riding my bike to work really that heavy? Symbolically yes, because the moral imperative of climate change is just that heavy.)
2) I want to reduce the amount of money I spend on gasoline by a noticeable amount. If I only bike once every now and then, the amount isn't noticeable. If I do it once or twice a week, I can save about one fill-up a month. If I do it whenever humanly possible I can save any more, and sometimes I have that goal. When it's not below freezing outside in the morning.
3)It's frikkin' awesome! I feel great afterwards. I'm physically stronger for doing it regularly. I feel more alive and connected to my community. And you know, it's just fun, even (with the right gear) when it's not all that warm outside.
Showing posts with label biking for transport. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biking for transport. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Traffic Tecnique
This is a follow-up to a post of two days ago where I ranted about the bus system and mentioned I wanted to ride my bike to work but was a little concerned about one dangerous stretch on an otherwise congenial route.
Eh, today I did it. It was way too hot, because at 44F you really need warmth downhill, but really bake in whatever you're using to get that warmth going uphill, and it's pretty miserable trying to go fast uphill when it's dangerous biking and you're cooking in your own personal oven and have been so for the past 2 miles. It is also awesome; the hard workout and feeling when you're done, that nice little exposure to outside when one is otherwise stuck in an office.
That stretch of road isn't as dangerous as I thought. I forget that when you are biking you have one huge advantage you forget about when you are driving: you don't have blind spots* and you can hear cars coming from far off. Thus all I had to do was wait at a pullout at the base of The Narrows until I couldn't see or hear any cars, then start up it at top speed, staying toward the middle of the lane instead of hugging the curb as one usually does, just to make sure any cars that start coming would see me. They did, and it was no problem.
There's a lot to learn about safe and assertive traffic-integrated biking, and I would call that a pretty advanced technique. I've found there are other situations when a biker should, for the better safety of both himself and motor vehicles, take to the middle of the lane, One is in slow-moving downtown type traffic, in spots where there are many consecutive red lights and where parallel parked cars along the side of the road can be a hazard. In those situations, cars won't be able to drive any faster than you can bike before you'll both have to stop at a light again, and it is more dangerous for both of you to deal with the car trying to pass when you should both be focusing on pedestrians, car doors, and fast-changing traffic signals.
*You have a better field of view, however, looking over one's shoulder should be done with great care.
Eh, today I did it. It was way too hot, because at 44F you really need warmth downhill, but really bake in whatever you're using to get that warmth going uphill, and it's pretty miserable trying to go fast uphill when it's dangerous biking and you're cooking in your own personal oven and have been so for the past 2 miles. It is also awesome; the hard workout and feeling when you're done, that nice little exposure to outside when one is otherwise stuck in an office.
That stretch of road isn't as dangerous as I thought. I forget that when you are biking you have one huge advantage you forget about when you are driving: you don't have blind spots* and you can hear cars coming from far off. Thus all I had to do was wait at a pullout at the base of The Narrows until I couldn't see or hear any cars, then start up it at top speed, staying toward the middle of the lane instead of hugging the curb as one usually does, just to make sure any cars that start coming would see me. They did, and it was no problem.
There's a lot to learn about safe and assertive traffic-integrated biking, and I would call that a pretty advanced technique. I've found there are other situations when a biker should, for the better safety of both himself and motor vehicles, take to the middle of the lane, One is in slow-moving downtown type traffic, in spots where there are many consecutive red lights and where parallel parked cars along the side of the road can be a hazard. In those situations, cars won't be able to drive any faster than you can bike before you'll both have to stop at a light again, and it is more dangerous for both of you to deal with the car trying to pass when you should both be focusing on pedestrians, car doors, and fast-changing traffic signals.
*You have a better field of view, however, looking over one's shoulder should be done with great care.
Monday, October 25, 2010
The Benefits are Marginal and the Costs are Just Annoying
Every quarter or so I get struck by the inspiration to incorporate the city bus into my transportation planning. Yay environment, yay the ease and convenience of letting someone else drive for me, and all that.
Every time I do this, I am hopeful of having something remotely resembling the quick, easy, and novel experiences with public transportation that I have had in other places. I was once pleasantly rewarded when returning after a previous long absence to find that they had finally started announcing when the bus would be approaching the next stop, as well as what the next stop would actually be--since this doesn't coincide with what the maps indicate as often as one would expect.
Other than that, however, these three things always happen:
1) The bus is at least fifteen minutes late, except for that one time when it was twenty minutes early
2)I get hit on
3)The bus driver is unpleasant to me
(note: number 3) occurs in direct proportion to number 1), but so does passenger irritation, so we're just a whole busload of irritable people)
Couple this with one-hour frequency and a late bus resulting in missed connections at the transit center, and the fact that even without the extra time factored in it still costs me more to ride it than it would to drive, and the obvious question is why the heck would I rationally chose to do this?
Because the commute to my new work is 99% bike-able (flat and bike lanes the whole way, even!), except for that 1% that's on a steep, curvy, narrow road in between two very sharp banks in a location where the speed limit doesn't seem to concern anyone much. That is incredibly frustrating, because this is about 90% Windowless Basement Office Job and if I can't bike to work then I worry I'm never going to get any outdoor exercise again. So I was hoping the bus, with its handy snap-em-on bike rack in the front that the city planners keep raving about, could take me across that 1%. And it can and I care, you know, and really, what's the point in whining about my little annoyances when some folks don't even have a car they have the luxury of trying to leave at home for the sake of air quality, exercise and frugality?
Those three factors still make me not want to do it though--and so I know I won't. I'll start braving The Narrows instead.
Every time I do this, I am hopeful of having something remotely resembling the quick, easy, and novel experiences with public transportation that I have had in other places. I was once pleasantly rewarded when returning after a previous long absence to find that they had finally started announcing when the bus would be approaching the next stop, as well as what the next stop would actually be--since this doesn't coincide with what the maps indicate as often as one would expect.
Other than that, however, these three things always happen:
1) The bus is at least fifteen minutes late, except for that one time when it was twenty minutes early
2)I get hit on
3)The bus driver is unpleasant to me
(note: number 3) occurs in direct proportion to number 1), but so does passenger irritation, so we're just a whole busload of irritable people)
Couple this with one-hour frequency and a late bus resulting in missed connections at the transit center, and the fact that even without the extra time factored in it still costs me more to ride it than it would to drive, and the obvious question is why the heck would I rationally chose to do this?
Because the commute to my new work is 99% bike-able (flat and bike lanes the whole way, even!), except for that 1% that's on a steep, curvy, narrow road in between two very sharp banks in a location where the speed limit doesn't seem to concern anyone much. That is incredibly frustrating, because this is about 90% Windowless Basement Office Job and if I can't bike to work then I worry I'm never going to get any outdoor exercise again. So I was hoping the bus, with its handy snap-em-on bike rack in the front that the city planners keep raving about, could take me across that 1%. And it can and I care, you know, and really, what's the point in whining about my little annoyances when some folks don't even have a car they have the luxury of trying to leave at home for the sake of air quality, exercise and frugality?
Those three factors still make me not want to do it though--and so I know I won't. I'll start braving The Narrows instead.
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