Facing Your Fears, and Telling Them to get Stuffed

Sitting back and continually whining about being scared to do something will accomplish two things: You won't get anything accomplished, and you will annoy the hell out of everyone within earshot.

That is where I was earlier this week. As I mentioned last post, spring had sprung, and I was lamenting my fears of commuting to work.  My dear, sweet wife - whose patience with my complaining I'm sure was wearing thin - was beginning to ask when I was going to start riding with increasing frequency. She was even going as far as suggesting that I take a "practice ride" around the neighborhood to gauge my readiness for commuting by bike again.

Yesterday - along with commemorating the arrival of Christianity to Ireland by wearing an overabundance of green and drinking in some cases an obscene amount of green beer - was the opening day of Salt Lake City's bike share program for 2016 (Green bikes + St. Patrick's day = good marketing strategy). As an enthusiastic supporter of the bike share program, I had to take one of the bikes out for a lunchtime roll.

Partly because of the nagging (my own, from inside my head, not my wife's. She really doesn't nag me) I decided to go on a longer ride than up to the local 7-Eleven for a drink.

After work, when I recounted my exploits of the day, My wife - along with being happy for my accomplishment - asked me "does this mean that you are going to ride to work tomorrow?"

The answer to that question turned out to be yes.

So... this morning, I gathered up all of my cycling necessities (except for the keys to my lock - I had to turn around a half-mile down the road and go back for them), and rode away into familiar, yet uncertain territory.

My commute is normally not one that warrants long, drawn out stories, wrought with harrowing close-calls and edge-of-your seat action. Today was no different. I made it to work with no problems to report. my leg survived - in fact it did better than my left leg. I'm sure that is a by-product of the one-legged squats that my physical therapist had me doing to strengthen my right knee. No KOMs were threatened this morning. 

Monday, I'm sure that I'll be back on the bike. My wife texted me later in the day and asked if I enjoyed it. You know what? I did enjoy being back on the bike. Even though it was tougher than I remembered, and I'm more tired than I was last time I commuted, I am happy that I rode. 

I'll leave you with this short quote, as it is appropriate for this, and many other situations we face in life...

The road to confidence is paved by daily accomplishments.                                                 KEITH JOHNSON

Back in the Saddle Again (reprise)

Yes, I know I've used that post title before, in fact I'm sure that if I wasn't too lazy to check this morning, I've used it more than once. Still, it stands as the title today. 

Several days ago, I was walking (still limping, but it's getting better) up the street to feed the addiction with large quantities of ice cold Dr. Pepper. As per usual, I was longingly looking at all the passing cyclists, and feeling the need to feed another addiction - the type that riding on a trainer indoors isn't satisfying. 

Recently when I've felt this pull, my body responds back "Not yet, buddy, you still need some more healing." This time, the response was, "Why not give it a shot, what's the worst that could happen? You have to return the bike to the docking station and walk (limp) back."

Emboldened by my body's laissez-faire attitude, I decided to give it a shot. 

The addiction also likes salty snacks, specifically 7-Eleven's Maple Bacon chips.

And it felt... surprisingly normal!

I don't know what I was expecting, maybe to get on the bike, discover that all of my balancing skills had evaporated over the past 4 months, and fall over. Or, learn that I don't remember how to steer a bicycle, and suddenly dart into traffic. Thankfully, neither of those scenarios played out, and I successfully rode the city bike back to the docking station near the day job's office. 

Success can be addictive, and just like my craving for caffeine, I soon found myself wanting more outdoor riding. The next day, I rode to and from the 7-Eleven! I'm still slow, and I can feel that the strength isn't completely back in the right leg, but it feels good to ride! 

After a couple days of caffeine runs, I decided to up the ante - multi-modal commuting. I could take the train by my house into the city, and ride a city bike the 1.4 miles from the central hub to my office. I don't feel strong enough to do the full 9 mile commute yet, but I know I could handle the shorter ride. 

Every day this week, I've ridden to and from the train station. It feels good to be a commuter again!

Video: How to Ride in the City (are you bike-curious?)

Grist published a short video yesterday on YouTube on how to ride your bike in the city.

For some reason, YouTube isn't letting me imbed it, so you can watch the video here.

It's a good little video that gives some quick pointers for those who are new to commuting. I liked that it mentioned "no spandex (well, it should be Lycra - cyclists do not wear spandex, but let's not be picky) required".

I like the video, it offers some good advice, it's distilled down to the basics: watch the door zone, hand signals, ride with traffic, etc... but it is stuff that beginners don't know.

I do have a couple of problems with it, however...

First off, our intrepid newbie commuter stops off for a "dount break" to recap what she has learned. She rolls up to the donut shop, leans her bike against some tables, and walks in to purchase the donut she will reflect over. All without locking her bike up.

... and your bike is going, going, gone!

I don't care where you live, even here in happy valley, you lock your bike. Unless, of course, you are wanting to help out the struggling bike theivery economy by giving them a freebie. They should have included a lock in the part where they are talking about gearing up.

In my opinion, if you are going to be commuting, a lock is as important as any other piece of your gear.

This next problem is more of the "really?" variety.

Our intrepid newbie commuter, now calm, cool and collected after eating her reflection donut is a pro. She's riding down the road to meet her friends for some lunch.

I can handle this

She heads over to the cafe, does a nifty "bar-spin, jump backwards off the saddle" dismount to impress her friends, and to show how calm, cool and collected she now is.

look at me! I am in no way a stuntman performing this trick!

Personally, I think that they should be more impressed with how she is able to change the type of bike, jacket style, and even her gender in order to pull off that trick.



how did you do it!

Just remember:

cars are big. be aware.

you are small. be careful.

but you can do this. be confident.

And most importantly, this is how the majority of people not on bikes view us:

A Bicycle Repair Station Located Where?!?

At a gas station, of all places!

I heard the new Smiths Fuel Center that recently opened on the corner of 500 E and 600 S in Salt Lake City had a bicycle repair station, so of course I went to check it out. Sure enough, right on the corner, behind the building there was a repair station complete with tools, integrated pump and workstand.

It's nice to see things like this popping up. Just another indication that Salt Lake City is trying hard to be more bike friendly. I hope that the stand isn't immediately vandalized, like I have seen with other outdoor workstands.

Spread the Bike Love with @ClifBar

Clif Bar wants to share the love, and say "great job" those of you who commute by bike to work, school, wherever!

Follow @ClifBar on Twitter, tweet a picture of your bike commute, and you  can win a care package from Clif Bar just like this one!

What is in this package? Well, you get 4 Clif Bars, a cool baseball cap, a couple of tire levers, and a shower cap.

Just kidding, it is actually a saddle cover so you don't have to ride home with a wet bum if you must park your bike out in the elements.

I guess it is a shower cap, after all...

Hurry! Supplies are limited, so tweet those pictures of your commute to @ClifBar!

Pictures from my commute.

Protected Bike Lanes in SLC

Salt Lake City has recently made some fairly large advances in their cycling infrastructure. Most Recently, they added a Cycle Track on 300 E between 600 S and 800 S, with a buffered bike lane until 900 S.

My normal commute takes me in the opposite direction, but last week, I was riding down to Sandy, and had the chance to try out the new lanes.

So, as you can see from the above pictures, a cycle track is essentially a protected bike lane. They moved the on-street parking away from the curb, and added a protected bike lane (a lane with a door zone) between the curb and the parking.  The 600 to 900 S block of 300 E was chosen for the pilot program because of it's relative proximity to downtown, popularity among cyclists, and light traffic (funny how those last two seem to frequently go together).  After getting input from residents, businesses, bicyclists, and the general public the cycle track may be extended, and implemented on additional streets. 

The cycle track model has been implemented in other cities around the United States with favorable results. 

Additional information about this, and other information regarding bicycling in Salt Lake City can be found at www.bikeslc.org.

Salt Lake's "Copenhagen Left"

Hot on the heels of the announcement that Salt Lake will be getting a Bike Share in 2013, I found this video.

Salt Lake has been doing a major facelift to its bicycle infrastructure over the past few years.

Along with the sharrow lanes that have multiplied - and now are on several streets in the downtown area, they painted a "Copenhagen Left" box at the intersection of Main St, and 200 S - an intersection that does not have a left hand turn.

Problem is, I don't think many people know what to do with this green box. Thankfully, BikeSLC has a YouTube video that does a great job of demonstrating how it works.

Give 'em the Shaft

The other day I was waiting at the bus stop for my ride home. Another bus pulled up to collect its riders, and I noticed that it had a bike on the front of it. I took a quick glance at the bike, and immediately noticed something was "not right". At first it looked like a typical commuter/hybrid bike, but there was a glaring difference. Can you see it?

How about a closer (sepia-toned) look?

No chain. Yes, this is one of those rare shaft-driven bicycles.

Shaft-driven bicycles have been around since the late 1800's, but they have never been a threat to the chain-driven bicycles we all know and love.

After seeing it, I had to wonder what the benefits and disadvantages of a shaft-driven bike are. Seeing as I have never ridden one, this is purely speculation on my part.

The benefits I can see would be less maintenance due to the sealed mechanism of the shaft, and a dirt-free operation. Disadvantages would be increased weight over a chain-driven bicycle, and I would assume it would be less efficient. Checking with the repositority of all cycling knowledge - Sheldon Brown's website  - gave similar answers.

I'm a huge fan of quirky and unusual bicycles, so I enjoy seeing something like this out on the roads.

btw, if you are interested, the brand is Dynamic.

Tales from the Commute

Most of the time – I would say somewhere in the mid to high 90 percentile – my only companion on the morning commute is my imagination. Rare is the crossing of paths with a runner, even rarer is seeing another cyclist out at that unholy hour.

Today I wasn’t alone on my commute. What makes this even more unique is that the other cyclist started from my neighborhood. I turned the corner off of my street and saw him ahead of me decked out in a reflective vest and lights (unlike the last commuter I encountered). As I came up next to him, we exchanged pleasantries. I didn’t recognize him as it was dark, and I didn’t recognize his voice. I didn’t hear any spark of recognition from him, so he must not have known me either. Perhaps a new resident of the neighborhood.

He must have continued on down the main road after I turned off to go to the bus stop, as I didn’t see him after that point. I don’t know where to or how far his commute was. I also wonder if this was a random one-time thing, or if he will become a regular fixture to my morning commute.

SLC Bike Share is Coming

I was out on the innerwebs this morning and I came across this link.

Intrigued, I clicked on the link for "Bike Sharing" to see what it had to say:

The Downtown Alliance, in cooperation with Salt Lake City, is working to bring bike sharing to downtown SLC. SLC Bike Share will be a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that will operate and manage the system of bicycles and kiosks.

SLC Bike Share will be a green organization that uses solar power to operate a network of fully automated kiosks (stations) and bicycles, provide local jobs, stimulate the SLC economy, and reduce our collective waistline.

Our pilot program will begin with 10 solar powered, automated, bicycle sharing stations place in strategic locations throughout downtown Salt Lake City. A total of 100 bikes will dispersed throughout the 10 station system to create a network of high-end commuter-friendly bicycles designed to make getting around downtown Salt Lake fun and easy.

If SLC Bike Share is a success, and we think it will be, the number of kiosks will be increased to create a more extensive downtown network. We hope to expand the program to include other areas of Salt Lake City, not just downtown.

If we are able to meet our fundraising goals, Salt Lake City can expect to have a pilot program ont he ground and operating by Summer 2012.

Please visit our Facebook page for more information and photos

By the pictures on their Facebook page, it looks like SLC Bike Share will be using the B-cycle bikes and kiosks.

More information as it becomes available.

Ignorance is Bliss?

I rode the Fuji this morning. I’m alternating between bikes so one doesn’t feel left out and unloved. I don’t want it to give me a flat (disgruntled bikes are the 6th leading cause of flats, you know)

I have everything set up approximately the same between both bikes, except for one fairly significant detail, no computer on the Fuji.

Riding the Fuji this morning, it felt faster than those mornings when I am riding the Specialized (aka, Pepto). I don’t know if it is actually faster, or if it is a trick of the mind.

Does not being tied to the numbers free me to enjoy the pure simplicity of riding a bike? Am I limited by my concern of where the numbers are?

I will eventually put a computer on the Fuji (I need a nickname for it, if anyone has any suggestions, leave them in the comments), which will tell me if it is faster, but I still won’t know if I was faster without it.
 

Yehuda Moon

Salt Lake City Bikeways Map

The 2011 edition of the Salt Lake City Bikeways map was released on May 20th.

The map shows preferred cycling routes, public transit, trailheads, and other places of interest to cyclists. 

You can download a PDF version of the map here, or you can pick up a  printed copy at your local bike shop. A waterproof edition - printed on plasticized paper is available for $4 at several of the downtown bike shops.

Tales from the Commute

This definitely falls into the “WTH” category.


I start my commute from my house to the bus stop at 5:30 in the AM. Thankfully, due to the time of the year, it is light enough that I don’t need a light to see my way any longer.

This morning, I started my commute on the Fuji – maiden voyage for me! More on that later – as normal. Some mornings, I’ll see the occasional jogger, this morning was nice and peaceful. No one else on the trail. I came up the little climb on my route, rounded the corner, and found this sitting in the middle of the trail.

I did not set up this shot, this is exactly how I found it.

Empties are uncommon, but not out of the ordinary. But a full, unopened bottle of Bud Light sitting upright in the middle of the trail at 5:30 in the morning is enough to make one stop and scratch his head. I love starting the day like this!

Now, on to the Fuji. The ride in on it was great, but I really think that I need to set it up as a dedicated Tri bike, or something else. I felt guilty taking the Fuji and leaving the Specialized at home. Is that weird? This the first time that I have had more than one bike of the same type, and the first time I have had to choose which bike to ride. It's like choosing which child is your favorite.



No, I did not drink the beer.

1 Car = 10 Bikes

As far as parking is concerned, that is.

Salt Lake City, in an effort to be more bicycle friendly has installed the first two - of what hopefully will be many more - bike parking corrals in the downtown area.

the corral in front of the Twilite Lounge at 347 E 200 S

Currently the corrals - which take the space of one parking spot and turn it into bike parking for 10 bicycles - are located in front of Squatters Pub and Grill, and Twilite Lounge. Other businesses are slated to get corrals soon. There is no cost to the business to have the city put one in for them.

Squatters Pub at 147 W Broadway (300 S)

The corrals are seaonal. they will be in place from April to November.

Salt Lake City is trying hard to be bike friendly. First with the sharrows  - which have been expanded from the initial one block section on 200 s to several roads that are too narrow for separate bike lanes - and now this. Let's hope this momentum keeps going.

The first bike commute of the year

I have a great commute story this morning.


Last night, I looked at the weather forecast. It said that today was going to be in the 50’s with a 30% chance of rain – I took that to mean that there’s a 70% chance of it not raining, so I decided to ride to the bus stop this morning.

I’ve mentioned my commute before, but to recap, I have a 5 mile ride from my house to the bus stop. Roughly 75% of that commute is on a shared-use path that runs along the only road from my subdivision to the part of town where the bus picks us up. For about 3 miles of the commute, there is nothing. No houses, no street lights, no buildings of any sort. Just the road, path, and lots of tumbleweeds and fields. Nothing.

Nothing, except the antelope that I’m convinced are waiting out in the field, just out of the range of my lights. Waiting to attack!

I also should mention that at this time of year, my morning commute is in almost complete darkness. Only my tiny little light, and the lights of the passing cars – which are more of a curse than a blessing. The car’s passing lights throw up some interesting shadows in front of me, sometimes making me think that there’s something else there. AAAAHH, ANTELOPE!

Enough of my (very real, and not at all irrational) fears, back to the commute.

So, I’m about a mile into “no-man’s land” enjoying the first commute of the year. My tiny little light is seeming a bit dimmer than usual. Probably need to change the batteries I’m thinking to myself as I ride along. The occasional passing car is creating strange and unusual shadows across the path,

AAAAAAHHH!! (not for effect, I actually said this)

About 2 feet in front of my wheel, a runner appeared out of the blackness. No blinky or any other light, no reflective clothing, just some person getting in their morning run. It took me by such surprise that I did yell out loud, probably scaring them. If so, it would only be fair since they scared the hell out of me!

The remainder of the commute was without incident. Nothing else jumped out at me, but I was definitely on guard until I reached the safety of the street lights and houses.

I’m going over to my local bike shop to buy a better light today.

We are traffic too! - another commuting story

I had an interesting experience on the commute home last night.

I was actually riding to my mom's house where I was going to meet my family and go out to Macaroni Grill for my wife's birthday dinner. I was riding on the side of the road - like a good cyclist, and was approaching a red light. A car pulled up right next to me, put on her blinker to turn right, then proceeded to be frustrated at me because I did not immediately move out of her way and let her get into the turning lane. She had several words for me, which I was completely unable to hear or comprehend because I do not read lips, and she did not roll down her passenger side window before trying to tell me how I was in her way and how dare I impede her travel on my lowly bike while she was in a far superior car. (I'm guessing at her rambling, because as I mentioned, I couldn't hear her.)

I calmly explained (without the use of fingers or expletives, mind you), my position. I'm sure my side of the debate fell on equally deaf ears - again because of the glass between us.

People in cars, we are traffic too! Just like you wouldn't expect another car to get up on the sidewalk and give you unimpeded right of way (unless you have a siren and flashing lights) please don't expect the same from us cyclists. What would have she done if I would have been in a car? She would have waited until I was past her, and then moved over into the turn lane. Why did she think it was okay to expect me to yield? Because I am smaller?

She ended up driving straight down to the next intersection to make her right turn, gesturing and uttering more insults against me, my linage, and all cyclists in general (again, guessing) as she drove past me. I waved and told her to have a nice day.

If she would have just treated me like any other user of the road, instead of an annoyance or someone who didn't belong in her way, she would have been on her merry with only a few seconds of inconvenience.

Please be considerate of us when we are out on the roads. We are slower, and smaller, but if you are patient, we will be out of your way in a few seconds.

Bike commuting update

Just a quick update on my bike commuting.

It's been almost two weeks since I "ditched the car" and started biking and riding the bus to work.

It couldn't be easier! I don't know why I didn't do this sooner. Oh yeah, inflexible work schedue thing.

I do have to leave the house a little earlier than I normally would, so I usually fix my lunch the night before so I don't have to rush in the morning. I have a nice, mostly traffic free ride (shared-use path most of the way) to the bus stop, and then a peaceful bus ride downtown.

The trip back is almost a repeat of the trip in.

In case there was any doubt. Yes, I do live in the boonies

Seriously, I don't know why more people don't do this! One tip, leave a pair of shoes at your office.  That way you don't have to carry the extra weight, and you aren't clomping around in your cycling shoes (this only applies if you have clipless pedals - like my bike does)

On a somewhat related note, the state of Utah is running their "Clear the Air Challenge" during the month of July. You register and log the individual car-trips you saved daily by choosing an alternate method of transportation - such as biking, carpooling, mass transit, or telecommuting. You can see how much co2 you prevented from being dumped in the atmosphere by making alternate traveling decisions, and you also have a chance of winning prizes. Go to http://www.cleartheairchallenge.org/ to register and find more information.

My thoughts on bike commuting so far.

It has been 2 days since I started commuting by bike/public transit (Monday was considered a holiday, and bus service wasn't operating so I was forced to drive to work.)

What I've noticed so far...

• I have a really easy commute. 5.1 miles to the bus stop on a shared-use path (the road has no shoulder, and I don't feel like playing dogdge-em with cars at 5:30 AM) with a small hill.
• There aren't very many people to share the path with at 5:30 AM.
• I do have to leave my house a little earlier than I would if I was driving.
• The hour I spend on the bus gives me plenty of time to catch up on my podcasts. Listened to the Velocast podcast this morning.
• The bus drops me off .7 miles from my office.

I haven't made the return trip yet. Friday - my first day of commuting by bike - I rode from my office to my Mom's house where we were staying for the holiday weekend. Only thing I am concerned about is if there are other commuters who ride their bike to the bus stop. There aren't any other bikes on my bus in the morning, but there is a later bus in the morning.  Each bus can carry two bikes.  I'd hate to be bike #3 seeing as there is no later bus heading homeward. We'll have to see.

Thoughts on Bike Commuting

I'm thinking about becoming a bike commuter.

Well, more to the point, an multi-modal commuter.

First, I need to explain my situation, and why it has taken me this long to make this decision. I live approximately 43 miles from my place of business. Up till about a year ago, the closest bus service was 18 miles away. Now, there is a bus stop about 5 miles from my house.

You are probably asking yourself, "Why didn't you start taking the bus last year?" Good question. The reason is that UTA, our transit service provider - in their infinite wisdom - decided to set the departure time of the last bus heading towards home at 5:00 pm, the time that majority of people employeed in the US of A get off work. The bus stop is 4 city blocks away from my office, and my employeer is not flexible in the work-schedule area.

Back to our story. Crunching the numbers, it wasn't cost-effective for me to drive to the bus stop, and pay for a monthly bus pass compared to driving to work. After riding on a vanpool that unfortunately disolved because the number of riders dropped below the number required to keep it active, I managed to carpool with a couple of co-workers. I still had to drive the 18 miles to catch the carpool, however, and I had to drive all the way in every other week.

Then my schedule changed.

Starting in July, I will be working 8:00-4:30. Not a huge change, but significant in a couple of ways. First, the co-workers I currently carpool with didn't get the same schedule. One of them is still 8-5, and the other is 9-6:30. I could still carpool with the one, but since he drives a full size blazer, he doesn't like to drive in, so I would probably be driving all the time. I don't like driving. The second significant change is now I am able to catch the bus that leaves downtown at 5:00.

So, there should be nothing stopping me from getting a monthly bus pass, biking the 5 miles to the bus stop closest to my house, riding the bus to work, and reversing the process in the afternoon. I'll save gas, and won't have to drive. I mentioned I don't like driving, right?

Except, I'm training for a triathlon. I can run anywhere, and I'll be biking almost every day. It's just the swimming that will prove to be a problem. The nearest pool is in Lehi. 17 miles away.

Maybe I'll be a bike 3 days a week, and drive to the pool on the other two. The pool is only a mile or so from the bus stop that goes to SLC.

Any thoughts?

Bicycle lift

This is a video of the bicycle lift in Trondheim, Norway. The lift was installed in September 1993 to help cyclists get to the top of the steep Brubakken hill. To operate the lift, you insert a keycard (available from a nearby bicycle shop), put your right foot on the foot rest, and sit back while the lift propels you up the hill at a leasurely 2 meters a second.

One reason most people give for not riding their bikes is that it is difficult, and they don't want to get sweaty, especially when commuting to work. Something like this would hopefully encourage more people to get out on their bikes. It is also minimally invasive, so one has to wonder why there aren't more bicycle lifts out there?