9 posts tagged “bike commute”
Minneapolis regularly comes in 2nd in the nation for percentage of bike commuters (only Portland is ahead of us). And let's not forget that Portland bikers aren't riding in the dark through inches of snow, slush, and ice for six months out of the year.
This year the number of people in Minneapolis who are bike commuting DOUBLED. We are nipping at your heels, Portland! Hear our tires and feel our frost-bitten wrath!
Are you effing kidding me? Did this guy send out press releases or something? The only thing that is unusual is that he's calculating the money he will save and then sending it to Africa (which you don't find out until the end of the article). While LaFave sounds like a great guy who has made a smart decision, please do some research. Thousands of people have given up their cars...not just for thirty-one days, but for life.SHEBOYGAN, Wis. - Brian LaFave couldn't care less how high gasoline prices climb these days — he's parked his pickup truck and is refusing to buy gas for a month, possibly longer.
"The goal is to not use one drop of gas for 31 days," LaFave said, calling it his personal stand against the oil companies.
Now LaFave, 31, is riding his bicycle or walking everywhere he goes. He won't even let friends pick him up unless they already planned on being in the neighborhood.
Brian LaFave, 1; AP, 0.
I'll be quiet now, I guess. Maybe this will inspire more people to do the same. Maybe they can get famous too!
Heck, maybe I should send out press releases about my personal life...I bet it works for Paris Hilton.
(I swear I think about other things than biking, but I haven't had a chance to write about them.)
You can tell because the lilacs are preparing to blossom and the Fearsome Fleet of Skinny Terror is back on the trail:
In sillier news, the Bike Center opened today and somebody had the seriously clever thought: What if we set up the speech-givers on one side of the trail, and the audience on the other side? Despite being separated by about six feet of pavement, this ensures that our cameras will be constantly interrupted by the bikers who actually, you know, have to get to work and stuff. It's like setting up a press conference on opposite sides of a highway. Talk about awkward.
In sadder news, I stuck a book in my pack of stuff and in my sleepy state thought that it would be secure there. Lo, I got to work and no book. It was brand new! I'd barely even cracked it! At least it's a sunny day, so assuming that everybody just leaves it where it fell, I might find it on my way home. Alas, I can't really go hunting for it till after work. Poor book. Poor me. I hope some other writerly type finds it, if I don't get to keep it.
In inspiring news, here is a blog post from a brand-new bike commuter. Hooray!! It's a success!
It's sunny and it was 33 degrees when I rode in! Beautiful.
My new riding theory is to intentionally go slow on my way to work or any time I'm feeling exhausted or stressed on the bike. I can comfortably go 4-5 mph faster, but it only adds 5-7 minutes to my commute and I get to work feeling a lot less sweaty and near to death.
Anyway it was a nice ride, employing my theory of going slower to save time. I got to work and dunked my newly shorn head in the sink, then realized that I forgot my towel, but whatevs. This is why God gave us paper towels. I think I love my new haircut because I feel like it looks okay post-ride. Two thumbs up for Stephanie at Mezzanine!
Tonight I start my new class at the Loft--Alternative Travel Writing. This involves an adventure as I try to get there by bike. I don't really understand the University area but I'm sure I will prevail. That big bridge that collapsed doesn't help matters any. Anyway, I am excited for my bike adventure and I'm excited to go back to the Loft. There is a feeling of rightness that I get there. I feel calm and confident. I think I have felt that way since the first day I went there. Classes are not terribly cheap, but they are usually good. I figure it works out.
Spring is coming! Today it will be over 42 degrees! This is so unbelievably pleasant!
As usual.
It's Friday and in celebration of such, I decided to reward myself (for living) with a Coke and some sunflower seeds. I seem to have (again) broken my addiction to Coke and really only drink it on occasion. When I'm not in the throes of addiction, I don't suck it down with the fury and passion of a thousand Draculas consuming the blood of innocent children and nuns. Seriously, I used to drink half a can in one giant gulp of desperation. I craved the acid, the bubbles, the sugar, the caffeine. I would be distracted from my work thinking about it.
I raise a glass (of Coke) to this current rehab period lasting for my the rest of my life. I can never quite convince myself that I should not drink sodas ever again, even though the clear fact of it is that I should not drink sodas ever again. Days like today, when I relent and let myself enjoy some of the goodness, are dangerous. I will not allow myself to believe this sweet acidic, battery-acid-removing nectar is something I should be drinking regularly!
Other disconnected thoughts:
I always feel smug about people dropping $4 on coffee every day, because everything I read about saving money says that to cut out the Starbucks first and foremost. Then I realized my bus costs $4/day. I have to get back onto the bike! I have been lazy. I have been enjoying arriving at work unsweaty and on-time. But I'll save my $4/day...$20/week...$80/month...$960/year! Jeebus! Admittedly I do like to pamper the bike and spend money that way, but at least I get use out of it. It doesn't just go into the gaping maw of the bus, never to be seen again. And let's be honest--I'll be spending the money on the bike either way.
The bike and I had a big fight recently. Riding was slow, and it made my back hurt. I couldn't figure out why the hell Lysander was so sluggish; Lysander couldn't figure out why the hell I didn't air up her tires. I had to ride hard to a show I was late for, face first into a snow storm, winds of 10-20 mph on two very low tires. Sure, the increased rolling resistance probably kept me upright in the snow but DANG it was slow. And sort of embarrassing, because they were...excessively low. Plus the seat was not in the right position. Which explains both the sluggishness and the back pain. Shameful. I'm surprised I didn't ruin the tires or the wheels (or my back). Whoops. I'm still a n00b; what can I say?
So, I aired her up, fixed the seat, bought PowerGrips and a book about riding/maintenance. I seem to have made it up--riding has been joyous and invigorating lately. I feel like she and I are ready to take on the summer together. Whenever it bothers to get here.
In still other news, biking in the snow has really improved my riding skills. Pedaling away with the bike fishtailing and squirming, never quite sure where the road stops and the giant pile of snow begins...giant puddles (in New Mexico, we call them "lakes") that are possibly frozen but maybe just gross slush...learning to take slow, wiiiiiide turns, lest the bike go horizontal below me. My arms feel stronger from holding the wheel steady as I cross ruts in the snow. When I started, I couldn't believe the bike was supposed to feel that squirrelly, but I've calmed down and learned to enjoy it.
When I learned to drive, I was terrified at how much the car moved as soon as you took your foot off the break. You know....that gentle rolling. That extremely slow and unscary rolling. It freaked me out so bad and took a concentrated effort to get my foot off the brake and let the car roll forward. It's like that at first, except fun because you don't have to worry about running over grandmas at 4 mph on a bike in the snow.
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Um...finally. Uh...let's see. There was one more thing...
Um. I got nothin'.
Have a good weekend!
It's not the bitter cold that makes my face ache.
It's not the way my glasses fog up as soon as I slow down.
It's not the ice or the snow.
It's not the amount of time it takes to bundle up.
It's not arriving at my destination sweating and yet cold to the touch with numb toes.
It's not my frozen freewheel.
All of thoese challenges are manageable and sometimes even enjoyable.
No...
It's all the freaking drivers honking and yelling at me.
WTF, Minnesota. In the summer, I get honked at maybe once every couple of weeks. In the winter, I get honked at two or three times a day.
Yesterday I got honked at by a school bus. Shove it, school bus!
This weekend I was imagining a bike/boat that you could pedal around and then take the bike out of and ride. This isn't quite the same but it's pretty amazing....coolest commute ever.
In other news, it was -12 F this morning when I came to work, so I guess I'm glad I didn't ride. I GUESS. If I have to be glad about something, I'll be glad about that. Bah.
An excerpt from his email to me:
Yeah, you seem to love biking to work more than life itself.
I guess it's obvious when all my post-bike-commute emails are like, "WHEE LIFE IS GREAT!", and all my post-bus-commute emails are, "OH GOD I NEED A NEW LIFE."
D'oh.
Yesterday a squirrel was in the road, head turned and paw up, frozen in that you-didn't-see-me pose squirrels sometimes do. And then I realized the reason for his guilty expression: He had an entire sugar cookie with orange frosting and Halloween sprinkles on top clenched between his little teeth. Good work, little buddy!
...your first thought when contemplating an upcoming bad day at work is: At least I get to ride in.
