Better is in the eye of the beholder

A week or so ago, my mainly internet but sometimes in real life friend, Snak Shak, said there's a better way to get downtown than Park/Portland. Starting the next day, I stopped using Park/Portland, because I knew he was right. I gave Chicago the old college try, but I'm not convinced. It took me a few days to get the feel of the traffic flow, but for me Chicago still has one main strike against it. Specifically, there's no good way to get onto the Greenway that doesn't involve stairs. The closest rideable entrance I found was at 11th, and to get there you need to cross Chicago against the flow of traffic, then battle the traffic coming out of the Allina. Plus, the buses on Chicago were not fun. Truthfully, I didn't find it pleasant.

I tried some other alternates over the last week as well. My current favorite seems to be under construction. With the extension of the bike lanes further north on Minnehaha, it makes that route a lot more attractive going north of the Greenway. It also lets me avoid the construction currently happening on the LRT trail. So I take Minnehaha to the detour point at 24th St, cross the curly bridge over Hiawatha, and then take 11th Ave north into downtown by way of Elliot Park. It does seem to shave about 10 minutes off the Park/Portland route, and eliminates a lot of the Park/Portland speed traffic. But still, it seems there should be a better way.

The Cat Cave?

Snak Shak, I think I found it's lair...

Open letter to the City of Minneapolis

Earlier this week, a cyclist was killed in the recently redesigned bike lane on Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis.

Police said the bicyclist and a Quicksilver Express Courier delivery truck were southbound on 1st Avenue about 2:30 p.m. when the truck turned right, striking the cyclist in the intersection.

The cyclist was in a designated bike lane on the right side of the road as he approached the intersection, police said.

The definition of this type of accident, in cycling terms, is a Right Hook. The fact that it has a name shows that it's something that happens far too often. And in Minneapolis, not only is there the opportunity for a right hook, but a less common left hook as well thanks to several high use bike lanes located on the left side of one way streets. On my commute I ride past the ghost bike for Dennis Dumm, who was also killed by a truck while riding in a designated bike lane.

The City of Portland had a similar issue in 2007, when 3 cyclists were right hooked in designated bike lanes. Two died, and one was seriously injured. This caused Portland to install "bike boxes" at several intersections. A bike box is nothing more than green paint which allows cyclists to pull ahead at a light and have a spot that is visible and out of the blind spot of cars. Do they work?

Increasingly, the answer appears to be a resounding “Yes!” On the heels of that tragic autumn of 2007, there were no cyclist fatalities in Portland in 2008. Since then, there have been some cyclist fatalities in Portland—but there hasn’t been a single right-hook fatality at any bike box. Moreover, a study recently conducted by the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation at Portland State University has confirmed that bike boxes work. Researchers found that both motorists and cyclists exhibit high rates of compliance and understanding about bike boxes, with motorists exhibiting an increase in the rate of yielding, and both motorists and cyclists indicating that they perceive the intersections to be safer with the bike boxes installed.

Minneapolis was voted the #1 cycling city in the United States this year. But, if something isn't done to make cycling safer, something as simple and cheap and effective as a bike box, that designation will seem somewhat hollow.

New link for ya

If you're not already reading The Old 3 Speed Gallery, you should be. And if you have a 3 speed that hasn't been featured there yet, let me know. Somehow I'm now in charge.

http://threespeedgallery.blogspot.com/2010/10/meet-new-boss-same-as-old-boss.html

Taxes

I found a quick link to an article about taxes and biking. Most every cyclist has heard the old "bikes shouldn't ride on the road, they don't pay taxes" argument. This short, easily readable argument shows why road costs are actually improved by cyclists.

http://www.grist.org/article/2010-09-27-why-an-additional-road-tax-for-bicyclists-would-be-unfair

I think there are probably flaws in this argument. The author states that 6-7% of road taxes are paid by motorists, and increasing cyclists wouldn't amount to a significant decrease in this. And the remaining 93-94% is paid by property taxes and the general fund. But later she says that we would need 12 cyclists for every driver to balance the street budgets. Something's got to give. But it's still interesting.

Bloggy blog blog

It's been kind of a bloggy week this week, almost like the old heyday of the blog. I biked to work all 4 days I went into the office, first time that's happened in I can't remember when. And the day I worked from home I went for a run with the Mrs., so I didn't even slack off that day!

Monday the temp was 42 degrees when I walked out the door. It was a cool morning and I was glad I walked back into the house and grabbed my vest. Mainly because it had my full finger gloves in the pocket, which I stopped and put on about a mile into the ride. And I kept them on the whole way into work. Quite a contrast to Friday, when we had a high temp of 85.

One of the more exciting things about this week was a couple of unplanned encounters. Wednesday I ran into a Mplsbikelove.com person on the way home. She was riding along and had just seen a small version of a penny farthing being ridden by a gentleman with a black sweatsuit and jericurl. Oddities abound in the bike lanes of MPLS.

The other exciting bit of news was that I received an unexpected piece of information about my bike via email.

Pete,
I saw an old bike blog, from 2005, I think. Anyway, you had a Kuwahara bike on there that you couldn't read the model name on. Just wanted to tell you that it's a Pulsar. I just bought one the other day for $25 and have been trying to research what I have when I came across your blog. you may have found that out in the last 5 years, but if not, then now you know.
later,
amy

The post she references is this one, I assume. On reading this post from 2008, I had to laugh a bit because the bike hasn't changed significantly since I posted this. I'd said that I was going to get a better wheelset, but I'm still running the same mismatched wheels I originally mounted. I haven't gotten new brake pads, either. And the Suntour derailleur still doesn't have enough reach to get into the biggest or smallest cogs. But that's the way I've been riding it. Just to show I'm not a complete slug, I have mounted a rack with a homebuilt wooden box for carrying my messenger bag. So all is not lost.

I did some googling and found a few more references to a Kuwahara Pulsar than I'd found from just googling "Kuwahara Bike". But it's still a pretty limited topic on the 'net. I exchanged a couple of emails with Amy and she has promised to send pictures of her find when she's cleaned it up a bit. If/when she does, I'll be sure to post them. And if anybody else has info on the Kuwahara Pulsar, feel free to pass it along. Thanks, Amy!

No Ziggy

I saw this video on a couple of bike blogs, but didn't watch it until this weekend. For some reason, I had Mick Ronson in my head when I saw the name. So I was surprised to see this is a different Ronson. Still enjoyable, a fun song and video, even if it's not made by an official Spider From Mars.

August

Did I really only ride my bike 3 times in August?

Stolen bike alert

Attention Twin Cities cyclists! Last night, Brother Yam was overserved and chose the honorable option of taking a cab home instead of trying to pilot his Big Dummy in a haze. To reward him, some bad karma loving scoundrels stole the Dummy. It was locked up around 34th and the Parkway. A picture of the bike is below, but I don't think he had the cooler mounted. Keep your eyes peeled!

Open letter to a dumbass

Dear Dumbass,

The sidepath on the Mendota Bridge is indeed a scenic and picturesque location.  It is also, however, a section of path that is only about 8 feet wide and bordered on both sides by concrete barriers.  This does not leave a lot of margin for error.  So, while capturing a photo of your pal riding in front of you is a nifty souviner of your evening, taking both hands off the handlebars to take the photo might not be the most advisable course of action.

 

Now, assuming you choose to ignore this piece of advice, I would say that if you choose to ride no handed on the narrow, concrete lined path, you probably shouldn't do it while there is oncoming bike traffic.  Just one more variable you can't control, if you catch my drift.

 

But, should you choose to ride with no hands on a narrow path with oncoming traffic I would advise you to make sure your skilz are such that you can actually ride your bike in a straight line.  If that's beyond your capabilities, then you may want to pay extra attention to your surroundings to see whether or not you are drifting directly into the path of an oncoming cyclist (i.e. me).  Any cyclist who sees another object heading straight for him or her with no apparant concerns about spatial relationships or potential for impact could find the situation somewhat alarming.  And this could cause the alarmed cyclist to, once you have realized your error and corrected at the last possible moment, call you a dumbass.  Loudly.

Le Tour

I haven't been following the Tour very closely this year, due to Versus somehow not being a part of our basic satellite package any longer.  That, along with Gopher Hockey, was one of the main arguments for keeping satellite.  So the Mrs. finally made the call and our satellite service will end on July 28.  I'm going to miss hockey, and Mad Men, but that's about it.

 

In the mean time, I wanted to call your attention to a great set of TDF photos from The Big Picture.  Worth a look.

Short notice, long weekend

Ahoy, Holiday Weekend off the port bow!

I realize that it's short notice and a long weekend that lots of people will be out of town for. But I thought I would put the "Beer on!" call out and see if anybody can make it. Sometimes it's surprising how many people don't go away for the 4th. Anyhow, if anybody is interested in grabbing a beer after work Friday the 2nd at Sea Salt, leave a comment or shoot an email. The fabulous Mrs. Velocipete may even show off her sassy new hairstyle! 4:30-5ish or thereabouts?

If folks are busy/gone/don't care, that's fine too. No worries.

David Byrne likes Minneapolis

David Byrne was in town last week. He wrote up a nice little blog entry on his time both here and in Chicago, which can be found here. He doesn't say much that a St. Paul/Minneapolis resident wouldn't already know, but it does make the cities sound pretty good.

Haulin'

In an effort to spark some good old fashioned blog-style one upmanship (remember blogs? Quaint!), I have to post some pictures of what I dragged home on Tuesday. Snak Shak hauled a pizza home the other night "using only a woman's scarf, an inner tube and a carabiner from my key chain."

Tuesday night, I was riding home along Minnehaha Ave and saw an old hose reel. I'd been on the lookout for one, inspired by my father-in-law. He uses a hose reel to store his extension cords. So I stopped off and, hearing music from the backyard, walked around to the back and asked the owners if they were looking to get rid of this (it was by the garbage). After getting permission, I lashed it to my bike box using the one bungee cord I happened to have. I made it the remaining 6 miles or so without incident.




And yes, I do have two large vehicles with wood siding. Envy me.

Rubber duckie, you're the one

"It's amazing what a duck can teach you."
-Curt Ebbesmeyer, oceanographer

I was gonna write about Bike to Work day, which was today, but got sidetracked. Maybe later. So what sidetracked me? I saw a neat little article about rubber duckies. I'm going to summarize, but there's more details here. Back in January 1992 a container ship crossing the Pacific Ocean somehow dumped a huge container full of rubber duckies (and froggies, and turtles, and beavers). Somewhere in the neighborhood of 29,000 of the little buggers. They floated around the northern Pacific for 10 months, caught in a big vortex, and finally started washing ashore in Alaska in late 1992.

Fast forward three years, and the ducks are showing up all over the Pacific. They have been spotted in Japan, Hawaii and the west coast of North America. Over the next five years, between 1995 and 2000 the ducks cross the Arctic and start reaching the North Atlantic. By 2007, the first British Invasion by a duck is reported. The details of this one are well documented, as in 2003 the company that manufactured the ducks began offering a reward of a $100 savings bond for each duck found and reported. Eric Carle (any parent will recognize this name) even wrote a book about it, called 10 Little Rubber Ducks.

It was a neat story, how oceanographers and NOAA and other folks used the duck spill to learn about the earth's oceans and show how all the oceans are truly interconnected in a real and tangible way. But then I read that the estimates of the Deepwater Horizon spill may be only half of what they originally thought. The flow rate may be as high 40,000 barrels (1.68 million gallons/6.36 million liters) per day. Significantly more than 29,000 ducks.

Bike to Work week - mostly blown

So far Bike to Work week for me has been a complete Fail. Monday, I worked from home unexpectedly as the daughters had candy launcher projects that needed to be taken to school. They were too big to fit in the huge wagon, and The Wife didn't want to drive them to school with a catapult strapped to the roof of the wagon. I didn't mind so much. Tuesday, it was raining. Today was my Dad's retirement party, and I knew I wouldn't have time to get cleaned up and changed so I opted to drive.

But there's still tomorrow. I'm leading a convoy yet again from Minnehaha to the Government Plaza festival. Though when I check the Bike/Walk to Work site, I don't see my route listed for some reason. Which means it will be another low turnout year. But I don't mind.

I was excited to see that there is a new bike sharing kiosk that was installed this weekend near my building. Actually, on the sidewalk that abuts my building. They couldn't make things more convenient for me if they tried. Hopefully the bike program will take off.

For those who want to know, the details of tomorrow's ride are:

Gathering at Sea Salt, Minnehaha Park Pavilion at 6:30am

Departing at 6:45am
Stops:?
Arriving at Government Center 7:30am

Route: Minnehaha Ave to Greenway. Greenway to Park Ave. Park to Gov Center

I'll be wearing my bright orange shirt. Give a wave or a hello if you see me tomorrow. Cheers!

Meet the new car, same as the old car

Those of you who know me from real life have probably seen or heard about my "bitchin' wagon." Over the weekend, I decided to get a bit nutty and upgrade.

It's the Collector's Edition. It's OK to be jealous.



Those of you who are paying close attention will see the opportunity here. While the wife encouraged me to get this wagon, she doesn't want two of these monstrosities hanging around the place. And I somehow doubt I could get them both in the garage at the same time. So the other one is available. Inquire within. ;-)

Bike to Work week

Once again, I'll be leading a bike convoy from Minnehaha Park to downtown Minneapolis for Bike to Work week. I realize that National Bike to Work week is long over, but the City of Minneapolis decided to be different this year. Hoping for a warmer morning to encourage more participation, I believe. Here's the basic details of what will be coming, starting next Saturday the 5th of June:

Saturday, June 5 (Kick Off)
Twin Cities Heart Walk - Hosted by Target Field! more...
National Trails Day
Greenway Challengemore...

Sunday, June 6
Grand Old Day - See Bike Walk Week in the parade or stop by the booth! Free bike parking on the Ayd Mill bridge and a free transit pass to help you get there. more...
Tuesday, June 8
Film Screening: Beyond the Motor City - 7pm, Oak Street Cinema. Q&A to follow with director Aaron Woolf and local bicycle business leaders and activists. more...

Wednesday, June 9
Women's Wednesday - Wear red to support women's health and join the fun with morning and evening rides and a photo contest. more...

Thursday, June 10
Bike Walk to Work Day - Featuring Celebrations Locations all over town. more...
Nice Ride bike sharing program launch - Noon ride along Nicollet Mall in Downtown Minneapolis, from the Central Library to Peavey Plaza

Sunday, June 13
Bike to the Twins Game - Presented by OptumHealth (wut?). Gift bags to the first 1000 fans who bike to the 1:10 pm game. A bike corral will be setup just off the Cedar Lake Trail on Glenwood in Ramp A in addition to the 400 ramps around the ballpark.
Volunteer for one of the events, to lead a ride into town or to help spread the word in your neighborhood or office. Bike/Walk is looking for sponsors and more celebration locations for these events. Contact the organizers for more information.

Check out the Bike to Work website for more info, and don't forget to register. Hopefully, I'll see you Thursday morning if you're a South Mpls to Downtown commuter!

Blog up

This past Friday, a few local bike types responded to a call put out by Mr. SnakShak to have a beer or three at the end of a long work week. The timing turned out perfect as the two weeks prior were cold and rainy, but Friday was partly sunny and the temps cracked into the 70s. Beers were drank, tales were told, laughs were laughed. I'm glad I went, and if the call goes out and schedules allow, I'll do it again. And next time I'll try to post something here in advance to get the word out to more like minded folk.


Laughs were indeed laughed.


Brother Yam and Jim K. ponder the imponderable.


Kay and Joe enjoy the first sun we've seen in weeks.


A beer/bike tableau.


I think his hair really is getting fuller and thicker.


Despite Joe and Molly's valiant attempt, Brother Yam and I won the "Cutest Couple" award. But it was a close contest.


Yam influencing the judges.

Angel, my Angel

Long time readers of this blog may remember that I have a special relationship with The Angel Formerly Known as Specialized. She first came to my attention during the 2006 Tour of California, and became something of a celebrity in the cycling world in 2007. Sadly, Specialized decided not to renew her as a spokes-angel for the 2008 cycling season. I lamented this fact in January of 2008 on the blog, and surprise surprise got a comment from the angel herself, Jana Ireton:

Hello Pete,

I see my heavenly news travels fast. I wanted to personally send you kisses saying thank you for posting me on your blog these past couple of years. I'm very happy that you've haven't forgotten about me and hopefully you never will.

Many Thanks, Jana

With kisses! Clearly, this was a high water mark for this blog. But just as time heals all wounds, it also makes memories fade. And I'm sorry to say that I kind of forgot about The Angel. But apparently, she didn't forget about me. I was surprised to get another comment from Jana on last week's Duathlon post.

Hi Pete, awesome job on all your multi-sports, especially the 7K event with your wife. My dad and I just participated in the Avia Wildflower Triathlon 2wks ago.

I wanted to send you the wonderful news that I will be wearing the wings again this year for Tour of California 2010. It has been 2 years since my last appearance and I am happy to announce I have a new sponsor this year with Team Echelon as "The Angel of Echelon".

Please see press release here:
http://www.echelongranfondo.org/portland/index.html

My mission this year as protector and healer extends beyond the road race of energizing the peloton at TOC working with the Echelon beneficiary partners and spreading good will and encouragement to those who need it the most. Team Echelon is gearing up for our Gran Fondo on May 23rd this year in Napa, CA. Our fundraising partnership benefits LIVESTRONG® and local cancer institutions, Queen of Valley Hospital and the Martin O’Neil Cancer Center. Later this year in the fall on Sept. 26th, another Echelon Gran Fondo will follow in Portland, OR with the gracious assistance of professional cyclist Chris Horner serving as our ambassador. For anyone who would like to support our cause in the fight against cancer may do so at The Angel of Echelon's Team Page:
http://echelon.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=337492&team=3746060

Please look for my wings on the horizon at TOC 2010 Stages 2, 3, and 4.

Your Angel of Echelon,
Jana Ireton
(please credit all photos taken by Michael Sexton)

This can only mean one thing: Ms. Ireton is positively smitten with me. And she's gotten a snappy new outfit to impress me.








More high res photos (by Michael Sexton) of the lovely new outfit can be found here.