Zapped!

Yesterday my company had Bill Andre, one of the Commuter Connection guys, standing outside our building for 2 hours zapping bikes.   This will make sense in a minute.  Anyway, since we have strict requirements about who can be at our building we were asked to send a bikey-type representative to hang out with Bill and make sure he didn't get up to any nefarious doings (he didn't).

Bill came on this yellow trike with bags full of bits and bobs, the purpose of which he explained to just about every cyclist who entered our building between 6:30 and 8:30 AM.  You can see Bill's back to the far right as he talks Zapping to a cyclist.  I didn't think to actually take a decent picture of him.

This is Bill's seat cover, as it was threatening rain all morning.  It's nice because it will actually keep his seat dry and also advertises his cause.  He gave me an identical one for being such a good helper.  Lucky!

So if you haven't hear of ZAPTwinCities.org it's a new bike tracking program.  Not designed to track you a la PRISM, but designed to track how many bikes are out and about.  They attach a little plastic device to your front wheel as seen below:

 And there are dozens of Zap Stations around town.  Whenever your front wheel (and hopefully the rest of your bike and you) passes by one of these stations, there's some electronic magic and it records that you were there.  I checked the map to see which ones were near my commuting route and rode by a few just to see what happened.  For such a small sensor, the range is pretty impressive.  There's an audible "ping" when your zap thing is read, and I heard it from out in the bike lane on Portland and I also heard it from the Greenway (there's a reader by the Freewheel shop).  I slowed down a bit just because I wasn't sure it would work, but I think it would probably read you at speed.

The folks at Commuter Connection want to use all the data they collect to augment the manual bike counts and really get some every day hard data.  They plan to use this data to help build their business case in grant writing, helping cyclists get reimbursement from their HMO for activity and a bunch of other stuff that's good for cyclists.

Coming in the next few weeks they are going to integrate the Bike Sharing system into their zapping.  So every time you take a bike share bike you can have a zap recorded as well.  They have rewards for how many zaps you get.  If you're a Type A person, you an online dashboard so you can see how you compare to other registered cyclists (competition!).  And you are also eligible to win prizes based on the number of zaps you get.

At this point, you're probably wondering how you can get zapped yourself.  If you're reading this in a timely manner, it's currently Bike to Work week in the Twin Cities.  Bill is going to have a tent at the downtown Minneapolis commuter celebration tomorrow (Thursday, June 16, 2013) for the Bike to Work Day celebration at Government Plaza and he'll be zapping bikes.  He also said he hangs out on Nicollet Mall every Thursday looking for folks to zap.  And you can always call the Commuter Connection place and set up a time.  They'll come down to street level and take care of it.  Takes about 2 minutes.  St. Paulites, I didn't get the full story but I am assuming that they can help you out as well.

My one daughter had swim lessons last night, and the other daughter had her weekly Summer Orchestra rehearsal.  My wife took the swimmer, and we carpooled with another orchestra kid, which left me with a couple hours of alone time.  So, since it was a beautiful night and I'd already had my bike ride for the day I pulled out the scooter and just cruised around for an hour or so.  I found some fun twisty roads and learned that Dodd Road will take you right into St Paul.  I also visited the Pilot Knob Open Space, because I hadn't been there before.

I added this bit of whimsy to the access panel on the scooter.  However, I don't believe that the scooter will make it to 88mph unless I can lay my hands on some plutonium...

Stereophonic High Fidelity

I'd been pestering the Mrs. about getting one of those old-fangled console stereos for a while now.  I've got a bunch of vinyl in the basement that probably hasn't been played since I was in high school, since that's the last time I can recall having a functional turntable.  And I thought a console would fit well in our 1951 house with its mid-century modern thing going on.  She was not nearly as excited about this idea as you might expect.

Last week when taking daughter to her violin lesson I noticed a house with a Sold sign and various pieces of furniture on the lawn.  I gave it a quick gander (old habits from Moorhead fix up/clean up week die hard) but didn't notice anything special.  After the lesson, I took a closer look and then told daughter "We're going back."  Mixed in among the end tables and whatnot was this beauty of a Magnavox.

Daughter and I wrestled it into the back of the Roadmaster (Estate Wagon for the win!) and drove it home.  There it sat for nearly a week, as we were making a road trip to see Willie Nelson and I didn't have time to monkey with it.  Last night we wheeled it in to the location seen above.

It has a record player and an AM/FM radio.  And it actually works.  Sort of.  I believe I can fix it.  The pots are really scratchy, and the needle is shot.  But the turntable does work and I was able to eke out a little volume from the vinyl.  

It even had the owners manual! The records are some of mine, just for show.

 The contents of the envelope:

Yes, those are punch cards.  Kids, ask your parents if you don't understand.

Close ups:

Assuming I haven't out kicked my coverage and can actually get it working, this is going to be sweet.

Life on two wheels?

So far this year, it's been more about "Life on two feet".  I signed up for the Get Lucky again this year, and spent January through March running to get ready.  Most of my runs were indoor at the community center's track (11 laps = 1 mile) due to the prolonged and miserable spring weather we have had here in Minnesota.  Side note:  there's actually snow in the forecast for later this week.  In May, people.  But enough of that.

I'm still running and last week unofficially started my marathon training program.  Not that I have committed to doing a marathon, mind you.  But the wench signed up for the TC Marathon on the day of the Boston bombings, and I'll admit it's more than crossed my mind to do the same.  The only problem is that the longest I've ever run in my life is the 7k of Get Lucky.  So for now I'm following the plan and contemplating my options.

My two wheeling life has taken a bit of a turn.  Exhibit A:

It's a 1985 Honda Elite 150 I picked up in December.  It's an ugly little spud, but it's also super fun.  I haven't had a chance to do a lot of riding on it yet (see above crappy spring weather reference), but what I have done has been a hoot.

Beer Nirvana?

OK, maybe not nirvana.  But we've got it good up here, make no mistake.  I was just reading about this new restaurant called "Red Cow" and heard it had a great beer list.  So I checked it out:

http://redcowmn.com/beer/

36 taps, and 18 of them are MN beers.  And I looked at the list and said, "Meh.  I've seen better beer lists."  18 locally brewed beers and 36 choices, and that's just average?  Crazy talk.

When we were in San Antonio, Texas a week ago, the beer list at nearly every restaurant/bar was: Bud, Bud Light, Miller Light, and Shiner Bock.  You could throw in one or two variables (MGD Golden Draft Light!), but this was pretty close to what we consistently saw.  

If you like beer, this is a pretty great place to live.  Just had to get this off my chest.

How's your winter going?

River rat

I went out for a ride on the Minnesota River Bottoms trails this morning/afternoon.  It's a pity that I live so close to this great little urban wilderness and don't take advantage of it more often than I do.  I rode my old Miyata Shredder, which is the fattest-tired bike that I own.  It's no Pugsley, but it's about right for these trails.  Speaking of Pugsleys, I saw multiple pug tracks while I was down there.  There was a time when a Pugsley Sighting was an event, but with the fatbike explosion over the last few years it's hardly worth mentioning any more.  

Yes, I forgot my helmet.  Don't judge.

Highway 77, which is where I turned around.

The abandoned parking lot at 77 was vaguely creepy.  

Old school.  26", fully rigid, anodized bar ends, neon graphics.  What's not to like?

I chose not to ride this.  With no helmet, I figured I'd play it safe.  Yeah, that's it.

Greenway bike to the bar

The usual summer Sea Salt gathering never really happened this year. But I saw this article on vita.mn and wondered, could we pull one off before the weather turns?

http://www.vita.mn/food-drink/170392726.html

Rained out

I attach proof that though the weather was bad, at least two people showed up last Thursday. Anybody want to try for a less rainy day?

Pedal Power

The Big Picture, a photo blog from the Boston Globe, has a nice collection of bicycles around the world titled "Pedal Power". Take a look.

Bike to work day

I did make it over to Minneapolis Bike to Work day last week. It's just been one of those years when I haven't had a chance to reflect on anything. I caught part of the Mayor's speech, saw the new stamps, and nabbed a few stickers and maps. I even hobnobbed with Ray for a bit. Then I rode back to work, stopping for some pulled pork tacos at a food truck.

The celebration was the usual, and I enjoyed it. But I kind of missed the early morning celebration with coffee and whatnot. The lunchtime event just didn't quite have the same vibe. Change is hard, sometimes.

30 Days of Biking: Wrap up

In case you were wondering, I did complete the 30 days of biking challenge. There were a few rides at the end that were nothing more than a ride around the neighborhood to put the check in the box for that day, but they count according to the rules. Everything was on an actual bike, outside, no trainers or gym bikes were used in the completion of this goal. Which is something. The more important something is I'm still riding fairly regularly. Not every day, but most. Short rides, mostly just to the park and ride. But rides none the less. On a bummer note, Tuesday when I got back to the park and ride I unlocked, threw my leg over the top bar and went to pedal off home. Crunch! Catastrophic rear derailleur failure! I noticed while walking home that my rear shifter lever was in the "all the way down" position, when normally it's somewhere in between. So my guess is either somebody monkeyed with it while I was at work, or I bumped it during the unlocking process and didn't realize it. Either way, the resulting displacement of the derailleur caused the chain to bind and the force was too much for the derailleur. It's actually a blessing in disguise. When I bought the Kuwahara frame, it included a headset (Kuwahara branded, no less) and also front/rear Suntour derailleurs. I built the rest up with a mish-mash of new and used parts. I added 8 speed bar end shifters and an 8 speed rear cluster, but the derailleur never had the reach to get to all those gears. So I was effectively riding a 6 speed rear cluster, as the range prevented me from getting into the highest and lowest gears. Replacing it has always been on my list of things to do, but so far it hasn't been done. Now it will get done. It's just a question of when.

30 Days of Biking: Halfway

Still holding strong on the 30 Days of Biking challenge. Though the weather looks to become a bit more challenging for us in the Twin Cities, starting tomorrow. This past winter and spring have been some of the warmest on record, but since it's Minnesota we still have a chance of snow in tomorrow's forecast. I have managed to make every ride so far be what I call "productive". Productive doesn't always mean I'm riding to a specific place. Productive just means I got something out of the ride, rather than just taking the bike around the block so I can say I rode for the day. Over Easter weekend, my two rides were just simple loops around the Eagan area. But I consider this productive, as I've lived in the City of Eagan for almost 8 years but rarely bike here. 99% of my riding involves heading out of Eagan into Minneapolis or St Paul. I don't know my own back yard very well, and it's time that changed.

30 days of biking: Day 7

One week in, I'm still on track with the 30 Days of Biking goal for April. I've been taking the short route to work this past week (bike 2 miles to the local park & ride, lock the bike up and bus in). One thing I've noticed as a result is that my biking shoes suck. I've known this intellectually for a while, but walking the 2 blocks from my workplace to the bus stop in the afternoon has rammed it home. To be fair, I bought these shoes almost 10 years ago, and they have thousands of miles on them. And they were the cheapest shoes available. I think I paid $35 from Performance on closeout. So it's not as if they owe me anything.

Rather than buying a new pair of shoes, this morning I swapped out the clipless pedals on my commuter to a pair of big platform pedals I had in the parts bin. This way, I can wear regular work shoes on my shorter commutes, and be able to walk like a normal person. As I finished the pedal swap, I gazed upon my vast fleet of cycles and realized that I now only have one bike with clipless pedals. And looking at the log, I haven't ridden that bike since 2009. My Raleigh 3 speed and my Schwinn Suburban have never had clipless, and never will. It would be too weird. And my mountain bike has always had flat pedals, mainly because I've been too lazy to put clipless on it and I don't ride it enough to make the swap worthwhile. The fixie has clipless, but as mentioned I haven't ridden it in nearly 3 years. My Jamis "go fast" bike used to have clipless, but I pulled them off 2 years ago for a Duathalon so I wouldn't have to change shoes between the running and biking portions (great transition times!).

I'm going to head out in a moment for today's ride, and if I like these platforms I may indeed buy a new pair of biking shoes. But they may never have cleats installed.

30 Days of Biking: Day 1

Having been a bicycle slacker lo these many months, I decided to do something drastic. I'm going to attempt the 30 Days of Biking challenge. For most people that I know, the challenge isn't the motivation but rather just scheduling it out. Logistics. But for me, the motivation has been sorely lacking and I'm planning to use this month as a kick in the pants. And surprisingly, I've never tried the 30 days before. Should be interesting.

I started the month by escorting my daughters to a friend's house. They're spending the night, as it is officially Spring Break. I rode back home. 3.4 miles round trip. And a great way to start off. Tomorrow calls for a 50 percent chance of rain. So I got that going for me, which is nice.

Trouble, right here in River City

Hi all,
Yeah, it's been a while. Sorry about that. Been biking much? Want to continue? Recent legislative shenannigans are making it look like biking may become a bit harder, soon. But there's still time. The League of American Bicyclists has a nice, easy to use form on their website that allows you to send an email to your congressperson telling them that you want bike funding. Do it now.

If you're not already clicking the link, you're missing out on stuff like this:

House leadership is exerting pressure to completely cut bicycling and walking out of transportation. Lawmakers seem to have gone through line-by-line to gut programs that make streets safer. The outrageous American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act:

Destroys Transportation Enhancements by making the program optional
Repeals the Safe Routes to School program, reversing years of progress in creating safe ways for kids to walk and ride bicycles to school
Allows states to build bridges without safe access for pedestrians and bicycles
Eliminates bicycle and pedestrian coordinators in state DOTs
But there’s still a chance to save biking and walking. This week, Representatives Petri (R-WI) and Johnson (R-IL) plan to stand up to leadership by offering an amendment that restores dedicated funding for Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. Representative Petri and Johnson can only be successful if everyone with a stake in safe sidewalks, crosswalks, and bikeways contacts their Congressional Member today.

Do it. That is all.

They might be on to something here

Salsa!

When it comes to subscribing via email to various newsletters, I probably sign up for more than I should. I end up with lots of regular emails that I often delete without even opening, based on the subject line. But my slothful unsubscribing ways finally paid off! Case in point, I get a semi-regular email from Bicycling Magazine that I largely ignore. But when I saw the headline "11 Cold Beers For Hot Rides" I had to click. I was even more excited when I learned that any of these 11 could be considered "recovery beers". It's almost like drinking Gatorade!

11 Tasty Summer Beers For Post-Ride Recovery

In related news, one of our biking bretheren has some fresh salsa. We were conspiring via Google+ to see if maybe we could set up a combination Beer for Bloggers and Salsa Distribution event next Wednesday or Thursday. Any interest or availability? Anyone? Bueller?

Sea Salt - tonight!

I thought I would throw this out. It's the lovely Saucy Wench's birthday today, and we're headed to Sea Salt via bike to celebrate. We'll be there around 5pm Sunday the 7th. Feel free to swing by!

Dinner

The kids were invited to a friend's house for dinner tonight. The Mrs. Was writing, so I was on my own. I biked up to the Subway and grabbed my favorite footlong (spicy Italian) and ate it in the park. Not a bad way to spend a beautiful July evening.

Bike bag

I've been very remiss in posting about this beauty of a bike bag that Bill made for me. Though the entire project was comically slow, so this is fitting. Bill and I got together in February of 2010 for a beer and to discuss bike bags. He offered to make one, and I gave him some basic requirements and desires. A few months later he sent some pictures of the finished product, which looked great. But somehow we never got together to make the handoff. Bill came over to my place in February 2011 for a brew day, and dropped off the bag.

I didn't put it on my commuter bike, because I have a large box on the rear rack and the box interfered with the bag. So I put it on my "racing" bike. It took almost two months before I took that bike for a ride with the bag on it, sometime in mid April. So again, it's kind of fitting that I wouldn't actually post until mid June.

The bag seems to work great, and looks pretty fantastic on the bike. I'm looking at maybe rearranging my box set up so I can use this on a more regular basis. Thanks for the bag, Bill, it's awesome!



Side view of the bag.

Perfect mounting points for my 3 Speed Tour bag tags. The straps are wide enough that the tags slide on easily, but don't fall off easily. Almost like they were made for the bag.

Looks nice with the Brooks.


Rear view.

Nice view of the longflap-style flap with the interior elastic still cinched.

The interior. It has my tool kit and a spare tube, with plenty of space for a lunch and other stuff.

Beer On!

I left the poll open until tomorrow, but the results seem to be a landslide. I'm going to go ahead and prognosticate a winner: Thursday, June 9.
June 9: 9 votes (90%)
June 23: 1 vote (10%)

I would say let's keep things simple. Sea Salt, somewhere in the neighborhood of 5pm?

The beauty of this date is that it happens to be Minneapolis Bike to Work Day. So ride your bike, attend a bike to work celebration in the morning and then another in the evening. The weather forecast is even looking promising. Cooler and partly sunny. Perfect for enjoying a cool beverage on the patio.

Really, you haven't got a good enough excuse to avoid this. If you've never met any of the locals before, just look for the group with questionable fashion/grooming habits and bike helmets on the table.