BBW, Day 4

That's BOISE BIKE WEEK... NOT BIG, BEAUTIFUL WOMEN!

(Although we can agree that both are very positive, desirable things, huh?)

I'm happy to report I've ridden every day this week (and last week... and the week before... etc.). This week I've been faithful about putting on my "ONE LESS CAR" T-shirt every day during the commute.

(I've also got a T-shirt that says "CARS SUCK." With a motorcycle. But we're striving for diplomacy here.)

I don't think I'm just imagining a LOT of cyclists on the road these days. Which is fantastic, as long as they're being GOOD cyclists - following the rules and not making asses of themselves. (Of course, Danielo has noted that many of them are fair-weather riders, and the first day it's too hot or too cold, they traditionally hang it up. We'll see if gas prices pushing $4 makes any difference this year.)

Speaking of motorcycles... this afternoon I'm going to eastern Oregon on mine, to burn a little fossil fuel. Gonna do some riding in the Blue Mountains, in the Baker / La Grande area. I expect there will be places where the snow is still clinging to both sides of the highway. The plan is to return to Boise Friday evening, rejuvenated and recharged. And to participate in the PEDAL POWER PARADE on Saturday.

I hope to see a HUGE turnout at the PPP! The forecast is sunny and 90+ ... bring hydration! (I hope the weather isn't TOO "nice" for the more fickle among us.)

2-wheel ghetto blastin'

If you'd like to ride a bike, but just can't bear the thought of giving up your 10,000 watts and and 18-inch subs ... your Fitty Cent or Solja Boy (or whatever... sorry, I'm not very 'hep' to that type music) ... this might be just the ticket.

You're neighbors can still know you're headed their way, five minutes before you get there! (I imagine it must have a bank of batteries, and you can plug it in and recharge it.)

Seriously... can you imagine punks rolling down the Greenbelt on a nice summer day with these things in tow? Surely Picnic Rage would ensue.

(Photo lifted from the Bike Trailer Blog. There's also a sweet-lookin' Keg Trailer that might be of interest... a rolling Pony Keg.)

BBW, Day 2

I hope the "Night Light Parade" went well - sorry I missed it. (My 17 tomato plants are in the ground, and this morning they looked like they're all happy, despite our chilly dawn.) The parade took place at 7:30pm...? I was out on an errand with my family at almost 9pm, and the sun was still in the sky - what's with that?

This morning I put on my Boise Bike Week T-shirt from last year, over my "office" shirt. It says on the back in big letters:

ONE
LESS
CAR

Do other roadway users understand that message?

Last night I tried to make a T-shirt that has a clearer message, using some cool T-shirt transfer paper, but my inkjet printer doesn't work anymore. (The tranfer is heat-activated, and it won't work in the laser printer. Inkjet printers kinda suck.) The message:

120,819
MPG
(so far)

Yeah, I think they'd understand that message. Even the Prius drivers and those annoying Moped/Scooter people who use the bike lane would be jealous, huh? (I've got a nearby friend with an inkjet. Maybe if I grovel, he'd let me print a page on it. But he drives an SUV so maybe he won't.)

BOISE BIKE WEEK

Don't forget Boise Bike Week! Today is Day 1.

A schedule of all events can be found HERE.

I was planning on riding in tonight's Night Light Parade, but I'm just too flippin' busy. Garden-planting (planned for last weekend) got postponed, so it's on the docket for tonight. My tomato plants want BADLY to be in the ground.

I'll definitely be riding in the big Pedal Power Parade - Saturday at 4pm.

It would be nice if there were some sort of "critical mass" type event... not necessarily to disrupt the flow, but to promote maximum exposure.

One other bit of commentary... it seems rather odd to me that Saturday's Grand Finale is sponsored by Avimor - a planned community that is too far away from Boise for any but the most dedicated bicycle riders to commute from. A community that is unlikely to be served by public transportation at any time in the near future. A community that will put a bunch more long-distance commuter single-occupant vehicles on the road. But maybe I'm being too analytical.

2003 = Status Symbol, 2008 = Stupid Symbol

SUVs, big ol' pickups and "performance" cars have been removed from showrooms across the Fruited Plain, and stuck on the back lot. Now the featured vehicles are the fuel-mileage champs. New car dealers are knocking $5000 off the retail price of their SUV lineup and they're still not moving. People trying to unload their "upside-down" Hummers and Excursions and Durangos are finding it takes 90 days or more to sell 'em, at prices $3000 less than their blue-book value. They appear to be going the way of the brontosaurus.

Have you seen Chrysler's new gimmick? Apparently the lifetime power-train warranty wasn't helping sell vehicles, so now they have the "$2.99 gas guarantee" for the first 3 years of ownership. (Of course, if you pay the sticker price for some of those dinosaurs, you're paying the difference up-front.)

On Saturday, I saw a huge maroon Ford Super Duty Crew Cab with the giant chrome wheels and custom hood (they love a hood that's hard to see over, what with the big scoop or whatever on it). Although it was a half-block away, I could tell it was a diesel by the racket. The most distinguishing feature was a huge barrel-type fuel tank in the bed, painted the same color as the truck. I bet it holds 100 gallons! (Which means the truck costs close to $500 to fill up.) I hope the owner REALLY likes it, because it's probably not worth half what he has invested in it, in today's market. He can use his Economic Stimulus money to fill the tank.

Say what you want about $3.50+ gas... but IMO it's driving a good trend in personal transportation. Folks are thinking long and hard about how much a "status symbol" is worth in extra expense. (It's unfortunate that the cost of transporting goods has gone up proportionately. But on the other hand, the market will decide - I expect railway transport to have a resurgence in popularity, since it costs so much less than truck transportation.)

As the price of fuel continues to spiral upward, bicycle transportation just keeps looking better and better!

Feeling Secure?

Maybe you should think again.

With bike transportation at an all-time high at the building where I work, we're feeling the pinch. (It's fantastic! On Tuesday I counted 24 bicycles in the racks; that could be 5% of the building population, which is phenomenal.)

A month or so ago, they replaced the two old bike racks with the nicest rack I've ever seen... it's one-of-a-kind, built by Thomas, who is an extraordinary craftsman. (I happily served as his consultant.) But that rack filled, and there was pressure for more bike parking. So one of the old racks came out of retirement.

The old rack was festooned with abandoned bike locks of every shape and size.

People have a BAD habit of using the racks for long-term lock storage - there were locks that I swear hadn't been used in 10 years! And they were occupying rack space that could have otherwise been used for bike storage.

No more long-term lock storage... the locks came off.

Interestingly, all it took was a BIG freakin' bolt cutter. Here are the results:


(Don't feel too insecure, my friends, as long as you lock your bike. The wielders of the cutter had plenty of time, and weren't like meth-heads, casting furtive glances over their shoulders while working. In my experience, I've had two UNLOCKED bikes stolen, zero LOCKED bikes stolen.)

Gear Obsession

If you are a dedicated transportation cyclist, this probably happens to you. It does to me, like clockwork, as the days start getting nice in the springtime.

It happened yesterday.

An acquaintance says, "I've decided I'm going to start riding to work. In fact I've already started - I've ridden a couple times this week. I'm wondering what kind of bike I should get... can you advise me?"

My advice to him - and I hope he takes it - was, "Get a good set of smooth-tread tires installed on that mountain bike of yours, and ride it for a year or maybe even two. Make sure that bike commuting is indeed for you, before investing a substantial amount of money into a newer bicycle."

Some smooth-treads and slime tubes would set him back $50 if he shops carefully.

If that goes well, he could add lights, and/or a rack, and/or fenders, for a few bucks more.

I hope he isn't thinking he NEEDS the latest leading-edge top-of-the-line urban assault bicycle. These days the bike stores are full of (full-price) SWEET road bikes of every configuration. And those salesmen, bless their hearts, would be happy to relieve my friend of $1000 or $1500 or more, in exchange for a bike that MIGHT end up on hooks in his garage after a month or two.

I've got another acquaintance who comes immediately to mind. He's a gadget freak. He had the same notion a few years back, about riding to work... it was convenient, since he's only maybe 3 miles away over flat terrain. He didn't ask for advice; he just went out and bought a nice full-suspension well-equipped brand-name mountain bike. That wasn't quite right, so he bought a super-lightweight road bike... the kind that only has about 8 bladed spokes on each wheel. (You can see I'm not an expert. I admire 'em in the bike store, but that's good enough for me.) And he got the candy - the cleated pedals and shoes, the computer, the titanium bottle cages. I think he paid $200 for his super-lightweight saddle, for cryin' out loud! And guess how the story ends? He drives to work every day and those two NICE bikes are on hooks in his garage, 360 or so days each year. (Nestled comfortably among many other dust-covered gadgets, I might add.) I imagine that if he got the "bug" again, those bikes wouldn't be adequate... they'd be trade-in material for newer and shinier and lighter-weight replacements.

If you want to be a bike OWNER, go ahead and get whatever appeals to you. If you want to be a bike RIDER, make sure that's what you want, before making a huge investment in bike ownership. (My newest bike is 8 years old.)