What think ye of those bicycle "conversions," with a little 49cc 2-cycle engine and a gas tank?
Personally I don't care for them AT ALL!
I'm fairly ambivalent about the electric bicycles, because they make about as much noise as a human-powered bicycle. By comparison, the gas bicycles are downright obnoxious.
Plus - where do they belong? They're too slow to be out there moving with traffic in the traffic lanes. But I certainly don't think they belong in the bike lanes, either. I've even seen 'em buzzin' down sidewalks - that can't be legal or safe!
A little over a year ago, I inquired of the police department about what's legal, and where. They sent me a little chart with their policies. I suggested they needed to publicize it; they agreed that was a good idea, but I never saw anything. (Not that I notice everything.)
Well, I saw something on the Craigslist a week or 10 days ago that very much bothered me. It was posted by a guy who does gas-bike conversions, inviting business. And one of the points he was making to his prospective clientele was, "They're legal to ride even without a driver's license - so if you have a DUI conviction and don't have a license any more, tool around on one of these gas bicycles."
What think ye of drunks riding bikes with little gas motors?
SHAMEFUL!!
A side-note on the electric bicycles. Several times, I've seen a guy riding a very obviously high-tech electric bike. It has those motors that are in the hubs, both front and back wheels (or so it appears). The thing is utterly silent, and obviously moves along comfortably at 15+ mph. (No idea on the range - that would be a consideration. But I assume you can pedal-power the things just like a regular bike, albeit with more weight to push along.) The guy riding it is pedaling... but ever so slowly. You know, one revolution every 2 or 3 seconds. I always want to ask him why he's pedaling; he's obviously contributing to forward motion. Maybe his legs are just bored. Or maybe he's embarrassed to be seen coasting along on the thing. (It's not for me! One of my rewards is getting a bit of exercise and fitness.)
Tireless advocate for the most efficient form of
human transportation ever devised - bicycles!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
An argument for riding against traffic
Bob T emailed me a letter-to-the-editor on our Statesman website. Tucked between the political rants (I am SO weary of partisan politics!!) is a letter from Sharon Scudder, of Horseshoe Bend. Here it is, in its entirety:
Cyclists, pedestrians should face traffic
Making people ride bikes, jog and walk with their backs to oncoming traffic is the dumbest law on the books.
If a driver is drunk, has a heart attack or falls asleep, is distracted because of a cell phone or veers into a pedestrian, the pedestrian never sees it coming or has no chance of saving his or her own life. The pedestrian is dead.
Come on people, get your heads out of the sand. Change your stupid law. Save some lives. I rest my case.
---
Did she convince you? Personally I'm trying to imagine a situation where a cyclist sees that oncoming vehicle, with drunk or asleep driver behind the wheel, and reacts with lightning reflexes, scooting to safety. Could it happen? Conceivably, I s'pose. The downside, of course, is that with car and bicycle converging much more quickly, the cyclist increases the likelihood of being killed or maimed by a sober, wide-awake motorist.
To the best of my knowledge, there is no law prohibiting pedestrians from walking/running facing traffic. And in fact, it's recommended.
It's unlikely that Ms. Scudder is reacting angrily to a ticket she received, since that against-traffic law may be in the book, but it's not enforced.
Cyclists, pedestrians should face traffic
Making people ride bikes, jog and walk with their backs to oncoming traffic is the dumbest law on the books.
If a driver is drunk, has a heart attack or falls asleep, is distracted because of a cell phone or veers into a pedestrian, the pedestrian never sees it coming or has no chance of saving his or her own life. The pedestrian is dead.
Come on people, get your heads out of the sand. Change your stupid law. Save some lives. I rest my case.
---
Did she convince you? Personally I'm trying to imagine a situation where a cyclist sees that oncoming vehicle, with drunk or asleep driver behind the wheel, and reacts with lightning reflexes, scooting to safety. Could it happen? Conceivably, I s'pose. The downside, of course, is that with car and bicycle converging much more quickly, the cyclist increases the likelihood of being killed or maimed by a sober, wide-awake motorist.
To the best of my knowledge, there is no law prohibiting pedestrians from walking/running facing traffic. And in fact, it's recommended.
It's unlikely that Ms. Scudder is reacting angrily to a ticket she received, since that against-traffic law may be in the book, but it's not enforced.
Bike infrastructure improvement in Boise
My friend Clancy and the Boise Bicycle Project are working on a bike-lane improvement effort that they call "Safe Lane."
Clancy: "We are trying to create a user based inventory of bike lanes that are problematic. This information will then be presented to the [ACHD] Bike Advisory Committee later this summer. The survey will run through the end of June."
The group is hoping to get as many area cyclists as possible to comment. They are setting up a booth at various bicycle and outdoor events, but there's also an online survey HERE, where you can identify your pet-peeve challenges.
I have one that immediately comes to mind. Americana Boulevard has 2 car lanes in each direction, plus a nice wide bike lane... but at one point where it goes around a bend, the bike lane peters down to 6 inches or so wide! Talk about second-class citizens! The authorities could do a much better job of striping it, to notify motorists that they're sharing space with cyclists.
Please support this Safe Lane effort.
Clancy: "We are trying to create a user based inventory of bike lanes that are problematic. This information will then be presented to the [ACHD] Bike Advisory Committee later this summer. The survey will run through the end of June."
The group is hoping to get as many area cyclists as possible to comment. They are setting up a booth at various bicycle and outdoor events, but there's also an online survey HERE, where you can identify your pet-peeve challenges.
I have one that immediately comes to mind. Americana Boulevard has 2 car lanes in each direction, plus a nice wide bike lane... but at one point where it goes around a bend, the bike lane peters down to 6 inches or so wide! Talk about second-class citizens! The authorities could do a much better job of striping it, to notify motorists that they're sharing space with cyclists.
Please support this Safe Lane effort.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Top 50 bike-friendly cities
Bicycling magazine has released its list of the 50 most bike-friendly cities.
Portland reclaimed the #1 spot. No surprise; Portland is "in your face" bike friendly, and proud of it. #2 is Minneapolis. #3 is Boulder, CO. #4 is Washington, DC. #5 is Chicago.
Chicago?!? Really? All I can figure is that this list reflects the aspects of bike-friendliness that can be controlled by people and policies. (The story says, "we evaluated cities with populations of 95,000 or more, using data provided by the Alliance for Biking and Walking and the League of American Bicyclists, as well as input from local advocates and bike-ped coordinators. To make the list, a city must possess both a robust cycling infrastructure and a vibrant bike culture.") It must not put any weight on such trivial details as climate, terrain, etc. Know what I mean? No matter how far they bend over backwards to accommodate cyclists, you'll never see major cycling activity in Minneapolis in January, I'm guessin'. And even if San Francisco (#8) had a dedicated bike lane on every street, some of those streets are so steep as to dissuade cyclists from riding up or down 'em.
Boise is listed at #30. They mention our Greenbelt and trails in the foothills, and tip their hats to our Boise Bicycle Project. And list our biggest challenge as "Figuring out how to reduce incidents of driver hostility in nearby rural areas." So, it's those hayseed rednecks in their big ol' pickup trucks? Well, that challenge may be easier to overcome than "2 straight months of below-zero temperatures every year," or "gridwork of multi-lane freeways that will never be breached."
I would love the luxury of being able to bicycle in all 50 of their favorites, and report my findings. If I can line up a sponsor, I'll spend a week in each, and get back to you in a year. (I'll do Minneapolis and Madison in the spring or fall. Maybe hit Scottsdale in January.)
(An obvious error: As of this writing, Fort Collins, #11, and Tucson #12, both have the same photo of a big college bike-parking lot.)
I subscribed to Bicycling Magazine for a couple years, and enjoyed it. (I only gave it up for the same reason I've given up lots of magazines... I'd rather do something than read about doing something, if I don't have time for both doing and reading-about.) Every issue was chock-full of new bikes I'd like to have. But IMO they mostly cater to "toy bike" riders and just give the occasional nod to transportation cycling. I wonder how many employees of Bicycling actually use their bikes to get to and from work. The corporate offices are in Emmaus, PA, but the editorial offices may be in the big city.
Portland reclaimed the #1 spot. No surprise; Portland is "in your face" bike friendly, and proud of it. #2 is Minneapolis. #3 is Boulder, CO. #4 is Washington, DC. #5 is Chicago.
Chicago?!? Really? All I can figure is that this list reflects the aspects of bike-friendliness that can be controlled by people and policies. (The story says, "we evaluated cities with populations of 95,000 or more, using data provided by the Alliance for Biking and Walking and the League of American Bicyclists, as well as input from local advocates and bike-ped coordinators. To make the list, a city must possess both a robust cycling infrastructure and a vibrant bike culture.") It must not put any weight on such trivial details as climate, terrain, etc. Know what I mean? No matter how far they bend over backwards to accommodate cyclists, you'll never see major cycling activity in Minneapolis in January, I'm guessin'. And even if San Francisco (#8) had a dedicated bike lane on every street, some of those streets are so steep as to dissuade cyclists from riding up or down 'em.
Boise is listed at #30. They mention our Greenbelt and trails in the foothills, and tip their hats to our Boise Bicycle Project. And list our biggest challenge as "Figuring out how to reduce incidents of driver hostility in nearby rural areas." So, it's those hayseed rednecks in their big ol' pickup trucks? Well, that challenge may be easier to overcome than "2 straight months of below-zero temperatures every year," or "gridwork of multi-lane freeways that will never be breached."
I would love the luxury of being able to bicycle in all 50 of their favorites, and report my findings. If I can line up a sponsor, I'll spend a week in each, and get back to you in a year. (I'll do Minneapolis and Madison in the spring or fall. Maybe hit Scottsdale in January.)
(An obvious error: As of this writing, Fort Collins, #11, and Tucson #12, both have the same photo of a big college bike-parking lot.)
I subscribed to Bicycling Magazine for a couple years, and enjoyed it. (I only gave it up for the same reason I've given up lots of magazines... I'd rather do something than read about doing something, if I don't have time for both doing and reading-about.) Every issue was chock-full of new bikes I'd like to have. But IMO they mostly cater to "toy bike" riders and just give the occasional nod to transportation cycling. I wonder how many employees of Bicycling actually use their bikes to get to and from work. The corporate offices are in Emmaus, PA, but the editorial offices may be in the big city.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
"Private" Pedal Power Parade
Granddaughter Mackie squeezed some time into her busy social schedule for a few miles on the Greenbelt. She's getting quite comfortable on her 20-inch pink wheels, and it's a pleasure to tag along.
She likes to turn the center line into her training course, slaloming between the dashes, or riding straight along the solid line. That's fine, but I warn her how important it is to watch for approaching traffic in both directions, so she can move back over to the right.
The sunlight got a little "weird" during our ride, due to the partial solar eclipse... or at least I think I noticed it.
She likes to turn the center line into her training course, slaloming between the dashes, or riding straight along the solid line. That's fine, but I warn her how important it is to watch for approaching traffic in both directions, so she can move back over to the right.
The sunlight got a little "weird" during our ride, due to the partial solar eclipse... or at least I think I noticed it.
Pedal Power Parade '12
Well, another Boise Bike Week - the 10th, I believe - has come and gone. As always, I wish I'd been able to attend more events. I dunno about y'all, but this always one of the busiest times of year for me, what with putting the garden in, springtime chores, and numerous other warm-weather distractions.
I did make it to the grand finale - the Pedal Power Parade. Sadly, my ridin' buddy, granddaughter Mackenzie, was previously committed. (A picnic!) So I was a lone wolf. But, I got a few snaps of the festivities.
I did make it to the grand finale - the Pedal Power Parade. Sadly, my ridin' buddy, granddaughter Mackenzie, was previously committed. (A picnic!) So I was a lone wolf. But, I got a few snaps of the festivities.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Happy Mother's Day
I ran a bunch of errands Saturday - the day before Mother's Day. Accumulated 20+ miles pulling the BOB trailer. And a few miles just ridin'. BEAUTIFUL day!
The first trip was to the nursery to pick up some tomato and melon plants for the garden. (Yep - I got lucky this year and didn't gamble at the first of May. It got below freezing a couple nights ago.) The cantaloupe plants didn't do well on the bumpy 6-mile trip back home; most of the dirt fell out. But everything else seemed to arrive intact.
The second trip was to pick up a hanging basket for Mom, and deliver it. I've got an awesome mom, and I'm blessed that she's still quite healthy and independent and engaged. (She seems a bit bewildered by my bike transportation, but after 27 years she takes it in stride when I almost always arrive at her place on the 2-wheeler.)
Then I returned to "Hanging Baskets R Us" and got a couple for my bride.
(Front-door delivery via BOB!)
My kids' mom is another awesome mom who has blessed my life in so many ways. I hope my kids have the courtesy to recognize her. (Yeah - I know - Mother's Day was probably invented by Hallmark, or Hanging Baskets R Us. And I also know that every day should be Mother's Day. But hey! It should be Father's Day too!) Let's hear it for moms (and dads)!
The first trip was to the nursery to pick up some tomato and melon plants for the garden. (Yep - I got lucky this year and didn't gamble at the first of May. It got below freezing a couple nights ago.) The cantaloupe plants didn't do well on the bumpy 6-mile trip back home; most of the dirt fell out. But everything else seemed to arrive intact.
The second trip was to pick up a hanging basket for Mom, and deliver it. I've got an awesome mom, and I'm blessed that she's still quite healthy and independent and engaged. (She seems a bit bewildered by my bike transportation, but after 27 years she takes it in stride when I almost always arrive at her place on the 2-wheeler.)
Then I returned to "Hanging Baskets R Us" and got a couple for my bride.
(Front-door delivery via BOB!)
My kids' mom is another awesome mom who has blessed my life in so many ways. I hope my kids have the courtesy to recognize her. (Yeah - I know - Mother's Day was probably invented by Hallmark, or Hanging Baskets R Us. And I also know that every day should be Mother's Day. But hey! It should be Father's Day too!) Let's hear it for moms (and dads)!
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