Boise Bike Week - May 13-18

Just a heads-up - if you live in the Boise area, I hope you'll take a look at the schedule of events, and choose a few to participate in. Recommendations: I've participated in the Ride of Silence in the past, and have ridden in the Pedal Power Parade on the final day, numerous times. It looks like there are several informative presentations on "street smart cycling," bicycle maintenance, etc., that may be of value. And quite a few "social" events like picnics, group rides, etc. (A confession - I'm not really very sociable in a group, so the events that invite people to "come hang out and talk about bicycling" aren't particularly attractive to me.)

One rather novel thing I hope to do, to celebrate Boise Bike Week... a few years ago I purchased a small fold-up bicycle on the Craigslist - I hope to wipe the dust off of it, air up the tires, make sure all the critical functions are functioning... and take it to the office, to ride up and down the corridors on. If I'm extremely cautious and avoid "Bigwig Corner," maybe I can pull it off for a couple days, before getting sent to the re-education camp.

I'm also a motorcycle rider, and I noticed an oddity. The annual motorcycle "awareness ride" is this Saturday, and is sponsored by the ICMS, Idaho Coalition for Motorcycle Safety. It's supposedly to make roadway users more attentive to motorcyclists and promote safety. But strangely, helmets are optional, and are hardly even mentioned. By contrast, most of the BBW events state that a helmet is REQUIRED. (Helmets are a touchy subject in Motorcycle World. Although they are proven lifesavers in many types of mishaps, many riders feel that safety is secondary to the "freedom" of feeling the wind in your hair, those loud pipes in your eardrums, blah-blah... the only reference the ICMS website has, far as I can tell, is a recommendation that you "choose appropriate riding gear.")