Years ago, I occasionally commuted by motorcycle. In some ways it was a lot like bicycle commuting. I was the little guy, and very vulnerable without the protection of a steel cage, air bags, or seat belts. At times I felt like nobody even saw me! This vulnerability was accompanied by high speeds on the…
Commute by Bike
Commute by Water Bike
This is Bob Barrett. He works for Pierce Transit and he commutes two miles on the water across Puget Sound using his water bike. His ride takes 25 to 30 minutes. This Seattle Times story featuring water bike commuters also talks about Nat Hong, who rides a bike one half mile to the water, hops…
Coffee By Bike
I enjoy a nice, French Pressed coffee. For the un-initiated, a French Press (pictured left above) is a container in which coffee grounds and near-boiling water are stirred together and allowed to steep for a few minutes. When the brewing process is complete, the plunger is pressed down. This strains all of the coffee grounds…
Bike commute humor and news
I hope you all are having a good Martin Luther King, Jr Day. If you haven’t had a chance yet to see the video interview Tim posted before the weekend, take a couple of minutes and watch it. John Burke’s keynote yesterday at the Bicycle Leadership Conference in San Diego ties into this topic, as…
Pogies
Last week I wrote about some inexpensive pogies over on Blue Collar Mountain Biking. Pogies, sometimes called Moose Mitts or Bullwinkles, are weatherproof handlebar covers made of materials like Cordura and fleece. As cold weather cyclists know, bulky winter gloves can make it difficult to do simple things like brake and shift, adjust zippers, or…
Starting a commuter convoy
During the 2007 Bike To Work Week, I ran across two other bike commuters en-route that I wouldn’t have necessarily become friends with otherwise. After Bike To Work Week was over, I did a few more full commutes with them. In June, I moved 9 miles closer to work, giving me about 30 miles round…
GQ — bike commuters are "cool, chic"
Scott Schuman aka The Sartorialist has a monthly column in GQ magazine in which he features men’s fashion in the streets. For the March issue, Scott will feature “cool, chic guys I know that ride their bikes to work almost every day.” Scott often features men and women riding their bikes at his street fashion…
Too cold to ride!
That excuse will no longer work. According the this NY Times article exercising in the cold is not bad for you. Contrary to conventional wisdom your lungs are fine in the cold. …lungs are not damaged by cold, said Kenneth W. Rundell, the director of respiratory research and the human physiology laboratory at Marywood University…
How-To: Ensure consistent shifting all winter long
One word: Friction! I just posted an article about friction shifting over on Blue Collar Mountain Biking, another Crooked Cog Network site. If you are commuting through snowy, slushy, or just plain cold weather, it might help you out. You can check it out here.
Nissan exec: "Car culture is fading"
Here’s an interesting article from CNN. Thomas Lane is in charge of strategy and product planning for Nissan Motors in Japan. While car ads continue to push the idea that driving is pure pleasure that’s often done on open roads in pristine wilderness, commuters around the world and in America are finding that car ownership…
Rain/snow Lesson
Yesterday evening I had an epic commute. Okay, maybe it wasn’t epic but is was definitely memorable. When I left in the morning the local tv weather people were saying that there would be a chance of snow in the evening about commute time. Usually here in Seattle when the weather people say it is…
Soma Munch Box
Ok, maybe not as exciting as the new Mac in the previous post, but this little accessory has been pretty handy. This bag is called the Munch Box, and is made by Soma Fabrications. Designed as a feed bag, it’s designed to carry gels or energy bars. It can mount to either the stem and…
Bicycle Advocacy
Since I started bicycle commuting, I have become more interested in bicycle advocacy. I attended a local bicycle advocacy group’s meeting last year to get a feel for what the group was about. By the end of the meeting, I had nominated myself for a position on the board! This weekend I attended the first…
Free bikes? Maybe if you live in Cambridge, MA.
I came across this article, “Free bike rides for tenants at Cambridge enterprise – The Boston Globe“, via C.I.C.L.E. Excerpt from the article… Borrowers go to the front desk or to a center employee and sign a waiver form. They are then given a code that will unlock any of the bikes stashed in a…
Are you a weather nerd?
This post from Treadly about weather nerds got me to thinking. Treadly makes note of a handful of bike commuters who also seem to have an extreme interest in weather. I have a handful of weather blogs in my blogroll, including meteorologist Jeff Masters’ excellent WunderBlog over at the Weather Underground. I was a big…
Weekend Reading
Thought I’d share a couple links for your weekend, bicycle web surfing enjoyment. From Canada, Standing up for winter cyclists A nice article in defense of those of us crazy enough to commute by bike in snow and ice. From Virginia Beach, The Virginian-Pilot gives us Cyclists, drivers clash on use of scenic Pungo roads…
$1.1 billion per day
The United States spent a record $34.4 billion on foreign oil in November, according to a U.S. Commerce Department report. That’s $1,130,000,000 we’re sending overseas every single day, and is a whopping 25% increase over 2006 in nominal dollars. World grain stocks are currently at their lowest levels in modern times. Traders are apparently “shocked”…
Listen to music while riding your bike
I don’t wear headphones or earbuds or any other listening device while I ride my bike in heavy city traffic; I feel l should use my hearing to know what’s going on around me. I wouldn’t mind some tunes and maybe the occasional podcast, however, on some portions of my commute. While some solutions are…
City provisions for bike commuters?
A common excuse people use for “needing” their car is that they don’t know how they’ll get home if something crops up that would otherwise leave them stranded. In many cities, an organization provides registered users of alternative transportation with a way to get home in certain situations. I know some of you are multi-mode…
Dealing with Road Rage
This morning I was able to leave earlier for my commute, and I was excited about getting to work earlier than normal. What I didn’t realize is that I was about to meet a whole new group of auto commuters. A half hour makes a big difference on who you see! Usually I have a…
Strida and skirt
I’ve mentioned previously that the unique design on the Strida 5.0 folding bicycle prevents anyone in a skirt from riding the bike because the top tube slopes sharply up directly in front of the saddle. True story: The skinny redhead sashayed into my office this morning and saw the Strida leaning against my desk. “Oooh,…
Pacific Cycle Recalls Children's Trailer Bicycles
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation Pacific Cycle Inc., of Madison, Wis., announced a voluntary recall of the InStep “Pathfinder,” Schwinn “Run About,” and Mongoose “Alley Cat” Trailer Bicycles yesterday. About 7,000 of the units, manufactured in China, use a coupler connecting the children’s trailer bike to the adult’s bicycle which has welds…
Riding on Sidewalks
I have a good buddy who has decided the time has come for him to begin his own commute by bike. He’ll have a 20 mile round trip that he is bound and determined to ride entirely on sidewalks. I’d tried to talk him out of the sidewalk thing, but he’d prefer to try that…
Snow and Ice
Some days there are no safe routes to work. Today was the first day back to work after a weekend of snow storms. The snow plows had only worked on the main streets, so all the side streets were a lumpy mess of ice and snow. And since the sides of the roads were piled…