Round Two of Commute for a Cause runs from January 1 to April 30, 2010

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

ride more often






Seen on my commute today from Santa Cruz to Felton, on Hwy 9.

How many motorists have never seen this?

How many times have I ridden by it on my bicycle, and not noticed it?

Getting back on the bike today after being off for 18 days was like seeing everything for the first time.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Times Square goes car-free!


After an eight month trial, NYC announces that Times Square is going to remain car-free. NYC is taking a huge, highly visible stand at reclaiming public space for people, in a world where livable streets are fading away.

Read more about it here, and enjoy the pictures!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Out of the fog

I've been off the bike for seventeen days due to pneumonia and a sinus infection. My guess is I got sick three weeks ago when I commuted to work in the rain for two days. I think my immune system took a hit and then the pneumonia and sinus infection kicked in. I cannot remember ever being so sick that when I stayed home from work I just sat on the sofa staring out the window, not wanting to move. Very odd feeling.

But I'm about 95% better now and looking forward to getting back on the bike tomorrow.

When I get back on the bike, here's what I *won't* be wearing:

I also won't be wearing this:
Or this and this:

The guy who came up with the idea is a professional cyclist and coach. On his website he explains his motivation for these jerseys: "I've been honked at, buzzed, cussed out, and pegged with beer cans. When I'm victimized, if I can catch up with the offending motorist at a red light, I always try to talk to them. I'll knock on the window and ask "Do you know that you almost killed me back there?"

For the record I am totally against these jerseys, and I'm not surprised that they were developed by a guy who thinks it's OK to knock on motorist's window to try to talk to them when he catches up to them at a red light. That's the kind of behavior that gives cyclists a bad image. We already have an image as anarchists who obey traffic laws only when it suits us.

As a bike commuter in heavy traffic and on narrow mountain roads with no shoulders, I have learned a better way to integrate with motorists. First, I obey the traffic laws: I have the same rights and responsibilities as an automobile. If I get honked at I don't take it personally. Instead, I look at as a form of communication. Sure, the driver behind me may be upset that I'm slowing him down, but at least I know that he sees me because he honked! I don't worry about getting run over, because I don't ride in the gutter, tempting cars to pass too close. Instead I take the lane when there is no shoulder or bike lane, encouraging cars to slow down and pass me only when there is no oncoming traffic. And I don't expect motorists to share the road with me; I take the lane when conditions warrant it and I give it back as soon as I can.
I wonder if this guy has tried any of these tactics, instead of printing up smug jerseys that are only going to fuel the animosity between motorists and cyclists.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Bus

12 miles on the bus.
8 miles on the bike.
Still sick.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Norwegian bike lift

Those smart Danes...

OK, I'm sick

Seems that riding 30 miles in the cold yesterday wasn't such a good idea.

After 10 hours of sleep last night, I woke up foggy and exhausted. And I'm coughing up brown stuff. And my throat hurts and my eyes are itchy.

So no riding for me today. I find it interesting that it will take discipline to stay *off* the bike today. Yesterday and today is our only window for dry weather - tomorrow the rain starts again.


Saturday, January 23, 2010

a funny example of sharing the road

So funny!

Florida police were making a training video on how to take the lane when there is no bicycle lane. A motorist behind the photographer obviously couldn't see that there was a cop on the bike in front. Have a look at what happens when the motorist lays on the horn to get the bikes to move over.

FYI - you'll see some text that describes the Florida law on sharing the lane. I researched the California law for sharing the lane and found that California is vague on it. It reads "...ride on the right, but not so far that you might hit the curb. You could lose your balance and fall into traffic. Do not ride too far to the right when a traffic lane is too narrow for a bicycle and vehicle to travel safely side by side."

discipline vs. regret


I stumbled upon this quote two weeks ago, and it's my new favorite:

We must all suffer from two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is that discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.

Since finding this quote, I've realized that this is exactly how I look at bicycle commuting. There are those days where I want to take the easy way out and *not* support myself on my bike. For example, some mornings (especially in the winter), I find it real, real hard to get out of bed. The mornings in Felton are dark. And cold. And wet. Getting out of a warm, fluffy bed and climbing onto a cold, steel bike before 6am takes a lot of discipline. But that discipline, as tough as it is, really does weigh less than the regret I feel when I *don't* support myself on my bike. For example, on the days that I should have ridden my bike to work but chose to drive, I find myself looking out my office window at my truck...and I regret having driven.

On Tuesday of this week, this realization paid off for me on my commute home. As of Tuesday, it had been raining in Santa Cruz non-stop for 48 hours. I was tired of riding in the rain. I was tired of being cold. I just wanted to be home. I came very close to steering my bike to the nearest bus stop and taking the bus home (we can put bikes on buses here).

Then I thought about this quote and I considered how I would feel after arriving home, stepping off the bus. I knew I would regret taking the bus home more than riding in the rain! So I took my normal route up Hwy 9.

The payoff was that a couple of miles up Hwy 9 I passed a guy on a mountain bike. He was riding pretty slowly because he had something large and bulky swinging from his neck, bouncing off of his chest. It was getting dark, so he had strapped a flashlight to his helmet, facing backwards so oncoming traffic would see him. Interested in his story, but also leery of the characters one can meet on this stretch of road, I passed him and said "Hi." He said hi back and commented that my headlights were bright enough to make him think I was a car.

Convinced that he wasn't one of our local wierdos, I slowed down and we started talking. Turns out he's a kayaker who was riding back up to his truck. He had put into the San Lorenzo river, which was running very strong due to the rains, and paddled down the river. He stashed his boat after the river run, then jumped on his bike to ride up to get his truck. I was super-impressed by that!

As we rode, he pointed out a section of the river that, during heavy rains like the ones we've had lately, turns into a Class III rapid. The section of river is one that I look down at, through a split in the redwoods, nearly every time I ride home. I've always known that the river was down there, but I never thought much about it because it just looks like a lazy, slow moving river snaking through the woods. I was so grateful to him for pointing that out - in all my days of riding along this river, I've never seen it under the circumstances that transform it into something so powerful.

Had I chosen to take the bus, I would have missed out on meeting this guy and learning this.

Discipline.

green

It's been raining non-stop in Santa Cruz since Monday.
A parade of storms has been rolling by, dropping the temperatures and dumping lots of much needed rain.

I heard about the first storm and was excited to ride to work in it the following morning, on Monday. I rode Monday and Tuesday, through the first storm, and had stay off the bike Wednesday through Friday for two reasons: first, it really wasn't safe to be riding a bike down Hwy 9 in the dark when the stronger storms hit (heavy winds were downing big trees left and right, and since I ride through a forest for much of my commute, I figured that riding wasn't safe); second, I got sick. Maybe from riding in the cold and rain on Monday and Tuesday, I don't know. I've just been very low-energy with itchy eyes, cough, and sore throat since Tuesday night.

Taking three days off the bike did me some good, so I got on this morning and rode about 30 miles. Everything is so lush and green after the rains - beautiful!





It takes two to tandem

Pictures from our first tandem ride.
Santa Cruz to Half Moon Bay for an overnight camping trip.

At the beginning of the ride, on West Cliff:



Stop #1 was the Davenport Bakery, about 12 miles north of Santa Cruz:

We cruised through Wilder Ranch:


Adria stretches out:

Adria rolling out our modified sleeping bag. She took one sleeping bag, opened it up, and sewed a sheet onto the bottom. It allows us to sleep together in one bag, and even in cold conditions we stayed very warm.


Our campsite in the hiker/biker section of the campsite:

Sunset on the beach:

The stoker documenting the trip:


That's a lot of bike:


Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Round Two has started!

After a four week break, I'm nearly a month into days Round Two of Commute for a Cause.

Round Two will last for four months, and all the money that I raise is being donated to LIVESTRONG foundation. LIVESTRONG is a cancer research and support foundation, popularized by bicyclist (and Texan) Lance Armstrong.

The funds that I raise will be donated under Greg A's name, in honor of Greg beating cancer and in memory of his sister Vicki who passed away from cancer a couple of years ago.

Greg is my father-in-law-to-be, and the idea for donating Round Two to him came to me around the holidays. Adria's family draws names for their holiday gift exchange and I drew Greg's name. This year, instead of buying a gift, the family agreed to make a donation to a charity in that person's name.

LIVESTRONG seemed like a perfect fit, considering that since his sister passed away two years ago, Greg hasn't removed the bright yellow LIVESTRONG bracelet from his right wrist.