As of March 2013 I officially become a licensed driver. I am 24 and have had a permit since age 17.
July 2013 my mother gives me my first car (dad helps out too, financially). It is an old beater that she has had for years but it still gets good gas mileage. I later learned from my girlfriend that my mother bought it for me in expectation of me getting my driver's license... back when I was 17. Sorry for the delay mom, and the obliviousness.
October 2013 becomes the first month in my life during which I have driven more often than I have biked. The weather is disgusting (freezing mist, cold rain) so I'm glad not to have to bike in it any longer. This is why I have a car now, right? I feel kind of lazy and out of shape, also guilty whenever I see another biker pushing through the chill. It feels like I'm joining the dark side.
November 2013 is now the first month during which I will have used an automobile as my primary mode of transportation instead of biking or taking public transit. I have biked zero miles this month. I've sold out.
And you know what? It is not as bad as I thought it would be. I quickly became used to no longer being afraid of vehicles. Now I'm the one inside the metal beast, no longer exposed. Everyone sees me, automatically granting me access to the road. The weather barely touches you inside a car. So far (I haven't yet been through a Minnesota winter) I've, at most, had to scrape frost off my windows and engage the windshield wipers.
The routine for getting ready to go to a car is extremely simple. Grab the keys and go. Unlike on a bike there is no double checking of brakes, making small adjustments. Checking tire pressure, topping it off every week or so with a few quick pumps. There is no need to pack a separate change of clothes for when you get to work, you simply go to work in your work clothes. There is no need to make sure your entire lunch fits in that one jar which snugly sits inside of your underseat pouch. Extremely convenient, fast. I can see why everyone else drives (there's a lot more to why people drive but that is a whole other series of posts).
But still, I miss biking. To be sure I do not miss winter biking. I've grown soft and winter biking is only for true badasses/very crazy people. But I am reminded, every time I fill the gas tank, of the higher price which comes attached to this convenience, both for my wallet and the environment. Biking feels like freedom. You are able to go places cars cannot, you have zero fuel cost, zero emissions, you are extremely maneuverable and your field of view is barely constrained by your helmet. Driving feels like I may as well be stuck on a track when surrounded on all sides by other cars. I feel constricted and blind, I can't see everything around me, I am much less spatially aware. I can't wait for winter to be over. As soon as the snow is gone, I'm done driving.
I miss biking.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Neglect
I would like to apologize to anyone reading my blog but I cannot. In order for someone to be reading this blog there would need to have been new content posted. I had originally intended to set, and hold myself to, a one post per week schedule. Obviously that was not tenable and this blog has been neglected.
So I am sorry reader(s). Sorry for not posting in 2 months. I would like to say that I'm going to attempt to post more frequently but that most likely will not happen. Instead, I will likely disgorge several posts at a time. The material for these may be older because the ideas have been percolating for a time, but I feel that this is a more sincere approach to writing this blog. This is my first real blogging experience and I did not start it expecting to have any readers; just a space to post my thoughts. If someone happens by and enjoys a read - all the better. Some discussion - wonderful. No readers or comments - no worries. I'm just sharing some thoughts and experiences.
Thank you.
So I am sorry reader(s). Sorry for not posting in 2 months. I would like to say that I'm going to attempt to post more frequently but that most likely will not happen. Instead, I will likely disgorge several posts at a time. The material for these may be older because the ideas have been percolating for a time, but I feel that this is a more sincere approach to writing this blog. This is my first real blogging experience and I did not start it expecting to have any readers; just a space to post my thoughts. If someone happens by and enjoys a read - all the better. Some discussion - wonderful. No readers or comments - no worries. I'm just sharing some thoughts and experiences.
Thank you.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Reply to James - Cars are heavy, bikers are squishy
James had a good point. In the previous post I said something about "2000lbs slabs of metal at 40mph..." he pointed out that the small Mazda Miata is about 2300lbs and cars generally get bigger and heavier from there. Plus, they have a fair amount of plastic in them too. I hadn't really thought about the exact weight of vehicles when writing this because really anything bigger and heavier than me moving at that speed could seriously injure or kill me if we collide. Even if I were to run into another equally squishy human I would probably get hurt, though more from the fall than from the impact. Also, the human would be injured.
When it comes to biking, really any collision can be serious. Simply falling from your bike when you are traveling at any speed greater than zero can really hurt. Heck, I recently fell off my bike at a stop (it was dumb and I'm not going to tell you about it). I ended up with some small pointy rocks embedded in my knee which then proceeded to spout blood for about 5 minutes. The ground can be as hard and unforgiving the metal in a car.
Okay, I'll tell you about why it was dumb, or, actually a series of dumb.I was cruising south on Hamline Ave, coming home from work. I poured on some speed in order to pass another biker (I'm secretly competitive and love to pass other bikers). All that effort went to waste though as the light up ahead turned red. And here I made my first dumb mistake - I was still in a competitive mind frame.
Now this intersection is a kind of T intersection, with the entrance to a golf course taking the place of the 4th connection. I've never seen anyone, ever, go to the golf course. So, even when the light is red, I usually continue on through, against the light, crossing the entrance to the golf course. Thus, the second (and dumbest) mistake. To be sure, I slow down and watch for any cars that are not turning. This time however, there was a car, that I was certain was turning, but it just kept going straight. I was concentrating on braking (i.e. not riding in front of this moving car) and so I hadn't taken that oh so necessary moment to slip my foot out of the strap. The third mistake. I came to a stop, and fell right over.
The biker I had just passed gently rode past asking "did you forget [to unstrap]?"
When it comes to biking, really any collision can be serious. Simply falling from your bike when you are traveling at any speed greater than zero can really hurt. Heck, I recently fell off my bike at a stop (it was dumb and I'm not going to tell you about it). I ended up with some small pointy rocks embedded in my knee which then proceeded to spout blood for about 5 minutes. The ground can be as hard and unforgiving the metal in a car.
Picture of my bloody leg.
Okay, I'll tell you about why it was dumb, or, actually a series of dumb.I was cruising south on Hamline Ave, coming home from work. I poured on some speed in order to pass another biker (I'm secretly competitive and love to pass other bikers). All that effort went to waste though as the light up ahead turned red. And here I made my first dumb mistake - I was still in a competitive mind frame.
Now this intersection is a kind of T intersection, with the entrance to a golf course taking the place of the 4th connection. I've never seen anyone, ever, go to the golf course. So, even when the light is red, I usually continue on through, against the light, crossing the entrance to the golf course. Thus, the second (and dumbest) mistake. To be sure, I slow down and watch for any cars that are not turning. This time however, there was a car, that I was certain was turning, but it just kept going straight. I was concentrating on braking (i.e. not riding in front of this moving car) and so I hadn't taken that oh so necessary moment to slip my foot out of the strap. The third mistake. I came to a stop, and fell right over.
The biker I had just passed gently rode past asking "did you forget [to unstrap]?"
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Another Week in Bike Commuting
I've never run with the bulls but I suspect that it would be similar bike commuting. That is if the bulls, instead of actively trying to kill you, were just unaware of your tiny squish-able presence as they cruised their bulky bodies down the street at 40mph. Also, you're on a bike... and sometimes the bulls are as big as semi-trucks... it's not a perfect analogy. What follows are a few incidents that occurred this week on my bike commute to/from work.
Monday morning I was biking my normal route to work which takes me North along Hamline ave across highway 36. Just past 36 is the intersection of Hamline and County Road B2. To the left (West) is the Rosedale Mall, to the right (East) is the Roseville High School. As I approach the intersection a white car nudged out as if looking for room to sneak forward and turn right at the then red light. This car, however, gets back in line and continues straight. As a biker I have stayed safe and alive by never fully trusting cars. So when this car, of which I am now riding alongside, turns to the right nearly hitting me it is terrifying but not surprising. I swerve to the right, turning with the car and yell at them. They stop and I scream something about using a fucking turn signal, then I continue my ride. I do have to get to work after all.
Wednesday evening coming home from work I am biking (east) along the trail on County Road C. This trail rocks because it is a long stretch where I don't have to worry about cars or stops and I can just zip along. That is until I come up to the Snelling/County C intersection. If you see a pattern here, yes, most conflicts between cars and bikes happen at intersections, where paths cross. Anyways, this light is almost always red when I arrive which is fine because it is a very busy intersection (seriously Snelling is actually highway 51 with a 50mph speed limit). When it is red I pull right up to the end of the sidewalk/trail ramp and the street. If you look at the GoogleMaps link in street view you can see that there is a right turn lane right along side the bike lane.
The timing of the lights goes North/South traffic, then a turn arrow for the East/West traffic, then a full green light for the East/West traffic. When the turn arrows are over the east/west straight bound traffic gets to go, including anyone using the trail (such as myself).
In this case the light was green as I approached. Now this is actually a bit of a dangerous situation for me because people rarely look where they are turning and never look for someone coming from the side. As I ride past the line of cars waiting to turn right I attempt to catch someone's eye so they can at least know that there is a biker coming. No luck. I come to a stop at the intersection as drivers continue to turn right, ignoring the glowing green light and crossing sign signalling that I have right of way. I inch my way into the street attempting to assert myself. (If you've never biked in traffic then one thing you should know is that you must assert yourself. To do otherwise is to cede your right and your safety to unaware 2000lbs metal slabs moving 30+ mph. Read this succinct guide to the rules of the road for some more info.) None of the cars seem to care as they just veer a little further away, continuing to turn. Now that the crossing sign has turned to the 25 second countdown I stick myself out there, raising my hand for visibility, essentially blocking the way and forcing the next turning car to stop (the driver seemed a bit miffed). I begin to ride on now that the way is clear.
This sort of disregard for cyclists and traffic laws is fairly typical of motorists. And it is not because motorists are evil bike munching bogeymonsters. They are people. People are tired, inattentive, in a hurry to get home etc etc. But what really got to me this time was that as I was biking away the driver, who I had forced to stop, yelled out "You're NOT a pedestrian!" I tried, and failed, to yell back "I'm on a bike trail and have a green light!". What came out was "ArghI'm on a bike, FUCK YOU!" Which I'm sure helped to endear me, and cyclists in general, to all of the waiting drivers which I was now riding past.
Over the lunch hour on Thrusday I decided that what I really needed was Chipotle. So I ordered online, hopped on my bike and set off. On the way back I am biking in the street (no bike lanes in New Brighton) on the right hand side coming up on the turn for the office. There is no other traffic on the road which makes it all the more confusing when a car coming up behind me honks. Not so much an angry honk, or a warning honk... in fact I'm not sure why he was honking. As the driver passes me he is clearly looking down at his phone. Perhaps he was honking at the a ghost, or the wind. My impression of the driver: "damn this wind - honk - always thinking it gets to wind all over the place... indistinct grumbling... passing this biker reminds me that I need to send a text".
Thursday evening, just leaving work, I have claimed the lane in order to turn left onto a busy street. I signal as much to the two cars behind me as I approach the stop sign. I cease my signal in order pump up the rest of the small hill and come to a stop. As mentioned before it is a busy street, 4 lanes plus a median, with 40+ mph traffic including semi trucks. The traffic coming from the left clears and there is a gap in the traffic from the right. Now I could maybe make it but I'd be starting from a dead stop and the wind is against me. I'm a smart biker so I don't go if I could "maybe" make it. The corollary to "maybe I could make it" is "maybe I won't make it". So elect not to maybe become an asphalt burger and stay put for the next gap.
The driver behind me throws a shit fit.
He shoots off a long angry honk, yells his head off and gestures emphatically. Of course, I can't actually hear him, he is 10 feet behind me with his windows rolled up. His muffled anger combined with the arm waving makes him seem pretty silly, especially after all the crap that's happened this week. He is clearly angry that I am not on the right side of the road and that I chose not to attempt to cross during the last maybe opportunity. I yell back and signal that "I'm turning left" but he remained angry and under the incorrect belief that bikers must always be as far to the right as possible. Less than a minute later there is a gap which is not a maybe and I bike across. He grumpily zooms past. The best part, he and I leap frog past each other for half of my ride home, stopping at all the same lights and taking the same turns.
Thankfully Friday was uneventful due to the relatively light traffic. Not sure why but there is always less traffic on Fridays. Perhaps less people go into work, or go to work later and leave earlier; a topic for more thought at another time. But back to the issue at hand - this week - it sucked. On an average week I probably only have one bad incident while commuting. But while this week may have had a larger amount of crap none of it was actually unusual. None of these stories will be surprising to anyone who has commuted by bike for any period of time. I'll have some analysis for you in the next post.
Incident 1
Monday morning I was biking my normal route to work which takes me North along Hamline ave across highway 36. Just past 36 is the intersection of Hamline and County Road B2. To the left (West) is the Rosedale Mall, to the right (East) is the Roseville High School. As I approach the intersection a white car nudged out as if looking for room to sneak forward and turn right at the then red light. This car, however, gets back in line and continues straight. As a biker I have stayed safe and alive by never fully trusting cars. So when this car, of which I am now riding alongside, turns to the right nearly hitting me it is terrifying but not surprising. I swerve to the right, turning with the car and yell at them. They stop and I scream something about using a fucking turn signal, then I continue my ride. I do have to get to work after all.
Incident 2
Wednesday evening coming home from work I am biking (east) along the trail on County Road C. This trail rocks because it is a long stretch where I don't have to worry about cars or stops and I can just zip along. That is until I come up to the Snelling/County C intersection. If you see a pattern here, yes, most conflicts between cars and bikes happen at intersections, where paths cross. Anyways, this light is almost always red when I arrive which is fine because it is a very busy intersection (seriously Snelling is actually highway 51 with a 50mph speed limit). When it is red I pull right up to the end of the sidewalk/trail ramp and the street. If you look at the GoogleMaps link in street view you can see that there is a right turn lane right along side the bike lane.
The timing of the lights goes North/South traffic, then a turn arrow for the East/West traffic, then a full green light for the East/West traffic. When the turn arrows are over the east/west straight bound traffic gets to go, including anyone using the trail (such as myself).
In this case the light was green as I approached. Now this is actually a bit of a dangerous situation for me because people rarely look where they are turning and never look for someone coming from the side. As I ride past the line of cars waiting to turn right I attempt to catch someone's eye so they can at least know that there is a biker coming. No luck. I come to a stop at the intersection as drivers continue to turn right, ignoring the glowing green light and crossing sign signalling that I have right of way. I inch my way into the street attempting to assert myself. (If you've never biked in traffic then one thing you should know is that you must assert yourself. To do otherwise is to cede your right and your safety to unaware 2000lbs metal slabs moving 30+ mph. Read this succinct guide to the rules of the road for some more info.) None of the cars seem to care as they just veer a little further away, continuing to turn. Now that the crossing sign has turned to the 25 second countdown I stick myself out there, raising my hand for visibility, essentially blocking the way and forcing the next turning car to stop (the driver seemed a bit miffed). I begin to ride on now that the way is clear.
This sort of disregard for cyclists and traffic laws is fairly typical of motorists. And it is not because motorists are evil bike munching bogeymonsters. They are people. People are tired, inattentive, in a hurry to get home etc etc. But what really got to me this time was that as I was biking away the driver, who I had forced to stop, yelled out "You're NOT a pedestrian!" I tried, and failed, to yell back "I'm on a bike trail and have a green light!". What came out was "ArghI'm on a bike, FUCK YOU!" Which I'm sure helped to endear me, and cyclists in general, to all of the waiting drivers which I was now riding past.
Incident 3
Over the lunch hour on Thrusday I decided that what I really needed was Chipotle. So I ordered online, hopped on my bike and set off. On the way back I am biking in the street (no bike lanes in New Brighton) on the right hand side coming up on the turn for the office. There is no other traffic on the road which makes it all the more confusing when a car coming up behind me honks. Not so much an angry honk, or a warning honk... in fact I'm not sure why he was honking. As the driver passes me he is clearly looking down at his phone. Perhaps he was honking at the a ghost, or the wind. My impression of the driver: "damn this wind - honk - always thinking it gets to wind all over the place... indistinct grumbling... passing this biker reminds me that I need to send a text".
Incident 4
Thursday evening, just leaving work, I have claimed the lane in order to turn left onto a busy street. I signal as much to the two cars behind me as I approach the stop sign. I cease my signal in order pump up the rest of the small hill and come to a stop. As mentioned before it is a busy street, 4 lanes plus a median, with 40+ mph traffic including semi trucks. The traffic coming from the left clears and there is a gap in the traffic from the right. Now I could maybe make it but I'd be starting from a dead stop and the wind is against me. I'm a smart biker so I don't go if I could "maybe" make it. The corollary to "maybe I could make it" is "maybe I won't make it". So elect not to maybe become an asphalt burger and stay put for the next gap.
The driver behind me throws a shit fit.
He shoots off a long angry honk, yells his head off and gestures emphatically. Of course, I can't actually hear him, he is 10 feet behind me with his windows rolled up. His muffled anger combined with the arm waving makes him seem pretty silly, especially after all the crap that's happened this week. He is clearly angry that I am not on the right side of the road and that I chose not to attempt to cross during the last maybe opportunity. I yell back and signal that "I'm turning left" but he remained angry and under the incorrect belief that bikers must always be as far to the right as possible. Less than a minute later there is a gap which is not a maybe and I bike across. He grumpily zooms past. The best part, he and I leap frog past each other for half of my ride home, stopping at all the same lights and taking the same turns.
Overall
Thankfully Friday was uneventful due to the relatively light traffic. Not sure why but there is always less traffic on Fridays. Perhaps less people go into work, or go to work later and leave earlier; a topic for more thought at another time. But back to the issue at hand - this week - it sucked. On an average week I probably only have one bad incident while commuting. But while this week may have had a larger amount of crap none of it was actually unusual. None of these stories will be surprising to anyone who has commuted by bike for any period of time. I'll have some analysis for you in the next post.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Think-y Ride-y the Intro
I've been bike commuting for several years now, which means I've had plenty of time to think while biking (and to think about biking (also while biking)). And while I've ranted plenty to my girlfriend and close friends I've never taken the time to sit down and write about it. I've been thinking about doing this kind of a blog for a while - somewhere that I can put down the thoughts which tend to percolate while I ride. The real first post, the final push to start writing, will come next.
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