Why do we ride?

Cyclists are on the road for a wide variety of reasons. By far, the majority simply enjoys bicycling as recreation. Some use bicycles as basic transportation. But others ride for some different reasons, chief among them are the health benefits or concern for our environment.

I ride to work for many of those reasons. We have one car and one teenage driver. Need I say more? Actually, riding to work saves our family a lot of money. And it’s good for me. I’m fond of using a tool analogy – use the right tool for the job – and for short trips, the bicycle is the right tool.

But today, I’d like to focus on the environmental issues of transportation. We all know that bicycles are a tiny fraction of the vehicles polluting our air, land, and water, and that most of the pollution arises from the manufacturing and maintenance of our machines. This is miniscule by comparison with motor vehicles.

I’ve written previously about the connection between our purchases of petroleum-based fuels and terrorism. The New York Times had something about it over the weekend. I suspect the Times is more widely read than CycleDog, but I prefer to think of my readers as a, um,…more select group. As the incomparable American philosopher Foghorn Leghorn said, “That’s a joke, son! I say, that’s a joke!”

I grew up in western Pennsylvania. There was a strip mine just over the hill from my elementary school. I could see the smoke and dust when the steel mills were pouring over in McKeesport. The fire lit up the horizon. Most of the streams and rivers were little more than industrial sewers. The Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught fire now and then from all the solvents. That’s unimaginable today.

Does riding a bicycle make an appreciable difference in air and water quality? Probably not. Even if a hundred thousand motorists switched to bicycles, it probably wouldn’t make a measurable difference except in their own lives.

Government regulations have a major effect on environmental quality. Many of those streams and rivers in Pennsylvania that were dead, stinking toilets now support game fish. The state government and the people were dedicated to cleaning up the mess. So it really got me thinking when I read Molly Ivins’ column about mercury pollution.

Originally, the Clean Air Act was set to be fully in force by 2008. But the Bush administration changed the rules to delay that until about 2025. The changes allow polluting industries to buy and sell pollution ‘credits’. It’s window dressing. It gives the appearance of doing something about pollution without actually reducing pollution levels.

Polluting industries will continue spewing poisons into our air and water, poisons like mercury that causes fetal deformities. Pregnant women are still advised to limit their consumption of all freshwater and saltwater fish due to high mercury levels. The Bush administration would protect a fetus from abortion; yet not protect it from mercury. If abortion is murder, as some of the right wing crowd insist, is encouraging business that harms unborn children less immoral? The blatant hypocrisy should disgust Americans.

“The love of money is the root of all evil”…1 Timothy 6:10

That sums up the neo-cons and the present administration. Their over-riding concern is money. All else is secondary. They would have us believe they are good, moral people while they allow industry to degrade our air and water. The Bible says we’re to be stewards of the earth, not conquerors. A steward protects and defends his superior’s property. So which is the moral choice: giving our children a better planet or a worse one?

Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not anti-business. I know that there’s no going back from our modern industrial society to a simple, agrarian one. I wouldn’t want that, nor would most Americans. But I cannot countenance an administration that wraps itself in false morality while ignoring the real needs of the American people. Clean air and water should be as basic to our rights and freedoms as any in the Bill of Rights. Oh, let’s see about getting them back too.

“By their fruits ye shall know them”…Matthew 6:20

What are the ‘fruits’ of the Bush administration? A war based on lies. An energy policy formulated by the petroleum industry in total secrecy. An unprecedented loss of civil liberties. An abrogation of international law, indefinitely confining prisoners without trial or charges. A lawless, ‘the end justifies the means’ approach that rivals the Spanish Inquisition and engages in torture of prisoners of war, ‘enemy combatants’, or anyone else so bold as to challenge the administration.

These people are supposed to be the ‘moral’ choice in politics? As compared to what – Joseph Stalin?

It’s our country. Let’s take it back.

Cyclist's best kept secret...

It's going to be warm here today, about 75F this afternoon.

It's bug season.

Soon there will be swarms of midges hovering over every water crossing in the morning. I'll try to hold my breath or at least breathe through my nose. My helmet and glasses will be covered with dead bugs when I arrive at work. That's much better than inhaling the little pests.

In the afternoon, there will be horse flies on the way home. I go by several pastures and I suspect the flies are waiting there to ambush any cyclist too slow to out run them. That's me. It's up hill, of course, and the horse flies are faster than I am. They land on my back and butt, slowly boring through my clothes and into my flesh. Let's just say they give me incentive to go faster.

But here's one of cycling's dirty little secrets - some bugs are quite tasty! Now, I can hardly qualify as a connoisseur of insect comestibles, but there are a few out there that have a nice tangy flavor, almost peppery. They're not bad, but I'm totally unaware of what kind of insect they are, and I'm not about to do taste testing to find out!

Yard Dogs From Hell: Part 3

I like dogs. I've written about that previously. But I had another encounter with the YDFH this morning, and for the first time, I had to use my stick.

The gate was open, but this dog ignored it, preferring a more direct line under the fence. He's probably a mixed breed, but there has to be some Lab in the mix. He's big and black, with that squared off head that Lab breeders like. He's also very fast. He was under the fence and next to my knee all too quickly.

I rode the fixed gear Centurion because it was just above freezing. The continuous exercise helps keep me warm. But that gear combination, a 42x20, isn't a good choice for sprinting. There's no way I can out run a determined dog. So I reached for the stick. It's a piece cut from a broken shovel handle. (Yeah, I tend to break things. My friend Wade said I don't know my own strength. I broke HIS shovel too!) I didn't want to hurt the
dog, just drive him off, so I tapped him on the nose. The motion came from my wrist rather than my shoulder. He broke off the chase immediately.

But wait! There's more!

One of my co-workers knows the guy who owns the business upthere. He's a local part-time cop, and he claims that the dogs aren't his. No surprise there. A lot of people around here have dogs they don't actually own. They feed them, house them, and even give them names, but when a dog attack occurs, they don't really own that dog. They have no idea where it came from, etc. It just kinda showed up and hung around for awhile. I can talk with the police chief, though the business isn't in his jurisdiction, and I can ask his advice.

Both yard dog packs have no avowed owners, at this point. The original pack is about a mile and a half further east. I was out for a Saturday morning ride last weekend and happened upon another rider who'd just met them. The house owner said the dogs weren't his, he had no idea....etc, etc, etc. The cyclist was pissed. The owner probably didn't want to take responsibility and be liable for the dogs.

Maybe the owners would be more suitable targets for my stick.

Another co-worker, a former cop, suggested getting a collapsible baton at one of the police supply stores. It would have some advantages. For one, it's not as heavy as my stick, so it wouldn't do as much damage. And it's longer. I like the idea of keeping the dogs further away. But there's a drawback to the extra length too. I'm a klutz sometimes, and I'm afraid that I'd swing that long baton into my spokes. I can only imagine the results!

One sick puppy...

Every now and then, I get an urge to buy another bike. Sometimes it’s a track bike, though I realize at my age the harsh ride probably wouldn’t be good for me. It’s like having an Italian mistress. It would be a lot of fun in the short term, though in the long run it wouldn’t be good for my health. She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed is a good shot!

Lately, I’ve been thinking about a folding bike, a fixed gear folding bike, because I’m one sick puppy. Sheldon Brown built a lovely fixie on a Raleigh Twenty folder (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/raleigh-twenty.html) and I find it inspiring. But the chances of finding a frame like his in Oklahoma aren’t very good. I hesitate to look for one on-line. These bikes are old and corrosion would be a big factor.

Then I came across the Kent International Transit 20” folding bike on the Wal-Mart catalog site. Let’s face it. This bike is cheap! It’s less than $100, but it covers two important criteria: The rider’s maximum height is 6’2”, and his maximum weight is listed at 250 lbs! This is within parameters for the Wagner Vertical Crush Test. And it’s cheap! Did I mention that?

Someone on Usenet said that bicycles can be cheap, light, and strong – but you only get to choose two of those characteristics. Perhaps it’s not surprising that there’s no weight listed for this bike.

I met a guy commuting to work on an old Huffy. He’d had the thing nearly 10 years and it showed. The bike clicked and creaked going down the road. When he finally retired it, the back wheel was almost square. The bike had seen long, hard use, but the rider had clearly gotten good service from it.

So I’m wondering if I could expect similar results from a cheap bike, especially if it were as mechanically simple as a fixed gear. It would mean putting another bike in the garage, though, and as I said before, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed is a good shot!

Two-wheeled tow truck...

Later this week, I’m planning to go yard sale-ing on my fixed gear Centurion. I’m looking for useable bikes for the Community Cycling Project as well as suitable fixed gear candidates for myself. A Peugeot with those curlicue lugs would be very nice. I dream.

But I don’t want to drive the car around. I’m thinking of using a front axle assembly mounted to a wood block, with the wood block in turn mounted to the rear rack of the Centurion. Instant bicycle tow truck! I could remove the front wheel of another bike, lock it into the axle assembly, and tow it home. The front wheel could be bungied to the frame. It would work.

From the bike, I could cover the whole town in an hour or two. And since my kids are teenagers and She-Who-etc usually sleeps late, I could get it done before anyone woke up! That’s important. There are too many bikes in the garage already, according to She-Who-etc, and if I dragged another one home….well, let’s just say that it would not contribute to marital harmony. Still, I bought her flowers last week and again this week. Maybe I’m paid up in advance.

Naah.

Bicycle commuter assault

Brian Rice is a co-worker at AA. He commutes by bicycle
sometimes and we've ridden home together now and then

This afternoon, he was riding north on Mingo Road just north
of 46th Street. A blue pickup passed him, and someone threw a
water bottle at him. The truck had a white box in the back
and was carrying a motocross bike. He saw it inside the MX
track parking lot, but didn't enter because the people at the
gate wanted $5.

Brian called Owasso PD, who referred him to Tulsa County. He
spoke with a dispatcher who told him it's unlikely they could
do much more than charge the offender with littering. That's
right. Littering.

(To their credit, the Owasso PD tracked down a motorist who'd
been harassing me on Mingo Road. The sergeant said he'd have
"come to Jesus" meeting with the driver. I'm sorry to say
that I've forgotten his name. But I did provide an
approximate description of the driver as well as a tag number
and a description of his vehicle. I never had a problem with
that guy again. Moral of the story - ALWAYS get the
information!)

Brian called me about it tonight. I said that without a tag
number there probably wouldn't be much the cops could do, but
at least he should make out a report. He said that TCSO would
send an officer to his home to take it.

I seem to recall that the infamous Paul Tay was charged with a
felony for throwing an object at a motor vehicle. Are
cyclists LESS likely to crash if they're hit by a thrown
object? Should we expect LESS protection under the law than
someone driving a motor vehicle? If a water bottle were
hurled at a police officer on his bicycle, would the offenders
expect to face no more than a littering charge?

Last year, a motorist almost hit a police officer at one of
the roadblocks they set up. When he was arrested, he was
charged with assault with a deadly weapon, the car being the
weapon. No officer was hit or hurt. Yet when some yahoo
strafes a cyclist by driving inches from his handlebar "just
to scare him" the law looks the other way.

It ain't right.

Another bike...

Lucky me. I’m on vacation this week. My kids are having Spring Break – an unheard of concept in the snow bound north where I grew up – and I’m taking the week off too. We don’t have any plans since No. 1 Daughter has work scheduled most of the week. We’re staying close to home.

I was bored Saturday, so I ended up in the garage, putting another fixed gear together from stuff that was just lying around. Actually, I’d built this bike up for time trials a couple of years ago and it was disassembled for some unknown reason. The frame is an old Pennine Re della Corsa. Reynolds 531 double-butted tubing throughout. A Campy Nouvo Record bottom bracket and Super Record headset. I used an old no-name front wheel and a cheap track hub in the rear. Gearing is presently a 47x18 using Sugino crankarms and Campy ring. That’ll be changed to a 52x18 for time trials. The Handlebars and stem are ancient TTT. This thing SCREAMS 1970s!

One appealing aspect of riding fixed gear conversions is that they’re a way to use some of the old steel frame gathering dust in so many garages. I don’t think that a good use of a collectible old bike like a full Campy Raleigh Professional or a Schwinn Paramount, for example, but it’s a great way to re-use a good quality frame like my Centurion. It’s surprising how light one of these old bikes can be when all the ‘extraneous’ stuff is removed.

There’s one sore point – the saddle – a worn Brooks Professional. What else? This one came off one of the bikes donated for the Community Cycling Project. It looked really rough. The surface was badly cracked and dry. I applied 6 or 7 coats of Mink Oil. It looked better, but I wasn’t entirely sure the saddle would stay together with weight on it. This will eventually end up on a client’s bike, so I talked with Sandra about testing it on one of my bikes. The saddle originally belonged to a woman considerably smaller and lighter than me, so it had never been subjected to the Wagner Vertical Crush Test.

I rode it yesterday. Despite all the cracks and wear, it feels like sitting on a board. Not a hard board like a piece of maple, but rather more like a soft board like pine or cedar. Not that there’s a considerable difference.

I’ll ride this a few more times and then re-install the Sella Italia.

A quick word about time trials and fixed gears: I use a ‘medium’ gear for TTs because I know that I’ll never be competitive with the truly fast guys around here, even the fast guys in my age group. My intent is to gauge my own performance over time, and a fixed gear helps to eliminate variables. Besides, it’s easier on my knees. I’m much better off spinning like mad than pushing hard on too big a gear.

There’s British site devoted to medium gear time trailing - http://www.fixedwheel.co.uk/ Check it out!

Bianchi Rides Again!

I finished the Bianchi sometime last week, but didn't get a
chance to ride it until today. Since it was torn down last
fall, I've replaced the rear wheel and the bottom bracket
cartridge, overhauled the hubs and headset, replaced brake
shoes and cables, cleaned and lubricated the drivetrain,
treated the insides of the frame tubes with metal protectant,
and fitted new tires. That doesn't sound like much now, but
getting that corroded bottom bracket cartridge out was a real
PITA. I'm glad it's done. This bike fits well. It's like an
old friend, a big comfy arm chair that happens to roll down
the road.

The new tires are Serfas Segas in 700x28, and they're rated
for 125 PSI. Yeehaw! Go fast stuff! They have a nice ride
too, though to be truthful, all I did was ride around the
block to see that everything worked. Next I'll see how long
they last. I was talking with Brian Potter yesterday. He
said that most of his tires last about 6 months. That's 3000
miles for him. Mine last about a year, and that's roughly
3000 miles too. Sunlight usually ruins the sidewalls long
before the tire wears out.

A note about yesterday's BikeEd class: I didn't have the
Bianchi along because I hadn't sorted it out yet, and I
hesitate to use an untried bike at a class. So I took the
fixed gear Centurion instead. Honestly, I chickened out at
trying the instant turn on the fixie. It's a road frame with
170mm cranks and I was afraid of snagging a pedal in that
turn. A lot of messengers ride track frames with higher
bottom brackets and shorter cranks to improve pedal clearance.
I'm not as brave as I used to be, but then again, I don't heal
up as fast either.

A question about road courtesy...

My commute goes by the quarry in Owasso, so I've been on the road
with a lot of big trucks. Generally, these drivers are courteous
and safety conscious. They see me nearly every day.

145th Street is just 2 lanes. Many of you know it from doing the
Monday night ride.

I've been signaling when a big truck passes and it's back end
clears my bike. I signal just as if I were making a right turn,
holding my right arm out horizontally. Some truck drivers
respond by flipping on their right turn signal and coming back
over into the lane. Is this a good practice?

I ask because this morning I received an e-mail from someone here
at work, describing my actions exactly. Apparently there was a
car behind one of these trucks, and it appeared to the driver
that I was signaling for a right turn without ever turning. I've
never been too concerned about that, because there's seldom a
place to MAKE a right turn when I do this. Still, given a
choice, I'd rather have a confused motorist than a confused
tractor-trailer driver.

(....and yes, I'm probably going to get wet on the way home
today! Oh the joy.)

Community Cycling Project

I'm a volunteer with the Community Cycling Project here in Tulsa.
It's part of the bicycle advocacy component of the Tulsa
Wheelmen, a local racing organization. We enjoy significant
support from the bike shops, who contribute bikes and supplies.
CCP runs on a shoestring, so any donation is much appreciated.

Tomorrow we have a Road1 class scheduled for a group of about 10.
In case you're unfamiliar with the program, it's the basic road
curriculum developed by the League of American Bicyclists (I
started writing 'League of American Wheelmen' which certainly
betrays my age!). The course synopsis is available on the League
webpage, so I won't go into that here. Suffice it to say that
before taking Road1, I thought I couldn't learn much more about
road riding. Was I ever wrong!

Brian Potter will teach tomorrow's class. Brian was instrumental
in getting most of us signed up for the first Road1 class here in
Tulsa, and he ram-rodded the subsequent League Instructor class
too. I learned a lot from him.

Some of our students are from Exodus House, a program for
ex-offenders. It's a program supported by local churches. They
provide each client with a furnished apartment complete with
cookware, dishes, and even food in the refrigerator. Each client
is required to have a job, and that's where CCP comes in.

Most of these people have little money, no car, and often no
driver's license. We provide them with a serviceable bicycle and
the instruction necessary for safe and comfortable operation on
city streets. The idea is that by enabling them to travel
further, we can help them find better jobs. It's encouraging
that the Tulsa Transit buses are being equipped with bicycle
racks too. That expands job opportunities even further.

My job for this evening is to finish the old Peugeot out in the
garage. I've overhauled the front hub, headset, and bottom
bracket. I have to take it to Tom's to get the freewheel
removed, because I don't have that particular Shimano tool. This
bike reminded me why I didn't like some French bikes back when I
worked in a bike shop. And it really brought back my dislike of
the original Shimano 600 brake calipers with their pivoting
anchor points. They're a PITA to adjust!

These boots are made for...polka

(Yesterday, I wrote about the tunes that get stuck in our heads. Well, this morning, for reasons unknown, it was Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walking". I tried to think of a polka version in order to lift my pace, but it didn't work. Nancy kept coming back, and she's been in my head all morning. Oh, the horror!)

(Today's theme: walking, cycling and conservation. I ride a bicycle to work, and I often walk to the grocery store. It's a pleasant 10 minute walk, though when my kids walked a similar distance to school, some parents were horrified that we made them walk so far.)

There's a paper in the shop that juxtaposes two headlines from our local newspaper. "War costs top $81.4 billion bill OK'd by House" and "Oil price at all-time high". Some of my co-workers claim President Bush is responsible. I don't take that tack. Oil prices are pushing ever higher because we're competing with the China and India. As their economizes industrialize and their
consumers move up the economic ladder, both countries will need more oil. We can continue this competition and see ever-increasing prices, or we can take another approach, and in my mind a better approach, by turning our technology toward using less petroleum. But we need the equivalent of the Manhattan Project, and the national will, to do so.

Now, in an administration hip-deep in former oil executives, the idea of using less petroleum is anathema. Their lives have been spent drilling more and more holes in the ground. We can continue along this path, and if today's news about drilling in ANWR is any indication, we will. There's not enough oil to make a real difference in our energy needs, but there's enough to further enrich some already rich people.

Vice President Cheney dismissively suggested that conservation is a personal choice. It should be government policy, but again, with the oil guys in charge that's unlikely. We can each make the choice to use less fuel by walking or cycling. We can plan our trips and use the car less. My friend Sandra calls this being "car-lite". Eventually, our economy will turn away from extensive use of petroleum, not because it will run out, but because it will be increasingly expensive to extract.

But that's off in the future. How far in the future depends on who you listen to. In the near term, expect that oil prices will continue to increase. India and China will not simply go away.

But there's another, more sinister idea that crossed my mind. India and China are much closer to the oil-rich Middle East than we are. Could it be that the discredited pretext for a war with Iraq, the vanished-into-thin-air weapons of mass destruction, was only a subterfuge so that we could pre-position our troops on top of those oil fields? Could Iraq be a garrison state for next 20 years, securing it's oil supply for the US market? We already use our military to prop up the House of Saud. In effect, our military is used to subsidize oil prices for American consumers and businesses. Our taxes and the lives of our children make cheap gas possible. It that a moral choice?

I don't think so.

Hey! Ho! Let's go!

People who indulge in rhythmic exercise - rowing, running, cycling, and the like - often have a song in their heads that goes at the same tempo. On my slow days, it's Frank Sinatra with something soulful. But on the fast days, like today, it's something more upbeat like the Ramones "Blitzkrieg Bop"! It really helps to get up the hills.

I read of a guy climbing Kilimanjaro once, and he had some silly kid's song in his head, something like the Oscar Mayer wiener song. The only problem was, he was suffering hypoxia, the lack of oxygen, and he was actually singing the song aloud over and over and over! His companions were nearly ready to kill him.

Today's weather forecast called for a mixture of rain and snow. The temperature was just above freezing - plenty cold by Oklahoma standards. I put the rain jacket in my bag, but I was thinking that a year ago, I would have driven the car to work on a similar morning. What changed? My daughter got her driver's license.

No. 1 Daughter now refers to the family car as HER car. She's a bit annoyed to pay $20 or more to fill the gas tank, though. I don't buy much gas anymore, but I'll put a tankful in when I do need to drive. It's funny how that works. I normally fill the tank. Daughter rarely puts more than half a tank in. She pointed out that a full tank costs about as much as a pair of shoes! The girl definitely has different priorities.

Last night, No. 1 Son had some recommendations about the next car I should buy, primarily because he believes his older sister will get the present one, and if he plays his cards right, he'll get the next one. So his 'suggestions' ranged from manly SUVs to powerful sports cars and muscle cars. Who'd have guessed? I told him I was aware of his game, and there was little chance I'd buy one of the vehicles he wanted. Besides, unless his grades improve dramatically, he won't get a driver's license in this
lifetime if I can help it.

He also has his eye on my carbon fiber Giant. I told him that he has strong, well developed thumbs from playing video games, and unless he starts riding his bike soon, there's no chance that I'll give him my racing bike.

I think that as the temperatures climb, we'll see more cyclists on the roads because of the rising fuel prices. There are always more cyclists in the summer, naturally, and too many of them are riding the wrong way against traffic or riding on the sidewalk. There are more motor scooters out too, and some of them ride the sidewalks. Even my doctor, an educated man, refuses to ride his bicycle on the street because he believes it's too dangerous.

And that belief is the critical part of that sentence. Most people believe - wrongly - that riding a bicycle on the road is a feat performed by those with a strong death wish, and no amount of statistics will convince them otherwise. They believe they're safer riding against traffic or up on a sidewalk. We've had 2 deaths recently involving cyclists who swerved all the way across the road as overtaking traffic approached and were hit by an on-coming vehicle.

"Everyone knows" that riding a bicycle in traffic is dangerous, just like "everyone knew" that the Earth was flat and Columbus would fall off the edge.

My commute goes by the local quarry, so I've been on the road with a lot of big trucks. Generally, these drivers are courteous and safety conscious. They see me nearly every day.

I've been signaling when a big truck passes and it's back end clears my bike. I signal just as if I were making a right turn, holding my right arm out horizontally. Some truck drivers respond by flipping on their right turn signal and coming back over into the lane. Is this a good practice?

I ask because this morning I received an e-mail from someone at work, describing my actions exactly. Apparently there was a car behind one of these trucks, and it appeared to the driver that I was signaling for a right turn without ever turning. I've never been too concerned about that, because there's seldom a place to MAKE a right turn when I do this. Still, given a choice, I'd rather have a confused motorist than a confused
tractor-trailer driver.

I rode the Bianchi to work yesterday. I've whined and moaned about not being able to ride it. When I told my teen-age daughter that the bike was depressed from inactivity, she thought it was hilariously funny. So it was a joy to get it out of the garage, swing a leg over the top tube, and push off.

About halfway to work, I missed my fixed gear. Oh, the Bianchi was fine, and I could spin along in a small gear if I wanted to, but I missed the simplicity of the fixie. Fickle, ain't I?

Going home was better. The wind was calm and sometimes it felt as if I had a bit of a tailwind. I geared down and spun along up the grade toward 86th Street, about a mile and a half of steady climbing. It's not steep, fortunately.

The weather report called for an 80% chance of rain today, so I rode the fixie again. It's the only bike with fenders, for one thing, and I do prefer the control and 'road feel' of a fixed gear in the wet. And it will be wet going home. If the wind comes out of the north, I'll probably be missing the small gears on the Bianchi. Go figure.

Bicycle Parking

One of my co-workers was just named as employee of the
month.....for November. Let's just say the program is running a
little behind.

There are some perks that go with this. For the next month, he
gets to use the EOM parking space right next to the front door.
I was wondering what I'd do if they ever gave me the award.
Could I put the reserved parking sign on the bicycle rack? It's
an idea that appeals to my fondness for the absurd.

Actually, since I ride my bike most days, I already have a great
parking space. There's a tiny parking lot right in front of the
building. The main parking lot is across the street, so some
employees will wait and wait and wait for a spot to open out
front. Now, they could park across the street and walk, and that
would probably take less time than waiting for a spot, but they
sit there, engine idling, until someone leaves.

The bike rack is right out front too. Until our new security
fence went up, I had an even better spot in the shade right next
to the building. It was about 4 steps from the door. I could
leave at the end of the shift and be out of the parking lot
before the traffic started to build. The new rack is about 50
feet from the EOM parking spot, but still closer than the main
lot.

I'm lucky too, in that my workplace is inside the security
perimeter of an airport, so the bike rack is inside the security
zone too. Theft and pilferage are not a problem. Today, for
instance, I rode my carbon-fiber racing bike, and I don't worry
about leaving it on the rack outside. (The weather report is
calling for 20-30 mph headwinds on my way home. Much as I love
riding a fixed gear, on days like this I want lower gears!)

My situation is the exception. Most bicycle parking leaves much
to be desired. Security is probably the biggest problem. We all
worry about bike theft. There are some simple, common-sense
approaches to stopping bike thieves. One idea is to ride an
'ugly' bike - an old bike that may be in excellent mechanical
shape, but is just plain ugly. Some people will spray flat black
paint onto a perfectly good frame, or cover it with black
electrical tape. They'll ride old three speeds, single speeds,
or fixed gears. Some folks carry two locking systems because
thieves reportedly won't carry the tools to defeat more than one.

I went with the ugly bike approach when I worked in a large
metropolitan hospital. I rode a Paris Sport track bike with a
scabrous golden brown paint job. It came from the factory that
way! The hospital had a bike rack inside the parking garage. I
locked the bike there with the original Kryptonite lock (it was a
LONG time ago!), took of the front wheel, pump, and lights, and
walked to my work area. No one would steal a bike with only one
wheel.

Ed

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is middle-aged.
http://cycledog.blogspot.com
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2/28/05

The Bianchi Rides Again!!!

I finished the Bianchi sometime last week, but didn't get a chance to ride it until today. Since it was torn down last fall, I've replaced the rear wheel and the bottom bracket cartridge, overhauled the hubs and headset, replaced brake shoes and cables, cleaned and lubricated the drivetrain, treated the insides of the frame tubes with metal protectant, and fitted new tires. That doesn't sound like much now, but getting that corroded bottom bracket cartridge out was a real PITA. I'm glad it's done. This bike fits well. It's like an old friend, a big comfy arm chair that happens to roll down the road.

The new tires are Serfas Segas in 700x28, and they're rated for 125 PSI. Yeehaw! Go fast stuff! They have a nice ride too, though to be truthful, all I did was ride around the block to see that everything worked. Next I'll see how long they last. I was talking with Brian Potter yesterday. He said that most of his tires last about 6 months. That's 3000 miles for him. Mine last about a year, and that's roughly 3000 miles too. Sunlight usually ruins the sidewalls long before the tire wears out.

A note about yesterday's BikeEd class: I didn't have the Bianchi along because I hadn't sorted it out yet, and I hesitate to use an untried bike at a class. So I took the fixed gear Centurion instead. Honestly, I chickened out at trying the instant turn on the fixie. It's a road frame with 170mm cranks and I was afraid of snagging a pedal in that turn. A lot of messengers ride track frames with higher bottom brackets and shorter cranks to improve pedal clearance. I'm not as brave as I used to be, but then again, I don't heal up as fast either.

Community Cycling Project

I'm a volunteer with the Community Cycling Project here in Tulsa. It's part of the bicycle advocacy component of the Tulsa Wheelmen, a local racing organization. We enjoy significant support from the bike shops, who contribute bikes and supplies. CCP runs on a shoestring, so any donation is much appreciated.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we have a Road1 class scheduled for a group of about 10. In case you're unfamiliar with the program, it's the basic road curriculum developed by the League of American Bicyclists (I started writing 'League of American Wheelmen' which certainly betrays my age!). The course synopsis is available on the League webpage, so I won't go into that here. Suffice it to say that before taking Road1, I thought I couldn't learn much more about road riding. Was I ever wrong!

Brian Potter will teach tomorrow's class. Brian was instrumental in getting most of us signed up for the first Road1 class here in Tulsa, and he ram-rodded the subsequent League Instructor class too. I learned a lot from him.

Some of our students are from Exodus House, a program for ex-offenders. It's a program supported by local churches. They provide each client with a furnished apartment complete with cookware, dishes, and even food in the refrigerator. Each client is required to have a job, and that's where CCP comes in.

Most of these people have little money, no car, and often no driver's license. We provide them with a serviceable bicycle and the instruction necessary for safe and comfortable operation on city streets. The idea is that by enabling them to travel further, we can help them find better jobs. It's encouraging that the Tulsa Transit buses are being equipped with bicycle racks too. That expands job opportunities even further.

My job for this evening is to finish the old Peugeot out in the garage. I've overhauled the front hub, headset, and bottom bracket. I have to take it to Tom's to get the freewheel removed, because I don't have that particular Shimano tool. This bike reminded me why I didn't like some French bikes back when I worked in a bike shop. And it really brought back my dislike of the original Shimano 600 brake calipers with their pivoting anchor points. They're a PITA to adjust!

Bicycle Parking

One of my co-workers was just named as employee of themonth.....for November. Let's just say the program is running a little behind.

There are some perks that go with this. For the next month, he gets to use the EOM parking space right next to the front door. I was wondering what I'd do if they ever gave me the award. Could I put the reserved parking sign on the bicycle rack? It's an idea that appeals to my fondness for the absurd.


Actually, since I ride my bike most days, I already have a great parking space. There's a tiny parking lot right in front of the building. The main parking lot is across the street, so some employees will wait and wait and wait for a spot to open out front. Now, they could park across the street and walk, and that would probably take less time than waiting for a spot, but they sit there, engine idling, until someone leaves.

The bike rack is right out front too. Until our new security fence went up, I had an even better spot in the shade right next to the building. It was about 4 steps from the door. I could leave at the end of the shift and be out of the parking lot before the traffic started to build. The new rack is about 50 feet from the EOM parking spot, but still closer than the main lot.

I'm lucky too, in that my workplace is inside the security perimeter of an airport, so the bike rack is inside the security zone too. Theft and pilferage are not a problem. Today, for instance, I rode my carbon-fiber racing bike, and I don't worry about leaving it on the rack outside. (The weather report is calling for 20-30 mph headwinds on my way home. Much as I love riding a fixed gear, on days like this I want lower gears!)

My situation is the exception. Most bicycle parking leaves much to be desired. Security is probably the biggest problem. We all worry about bike theft. There are some simple, common-sense approaches to stopping bike thieves. One idea is to ride an 'ugly' bike - an old bike that may be in excellent mechanical shape, but is just plain ugly. Some people will spray flat black paint onto a perfectly good frame, or cover it with black electrical tape. They'll ride old three speeds, single speeds, or fixed gears. Some folks carry two locking systems because thieves reportedly won't carry the tools to defeat more than one.

I went with the ugly bike approach when I worked in a large metropolitan hospital. I rode a Paris Sport track bike with a scabrous golden brown paint job. It came from the factory that way! The hospital had a bike rack inside the parking garage. I locked the bike there with the original Kryptonite lock (it was a LONG time ago!), took of the front wheel, pump, and lights, and
walked to my work area. No one would steal a bike with only one wheel.

Invasion of the Mud Men!

Wouldn't you know it? I rode the carbon fiber Giant to work on Monday since the weather forecast called for high winds out of the northwest. That meant 20-30 mile per hour headwinds all the way home. There was a chance of rain in the forecast too, but it was supposed to be gone by mid-afternoon. You'd think I would be ready for the vagarities of Oklahoma weather by now.

Radar showed bands of rain marching in from the northwest. It wasn't about to let up by the time I left work, so I dug out the rain jacket and safety glasses. I had the sense to keep them in my pack for emergencies. The rain jacket is just a cheap plastic one designed for cycling, with a long tail and lots of vents. The glasses are ordinary safety glasses with dark lenses, maybe not the best choice for rain, but they offer excellent coverage that's far better than my normal glasses.

The temperature dropped from around 60 to about 45 as the rain started. I rode into the wind, my torso fairly warm, but my arms and legs were cold. A couple of miles up the road, I stopped to put my windbreaker on under the rain jacket. The extra warmth was much appreciated.

But I hadn't thought about 145th Street and the gravel trucks.

There's a quarry about halfway home. The trucks drop a little bit of limestone and it gets crushed under their tires. With hundreds of trucks per day, the dust can get pretty thick. And it turns to slime when it's wet. The stuff sprays everywhere as the trucks go by. I looked like one of the Mud Men from the old Buck Rogers serials. My helmet had a nice fade from nearly solid light gray in front to solid black behind. My glasses were about half covered and I couldn't see well, but I wasn't about to take them off and get all that stuff in my eyes. The bike was a mess too, of course, and it was made worse by the absence of fenders. I had a nice, gray stripe up my back! Sure, I was filthy and wet, but at least I wasn't cold. I don't mind getting wet and filthy, but I really hate being cold too.

And for some reason, motorists give mud-spattered cyclists a lot more room. I'm not complaining about that. Maybe we just confirm that we're more than half a bubble off when we ride in such conditions. I don't really have much choice, though, because I have to get home.

I hosed the Giant in the driveway. It irked me because I'd ridden it only once since the last cleaning, and now I have to clean it again. That limestone slime sticks and won't come off easily. I'll have to disassemble the bike and do a thorough job maybe this weekend.

The Oklahoma Bicycle Coalition

I'm the OBC membership director. The board met in Stroud Wednesday evening about the Share the Road tag, the Texas Super Cyclist program, and some other business. Now, I'm not going to write about the board meeting because the minutes aren't official yet. But I do want to mention a few things about the tags and the Super Cyclist program.

I'm enthused about both.

The Share the Road tag is meant to heighten awareness of cyclists on our state roads. It's a straightforward message - share the road. What could be simpler? I have this vision of motorists and cyclists on busy roads as a normal part of their daily commute, so normal in fact, that the presence of cyclists is commonplace and unremarkable. That's hardly a radical thought, yet to some of the facilities advocates, it may be their personal view of hell.

Oklahoma has little money to maintain existing roads and highways, never mind build new ones. So the money that would build facilities like - dare I say it - bikelanes, is equally restricted. I'm not opposed to linear parks and multi-use trails since those are most often intended for recreation and are built with park money. But bikelanes are another matter. As a matter of public policy, it's hard to justify such expensive transportation facilities for the exclusive use of a small group of cyclists.

A better approach is to build wider lanes. Most lanes in this area are about 12 feet wide. A bicycle takes up about 2 feet of space. AASHTO design specifications call for a minimum of 2 feet clearance to each side (if I recall right), so the design space for a cyclist is 6 feet. That's half the width of most lanes here. That's too narrow to safely share with a motor vehicle. So a wider lane is better for cyclists. Fourteen feet would be nice, and sixteen would be even better.

So why shouldn't that space be set aside for cyclists by adding a solid white line? There are both practical and political reasons. The practical reason - money. Beyond the considerable expense of building a bike lane, there's the continuing expense of maintaining it. That area to the right of the white line attracts a lot of debris. Without regular street sweeping, the lane becomes unusable very quickly, and most municipalities here do very little street sweeping. Furthermore, without the abrasive action of motor vehicle tires, the surface weathers and roughens quickly. That's the dirty little secret of road cycling. We NEED car tires to provide a smooth surface.

As for the political reason - Oklahomans are populists. They are quite vocal about anything perceived as a benefit to a small group, like cyclists, and they are even more likely to vote against projects that spend public money to benefit such a small group. It's much easier for the politicians and planners to propose wider lanes since they benefit ALL road users, not just cyclists.

OK, I wandered away from the Share the Road topic a bit, but the thoughts just went together in a string. That happens.

The Super Cyclist program is from Texas. It's aimed at grade school children. The idea is that we would get our LCIs certified in the program, then they would teach it to elementary school teachers. I'm especially enthused about this because the kids would have a chance to start learning those judgment skills so critical to new drivers. In effect, they'd be learning the rules of the road and how to operate a vehicle safely long before they ever get behind the wheel of a car. This beats the standard 'bicycle safety' approach - "wear a helmet and watch out for cars!" - by a long shot.

Also, there's some federal grant money available for this program. If we received a grant, we could actually PAY our instructors for their time! Imagine that! OBC operates on a shoestring presently. We are all volunteers. It would be wonderful to be able to offer instructors fair compensation for their time. Think about giving up a Saturday with family and friends. What is that worth? ( I can put a precise dollar figure to it, since I'm a union member and I know what time-and-a-half brings in. There's no way I could ever earn that through teaching BikeEd, but it makes for a nice pipe dream!)

Like that big, hulkin' manly SUV? Think about this - we are utterly dependent on imported oil. We get nearly two thirds of our energy needs from overseas. And who supplies most of it? The Saudis, of course. Remember them? Most of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudis.

We buy their petroleum. They use the money to support madrases - religious schools that promote anti-western hatred. In effect, we're funding the very organizations that give rise to terrorists. If you were to give money to an organization in the US that funneled it to terrorists, you'd end up on a government watch list. Presumably you could even be deemed an "enemy combatant" and find yourself stripped of civil rights while confined in some military prison.

So let me say that again. We give them money for petroleum. They give the money to people who hate us. This is not unlike the "drug money supports terrorism" message put out by the anti-drug people a couple of years ago. But you'll never hear this from our present government. They're entirely bought and paid for by the petroleum industry. And after all, the Saudis are our friends.

You're an American. You have choices. You can give your money to people who hate us, or you can decide to spend it elsewhere or even keep it. And it really doesn't matter much if you drive a small, efficient car or that hulkin' manly SUV. You CAN make a difference by simply driving less, making a commitment to use less fuel. Our present government doesn't want you to do that, of course, since they're tied so closely to the petroleum industry. They want to drill more holes in the ground, and they regard conservation efforts as irrelevant.

Oil topped $55 per barrel Thursday. As the economies of China and India grow, they'll be increasingly competitive with us regarding energy supplies. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan could be regarded as an attempt to lock up oil fields for our use in the future. It sure looks like we'll be occupying Iraq for a long, long time.

What can you do? Even if you couldn't or wouldn't consider riding a bicycle to work, think about using one to run errands, meet the kids at school, or scoot out for some ice cream in the evening. Every mile you ride is one less mile you drive.

Tuesday

It was 25F when I left the house this morning - bitter cold for Oklahoma. I had a tailwind, but I wore an insulating jacket rather than my usual windbreaker. It was a bit too much. I was sweating by the time I arrived at work.

It's odd how some people react to winter riders. "How can you possibly DO that! It's SO COLD!" Then within a few minutes they're nattering on about an upcoming ski trip to Colorado. I'd much rather be riding my bike and staying warm from the exercise than shuffling in a lift line. To each his own.

There's a climber's adage that it's easier to stay warm than it is get warm. I'm a firm believer. I wear a lot of thin layers, all of them synthetics. If I get too warm, I can always peel something off. My pack has a balaclava, skullcap, doo-rag, and various gloves. My windbreaker sees almost constant use, with or without a sweater or vest. The one indispensable item is a good pair of tights. They're expensive, but the good ones are nearly windproof. My rule-of-thumb is to add a layer for every 10 degree temperature drop or if the ride is into a strong headwind.

The fixed gear helps me stay warm too. Sheldon Brown opined that "coasting is a pernicious habit!" It surely does make me cold on a long downhill. The fixie sees that I keep my muscles moving and stay warm.

Snowy Monday

It's snowing! I'm really looking forward to the ride home. It seems weird, but there are times I enjoy riding in the wet even if it's cold. Drivers seem to give me a little more space too, probably because they realize that anyone crazy enough to ride in such weather could just possibly be an axe murder too. Yeehaw! (It's a good thing I put some Mink Oil on that leather saddle!)

My crew chief said something about riding in the snow and asked if I was ready for it. I replied that Oklahoma weather has taught me to be ready for anything. "Never believe the weathermen. They can't get it right more than about 12 hours in advance here, and sometimes not even that." Today's original forecast called for temps just above freezing at dawn, warming to the low 50s in the afternoon. It actually 'warmed up' to the mid forties, but it's been falling steadily since noon. Who knows what it'll be by the time I leave work?

My weekend plan fell apart, as such plans usually do. The weather Saturday was gorgeous. I went down to Tom's for the small parts I needed to finish the Bianchi. I'd hoped to complete that bike in the afternoon. But I ended up cleaning the bathrooms instead. This requires some explanation.

Both kids had some kind of stomach virus last week. They missed some school. I didn't want Mary to clean the bathrooms because her health is fragile, so I volunteered myself. I went to Home Depot for some industrial strength cleaner/disinfectant. It's powerful stuff! I sprayed it on all the surfaces, then left it to work for about 10 minutes. The smell was powerful too. I couldn't stay in the bathrooms more than a few minutes even with the exhaust fans on. But I got the job done. Everything was gleaming.

Then I went out to the garage to work on the Bianchi. Some of it was easy and straightforward, but one part stymied me. I needed a new cable anchor for the rear brake, and I'd found one at Tom's that almost fit properly. The hole was just a little too small - a little judicious filing would take care of it. I needed a small rat tail file or a jeweler's file. Now I know I have one at home - somewhere - but I couldn't find it if my life depended on it! I put off the work until today, brought the anchor in to work and used my jeweler's file. Maybe tonight I can finally finish that bike!