bike month

the month of June has been designated "Bike Month" by the folks over at CDOT

here at ABANDON YOUR CAR, we think that's awesome. when the state of Colorado gets behind any initiative to promote alternative transportation and a healthy lifestyle, we're all for it. we would also like to take this opporunity to once again encourage everyone to do what they can to move away from the car-centric culture and all of its pitfalls.

the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first turn of the pedal.





Photo: Win McNamee / Getty Images

we know all too well what continuing down the same path will bring. here's some additional motivation:

wildlife images at SFGate.com

an essay and some more images, timely and relevant. make yourself read and look. do it.

six (plus twenty-six) years in a raincape

given that the weather today disintegrated into total crap, i had resigned myself to yet another session of garage-time on the rollers. that didn't work for me, i nearly slid back into the dark ages of SAD as soon as i went in there, looked at the apparatus and my bike, and thought for two seconds about what i was intending to do.

i turned around and went to the gear locker an pulled out the "severe duty" garments- the waterproof Pearl Izumi Gore-Tex slacks and my ol', trusty raincape and put 'em on over the rest of the monkey-suit.

sometimes the rollers just ain't gonna do it, and i have to be outside no matter what the weather is. and the truth is that it wasn't all that bad. besides, what's going to happen when you have to race in foul conditions if you never train for it?



socks go over the shoes, just like underwear are worn over the pants.






headed out on the fixie for some hard, satisfying efforts. besides, it's a lot easier to wash a fixie than the geared roadbike (which just received a Euro-wash (c), a fresh set of cables, and some nice, new Cinelli cork tape). sometimes it's not so bad to have a small fleet to choose from.

it felt really great to be out there, just like the old days down in Boulder. riding because it's time to ride, not because i managed to wait it out and it's finally 65 and sunny.

i'm not a pro anymore and i don't have time to train like one anymore, either. i have to make the most of what little time i have, though. just like it was back when i was livin' the life.

with all due respect to the master Joe Parkin for making a play on his blog title, it has actually been that many years that i have been riding and training in the foul weather. never made it to Belgium, but i did manage to do at least one race in France during the month of July in all of that time. now i'm motivated to race again this year and have managed to bank some good fitness over the winter.

it smelled all good and fresh and like sage out there today. the cranes and meadowlarks are back and making a lot of noise out in the fields. there's some green stuff starting to sprout, too.
i have a feeling that this is going to be my best year ever... and even though i am old, i'm not too old to back that one up.







here's some motivation and inspiration for all of the fair-weather whiners out there. these two images are from the blog Copenhagen cycle chic where the art of commuting while looking fashionable has been raised to the highest of aesthetics. they aren't at all afraid of a lot of snow or sub-zero temperatures, either. riding on their ancient townie bikes, the women over there seem to be a whole lot tougher than the girly-boys over here who can't ride a bike all winter because the trails have some snow on 'em and think that only wimps in tight clothes ride roadbikes. waaaaaaah waaah wah

and they make it look easy and fun while riding in the snow as well. those Europeans have it all, don't they?

how not to "ABANDON YOUR CAR"

disclaimer:

while this blog is not intended to please nor entertain everyone, i do make all reasonable efforts to put our some good, wholesome stories about training, riding, racing and living the good life of cycling in many of its various permutations. i endeavour to stay clear of many divisive pitfalls by not incorporating too many lengthy rants from atop the soapbox into this blog... the usual hot-buttons of politics, religion, guns, abortion, gay marriage, hipsters, and, perhaps above all, the most inflammatory topic imagineable, the never-ending Campagnolo -vs- Shimano debate (and now with SRAM jumping into the scrum, we have a three dog fight with a few other minor biters yapping from the sidelines).

having said all of that, let's just put it in the 53 x 11 and drop right into the gutter.


today we will anaylyze a couple of recent stories from the mainstream media pertaining to... politics and crime:

recently, in all of its infinite wisdon, the Colorado State Legislature passed a couple of good, sensible pieces of legislation.

first off was the "give 'em 3 feet" law, which requires motorists who are overtaking cyclists to allow no less than 3 feet of daylight between the cage and the cyclist.

more recently, a bill was passed and became law that made it illegal to text while driving. this one was more of an appeasement to those who demanded such legislation and a near total cave-in to the telecommunications industry. a $50 fine and no points assessed for violating this law hardly seems like a deterrent to me (if i were the texting type, that is. but, fortunately, i am not).

now, both of these things seem like common sense no-brainers to me, but apparently there are so many drivers out there who do not give such things a second (much less first) thought, that we had to have more rules placed on the books. o.k., fine, if that's what it takes, i'm all for it.

now move over and get off the phone, please. thanks.

and wouldn't you know it, within a few days of passage, a Denver area teenager ran afoul of the new law and crashed her car while texting (imagine that, will ya?). then, to top it all off, she fled the scene and was arrested a short time later, admitting to the police what caused her to crash. talk about dumb and dumber. here's the recap from the Boulder Daily Camera.

then we have this party-boy down in Florida. he went big with his texting (and boozing at the disco the night before) and creamed an innocent cyclist in a bike lane at 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning.

he didn't bother to stop after the cyclist slammed into the windscreen and then flew over the top of the speeding vehicle, landed on the road and then died at the scene. he kept going, dragging the mangled bike for more than 4 miles and not stopping for police until he arrived at home.

twenty-two minutes elapsed between the 9-1-1 calls and when the on-duty medics and ambulance arrived, by all accounts, too late.

i can't even get into to the callous disregard for the suffering of another human being aspect of this, or even try to understand it. i guess what i will say is: read the stories and also read the comments of the readers. there is a lot of back-story there. sickening and disgusting- and i apologize to those who may be shocked and/or offended by the pictures and comments of a (rightfully) outraged cycling community in south Florida.


a little bit about the perp

story and comments

first on the scene

first news coverage rife with factual errors

so what's my point with all of this rant? texting (or phoning) while driving should be dis-allowed and criminalized in all 50 states. the consequences for innocent pedestrians, cyclists, skateboarders, elderly people, animals, etc, are far too severe to not penalize offending drivers accordingly. if you are a teenager and you get busted drivetexting or in a wreck because of it, you lose your license until you are 21 years of age, first time offense.
no points and a $50 fine (in Colorado) is a bad joke, totally meaningless.

if someone commits the same crime and kills another person (much less leaves them for dead and then flees the scene) i am in favor of a punishment that would typically be meted out in an Islamist-fundamentalist country.

get the phones out of the cars. stop texting, wake up and pay attention. end the proliferation of on-board distractions and electronic conveniences. be considerate of others, especially those who are vulnerable (travelling outside of a vehicle) and SHARE THE ROAD.

better yet, ABANDON YOUR CAR. but please, do so in a responsible manner. thanks and be safe out there on the roads, no matter how you travel and have your best season ever this year.

more evidence of highly advanced civilizations

here's a photo i took in Amsterdam a few years ago. this is the bike storage facility (3-story parking garage, more like) right outside the Central Station where the trains take passengers to and from the airport and other destinations all around Europe. they sure make it easy to get around, even for Americans who are unaccustomed to efficient, clean transportation. you can even take your bike with you on the trains.

my other favorite city by the bay is without a doubt San Francisco. here's some music to set the mood, so crank up the volume and rock out like it's 1982 all over again:

say what you want about San Francisco- the weather, the traffic, the tourists, the cost of living there, the food, the bike culture... i love it there anyway.
ah, yes, the San Francisco bike culture; something near and dear to my heart.
as far as living in a big city is concerned, San Francisco would be at the top of my list of favorites. it is unquestionably the epicenter of the fixie movement on the west coast. it would be easier to count the riders who are not riding fixies than to count those who are.

fixies. whatever.

for an urban area it is a cyclist's dream come true, even though there are the usual motor -v- bike conflicts and cyclists (mostly in the downtown financial district) getting squished on a fairly regular basis. the city has committed in a big way by investing in alternative transportation solutions, cycling being one of them.
they have trains out there that go all over the place- and are hauling people instead of cattles or coal. the people can bring their bike onto the trains with them when they commute into the city or out to the 'burbs. imagine that.
or if they want, there is plenty of bike parking and safe storage facilities available at the BART stations.
on top of it all, the city has just approved 34 miles of new bike lanes and 45 of 46 proposed cycling-related capital improvement projects. those bikeys out there in SanFran sure get it all, don't they?
anyway, i commend the people who stuck with it and made it happen and raspberries to the naysayers and the guy who sued to try and stop civilization from moving forward.

here's today's good news story from the San Francisco Chronicle.