(c) Todd Litman, 2013. "Smart Congestion Relief - Comprehensive Analysis of Traffic Congestion Costs and Congestion Reduction Benefits". Victoria Transport Policy Institute.
The rest of the story from Copenhagenize
Showing posts with label winter bike commuting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label winter bike commuting. Show all posts
Monday, March 18, 2013
We must stop the Cycle of Auto Dependency
(c) Todd Litman, 2013. "Smart Congestion Relief - Comprehensive Analysis of Traffic Congestion Costs and Congestion Reduction Benefits". Victoria Transport Policy Institute.
The rest of the story from Copenhagenize
Thursday, December 20, 2012
2013 Chilly Challenge
Hey there gang.
This is coming up fast so I thought I had better put something out there about it.
Chilly Challenge info from 3 Rivers Velo Sports. As always it is on New Year's Day! 1PM
In a nutshell. a few hundred of us crazies meet at Psi Ote Barn at Northside Park and ride up to Johnny Appleseed park to go watch the Real Crazies jump in the St. Joseph River.
Here is video of last year's Real Crazies.
From there you can continue on to get in 15 or 25 miles. It is co sponsored by the Parks Department. After you are done, we all meet back where we started and eat some chili and other fine snacks for free! Thanks 3RVS!
I think this will be my 5th year doing it and it always is pretty entertaining. I sure hope it's nice out. The coldest I remember has been 7 degrees F a few years back. The pace is usually pretty mellow so I always wear an extra layer or two.
Hope to see you there.
PJ
This is coming up fast so I thought I had better put something out there about it.
Chilly Challenge info from 3 Rivers Velo Sports. As always it is on New Year's Day! 1PM
In a nutshell. a few hundred of us crazies meet at Psi Ote Barn at Northside Park and ride up to Johnny Appleseed park to go watch the Real Crazies jump in the St. Joseph River.
Here is video of last year's Real Crazies.
From there you can continue on to get in 15 or 25 miles. It is co sponsored by the Parks Department. After you are done, we all meet back where we started and eat some chili and other fine snacks for free! Thanks 3RVS!
I think this will be my 5th year doing it and it always is pretty entertaining. I sure hope it's nice out. The coldest I remember has been 7 degrees F a few years back. The pace is usually pretty mellow so I always wear an extra layer or two.
Hope to see you there.
PJ
Friday, December 14, 2012
Courteous Mass December 2012
It's Tonight!
The weather is supposed to be terrific.
The weather is supposed to be terrific.
Here is the drill. Happens every 2nd Friday of the month.
This is not a training ride. This is a City ride.
All parties are welcome to join and help bring common courtesy back to the streets. For those who need a refresher on what Courteous Mass is, here is the deal:
This is not a training ride. This is a City ride.
All parties are welcome to join and help bring common courtesy back to the streets. For those who need a refresher on what Courteous Mass is, here is the deal:
- The ride will respect and abide by the city’s traffic laws.
- Rides will be on the slow side to ensure no one is dropped and that the Mass stays a mass
- The Mass will only take up one lane, two when necessary for safety.
- The ride will stop at red lights and stop signs. If a light turns red mid-mass, the riders who made the light should safely pull over to wait for those who were caught by the light.
- Riders are asked to signal turns, call out danger, and communicate their intentions to other riders.
- All riders are required to wear helmets
The goal of these rides is to be a
visible and positive example of the cooperation that can exist between cars and
bicycles when people respect the laws and each other.
So join the Mass and help make Fort
Wayne a better place for bicycles.
Rally at 6:15 at Lawton Park at the trailhead.
Ride at 6:30.
Comfortable Pace, no one is dropped.
(But please make sure that your equipment is in working order)
3RVS sponsored ride so
helmets are required
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Making the jump to 9 miles
By Tim Harvey (including image)
Steady pressure on the pedals and a gentle downward slope whips my speed up towards 25 mph. Pavement, trees, and mailboxes whiz past in a blur. I press on faster and top 26 mph, exultant. This is the closest I'll come to flying and it feels incredible.
This stretch of road near Stellhorn Road is one of my favorite spots on the new commute. I love the speed and chance to pour every ounce of energy I've got into going as fast as possible.
February marked a big change for our family, moving from downtown Fort Wayne near Taylor street to a neighborhood near 469 and Maplecrest. What used to be a casual 1.1 mile jaunt is now a more epic 8.6 mile trek each way. Gone are the days of arriving at work 7 minutes after walking out the front door. The new ride comes in at close to 40 minutes.
I'm loving every. single. minute.
Truth be told, I wasn't always so enthusiastic about cycling. I grew up riding a BMX bike around the neighborhood like many other kids in Southwest Allen county. It was a taste of freedom before you turned 16.
But loving the bike died suddenly when I started working to drive, or driving to work. It was a bit of both at first.
Fast forward a decade and some change and you'd find me in Grabill with a family, busy job, and a beautiful countryside to explore. Realizing that we *still* need to get fit after many attempts, my wife Sara and I started thinking about bikes. We started at Summit City Bikes, and got some of the best cycling advice ever..."If you're not sure about spending $400-500 on a bike that will last, go get something for $60 that will break down and frustrate you. Come back after that happens and you'll love what you find here."
While I wanted to convince myself that we'd ride every day (work was only 300 yards away and Grabill is a great place to ride), we both knew ourselves better than that. We went with the Wal-Mart bikes.
Sadly, I missed out on a lot of beautiful riding in the Grabill area. My web design consulting business changed gears and I started working with Squaremouth.com in Fort Wayne, so we moved again. We loved the idea of urban living, being conscious of the environment, and living frugally. I started walking a mile to the office, which took about 20 minutes.
And thus, my love of cycling began...with a walk. Eager to spend as much time with the family as possible, I pulled out my bike. It was rickety, weighed a ton, and shifted to the sound of machine gun fire. But I tell you what, whizzing through the streets of Fort Wayne of it were magic. Popping up and over curbs, whipping past traffic, and charging through downtown was fantastic.
With work so close and biking/walking seeming to fit, we dropped down to one car. Now that I was going to rely on my bike for transportation, we decided to invest in a bike that would last, and even just work properly. :)
I scoured the Net for information and settled on a Trek Valencia, due in a large part to the bikegurus.com blog. He raved about his Valencia and I wanted every bit of the fun he talked about in his series of review rides (here's one of them: http://www.bikegurus.com/2008/12/trek-valencia-review-ride-1-first-impression.html).
Back to Summit City Bikes I went and this time was ready for the investment. They were exactly right, after riding a $70 bike for a while, the new Valencia felt like a Porsche. It was fast, light, shifted like a dream and felt great.
Riding to work was a joy and was helped considerably by the accommodating nature of the office I work in. Cycling really took off for me when my boss, Matt Outten, started pouring gas on the fire. He got me thinking about riding more than just to work. Pretty soon, I was doing 5 miles rides on the greenway around Fort Wayne.
Matt, a cyclist himself, challenged our team of 3-4 to ride all the way to Squaremouth's other office in St. Pete Beach, FL. Not literally, but we'd all total our mileage together to see how long before the four of us could rack up 1,100 miles. The competition at the office pushed me over the edge! Pretty soon I was doing 20-30 mile rides before work around the greenway. Up to IPFW, over to New Haven, down the south Wal-mart, over to the Towpath trail, everywhere I could find! If I remember right, we combined for 1,100 miles in less than 3 months, and I had a couple 300 mile months.
Cycling remains the first, and only exercise I've ever really enjoyed and been able to stick to. I feel like I've barely begun to ride, but this summer will mark 2 years of cycling as an adult. I've lost 30 pounds and feel great. My kids used to tire me out. Now, I can run with them till they're ready to drop. Riding has become such an integral part of life that when we decided to move close to our best friends, being able to stay on one car was a major factor.
I explored the various routes as we looked at houses and evaluated whether the increase in mileage would be feasible. While 20-30 mile rides were common for me to do, I wasn't sure about doing 20 miles each day being mandatory. Fortunately, I have a couple route options. I start out on Evard, and can then take a designated bike route (Reed Road to Lakeside Park) or Shoaff Park greenway to IPFW and down into town.
It's been about 6 weeks since we moved and it's worked out better than I could have imagined. Several weeks, I've been able to ride 4 out of 5 days. It takes a bit longer than I originally expected (I tested the routes on my road bike with no laptop or gear in the summer), but I'm getting faster. The traffic on Reed Road is consistent but manageable, with motorists being surprisingly patient and giving me plenty of room. I've yet to have anyone wave the 1-fingered gesture of friendship, so I call that a win.
The longer ride hasn't been without challenge. I've had to buy a bit more clothing and some shoes. In February, I found that the clothes I rode in downtown at 0 degrees was barely getting me by at 20 degrees.
The longer distance also required another set of riding clothes so I always have something clean. Yea, I'm one of those people who much prefers to ride with cycling-specific shorts/pants. With clothing sorted, shoes were the only other challenge (and mostly because I'm kinda picky).
Previously, I'd clip in with my winter riding boots on SPD cleats and use regular shoes in the summer. At almost 9 miles, I can't stand to ride without being clipped in. I want to move fast and I like the solid feel of clipping in. So I invested in some lightweight mountain bike shoes that I can walk in, but still use cleats. They've been great!
It's amazing to me that in less than 2 years, I've gone from a flabby desk-driver to a marginally fit bike commuter. I never would have thought we'd have one car and bike to work most days. It certainly wouldn't be possible without the incredible support of my family who drops me off some days or stays home while I have the car.
Including cycling in our lifestyle has meant better health, saving money, meeting incredible new people, and doing some good for the Earth.
Our oldest daughter told me the other day, "Daddy, when I get old enough, I want to bike everywhere like you."
Priceless.
I'm always excited to talk about gear or riding. You can find me on twitter: @tihm. I'm planning to start up a blog about my riding experiences and the stuff I use. You can follow the twitter account if you want to know when I get going: @PedalTransport.
Take a peek at maps of my rides:
Old commute: http://runkeeper.com/user/timharvey/activity/11430393
New commute (longer Shoaff Park route): http://runkeeper.com/user/timharvey/activity/68786108
New commute (shorter Reed Road route): http://runkeeper.com/user/timharvey/activity/75749359
I had met Tim through the Twitterverse and got to chat with him at our January Bike to Work Day at the Dash In. Hearing about where his commute by bike was about to take him I asked if he would like to write a post detailing his experiences. He took me up on it and I am so glad he did. Thanks Tim! If you are interested in writing about your bicycle commuting experiences, please contact me via twitter, @fwbikecommuter or email, fwbikecommuter@gmail.com
This stretch of road near Stellhorn Road is one of my favorite spots on the new commute. I love the speed and chance to pour every ounce of energy I've got into going as fast as possible.
February marked a big change for our family, moving from downtown Fort Wayne near Taylor street to a neighborhood near 469 and Maplecrest. What used to be a casual 1.1 mile jaunt is now a more epic 8.6 mile trek each way. Gone are the days of arriving at work 7 minutes after walking out the front door. The new ride comes in at close to 40 minutes.
I'm loving every. single. minute.
Truth be told, I wasn't always so enthusiastic about cycling. I grew up riding a BMX bike around the neighborhood like many other kids in Southwest Allen county. It was a taste of freedom before you turned 16.
But loving the bike died suddenly when I started working to drive, or driving to work. It was a bit of both at first.
Fast forward a decade and some change and you'd find me in Grabill with a family, busy job, and a beautiful countryside to explore. Realizing that we *still* need to get fit after many attempts, my wife Sara and I started thinking about bikes. We started at Summit City Bikes, and got some of the best cycling advice ever..."If you're not sure about spending $400-500 on a bike that will last, go get something for $60 that will break down and frustrate you. Come back after that happens and you'll love what you find here."
While I wanted to convince myself that we'd ride every day (work was only 300 yards away and Grabill is a great place to ride), we both knew ourselves better than that. We went with the Wal-Mart bikes.
Sadly, I missed out on a lot of beautiful riding in the Grabill area. My web design consulting business changed gears and I started working with Squaremouth.com in Fort Wayne, so we moved again. We loved the idea of urban living, being conscious of the environment, and living frugally. I started walking a mile to the office, which took about 20 minutes.
And thus, my love of cycling began...with a walk. Eager to spend as much time with the family as possible, I pulled out my bike. It was rickety, weighed a ton, and shifted to the sound of machine gun fire. But I tell you what, whizzing through the streets of Fort Wayne of it were magic. Popping up and over curbs, whipping past traffic, and charging through downtown was fantastic.
With work so close and biking/walking seeming to fit, we dropped down to one car. Now that I was going to rely on my bike for transportation, we decided to invest in a bike that would last, and even just work properly. :)
I scoured the Net for information and settled on a Trek Valencia, due in a large part to the bikegurus.com blog. He raved about his Valencia and I wanted every bit of the fun he talked about in his series of review rides (here's one of them: http://www.bikegurus.com/2008/12/trek-valencia-review-ride-1-first-impression.html).
Back to Summit City Bikes I went and this time was ready for the investment. They were exactly right, after riding a $70 bike for a while, the new Valencia felt like a Porsche. It was fast, light, shifted like a dream and felt great.
Riding to work was a joy and was helped considerably by the accommodating nature of the office I work in. Cycling really took off for me when my boss, Matt Outten, started pouring gas on the fire. He got me thinking about riding more than just to work. Pretty soon, I was doing 5 miles rides on the greenway around Fort Wayne.
Matt, a cyclist himself, challenged our team of 3-4 to ride all the way to Squaremouth's other office in St. Pete Beach, FL. Not literally, but we'd all total our mileage together to see how long before the four of us could rack up 1,100 miles. The competition at the office pushed me over the edge! Pretty soon I was doing 20-30 mile rides before work around the greenway. Up to IPFW, over to New Haven, down the south Wal-mart, over to the Towpath trail, everywhere I could find! If I remember right, we combined for 1,100 miles in less than 3 months, and I had a couple 300 mile months.
Cycling remains the first, and only exercise I've ever really enjoyed and been able to stick to. I feel like I've barely begun to ride, but this summer will mark 2 years of cycling as an adult. I've lost 30 pounds and feel great. My kids used to tire me out. Now, I can run with them till they're ready to drop. Riding has become such an integral part of life that when we decided to move close to our best friends, being able to stay on one car was a major factor.
I explored the various routes as we looked at houses and evaluated whether the increase in mileage would be feasible. While 20-30 mile rides were common for me to do, I wasn't sure about doing 20 miles each day being mandatory. Fortunately, I have a couple route options. I start out on Evard, and can then take a designated bike route (Reed Road to Lakeside Park) or Shoaff Park greenway to IPFW and down into town.
It's been about 6 weeks since we moved and it's worked out better than I could have imagined. Several weeks, I've been able to ride 4 out of 5 days. It takes a bit longer than I originally expected (I tested the routes on my road bike with no laptop or gear in the summer), but I'm getting faster. The traffic on Reed Road is consistent but manageable, with motorists being surprisingly patient and giving me plenty of room. I've yet to have anyone wave the 1-fingered gesture of friendship, so I call that a win.
The longer ride hasn't been without challenge. I've had to buy a bit more clothing and some shoes. In February, I found that the clothes I rode in downtown at 0 degrees was barely getting me by at 20 degrees.
The longer distance also required another set of riding clothes so I always have something clean. Yea, I'm one of those people who much prefers to ride with cycling-specific shorts/pants. With clothing sorted, shoes were the only other challenge (and mostly because I'm kinda picky).
Previously, I'd clip in with my winter riding boots on SPD cleats and use regular shoes in the summer. At almost 9 miles, I can't stand to ride without being clipped in. I want to move fast and I like the solid feel of clipping in. So I invested in some lightweight mountain bike shoes that I can walk in, but still use cleats. They've been great!
It's amazing to me that in less than 2 years, I've gone from a flabby desk-driver to a marginally fit bike commuter. I never would have thought we'd have one car and bike to work most days. It certainly wouldn't be possible without the incredible support of my family who drops me off some days or stays home while I have the car.
Including cycling in our lifestyle has meant better health, saving money, meeting incredible new people, and doing some good for the Earth.
Our oldest daughter told me the other day, "Daddy, when I get old enough, I want to bike everywhere like you."
Priceless.
I'm always excited to talk about gear or riding. You can find me on twitter: @tihm. I'm planning to start up a blog about my riding experiences and the stuff I use. You can follow the twitter account if you want to know when I get going: @PedalTransport.
Take a peek at maps of my rides:
Old commute: http://runkeeper.com/user/timharvey/activity/11430393
New commute (longer Shoaff Park route): http://runkeeper.com/user/timharvey/activity/68786108
New commute (shorter Reed Road route): http://runkeeper.com/user/timharvey/activity/75749359
I had met Tim through the Twitterverse and got to chat with him at our January Bike to Work Day at the Dash In. Hearing about where his commute by bike was about to take him I asked if he would like to write a post detailing his experiences. He took me up on it and I am so glad he did. Thanks Tim! If you are interested in writing about your bicycle commuting experiences, please contact me via twitter, @fwbikecommuter or email, fwbikecommuter@gmail.com
Monday, February 27, 2012
Winter commuting
Bike Commuting: Winter Edition - Blog - Fort Wayne Trails
I haven't done a lot of original writing lately here. I am trying to go back and label blog posts for easier reference though, that's gotta count for something right? Okay, I will in the future.
But I have been doing some writing for the Fort Wayne Trails website. See link.
FWBC
Friday, January 27, 2012
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Stories about winter bike commuting take three
Joe Soucheray: The mind of the winter bicyclist - TwinCities.com
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6
Stories about winter bike.commuter take two
'Hearty' Minnesotans conquer the cold | kare11.com
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.6
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Nice weather we're having
I mean, it has been nuts. Anyone on a car or bike or bus or just walking could tell you that.
As I stated previously, I have been riding on the more traveled roads and in the travel lane since the weather took a turn for the worst but Tuesday was just insane!
I get off work at 6PM so I ride in the dark. For whatever reason, I think probably from the atmospheric conditions, the generator on my bike was not working and therefore I had no headlight or tail lights. This would not necessarily pose a giant problem, aside from breaking state law, if I was on the side streets. But since I have been riding on Columbia on the way home (Columbia still didn't have lights on it for a few blocks on Tuesday night) this was a problem. So I walked it for a little while and then went north on Crescent to Vermont and then cut into the neighborhood for safety sake.
Now for those of you who were out on Tuesday, you know how bad the roads were. They were the worst I think I've seen since I moved to Indiana four years ago. The rain on the four or so inches of solid ice made them slicker than ... (insert adjective). Anyway, so I put it in first and chugged along. It was at this point that my lights started to work, something about my speed I guess, but that is not the story here. The story is that my studded tires worked phenomenally! It was crazy! Cars are going about as slow as me and spinning out everywhere and I just plugged along all the way to my house with no problem. That is, until I tried to stop and get of of my bike. It was at that point that my foot slipped right out from under me and I ate it in the middle of the street! Quite funny really since I wasn't moving. I guess I'm only safe while riding with the snow tires.
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and I wish you all the luck in the new year. Hopefully, 2009 will be a good one for bike commuters in the City of Fort Wayne!
As I stated previously, I have been riding on the more traveled roads and in the travel lane since the weather took a turn for the worst but Tuesday was just insane!
I get off work at 6PM so I ride in the dark. For whatever reason, I think probably from the atmospheric conditions, the generator on my bike was not working and therefore I had no headlight or tail lights. This would not necessarily pose a giant problem, aside from breaking state law, if I was on the side streets. But since I have been riding on Columbia on the way home (Columbia still didn't have lights on it for a few blocks on Tuesday night) this was a problem. So I walked it for a little while and then went north on Crescent to Vermont and then cut into the neighborhood for safety sake.
Now for those of you who were out on Tuesday, you know how bad the roads were. They were the worst I think I've seen since I moved to Indiana four years ago. The rain on the four or so inches of solid ice made them slicker than ... (insert adjective). Anyway, so I put it in first and chugged along. It was at this point that my lights started to work, something about my speed I guess, but that is not the story here. The story is that my studded tires worked phenomenally! It was crazy! Cars are going about as slow as me and spinning out everywhere and I just plugged along all the way to my house with no problem. That is, until I tried to stop and get of of my bike. It was at that point that my foot slipped right out from under me and I ate it in the middle of the street! Quite funny really since I wasn't moving. I guess I'm only safe while riding with the snow tires.
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and I wish you all the luck in the new year. Hopefully, 2009 will be a good one for bike commuters in the City of Fort Wayne!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Maybe I spoke too soon?
I spoke last week of having found a great way to stay safe in the inclement weather was to ride through the neighborhoods rather than the more well traveled (by cars) roads. I believe that I might need to eat those words. In the last few days I have almost been run over on two different occasions. Once on Forest Park Blvd and once on Florida (I mix it up between these two depending on my mood).
I wear light colored clothes and I have a lamp (front and rear) powered by a generator that complies the Indiana bicycle law (this can be viewed at:)
http://bicycleindiana.org/merchant/1419/files/Indiana%20Bicycle%20Laws.pdf
Yet these cars still do not see me. I have thought about it and I equate it to the lack of good lighting in the neighborhood. On the main streets they have the be cobrahead lights that allow for much better lighting and since I leave in the dark and return in the dark that might be a better bet. Or maybe it is six of one, half dozen of another. The saga continues.
Back to the Indiana Bicycle law for a second. Who enforces that? The way I understand it, if the City has no tougher law then it is to use the State law. Is that true? Because someone needs to read that. There are many requirements that people are unaware of, or ignore. I know because I was unaware of the lamp rule until I read it. So get out there and get a lamp!
Another interesting law is that if you ride a bike you are required by state law to have a bell or some other audible device that can be heard from 100'. So get out there and get a bell!
Stay safe and enjoy the ride. I would love to hear from everyone on what is going on with their ride so let me know and thanks for reading.
I wear light colored clothes and I have a lamp (front and rear) powered by a generator that complies the Indiana bicycle law (this can be viewed at:)
http://bicycleindiana.org/merchant/1419/files/Indiana%20Bicycle%20Laws.pdf
Yet these cars still do not see me. I have thought about it and I equate it to the lack of good lighting in the neighborhood. On the main streets they have the be cobrahead lights that allow for much better lighting and since I leave in the dark and return in the dark that might be a better bet. Or maybe it is six of one, half dozen of another. The saga continues.
Back to the Indiana Bicycle law for a second. Who enforces that? The way I understand it, if the City has no tougher law then it is to use the State law. Is that true? Because someone needs to read that. There are many requirements that people are unaware of, or ignore. I know because I was unaware of the lamp rule until I read it. So get out there and get a lamp!
Another interesting law is that if you ride a bike you are required by state law to have a bell or some other audible device that can be heard from 100'. So get out there and get a bell!
Stay safe and enjoy the ride. I would love to hear from everyone on what is going on with their ride so let me know and thanks for reading.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Winter (kind of) weather update
Well, I continue to bike to work.
My bike commute has been transformed into more of a labor of love.
I don't get there as fast though mainly because:
1. The roads have been a little slick of late as you might have noticed
2. It seems as though that it is always windy and that it is always in my face!
3. Cars have less patience for me because I am traveling at a slower rate of speed.
4. Everyone seems to think that to get your leaves collected, that they have to be piled in the street.
Hazardous is the word that comes to mind.
So, I have resorted to going the back roads and cutting through the neighborhoods.
Surprisingly, this has solved most of my problems!
My advice to all three of you out there is to not be afraid to ride in the winter, you just have to ride differently.
Stay safe.
My bike commute has been transformed into more of a labor of love.
I don't get there as fast though mainly because:
1. The roads have been a little slick of late as you might have noticed
2. It seems as though that it is always windy and that it is always in my face!
3. Cars have less patience for me because I am traveling at a slower rate of speed.
4. Everyone seems to think that to get your leaves collected, that they have to be piled in the street.
Hazardous is the word that comes to mind.
So, I have resorted to going the back roads and cutting through the neighborhoods.
Surprisingly, this has solved most of my problems!
My advice to all three of you out there is to not be afraid to ride in the winter, you just have to ride differently.
Stay safe.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Winter
Well, it feels as if it finally has arrived.
I have challenged myself to ride full time this year and if I am going to do that then I need new tires and here is what Joe Breeze (The guy who made my bike) recommends.
Marathon Winter HS 396
For a safer journey. You have full control on icy roads with the Marathon Winter. Even in tight bends and under violent braking everything remains under control. The spikes work best on ice when running at minimum pressure, while at maximum pressure the tires can be ridden on ice-free roads with minimal road noise..
For a safer journey. You have full control on icy roads with the Marathon Winter. Even in tight bends and under violent braking everything remains under control. The spikes work best on ice when running at minimum pressure, while at maximum pressure the tires can be ridden on ice-free roads with minimal road noise..
Granted, these things are not cheap. So I figured out how much I was going to spend on riding the Citilink bus every day and figured that I would ride it at least until the middle of March and I am going for it!
So I should have some interesting stories to tell come the next few months.
I have already started to scout some more less traveled routes to keep safe so i know that it is going to take me longer to get to work but I am really looking forward to it. the change should be nice.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
The River
As I have stated previously, I find extreme pleasure in being able to bike along the St. Joseph River every day going to and from work. I am a "river person". The river seems to me to be more alive than, let's say, a lake. I have been lucky enough in this life to have spent some time running one of this country's great rivers, the Colorado. It was then that I fell in love with rivers.
I spent some time in Arizona on a Pima indian reservation. The Pima name for their tribe was Akimel O'odham, which means "River People". They were dependant and very connected to their rivers. Here in Fort Wayne, it seems the only time we care about the rivers are when they flood.
It is crazy that I have found myself in the City of Three Rivers. And that I get to commute along one of them each day. For that I am truly thankful.
Where the heck am I going with all of this river stuff you ask?
Well, the St. Joseph River, on which I commute, is probably one of the uglier rivers of the three that we have here in Ft. Wayne. I understand that the levies are a necessity but it makes for a very un-natural appearance. That is until the rivers have been allowed to flow more freely in the last few days. Finally, I saw the geography of the river, Where it wants to flow and where it wants to deposit its sediment. It has actually come alive. I have been able to see it in it's more natural state.
So today as I was taking all of this in and traveling north looking at the Tennesee bridge I see a splash that, I thought, came from an extremely large fish. I kept my eye on the spot as I got closer and then had a horrible realization. Someone driving on the Tennesee Bridge had thrown a can of Mt Dew into the river as they passed over it. It made me sick to my stomach that this living river could take such abuse. This river, that is on of the main reasons that the Indians were here before the whites chased them out. The reason that we are here still today. We throw our trash and our poop and whatever else into out rivers. It is no wonder that the wildlife seems so absent form this stretch of the St. Joe. With the water low you can see a shopping cart and an old camper shell too. If I am being too dramatic then I guess I just don't get it. These rivers are a resource, not a flowing trash can. That is how I view them at least. Although the prevailing attitude seems to be different from my own. I mean, the only reason we are doing the storm water separation project that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars over the next twenty years is so the City won't get fined by the EPA! I guess I don't get it.
I spent some time in Arizona on a Pima indian reservation. The Pima name for their tribe was Akimel O'odham, which means "River People". They were dependant and very connected to their rivers. Here in Fort Wayne, it seems the only time we care about the rivers are when they flood.
It is crazy that I have found myself in the City of Three Rivers. And that I get to commute along one of them each day. For that I am truly thankful.
Where the heck am I going with all of this river stuff you ask?
Well, the St. Joseph River, on which I commute, is probably one of the uglier rivers of the three that we have here in Ft. Wayne. I understand that the levies are a necessity but it makes for a very un-natural appearance. That is until the rivers have been allowed to flow more freely in the last few days. Finally, I saw the geography of the river, Where it wants to flow and where it wants to deposit its sediment. It has actually come alive. I have been able to see it in it's more natural state.
So today as I was taking all of this in and traveling north looking at the Tennesee bridge I see a splash that, I thought, came from an extremely large fish. I kept my eye on the spot as I got closer and then had a horrible realization. Someone driving on the Tennesee Bridge had thrown a can of Mt Dew into the river as they passed over it. It made me sick to my stomach that this living river could take such abuse. This river, that is on of the main reasons that the Indians were here before the whites chased them out. The reason that we are here still today. We throw our trash and our poop and whatever else into out rivers. It is no wonder that the wildlife seems so absent form this stretch of the St. Joe. With the water low you can see a shopping cart and an old camper shell too. If I am being too dramatic then I guess I just don't get it. These rivers are a resource, not a flowing trash can. That is how I view them at least. Although the prevailing attitude seems to be different from my own. I mean, the only reason we are doing the storm water separation project that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars over the next twenty years is so the City won't get fined by the EPA! I guess I don't get it.
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