Art & Bicycles

This is art by Will Freeborn in Gourock Scotland. He is a very talented artist--I love his watercolors and travel sketchbooks. I first stumbled upon his work through Gary Rides a Bike and now keep up with it regularly. I am taking a new drawing class this fall and will bike there and back (at night even!) thereby combining two great loves: cycling and art. :-)


"It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle."
-Ernest Hemingway

Biking in Springfield MO

Dr. Andrew Cline over at Carbon Trace has a great blog on biking in Springfield MO. Dr. Cline even has created a very spiffy handbook of how easy it is to get around by bike in Springfield. I read this blog at least once a week and have decided, should I ever move to the delightful Springfield, I could easily continue to live a car free existence-- so here is a big SHOUT OUT to Springfield MO! :-D

No car, low car, whoaaaaa! car challenge

The 2009 No car, Low car, Whoa! car challenge is getting underway September 1st. The deadline to send in your participation information is August 31, 2009 at midnight. I have decided to do the No car challenge which means no driving or stepping into a car for the month of September. I will be commuting by bike to work and for all other errands and meetings, etc. Since I teach on Saturdays, I was always afraid of arriving sweaty or 'outdoorsy' looking to my classes. But now, with panniers and a bike trailer, I can haul all my teaching stuff as well as fresh clothes, makeup, etc. I think that it is better to arrive fresh, alert, and energetic for the day than to worry about hair and makeup to the point that a great opportunity is missed. I also love seeing how students' eyes sort of light up when they see a bike. This is going to be fun!

Evil, evil check engine light

I have not taken the car out in almost six weeks. However, after I burned my hand I had to go to the burn clinic for my final appointment. I felt perfectly fine--easily well enough to ride my bike. But I could not for the life of me remember if I had seen bike racks near University hospital. Then I was running late and decided that for this one last trip I would take the car (insert rationalization here). I filled her up with gas and headed off to campus. It was hectic on campus, cars everywhere, hot, and parking took forever. I waited 30 minutes to be seen at the clinic, received a clean bill of health and then headed to the office. Then it happened. The check engine light came on. No no nooooooooooo.

I parked at work, went to my meetings, etc and when I drove home it did not come on again for a bit, then it did, then it went off again. I thought, "Make up your mind!". I googled "check engine" light and my car make and model when I got home and it could mean several things. However, I don't want to spend a gazillion dollars on a 16 year old car!

I bought my car in 2001 for cash (used)--she is a 1993 Honda Civic and has run like a top, perfect for grad school. I saved a ton o' cash in gas but not really overall when you do the math as Chris Balish urges. I remember adding up the money I had spent on the original purchase cost, taxes, parking, gas, insurance, repairs, car washes, etc and realizing that over the course of five years I had spent almost $10,000 on a used car. (I can't imagine the cost for a new one with monthly payments and more expensive insurance premiums.) The irony was that I needed right at $10,000 for my final year of grad school and of course, did not have more than about $3000 saved. While I graduated without student loans or other debt, I had spent a chunk of change on a major depreciating asset and when I needed money for my final year, there was little to be found. Ultimately I won a dissertation writing award and was funded for my final year, but it was a real eye opener to realize that had I saved that money in an interest bearing account, at even 4-5%, I would have had plenty of money for school and some for my first year out of school. It was weird to think of so much money thrown away on a depreciating asset. Money I can think of about a million better things to do something with!

I have been toying with the idea of going completely car free and this may be the catalyst that is my tipping point. Living in Columbia, and learning how to get things done by bike, has made me think car free is easily possible here. However, I wanted to get through one winter without a car before letting go of the Honda. The good news though is that I can do everything I need by bike and bike trailer, so if the Honda has to sit there for awhile, no problem. If I can meet the challenges of this winter, I think I'll be having one heck of a yard sale in spring (I lost 3500 lbs in one day--ask me how!).

Thoughts on my bike

I saw this on the MinusCar Project blog and thought it was neat.

On the other hand....

Biked to work today and around town for some errands and then home tonight. It was pure bliss!!! My hand was stiff this AM but fine by afternoon and I did not even think about it at all. I have to do a lot with my left hand now and it is scraped and bruised from how awkard it is to do so much with your non-dominant hand. I see it as character building for my left hand. :-D

How I have missed biking. I am in a way better mood all day when I bike. I sleep better at night. And I can get a lot more done in a more convenient manner by bike. For example, I had a ton of books to take to the library and more to pick up and I just parked right outside Ellis, locked Lucy up and took care of my library bidness. Then off to eat dinner and ride home. I love riding down Stewart Rd to get home. There is always neat stuff to see. Tonight I saw a lady with a cute little dog in her front bike basket. He was enjoying the ride too!

Bikey bliss!

Back in the saddle again!

Went to the burn clinic today and was pronounced 'healed!' and so I came right home and aired up the bike tires for my first ride in a week. The skin on my hand is thin, delicate, pink, and a little tight but with some ointment and a glove, I'll be fine. Can't WAIT! Woo-hoo.

Today I had to take the car out and I just could not get over how inconvenient driving is. Hunting for parking, having to drive to really out of the way places because parking is so hard or expensive downtown (expensive to me cause' I'm cheap), the time everything takes because of traffic, not being able to easily return books to Ellis, etc. Driving is NOT convenient. Once you ride a bike, get the best parking, save time and money by not having to go to the gym, and can pull right up to the library, well, you'll never wanna go back.

Bike drool....

I want one!

A burning desire...

On Sunday I accidentally burned my hand brewing coffee at church. It was scary. I had gotten off to a rocky start that morning...had bike difficulties which I finally ironed out. Then I took a "shortcut" along a portion of the MKT I don't normally ride on (and saw an indigo bunting which was awesome!) but ended up struggling up one mother of a hill. Towards the top I had to get off and push. Oh well, I made it up to the top. I was 15 minutes late to brew and then brewed some flavored in a specialty basket....which I fixed later (shhhh don't tell anyone).

Anyway, then the espresso grinder broke and the barista used the industrial coffee grinder we have-- only she accidentally left it on the espresso setting rather than the drip setting. I did not catch this until later---the espresso grind is too fine for our industrial brewers and clogs them up which is exactly what happened causing the coffee brewer to overflow.

What is NOT supposed to happen is that I try and remove the brew basket while mega hot water is pouring through it. I had shut off the machine and tugged on the brew basket too hard and very, very hot water and coffee poured over my right hand. I let out a scream, dropped the brew basket, and ran to the sink to put my hand under cool water.

I was fortunate that a nurse was in the crowd and she took me to the ER where they helped me out (she also brought my bike to me later that day--Lynn, you are a SAINT!). I had to follow-up at the burn unit on Monday where they said I had a 2nd degree burn on the back of my right hand (my palm was spared). It has been a tiring few days and what is worse: no bike riding. I can't squeeze the brake levers yet so no riding until I can make sure I can stop. The burn unit folks took lots of pictures (said I won 'blister of the day') and put some stuff called DuoDerm on my burn to help it heal. I also wear a little glove over the DuoDerm and bandages. Today the burn is starting to itch which they said was a good sign--it is healing. I will have a pink area on my hand for about 6 months but no long term scars if I treat my hand right.

I hope in a few more days to be on my bike. Burns suck.

Columbia Tribune

A few nights ago I ambled over to the Tribune's website to get caught up on biking news and was astounded by the attitudes and sometimes outright disdain exhibited towards cyclists on that site. What a privileged world we live in when we assume that everyone is *supposed* to own a car-- or can even afford to! Having lived in countries outside the U.S. where most everyone does NOT own a car, I still feel surprised and frustrated by the incredible lack of knowledge about these issues by those that want complete control over our roadways.

One argument that was both alarming and hilarious was from people who believe cyclists should pay bike insurance, road taxes, etc. just like in a car. I have already spent most of my adult life paying for transportation and road taxes, I currently pay both car and health insurance every month (which may come in real handy if a cager writing into the Trib tries to knock me off my bike), and I have no need of bike insurance because the cost of replacement is not $15,000 or more as it would be for a car! This is greed in the extreme in my mind and these people should be ashamed. What's next, a tax for walking? Walking insurance? Breathing insurance and taxes?

The more I bike commute, the more I realize just how many people commute every day---one person in one car. Some of the 'roads' in town are more like highways with broad lanes and high speeds. Thankfully, common sense and a sense of community has prevailed in maintaining the Katy Trail and MKT, as well as sidewalks and some intersection improvements that can keep you from getting creamed when you need to make a quick trip to the grocery store. I am sure there are more decent and common-sensical people than those that write into the Trib and I pass many of them on my bike every day. Columbia is a good place...

Bike repair a-go-go

I kept hoping I would find some sort of workshop or classes to take that would teach me how to tune up and fix stuff on my bike. Today I think I found it. One of the instructors at PN showed me how to apply locktite to the bolts on my burley so all the vibration won't make them fall out (can't have that!). He told me about a bike repair night they have that is open to whoever wants to come. He said it was a good way to learn about bike repair. Other people have come and through that program have learned different repair skills. I am going to clear my schedule to do it because I find that kind of stuff relaxing and I want to know how to fix things myself. I love it when a plan comes together! :-D

Keepin track of the smiles.....

I decided to buy a bike computer because I like to know how many miles I have ridden in a day, week, etc. I went to a couple bike stores in town and finally decided on the Cateye micro wireless which has 10 functions and a nice large face. It is pretty easy to use and has a backlight in case I need to check my miles in the dark :-)

Yesterday I biked 8.45 miles and today I had biked 7.77 miles by 9:30 AM. I go everywhere by bike that I used to go by car. I had a meeting at 8:00 and then swung by a bagel place (drive through) for a fresh bagel and coffee for breakfast while I worked on a manuscript. The girl at the bagel shop did not blink an eye when I pulled up in the drive through on my bike. The people behind me got some good stares in---but I just grabbed my bagel and coffee and zipped away. I took some new streets home and that was fun.

I used to ride 12 miles on a stationary bike several times a week but I can't say I made the gains in fitness I have made riding a bike commuting and hitting roads and trails. The hills of course are probably the main reason, but I think that riding on the roads uses a whole other group of muscles and balance that are not required on a stationary bike.

I gave blood and all I got was.......

a stinkin' awesome bike ride!! ha ha HA!

Today I was scheduled to give blood at the American Red Cross near Reactor Field. I was working at school all day and kept trying to think of an easier way of getting to the ARC donation site rather than cycling back to the trail and going in that way. I ended up cycling down Maryland Ave and crossing Stadium to get onto Champion drive. Then I followed Champion down a truly awsome hill to the light at Providence. I crossed there and took a right to the ARC where a lovely bike rack awaited me. Sweet.

While I was giving blood I talked the nurse into signing up for a bike class with PedNet I kept hearing myself saying things like..."It's ONLY twenty dollars!' "It is so much fun!" "You will meet cool people!" She wrote down all the information and kept saying, "I can see me buying a bike". I told her how great Columbia was for cycling, etc. and more importantly, how much fun it was. Everyday is an adventure on a bike. Even when I have a 'bad' day, cycling just resets my mind and I feel better regardless of what has been going on. (The nurse said my blood pressure was excellent as well which just goes to show you....)

I biked home on the trail from there. It was really beautiful....scores of wildflowers and everything so lush from the rain. I was looking around as I ambled home and came upon two deer in the trail. I don't know who was more startled--the deer or me. I rang my little bell and they sort of loped off....it was an awesome ride home.

Bixi's in Montreal

Thought this looked cool! This would be the perfect (and fun!) solution to downtown congestion. I'll bet shops would do a lot more business because people can park right near the store rather than hunting forever and having to pay to park.

Curse the darkness or light a candle?

I was poking around Jett's Atlanta Intown Cycling blog and came across a quote he had on his page from Gandhi who said:
"It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness."

Jett then likened that phrase to commuters in their cars: "It is better to remove one car than to curse the traffic" which cracked me up! Way to go Jett!

The Freedom Machine

Came across this great video and an interesting quote from Susan B. Anthony, "Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world." Right on Suzy.

Unexpected benefit

Before I started biking everywhere, I used to jump in the car to drive to the gym which is less than one mile from my home. (Feel free to guffaw out loud) My thinking at the time was that during the winter I would need a place to work out when it was too cold, icy, etc. Not having much experience with winter road conditions, what I failed to realize was that when it is icy, driving to the gym is not a good idea. Also I found that when it rains really hard here, flooding occurs that has shut the gym down no less than three times in one year for about a day or so.

When I decided to spend the summer using the bike to get around I decided: NO MORE biking to the gym. While I do have a quick jaunt on the trail and a local road, cars inevitably reduce their speed a bit, are less aggressive, and nothing scary has happened. However, what I have found is that if I spend time during the day getting around by bike, I don't need to go to the gym and some days I am simply too tired. I come home from biking, do some situps and call it a day.

Today I did bike to the gym, walked on the treadmill for an hour, and noticed that I had to increase my speed from normal by over 15% in order to get my heart rate up. I walk on a steady incline that starts at 3 % and every 5 minutes I raise the incline by 1% so that I am usually between an 8-10% incline after an hour of walking. I am good and tired when I finish. But today, even with the steady incline, I had to walk over 15 % faster to get my heart rate up. The first few times this happened (about a month ago) I thought the treadmill was off or possibly broken and so I just cranked it up and kept going. Today I realized it is because I have been biking everywhere and I am fitter so it takes more effort to get my heart rate up. Nice discovery.

As I biked home, I added up how much I have spent on a gym membership this year and it came to $600. I don't think I am going to renew my membership when it comes due this winter. It is a great gym with great people but I am fitter from riding for transportation and recreation than I ever got from all these years of walking on treadmills in one place. And now I am going to be $600 richer! As Austin Powers would say..."Yeaaah baby"! :-D

No Car September Challenge

I received a flier about the PedNet No Car, Low Car, Whoa! Car bike challenge this September and I have just about decided to commit to the No Car challenge. My biggest concern was that I will get back to teaching this fall and usually have quite a bit of 'stuff' (teaching supplies, etc) that are invariably part of my workday. I wondered how I would get everything I needed to school in my panniers because as spacious as they are, they won't fit it all very easily. However, since getting the Burley I will be able to haul all my teaching supplies to work with room to spare. So that little problem is solved. I can also pack extra clothes and any freshening up supplies as well. No need to scare my students with massive helmet head.

I can easily take the MKT to school in September with no problem, so the commute is not hairy at present. I would like to feel more confident commuting in the rain and colder weather. Having spent a good portion of my childhood in the South, 100+ degrees in summer and rampant humidity are par for the course but winter weather-well, no so much. From what I can tell from talking with other riders, cycling produces plenty of heat so hopefully with proper dress (don't know what that is just yet) all should be well.

On another note, I rode into town this afternoon to run some errands and as I was entering the MKT I looked down and there was an indigo bunting sitting on the ground. I had been fiddling with something on my bike and did not see him until I was very close. I stopped, he stopped, and then he flew away. I never tire of seeing those little birds!

Burley happiness!

Today I bought a Burley flatbed bike trailer off Craigslist. It is my first Craigslist buy and my first bike trailer. I have wanted one of these for awhile because I could see how useful they are and how much it will reduce my car usage. At present, I need the car for very few things--maybe only one or two trips per month. With this trailer, I can be car free in no time. I have to give a big shout out to RJ who gave me the heads up on this deal and gave it a look-see to make sure all was in order. Thanks RJ!

Yogurt vs. Gasoline

I try to keep up with The Neistat Brothers from time to time as they demonstrate some serious bikey love. This little feature film is one of my favorites:

Modern Bicycle Myths

After speaking with the 'helpful' driver yesterday, I ran across the Bicycling Life website which offers some great cycling advocacy tips such as this little gem:


- Myth: Bicycles Must "Keep Their Place" To The Right.

Both traffic law and traffic experts recognize that there are numerous situations when bicycles should not try to squeeze over. That is why vehicle law lists many conditions when bicycles should merge into the traffic lane and take the full lane: where roads become narrow or in narrow traffic lanes; to ride clear of glass, debris, potholes, rough paving, moving, turning, or parked cars; to operate correctly as a vehicle in the proper lane at intersections, and when passing or turning left.

Re-reading some cycling myths reminded me of the interesting way that some cyclists handle intersections. I was riding west on Green Meadows Road and came to the 4-way stop at Forum. I had to learn the hard way that if I was in the bike lane and did not take the lane at the intersection, cars just kept pulling out, never giving me the chance to turn. In addition, the car on my direct left (right next to me if I am in the bike lane) could not see me and just pulled on out.

So yesterday when I pulled up, I took the lane in order to be treated like a vehicle and get a safe chance to turn right. However, there was another cyclist in the lane behind me and he remained in the bike lane. So there we are, me waiting my turn behind two cars and the cyclist sitting in the bike lane trying to get a chance to turn. No one let him turn. When I pulled up and signaled he still sat there so when my turn came, I turned right and went on. I did not see him again.

I am learning that it is very important to practice what I learned in my Confident City Cycling course. To be aware when bike commuting because it is different cycling in traffic rather than trail riding or recreational riding away from cars. However, I can see that motorists *do* appreciate steady, calm, and clear riding. When I signal clearly, am visible on the road, and obey road signs just as cars must, I hopefully am helping to create a safer, saner means of travel. :-)

Bikey adventures

I got up today (actually slept in until 8:30 AM--SLACKER :-) and got everything ready to bike to church and left around 9:45 AM. As I am biking along Forum a woman pulls up next to me at the stop light at Chapel Hill and begins lecturing me. She starts out with "I am a cyclist too but you need to get as faaaaar right as possible!" I mildly interrupt to tell her I need to be 3 feet from the curb for safe passing by cars and try to add that there was debris in the road which explains why I am not as snug up to the curb as she might feel I should be, but she cuts me off with "I'm a cyclist too" (I guess meaning she can correct me but not the other way around). Right about then the light changed to green and she roared off in her car. It was frustrating to have someone attempting to 'help" (I am sure she meant well) but not have all the facts. Undeterred I continued on.

A few miles later, further up Forum, a white car goes past me with three young men in it who call me a bad name out the window as they go by. I didn't care too much cause they were three of the fattest young guys I have seen. I find fat cagers who hate cyclists funny--while I did not like being called a bad word (especially on Sunday) I still felt sorry for them. Cars seem to bring out the worst in some people.

On a high note: Today is an BEAUTIFUL day to be on a bike and even with the mild annoyances---cycling ROCKS! :-D