2 days until GO

There are 2 days until I start biking to work - the penultimate day of driving - the day before the day before.

Tomorrow I hope to take some time to post a pic or two of the bike that I will be riding 14 miles a day for 31 days. I will discuss the gear that I will be using - which honestly will not be too much. Part of my plan in documenting this "adventure" is to show how bicycle commuting is not something that requires a lot of extra equipment, or a special commuter bike. Depending on your situation - i.e. how far you have to ride, what you wear to work, what sorts of facilities you have at your disposal - you, the reader, may have different gear requirements. But if you are in a very similar situation as me, then I am essentially your guinea pig!

I am excited about the month that lies ahead. If I can ride a bike to work in a Phoenix summer, then I can certainly continue to bike to work in the months after. I have had some moments of nervousness, mainly because I have committed myself to the reader to see this experience to its end. Regardless of how many people may actually read this blog, I feel committed to doing what I claimed I would.

On a more serious note, I found some statistics today about the instances of motor vehicle/bicycle collisions in the city of Phoenix. The study was completed by the City of Phoenix Street Transportation Department, and is a collective of any collisions involving cars and bicycles in 2005. There are some grim numbers in there, but there is a lesson to be learned:

• the cyclist was found to be at fault twice as many times as the driver
• there were 17 crashes involving alcohol; the cyclist was intoxicated in 14 of those
• 75% of crashes occurred during the day
• there were 85 hit and run crashes

These numbers point to reasons why bicyclists are not respected by drivers: we often cause the trouble. And if the cycling community ever wishes to gain respect from drivers, and be treated as equals on the road, then cyclists must make an effort to obey the same traffic laws, and share the roads/walkways as we expect others to do for us.

Back to a lighter topic: I am excited. I even came across a contest being put on by New Belgium Brewery. They are offering a custom-made Surly commuter bike to one lucky person in each of a handful of cities. In return, they sign over the title to their car. They commit to going car-less for one full year - documenting the journey online, and making appearances at a local event called the Tour de Fat. Pretty cool stuff!

Here's to REAL progress - and here's to the Velorution!