green tuesday: well, almost

If I can finish this post in 45 minutes or less, then technically it will still meet the deadline to legitimately be "Tuesday," well at least here in Arizona.

I went to Nashville, Tenn., this past weekend and just got back home this evening. And while there is nothing "green" about flying across the country, allow me to share part of the weekend festivities.

My best bud and old college roommate, Will, met me in Nashville since I haven't seen him since last September. I wanted to show him around Nashville, particularly downtown, so we decided to cruise the streets on our bikes. It was a great way to see the city at our own pace, enjoy the cold Tennessee air, and not have to set foot in a car.



Downtown Nashville is not a particularly large area, but there are tons of venues for live music. Nashville is proclaimed to be the country music capitol of the World, after all. The city is steeped in music culture, especially country and bluegrass. We stopped at the Gruhn guitar shop, which serves as THE go-to place for many of country music's and Nashville's finest musicians. The next time you are in need of a $15,000 Gibson banjo, check out Gruhn.



The city has lots of these guitars placed all over, but this is the only one we were able to find.



We climbed the steps of the State Capitol building and got a pretty sweet view of the downtown area.





The Ryman Auditorium is one of the top music venues in the country, especially for country music. The Temptations and the Four Tops are playing there soon apparently...



I love bluegrass music, which is popular in Nashville, but have never been a big fan of country. However, the feel of a downtown environment that is rich with the community of music is a really cool thing - you can hang out downtown any day of the week and hear free music from some really talented people just playing on the street.

For the observant ones amongst you, you might notice that Will was riding a Specialized Langster London. These bikes have been quite rejected by the cycling community because of their big-brand capitalization of a more independent style. In my eyes, if it gets someone on a bike and out of their car, then that is green enough for me.

if only i could...

I love the question: if you could do anything for a living and money were not an option, what would you do?

When I finished college and was looking for a job, I took any interview I could get. There were a few interviews that quickly revealed to me that this was NOT the job for me. During one, I realized I did not want the job within the first 5 minutes - and then they asked me what I saw myself doing in 5 years.

I chuckled a little, smiled, and said: "hopefully owning a bike shop on the beach somewhere." The lady didn't quite know how to react. She seemed surprised by my frankness, and then tried to salvage her end of the interviewing by stating how that showed an entrepreneurial spirit within me, something her company valued. How nice.

While I would love to own a bike shop on the beach, I have developed a fine appreciation for the art of bike making.

If I could make a living doing anything, I would like to build bikes. More specifically, I would love to be able to build the quality of bikes that Sacha at Vanilla Bicycles crafts. I recently learned about this hand-made boutique bike shop out of Portland, and I am enamored by his art - and his work truly is art.

The detail and quality is astonishing, as evidenced by:

the lugs:


the dropouts:


and the classy branding (just to name a few):


So if you build bikes and want an apprentice, let me know. Most likely I will give some lame excuse about why I cannot give up everything to pursue my ultimate dream, but hey, it's America.

green tuesday: the grass is greener

This week's Green Tuesday post is really a simple reflection on urban design...

When I first started cycling for recreation, I felt my urban utopia would be a place with miles of smooth-as-glass roadway for my cycling pleasure - the ultimate and never-ending century ride if you will. In Phoenix, I certainly have miles of roadway, but it is cracked, overcrowded, and leads to nowhere except the next Starbuck's. Having a comfortable surface to ride a bike on is nice, but too often I feel I get spoiled when I have smooth and safe roadways - that is certainly not the overall reality of American urban infrastructure.

The cycling community is faced with a paradox - we want safe thoroughfares, but so long as we have to share them with cars, safety will be minimal. However, the cycling community does not exert enough influence (read: $$$) to have cycling/pedestrian-specific infrastructure built into our cities. It seems any time you hear a city touting some new cycling infrastructure, it is a few miles of narrow pathway through a park or affluent area of town - nothing that is ultimately useful for utilitarian purposes. Sure it stands to offer moments of happiness and recreation to the American family, but that happiness is gone as soon as one gets back into their automobile and sits through hellish traffic.

American cities are not designed to support infrastructure apart from automobiles. We spread our cities out farther and farther because our stores and homes need more and more room. Phoenix is currently considering a proposal to develop state park lands in order to build ANOTHER freeway to help alleviate traffic problems. That makes me sick.

We keep trying to put layer after layer of band-aids/duct tape over our gaping wounds of urban infrastructure, when we could solve the problem by enduring a brief moment of pain and ripping all the old junk off and stitching the wound! We need to revive our urban environments that already exist and push for more centralized and sustainable communities. And that is why I love Richard Register and the Ecocity Builders.

We are a non-profit organization dedicated to reshaping cities, towns and villages for long term health of human and natural systems. Our goals include returning healthy biodiversity to the heart of our cities, agriculture to gardens and the streets, and convenience and pleasure to walking, bicycling and transit. We visualize a future in which waterways in neighborhood environments and prosperous downtown centers are opened for curious children, fish, frogs and dragonflies. We work to build thriving neighborhood centers while reversing sprawl development, to build whole cities based on human needs and “access by proximity” rather than cities built in the current pattern of automobile driven excess, wasteful consumption and the destruction of the biosphere. [text and photos from ecocitybuilders.org]

And there are other people that think the time is right to rip off the band-aid. From Alex Steffen's essay "My other car is a bright green city:"

Generally, we think of cars as things which are quickly replaced in our society, and buildings as things which rarely change. But that will not be the case over the next few decades. Because of population growth, the on-going development churn in cities (buildings remodeled or replaced, etc.), infrastructure projects and changing tastes, we'll be rebuilding half our built environment between now and 2030. Done right, that new construction could enable a complete overhaul of the American city.

While I don't know the exact method of accomplishing a task like this, I trust that the more people are aware of the possibilities, the better off we are.

Besides, now that I think about it, I would much rather ride my bike to work on a decently maintained dirt (or even grass) pathway through a naturally landscaped pathway, enjoying all the fruits of nature, instead of sharing 3 lanes of traffic with speeding SUVs whose drivers are sipping a grande double mocha frappacino latte while talking on their cell phone and looking for a Target.

Safe riding to everyone - it can be a nasty place out there. But does it have to be?...

your mom must be so proud

We all fall victim to ranting in the passion of a moment, and this is just that. Call it a flaw of the internet for providing instant information and access to an audience.

I caved in and drove to work today - the first weak moment of the day (writing this being #2). I am not one to make excuses, but here are my excuses: I rode an extra 10 miles yesterday after work to get to a starbuck's "jam session" with a friend, then continued on to church, then back home (at 8:30 pm). I had a long day yesterday, and it was cold this morning (for Phoenix at least). Moving forward...

As I am driving home this afternoon, I am cruising along in the middle of 3 lanes, approaching a stop light. A beat-up GMC Jimmy (missing one side-view mirror) speeds past me on the right, and the guy was obviously not paying attention to what was happening in front of him - 6 or so cars were stopped as the car at the intersection was waiting to make a right turn. The Jimmy on my right notices that the cars in front of him are not moving, slams on the breaks and cuts in front of me at the same time. All of this happens within inches of my precious hood. The guy proceeds to swerve around a bit as he settles into this lane, then resumes driving like a moron. Thankfully, no physical contact was made, aside from my hand on my horn.

As we approach the next light, I am still in the middle lane, and this guy has moved over to the far left lane. Cars come to a halt, and I notice that I will be pulling up right alongside the guy. I can see him edging forward as much as possible to prevent us from being right next to each other. No such luck for this fine gentleman. His windows are down, and a similarly aged female is in the passenger seat, seemingly oblivious to all that has taken place. This was my first real look at what this guy looked like. Late 20s-ish, smaller guy - I could take him if I needed to (although I like to think of myself as non-violent).

As I come to a stop, I simply stare to my left, and the guy is glancing out of the corner of his eyes, then sort of turns his head a bit more to me - all the while one hand is providing him some sort of false sense of security. Then it happens...

He flips me off.

He, flips ME, off.

I was caught so off guard by this gesture that I started laughing. The light turned green and the guy quickly accelerated out of view.

He flipped me off.

The guy has the nerve to cut me off because he doesn't pay attention to the 3000 pound hunk of crappy American steal he controls, and then give me the universal sign of "go F- yourself." I was stunned. I still am.

I am disappointed, because this brief interaction with a stranger has left me wondering where all the civility has gone? The fingers can be pointed in many directions, but I won't do that just yet. I hope that occurrences like these are rare - but I cannot say that for sure. I have yet to have a similar interaction while riding my bike, so maybe this is just one more reason to stay out of the car.

green tuesday: when less is more

Last week I started what will hopefully be a regular occurrence: the Green Tuesday post. It is good to know that there is a wealth of information out in the web-o-sphere and it would take a long time to sift through it all. In the meantime, I will continue to come across some really neat stuff.

A lot of the fuss being made over "green living" these days involves one paradoxical element: consumption. Green cars, green fashion, green home products - a lot of the "green" trend is simply advertising and marketing that is trying to sell you the trendiest product, or the trendiest way to carry your product (designer shopping bags, anyone?...come on!).

While many efforts have been made in the means of ecologically sustainable or less-ecologically destructive production methods, almost anything you buy at the store (and yes, that includes your LBS) had to be produced somewhere and somehow.

video homework
If you have the time on your hands, I highly recommend watching a short film (20 minutes) that has recently been making it's way around the internet - the film is called the Story of Stuff and it examines modern production methods, from raw materials to production to distribution to consumption to disposal. The production and presentation of this film are really neat - with elaborate illustrations and a friendly presentation style. It is a very eye-opening and intriguing examination of western material production and consumption. If you don't happen to have 20 free minutes, first of all, thanks for spending your precious time on this site, and secondly, here are some key stats from the film:

• In the past 3 decades, one-third of the planet's natural resources have been consumed
• Forty percent of waterways in the US have become undrinkable
• The US has 5% of the world's population but consumes 30% of the world's resources and creates 30% of the world's waste
• The average America now consumes twice as much as they did 50 years ago
• National happiness in America peaked around the 1950s
  

I do not intend to be an alarmist, or scare everyone into thinking the world will end soon. But I strongly feel that our habits of consumption are in great need of change.

when less is more
I will admit that I love bikes, and I just don't feel that I can get enough of them. Thankfully, bikes and their toys are not as sizable or production-intensive as other transport vehicles (read: Hummer H2), but they still require raw materials and energy to be produced.

One topic that came up in response to last week's post was the local bike co-op. Bike co-ops are member-owned, not-for-profit organizations that have one sole purpose: get as many people on safe bikes as possible. The means through which they do this vary, but most will include educational opportunities about bike maintenance, as well as free use of tools to work on your own bikes. Most will take donations of used parts, and sell these to cover operating costs. All in all, a bike co-op is a place where people come together to learn from and teach each other about bikes, maintaining them, and safely riding them (depending on how many hipster kids go there to find old road frames for a fixie conversion).

I have yet to find a web resource that highlights bike co-ops in various places, but chances are (if you live in a sizable city), there is one nearby. Ask around at your LBS - maybe they know.

The point is: there are tons of used bike parts floating around in our cities, and you can find lots of useful pieces in a local co-op, which is simply a method of "recycling." I encourage you to explore your local co-op and be more aware of our consumer habits as cyclists. Just because we may not drive a car, doesn't mean that our actions do not have an impact.

extra credit
If you find yourself intrigued, and want to learn more, there is a plethora of resources on the web to guide you in your quest to live a more environmentally friendly/sustainable life. While a list that provides the best sites to visit would stretch way too long, I will leave you with my 3 favorite websites:

• CoolPeopleCare.org - CoolPeopleCare exists to show you how to change the world in whatever time you have. One minute? Five minutes? An entire day? Whatever you have, they'll help you spend it wisely. In my mind, it is the epitome of community service.
  
• No Impact Man - Last year, Colin Beaven aka No Impact Man, committed he and his family (wife and 4-year-old daughter) to live a "no impact" life while living in Manhattan. This meant no electricity, no buying new products, and many other things. The tales from the year are incredible, and crazy. That year is over, and Colin and his family are now exploring how to remodel their lives. Today's post was brilliant and quite inspirational.
• The Good Human - The Good Human was born out of one man's idea for a website that can encourage people to be better humans...whether through working to clean up the environment, being active in political issues that mean a lot to you or just being more aware of your life and surroundings. From a post today:

When you carry out your trash at home on the next collection day, you’ll be sending more trash to landfills than the entire Subaru manufacturing plant in Lafayette, Indiana.

Again, bikecommuters.com in no way is trying to tell you how to live your life. We merely report on the things we like or find important.

green tuesday: on being an environmentalist

Whether we know it or not, we - the bike commuters - possess the mental and psychological seed of being environmentalists. Whether we mean to or not, we are taking a stand against the pollutive presence of automobiles. Whether we act on it or not, our utopia is a pleasant and safe place to enjoy the glory of two-wheeled, pedal-powered exhilaration.

And if so much can come from unconscious or non-deliberate action, imagine what our bike commute can be like when we mix action AND thought.

Enter: environmentalism.

The sometimes trustworthy source, Wikipedia, defines "environmentalism" as:

Environmentalism (sometimes 'ecologism') is a broad philosophy and social movement centered on a concern for the conservation and improvement of the natural environment, both for its own sake as well as its importance to civilization.

While it is wise to be weary of Wikipedia definitions (especially for your Master's thesis), this one contains a beautiful sentiment that may be overlooked by those who are not so green-inclined: it aims to conserve AND improve the environment for its own sake AND for the sake of civilization. So you see, in my opinion, those who take on the moniker of "environmentalist" truly aim to better the world for all who inhabit it and rely on it for life. Not such a bad thing, don't you think?

And we, as bike commuters, fit into this realm in our attempts to:

• secure safe places to ride with supportive infrastructure
• spread the joy of bicycling bliss
• decrease the number of cars on our roads and subsequently reduce their toxic emissions
• increase the quality of life by ridding our lives of vein-bursting traffic jams...

And that list could go on. But I want you to take note of something: not once have I mentioned "global warming" or "climate change." My argument does not rely on a scientifically proven change in global climate - it relies solely on quality of life. Whether or not the earth is heating, cooling, convulsing, or just plain chillin' - I would argue that the efforts of environmentalism truly offer benefits beyond the status quo of consumption. If nothing else, the aim is as much positive impact on the earth as possible, and the least amount of negative impact possible.

Now, please entertain me as I attempt an application of rhetoric:

Roughly based on the logic of Pascal's Wager, we are faced with a situation: life on earth. During this life on earth we will ultimately either act in a way that is beneficial to life (B), or we will act in a way that is not beneficial to life (N). Now if we behave like B, and it turns out that our material consumption truly does have an effect on the "earth's health," then we will not get ourselves into trouble. If we behave like N, and it turns out that our material consumption truly does have an effect on the "earth's health," then we will get ourselves into trouble. If we behave like B or N, and it turns out that our material consumption does NOT have an effect on the "earth's health," then we truly gain or lose nothing in the end.

While I dimmed the argument in the sense of final outcomes, the basic logic implies that there is a certain risk that comes with inhabiting a living environment (earth) that could (potentially) drastically impact ALL of life. Personally, that is not a consequence that I choose to take lightly, and while I have a long way to go, I feel it is important to do the best I can to not "make the earth cry."

That is one (of the many) reasons I have become a bike commuter. And while not all bike commuters are bike commuters for the same reason as me, I think deep down we all want the same thing (see bullet points above), and therefore being a bike commuter and being an environmentalist can easily go hand in hand, and are mutually beneficial. So why not kill two birds with one stone?

In the coming weeks, you will see more "Green Tuesday" posts that aim to provide information on issues related to bike commuting and the environment. Some will (attempt to) contain arguments of logic as this one did. I am not an expert on the subject, and am not always sure that what I write makes sense or is in fact, true. But the ultimate goal is to spark thought and discussion, because the world can become a better place when thought and action are combined.

[photos courtesy of Cicleliciousness]

i had a dream

The P.F. Chang's Rock n' Roll marathon was held today in Tempe/Phoenix, AZ, and as a result many of the streets were closed to automobile traffic to clear room for the estimated 37,000 runners and 5,000 volunteers. The race course traveled around the area in which I live, potentially rendering me house-bound for most of the morning...but only if I wanted to drive. I hopped on my aluminum steed at 9 am this morning to traverse the 5 miles to church, and had 4 lanes of road all to myself since the race had not made it that far just yet. The street I rode had been blockaded and even had motorcycle cops making sure no clueless drivers ended up on the wrong side of the orange cones. I stopped and chatted with two of the cops and they told me to help myself to the road that was the race course, since the runners were 40 minutes behind me. I happily complied and enjoyed the dash down vacant streets on a beautiful, sunny Sunday morning.

When it was time for me to go back home, the race was still going in this part of town, but I was still allowed to travel along the race course, inside the barricades, so long as I stayed out of the way. At this time, it was mostly the people who were walking that I encountered, but they only used 2 of the 3 lanes, leaving me plenty of room. One lane had been opened to auto traffic, but they weren't really going anywhere. I thoroughly enjoyed riding past all of the cars as they impatiently waited for the 100 people in front of them to progress through the next traffic light.

And this got me thinking: first of all, I would love it if this situation would happen more often, with 3 of 4 lanes of road being designated for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. But what a dream that is! At the same time, I realized that is somewhat selfish in that people who legitimately need cars (handicapped, elderly...but it's all grey territory) would be greatly inconvenienced by such a system.

But then I thought that this might be the kind of situation that is required to impact great transportation reform - and by that I do NOT mean "build more roads." If people were forced (I tread VERY carefully here) into realizing how cycling (or even carpooling since 9 out of 10 cars I pass have A person in them) is a more efficient form of transportation, they might just be more willing to try it. But as long as our urban infrastructure and layout make it more convenient/easier to drive, I am sure people will be content doing just that, no matter how much gas might cost.

But I guess the major problem would be finding a mayor who would willingly close down 3 out of 4 lanes of traffic to let cyclists roam free. But then again, we all have to have dreams, right?

i'd move to norway for this

Check out this great story from TreeHugger.com:

Norway's Public Roads Administration (southern region) is giving its own
employees a vacation subsidy if they travel to work on their bicycles. For each
week or five-day period that an employee rides a bike - or walks - to and from
the office, Statens Vegvesen will compensate with four hours of vacation time.
When the cyclist rides an entire year to work, that's equivalent to an extra
week of (paid) vacation. The Administration points to increased health benefits
to cyclists, but also is using the incentive to decrease road congestion.

In Denmark meanwhile, the Socialist Folkparty, one of the country's
larger political groups, is proposing to offer cyclists almost two Danish crowns
per commuting kilometer ($.36). Who knows how far the proposal may get:
cycle-happy Copenhagen is considering banning heavy trucks from the inner city
and is installing sensor-driven lights to alert vehicles to cyclists, but deputy
mayor for environmental issues was criticized (though the Lady Mayor seems
supportive) for his proposal to remove cars from one of the city's major
arteries, Nørrebrogade, to make more room for cyclists and pedestrians...

What would it take to get American companies who are serious about their impact on the environment (not to mention those that care less) to subscribe to a similar methodology?

I work for a sizeable financial brokerage firm and they have a "Trip-Reduction Program" which is merely a drawing each month for a $15 Target gift card. To qualify, you must use alternative transportation (carpool, vanpool, bus, bike) once a week for the entire month. They mainly "push" the carpooling thing, and by that I mean they have a poster in the break room. To my knowledge, there is one other person in my office (out of 200+) who does a multi-modal bike-bus commute...and yet I have never won the TRP drawing.

I am glad that my company at least makes some effort to encourage alternative transportation, but they certainly have a long ways to go. I also know that not all companies in Norway are offering a program like the one described in the TreeHugger article, but still, I cannot help but feel that America is years behind something like that.

mr. bicycle, i'm calling in sick today

I have been fighting some crud for the past few days, but until today I have been able to ride. This morning, I woke up with a stuffy head and sore throat, and I just felt that the benefits of biking just would not outweigh the drawbacks, and so I caved in and drove. I usually feel pretty pathetic when I drive, and I think the guilt (albeit self-imposed) is a healthy way to not allow myself to settle for driving as regularly. In addition to mentally feeling pathetic, my body feels more sluggish on the days that I drive. I’m not as awake when I get to work, and I am generally more tired throughout the day due to the lack of early morning pedaling. The fresh air and exercise are also great “stress-busters” - and yes I know this will not be news to any reader of this website.

There are basic principals of health/anatomy/immunology that govern how the body responds to physical stress when fighting illness. The Mayo clinic online covered this topic and gave the general statement that if your symptoms are above the neck - stuffy nose, sore throat - then it is safe to proceed with exercise. If symptoms are below the neck - congested chest, hacking cough or fever - it is wise to refrain from exercise. At this point, the health-boosting effects of exercise will cease to apply.

Some of us (myself included at times) think that we can “sweat out” a sickness by engaging in intense exercise when fighting a cold. While this may help relieve simple symptoms like stuffiness, in the end you are most likely going to hurt your body’s ability to fight the sickness. “Your immune system fights best when it isn’t stressed,” says MedicineNet.

Your immune system fights most effectively when it isn’t stressed. Research studies show that a moderate fitness program helps boost the immune system, lessening the chances you’ll fall ill with a cold or flu. But scientists also note that a single rigorous exercise session or race can actually make you more susceptible to bacterial or viral infection.

So listen to your body when you feel sick and need to rest — a hard workout could impair your immune system for several hours, allowing unwelcome guests to make your illness worse.

And make sure you give your body enough time to recover before you return to exercise after a serious illness like the flu. Come back too soon and you may actually send yourself into a relapse of the illness, which further slows your return to everyday activities.

I will say that bike commuting has seemed to help my body prevent illness these past months. I have historically gotten sick twice a year for as long as I can remember: in the fall and then again as winter gets close to spring. This is the first time that I have felt sick in over a year, and it has certainly been less intense than experiences past.

So as I go heat up some chicken noodle soup and down a gallon of water, at what point do you, the reader, say “enough is enough?”

time for a new year

2008 is here (I say that as if it were news) and I must say that I am excited about the year ahead. I have never really been one for setting resolutions but that is most likely attributed to my age. There is a certain instability of life that comes with being 24 years old - odds are I will be doing something completely different (career, personal hobbies, etc.) in 6 months from what I do now. However, I see a lot of exciting things ahead of me this year, and bike commuting is at the top of that list.

I have only been bike commuting since August 2007, but have biked an average 4 work days out of 5 for those past 5 months. I have been able to continue riding into winter since I live in Arizona - we've had a couple mornings in the upper 30s so far, but it could certainly be much worse.

After reading Jack's post I set up an account at bikejournal.com; hopefully I can keep up with my mileage numbers. I don't know the exact breakdown, but the cyclometer on my road bike has 3276 registered miles and it just turned 2 years old - meaning I am averaging ~1600 miles per year. In addition, my mountain bike shows 704 miles on the cyclometer (I have only had it since June), giving me a total of ~4000 miles biked in the past two years. I would say that I rode more miles this past year than the former, and assume the breakdown is more like 1800/2200. Based on how much I have been riding and what I predict to ride this year, I want to shoot for 2500 miles ridden in 2008 (this is a GOAL, not a resolution).



I head back to work tomorrow after being on vacation since Dec. 21. Our forecast for tomorrow shows sun with 46 degrees in the morning and 69 degrees by the afternoon. This has me so excited about getting on the saddle tomorrow morning as I head to the office. And what better way to spend New Years Day than getting my bike ready to go?! It is a bit chilly outside today but the winds are howling around 20 mph sustained, so it just feels right to stay inside, wearing my new fluffy slippers, and wrenching and scrubbing around on my aluminum steed.

After brewing a fresh pot of coffee, I got to work and scrubbed off all the dirt and grime from my wheels, frame, drive-train, etc. I made sure my shift- and break-cables were properly tightened and adjusted; made sure the chain and derailleurs were grit-free and properly lubed; sipped on my java and rocked out to some Nickel Creek.

The Velorution is coming at you 2008 - I have a feeling it will be a good year! May all of you have a safe and Velo-rific year. Happy Riding!