Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Thinking about a SS/FG

Since my job requires me to crunch a lot of numbers related to inventory levels and cash flows, it naturally seeps into my private life. Speaking in very general terms, I don't ride as much as I would like, I'm good at making excuses about it, and would like to overcome some obstacles.

I don't think I would mind riding in the rain, I just don't want to ride my only, very good condition bike in the rain. On average it rains 122 days a year in my city - that means I use this as a lame excuse about 50% of the time. Compared to national average I get an extra three weeks of laziness-inducing precipitation. Typically, I make my limit at 40% chance of rain during the hours of my commute. If it rained over night I am prone to pass on riding until things are good and dry.

About a year ago I picked up a pair of rain pants on a pretty good deal (75% off clearance and out of season). I have also managed to pick up a couple water resistant riding jackets along the way. Neither the jackets nor pants have yet to be worn. I guess it comes back to not wanting to get my bike wet, dirty, and potentially damaged from riding in poor conditions.

I think an older road bike, likely less than $200, would be fine. The reasoning behind a single-speed fixed gear bike (with brakes of course, I'm not that hip) would be that there would be less gunk to clean, as well as a much easier process. A second or third-hand bike would have much less sentimental value than my first "real road bike."

Am I over-thinking this too much? Am I being too touchy about my current bike? Am I just continuing to make more excuses? Are my speculations about SSFG cleaning and maintenance on point or in valid? Do I need to just shut up and ride?

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Safety Trumps Convenience, Every Time

I read a lot of news.  My girlfriend sometimes gets annoyed by it, but I am a news junkie in every sense of the word.  I have recently read several articles about cyclists getting hit by cars while riding, and even one was caught on tape.  The video makes me wonder if I should get a camera for when I commute to work or exercise on my days off.  But after reading this article about a cyclist being killed in Austin it makes you wonder if a camera even matters if the driver won't even be charged for anything.

When you read the comments for those two links, or comments on any article related to bicycling you will start to see a sickening trend.  I will lend some leeway that anonymity on the internet often invites people to embellish thought and say things they may not normally say, but due to no likely chance of having to eat their words they will say exactly what is on the mind.  There are a lot of people out there that view a cyclist as a nuisance rather than a person.  People ride bicycles for all sorts of reasons, tops among them being transportation and recreation.  I know of no other form of recreation in which death is acceptable for impeding others.  I guess it is seen during shopping on Black Friday as well.

Here are some comments that irritate me for one reason or another:

"I love how cyclists love to play the victims, yet they are CONSTANTLY running red lights and stop signs, weaving in and out of traffic, just to name a few."  Yes, they do.  So do drivers.  I have no idea on the real stats but let us say there are 200,000 cars per cyclist in the US.  I would say that drivers are running red lights / stop signs and weaving in and out of traffic far more than 200,000 times cyclists do.  On a bike that is an absolute death sentence on just the cyclists.  Drivers in their steel cages will walk away more often than not.  Just because one person does the wrong thing does not mean that it is okay for others to do.  Something that jeopardizes the life of another is never okay to do.



"The people I see on their bikes are hardly dressed for success and on their way to work, especially at night and weekends."  How does this even matter?  When I ride to work I am dressed for riding a bike.  When I am on a long, tough ride I am dressed for being on a long, tough ride.  My life is no less valuable regardless of what I am wearing.  Sometimes people have to ride/drive on nights and weekends.  Nonetheless, their life is no less valuable.  If a car hits another car at night, does the newspaper say that they shouldn't have been driving at night, especially on a weekend no less!


"Riding a bike is *your* life style *choice*."  So I should be mowed down for making a healthy lifestyle choice?  Why are we not running people down outside of gyms and softball fields while they walk to their cars?


" The roadways are for vehicles- TRANSPORTATION. ie. Department of public Transportation."  The DOT in every state considers a bicycle to be a vehicle.  

"To clog highways with bikes for recreation and sport is selfish and mismanagement of taxpayers' money for highways and roads."  A bicycle, perhaps two feet wide does not clog the roadway.  Neither does that additional three feet you should give a cyclist.  It is the sheer impatience of attempting to unsafely pass a cyclist which causes the problem.  A cyclists life is not worth 30 seconds of saved time.  The majority of road taxes are for road upkeep and maintenance of which cyclists cause no damage.  Furthermore, those guys you see on $2,000 bicycles wearing a couple hundred dollars worth of clothes pay taxes.  The majority of adults who ride bikes also have cars.  In my city there is no real cycling infrastructure unless I work on the base and take the one trail we have.  I should be getting tax credits for not clogging the road with another car and not causing damage to the roads.  I would gladly pay more taxes if it meant I would see bike lanes throughout my city.



"Let's reserve the right of the road for transportation, not sport and recreation."  In a time when our obesity is at a all time high and the economy pretty slugging this might not be a great idea.  I think we should go the opposite direction and provide more opportunity for people to exercise while riding a bike.

"Rather than make roads dangerous for all of us, let's get bikes off the road."  The road is already dangerous and accounts for many, many deaths due to the negligence of drivers everywhere.  Bicycling is not what makes the road dangerous.

I am so tired of people saying to ride on the sidewalk.  The sidewalk is for pedestrians who are not considered vehicles.  In many cities, including mine, it is actually illegal to ride on a sidewalk.  I would most likely be liable if I get hit.  Never in my life have I seen a car stop prior to the sidewalk, then roll six more feet to stop again.  It just doesn't happen.  



I am also tired of reading comments saying that a cyclist should have been wearing a helmet when they got plowed by an SUV at 55 MPH.  Only a helmet made of fairy dust and unicorn tears would help in that situation.


Really, what all this comes down to is we are all inconvenienced sometime.  It may be the TSA, or that lady with 500 coupons and food stamps in front of you at Walmart or a long restroom line at a concert.  When driving a heavy steel murdering machine you need to be more careful than when you are pushing a shopping cart at the grocery store.  Whether you think about it or not, people's lives are in your hands every time you start the engine.  No one's life is worth less than your time.  People have friends and family that depend on them and being in a hurry or negligence is never an excuse with stakes that high.