Neighborhood Bike Ride

(just got this in an email)

Cyclers,
It would be sweet to have some of you join us for this. Please forward to anyone who may be interested.

JPA NEIGHBORHOOD BIKE RIDE!
Sunday, Nov. 2nd
Go on a Bicycle Ride, Talk with Neighbors and Classmates and You may win $1700
1 p.m. Meet at 1900 JPA and go on a leisurely bike ride towards downtown and back
2 p.m. Social and refreshments at 1900 JPA

All ages welcome. Participate in event and you are automatically entered to win! Bring snacks to share if you can.
To find out more or in case of rain, please call Shelly at 434-295-6554
Sponsored by Alliance for Community Choice in Transportation
www.transportationchoice.org

Ozzy Rides A Fixie?

Been sick for a week, haven't ridden since last wednesday.  It's frightening how fast you start to feel like a soft-bellied channel-changer.  On the mend, though...

In other news, if anyone is looking for something to do on Halloween Night, there is a benefit for the Charlottesville Derby Dames at the IX building, complete with DJ and the World's Largest Black Sabbath Tribute Band, MASS SABBATH.

Mass Sabbath only plays on Halloween.  This year, 2 drummers, 2 bass players, 3 guitarists, 1 violin, 1 cello, and 1 Ozzy will deliver the dark sounds of doom and love (B-Sab was kinda, y'know...peace, love) in C sharp.

Yours Truly as Ozzy.

Roller Derby women.  Sabbath.  Blood.

Get yours.

myspace.com/masssabbath

So...

So you've convinced your co-worker that commuting is the new sliced bread. But they say, "I don't have a bike."

I've got one. It's for them. A solid steed. A Trek Multitrack. I've got it back into safe condition. Fresh tires, brake pads, brake cables, and a chain would make it a primo candidate for long term, high mileage service. Yes, it has moustache bars.

It was free to me. Community Bikes gave me the parts to return it to service. Any compensation in-kind should go to them.

2,357.59 Miles

We really aren't supposed to be reporting to the 0.01 mile but whatever.  Let's call it 2,358.  

That's a lot of miles.  These are the points as of 5 minutes ago. 

Keep it going

Hey Everybody--

I was thinking yesterday that it would be fun to do this every month, or as long as we can keep it going.  Plenty of us would be riding every day anyway, but there are some people I have spoken to about this who probably didn't find out about it until a week or two into October and so they didn't participate.  And I personally like knowing that there is a group of people out there who out of competitive spirit and love of biking, and maybe even environmental responsibility are planning trips and days with the idea of "that should get me a few more points!''.

I don't know how much work it takes to make this happen, but a revolving cast could take care of the blog results end of things if it's a chore.  And I imagine that there are a few more businesses out there who might be willing to contribute (5 free cups of coffee somewhere, $25 bar tab, etc...).  Even if sponsors are hard to come by, it's easy to be creative.  5 bux from each rider? (Not trying to make this cost anything- just throwing out ideas.)

It could go all over the place.  Ultimately, it's nice to have this to think about while riding.  It made uphill cold rain more rewarding last friday.

What do you think?

Found Objects

I found two PBR's in my bag saturday morning that I didn't remember putting there.

On the side

Found a new bungee cord on my way into work this morning.

1553 Miles and Counting

Here are the current points for week 2.  Jim B came out of nowhere in the second week to really contend with some of the top dogs.  It looks like Mallfellow is untouchable right now...but anything can happen.

Congrats to everyone that chooses to pedal...nice work everyone!

A different sort of ride stat...

My commuting stats for the day where zero (shame on me, seven miles by auto) but my gameday rickshaw stats looked like this:

7.5 hours, ~5.5 hours moving
0 dropped chains, flat tires, or missed shifts.
58 miles (GPS logged)
12 mini snickers bars
3 gu's
1 apple
4 pop tarts
5 bottles of water
2 bottles of HEED
63 passengers

4 "recovery" beverages
4 burgers
4 potatoes
9 hours of sleep

My morning commute was a nice stretch of the legs.

It's Friday night.

It's 6.5 miles from my house to Cvile Bike and Tri. Yes, that's the longest trip ever on this bike. This challenge makes me do silly stuff.

Somehow, I think the Virginia Department of Weights and Measures specifies that there is a shorter standard distance for a mile when covered on a three speed, towing a BOB, with a case of longnecks inside.

Commuting. So simple, a caveman could do it.

Hey...your Stache...Send it here.

okay, okay. i have ZERO mustache photos in my queue. i NEED more photos. be creative, be hairy, milk mustache, everything counts. SEND IT IN!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!

Hello, fellow stompers, spinners and coasters!

I'm having a good time with this blog communication and reading everybody's stories.  I just tried to copy and paste from my page to here and couldn't make it happen.  So, if yr looking for another proud biker story, come visit.

Thanks!

Butch

My anticar...

Kyle, thanks for adding me to the fold. James and Kyle, it's great to see your efforts in building a community of commuters. I've used a bike to get around for most of my time in C-ville, but had an inspirational moment last spring. You'd like me to share? Great!

About 3 hours into a Saturday night rickshaw shift, four stout guys hopped on while I was parked near Orbits. Where to? Cabel Ave. at the top of Grady. It wasn't a fast trip and it featured plenty of granny gear, but we made it and they had a great time in the process. My 165# motor and a 200# vehicle had moved roughly 800# of intoxicated cargo over a fair distance and gained substantial elevation. That was the moment of a changed perspective.

I live a rather pedestrian life here in town. Work is half a mile from home. The stores I use are less than 5 miles away. If my own power could move such a load, then why do we tend to move cargo with cars of mass far greater than their payload? It's not that cars are bad, but perhaps they're inefficient because we fail to use them to their potential. Maybe all that power and space isn't well used by my needs.

Perhaps by choosing to live close to work, we could use our commuting minutes to run errands by bicycle. Generally I save time by moving faster than traffic and having available parking on the far end of my trips. Recently I discovered the joy of a real rain jacket and rain pants. A rubbermaid tote on my BOB trailer keeps bulky cargo secure, clean, and dry.

So add me to the "fan of bike commuting" list. With a bit of planning, some versatile gear, and a sturmey 3 speed, it's a blast.

492.5 MILES!

That's right four hundred ninty two miles!  The list below has the current points standings as of midnight last night.  It looks like JN has taken the lead with many many short trips.  Other people in the top ranks seem to be racking up the points with longer trips on heavy bikes.

It's still *very* early in the month so we'll see who keeps trucking along steadily and who fades into laziness.  

Remember to submit your miles you must complete the survey.  You must click the "Done" button at the end.  

Note:  The points listed above include all of the bonus points for rain, weight etc.  The total mileage is just the raw mileage that we've all tallied together over one short week of riding to work.  

Bike Bailout

I don't know the details about the Bike Commuter Bill; however, it was one of the pieces of pork added to the bank bailout bill that Congress passed last week.

I found the news on a local blog, it is the Friday, Oct 3 post: http://discoveringurbanism.blogspot.com/

A little good news in a week of crazy news.

bike snob? more like bike blog!

Speaking of blogs, I found this guy's NYC commuter blog. It is hilarious - flush with sarcasm, the occaisonal wit on food, idiots, and living in a massive city, as well as containing ample imagery - I think this one is staying under my "bike" itnernerd linkbar for awhile.
http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/

A Conversation....

between me and the woman and the drive-thru tax window at the county office building. (keep in mind the we were both FRIENDLY to each other)

Woman - Can I help you?

Kyle - I'd like to pay my taxes

Woman - You have to come inside

Kyle - Why?

Woman - Your on a bike

Kyle - I don't understand?

Woman - We don't accept walk ups at the drive-thru

Kyle - But, I'm on a bike

Woman - What's your account number?

Unexpected benefits of bicycle commuting.

In a world with gas prices at $4/gallon and with obesity being nearly pandemic, commuting by bike makes a world of sense. People have pointed this out before and I'm not here to repeat those points. But, with ever more people commuting by bike, there are some unexpected side benefits. Here's mine.

On today's commute, totally unplanned, a friend and I ended up at the same stop light. We ended up riding the rest of the way to work together and had a nice conversation along the way. It wasn't that far, but enough time to catch up on a few things. This isn't the first time this has happened, but it surely doesn't happen daily. But who knows, if everyone takes up commuting by bike, maybe it would.

I got to thinking as I sat down at my desk that people used to bump into friends and neighbors regularly before cars became the primary mode of transportation. I noticed I felt significantly happier having just 5 minutes of social time before having to focus on work, as opposed to running directly from bed to shower to work.

So, I'm going to say "extra social time" is my anti-car. What's yours?

-j

p.s. This also makes me want to set up a "bike pool" (as opposed to a car pool) in which friends in the same part of town meet and ride to work together. Safety in numbers, and all that. Probably a far fetched dream, but who knows.