I have moved!

Hello my loyal followers, this is just a quick note to let you know that I have moved my blog. You can now find me at www.tandemrevolutions.com

I won't be posting on this blog anymore and will take it down at the end of May. Please find your way over to my new home and keep tabs of the new adventure, heading north to Alaska!

Until we ride again, Ciao!

Best things about a bike, round 1

Taking a break from riding makes one realize the best things about riding. For instance, I haven't had to scrape my windshield for a few days, though I hear the schwick, schwick of others doing it. I haven't used a gallon of gas warming up my car so I could stand to sit in it for the ten minute trip to work. I've been able to avoid the stack up at the stop light and have not been pulled over for an expired license plate tag.

Warming up the car, that's what we do when we drive this time of year. It gets the oil moving through the engine, lubricating the parts that make the engine work. Turns out that warming up on the bike is doing the same thing. The first mile or so it feels Godawful cold and you wonder "what the hell am I doing..." then next thing you know you're starting to warm up. Noticeable first in the core area. You got your heart pumping when you first avoided that big truck and now you're pumping up the hill. Next your head gets hot, especially if you've got a helmet cover on and a balaclava. You consider taking it off, but then the rain starts and you stay the course.

I love to ride in inclement weather. The hardest part is getting out the door and on that damn bike. It's really not that bad if you have the right gear and the right attitude. The more I ride in the cold, the more I rely on my helmet cover and balaclava. Also key are the wool under-layers and again, my little sandwich bags on my toes. Those little things are the best barrier so far. I will certainly write more about my experiences in February when it is brutally cold again.

There is nothing like the freedom of riding your bike. The feeling of the wind on your cheeks, the fresh air, the sound of tires on wet asphalt. I love this life.

Until we ride again, Ciao!

Rain, rain, rain

It's raining. It has been raining all day. I've been in the hot tub twice today letting the rain fall on my head and contemplating the big ride. I've just spent a good bit of time checking out a wonderfully inspiring website pathlesspedaled.com and I feel such an incredible desire to get on my bike right now and just ride.

How easy and how hard it is to ride a bike this time of year. Sometimes I just want to throw in the towel and give it all up. Give up work, give up the house, give up all my things, the studio, everything and just ride. If only, I think, if only. Alas, the rain is drumming on the porch, it's sounding like the hiss of a steam iron on full blast. Or maybe it's some crazy tribal rhythm telling me it's time to go to bed. Whatever it is, I think it has affected the way I'm thinking tonight and leaves me melancholy, wishing for a chance to start over, to try again, to take the other path.

I'll leave you with just the wish to have an open heart and an open mind.

Until we ride again, and it stops raining, Ciao!

Lights out=FAIL

Agh. It's Monday through and through. At 7:20 this morning I loaded up the bike, turned on all of my lights and started pedaling. Layers of wool to keep me warm, goggles to keep me from crying. I look both ways, pedal forward and realize my front end is dark...no headlight. Nevermind that it had been beaming strongly mere seconds before, now it is unresponsive...flatline. Not good when it is so dark out. So I rode back to the house, jumped in the snow car and burned up the road to work. That's a fail folks. I'll see what the issue is when I get back home. Hopefully only batteries.

Stay warm out there!

Until we ride again, Ciao!

Winter Blues

Ahh, the chill of winter. The deeeep chill of winter. I must admit, I have been off the bike since Thanksgiving when we got a bunch of snow. The guilt for the past few weeks comes in waves, then I remember that I exist on the planet to do many things...one of them being to save my own skin. When the 9" of snow fell, cars and trucks were sliding all over the place. I questioned my own ability to handle the bike in the snow, then realized that no matter how well prepared I am, I can't avoid the sliding truck or car coming at me. So I hung up the bike, put away the panniers and drove the snow car.

Driving for the last several weeks made me feel wealthy. Wealthy because I had the option to drive, that I had warm clothes, that I have friends to help me. Just wealthy with choices. Those first couple of weeks after the snow fell, then melted, then iced over, I didn't see a lot of riders.Last week I started seeing them again. Not necessarily the folks with the full bike outfits, but more so the folks who have to ride out of necessity. Another reason I feel thankful for choice.

In the meantime, I've had plenty of time to reflect on what I've learned so far as a nearly full time commuter. One poignant thing: We cyclists may be doing the wrong thing riding on the road when we don't realize it. Approaching a turning vehicle is one of the most dangerous situations a cyclist has to deal with (especially when no turn signal is used.) One day I found myself shaking my fist at a motorist making a left turn across my path of travel (we were both going the same direction and the bike lane was on the left side.) I had an aha! moment when I thought about whether the car had passed me or if I had come upon the car. Really, I cannot remember if it was me or them, but subsequently I realize that as a cyclist approaching the left signaling vehicle, I must yield, just as I would if I was driving. I know that in the past I've had cyclists get po'd at me for not seeing them to the left...I know now that unless I have passed them and cut them off, that they need to yield to me as a driver. That is if we cyclists want to have the rights to the road...

Tomorrow, January 3rd, 2011, I'll be riding to work, no matter what the weather is and will continue as best I can for the rest of the time as I know it. Our trip to Alaska is scheduled, tickets booked and time off nearly secured. Training season has commenced.

Good tidings and ridings to you and yours for this new year. Let us all ride more and always be polite!

Until we ride again, Ciao!

Transportation Facts

Tonight I've been researching bike crash/ped stats on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website. The most recent data on crashes/fatalities is from 2008 and this document is fascinating. I recommend taking a look at both documents to educate yourself about who, where, why, what and when. I learned that most injuries happen between 5pm and 9 pm and during the months of June and September, occurring more frequently in urban areas and in non intersection locations.

This made me think that drivers may not be on the look out as much during summer break from school. It makes sense to me as a driver and a rider. I look forward to the breaks when I know kids won't be crossing or packed around the schools. It just makes for easier riding.

Things you can do to keep yourself safe: Be as bright and noticeable as possible. Wear a dayglo shirt, use a reflective vest, put lights on your wheels, on your handlebars and on your seat post. Keep those "uncool" reflectors on your wheels...they really do work. I know we cyclists want to show off our cool duds, tight jeans, swing tops, flip flops, stocking caps, ball caps, cute hats, fun hair, and everything else. Kind of like the kid who doesn't want to wear a coat to school when it's -10 cuz it just ain't cool. Really, what's cool is arriving alive and unscathed. Put on your brights, toot your "horn" so to speak and show that you want to be seen. Nothing screams "LOOK AT ME" like dayglo and reflective tape. You stick out like a sore thumb. That's much better than sticking out like a sore thumb under someone's bumper. I don't want that for myself and I certainly don't want it for my fellow riders OR drivers.

Let's all brighten up on these fall days. One worry about dayglo orange...you might call that urban camo right now with the colors of the leaves!

The Zombie Ride is coming up on October 31st (Happy Birthday MOM!) and plans are set to meet at Parilla Grill in Hyde Park(1512 N 13th St) at 11:30 for $1 Bloody Mary's. Dress up in your pretty zombie attire and get your freak on. I don't promise that it'll be super organized, but it will give you an excuse to get out with likeminded freaks and maybe scare some kids or something. This is a 21+ ride due to bar stops. Comment with any questions or visit the Boise Pretty Dress Ride Facebook page for more info.

Until we ride again, Ciao!

Road Runner, If he catches you...

Meep, meep! That's how I feel sometimes on my bike...small, sorta fast and almost invisible, even in my dayglo super reflective long sleeve shirt. I had six shirts on this morning. A record in my book, even from my coldest days on the bike before. I had forgotten to take off my work shirt before putting on my cycling clothes, then added my dayglo at the end for the hell of it. Poor work shirt...it was pretty sweaty when I arrived. Oh, and even in this shirt pictured here...which I really wear on the bike, people still have the damnedest time seeing me. I find that amazing.

So this day was a bad one for bikers in Boise, with another biker being hit out on State street in the Lake Harbor area. I looked for this bike/car crash on the Idaho Statesman, KTVB.com, KIVITV.com find no mention of it. I searched those sites for the accident that happened a few weeks ago at McMillan/Five Mile and find no mention of that either. I did find a story I missed about a cyclist being killed out in the far west part of Chinden back in August. Is anyone keeping a tally of these incidents? I did see where the founder of Penthouse mag died. Who gives a shit about that? Why can't we hear about what is happening to our peds and our riders?

It was a hairy day on the bike today and I feel like driving tomorrow. I had a nice encounter with a very new black Range Rover with a woman behind the wheel that doesn't understand how to use her rear view mirrors. Thank God I am looking for her. A white VW Jetta ran the red light at the four way ped cross at 8th/Bannock tonight. I heard him coming...being on the bike does this to your ears. Daren and I witnessed a high speed turn on a red light, just to get to another red light. Luckily no peds were stepping off the curb, no bikes were crossing. It was dark...they were lucky. I also had a very young cyclist cut me off...she's lucky I wasn't a car or she would have been run over.

I have a comment for my old pal from Craig's List: It turns out that there are plenty of "anus-faces" driving cars. I'm witnessing lack of use of turn signals, lack of headlights, broken taillights, failure to yield, excessive speed, running red lights, rolling through stops. Now, when I look at that list I see that I can do everything on that list with the exception of excessive speed.Turns out we are all anus faces if we don't follow the damn rules. Everybody, get a clue. Car driver, use your head and use your turn signal. I've been working on my intuition, but as of yet, I still have no clue what you are going to do. Also, when you wait for me to cross or yield to me near a crosswalk, I do appreciate that, but please do not do that. It pisses the drivers off behind you and I am prepared to wait until I can safely cross.

As usual, I'm posting pissed. I read the October 2010 National Geographic today about the Gulf spill. I'm sickened by our addiction to oil and petroleum products. Yes, I realize my tires, plastic parts, grease on my moving parts, etc, etc are from those products...but we've got to do something. When we have little straws all over the Gulf and in multiple places around the world, we look like hungry pigs sucking our planet dry. Can we each do one thing to reduce our need, our greed, our lust for oil? Name something you can do and do it. I challenge you.

Rain is on its way...we're running out of the last best days of this beautiful fall. Remember to slow down on these dark and dreary days, watch for bikes, motorcycles, kids going to school, peds and the purely clueless. They will appreciate it.

Until we ride again, Ciao!