Wrong Side! :o

Wonder of all wonders! Those cyclists who ride on the wrong side thinking they are right. Today I just about got hit by a gal who was riding up on the wrong side of a side street and proceeded to turn right in front of me...and she tells ME to watch out! Uh yeah, right. Of course I'm going to avoid you crazy cigarette smoking cyclist lady! I like my skin and my bike too much to donate to your cause!

Which brings me to what I'm thinking about today: Educating the cyclist. There are still so many misconceptions about where you should ride your bike. With traffic, against traffic, stopping, not stopping. If one actually reads Idaho code, it says this:

49-717. POSITION ON HIGHWAY.

1. Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except under any of the following situations:
   (a) When overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.
   (b) When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
   (c) When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions including fixed or moving objects, parked or moving vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards or substandard width lanes that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge.
   
2. Any person operating a bicycle upon a one-way roadway with two (2) or more marked traffic lanes may ride as near the left-hand curb or edge of the roadway as practicable.

Ok, so I'm reading this and thinking anyone should know what side to ride on. Well, is it actually clear? Reading number one I see it saying riding on the ride hand curb OR the edge of the roadway...but not right-hand roadway. Do you think it makes a difference? Oh wait...do you think anyone even reads this except a biker with a beef?

Seriously though, all people should have to have training to ride on the road and also training on how to drive around bike riders. My new commuting route from Americana to Canal via Latah, Nez Perce and Shoshone leads me to believe this more than ever before.

I'll be taking part in a bike count for an Ada County study in mid September. I've volunteered for my actual commute as I'm curious to see who's doing that one too. Hopefully more than I think.

Until we ride again, Ciao!

Logging the Miles

Off and riding, that's me today! Yesterday I put on the new computer (wireless) and have logged 10.5 miles. If that's what I did today, I currently have about 70 miles on the bike. It's such a nice ride. In fact, tonight when I got on my mountain bike, it felt very strange. Normally getting on my mountain bike is like sitting in the back seat of a Cadillac...cushy and great. Today I felt stretched out!

One thing I love about the Black Sheep is the perfect geometry. It's so well balanced, I can stand at a stoplight and balance without much trouble at all. It also came with a Brooks Imperial saddle. I've never ridden on a Brooks as I always thought they looked like some sort of torture device. Much to my surprise, it is as comfortable as my Terry Butterfly...probably even more so.

We put the B.O.B trailer on my mtn bike tonight to test it out. This weekend we'll be riding the Weiser river trail and formally beginning our training schedule for next year's trip to Alaska. The WRT is about 164 miles round trip, and no, we haven't trained for this distance at all, so we're going to take it easy. We'll be towing the B.O.B with the tent and our sleeping bags, as well as food/cookware, etc. It's on my bike now, but I think we'll be switching back and forth to be fair.

A little bit about Alaska: We've got a tandem Cannondale (MT800) sitting in storage in Anchorage and we plan to fly up next summer and ride it back to Boise. For the first time ever we're going to take a leave of absence from work...for two entire months. I'm so excited about that, I can hardly stand it. We'll be doing part of the trip on the Alaska Marine Highway boats so it won't all be riding. As we've only been on a tandem twice at this point, we need some practice miles and are trying to find a bike to borrow once in a while here in Boise. We shall see.

The commute today reminds me of why I do it...decompression from a yucky day at work. I wish more people did it...we'd all be in better moods.

Until we meet again, ciao. Ride on!

Minor Notoriety

Welcome to my blog! i decided to start this one because of recent events in my life and I wanted share them with everyone.

Last weekend (August 21, 2010) I won the car trader contest for New Belgium Brewings' Tour de Fat. I traded my 1992 VW Jetta for a 2010 Black Sheep commuter bike, and no, I don't get my car back, ever.

This past week my car went to Vehicles for Charity and will be auctioned. 60% of the sale stays with Vehicles for Charity and 40% comes back to the Southwest Idaho Mtn Biking Assn or SWIMBA. I'm very happy with this arrangement and hope that my car fetches a bit to help these folks out. My old commuter bike has been parted out somewhat, with the wheels and tires going to my husbands bike so he now can switch wheels to commute to work instead of riding the knobbies. The frame and components I intend to donate to the Boise Bicycle Project as there is much about my bike that will still benefit someone. Overall this is great for a lot of folks not just me.

So why did I start the blog? Well I'm starting to feel like a pariah if I step into a vehicle and drive. Besides managing an eye surgery center, I'm a handcrafter and we had a show yesterday that was a couple of miles from my house. For the shows we must have a tent, tables, displays, our wares (which for me includes hula hoops), etc, etc...all in all, a very heavy and cumbersome load. I drove. What that got me was a bit of flak from someone who recognized me and asked me how the bike was. I told him and I also told him that I had driven to the show. He then proceeded to give me a hard time about that and I'm still feeling, 24 hours later, crappy about that interchange.

Today I DROVE to REI to pick up a new sleeping bag and miscellaneous parts for my bike, then Home Depot for pipe, Michael's Crafts for supplies and headed home. At REI I was asked, because of my purchases, if I was a commuter and I volunteered my status as the car trader, then told her I drove today to their store. She was quite nice and congratulatory and talked about some volunteer opportunities. What a difference...and to not be chided for driving.

When commuting by bike, if you are a new commuter or an old one with a brand new bike, you are going to have some growing pains. On my new bike I cannot fit my old panniers on the rear as there's no rear mounting system. My old rear-view mirror would not fit on my new handle bars. I now have solutions to both of those issues and will have a nicer ride to work tomorrow. One other thing about winning a bike is this: If you weren't planning on winning,but had appointments across town and suddenly you don't have your car, what do you do? (I drove to that appointment and subsequently am looking for a new doctor that is within a reasonable riding distance)

I'll be writing more on this blog, giving you the tales of my days on the bike. It is a great honor to be a car trader and I have a great opportunity to set an example of what can be done by bike.

Until we ride again, ciao