Sunday, January 22, 2012

100. Cleats

With a lot of slush and below freezing temperatures, I left the bike at home and walked to and from bus stops.  Maybe about 8 miles total.  Strap-on cleats I bought a few months ago helped since shoveling snow off sidewalks does not appear to be part of assumed neighborhood responsibilities.

I have a front-wheel drive car that has good traction and would have shaved the walking down to a few miles, but the brisk walk felt good.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

99. More Winter Biking

Notes to self:

1.  The simple absence of rain or snow doesn't mean that waterproof shoe covers can be left behind.  Fifteen minutes cycling through yesterday's slush is time enough to leave shoes and socks wet and feet cold for the remaining 75 minutes of the commute.

2.  Just because I'm okay cycling in snow and slush doesn't mean my dentist is willing to leave home.  Call first!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

98. Winter Biking

First, almost couldn't get the frozen bike rack down (when not in use it folds up).

Then my chain froze during the bus trip home --I know, a better lubricated chain....

Finally, though okay on level ground, with the slightest incline I had no traction, even with mountain bike tires.

Fortunately, just at that moment, bus #49 came along.  It goes up the hill and then to within 5 blocks from home.  This violates my rule of not taking more than one bus per trip, but hey, as an LA Times columnist pointed out, we're "clueless" when it comes to snow.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

97. Social Engineering

The socialist department of transportation has devised an Orwellian system to force changes in the commuting habits of thousands. Or so some would have us think.

The glacier-formed ribbon lake separating the suburban east from the urban west (a fading distinction) is 22 miles long and a few miles wide.  Two floating bridge complexes (the lake bottom being too deep/muddy to allow pilings for suspension bridges) span the lake.  The deteriorating northern bridge needs a $5 billion replacement, one billion coming from tolls which were recently introduced on the current bridge.

High-tech cameras capture the license plate or an attached "good to go" pass (which acts like a debit card), eliminating the need for toll booths.

The staggered (and for some motorists staggering) toll rates have reduced volume by one-half: from 120,000 daily crossings to 60,000. Traffic zips along at 60 from the pre-toll 20.  The idea was to encourage the use of busses and carpools, but most toll-avoiders have just switched to the newer and wider free bridge to the south, slowing its traffic from 60 to 20, bringing more pollutants to the air and sending more dollars overseas as drivers add 10-15 miles with the extra loop.  So much for social engineering.

Why don't both bridges have a toll?


Mondays - Fridays
Good To Go! Pass
Pay By Mail
Midnight to 5 a.m.
0
0
5 a.m. to 6 a.m.
$1.60
$3.10
6 a.m. to 7 a.m.
$2.80
$4.30
7 a.m. to 9 a.m.
$3.50
$5.00
9 a.m. to 10 a.m.
$2.80
$4.30
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
$2.25
$3.75
2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
$2.80
$4.30
3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
$3.50
$5.00
6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
$2.80
$4.30
7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
$2.25
$3.75
9 p.m. to 11 p.m.
$1.60
$3.10
11 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
0
0

Monday, January 9, 2012

96. At the Bus Stop

Headed for the bus stop early Sunday morning after an all night shift.  A chilly but calm and foggy winter morning--actually not bad weather for a bike ride.  A young woman listens to a fiftyish man in a wool winter overcoat.  The kind of guy you would expect to be a salesman at Nordstrom or maybe a hospital administrator (I have a limited world view).  In a few minutes he comes over to me and asks if I would be interested in a copy of the "Watchtower."  I decline.  He then climbs into the passenger seat of a nearby Suburban-type SUV with a woman driver, and they leave. I wonder if at the next stop she'll be the one who gets out.