90. Hanging by a Thread

A turncoat Republican gave the county council the vote it needed to pass the $20 surtax on car registrations to keep the county bus system going.  The price she exacted was the elimination of downtown's free ride zone.  Initially meant to help downtown business and speed up the system (accepting fares takes time), it later served mainly tourists and the homeless, neither of whom have much clout in county politics.  Most riders use a pass, and cash fares have to be exact, so reinstituting fares downtown won't slow the system.

89. The Big Dig

Yet another vote today on the multi-billion dollar tunnel proposed to replace an earthquake-damaged elevated highway.  It's a state highway, and the state government is pushing it even though by it's own estimate it will do nothing to alleviate downtown congestion.  With a $5 or so toll and no downtown exits it will not be used by commuters or downtown shoppers, just those who want to bypass the city traffic.

I have no problem with this goal, just the means.  And the fact that some part of those billions could be used instead to improve public transportation.

San Francisco and New York both removed elevated highways with no apparent increase in street congestion.  A tunnel this big has never been attempted on the loose glacier sediment that it will have to pass through, and the funding does not include street improvements necessary to manage non-tunnel traffic (the tunnel will probably have fewer vehicles pass through it than the current elevated road).

The vote is to confirm the city council's decision to grant construction permits, so a no on the referendum means no tunnel, though many "experts" say that it is a done deal, too late to stop.

And apparently the city agrees; it appears that early returns show a 60-40 approval of the tunnel.  In November the county will ask for a $20 increase car registration fees to avoid crippling cuts in bus service.  Billions for cars, yes.  Millions for busses? We'll see.

88. $100

That's what it now costs per month for my fellow employees to park in the office garage.  We need more room for customers, they say, as the business expands.  At the same time (is there a conspiracy?) several blocks of nearby street parking have changed from unlimited to 2-hr parking.

Meanwhile the twice-yearly schedule changes of the commuter bus line show four lines eliminated, all because of "low ridership."  Lower revenues (transit here depends on sales taxes) and higher fuel costs mean tough decisions for transit planners.

I feel bad for the single parent who has a complicated commute--dropping kids off a daycare, for example, but most of the staff in my corner of the building are just stubborn as they continue to refuse consideration of public transportation or car-pooling.

87. Be Nicer

That was my 2011 resolution as a bus commuter.

For example:

1. not so many unspoken but nevertheless mean-spirited thoughts about fellow passengers who can't find that last quarter in the bottom of their packs or purses, or who ask inane questions ("Is this bus going to Seattle?"--you mean the one with Seattle written over the front windshield?).

2. having on hand 5 one-dollar bills to have as ready change for someone coming on with a $3 fare due but only a $5 bill.

Maybe or maybe not some progress on the first, but twice so far I've exchanged my five ones for a fiver.

86. Art

Now this..... is art.

Thanks to Washington D.C. Convention Center

85: Me? Riding a Bus?

Why not public transportation?  Too few busses; not enough destinations. Too slow.  Too expensive.  Errands to run on the way home from work, kids to pick up from daycare.  These are the surface explanations.

But there are also unspoken feelings: not wanting to sit next to a perceived bum or a drunk.  Or someone smelling of exotic spices or wearing strange clothes. Or just someone from a lower economic group so that taking the bus is a symbolic step back from the American Dream

The other day I sat next to a guy holding a paper sack with a bottle inside.  A mostly comical commute with his frequent, random comments, but could have taken a turn for the worse when he started to pour the beverage in question into another narrow-neck bottle.  I was headed for an evening meeting; would not have been cool to show up smelling of booze.

So when a bus driver refuses entry to someone explaining a lost wallet, or apparently drunk, or who starts to ask if anyone can help him with the fare, I understand.  We can’t turn potential riders into egalitarians, but at least we can make them feel safe.

84: 4, no make that 5

phfffft
thump-thump-thump
hisss
thud


in less than 2 months, four flats.
so new inner tubes, outer (between tube and tire) and inner (between tube and rim) liners.


a day later:  pop....    one of my new tubes blew open, a defective tube it seems.


kevlar--you know the stuff they make bullet-proof vests out of?  they also make tires--that may be my next purchase; in the meantime I've borrowed one of my wife's bikes.

83. Another Reason for Bicycle Commuting

According to CDC telephone surveys, 250,000 people fall asleep at the wheel of a car everyday.  And other data suggests that 1500 people die each year from car accidents where drivers have fallen asleep at the wheel.

I have never fallen asleep at the wheel of a bike.

82. Spring

Typical spring commute today; squinting left eye from the sun; squinting right eye to keep out the rain.

81. Flat Tire, Again

Made it to the bus okay, but when I took it off the rack, the tire was flat.  So I had to walk the bike up the hill (you, it's just as hard to walk a bike up a steep hill as it is to ride it?)

This time, though, I was ready.  Inspired by responses to Singlespeed's lament about flat tires, I had left a patch kit and pump at work.  Twenty minutes later (33% faster than last time) I was ready to go.

80. Bad News

My imagination or are my $80 water resistant bicycle pants letting water pass through?

I stop off at REI and a find a clerk.  I'm glad it's a woman; the men tend to be condescending, as in, "hey gramps, great to see you out on a bike; that's awesome man."

She confirms that yes, these pants have a collective coating that does wear off.  I guess I can make it through the rainy season.  Nothing lasts for ever.  And I didn't pay $80; I got them on sale or something.

79. Photo ID

As I angled through the intersection, a flash of light caught my eye.  I knew what it was--the same light a few years ago in Portland left me with a ticket for running a red light.

This time though, there's no license plate to match.  But face recognition?

It took the British cops in The Tourist just a few minutes to match a face to a passport picture.  So, though I may have slipped by this time, I need to get a new passport photo, one without me wearing my bike helmet.

78. Pit Stop

It takes a NASCAR pit crew less than a minute to change four tires and fill the tank. The other night I needed 30 minutes to fix a flat front tire.  I obviously need a team approach.  Wonder what I can do to entice my wife to join the team

77. Glove Heaven

Sometimes I ask, is it really worth it?  The rain and wind; waking up and finding a flat tire; shoulder to shoulder with an SUV; hills upon hills; lost helmets and gloves.  A couple of weeks ago I found myself down to two pairs of gloves--some ski gloves for when temp's in the teens and 20's but otherwise quite unusable, and a pair I found along the roadside a few years ago and keep as a spare when my mainstays haven't dried out.

I need something to keep me going, but wary that "a wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign," I keep quiet.

Then during one of my periodic passes by the REI return bins I found a pair of cycling gloves in perfect condition (returned because they "weren't waterproof enough") for $11.  A couple of days later a pair of lightweight gloves that had been missing for a couple of weeks turned up in Sage's trunk.  And tonight the lost left of my regular gloves shows up in my rarely driven car.

I believe, I believe.

76. Candid Camera

this from my favorite environmental lawyer Kym, about a camera-toting London cyclist.  I have a camera for my helmet (or handlebars, I guess).  One of these days, I'll edit and post my production, not as exciting as the following:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12334486

75. Directions

I have no problem with municipal promotion of bicycling, but this sign is just silly.  For one thing, the Capitol Hill the sign refers to is just two blocks up the street, over a freeway--it's not like there is any other way to get there from this starting point.  Moreover, cyclists in this city of hills and rain are pretty determined; casual cyclists a rare breed.  We're independent; we'll decide what routes we take, one-way streets and directional signs notwithstanding.

74. Roll, Baby, Roll

I don't know whether it's genetic or something I learned along the way, but I'm pretty good at rolling up when I fall (as opposed, for example, to sticking an arm out as a brace, a sure way to fracture a wrist).

So when I fell yesterday, I instinctively curled up.  So no ligament injuries, just bruises.

I think the bike's ok, and I put black duct tape over the tears in my rain pants.

73. Bricks

Recipe for a fall:
1. Dark
2. Wet
3. Speed: Bus arrives with its 3-bike rack filled, requiring me to race ahead to the transit center where I can safely leave my bike overnight and still catch the bus (as opposed to waiting 30 minutes for the next bus)
4. Light rail tracks crossing my route

5. and bricks:  in an prettification move, as the rails were installed bricks were laid down between them instead of concrete or asphalt.  Need I comment on the slippery factor of wet bricks?

I went down, my head bounced off the payment (thanks, helmet), my rain pants tore, and my handlebars twisted, but I got back on and still made it to the transit center.  I just can't bear weight my knee.  But it bends, so I can cycle.

72. Happy Christmas

It wasn't a hint but a direct request:  I needed a bike stand for repairs, tired of putting the bike upside down, or laying on its side as I bend over while crouching on the dirty garage floor. So I send my money to St Paul, Minnesota and on Christmas day put it together.  A few days later I used it to install fenders, two months into the six month rainy season, better late than never.

The bike on the hoist is my wife's as is the one seen in the background, up the "garage tunnel" that leads to the house.  Hanging vertically on the far left is my spare bike, currently in need of a new rear derailleur--sounds like a job for SuperStand.

71. New Year's Resolution #1: Be Nicer

Nicer to my fellow commuters, that is. No barely audible muttering (with facial expression to match) when someone delays the commute by asking directions about King County bus schedules from a Pierce County driver or by fishing through a backpack for pennies and nickels to make the fare and then looking at the other riders, asking, "Does anyone have change for a five?

So, I'll start carrying at least five one's to make change or just to give to someone who doesn't have the fare.  Who am I to judge?

70. Emigrating to Denmark

More than 30% of working Danes commute by bike.  Cycling traffic jams are common, with fixes on the way that may increase that percentage to 50:

http://www.grist.org/article/2010-11-28-copenhagen-denmark-plans-bike-superhighways.

How hard is it to learn Danish?

69. Don't [text] while cycling

My colleague Al competes in a couple of ironman triathlons a year, top in his age group.  Dedicated.  Disciplined.

During a training session a month ago on clear day and a straight road, he was going 20 miles an hour (a speed I achieve only on a substantial hill), bearing down on a truck. He looked down at his handlebar odometer and started to fidget with it, perhaps changing from speed to distance or some such thing, and failed to take note that the truck had stopped.

He spent a week in the ICU, lost his lower teeth and still can't swallow. He gets Ensure down a feeding tube, not enough to keep his body fat percentage out of the negative .  He fractured his wrist, critical for his profession.  He'll be lucky if he is back to work by February.

I fully expect him to compete in a triathlon in 2011.

I put new brakes and a front light on my bike.  And it's getting darker, maybe a second flashing red light on the back.

68. Another Signs of the Time

Sure, bicycling is slower than a car (except when traffic is heavy and I'm loose with the traffic rules), but slowness itself means I see things not seen from inside a 300hp steel box.

I jump to a sidewalk to avoid a busy intersection, and I see a guy with a cardboard sign asking for donations.  I don't see the message on front, but I do see that behind the sign, he's texting.

Now I have no problems with the economically challenged and cell phones--they seemed ubiquitous in Ghana a few years ago.

It was the texting that got me.

67. Sign of the Times

We've all seen men using electric shavers while driving and women putting on make-up at stoplights, so no big deal when I saw someone trying to steady a mirror and eyebrow pencil during a bus commute.

But I did pause when someone pulled out a toothbrush and proceeded to brush her teeth in the seat across from me.

Of all days to not have a camera with me.

66. Bad Commute Day

A constant risk with a combo bike-bus commute is a bus rolling up with the rack already full.  A couple of times a year that's okay; I can wait 30min for the next bus, or just lock up my bike nearby (no, the driver is not going to wait; I just ride ahead to a stop where it's safe to leave the bike during the day or overnight--I'm faster than the bus in town so have time to lock it up) and get on the bus.

The other day I just missed one bus, and when the next bus came half an hour later, it had a full bike rack.  I said okay, it's a nice day; me and my ipod can wait it out.  But then then next bus was also full, even though it was a 3-bike rack.  And it was the start of a four day weekend for me, so not a good time to leave the bike locked up.  Finally got on the third bus--that's 90 minutes waiting for a *%#!@*& bus, almost three hours to get home.  Had I known, I might have camped out in my office overnight.

65. bicycle elbow or tennis elbow?

Stretch your arm in front, palm upward.  Make a fist and relax.  Try to make a fist again, but with the opposite hand applying resistance (pressure) to prevent you from doing so.  If this causes pain or discomfort at the inner (medial) elbow, that's bicycler's (or golfer's) elbow.

Now stretch hand with palm downward.  Raise hand up against pressure from the opposite hand.  If there is pain or discomfort at the outer (lateral) elbow, that's tennis elbow.

64. Cycler's Elbow

A couple of weeks ago my left elbow became very tender. The only change in my routine had been a couple of longer rides: 40 miles instead of my usual commute of 4-6 miles one way.

The pain is on the inner elbow (so that standing with my palms facing outward the pain is in that part of the elbow nearest my chest.  With my arm outstretched and palm upward, there is pain with attempted flexion (like making a fist) against resistance.  There is no pain when the palm is facing downward and the hand is flexed upwards against resistance.

Diagnosis?  MEDIAL EPICONDYLITIS, also know as Golfer's elbow.  These tendon/ligament injuries are often attributed to repetitive movements, which doesn't make sense for cycling.

What I think is happening is that the shocks and vibration not absorbed by the tires or front shocks travels up the arm and ends up at my locked elbow (I tend to ride with a straight arm).  The wrists are slightly bent and just send the energy upwards.  My right arm is protected because a few decades ago an injury left me with the inability to completely straighten and lock my right arm.  So on the right side the vibration travels up and disipates or is absorbed the the large shoulder muscle. I need to ride with left my arm slightly bent. Or I could stop cycling for a few weeks (yeh, right, now that's going to happen)

note:  not to be confused with "handlebar palsy" in which the vibration and shock injure the ulnar nerve, with symptoms along the length of the nerve and can include numbness or tingling, from the forearm to the 4th and 5th digits.  Handlebar and/or seat adjustments help by decreasing the stretch of the arm.

63. Go Boise

In Boise over the weekend with mucho relatives, talked to a bicyclist at church.  I told him I ride a bike everyday to work in my home city; his reply was an enthusiastic, "yeh, never any reason to drive, especially in Boise which is essentially flat," though even a flat ride in 100 degree (or 10 degree) weather is admirable.

62. GoogleMaps part II, mea culpa

I repeated my Tacoma-Seattle run recently, combining the Google bike route with some modifications. I  discovered that the main problem with the first GoogleMap misadventure was understandingly (understandably?) ignoring a road with no signpost, a gravel lane that dead-ended into a farm; just a farm entrance I thought.  That's the city's problem, not Google's.  This second time, I pedaled down it and found that it led to a trail that was totally bikeable and a nifty route though the forgettable town of Milton.  So Google forgiven.  My time was a little over 3.5 hours (compare my earlier 6 hr disaster). And would have been even shorter had I spent less time on the serpentine Green River Trail.

61. Paper or Plastic? Presta or Schrader?

With some free time at work, I thought I could complete a long-planned project to replace mountain bike tires with a smoother "urban" street tire, thinner and smoother.

In the rain, the smoother tire is theoretically better than the knobby mountain style: more tread touching the ground at any given time, so better traction.  Also, because the street tire is thinner, there is less traction so a more efficient ride.  Am I the only one to sense a contradiction here?  Must be quantum mechanics

So I pull a tire off, put the new one on and grab the pump.

I can't believe it, I had a schrader pump and presta tires.  Dumb.

I could put the old tires back on and bicycle to a store, but they're not open yet, and besides, I'm philisophically opposed to backtracking of any kind.  So I find a co-worker who's an avid cyclist.  As predicted he has a compact presta pump with him which I borrow.  An hour of pumping later my tires are just half full (I'm thinking, do I not know how to use a pump?), so I just walk to the bus stop, then walk again home, where I have an adaptor.  Finally the tires are full.  Time wasted: 2 hours