This just in! Well, kind of. Others have beat me in posting it, but I was at the National Bike Summit where Google reps unveiled their new bicycle maps feature this morning! It currently covers 150 (?) cities in the U.S. — I’m assuming those would more or less be the largest cities. Check it out here and read more about using it at cyclelicio.us. It looks like St. Louis is on the map, so to speak, and I look forward to playing with this more in the future.
Category Archives: Biking
Still got it
I took full advantage of Sunday’s amazing weather by biking to church, then combined bike and MetroLink out to REI for a quick errand. I used a new-to-me M-Link stop (Brentwood/I-44) and successfully navigated my way though some back roads and parking lots to REI. My hubby met me there, and we tossed the bike on the car and headed to brunch at my father-in-law’s.
After brunch, I opted to bike back home rather than get in the car again on such an beautiful day, knowing I would be confined to the car all week. Our route to/from my father-in-law’s is a decently challenging 6.5 miles each way (not far, really, but a distance I haven’t biked in over 3 months!), with a couple of good hills thrown in the mix.
I felt great, but still dreaded the long, gentle climb toward the end of the ride. A block into said climb, four bikers entered the road a bit in front of me. They looked pretty serious, all spandex-clad and on nice road bikes. (I was clad in distinctly non-athletic gear — jeans (legs rolled up due to the temperature) and a button-down top.) I thought, “Well, at least I’ll have some good company here, climbing behind this group of cyclists.”
Behind? Not for long! Before I knew it, I overtook, one, two, three, then all four of them, while going uphill, with no extra effort — no spandex required!
In case I wasn’t feeling good enough when I got home, my husband reported that he had only beat me by about 5 minutes in the car. Love it!
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Carbon Fast – Day 4
Make one of your journeys more environmentally-friendly today. Could you combine two trips? Carpool rather than driving solo? Bike or walk, or take the bus, instead of driving?
This line of questioning occurs almost every time we venture out of the house. Ideally, the answer is bike or walk. If we drive, we think about how to maximize the trip, by making multiple stops in the area we visit.
Hopping in the car to run to the store for just one thing? Think about whether you really need that item immediately. Can it wait? Can you make do with something you already have or find something similar at a store that is bikeable or walkable?
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Daily action from http://www.lcwr.org/lcwrsocialjustice/eoclentcalendar2010.pdf
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Geared up
All ready to rob a bank ride my bike. Winter riding is not so bad with the right gear — the balaclava (not to be confused with baklava, the delicious pastry) is key for winter riding. For extra warmth, I often wear an under-the-helmet cap in addition to my balaclava. I ride with heavy mittens to keep my paws warm. The biggest trick is the toes — I switched to boots, which means no clipless pedals. On the upside, I can feel my toes!
Photo courtesy of our sad and dying digital camera — and the image above was one of the more successful shots. Don’t believe me? Here’s one of my other attempts:
I find this image rather freaky — it brings to mind the Scream mask.
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Days like this
I retrofitted one of our trunk bike racks, engaged in extensive planning, drove on a day I was scheduled to be a passenger in the carpool . . . all so that I could do some bike scouting for work yesterday. All of this effort, and I arrived at the location, parked the car, and realized that my bike key? That thing I needed to unlock my U-lock and free my bike from the bike rack? I left it in my office, twenty miles away.
Oh, was I upset! Thinking, “I won’t need my regular set of keys since I’ll be driving a department car, instead of my car,” I oh so cleverly left behind that one little thing that would have made all my planning and preparation fruitful.
To make matters worse, since I had planned to do my assessment by BIKE, I wore my bike shoes, which are not particularly conducive to walking. Instead of spending my afternoon cruising around on my bike, getting a bike-level perspective of the surroundings, I spent the afternoon cruising around in a car — blah!
I recovered from this frustrating setback remarkably well, if I do say so myself, and managed to make it a productive afternoon.
My resilient attitude may have been due in part to anticipating our dinner date at Pi. We visited their new location in the CWE for some delicious veggie pizza, a nice salad, and a great dining experience. We don’t eat out often, but Pi — with their commitment to the environment, smoke-free policy, and great food — ranks up there with our favorites. Day saved!
Her Green Life 