Category Archives: Biking

Tired tires

Last week, I concluded my “Crazy Days” post with, “. . . and I’m hoping that’s the end of the excitement for the week!”  Apparently I tempted fate just a bit too much with that statement, as Friday brought more “adventures.”

Car tires
After the flat brought our attention to the fact that the 8-year-old tires (with ~55k miles on them) on our car were no longer road worthy, we did our research, selecting both a new tire and a local place for installation.

On Thursday morning, I made the appointment for nine on Friday morning, planning to bring work and a book and just wait there (for about 90 minutes) while they worked on the car.  I arrived at nine, handed over the key, and headed to the waiting area.

About thirty minutes later, one of the front office guys came in and told me that the new tires were still on a truck on their way to the shop, but that they should arrive in about forty minutes.  Thinking I’d still be out of there by 11am, I opted to wait.

Around 10:30am, with a dead laptop battery and no power cord (I didn’t think I’d be there long enough to need it), I went in search of an update.  Still no tires.  With lunch looming, and no definite end time, I accepted a shuttle ride home, after they agreed to deliver my car to me [at home] when the work was complete (which they don’t usually do).

Three-thirty rolls around and still no car.  At this point, it made more sense for Matthew to bike to the tire place on his way home from work and grab the car rather then them delivering it.  I called the shop to relay this change in plans; to make sure that we would, in fact, be getting new tires before the day ended; and to see if there was anything they could do for the inconvenience.  I mean, why do you SCHEDULE someone for an appointment without having the parts?

On the phone, they offered to give me their “tire protection plan” ($30 value) for free, as well as knocking $20 off the cost of the alignment.  Not quite what I’d been hoping for, but better than nothing.

Sometime between that phone call and Matthew arriving to pick up the car, someone must have had a change of heart, because they also ended up essentially giving us one of the tires, including installation, for free ($120 value).  Now that’s good service!  (With a 90k mile lifespan, these tires will probably outlast our car.)

In the meantime . . .

Bike tires
With Baby Jake permanently out of commission, I’m reduced to 1.5 bikes — BUB (my back-up bike) and Big Blue, which I consider half a bike because Matthew and I share it.

BUB has been sitting in the basement, unridden, since the end of April, when I loaned out the IBert seat in anticipation of Big Blue’s arrival.  I’m not exactly sure when I’ll get around to deciding on and acquiring Baby Jake’s replacement, so on Friday, I pulled BUB out of the basement.

Matthew and I were planning to meet for a yoga class on Friday evening, so I aired up BUB’s tires, did a quick check of the bike, and headed out.

I was about a mile into the two mile trip, when I heard a funny sound from the rear of the bike.  I had a split second to prepare to pull over and see what was causing the noise, when, BOOM!  The rear tire had a complete blow-out (I’ve had flats before on my bike, but never a blow-out like this).

Fortunately, I was traveling slowly when it happened and I was able to maintain control of my bike (may have also helped that it was the rear tire, rather than the front).  Unfortunately, I was a mile away from my destination (and from home) with a spare tube but no air pump, and a heavy hybrid bike.  Oops.

I called Matthew for a rescue ride (in the end, it worked out well that the car tires took forever, otherwise he wouldn’t have had the car at this point), and continued walking, lugging the bike, in the direction I’d been riding.  After awhile, I gave up attempting to carry the bike and wheeled it along, knowing that I was risking damaging the tire, but not really caring.

When I pulled the wheel off the next day, the tire showed signs of dry rot (I didn’t think the tires were that old, but I guess I was wrong), so instead of just patching or replacing a tube, I set out to buy replacement tires.  (I’m still not sure exactly what caused the flat — no signs of anything that punctured the tire and tube, nor anything obviously wrong with the rim.)

It’s been quite awhile since I’ve dealt with a flat (you get them much less frequently when you avoid riding on the edge of the roadway, which is where you find most of the debris that causes flats), so it took me awhile to put on the new tubes and tires.  I was starting to think I should have just paid someone at the bike shop to do it, but it’s a relatively easy task and a useful skill to have.

In the process, I couldn’t help but notice that BUB is due for a tune-up, and likely replacement brake and derailleur cables.  I’ll probably continue to use her for short trips, but limit rides to small streets and distances of no more than a mile until those issues are resolved.  This will limit my two-wheeled mobility on days when Matthew has Big Blue, adding some extra incentive to decide on Baby Jake’s replacement sooner rather than later!

Apathy, incompetence, and inattention on our roads — Part 2

It’s clear we have a problem.  What’s the solution?  In a word, complicated.

Part of the problem, of course, is that over the last 50-60 years, we built a massively car-dependent country and culture, and that wasn’t an accident:

Through the effective lobbying of a special interest group, the Automobile Association, our public roads were hijacked to serve the needs of the few. As this special interest group lobbied on, public transportation was effectively swept out of main stream use. All public roads, including the very ones in front of our residences have been made to feel unsafe and to be unsafe for anyone who wished to use them without the use of an automobile.*

Except for people living in urban centers with transit, and the small mode share of cyclists and pedestrians, most people cannot conceive of getting anywhere without a car.  And many of those people are right — they are in a car-dependent situation (whether it’s driving a car themselves or being driven).  If you take the keys away from grandpa or your teenage daughter, you/they now have to find another way of getting from Point A to Point B:

The minute you hold people accountable for being competent drivers, the percent of the population that will be ineligible to drive a car will be too large to ignore.

We can ignore [those] who have fallen on hard times and can’t afford to drive. [They] are easy to marginalize. But when we eliminate the high risk populations (teen-to-mid-twenties who lack maturity for good judgment; the elderly who no longer have the cognitive ability or reflexes; and the recidivist, irresponsible [people] who seem to retain a valid license even after proving time and again they don’t deserve it), then we’re looking at a population too large to marginalize. We’re not willing to do it because we’d have to rethink our lifestyles.”

In a way, we’ve driven and engineered ourselves into a literal dead end here.

DeadEnd

Are we willing to change?  Or do we just accept these lost lives — lives of pedestrians, bicyclists, and motor vehicle occupants — as [yet another] “cost” of our car culture?

Here’s one possible starting point:

If we had the political will to change one single thing that would cause a cascade of positive safety consequences (and probably policy consequences), it would be to increase the cost and rigor for obtaining a license and make it easier for the state to revoke a license from a recidivist offender.**

We can reform drivers’ education and licensing, both standardizing the process across all states (in Iowa, I completed a fairly decent drivers’ ed course to get my license in high school; across the border in Missouri, Matthew had no such requirements), and modeling it on rigorous programs in other countries — we don’t have to reinvent the wheel here.

At the same time, we need to continue the work that is being done to increase transportation options for those who would not have a drivers’ license in the new system (and those who have licenses but crave other options!) and [re]create communities and cities that are not car-dependent.  Fortunately, these changes have benefits that go far beyond making the roads safer: more vibrant communities and local economies, as well as the physical and mental health rewards of active transportation.

Let’s Make a Change!

  • Start at home.
    • Analyze your own driving habits.  Are distractions and/or bad habits endangering your life, those of your passengers, and everyone else you encounter on the road? It only takes a split second for a collision to occur. Reduced attention and reaction time costs lives. Pay attention!
    • Recognize bicyclists as fellow humans and equal road users.
    • Practice patience, whether it’s a slow motorist, a bus making frequent stops, a pedestrian crossing the street, or a woman biking to work. We all have places to go. If we’re aware and respectful, we will all get there.  Breathe.
    • Try an alternate way of getting from Point A to Point B (i.e., making a trip without your car), whether it’s walking, riding a bike, or using transit.
    • Are there people in your life who need to hang up the keys? Here are some good resources:
  • Support policies that call for stricter licensing requirements, better education, and stiffer penalties for offenders.
  • Support investments in public transportation and safe, well-engineered infrastructure improvements.

This is a complex problem.  Change will be neither fast nor easy, but it is possible.

*In addition to recent events, this post was inspired by a discussion in a Facebook group for female cyclists. All quotes here are from that discussion, used with permission.  Thanks, ladies!
** “But you have to have follow-through. A NHTSA page noted that 70% of California drivers with suspended licenses continued to drive. You either have to provide alternative transportation, or lock them up. We’re not willing to do either.”

Replacing Baby Jake — Suggestions, please!

A bike is a really personal thing.  It’s a machine, but because you’re using your body to power the machine, there’s a unique synergy and relationship (unlike driving a car).  It may not happen every ride, but that feeling of oneness between you and the bike is pretty amazing.

Baby Jake was the first new bike I ever bought (excluding my Wal-Mart bike in college, cringe; I won BUB), and I quickly turned the cyclocross bike into a great urban commuter.

For about a year, Baby Jake and I spent [almost] every work day together — six miles there, six miles back.  When I took my car commute job at the end of 2009, our time together was relegated to errands on the weekends and some evening outings.

Once Gabriel came along, Baby Jake became my trailer puller, but once I got the IBert front seat (which didn’t work on Jake’s frame), I returned to BUB for many rides.

Last Monday, the bike shop declared Baby Jake totaled, due to a bent frame.  It was really hard to photograph the damage, but with the naked eye, it was clear that, at the very least, I would be replacing the fork, front chain ring, bottom bracket and crank, front wheel and tire (and fender), and possibly the rear shifter.  These parts may have added up to the cost of a new bike, in and of themselves, but the bent frame sealed the deal.

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Today, I received the check from the insurance company [of the driver who hit us] for Baby Jake’s replacement.  So now the question is, what to buy???

The 2014 and 2015 Kona Jakes are a bit different than my 2009 version; most obviously, they have disc brakes rather than rim brakes.  They also lack the dual brake levers I enjoyed on Baby Jake (two sets of brake levers, one for a more upright riding position and one in the drops).

So, do I stick with the tried and true and buy another Kona Jake?  Or do I use this as an opportunity to try something a bit different?  Since I purchased Baby Jake, my eyes have been opened to the world of bikes out there, and I’m not 100% set on going with the exact same thing.

Other Options

  • A touring bike — like the Kona Sutra or Surly Long Haul Trucker
    • Pros: Drop bar (which I like in the Jake); should be a comfortable, reliable bike for commuting — maybe more comfortable than a ‘cross bike?
    • Cons: The Sutra is $300-$400 more than the Jake; not crazy about bar end shifters for urban riding (lots more shifting than you would do when “touring,” due to frequent stops and starts) — could I swap for STI shifters?
    • The Novara Safari at REI also caught my eye yesterday, though I’m not crazy about the twist-grip shifting.
  • A folding bike — for example, a Brompton or Bike Friday bike
    • Pros: I would have a folding bike, which has been on my eventually list; with the Brompton, I could add the IT Chair for transporting Gabriel; I should be able to get a model with a drop bar
    • Cons: I don’t really know much about folding bikes — would I really want this for my primary bike???  Also, once designed to my specs, this would probably end up costing significantly more than the Kona Jake.
  • Something else???
    • I do like having at least one “fast” bike with drop bars (but still sturdy for commuting), so I’m not sure what other options there are, but I’m open to suggestions . . . .

Apathy and inattention on our roads — Part 1

Two things happened last week: 1) I was the victim of an inattentive motorist (while in a car), and 2) the L.A. County D.A. announced that a police officer who killed a bicyclist with his car will not face charges (depending on reports, Deputy Andrew Wood was “distracted by a mobile digital computer” and/or “texting from a personal cell phone” [while driving his patrol car] when he drifted into the bike lane, hitting and killing Milton Everett Olin, Jr.).

If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention (and if you’re not paying attention, you shouldn’t be driving).  This affects all of us.

Mr. Olin joins thousands of others in the U.S. who are killed or seriously injured by distracted driving and poor drivers’ education and licensing standards every year.  Road traffic accidents are the number one cause of death for persons ages 15-24 and the number three cause of death for persons ages 25-34 (~35000 people in 2011 — note, this number includes ALL road users — most of these deaths are people in cars).

Even when charges are filed, penalties amount to little more than a slap on the wrist, compared to the crime.  A fellow cyclist commented, “There’s an open secret in America: If you want to kill someone, do it with a car. As long as you’re sober, chances are you’ll never be charged with any crime, much less manslaughter.“*

I thought this was a bit of an exaggeration until I read some of the relevant laws.  Take Iowa law, for example:

The safest way for a motorist to pass a bicycle is to pass on the left side of the road or an adjacent travel lane if clear of oncoming traffic.  Drivers involved in an a collision as a result of failure to maintain a safe and reasonable distance (321.281) face a $250 fine.  Drivers who injure a bicyclist as a result of unsafe passing (321.299) could face a $500 fine and a 90-day license revocation.  Drivers involved in a fatal crash with a bicyclist as the result of unsafe passing (321.299) could face a $1000 fine and 180-day license revocation. (source)

Meanwhile, in Ohio, a motorist who killed a young woman on a bicycle faces, “up to 90 days in jail and a $750 fine for the conviction, and her driver’s license could be suspended for up to two years.”

So, to summarize, in the state of Iowa you can KILL A PERSON with your car and the maximum penalty is $1000 and maybe having your drivers’ license revoked for 180 days?  But you might want to think twice in Ohio, because they also have jail time, and, oh, you can’t drive for two whole years (what do you want to bet she gets her license reinstated sooner?).  Are you kidding me???  Is that how little a person’s life is worth?

———-

Driving is a privilege, not a right, but our system for licensing drivers is far too lax — a friend refers to the U.S. driver licensing system as a “vending machine,” which seems to have turned into, “Step right up and get your license to maim or kill.”

This “license to kill” is both too easy to obtain and too difficult to take away.

————

On Sunday, I was a passenger in a car that was stopped at a stop sign.  As we were about to proceed through the intersection, a same-direction driver slammed into the back of the vehicle I was in.  This was in broad daylight, with no adverse weather conditions.  The impact was such that I’m not sure the at-fault driver realized there was a stop sign.

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We call this an accident, but collision would be a better term.  I can only assume that the driver “didn’t mean” to hit us, but did she NOT mean to hit us?

What I mean by that is, was the driver doing everything in her power to be attentive to the MOST IMPORTANT task you have while operating a motor vehicle?

The answer almost certainly has to be “NO.”  Otherwise, how could you not notice a vehicle stopped at a stop sign in the lane directly in front of you?

In this case, I can only speculate on the cause of distraction and inattention.  Given the driver’s age (and the age of her cell phone), I’m assuming she was not texting, though that certainly does not rule out other cell phone use, including dialing, answering a call, or simply talking on the phone.

Or maybe it is time for this older adult driver to hang up the keys.  There’s a loaded topic — but why?  If a person gets to a point where, due to impaired cognition and/or diminished reflexes, he/she is no longer able to safely operate a machine that is capable of KILLING people, why is this even a discussion?

To be continued (with action steps and ideas for change) . . .

*In addition to recent events, this post was inspired by a discussion in a Facebook group for female cyclists.  Thanks, ladies!

 

DIY midtail cargo bike

UPDATE (9/10/14): Matthew rode this fully loaded (i.e., Gabriel in the seat, plus loaded panniers on the rear rack) yesterday, which turned out to be too much weight in the back. He was fighting to keep the front wheel on the ground. So, this set-up works with either a child OR loaded rear panniers, but not both at the same time.  Matthew is looking into adding a front rack to the bike (for the panniers) to even out the weight distribution.  Until then, he’ll avoid riding with Gabriel and cargo, which means he can’t use this bike to drop G off at school on the way to work.

—————-

As I mentioned yesterday, Sir started preschool this week.  He’s been waiting to go to “Baba’s school” (my MIL, Sir’s “Baba,” is his teacher) all summer, and thanks to our trial run in the spring, we were pretty confident it would be an easy transition for him.

So far, so good.

In some ways, it’s probably a bigger transition for Matthew and me, and I’m not talking the emotional, “my baby’s going to school” thing, but rather the very practical “getting Gabriel to and from school” issue.

G’s preschool is about four miles from where we live, and I’m already mourning the loss of the super easy half-block walk to childcare that we enjoyed for the past 14 months.  It really doesn’t get any better than that.

Fortunately, G’s preschool is more or less on Matthew’s way to work, so the general plan is that Matthew will take use the longtail and handle both drop-off and pick-up on most days.  But there will invariably be days (including this past Monday), where there’s a scheduling conflict, and Matthew either has to be at work early or stay late, and the timing for child shuttling will not work for him.

We realized almost as soon as we got the longtail that, in an ideal world, we would have not one, but two Big Blues for such times.  (Since we sold the trailer, the longtail was our only way to transport G by bike.)

But alas Big Blue cannot clone herself, and we really can’t justify purchasing another bike right now (though that doesn’t stop me from looking and dreaming — n+1, right?).

However, when we were going through the whole Yepp child seat debacle (in which I bought a “standard” model on EBay, when we needed the Easyfit for the Edgerunner), we noticed a particular accessory, the Easyfit Carrier XL, which claimed to extend a regular rear bike rack so one could fit both a Yepp child seat and panniers.

With this accessory, we could use the single Yepp Easyfit child seat on multiple bikes.  After a bit of discussion, we decided to adapt Matthew’s back-up bike (a Giant hybrid) for this purpose.*

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What you need

  • A good bike — you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars, but visit a bike store instead of a discount store.  You’re going to be transporting your child, so you want something that is safe and reliable.  Matthew took his bike in for a tune-up to make sure all was in working order before adapting the bike.
  • A heavy-duty rear rack.  Most rear cargo racks are meant for loads under 50 pounds, and some are only rated for 25-30 pounds.  If you’re carrying a preschooler plus other cargo, you need something that can handle more than 30 pounds.  Matthew found this Axiom Journey rack — reasonably priced, with a capacity of 110 pounds.
  • The Yepp Easyfit Carrier XL, along with the Yepp Easyfit Seat.
  • Panniers that work with the rack (more on this below).

Optional

  • When Matthew took his bike in for a tune-up, the mechanics mentioned that he was probably due for new wheels.  Given the heavy (and important) load he’s planning to carry, he opted for a more expensive, heavier-duty wheel.
  • Matthew also added a center [two-legged] kickstand.  This is not nearly as stable as the center stand that is on Big Blue (where I can leave G unattended if necessary), at least for short periods.  It will help make the bike a sit more stable when loading and unloading, but Matthew will still have to be there, helping support the bike, anytime that G is in the seat.

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The Easyfit Carrier (silver) bolts onto the rear rack (black), and the seat quickly and easily snaps into the port on the carrier (similar to the built-in port on Big Blue’s rear deck).

After getting everything set up, we discovered that Matthew’s basic grocery bag style panniers did not work when the child seat was attached.  The built-in hooks that attach the pannier to the top bar of the rack were too widely spaced (to work with the child seat in place), and not adjustable.

While new panniers were not part of the original plan, Matthew has been wanting something different (waterproof, with a built-in rain cover) for awhile now, and Ortlieb’s roller-bag panniers fit the bill (their clips for attaching to the top bar of the rack are adjustable).

This is not a free, or even a super-cheap, way to transport a child, especially if you don’t already have the Yepp seat, but for us, it made a lot of sense.  If you already have a decent bike, it’s a lot more affordable than going out and buying a midtail or longtail.

Now I can, say, use Big Blue to drop G off at school in the morning, leaving both the seat and his bike helmet at school, and Matthew can use his pseudo-midtail to pick G up in the afternoon.  This does, of course, involve some planning ahead: Matthew remembering to ride the correct bike and me remembering to leave the seat and helmet.

We still don’t really have a plan for dealing with weather (i.e., pouring rain, thunder and lightning, or icy/snowy roads) other than using the car.  Matthew can easily take the bus to/from work in these conditions, but, sadly, the bus route is not convenient to G’s school, so we may still find ourselves car-bound a bit more than we prefer.

*This set-up is still, technically, in testing mode.  Matthew’s used it for a few short rides around our neighborhood with G, but it has not been proven over time and distance.