Bicycles and politics - part 2

Alrighty. I've spent some time on the McCain website. Like Sen. Obama, Sen. McCain articulates a stance on energy - "John McCain On Energy For A Secure Nation."

The basic premise of McCain's statement is that our dependence on foreign sources of oil threatens our national security and provides direct support to our enemies. I'll dig into this in my next post, but for now let's just take this at face value. Anytime you're dependent on a resource you don't control, the person who controls that resource has leverage over you. If you have to pay that person for the resource and you don't particularly like each other - you're supporting your enemy.

So what does McCain propose to do to mitigate this leverage? I suggest you read the full content by following the links I've provided, but for you PowerPoint junkies here are the bullet points:

• We must increase oil production "here at home."
  
• McCain supports the development of alternate sources of power for our vehicles and the promotion of energy efficiency.
  
• McCain will "effectively" enforce existing CAFE standards (the mileage requirements auto makers must meet).
  
• McCain believes alcohol-based fuels hold great promise as both alternative to gasoline and as a means of expanding consumers' choices. Two subpoints - isolationist tariffs and special interest subsidies are not moving us toward an alternative fuel choice; and he supports flex-fuel vehicles.
  
• McCain will issue a clean car challenge - offering a tax credit for each and every customer who buys a zero-emissions car.
  
• McCain will propose a $300MM prize to improve battery technology for full commercial development of plug-in hybrid and full electric automobiles.
  

The McCain site also goes into more detail about The Lexington Project - basically his plan for strategic energy independence by the year 2025. This is basically an expansion on the bullet points above and is an interesting read. Included her is a link to his June 2008 speech on the Lex Project.

One observation to leave you with here - both candidates take on the issues of alternate energy sources, domestic production, and fuel efficiency. Only Obama seemed to venture into the question of changing the way we live - actually lessening our dependence on travel by automobile - as part of the solution to our dependence on petroleum, foreign or domestic. Would it be a stretch to label that a "maverick" idea?

Next time - my humble opinion on bicycles and politics.

Bicycles and politics - Intermission

Just letting you know that I'm not ignoring the McCain camp's position on bicycles and politics - but I am having trouble locating it. I have found where the Republicans have bashed Obama for supporting $12MM in earmarks to build bicycle paths ... hmmmm ... wait a minute!

Hold on to your handlebars!

Bicycles and politics - part 1

Looking through what the candidates have to say about transportation - including bicycle commuting. First, let's see what's in Obama's "Plan to Make America a Global Energy Leader":

"Build More Livable and Sustainable Communities: Over the longer term, we know that the amount of fuel we will use is directly related to our land use decisions and development patterns, much of which have been organized around the principle of cheap gasoline. Barack Obama believes that we must move beyond our simple fixation of investing so many of our transportation dollars in serving drivers and that we must make more investments that make it easier for us to walk, bicycle and access other transportation alternatives.

- Reform Federal Transportation Funding: As president, Barack Obama will re-evaluate the transportation funding process to ensure that smart growth considerations are taken into account. Obama will build upon his efforts in the Senate to ensure that more Metropolitan Planning Organizations create policies to incentivize greater bicycle and pedestrian usage of roads and sidewalks, and he will also re-commit federal resources to public mass transportation projects across the country. Building more livable and sustainable communities will not only reduce the amount of time individuals spent commuting, but will also have significant benefits to air quality, public health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

- Require States to Plan for Energy Conservation: Current law simply asks governors and their state Departments of Transportation to “consider” energy conservation as a condition of receiving federal transportation dollars. As president, Obama will require governors and local leaders in our metropolitan areas to make “energy conservation” a required part of their planning for the expenditure of federal transportation funds

- Level Employer Incentives for Driving and Public Transit: The federal tax code rewards driving to work by allowing employers to provide parking benefits of $205 per month tax free to their employees. The tax code provides employers with commuting benefits for transit, carpooling or vanpooling capped at $105 per month. This gives drivers a nearly 2:1 advantage over transit users. Obama will reform the tax code to make benefits for driving and public transit or ridesharing equal."

Coming up in Part 2 - what does the McCain camp have to say?

Yipee ki yay, git along little doggies

What do cyclists and cowboys have in common? Saddles and sore arses.

Won't go into details, but let's just say that I need to get the commuter refitted now that it's been repurposed. The angles that worked for triathlons and aerobars do not - ahem! - work for commuting in a more upright position.

Fortunately, it's a rainy week (bad for riding the bike) on the Piedmont and I have my trusty steed (the 77x) equipped with a wide cushy saddle. Round up the herd and pass the ibuprofen!

Lance, again? Uh, yeah!

Anybody out there not see this coming? Burn thru some celebrity girlfriends. Raise money for your foundation. Promote an energy shot. Get bored.

This feels a little like Favre and the Packers. Hoping Lance has as good a first game as did Brett. What y'all thinking about this?

Friday morning coffee

Completed the full enchilada commute yesterday - 38 miles round trip on two wheels. The freeway was jammed up northbound as I passed over I-77 on the Stumptown Road bridge. Ugly.

No bicycle today. I've been trying to keep my Fridays clear of face-to-face meetings in our Uptown Charlotte offices. This enables me to work from our Huntersville office, which happens to be within walking distance of my home. It also affords me the opportunity to grab morning coffee with my good friend Dan.

What is it about coffee and friends? I think I could sit here with Dan for hours just sipping, talking, and thinking. And so we sip, talk, and think. Until our corporate programming sets off cognitive alarms - we begin checking Blackberrys for signs of life on repective motherships and fretting about meetings/decisions in the day ahead. It's time to go.

We say reluctant good-byes and head for the office. Glad to have had the time enjoy the java and friendship, trying to figure out how we can turn this into a living. Anyone?

Monster truck

Departure temperature is 60F. Beautiful morning for my first full-on commuter traffic bike-to-work.

More traffic on the road than my ride home on Tuesday night. People sure do get up early around here. Again, no bad actors. Everyone seemed pretty respectful. Still, I'd feel better if I had a defined bike lane. The GF would feel better, too. I send her a text message when I get to the office. "Safe and sound."

The Monster folks had big pickup truck parked in front of the building this morning. Handing out free cans of "Mean Bean." Was hoping for "Khaos" (my personal favorite), but hey - it's free! I'll give it whirl.

Colleague stopped by the cube after spotting the bike at the end of the aisle. She's been a bike commuter for a while now and has previously promoted bike-to-work days. Happy to see that I've joined the good guys.

Ah, life is grand!

Lunch break walk

Slept in and rode the bus today. Stepped out of the office at lunch time and felt like I'd gone to the dog park and left my puppy at home. Seemed like everywhere I turned, I saw a bike.

So, of course, I went for a ride with friends after getting home this evening. Puppy love.

Lately I've been having political thoughts in between my puppy love moments. This has got to be one of the most interesting election years in my living memory. At least a close second to Nixon/Agnew v Humphrey/Muskie v Wallace/LeMay in '68 following the assassination of RFK. History in either direction - the first African-American president or the first female veep. In 1968 Nixon/Agnew won the popular vote by 500k votes and the electoral vote by 110 votes, leading a shift in power - Republicans became the majority party. 

40 years later - another shift in power?

Road buzz

Today at lunch time I stepped out of the office to grab a bite to eat. It was nice day - low 80s, very little humidity. I knew that I'd have to skip the bus and pedal it home for my first full-fledged evening return trip.

Glad I did.

I think I had pictures in my head of fanged motorists impaling bicyclists on their hood ornaments in the rush hour melee. Never happened. In fact, not a single bad actor. Who has the actuarial tables on that probability?

I did, however, experience the post-commute road buzz with full blown munchies. It's that endorphin-rich sense of well-being that comes after a long run or ride. I'm a road buzz junky. 

Throw some good Mexican food and a Dos Equis on top of road buzz for an augmented high. 

Mmmmmmm. Delicious.

Shifting gear

Bi-modal this morning - had to get to the office early to welcome a new person to the team. Bike-bus-bike. Thinking I'll do the entire commute home this afternoon. Just not enough of a ride this morning and the hurricane at the end of the week should dampen my commuting hopes on Thursday/Friday. Got to ride while the riding's good.

Shifted my gear a bit this weekend. Threw on a rear rack and truck for the clothes I do carry, and went to a messenger bag for the laptop and files. I wasn't thrilled with the backpack and the sweaty back thing. I needed a little room to air out and this seems to do the trick. Couple of photos.That's all she wrote for the morning. Busy day in the office to make up for the banker holiday yesterday.

Goin' bi-modal

Here's the postscript to Friday morning's bike-to-work. I decided to make it a bi-modal commute home - use the bike rack on the front of the 48X and then cycle the remaining 4.5 miles home. 

I'm impressed by the simplicity of the rack system that CATS uses. Pull down the rack, drop your bike into the trough and secure it with the spring-loaded bar that comes up over the front wheel. Quick and easy.

And darn secure, as it turns out. My baby had only worry about bug splatters as we cruised up I-77 at traffic speeds. I did strip off the electronics - didn't want anything to come loose from vibration. 

Seemed like my bi-modal plan was working flawlessly - until we hit traffic just north of exit 18. Folks fleeing the city for the Labor Day weekend. Dead stop or slow crawl for about 4 miles. Could've made it home at about the same time if I'd done the entire commute on the bike.

In all fairness, the jam was the result of a perfect storm. It was Friday. It was a banker holiday weekend in America's second-largest financial center. It was rush hour timing. 

Also, taking a few kudo-points away from my NiteRider Minewt X2 headlight. I noticed during my morning commute that my computer was not registering anything - no speed, no mileage, nothing. At about mile 16 it began registering all sorts of funky things - like that I was pedaling 50 mph. I was ready to blame it on a failing battery or faulty wireless computer.

Later, I was showing a colleague at work how the light functioned. When I turned on the light, my sleeping computer came to life and started giving all sorts of readings. Seems the X2 is putting out some sort of frequency that interferes with the transmission to my bike computer. Hmmmmmmm.

Finally

Finally, the commute. Departure time 6:06a, temperature 65F (a tip of the hat to Warren T). Arrival time 7:20a.

Hadn't really accounted for the weight of the laptop and office detritus in the backpack, but wasn't all that bad. Although, it might have been a bit more comfortable having that load in some panniers. Hmmmmm.

Traffic was really not bad, but then I need to consider that it is the Friday before the Labor Day weekend and the banker crowd has Monday off - meaning that many cage commuters are making it a 4-day weekend. Might have accounted for the lighter load on the road and more docile drivers.

Gotta put in a plug for my NiteRider Minewt X2 headlight. This baby was bright, even on low beam. Once there was enough daylight to see clearly, I switched over to flashing mode to ensure visibility for oncoming motorists. Let's just say it was very difficult not to see me.


The post-ride clothing and shower plan at the local Y went well. Transition from free-wheeling bicycle commuter to uptight banker is complete.

This evening I'll go home multi-modal. Put the bike on the front of the 77x bus and cycle the final mile to the house.

Parting thoughts: Great ride, need to lighten the load, rack and panniers. Looking forward to doing more of this.

Rain delay

Quite simply. It's wet. Flash flood wet.

I'm a wimp. When I have a choice, I choose not to ride in the rain.

I do, however, like the way the rain glistens off the brick sidewalk in front of our building in the center of Uptown Charlotte, the "ding! ding!" bell of the trolley, the smell of coffee in the morning air ...

Test run

Rode the commuter route this morning. Turns out to be closer to 19 miles each way. Tried to stay at an easy commute pace - just over 15 mph. Took 1 hour 15 minutes to the office, 1 hour 9 minutes coming home. I've mapped the ride at http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/nc/huntersville/556913820100

Overall, the roads were not bad. With the exception of one 1-mile stretch, I believe that I have pretty good margin and/or escape routes if motorists get aggressive. Took a few pics along the way:

Cut through the neighborhood across the street from mine and past the golf course. Fore! (Mile 1.5)

Northcross drive - take this to Stumptown road and then to US 21. Margin in the middle for motorists to get around me. (Mile 2.5)

US 21 - has more center lane than I originally thought. More room for cars to get around me. (Mile 7)

I'm diggin' this! Wide shoulder just north of Harris Blvd on US 21. Is that a future bike path to the right?! Can't be - too progressive. (Mile 8.5)

A nice addition to the commuter bike - a rearview mirror. I like knowing what's coming from behind. May have to put one on the roadie.

US 21 overpass over I-85. US 21 is now two lanes with good shoulder. (Mile 15)

Well, maybe not so great on the shoulder, but there is sidewalk. Uptown Charlotte is in the distance. My destination is across the street from the tallest building you see - the Bank of America Corporate Center. (Mile 15)

After cutting through some of the Uptown neighborhoods, I hop onto Tryon street. This is the main drag thru Uptown. (Mile 18)

The BAC Corp Center from Tryon and 6th street - I'm now two blocks from the office. (Mile 18+)

The Independence Center - were my office is located. (Destination)

Ride time - 1 hour 15 minutes and change. Slightly faster on the return trip.

Soooo. Next step is to do this for real. Most likely next Wednesday. Will probably do this multi-modal. Commute the entire route in the morning and slap the ride on the 77x or 48x bus in the evening. I'll still get a short ride from the bus stop to home after work. 

Total bus(t) ...

The countdown has been delayed.

I could go through a list of excuses, but it comes down to this - poor planning and a life built on the convenience of petroleum-fueled transportation. As a gasaholic, I now rely on the internal combustion engine to give me more margin in life. Because I have more margin, I don't have to plan too far ahead. Because I don't plan ahead, I am unable to divorce myself from the thing that gives me margin. And so on and so forth - on into infinity.

This might explain the love/hate relationship people often have with their vehicles. It's co-dependency.

So, it's a total bus(t) this week. I'm riding CATS, as usual. The 7:23a 77X bus was standing room room only as I snapped the above shakey photo on my iPhone. We're just one big happy commuter family.

Next week ...

Burning dinosaur bones

No bike commute this morning. The weekend got away from me a little and I never scouted the route. Well, that and the rain on Sunday morning.

My friends had a mini bike-commute intervention during dinner Saturday evening.

"We think you need to rethink this bicycle commute thing, it's not worth dying over."

"I'm not going to get killed bike commuting."

"There are a lot of crazy people driving those roads in the morning."

They are right about the crazy folks in the cages.

What bothers me is that people don't feel that they have the choice when it comes to the commute. Burn dinosaur bones or die. Okay, that's extreme - but it's one of the things that motivates me right now.

I want the choice. And it shouldn't be a life or death (maiming, injury, etc.) choice. If the weather holds, I'll exercise choice on Wednesday.

Walking distance

One of the great things about working for my employer is that I have a number of work options. Today, I'm working from a remote drop-in office that is within walking distance of my house. Stop by the my local 'bucks (also within walking distance of the house) grab some java and a donut - and mosey to work. And they've also set me up to work from home. When I can't get to the mountain, the mountain comes to me.

Most of the time, however, I need to go to the mountain. Hence ...

Preparations for next week's first bike commute are in full swing. Office-bound clothing is at the cleaners - I'll take it to the office this weekend. Will pick up some heavy-dut lighting for the morning ride from the bike shop tomorrow. Dry run of the commute route on Sunday.

We are go with throttle up.

Packin' 'em in

Full house on the bus this morning.

Started riding the CATS (Charlotte Area Transit System for y'all not familiar) express bus a little over a year ago. Back then you could actually catch the 7:06a 77X and have a seat to yourself. Slap on the iPod, open your book and relax.

Enter $4/gal gasoline.

One word - "sardines."

I think this is an excellent proof point. As much as I'd like to think that positive change can be affected by noble intentions - most change is driven by economics. Not bad, not good. It just is what it is.

The countdown continues - next week I intend to commute at least 2 days on two wheels.

They're out there

Had sent an e-mail last week to the Charlotte DOT Bicycle Program Manager, Ken Tippette, asking for any guidance he might be able to provide on getting in contact with other bike commuters who live in my area.

Received a nice response from Ken yesterday directing me to an Uptown Bicycle Commuters Support Group. Sounds a little cathartic, but might as well give it a shot. He also copied one of the contacts with that group. 

Turns out that Ken lives in Davidson, NC - about 5 miles to the north. He often combines bike commuting with the express bus to Uptown. Ken offered that he sometimes will make the long trek home (I'm guessing around 20+ miles) on his bike, and that he would be glad to let me know in advance when his planning to do that so that I could join him for the ride.

Thanks, Ken. Glad to know you're out there. Now, if I can just survive my first bike commute ...

Starting the countdown

Call me crazy.

I've considered doing the bicycle commute thing for about a year - roughly the same time I started taking the bus to work. It's now time to take the plunge. Or at least to dip my big toe into the bike-to-work pond.

Began converting my old road bike (2004 Giant OCR 1) into a commuter this past weekend. New tires, a tail light, new water bottle cage to replace the broken one, new computer to replace the broken one, and re-wrapped the bars so my death grip in traffic will have a little more cushion. Also installed new clipless pedals to replace the Ultegra set and picked up cycling shoes more suited to the commuter thing than my stiff road bike shoes.

Have plotted several routes - none of which can really get me out of heavy traffic patterns flowing into Uptown Charlotte, NC. I'm not aware of any bicycle paths between home and work. It's a 17-18 mile one way commute no matter how I plot it. Not bad, roughly equivelant to a jaunty little weekend ride. I also have the option to throw my rig on the front rack of the 77X if the weather goes to hell prior to my evening commute.

Next steps - 1) Get a good light. If I'm leaving the house at 6:00am, it's gonna be dark and the laws say that I need to have a light. Looking at options, but a good Light and Motion rig seems like the best option. Pricey. 2) Lay in supplies at the office. I'm opting to travel as light as possible. I'll keep a dark suit, a few white shirts, and shower/shave kit at the office. That way I'll only need to pack shoes, underwear, socks, and tie for the commute. I plan on biking to the office, grabbing the wardrobe, and trekking 4 blocks to the gym to shower, shave and dress. 3) Dry run the routes next weekend. I come from a cautious people. I always dry run the routes on the triathlons I do - knowing where the bad roads are, the hills, where to expend energy, where to conserve. I'd like to have a good picture of what I'm up against on the commute.

That's it for today - the countdown is on. I plan on doing my first bike-to-work the week of August 18.