another year of bike commuting

Group Ride, Alright

noreply@blogger.com (David Buchta) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 01:50:00 +0000

When I first got into cycling my lovely little bike shop helped me out a lot. They put on an inexpensive front brake when I discovered that it does actually take a little practice to safely ride a fixed gear without brakes (I think it was the scare of trying to control my speed downhill that really did it) and they've dispensed endless useful knowledge and help to yours truly.

They also have a weekly group bike ride on the weekends made up of friendly and staunchly non- ~~douchy~~ competitive people from the area. I've met a lot of cool peeps from those bike rides and for a time I went weekly like clockwork, until a new job required me to work on Saturday and I couldn't go for over a year. Recent unemployment has cured that though, and although it took me almost two months to go on another one (infants take a lot of time out of your life, who knew!) today I got to suit up and join the ranks once again.

Somewhat counter intuitively it would seem that having no job would make it easy to get more riding in, but sadly this was not so. In the last two months I've only ridden twice and my expanding midsection and shrinking legs were definitely in mind when I rode out to join a group of men and women with very nice bikes with lots of gears. I knew I wouldn't get dropped but no one wants to be the slow poke (except in certain situations, right ladies? Right, right?) so I was determined to keep up even if it was pathetically difficult.

As I approached the shop the group was already assembled: about eight men and women covered head to toe in cold weather gear with only faces peaking out from hats and balaclavas. At first no one recognized me until I unmasked to adjust my flowing locks and then the regulars all came over to say hi. It was nice. People bitched about the cold and soon we were off on a thrity-plus mile bike ride through the surrounding neighborhoods. The No Drop rule is particularly useful to me as our routes wind through many neighborhoods and I'd get lost in a heartbeat and have no fun making my way back home alone.

Happily my legs remembered their previous life and performed admirably. My lungs, not so much. Also my sitting bones, despite the use of a technical liner. I'd say my booty's performance degraded the most over my two months of full time fatherin' which was both surprising and a little uncomfortable. With temperatures in the mid-thirties to low-forties I was glad I had multiple layers and a full head covering, and as we got moving I quickly warmed up. We had two "climbs" which in my area of Virgina always means a bridge or an overpass and I took the opportunity to break ranks and climb my little heart out. It was lovely.

With ten miles left to go we stopped at a coffee joint to rest and drink up. In a move that I'm sure sport nutritionists would flinch at I put a double espresso into my empty stomach instead of water or anything really useful. What can I say, I like coffee. The standard complaints were heard again as we had to warm back up and one good climb later I was experiencing a slight metallic taste from my lungs as they worked out all the sediment my sedentary lifestyle has deposited there.

Back at the shop I BSed with an old friend I hadn't seen a while and then headed home to a waiting baby and tired lady. No soreness yet, just a lingering smile and the wish to do it again. I really need to do this more often. I missed it.

- David

Oh Thank Heaven, 7-11

noreply@blogger.com (David Buchta) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:10:00 +0000

I like to race. I'm not a competitive person in 99% of my life, but when it comes to bike racing I like to do well. Or at least feel I've done well. If I'm exhausted that night or sore the next day, that's enough for me, placing be damned. I guess you'd call it more of a personal challenge thing than a public opinion thing.

In my little community someone puts on an alleycat about once a month. Usually it's the same four people rotating organically and getting word out by Twitter or e-mail and the same ten or so people show up for every race. Numbers dwindle as the weather turns cold but you can count on the same peeps to put out (hurr) and participate in races on a pretty regular basis. This past month I put on my very first one (which sadly only six people showed up for, despite my early announcement and copious flier placement) and I got a good view behind the scenes and plan to contribute regularly. It was a different kind of fun but fun all the same.

Yesterday a pillar of the cycling community and good guy Wes put on a Recycled 7-11 race which had us broken up into two-man teams and visiting "recycled" 7-11's in the area to gather trivia as well as receipts from current ones. Wes' races are always well thought out and have a certain style to them. Namely teams instead of individual riders and usually some kind of community service like cleaning up glass or food drives. My very first alleycat was one of his, gathering certain food items from grocery stores and piling all of our goods into his bike trailer bound for a local church on Thanksgiving, which was a ton of fun.

That being said I don't usually come out for his events. The team thing has never worked out well for me and usually the actions to be completed at each checkpoint are kind of annoying. Not that cleaning up glass isn't fun and all, but when you have to get there with another person and have them take a picture of you doing so with a prominent landmark in the background to validate it just seems like too much. I've done a race where we had to change a tire, drink a beer, and ride an impossibly small and small-geared seatless child's bike down a bike path and back, but those all seem a little different to me.

So I shouldn't have been surprised when Wes announced we'd be splitting up into teams as eleven or so riders hung out in the parking lot of the gas station and awaited spoke cards and instructions. I had already asked my friend Kurtz to partner up when I heard that we'd be on random teams based on the pairing of spoke cards. Balls. Oh well, most of the guys I knew pretty well and our riding abilities were about even. I'm also still learning some of the finer details of our fair city and always welcome a more experienced guide.

As luck would have it though I got paired with a guy who'd just moved here from Albany, New York. He had no knowledge of Norfolk. I'd been looking his bike over (as all riders do almost subconsciously; see above picture, far left) and gauged from the well-worn appearance and brakelessness that he was probably a decent rider. Oh how wrong I was.

The map we were handed had eleven 7-11's marked both nearby and in some far reaches of Norfolk I've never been to before. We were to choose seven of the eleven to hit, with the farthest four being "premiums" which subtracted from our overall time if we hit them. Three of the seven I deemed my little team should hit were within the scope of my riding familiarity. No matter, they were marked on our maps and I had luckily brought a detailed map of the city with me on a whim. I was sure we'd be fine.

The first of seven was just off of my normal commuting route and started a nice crescent that would hit all of the necessary checkpoints and bring us back nicely to the finish. Before my partner and I had even gone two miles I knew I was in trouble. Even in my small pond I'm no Eddy Merckx but I can hold my own. With maybe a quarter mile under our tires I looked back to see he was at least two blocks behind. "Maybe he got caught behind a car or something," I thought and slowed my pace a little. As I waited at a busy intersection for the light to change (very un-hardcore of me, I know) my other half caught up with me. I explained our route and he replied that he heard the area up ahead was a little dicey. I laughed and said, "Not really." We were on Colley Ave which was a relatively quiet and straight shot up to Hampton Blvd which was right near where we needed to go and had both been traveled countless times by yours truly as part of his daily commute. Even keeping a modest cadence with a tailwind my team member fell farther and farther behind, many times to the point of being out of site. Oh, he also didn't have a headlight.

I slowed my pace even more but it was no use. I couldn't leave an out of towner behind this early in the race; that'd be pretty dickish of me. But this was a race, and I wanted to do well. Plus, riding in general and races in particular provide a kind of catharsis where the stress and stiffness from being a new parent and living in an imperfect world can get worked out constructively. I didn't want to waste it.

Things degraded from here. The map we had been so helpfully handed wasn't that helpful at all. The majority of the placemarks on the map were not necessarily tied to their geographic locations. Even the intersections given under each checkpoint turned out to be wrong at least 50% of the time. Add in an unfamiliarity with the area, very busy streets, darkness, neighborhoods that I wouldn't be comfortable walking through alone, and a slow partner and I was getting frustrated. More than once we were unable to locate the recycled 7-11 and opted to head to the next one when we'd come upon it blocks away from where it was said to be. We didn't even find the last one. About halfway through I remarked that it appeared Wes was trying to get us shot.

Locative problems wouldn't have been so bad had I been able to hurriedly search around. But this was not so. As the night dragged my random companion drew out the distance between us more and more. Once I even looked back to see him sitting up in his seat, hands off the bars, in the middle of the lane, apparently more interested in balancing than in keeping up. At one 7-11 we were unable to find a stray receipt so he went in to buy a candy bar and after standing in line came out and said through chocolate teeth that he'd forgotten to get the receipt. I know these things are supposed to be fun, but fun means different things to different people. For me it's finishing a race in under three hours, which we almost didn't do.

Back in familiar territory I lead us confidently to the finish only to find my partner was nowhere in site. I stopped at the next intersection and waited. And waited. Finally I opted to leave him to his devices and his own map and sped towards the last and largest 7-11, taking a fast road in the hopes of at least getting some exertion out of the night.

By the time I pulled in all the other riders were standing around, jackets on as they had already cooled down from their own riding and enjoying beers and BS. Someone asked where my guy was. I told them I didn't know. They laughed and remarked that it was the guy who just moved here. I related how I'd lost him about five minutes ago and he should be able to follow his map here. Times were tallied and the only guy who'd been a solo act came in first by far. I envied his unhindered situation. Your humble writer was dead, dead last. We had started at 7:11 and I had rejoined our group at 9:31. Longest race ever, both factually and emotionally.

As we were taking pictures under the glare of the gas pump overhang Mr. Buffalo, NY skidded up behind us and everyone cheered. Pictures were taken, people were invited to other people's houses for drinks and movies, and all riders now jacketed and gloved in the cold night departed. I felt like a guy on a date who's sexual exploits seemed assured but had just dropped his lady off after some light kissing and hand holding.

But hey, at least I went. It was far more preferable than being home and only placing exertion on myself, if you catch my drift.

- David

GUILTY!

noreply@blogger.com (Will Handsfield) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:16:00 +0000

About a year and a half ago, I reported on an incident in LA that has now become the rallying cry for holding violent drivers accountable for endangering cyclists. Today, we find that the defendant, 60 year old ER doctor Christopher Thompson has been found guilty on all counts. For better coverage, check out the VeloNews reports.

It's a relief to see at least one case where the obvious offender has to pay for their actions despite having the best legal representation money can buy. I will say that the defense argument was stupid, basically saying Thompson was pulling over to take a photo of these belligerent cyclists, and that they crashed due to the "inherent instability of the bicycle". You couldn't find two more sympathetic plaintiffs, Ron Peterson was a cycling coach at USC and UCLA and a racer, and Christian Stoehr was a very experienced racer. They had corroborating witnesses and a police report from two other cyclists of a prior incident with the same car.

My hope going forward is that incidents of road aggression don't require as compelling a body of evidence in order to hold violent drivers accountable. We all know most incidents don't leave as much evidence in their wake, but are no less dangerous.

Safe riding out there.

To the BikeStation!

noreply@blogger.com (Will Handsfield) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:19:00 +0000

This past Friday, DC had a grand opening for BikeStation, something I've been looking forward to for a while. This has been a dream of transportation planners and cyclists here since the late 1990s, and has been under serious planning and subsequent construction since 2005. One part of the story I know about is that DC used Denver's bike station feasibility study as part of their justification for citing it at the main train station. But the joke is on Denver, while RTD paid for a study that clearly made a favorable impression on some, the actual station(s) at Denver Union Station have been on the skids for years.

I was planning to go over in the afternoon to check it out and collect the mandatory schwag (in this case, a metal water bottle), but I found out there was to be a ribbon cutting at 10:30 with all the planning and bicycling professionals sure to be in attendance. I also happened to have my co-worker Lilly's SmartBike card from the day before (farmer's market run, those bikes have baskets), and I thought it would be a sad day if I couldn't drag one of my co-workers along for the hullaballoo. With about 10 minutes to get there, I ended up heading out with my colleague Nish, and taking him on his first SmartBike ride.

After a brisk three miles of bobbing and weaving through traffic, we got to Union Station later than the appointed time, but found out that it was all waiting on Mayor Fenty's arrival. He got there a few minutes later, and they set up a podium for speeches. Here is the mayor with DDOT director Gabe Klein and (bike-riding) Councilman Tommy Wells behind him:

The actual bike station is pretty slick. The exterior is supposed to evoke a bike helmet, but is pretty rad any way you cut it. A local rental fleet operator, Bike and Roll has a shop on one side where they sell the small necessities and have a repair stand. The majority of the station is racks, which ingeniously trap your bike when you roll it in. The whole thing is operated by a group called "BikeStation", and they do all the membership things. $150 a year gets you 24 hour access, but anyone can purchase shorter term usage and have supervised access from 7 AM to 7 PM.

Because of where I live, I doubt I'll be using it unless I take a train ride to NYC or something, but BikeStation is going to be great for a lot of train commuters coming in daily from outside of DC. I think they mentioned that out of the 260 potential memberships they can sell, they already sold 70 of them so far, and the place just opened. Apparently, DC also has the 7th most bike commuters per capita in the country, and second most on the East Coast. This all bodes well for a variety of other bike initiatives, including expanding Smart Bike.

So basically, a day of warm fuzzies for us bike commuters. One other good thing came out of it, after a return trip to work by bike with Nish (which I later overheard him describing "... Will is a maniac."), Nish has become impressed with, and decided to join SmartBike ($35 a year). Good on you, mate.

Overflowing With Bikes

noreply@blogger.com (Will Handsfield) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 04:01:00 +0000

I just moved in to Karen's apartment on Saturday on account of us getting married this coming weekend, and it forced me to collect all my bikes and bike stuff from the basement where they had been living, and put them all in one place. I am now confronted with their multitude.

I have seven at present, a single speed, a tandem, a cyclocross racer, a steel road bike, an aluminum road bike, a steel mountain bike, and an aluminum/carbon mountain bike. It's kind of a lot. I have had plans to sell the CX bike and the AL/C MTB, but wedding planning and having a blast got the better of my summer. I think five will be a reasonable number to have and maintain, especially since I have been known to race in four disciplines, it seems to be the smallest number I should have to keep my options open.

To get a few other things off my mind, Kanye, though a total inappropriate jerk, was right. Beyonce's video was way better than Taylor Swift's. But that's what MTV gets for cultivating an audience of tasteless children while alienating all of us who once upon a time thought we might see a music video by tuning into Music Television. Seriously, do they show anything besides Twilight previews and horrid retreads of old reality shows? Beyonce's video is a minimalist display of ingenious lighting and choreography, not easily appreciated by young minds lacking a full catalogue of videos in their brain against which to compare.

Taylor Swift's video, by contrast is a saccharine sweet ode to the old tale of the ugly duckling set against the backdrop of a high school football / suburban drama. If I were a 14 year old girl, I would pick this video. However, as someone who spent thousands of daytime hours in the Las Vegas summer cowering inside from the searing heat under the cool electric glow of MTV's video broadcasts, I have the experience to know better. See for yourself, and let me know if you agree.

And you thought this blog was just about biking... it also covers important social phenomenon.

PS: I may be biased against any media that maligns the talent and efforts of cheerleaders. My sister was a highly accomplished "flyer" on her cheer squad in high school and in college (Go App State!), was recognized repeatedly for her talent and dedication, and incurred a variety of serious injuries in a testament to her daring fearlessness. Portraying them as the villainous airhead in a childish music video does a disservice to the thousands of cheerleaders who compete in this full contact, spectacular sport.

Third Party Report: Brendan, Nick and Will Are Bad For Surly Bikes

noreply@blogger.com (Will Handsfield) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:41:00 +0000

Or at least that is what it seems like. Here's what I know from chat/email exchanges with Nick N. and Brendan:

Brendan: crashed into a car in an alley behind work on his Cross Check, apparently unharmed, but having buckled his downtube and putting large dents into the car.

Nick: got crashed into by a car and took a ride on the hood for a few feet before the lady driving decided to stop, also apparently unharmed. I don't know what happened to his bike, but conspicuously, it is a Karate Monkey.

Both incidents occurred on the same day, and taken together with my recent crash, I think we are blowing through mere anecdote, and now represent a growing epidemic.

I'll let Nick and Brendan describe the incidents in more depth (seriously, post something already).

This is in no way a slight on Surly bikes, which are quite popular among urban cyclists, and I have found to be quite utilitarian.

The Sunshine of Rain City

noreply@blogger.com (Will Handsfield) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 04:31:00 +0000

Whoever said Portland was rainy was full of it

One of the cool aspects of my job is traveling around and organizing work in the transportation world. This week, I'm in the Pacific Northwest (in this order: Eugene, Portland, Seattle), and lucked out with the best weather I could have imagined. It's been in the high nineties, and dry, which is a real treat compared to the high humidity heat of DC and all of the East Coast.

I got to Eugene via AmTrak at about 6:00 on Tuesday, and the folks I was meeting were kind enough to plan out a tour with the best Eugene had to offer. We started out from the train station by bike, I had a loaner Bike Friday Tikit (Made in Eugene!) in the hot pink colorway (I've always said it takes a real man to rock a pink bike). We first rode over to the new Eugene Bus Rapid Transit (the EmX) station, and met up with Mark, the general manager of the Lane Transit District for a tour. We got a special dispensation from Mark to bring onboard more than 3 bikes (normally the limit), and we were able to fold up the Bike Fridays and put them under the seats. The EmX is awesome, and the system really feels more like a light rail train than a bus (it has its own signals and some dedicated right-of-way), and connects downtown Eugene to nearby Springfield.

Our Guide Mark and the view from the pilot's seat

The hot pink one is mine, I regret not doing a proper portrait with it

The EMX

Lane Transit District loves bikes

Our return trip was via the bike path network adjacent to the Willamette river, which is as wide as a two lane road in many parts, and was just super under blue skies. The Friday rode well, especially for a bike that was just under a bus seat. We crossed back into Eugene at the Peter DeFazio bicycle and pedestrian bridge, which was pretty cool to see (he's the subcommittee chairman with the most responsibility for producing the upcoming transportation bill).

We had dinner at the Steelhead Brewpub, and a couple of people asked about the Bike Fridays leaned against the wall next to us. The ladies really liked the pink model I was borrowing, so if you need a good present idea for a wife, girlfriend or other special lady in your life, a pink Tikit has good WOW potential.

The next morning I was off to Portland via the 5:30 AM train (remarkably, it was on time the whole way). This was my first time to Portland, and I anxiously awaited arrival in bike city, USA.

Very quickly it was obvious, these people love the hell out of bicycling. At each traffic light, the bike lane (yes, they had them everywhere) backed up with about 10 cyclists every time. I also admired the general law abiding tendencies of Portland cyclists, there wasn't nearly the amount of red light running I've become accustomed to in DC. I was able to rent a bike for the day at the Safe Routes to School conference, and I got to all my meetings with no trouble. One myth that I can dispel about at least the downtown, it's not that hilly, and I also didn't see any rain whatsoever.

Portland's light rail has a special space for bikes

What I did see plenty of were groups of the young, disaffected street kids that are known throughout the Pacific Northwest. Dirty, hairy, and often traveling with one or more dogs, they seem to be an able bodied bunch that chooses street life for something like the adventure of it. If you've seen "My Own Private Idaho", imagine that in the summer. The region's congressman, Earl Blumenauer mentions the number of unemployed people who move to Portland for the quality of life, I think this too extends to the homeless who can ride transit in the downtown loop for free, and get by through begging and the other downtown social services available.

After finishing my meetings for the day, I thought I would ride over to the Columbia river. This was not a realistic idea, I discovered, after I went about 8 miles into the Port of Portland on the frontage road with only more working port infrastructure as far as I could see. The Willamette and the Columbia meet somewhere around there, but I definitely didn't go the right direction to see it (and I later realized that I had been given an area bicycling map at an earlier meeting that I just threw in my bag with all the other handouts I had).

My rental

I was tempted to keep going on a Goonies rally

There was one last landmark I had to see before I left, Burnside Skate park. It was smaller than I imagined, but the concrete glowed in the streetlights with a burnish earned by a million skate wheels. I rode back over the bridge, and had a rad view of the "Made in Oregon" neon sign.

I came away from both Eugene and Portland with a strong sense of envy for what they've accomplished in a short time, and for the political and community will that made it happen.

A New Bike for the Bicycling Professional

noreply@blogger.com (Will Handsfield) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 06:30:00 +0000

Earlier this summer, I decided I was going to cull my herd of bicycles from eight down to a more reasonable five. Of course, I have eight bikes because they all do something a little different. Since I would still want to do all these cycling disciplines at different times, I thought I'd look for a bike that has some additional built in flexibility and sell of the three that I thought would be easiest to part with.

Not having any discipline when it comes to bike acquisitions, I decided to buy a Surly Traveler's Check that I saw on ebay in just my size.

I've been a big fan of Surly for years, and I thought this would cover a few tasks I perform routinely. 1) commuting to work 2) riding trails with the simple addition of CX tires 3) single speed CX races that I tell myself I will participate in someday 4) accompanying me on business trips (it comes apart at the top and downtubes and fits in a suitcase) 5) replaces the fixie I sold when I moved to DC.

So far, I've been pretty impressed with its commuting, trail and fixie qualities. I may have forgotten to consider one aspect of travel, the $450 suitcase accessory that I don't have (anyone have one they no longer need?), but I think this will come in handy soon.

I was just getting used to the new bike about three weeks ago when I had my first disappointment with the way it was rigged. It had a matching blue KMC chain, which I now know only come in 1/8th width. Meanwhile, it has a bigger 46T 3/32nd chainring, and a 3/32nd 17T freewheel. Previously, I had understood 1/8th to be compatible with the narrower teeth with no issues on a single speed or fixed gear. I know better now, and thought I would share.

Whilst climbing a hill on my way home from work, I was about five pedal strokes into standing up when I threw the chain and myself hard to the right and onto the pavement near the National Zoo. What I think happened was that the lateral deflection from the high torque (climbing, remember) on the 46T ring was enough to pull the small amount of sideways play of the 1/8th chain to opposite sides on the 3/32nd freewheel and ring. The chain must have slipped over one of the ring's teeth, and after that, my foot hammered down to the right with no resistance on the chain, tossing me to the street.

I was a little bloody from a hip scrape and smashing my normal landing elbow yet again. A kind passerby with a medical kit in their car helped me with some gauze. Even though I managed to kick my bike the other direction into a lane of traffic, it somehow didn't get hit. I was on my feet to retrieve it in seconds, and aside from a scuffed seat, some scrapes on the brake levers and bell and a mangled Oury, it was no worse for the tangle.

I have since changed the chain to 3/32nd, and pulled it piano-wire tight, to avoid any repeat episodes. Also switched to narrower bull horn bars for more confidence while lane splitting.

But not to be dismayed, the great bike cull of 2009 still continues!

The first bike I sold off was my Trek 520, which was a great ride, just one that I never used for any actual touring. It cleaned up real nice, and while I kept the wheels (a Christmas present), I was able to sell the frame for more than I bought the whole bike for about a year ago, how's that for an investment! One thing that never was right on it, it was built for 27" wheels, and I could never adjust the cantilever brakes to have satisfying stopping power on a 700c wheel, I tried every kind of canti brake they make, but the position of the boss is too high for what I wanted to get out of it. So off it went.

Since then, I've been trying to do the Craigslist thing with this animal:

But Craigslist is the place for $300 bikes, not $1000 bikes,and I'm running into a lot of flakes and barter offers, so next stop is ebay.

If anyone has a penchant for cross country mountain bikes, and would like to be this one's new owner, shoot me a message and I'll send you some info.

So there it is, apologies for not posting for some time. I'm getting married in September, and while I bike commute every day still, I rarely seem to have time to write about it. Hope to see some more action here soon, we didn't even get a RAGBRAI rundown... Josh, are you out there?

Triumphant Return

noreply@blogger.com (David Buchta) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:35:00 +0000

Recent life changes *coughcough*new parent!*cough* have seen me and my bike neglected for the better part of a month. It's been bad. No sleep, no exercise, no playing in traffic. Driving to work everyday sucks. I don't know how people do it. But this week has seen a dramatic increase in bikely activities, and I intend to ride the momentum until I'm back to my former level.

On Sunday a couple of buddies showed up at my back porch and yelled, "Grab your bike!" They were figuring out checkpoints for our upcoming Tour de Pants race and wanted me to come along. I rushed out the door, no wallet, no lock, no helmet (ssh) and pedaled around Norfolk for a few hours. It was wonderful. The weather was warm, there was a good breeze, and we were riding just to ride. Four people seems to be about the perfect group size to bike randomly from one place to the next. We picked several public locations in which to stop and change pants before moving on to the next. I'm looking forward to this Sunday and having lots of pantless fun.

At one point we came up to a railroad crossing right as a train approached. Suddenly my friend took off down the gravel path next to the tracks and we all followed, three track bikes and one mountain bike. I'm always paranoid when I'm riding over things like sand, gravel, and cobblestones that my tiny wheels are just going to slip out from under me. But (knock on Phil Wood) that hasn't happened yet. What did happen though was some of the palm-sized rocks conspired to tear a big ass gash in the sidewall of my front tire, causing an instant flat. A flat we fixed before realizing it was a hole in the sidewall, through which the new tube promptly bubbled out of and popped again. Hooray. While two of us tag-teamed the problem the rest occupied themselves by throwing rocks at an old building across the tracks.

The problem was resolved with a Gerber (which we dubbed The Pleatherman), an old military supply membership card, some electrical tape, and lots of hand pumping motions that prompted obvious jokes. Thus fixed I rode around for another hour or more without any trouble, and even when I checked the tire again four days later it had held it's air just fine. As we saddled up someone remarked that little adventures like this on a bike were fun, even if was just fixing a flat by the train tracks for thirty minutes.

Then yesterday I was interviewed by a fellow cyclist for almost two hours about how and why I got into cycling in general and the community events like alleycats and Critical Mass. I got to ride my beloved ferry to get to the interview and showed up early enough to play in the streets for twenty minutes beforehand. Talking to another cyclist about angry drivers, garbage bag raingear, finding commute routes, getting doored, and any number of tangents was super fun. His digital recorder actually died before we got finished. It felt a bit like a blind date meeting a stranger to sit down and talk but my nervousness went right away and I'm sure he wished I wasn't quite so forthcoming with all of my thoughts and stories!

I'm getting used to my new sleep schedule and looking forward to hitting the roads again. As our new little addition gets familiar with being born and cries less I'll be more apt to go out and race, joing CM, and maybe even go for a solo ride or two. And it can't come soon enough.

- David

It's time to get psyched for RAGBRAI

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Barker) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:07:00 +0000

RAGBRAI starts on Sunday. It's time to get psyched, folks. We have assembled a small, ragtag gang to take part in the festivities. Actually from Denver, it's just me, Nick and Emily - but we will be joining upwards of 20,000 of our closest cycling friends in Iowa.

Here are some pics from previous years....

The bikes seem to go on forever.

Unfortunately, no Lance frenzy this year.

Here is Denver's own Emily Latta (St. Mark's coffee Barista extraordinaire) featured on the RAGBRAI site.

How to break in a Brooks saddle

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Barker) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:45:00 +0000

It's happened. And, I can't be more excited. My Brooks saddle is finally broken in. How did I do it? I rode it for 10 months, 3 weeks and 5 days. I'm not sure if this is a normal time period - but the honey-colored leather definitely took longer to break in than my black leather one.

It was definitely a watershed moment for me.

Great Things About Riding in DC: Fireflies

noreply@blogger.com (Will Handsfield) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:53:00 +0000

One of the charming aspects about summer riding in DC, and probably throughout the East Coast, is firefly season. Lasting from roughly late May through mid July, many species of firefly larvae gestate into their adult form for what appears to be a mass firefly rave. After two years of pupal squirming, the fireflies look to their remaining two weeks of life as their one and only chance to mate, and lay some eggs.

To the casual human observer, this all means pretty blinking ethereal lights between dusk and dawn.

Having spent the past decade predominantly in the Western U.S., I was cheerfully reminded of nature's light show a few weeks ago while riding home. Hovering before me on my night ride through Rock Creek Park were thousands of fireflies, creating a slightly psychedelic sensation as I rode down the narrow forested path. It is somehow comforting to see these little flashes of brilliant light amidst the canopied darkness.

Their numbers seem to be slowly dwindling, perhaps they will follow the diminishing daylight as harbingers of fall. I hope they stick around a little while longer. And I hope that you, dear reader, are so lucky to see them illuminating your way on a night ride sometime soon.

Credit to this New York Times article for reminding me of the uniqueness of this wonder of nature.

BTWD

noreply@blogger.com (Sara Boilen) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:40:00 +0000

So, it's been awhile since I posted anything, but in honor of bike to work day, I am going to give a shout out.
I have been commuting anywhere from 4-30 miles roundtrip since I moved to Denver. Much of this commuting involves trips to the University of Denver where I am a grad student. I study psychology, which means I see clients in a clinic on campus on a nearly daily basis. There are no lockers, cubbies or other areas in which to store personal belongings throughout the day (except the fridge, but they get upset when they find bike shoes or helmets in there).
My work involves looking professional, among other things. As we all know, it is possible to bike in a skirt (thanks Karen), but it's just not for me. I get sweaty and find that I have to make more trips to the dry cleaners if I wear my fancy clothes, than if I just change when I get there. Also, twenty miles in 90 degree heat makes for a sticky situation when under rayon or other "fancy" materials.
So, my commute involves schlepping a large messenger bag around with me, often including several meals/snacks, shoes, clothes, water bottle, books for school and odds and ends.
The other day, the clinic director noticed my large bag and commented on its presence. I informed him that I change, on average, three times daily in his clinic and sometimes get puzzling looks from clients as they notice the pile of belongings, topped with a helmet, in the corner of the therapy room. He leaned in close and said "Let me see what I can do."
Three days, and two emails, later, I now have a key to the only locker at the Graduate School of Professional Psychology. It's an unused storage closet and it has a nice master lock on it. And it's all mine. The news came today, on Bike To Work Day (the only day of the year there are more than four bikes parked outside my building at any given time), and I couldn't be happier. The clinic assistant and director handed me the key and said "We will do whatever we can to support your noble cause."
I don't need praise or applause for my commute, I do it because I like it and somehow I think I'm doing my part for the Earth. It is, however, REALLY nice to now have a locker.
So, with great pleasure, I salute the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver for their bike-friendly (to me) attitude.

Healing Wheels Bike Tour - pic and recap

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Barker) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:57:00 +0000

Aside from RAGBRAI, this was the first real, organized ride I've ever been a part of (and surely not my last). It was so official, we pinned numbers to our jerseys and received swag bags from the sponsors. First class ride and support. Kudos to the key players who put this on for the benefit of the Inner City Health Center.

The metric century started at Bandimere Speedway and continued through Dinosaur Ridge, Red Rocks Park, Shadow Mountain, Idledale, Kittridge and the Brook Forest Inn. It was a beautiful route and probably one that I wouldn't have known about otherwise. On a sidenote: this route produced some of the most grueling terrain I have ever ridden. My training, consisting of Lookout Mountain and High Grade road, did not fully prepare me for approx 17% grade during a sections of Shadow Mountain.

Here's the route:

Andrew and I going up Dinosaur Ridge.

Descending Red Rocks:

False summit at Shadow Mountain. We thought we were pretty awesome until we realized we had another climb to the real summit:

The best Aid Station of all time was at this beautiful church outside Evergreen. Just down the road is where we saw some white buffalo:

Home stretch. Nick gives his look of approval:

All in all it was an amazing ride: very scenic and challenging. And the best part: all the proceeds went to the Inner City Health Center. Next year, you should come.

Thunderstorm Racing

noreply@blogger.com (Will Handsfield) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:34:00 +0000

I'm developing a new ad hoc sport that just might become the rage this summer. Thunderstorm racing. With disturbing frequency, DC has been hit by late day Thunderstorms, usually starting sometime between 4:30 and 8:00. Pretty much every day, I leave work somewhere in that window.

Lately, the trend has been to look up from my computer at my window somewhere in this timeframe. I look at the brick wall across the alley (no corner office for me yet), and notice that it looks very much like it did in the winter months. With some simple calculus, I determine that this appearance is due to the darkening clouds overhead. I cannot see the sky directly, so I get up and walk down the hall to a window overlooking L street. From here, my suspicion is confirmed, it usually looks like hell is about to break loose outside. I then briskly walk around the office, warning my fellow bike commuters that it looks like hell, and they'd better leave if they want to make it home dry. My duty done, I head back to pack up and begin my own race.

At this point, you have two choices, run for it and try to make the 20 minute ride home before the skies open up, or sit tight for an hour or three more at work until there is a clear spell. The latter no longer appeals to me, so I've been opting to race the past few weeks. Today I actually made it before the clouds broke loose, and made it to a dinner engagement on time and mostly dry.

Yesterday was a different story, however. I made it to the bottom of the hill at 18th and Florida before the lightning and thunder were matched with commensurate down pour. This only makes the race more intense, since I always falsely believe that I can somehow minimize my exposure to the elements by pedaling as fast as possible. I was doing just that, and had finally made it to within a half mile of home, and the relative safety of a bike lane when I had a close encounter with another cyclist.

He too was racing through the storm, on a vintage Raleigh no less. I had to slam on my brakes to avoid the car pulling into the bike lane in preparation for a right turn. The Raleigh rider also slammed on his brakes, but the half inch of water we were riding through had other ideas about allowing his old brakes to work properly. Unaware of the drama behind me, I was a bit surprised when I was hit from behind, not injury hard, but "what the hell" hard.

The guy was very apologetic, and made sure to blame the rain and his brakes. I rolled my rear wheel through a revolution, and it was still true (Scott Taylor at Salvagetti's is a great wheel builder, btw). I told the guy, "no harm, no foul", and rode off, seeking no further delays while the rain was still going strong.

I'm actually somewhat appreciative of the guy who hit me. The occasion compelled me to do a quick check-up on my bike, and I discovered a crack on the left crank arm where the spindle puts a pressure point on the downstroke. I'm sure it should be replaced before I blow it up on a climb, or other high torque enterprise, though I'll just ride gingerly for now.

So long story short, racing a brooding thunderstorm is fun, exciting, and can lead to unanticipated results, like being thorough at bike maintenance. If clouds are thickening, and you are about to leave work, I highly recommend it.

Now That's A Bike Path

noreply@blogger.com (Will Handsfield) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 23:16:00 +0000

This weekend, the DC area had the grand opening of the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge bicycle/pedestrian path. Karen and I decided to skip the first day it was open (pictured below), and ride it today when it would be a little less crowded. Our first impression: Awesome, grade A work.

A couple observations on the new Southernmost bike connection between Virginia and MD. It's 12 feet wide, giving plenty of space to pass three wide groups and looky loos. It has three carve out areas to stop, sit, and enjoy a great view of the city. It has a soundwall near the Alexandria side that allows you to have a conversation without the roar of traffic. On the Maryland side, it's got a great spiral ramp similar the the one in Denver connecting the Highlands to Platte St, but with an extra loop, making it super fast and fun. There are lots of signs and informational displays to read. The landscaping is excellent.

If you are in the DC area, I highly recommend taking the trip down there, if only to see it. For the meantime, I think the best commuter benefit is it allows anyone in Alexandria to ride easily to National Harbor, and vice versa. In the long run, I hope Maryland does as good a job as Virginia in building trail networks, it could really help the area develop as a bike friendly quadrant of the metro area.

T-Storm Season

noreply@blogger.com (Will Handsfield) — Fri, 29 May 2009 03:38:00 +0000

Karen called me at work at about 5:40 to tell me the skies looked pretty dark to the West, and that I ought to think about heading out of work ASAP if I wanted to beat the storm. I consulted with the great interweb service, weather.com, which informed me that at 6:30, the region would be pummeled by thunderstorms, preceded by light rain. I got my stuff, computer included, and headed out the door, intent to beat the weather, and planning on finishing final emails of the day from home.

Wheeling out of the new bike cage (yes! my building put in a new Dero rack, and built a bike cage around it one day while my bike was parked there) the rain was light, as described by Weather.com, but that lasted all of a quarter block. The skies opened up and let loose. I commiserated with my fellow bike commuters on Connecticut (lots of us these days), and we agreed we had all made wise decisions, since it was only supposed to get worse in thirty minutes.

Hammered up the hill, storm worsening. Thunder peals and lightning flashes growing closer, starting at six "bananas" away, and nearing to three "bananas" away. I could feel water pouring off my bag and soaking my waistline, and simultaneously hoped the two pouches in between the exterior and my work MacBook would hold out another 10 minutes until I got home. I started tasting salt, and couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I wasn't riding hard enough to sweat, they hadn't salted the roads since March, so that ruled out spray. Then it became clear, it was the built up salt from my helmets padding running down my face and into my mouth. This is why I don't share helmets, I could at least be sure it was my own former sweat.

I got home with the downpour slightly lessening. By the time I put the bike away, got the computer away from the wet bag, and took off my wet clothes for the illustrative picture below, the rain had lightened even more:

It's about as wet as I've gotten in quite a while, to the point where I could wring out socks and pantlegs.

All in all, I had a blast and enjoyed every second of my ride home. Not that I want this every day, but once in a while, it's great to get soaked unexpectedly.

BikeDenver Metric Century - 5/30

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Barker) — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:04:00 +0000

BikeDenver is hosting its 4th annual Denver Metric Century on Saturday, May 30th. Ride Denver’s best paths with core members of BikeDenver. We'll meet at 9am in Wash Park. Then we’ll explore Cherry Creek, Highline Canal and the Platte River paths.

Experienced riders will be at the front, middle, and rear. We obey the laws and stop at all crossings, making sure that no one gets dropped, and all have a pleasant ride.

Includes a lunch stop and a “social conclusion” at the Vive Street Pub on 17th.

Contact bikerossmiller@gmail.com to RSVP or to ask questions.

Rides of Silence, & Otherwise

noreply@blogger.com (David Buchta) — Sat, 23 May 2009 12:50:00 +0000

This Wednesday I picked up a cycling buddy and drove out to Virginia Beach for the Ride of Silence going on there. I felt like a poser for driving to a bicycle event, but that shit is far, and through many un-enjoyable areas. I'll ride forever through safe, pretty, semi-quiet streets, but Virginia Beach doesn't have any of those things in abundance.

The Ride of Silence is "a silent slow-paced ride (max. 12 mph/20 kph) in honor of those who have been injured or killed while cycling on public roadways." It takes place all over the country and was started in 2003 after a cyclist was killed by a school bus mirror. By word of mouth 1,000 cyclists showed up to a memorial ride. The creator thought it would be a one time deal, however the idea caught on and now hundreds of locations across the country join in.

I've never done one of these before and knew only that we'd be rolling slow and that we weren't supposed to talk. I figured it'd be hard not to talk in a group ride, but before we started instructions were given to ride single-file and that definitely made it easier. If you've ever tried to talk to someone on a bike riding single file you know how frustrating it is.

They had black armbands for all of the riders but we showed up only a few minutes before the start and they had already run out. We signed a consent form, donned our helmets (my friend had brought one just in case; I don't think they would have let him ride without it) and were off. Despite the fair number of cyclists obviously shaky from a winter season sans-cycling or planted on indoor trainers we got into single file and out on the busy road without incident.

Our route was about 13 miles along quick and busy roads that show up as thick yellow lines in Google Maps instead of the thin white ones of smaller streets. The shoulder was clean and wide almost the entire distance and besides a tandem bike taking a spill very early on and getting split up by traffic lights there weren't any problems. The weather was perfect and the scenery was surprisingly pretty.

No one honked or asked us what we were doing (at least not in my end of the line) but one young woman did yell, "I looove bikes!" as a full car sped by. The pace stayed nice and slow and many different types of cyclists showed up, from shaved-legged serious types to people on cruisers and commuter bikes. A lot of people came out in full race kit looking ready to race, which I thought was a bit silly for a 10mph memorial ride.

I get bored easily, and the slow pace and silent cyclists got to me. I spent my time experimenting with different settings and strap configurations for my newly acquired camera to see what worked best for on-bike photography. I took 100 pictures and only kept about 17. Figuring out how to keep the camera attached to my body but still have the ability to move and point it wherever I needed was interesting. I didn't come to any definite conclusions, although I did get some awesome pictures of the ground, my hand, and a couple of my face where you could see perfectly up my nose and not much else.

Besides that, my buddy and I appeared to be the only fixed-gear riders in the crowd and found ourselves turning the whole ride into a subtle foot down contest. Track stands at stoplights during a memorial ride could seem a little inappropriate, but it broke up the oppressive atmosphere, at least for me. I know we were taking part in a kind of bicyclist's funeral procession, but I'm a firm believer that if you're doing something un-fun on a bike you're doing something seriously wrong. And if I were one of the faceless fallen friends the ride was meant to honor I'd want people to be enjoying time on their bikes, not trudging along all serious and emo with "Needle in the Hay" playing in their heads.

Once we got back to the starting point armbands were collected and people disbanded without much to-do. One of the riders (who was an elderly gentleman in full matching spandex and was at the front of the procession) yelled that if we were going to ride in a turn lane we'd have to stop and wait for traffic to pass before we could get back into traffic. He seemed upset. And that was basically it, no hanging out, no story sharing, no goodbyes. Maybe I'm used to my group rides being like Critical Mass and alley cats, but this thing was just blah. I don't want to talk smack about what I think is a lovely idea, but I won't be doing this again next year.

In more succinct and upbeat cycling news, the weather here has been awesome and I'm forming tan lines and getting used to the heat already. We had ourselves a bike race recently and for the first time I was the first one across the finish line, which felt rather awesome. A lot of cyclists are out and about and I've gotten over my grumpiness concerning them, at least for now. My kid is due any day now (Monday is the actual due-date) but already I'm looking at bike seats for him or day dreaming about riding around in the sun with him in one of those sling thingies. More on that as it develops.

Have a safe Memorial Day weekend, ride a lot!

- David

Bike to Work Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Will Handsfield) — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:11:00 +0000

Once a year, cyclists get a day of recognition, and in most of the lower 48, that day is today. Among the cognoscenti, it can be cause for derision with many new bike commuters dusting off their wheels and taking to the streets and paths for transportation for the first time as adults. This morning, my colleague Stephanie at Complete Streets while on her way to Freedom Plaza overheard a messenger grumbling "Bike to work day can suck my balls".

I don't think that messenger is appropriately appreciative of the best part of this fine day, all the free stuff. Perhaps it is because for every minor alleycat, Chrome, PBR, and anyone seeking to co-opt messenger culture hands out free product, but for the average commuter not enmeshed deeply into bike culture, the freebies come mostly on Bike to Work Day.

Here is what I picked up in between booth babe duties for Transportation for America at Freedom Plaza:

SmartWool gets top honors for their handouts. They were giving away 2 for 1 sock coupons, clip on 3 LED tail lights (including Chinese made PowTek batteries warning "May Explode or Leak Causing Personal Injury") and the best of all, they gave people on booth babe duty their choice of a pair of PhD socks or their new wool arm warmers (I took arm warmers).

ZipCar had a promo for $10 for a year of membership, which I signed up for immediately (normally it is $75), and they gave me an aluminum bottle and recycled pen for the trouble.

The Swiss continue their campaign to push their culture on us by handing out slap bracelet pant retention devices and choco-biscuits. I did rely on their generosity when I realized I needed to cut some twine to hang my banner, and my new friend Markus conveniently had (of course) a Swiss Army knife in his pocket.

Whole Foods was a big let down, offering only a coupon book that you can get in the front of the store any time you go, and a recipe card for Arctic Char.

I would have been satisfied with a whole fish, or even some fillets or steaks, not a recipe.

The organizers also provided water bottles, t-shirts and general good vibes. Mayor Fenty committed a bad faux pas by conspicuously wearing a Cycle Life polo shirt and hat to an event sponsored by City Bikes. I was a little surprised, and I can only imagine what his sponsorship deal must look like to compel him to appear in an official capacity at a bike event dressed in their garb (Note to self: If can't get sponsored because too slow, get elected instead).

The crowd was mostly commuters, and if there is one trend worth noting, it is that all the federal bureaucracies are producing their own kits these days. I saw US EPA and USDA represented by multiple jerseys, and I am aware of NASA and NOAA kits as well. I can't wait until HUD comes out with one, I'm soooo there. A few crazies showed up, easily identifiable by their "recumbant" bicycles, or the giant white rhinoceros carapice one of them had crafted for the top of his tricycle.

All in all, a day to be appreciated. Colorado, you are due in about a month.

Bike To Work Week Everywhere but Colorado

noreply@blogger.com (Will Handsfield) — Fri, 15 May 2009 01:15:00 +0000

For those living at altitude, it is bike to work week everywhere else, and tomorrow is Bike to Work Day. The reasons for this scheduling conflict are summed up by several posts from a year ago marveling at the volume of snowfall still common in early May.

For the rest of the country, however, spring is in full, and nothing makes a cyclist more excited to embrace the coming months on two wheels as a Chrome bag full off free stuff. Though I don't own a Chrome bag, my week has already kicked off to a good start. The Swiss people, in their kindness, hosted an event for cyclists at their embassy last night. They had great gifts for those in attendance, pant-leg retention devices which we used to call "Slap Bracelets" in the early 90s, and better still, an 8 ounce 85% cocoa Lindt Excellence choco-bar! We were informed by one of the panelists that the Swiss consume 25 lbs of chocolate per capita. I find this highly unlikely since the Swiss use the metric system, but I could believe 12 kilos, which is a damn lot of chocolate.

The highlight was Earl Blumenauer stopping by, telling anecdotes, and once again calling for a bike lane on Pennsylvania Ave. That would be some precedent.

Tomorrow is the big day, and I'll be at Freedom Plaza bright and early for setup at 7:00 AM. Last year, Brendan and I caused a controversy by calling BTWD "amateur day" or something. It's still a day for learning the ropes, but I will concede that I can be a snob about the process. I'm staying off the bike paths, mainly because I don't take any of them anyway, but also to provide a smidge more space for those just joining the bike commuting world.

Lastly, it seems like DDOT has been busy laying paint, and now we have a full bike lane from 18th up to 16th through Adams Morgan. I still don't know why there are huge gaps in the "network", I mean, when they paint new lanes, they must think about this, but maybe the political courage isn't there to take space from cars or parking in key spots. I'll just settle with a mild "meh" on the new stuff, and hope it all gets connected within the next year or two.

Healing Wheels Bike Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Barker) — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:59:00 +0000

There is a great, new ride coming up and I wanted to let you know about it. It's the first ever, Healing Wheels Bike Tour, benefiting the Inner City Health Center. The ride is right around the corner: June 13th to be exact. Check it out - there are a variety of ride lengths - and each provides an excellent opportunity to tour the scenic front range.

Unlike other rides... ALL the proceeds go to a non-profit! (Inner City Health Center was recently honored with a Non-profit of the Year Award.)

Vidi-Oh

noreply@blogger.com (David Buchta) — Sun, 10 May 2009 16:31:00 +0000

Apparently it's been a busy/slow couple of weeks for all us here a AYOBC. I know on my end it's been the former. Work is picking up, the new apartment still has boxes in random sections, and now that we have an account with the local video store we've been burning through movies and TV box sets like there's no tomorrow.

On the bike end of things, I've only been riding one or two days a week. My gal is 9 months pregnant, and the idea of trying to bike from work to the hospital is a little stressful. I don't think I'd make it in time. My friends assure me they'd leave work to take me if she went into labor during business hours, but half the time our schedules don't coincide.

I don't know any history behind this video or what's going on, but I liked it a lot and thought I'd share. Usually cops ignore us cyclists; this would be a welcome change. I don't know why they let all those ladies ride by in the beginning of the video though...

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend, stay safe and get tan!

- David

DC News and Some Charming Nostalgia

noreply@blogger.com (Will Handsfield) — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:32:00 +0000

I was riding back from yoga last night (the new instructor wasn't nearly as good, I had a harder time "turning the antenna inward" than usual) when I saw something cheerful. New bike lanes on 14th Street North of Columbia Heights! Of course the new stuff is strange in that it discontinues for arguably the busiest section of Columbia Heights between Newton and U streets, but at least it feels like somebody is thinking about cyclists over at city hall. So have hope, maybe we'll see some of the promised network expansions this summer.

I was forwarded this charming video, and couldn't help thinking that Amtrak, Denver RTD and other transit agencies could take a great lesson from what the Brits were doing in 1955 to encourage bicycle touring... dedicated cars with "rubberised hooks". Of course, to update, transit agencies should keep in mind the growing number of multi-modal commuters and provide a standing car you can ride in with these hooks.

I know this movie is somewhat staged, but nevertheless, it amazes me how much more organized this ride is than anything I've ever seen as a rider. Great to see that a lot of the things we are advocating for these days (towns that embrace density, trains that take bikes) are nothing new, just re-discovered.

Have a great weekend folks!

Bike Fashion Show photos from Green Fest

noreply@blogger.com (Nick Bohnenkamp) — Wed, 06 May 2009 23:45:00 +0000

I snapped some photos out in the hallway, after the bike fashion show at Green Fest this past weekend at the Colorado Convention Center. The show was pretty sweet. Good music, good emcee, and they had a ton of bikes, most of which were very different in their functionality.

This is only a handful of what was shown on stage. I wish I could have gotten them all.

Below is the final version of the bike that is going to be implemented as part of Denver's B-Cycle program.

Here's what the outside of the Convention Center looked like that day. And this doesn't count the many bikes parked by BikeDenver in their corral. Having worked at the Convention Center for a brief period, I can say I've never seen so many bikes there at one time.