Pedalaround

I'm Back! Back In The Saddle Again, With A Little Help From My Friends

2025-10-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

Last week, I finally took the advice of cycling friends who have encouraged me over the past several decades to explore rail trails. One of our two-wheeler pals, Nita Bernat, gave us the whole rundown over dinner more than a dozen years ago and shared a fat file folder of information she collected after she took the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP Trail) from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, MD.

Well, we finally dusted off Nita's GAP Trail folder and jumped at the chance last week to roll through some gorgeous Pennsylvania and Maryland countryside on one of the best rail trails in the United States.

See the change in elevation from town to town on the GAP Trail. Find out more on https://bikecando.com/c-and-o-map.aspx

What gave us the big push to make the 150-mile trek? We have to give a big shout out to Greg Gibbons and Kris Blum. A couple of months ago, my wife Ashley and I met up with them for grins and they shared their plans to join family members to ride the GAP. They could tell we were more than just interested, so they asked if we would join. Well, Heck yeah!

Kris and Greg rode the GAP Trail as a honeymoon trip three years ago, so they knew their way around and had even selected daily destination cities for us.

Day One - Pittsburgh to West Newton.
Day Two - Ohiopyle
Day Three - Rest at Ohiopyle and tour Fallingwater
Day Four - Rockwood
Day Five - Cumberland

Allow me to digress a bit right here

Kris and Greg got us rolling again.

The story wouldn't be complete without introducing you to our dear friends Greg and Kris. I'll start with Kris Blum and direct you to my Pedalaround Blog Post on Day 66 of My Car-Free Experiment, way back on Nov. 24, 2009. I was deep into cycling advocacy in Louisville and actively collected profiles of bike commuters like Kris for my blog Pedalaround. On that crisp autumn morning commute to work downtown, my first thought was that my eyes were fooling me. What was this? A female commuter? Nah. No way. I had been riding this route for several years by then and never ... But there she was, with panniers and all.

It took me a couple of blocks to catch up. I introduced myself and asked if I could put a brief profile of her in my Pedalaround blog. You can read it HERE. Not long after that, Kris and Greg began showing up on loosely organized rides with other like-minded fun seekers. They became great pals of ours. We've attended one another's weddings in recent years. So, we have more than just a love for cycling in common, but it all goes back to that morning when I flagged Kris down to ask about her commute.

More on Rail Trails

Rail trails are multi-use paths created from converted railway corridors.They provide safe routes for walking, biking, and horseback riding. Many rail trails connect communities and promote local tourism. They often feature beautiful landscapes, parks, and historical landmarks. Rail trails are environmentally friendly, encouraging outdoor recreation. According to the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, there are more than 2,100 rail trails across the U.S. covering more than 23,500 miles.

Our whole crew: Kris Blumm, Carol and Chris Gibbons, John Gibbons, Greg Gibbons, Ashley and me. We went a few miles off-trail to tour the Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece Fallingwater near Ohiopyle, PA. John drove up to join us and to take a day hike.

The Great Allegheny Passage annually sees an estimated 1.4 million visits, with about 200,000 of those being thru-riders like us, who complete the entire 150-mile trail. But don't let the numbers fool you. Traffic seems practically non-existent across the whole trail.

Even with the trail's growing popularity, traffic last week (Sept. 23-28) seemed light. The surface of the trail is mainly crushed limestone. Some parts of the path are paved with asphalt or concrete. Wooden boardwalks or bridges with edge barriers and railings are also part of the passage. In all, the trail crosses 20 bridges and runs through five tunnels. The route follows three rivers: the Casselman, Youghiogheny and Monongahela as it snakes around mountains and valleys through the Laurel Highlands.

We stopped for a breather in one of the many tunnels on the passage.

Hills? What Hills?

On this subject there's good news and some even better news. The good news: no hills like the ones you see on rural roads. The better news is that you're riding where freight and passenger trains once rumbled. Heavy trains don't do hills. The average incline on the Great Allegheny Passage is less than 1 percent. You can thank the Pennsylvania & Lake Erie Line for blasting through rock in the mid-1800s to make your way easy. That's not to say you won't have some uphill stretches. In fact, heading South, it's almost all uphill to Rockwood and the Continental Divide. Then, hang onto your helmet for a 17 mph coast into Cumberland. WOOOOO HOOOOO!

Rain? No Worries!

I don't know about you, but nothing connects me with my inner child more than riding in a light rain. On the GAP Trail you're protected from the rain by a thick canopy of trees that act as a constant umbrella. The result for us was a cool mist or drizzle every day of our trip. It gave every view the muted and serene appearance of a Monet painting. The temperatures were mild, so we never got chilled. In fact, we shed our windbreakers much of the time. If we had been dealt cooler temperatures the rain may have been a bummer, but what I'm saying here is this: Do not let a rainy forecast scare you off. The surface drains quickly. Pack appropriately. Loose layers, right?

Surprise! Surprise!

On our way from Ohiopyle to Rockwood, we encountered a recently fallen tree across the trail and several northbound riders assessing the situation. With our crew and theirs working together, we managed to wrestle the whole thing out of our way. The trail is routinely maintained by volunteers and the Rails-To-Trails Conservancy, but riders are good about clearing the odd fallen branch, too.

On The Rocks

Twigs and trees and other debris are hazards to watch out for, but no one can adequately prepared for a rockslide, As we were clearing that tree from the trail, one of the northbound riders shared the news about a rockslide that would block our way into Rockwood from Ohiopyle. A road barrier was set up to prevent anyone from even trying to pass through the hazard. The rider said a shuttle would take us up and around the rockslide for a donation. When we arrived at the impasse, we met the friendly shuttle driver in his 15-passenger van with a beefy bike carrier on the back, but we decided to give the six-mile uphill detour our best effort before giving in.

A rockslide caused a six mile uphill detour. I tip my helmet to those who managed the hellish climb to Rockwood.

Four of our crew are riding lightweight road bikes and carrying a lighter load, while Ashley and I have steel touring bikes fairly loaded. Now, I'm not one to make excuses here, but at 74 I have at least a good decade on everyone else in our cohort, I've been sidelined by some health issues in recent years and I haven't trained as I should have for a 150-mile bike trip. So, just sayin', it was not for lack of effort, but my Long Haul Trucker needed a bit more horsepower than I could muster to make that six mile climb to Rockwood. Just as I threw in the towel, the shuttle volunteer Crawford came into sight. I have no regrets. As the Bard himself wrote in Henry IV, "Discretion is the better part of valour."

Double The Fun

If you're ready for an even longer trail adventure you can continue on the C&O Towpath, which runs 185 miles from Cumberland MD to Washington DC. It follows the Potomac River along the route of the historic C&O Canal. The trail is located in Maryland, following the state line just across the river from Virginia and West Virginia for much of the way. We'll save that one for another time.

Getting To The Trailhead And Back

We drove the six hours from Louisville to Pittsburgh, parked at the First Avenue "T" Garage and stayed at the very cool Even Hotel. The trailhead, hotel and garage are just a few city blocks from one another. The GAP starts at Point State Park, at the confluence of three rivers, sort of. You can ride the GAP from South to North if you like – or pick a section in the middle. We just chose to ride from Pittsburgh to Cumberland and hired Wilderness Voyagers to shuttle all of us with our bikes back to the start.

A bronze medallion in the pavement at Point State Park marks the confluence of the

Monongahela, Ohio and Allegheny Rivers, our stating point.

Parking

You'll find a full list of parking in every town on the GAP and C&O Trails HERE. If you start at Pittsburgh as we did, contact the Garage Manager/Attendant on duty, if you intend to leave your vehicle for more than a day. You should also download and complete the Extended Stay Customer Information Form.

Where To Stay

I'll be brief here. You can use AirBnB and other booking sites, or use the GAP Trail Website to find lodging and camping along the route. We booked homes with beds for all of us and shared costs, making it a very reasonable and comfortable trip. Be aware that many of the towns on the route have populations of 1,000 or less. Ohiopyle, for example, has a full-time population of 38, leaving one to just imagine how

Our AirBnB home in Ohiopyle included garage parking for our bikes, a hot tub more.

such a great little village even exists with so few citizens. It seems to be thriving and the people we met were, without exception, friendly, helpful and welcoming. I could go on and on about the food we found and the service we enjoyed. People on the GAP Trail appreciate the cyclists, kayakers, anglers and campers who keep the area lively.

Online Resources

Click the blue hyperlinks in this blog post. They'll lead you to many other links and phone numbers so you can find everything you need to create your own rail trail adventure.

Grace. Peace. Bicycle Grease.

Remember, every lane is a bike lane.
Share the road.
..........__o
..........\<,
.......( )/ ( )
pedalaround.blogspot.com
Kirk Kandle

GRACE. PEACE. BICYCLE GREASE. Every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

2024-07-10T11:06:00.000-07:00

My Car-Free Experiment Officially Ended a Decade Ago.
And Still I Ask, Who Can Be Free of the Tyranny of the Automobile?

The Big Four Bridge had finally been turned into a bike/ped river crossing and blew away all estimates for use by pedestrians and bicyclists in it's first month. Those of us who relentlessly pushed for facilities like this were not surprised.

This post is essentially a rehash of the one I wrote 10 years ago as I approached the fifth anniversary of My Car-Free Experiment on 09/09/2014, it seemed reasonable to ask whether The Experiment revealed anything of value. If so, what? And what difference does it make? Ten years ago, I wrote, "I'd love to have your feedback. Send email to [kirkwrites@gmail.com].

Back in 2014, I had completed a half-decade exploring alternative transport. Friends asked, "So, when does this quit being an experiment and become a lifestyle?"

That moment arrived on 09/09/2014, when I announced to my dozens of blog readers:

"On Sept. 9, I will end this experimental phase of my car-free life. Next month I'll begin seriously evaluating outcomes and their application for the future. This does not mean that I'm running out to buy a car or anything. It does, however, mean that I will be celebrating."

Yes, I've been celebrating car-free life every day, but as in most of life's pursuits, car-free life cannot be an all-or-nothing proposition. Just look out your window. Like it or not, the automobile is a part of your daily life. My best buddy Don Burch calls it "the tyranny of the automobile." And he rode his bike to work doing what? Selling cars for the local Audi dealer. You'll be hard pressed to find a more vivid example of cognitive dissonance than our love/hate relationship with automotive transportation.

1,803 days car-free, and then what?

After four years, 11 months and 8 days without a car, I faced another challenging winter, but I discovered the Louisville equivalent of "Slugging."

Slugging is a term used to describe a unique form of commuting found in the Washington, DC area sometimes referred to as "Instant Carpooling." In my case, when I didn't feel like cycling 14 miles to work I could either take an express bus or catch a ride with Mike or Treavor. It's good to have options in life, right? Even better, is to have great friends who don't mind tagalongs like me. If I share a ride in Louisville, KY I guess I'm a Louisville Slugger?

After a 14-mile commute home on Aug. 14, 2014.

The summer of 2014 was mercifully mild, so I racked up more than 25 miles a day commuting from Clark Mansion on my bicycle – and relied less on my gracious motoring friends.

Motorists taught me something every day

Here's a scene from 10 years ago, but the same sort of thing still plays out every day where I live.

The Five Es of creating a bike friendly community are Engineering, Education, Enforcement, Encouragement and Evaluation. Recently I encountered two motorists who tried to give me an education. Both of them rolled down their passenger windows and drove at my speed while explaining in shouted expletives why I should NOT ride in the traffic lane on Shelbyville Road (US Highway 60).
Another angry motorist on westbound Jefferson St. near Nulu really blew her top and threatened me for no apparent reason. I thought Subaru was all about the love! And at the risk of sounding like Dr. Phil, I can't help wondering what's behind all that anger.
TRUE/FALSE: Am I allowed to ride my bike in the traffic lane? One of the two motorists was so sure I was wrong that she used her cellphone to call the cops on me – while still operating her motor vehicle and lecturing me! I smiled because I suddenly felt so much safer just knowing that the LMPD was on the way! *

*So, what I have learned from motorists is this: Beware of inattentive and over-attentive motorists!

FLASHBACK ALERT!

The following is 10 year old news.

Outdoor Magazine once Named Louisville in Sweet 16 Cities List
OK. We have our ups and downs here in Derby City. When the League of American Bicyclists put Louisville at the bottom of their bike friendly cities list about a decade ago, we were all bummed out. Then along comes Metro Councilman Jim King's proposal to tax bicycles and cut funding for bikeways and bike sharing that then Mayor Greg Fischer proposed. Then there's Waterfront Management's threat of restricting bicycle traffic on the Big Four Bridge. What next? Honestly! Can an emerging bike town get a break?
YES! Along comes the popular and highly respected Outdoor Magazine with its list of 16 Greatest Places to Live in America. Louisville was ranked #8 because we had access to adventure, healthy eating options, bike lanes, and green spaces. We have it all – well almost.
"... what the [Louisville] population of 605,000 may be most proud of is Louisville’s future. 'There are so many cool things in the works,' says Derek Fetko, a road and mountain biker. 'The biggest is the Parklands of Floyds Fork,' a 4,000-acre park being developed right outside town." – Outside Magazine, August 12, 2014.
Local bicyclists may know Derek Fetko from On Your Left Cycles, one of my favorite bike shops here in Louisville. He and his business partner, Drew Hartman put together the touring bike I used to traverse North America in 2010. He makes a great point. We may be struggling to get our city to support active transportation options, but the conversation is happening. There really is a lot in the works. We have a great future to be proud of! Thanks, Derek.

OK, Back to the Future ...

Here we are, 10 full years beyond the experimental phase. What happened to that great future we were so proud of? Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the Parklands notwithstanding, Louisville has slipped – no, plunged – in the bike friendly cities lists. Take a look at the list here: Bikes Belong Explore City Rankings .

While I was busy in the past decade, banking my 401(k), Social Security and Medicare, moving into a house, marrying Ashley Willingham Kandle and finally retiring in 2021, we've taken a rather hard fall. We have some road diets and bike lanes, but the folks at Bikes Belong aren't the only ones who aren't so favorably impressed with Derby City In the past 10 year's, I've visited a couple of cities overseas that have amazingly diverse transportation options, including respectable bike/ped infrastructure.

Last April, for example, we walked all over Madrid, Spain. We didn't know before we visited there that Madrid ranks among the most bike friendly cities in the world – number 159 out of 2,579. There, you have trams, metro transit, subways, lots of cars, motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, and pedestrians all sharing the space. And it all seems so effortless.

But here in the heart of these United States we clearly do not have the will or desire to exercise freedom of choice. We have no transportation choices to speak of. We drive a car, or we drive a truck. Here's the result. We get a single digit score of 9, as if we did not even show up for the test. Our ranking is in the bottom 12 percent of cities. Louisville is even at the bottom of the cities in our own state!

I keep asking this question: Why, in the most powerful and prosperous nation on earth, do we settle for a transportation monoculture – the automobile? Please think about it.

Meanwhile,

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
..........__o
..........\<,
.......( )/ ( )
Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

This book makes more sense every day

2024-03-27T08:12:00.000-07:00

Remember, every lane is a bike lane.
Share the road.
..........__o
..........\<,
.......( )/ ( )
pedalaround.blogspot.com

What Do Flight Crews and Bicyclists Have In Common? Wheels!

2022-02-20T12:38:00.012-08:00

Yes, I'm a longtime advocate for human-powered transportation, but I'm also married to a Southwest Airlines flight attendant. In our nearly nine years together, I've learned that airline crew members don't just make a living up there in the sky. They spend a lot of time on the ground running to and from airports, hotels and maybe a crash pad (home away from home shared with other crew members). And much like a touring cyclist, they carry everything they need for their trip on two wheels. But they're not 700cm bicycle wheels. They're tiny little roller bag wheels, a lot like the ones on roller blades.

You've probably seen news reports of flight attendants taking a heavy load of abuse from certain members of the flying public. It's criminal. There is no occasion when a passenger on an airline should behave as we have seen lately in some of the atrocious, publicized scenes. What the hell is wrong with these people? Still, you can't imagine the abuse those little wheels take every day they're called into service.

As a bicyclist, I've learned a thing or two about wheels and how to take care of them. If you don't keep them free of grunge and rust they won't last long, but with routine maintenance they keep spinning and grinning. (Is it going too far for me to anthropomorphize wheels?) I love me some wheels. I like keeping them happy. When my wheels are happy I'm happy. When they get gunked up, I end up on the side of the road and making expensive repairs.

But I digress. Back to my sweet angel's roller bag and the wheels that keep it going: I wonder how many airline crew members have kept a bag longer than a year or two without performing some regular maintenance. Those bags can be expensive to replace, but I would wager that hundreds or even thousands of great bags go to landfills every year, when all they really needed was a little TLC now and then.

Think about it. Those little wheels get dragged through salty, slushy, Chicago sidewalks. The bearings get corrupted with sand and grit from Seattle to Ft. Lauderdale. But worst of all is the junk they attract off the floors of the airports and aircraft themselves. It's almost too gross to talk about. Every time I overhaul my wife's roller bag wheels, I have to first remove dense wads of human hair that end up wrapped so tightly around the wheels' axles that I have to cut it away. In time, the human hair manages to restrict the wheel and stop it from rolling entirely. I have seen a wheel so frozen in place that it formed a flat spot where it was ground to dust by sidewalks and parking lot pavement.

Every time I overhaul my wife's roller bag wheels, I have to first remove dense wads of human hair that end up wrapped so tightly around the wheels' axles that I have to cut it away.

I have ordered replacement wheels from the bag manufacturer, but unless the internal bearings fall out or the wheel gets severely damaged the overhaul process is fairly simple and requires no special skill.

Tools needed:

A bicycle multi-tool – Borrow one from an avid cyclist. Who knows? He or she may just volunteer to help out.

A can of WD-40 – By the way, this is NOT a lubricant. WD stands for Water Displacement. WD-40 is a great rust and grime remover and leaves surfaces free of old lubricants.

A can of HDX Weather Resistant Outdoor Lubricant – You can find this or some other outdoor lubricant at your local big box home center or hardware store. Do not use common 3-in One oil which will actually add to the gunk because it attracts dirt and grime.

A couple of rags – I prefer microfiber rags I buy at the hardware store in my neighborhood. I throw them in the wash by themselves and use them dozens of times.

An old toothbrush – This will get most of the contaminants out of crevices.

A small plastic leftover container – You'll need this when you douse the parts with WD-40 and then apply the lubricant.

10-Step Wheel Overhaul Process:

Cover a table or workbench with old newspapers, paper grocery bags or a large garbage can liner.
Place the roller bag on the covered table with the wheels where you can reach them. If the wheels do not look like the ones pictured here, you may not be able to repair them. Your best bet is to check with the manufacturer for help with repair or replacement. Some bags have four wheels that swivel. You may need to replace them or replace the bag.
Find the axle bolt head. Use a bicycle multi-tool to remove the bolt by inserting the appropriate hex wrench or star wrench and turning counter-clockwise.
Remove the axle and the wheel. You may need to use a standard size screwdriver to pry the wheel out of the wheel housing. Be careful not to let the bearings and bushings fall out of place.
Carefully pull away the bushings from both sides of the wheel. You may want to use surgical-type gloves for this part. You may find lots of hair wrapped around the bushings. Remove all the hair and gunk from the bushings, axles and wheels.
Place all the parts in a shallow plastic kitchen leftover container and spray liberally with WD-40. Spray the WD-40 directly into the wheel hub crevices. Rust and dirt will probably pour out the other side.
Remove the four bushings, two axles and wheels from the plastic container and wipe everything off to remove the WD-40. Set all the parts aside on newspaper or plastic. Rinse the leftover container and wipe it out.
Place all the parts back in the leftover container and liberally apply lubricant so it can penetrate the wheel hubs and reach the internal bearings. After a few minutes flip the wheels over and do the same. Allow the parts to sit in the lube for a few minutes. Have a cup of coffee or something.
Wipe excess lube from all the parts. Re-assemble the wheels with a bushing on both sides of each wheel. Place the wheels in their housings being careful not to let the bushings get out of alignment with the hubs.
Push the axle through the outside housing and the wheel. It should thread into the inner housing wall. Tighten each axle into place as it was when you started. Do not over-tighten. You may be threading the axle into plastic.

Ashley's 10 year old roller bag.

NOTE to the flying public: Treat the crew of that aircraft with a little kindness and respect. They go through a lot of preparation, training and sacrifice to make sure you have a safe trip wherever you're headed. They spend a lot of time away from home just so you can get back home to your friends and family.

NOTE to airline crew members: Show that roller bag a little love and you'll be amazed at how much faster it will go with a whole lot less effort.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
..........__o
..........\<,
.......( )/ ( )
Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

The Bicycle is Timeless Like The Wheel Itself

2021-07-10T09:40:00.004-07:00

With my 70th birthday just around the corner, I guess it's time to face the facts. I'm not a kid anymore, even though my inner child keeps saying, "Let's ride bikes!" And now that I've retired from the healthcare business, where I sat at a desk day after day, at home, throughout the COVID pandemic, my response to little Kirkie will most often be, "Sure! Why not? Let's roll!"

I'm admittedly two-faced. The blogger on the left
keeps begging me to ride bikes.

For decades, I've been a vocal advocate for cycling. The evidence is abundant that in every place where bicycling takes hold, the health and wellbeing of people is measurably improved. Bicycling is good for our bodies and good for our communities. It's good for personal wealth as well as local economies. And one more thing: Cycling can slow the aging process. At this stage of my life, that means a lot. I have a two year old grandson I hope to ride bikes with before too long.

So, at the risk of revealing too much of my emerging geezer, I'll probably be addressing my fellow Boomers from time to time, here at Pedalaround. If you're a cyclist of a certain age and want to share your story, let me know and I might devote some space here.

My apologies for ghosting you for the past couple of years. It's just that I have been hunkered down like most of you. I've been working from home, so nix the daily bike commute. But now that I'm off the clock, I hope to be posting more regularly. Stay tuned.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
..........__o
..........\<,
.......( )/ ( )
Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

Forecast: Transportation in a Post-COVID-19 World

2020-04-26T11:09:00.425-07:00

Worldwide pandemic grips mobility.
So, where do we go when the virus lets go?

We're all living in stranger-than-fiction times. Many of us are fortunate enough to be working at home. Too many others have been furloughed or laid off. The streets are eerily quiet. The white vapor trails of commercial airlines that ordinarily criss-cross the skies are mostly gone. My neighborhood sidewalks are a parade route with a steady stream of dog walkers and baby buggy pushers, joggers and walkers. Electric cars aren't so rare. We''re told that the automobile builders are scrambling to go all-electric within the next few decades. Oil prices are in negative territory, meaning oil companies would have to pay someone to take a barrel of crude. And while gasoline prices are amazingly low at the pump, no one is lining up to buy gas. We're stuck in park. It's not our style. Our culture for most of the past century has been GO! GO! GO! Not anymore. Not on your life.

I wrote that long paragraph above, almost a year ago. Today, only about 60 percent of the 300 million US residents have received a dose of COVID 19 vaccine. What is this pandemic telling us? Have you thought about it? Well, I have. Here are a few of the messages I've been getting:

1. Our 21st Century land use is going to change dramatically now that we have learned that we do just fine without office towers and midtown parking garages, not to mention the long commute we all hate. For almost a year, we've been rolling out of bed and across the hall to fire up the laptop. Some have moved to the mountains or the beach. The boss may never know or care. So, what will we do with all those towers abandoned by banks and insurance companies? Convert them to low-cost luxury apartments with ground floor retail?

2. Good thing I got a puppy early-on in the pandemic. He's the only thing that gets me out of the house! I'm almost 70, so I don't take many chances. I stay away from most shopping centers. I still shop local and order everything I need online – from books and burgers to groceries and wine. It's all just a few clicks away, and the delivery fees and tips are offset by our cost savings on car maintenance and gas. I want my small, local retailers to survive this pandemic until the day when I can walk in not looking like a masked bandit. The Malls, where I've been a stranger for decades, are really taking a hit. I keep hearing about major retailers closing stores and boosting their online presence. So, what will become of those acres of parking and expansive retail showrooms? Again, why not use our collective imagination to figure out how to repurpose the Mall. Would be a waste to tear them down, but all that asphalt could be reclaimed as green space, community gardens, orchards. Lord knows we could use more trees. Did you know that Oxmoor Center and Mall St. Matthews were potato fields just 70 years ago?

3. Is the drive-thru becoming a thing of the past? Postmates. Door Dash. Uber. Lift. I can see a day when we don't all feel the need to sit in line at McDonalds for a breakfast sandwich. Instead, we just ask Alexa, Echo, or Siri, or Google to "order my breakfast special." Fewer cars on the road. Shorter lines at the drive-thru. Cleaner air. Faster service. Lower car maintenance. Domino's Pizza has turned their iPhone app into an amazing interactive experience. The app shows your order progress on a graphical display, all the way from the oven to your door. All hands-free.

4. Our homes and neighborhoods are worth investment. We're spending a lot more time at home, so why not invest in all those projects that have been ignored? Building supplies, lumber, siding, appliances and just about everything related to home improvement is either back-ordered or more expensive due to demand, but it still makes sense to upgrade – especially if we're all cooped up in our homes as workplace and play space/sleep space.We're paying attention to that parade of people and dogs and baby buggies. We're on the front porch more. We notice the green lights that signal loss, as well as the latest landscaping that shows us our neighbors are taking pride in their homes, too. We're sharing news. When someone tried to break into my neighbor's garage, another neighbor called me. I walked over and asked what he was doing. I took his picture and shared it on the Nextdoor app and called my police district. A few days ago, another neighbor sent me a text from out of town and asked if I would grab a package off her porch and take it inside. She sent me her keypad lock code. Done. Seems to me that we have great opportunities to communicate and help one another. Social media ain't all bad.

5. Getting back to normal doesn't look so appealing now. Sure, I'm glad at last to hug my 93 year old mom and enjoy all the big family gatherings we've always had. But if and when we all get vaccinated and we get the green light signaling defeat of COVID 19 – including its growing number of variants – I hope we have the wisdom to recognize what the pandemic has taught us. We need to pay attention to the opportunities that a once-in-a-century disaster has shown us. Will we appreciate the way it has slowed us down to human scale? Will we jump back into our traffic jams and complain about the snarl? After all, will we see that sometimes we ARE the things we hate?

6. Now is the time to make the needed changes we've been moving too fast to understand until now – if we will just stop, look, and listen. I know that sounds like a bit of Sesame Street logic but it's true. How can we capture new realities for ourselves based on this rare experience of actually slowing down and looking at ourselves, the world we live in, and the improvements we desperately need? Not just so we're better prepared for the next pandemic, but to improve our lives, our democracy, our planet.

How is this virus speaking to you?

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
..........__o
..........\<,
.......( )/ ( )
Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

Thoughts on buying a bicycle - How can something this simple get so complicated?

2018-05-27T17:11:00.002-07:00

How many bikes have you owned? Think back to childhood and visualize each of them. For me, the list is pretty long. The first four bikes I rode as a child were purchased for me. My dad swapped a bowling ball for my first real bicycle, a Schwinn Panther. It was way too big for me as a seven year old, but I rode it anyway. I couldn't help myself. It was just such a cool bike!

As an adult, I can count a baker's dozen – bikes that I myself purchased. Three were "project" bikes, vintage classics I fixed up and eventually donated to charity. So that leaves 10 bicycles I purchased for personal recreation or transportation, dating back to 1970.

Along the way, I sold a few bicycles in order to afford to buy other bikes. I gave one to my son when he moved to Colorado years ago.

The Pashley Roadster Sovereign 2010 is a piece of art and a durable commuter.

Today, I still own and regularly ride six of the10 bicycles that I purchased as an adult. I keep them clean and well maintained so they double as a sculpture collection in my home. And over the decades, those bicycles have rewarded me with good health, enormous energy savings, and countless miles of smiles. I haven't calculated the total amount spent in constant dollars on the 10 bicycles I bought as an adult over the past five decades, but the average purchase price was about $750. The most expensive was $2,000 (actually, a gift from some very generous friends who believe it's better to give than to receive. Imagine that!)

Thoughts on buying a bike

Over the years, friends have come to me with questions when they got the bug to buy a bicycle. In most cases, they haven’t been on a bike much since childhood. There’s a big difference between the bike as a child’s toy and the adult experience of riding a bicycle, whether for recreation or transportation. I’ve gone shopping with dozens of adults in search of the right bike for their needs. I find joy in serving as a sort of matchmaker. The bicycle has a way of reconnecting people with their inner child. It can break through the tyranny of the automobile by encouraging adults to use their own power for short trips. Here are some quick tips based on my own experience and the good fortune of friends who have discovered the joy of cycling.

The Brompton P6 folds up and fits under my desk at work.

General Guidelines on where to look

Don’t buy a dept store bike.
Don’t buy online (unless you find a rare unicorn)
Your local bike shop is a valuable resource
Test ride lots of bikes before you buy

First decide why you want a bicycle

Fitness around the neighborhood, in the parks on, organized group rides?
How long and far do you plan to go?
Transportation to the coffee shop, commuting to work, for errands with cargo
Touring long distance, supported or loaded and self-contained
Trail riding - sometimes call mountain biking

How much to spend

My great grandfather told my dad, "There are two prices for oats:"

Oats before the horse has eaten them
Oats after the horse has eaten them

Price varies greatly, but brands are competitive within each segment: road/fitness/hybrid/comfort/touring/racing/BMX/tandem/folding

Even the base models sold by competitive brands are great bikes and will outlast you if you take care of them. You can spend anywhere from $450 to $4,500 and up.

On a recent vacation to North Carolina, I purchased this excellent bike from a Facebook Marketplace seller, saving thousands compared to the cost of a similar new model. I do not recommend buying bikes on the Internet unless you know exactly what you are looking for.

New or used?

Buy new if you can possibly afford it. Your new bike comes with a bike shop and a mechanic
Used bikes are a mixed bag with lots of junk and a few pearls
Even the pearl is no good if it is the wrong size or style of bike for you

Bike Fit?

Bike fitting is more than just stand-over height and seat height. A good bike shop will make sure the bike fits you. (Then why not just go buy that exact bike online? Very unlikely, but miracles happen!)

Women-specific design is a real thing. If you're a woman, don't just think a smaller frame is a universal fit. Try bikes that are specifically built for women.

My first adult bicycle purchase was this 1970 Schwinn Varsity with a carrier rack, generator and lights for $118. I rode this bike for nearly four decades before selling it for $50. It's probably still zooming around town somewhere.

If it looks like you're getting serious about this

Save until you have funds to buy a better bike than you can now afford. You will never regret buying a better bike, but later on you will regret buying a bike that was just barely good enough.

Make sure you have considered all the other stuff you'll need

Floor pump with an accurate gauge
Tools for minor adjustments
Patch kit, extra tubes
Rear rack for carrying cargo if shopping or commuting
Fenders if commuting
Lights, front and rear for visibility (USB rechargeable)
Reflective road-worker type vest if riding in heavy traffic much
Helmet -correctly fitted. (You always look hotter in a helmet.
Bicycle carrier for the back of your car. All kinds. Some require a receiver hitch. Great for taking multiple bikes on vacation or to Parks
Oil for chain
Frame pump in case you get a flat on the road.
TRAINING/MENTORING – Ride in traffic with others who have been doing it for years and you will begin to understand why it’s safer than riding on the sidewalks. Join a local bike club or sign up for confident cycling classes offered in your area.

Visit a local bike shop for a lot more information that will help you get back into the joy of cycling.

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PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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pedalaround.blogspot.com

Do We Want a Healthy City or NOT? Our Sidewalks Say '"This Town's For Losers" It Makes Me Sick!

2017-09-23T12:39:00.000-07:00

The Centers of Disease Control, the World Health Organization, US Health and Human Services, the American Medical Association, the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association, your own doctor, Mayor Greg Fischer ... Just about anyone you ask will tell you that one of the best ways to stay healthy is to use active transportation – your own human power – for short trips. So, wouldn't it just make perfect sense to roll out the red carpet for local citizens willing to walk, ride bikes and use public transportation? It's the cheapest and easiest way to improve public health.

I'm not talking about a high tech solution. It's nothing new. It's common sense. So why are scenes like this one still all too common?

It ain't rocket surgery, people. This picture doesn't say, "Good for you! Thanks for staying healthy, saving energy, reducing traffic congestion and air pollution!" This picture says, "You're a loser. Why aren't you driving to work like every other first class citizen?"

A cynical person might believe that the health care system representing a sixth of our nation's GDP, along with the auto manufacturing, big oil, and the highway departments all want nothing more than to perpetuate a motoring transportation monoculture at the expense of you and me. So why allocate public funds for the few losers who get around on foot? I prefer not to subscribe to conspiracy theories. I prefer to believe that scenes like this one are common because of a certain blindness that comes when decision makers no longer look at their cityscape from a human scale perspective, at human speed.

Suggestion: Public policy makers and corporate C-suite leaders need to freeze their car keys and start walking routinely in the heart of our cities. More of them need to quit zooming in and out of our central cities at rush hour. More of them need to imagine what our cities would look like if we made walking, biking and public transit the preferred means of transport. How can we expect to have a healthy and wealthy community if we don't even have the imagination to find a way to finance the very basic things known to make us healthy – things like sidewalks?

Grace. Peace. Bicycle Grease!

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

Branden Klayko Building Castles Way Up High

2017-06-18T19:37:00.000-07:00

One of Louisville's best advocates and a brilliant observer, writer, architect and friend has passed away. His Broken Sidewalks blog was loaded with keen insights. Branden saw Louisville and the world through a uniquely optimistic lens that showed us the hidden potential of our built environment. He taught me to be more observant. I will miss him.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

Louisville Celebrates Bike To Work Day

2017-05-19T06:25:00.000-07:00

We get a big welcome at Fourth Street Live!

Gay Windsor is the Queen of Biking to Work and everywhere else! She's been retired since 1988. At 89 years young, Gay knows all about how to get around on two wheels.

Denise Greer (left) regularly rides from Jeffersonville, IN, across the Big Four Bridge. .Mike Sewell is an engineer at Gresham, Smith and Partners. Kate Holwerk is with Louisville Metro Department of Public Works, and a Bike To Work organizer..

The weather couldn't be better! And I got to meet the parents of Rolf Eisinger, Louisville's foremost champion for multi-modal transport.

Grace. Peace. Bicycle Grease!

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

A Whale Amongst Minnows

2017-04-18T20:44:00.001-07:00

My big old Pashley Roadster Sovereign is a joy to ride.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

How Cycling Can Save The World – Another New Book Tells A Familiar Story of Slow Revolution

2017-04-18T19:58:00.000-07:00

We're preaching to the choir here. I know you're already aware that the humble bicycle combined with other human-powered transport can transform individual lives, communities, and nations. The air is cleaner. The streets are less congested. People have better health and money in their pockets when we use cars less and rely on our own power more. I've been car free for nearly eight years now. Long before that, my old Volvo 940 rarely moved from its parking spot. I finally sold it on 09-09-2009. I used this blog to trumpet "My Car-Free Experiment" until it was no longer an experiment. Now it's My Car-Free Experience.

This Pedalaround blog has been silent for about a year while I have continued my field research, mostly just commuting by bicycle on my Brompton folding bike. It's been a great ride. I ran through a set of Schwalbe Marathon tires and wore the bearings out of two pedals using my tiny bicycle as my main form of transportation.

If you look back through this blog, you're going to find a lot of the same old themes. I continue to wonder why more people haven't turned their backs on the tyranny of the automobile. I was confident throughout the Great Recession that the bicycle would take hold as a great way to weather the worst economy since the 1930s. Who wouldn't love to save $10k per year by going car free? Or at least save some part of that expense by cutting back on using the car for short trips.

My gigantic bookcase has a whole section devoted to books about bikes and the virtues of cycling to fatten wallets and skinny waistlines while enriching communities and cutting health care costs. Now I find yet another book preaching the same gospel. This time it's "How Cycling Can Save The World," by Peter Walker, a journalist for The Guardian, a blogger, and one of the fifty most influential people in British cycling. I found a review in Fast Company magazine. You can read the article here.

“If cycling is indeed going to save the world, it won’t be the Lycra-clad road warriors who’ll be doing it. The big changes–and they can be huge–happen when a nation doesn’t see cycling as a hobby, a sport, a mission, let alone a way of life. They happen when it becomes nothing more than a convenient, quick, cheap way of getting about, with the unintended bonus being the fact that you get some exercise in the process,” the author declares.

The slow revolution

Here in Louisville, just last Friday, our Mayor Greg Fischer announced a big investment in LouVelo, the bike sharing system we've anticipated for nearly 10 years. Louisville's Humana, a health benefits company, planted the earliest seeds in the bike share movement in 2008. The company has maintained three bike stations for its downtown employees to use anytime. But Humana's headquarters city is one of the last of the progressive mid-size cities tin the US o provide bikes for its residents and visitors. The car culture flourishes here in Derby City. The wheel turns ever so slowly.

Mayor Greg Fischer with sponsors and cycling advocates announcing LouVelo.

Still, it's a revolution. And no matter how slow, we are seeing changes in the way people view cycling. Those of us who use bicycles every day already know how cycling can save the world. For us, the noblest invention has already transformed life as we know it.

Thanks for tuning in.

Grace. Peace.

Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround

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Enjoy the ride home.

pedalaround.blogspot.com

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

My Car-Free Experience 09.09.09 - 01.02.2016

2016-01-02T18:10:00.000-08:00

After 2,306 days without a car, what next?

Each morning, I wake up and check the weather and traffic conditions just as millions of Americans do every day. I consider whether to wear a jacket or several layers and gloves. I decide on my route to work. I start my day by walking. I might take my bike, ride a bus, or catch a ride with a friend in return for gas money.

A few snapshots from My Car-Free Experiment.

One thing is certain. I won't be running out to the garage to start the car. I don't own a car. I don't need to own a car. I don't want to own a car. But not because I hate cars, or can't afford one. Are you kidding? I love cars. I grew up in the fifties and sixties with all the great muscle cars - the Mustangs, Stingrays, Cameros, Firebirds, GTOs, and all the rest. I built model hot rods and dreamed of owning a really fast sports car when I grew up. Then I grew up.

Perhaps even more than the average car-owning American, I deeply appreciate the comfort and convenience an automobile can offer. I enjoy riding with friends and relatives when they drive their cars and we're headed to the same destinations. And in the past six years, I have driven a car on a handful of occasions. I'm not against cars. Rather, I favor the freedom and self-reliance that come from selecting, as often as possible, active transportation over and above automotive means of getting around. I walk. I bike. I ride public transit. I use Uber and Lyft.

My Car-Free Experiment morphed into the Car-Free Experience. Over the past six-plus years, I have been taking lots of notes. I've done a lot of writing here on Pedalaround, my Web log. I've done short feature stories on others who enjoy the car-free life. In 2010, I journaled an incredible 4,600 mile, solo, self-supported trip across this continent, a journey that proved to me how energy-independent we're all capable of being. And along that incredible journey I learned that energy shortage is a lie. What we have here is a fatigue surplus. And with every pedal stroke I took between Yorktown, VA and Astoria, OR, the BP Horizon's offshore well gushed barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

The automobile has done a great job of saving us from the human effort required to get from point A to point B. But I believe that over the past century we have made a decidedly bad trade. The comfort and convenience of the automobile has for generations of Americans replaced every other mode of conveyance. Our passenger railways and short commuter systems are practically non-existent in the United States. Our sidewalks are a mess. Our cash strapped cities and bankrupt Transportation Trust fund can't keep up with the costs of crumbling highways and bridges. Motorists scoff at the idea of allocating even a tiny fund for bike lanes. Some go so far as labeling transit and cycling improvements as Euro-socialism. That's not how we do it here in America.

Without a car, citizens of most American cities are unable to reach their everyday destinations under their own power. To walk or ride a bike in most instances is thought to be either too dangerous, too difficult, or both.

Looking at my five year Car-Free Experience in the rear view mirror.

For a decade or more I've been asking the same question: Why, in the most powerful and prosperous nation on earth, do we not have the best choices for active transportation? And I find the answers to many other closely related questions painfully obvious. For example, why are our nation's health care costs hundreds of times more than the other industrialized nations, with outcomes that are dismal by comparison? Why are our children so obese? Why are their parents so obese? Why was I so skinny when I was a kid guzzling Cokes and eating snacks all summer long? Got any quick guesses?

Let's start by eliminating the obvious obstacles to active transportation in our cities. Here's an example. Please, someone, tell me why we allow sidewalks to be neglected public utility easements that end abruptly, and are covered with debris.


A neglected sidewalk in Crescent Hill, one of Louisville's most walkable neighborhoods

Now What?

Now that My Car-Free Experience is in full swing, I'm returning to writing more about the importance of active transportation and of its implications in our personal lives, our communities and our world. I'll focus on lessons learned, strategies for living car-free, my journey across America and more. If you're car-free or would like to be, please send me your comments, suggestions and any questions you'd like me to answer here.

Send your email to kirk@kycyclist.net, or leave a comment.

Meanwhile, I'll post my progress here.

Grace. Peace. Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
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Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

Today is World Car Free Day. Freeze Your Car Keys For Just One Trip

2015-09-22T14:14:00.001-07:00

It's amazing how zooming around in an automobile separates you from your neighborhood, your community, and the world at large. Motorists don't notice how detached they've become until they take a very long walk, or hop on a bicycle.

For the past six years, my Brompton bicycle has been my main form of transport. On the bike I get a much more up-close and personal view of street life than would ever be possible from behind the windshield of a car.

I tend to duck away from main traffic routes in favor of shortcuts and the backstreets. On my way to work, for example, I avoid East Main by jumping one block north to Washington St. I get to pass by the historic Thomas Edison House in Germantown.

And just this morning I took advantage of a fabulous little corner store, where I have observed the owners lighting up a charcoal smoker every day as I pass by.

For more than a year I've intended to stop and find out what kind of delishousness comes out of that smoker. This morning I stopped and made an overdue discovery.

Freddie's Market And Deli may be a tiny space, but they serve up some world classRibs, pulled pork, sandwiches and sides. I've never tasted better ribs. I took a couple of orders to my office "Porktoberfest" lunch potluck and saw nothing but smiles and thumbs up all around. They'd never heard of Freddie's. Now they won't be able to stay away.

I'm telling you the truth. My bike will run on that stuff!

Grace. Peace. Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround

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Enjoy the ride home.

pedalaround.blogspot.com

Junk Mail

2015-09-15T16:40:00.001-07:00

Two pieces of mail arrived in my box today. Both will go unopened before I throw them in the recycling bin.

AAA – the automobile club. I don't own one and hope I never will. Nothing personal, of course.

Nielsen ratings – I rarely watch TV. And NPR is locked on my morning clock radio alarm. Again, nothing personal.

Grace. Peace, Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround

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Enjoy the ride home.

pedalaround.blogspot.com

BROMPTON: After Four Years The Novelty Hasn't Worn Off.

2015-09-12T17:25:00.000-07:00

Those who see a Brompton bicycle for the first time ordinarily cannot resist stopping to stare. Then they laugh. To see a grown person riding a bike with 16-inch wheels is admittedly a bit comical at first. But what's even more stupifying than the Brompton in motion is the Brompton being folded small enough to fit in an airplane's overhead baggage compartment – in as little as 10 seconds.

I’ve used my Brompton P6 as my main commuter bike for more than four years now. No telling how many thousands of times I've folded and unfolded the bike outside my home, office, or other destinations. More often than not, someone nearby is watching. Then come the questions and comments. Most of them start with, "WOW!"

Is that really a bicycle?
What's a thing like that cost?
I've never seen anything like that.
Where did you get a bike like that?
I thought that was a wheelchair or something.
I bet it's hard to ride with those tiny little wheels, right?

Let's get one thing straight. This thing is no mere toy. Yes it turns heads faster than a circus sideshow, but the Brompton is a rugged and reliable bike that usually wins top honors from reviewers of folding bikes. (Yes, there are several other brands.)

With practically no maintenance required, except air in the tires and oil on the chain, my Brompton has carried me all over town and I carry it inside, wherever I go. The Brompton's remarkable service record should be no surprise. The bike has s a fairly remarkable history of practicality and innovation that goes back to 1979. That's when Andrew Ritchie first developed the patented folding parts. It's all about the fold, they say. The bike has won a variety of awards, including a pair of Queen's Awards in 2010 for Enterprise. They produce about 30,000 bikes each year, most of them individually ordered. They call it B-Spoke ordering. You can Google Brompton to find out a whole lot more about all that.

OK. So, I'm totally sold on the experience of purchasing, owning and maintaining my Brompton bicycle. By the way, don't let those tiny wheels fool you. This bike flies. But nothing is perfect, right?

Don't let the tiny wheels fool you. This bike can fly.

I've found only one thing about the Brompton that begs for improvement: the pedals.

From day one, the pedals have always seemed to me a bit short of the high standards Brompton obviously sets for every other component on their remarkably engineered folding bicycles. The only part I've replaced on the bike is the right pedal. It's the fixed pedal – not the folding one. About a year ago, the bearings failed after three years of rugged use, so I ordered a replacement.

A few weeks ago, I was riding home from work, when my front wheel struck a pie plate size pothole and threw me to the pavement. Hard landing. My knee planted on the asphalt so squarely that my jeans weren't even scuffed. For a moment, as I gathered myself up, I feared broken bones, but immediately redirected my concerns to the bicycle. (Priorities, right?) The front wheel was seriously traumatized. I managed to get it rolling, though it was still binding on the brakes at intervals as I managed to limp my way to Bardstown Road Bicycles, my local Brompton dealer, about a mile away.

Tom Armstrong, a fantastic mechanic and all-around great guy, was gracious enough to true my wheel in minutes. While he was at it, he replaced my nearly five-year-old brake pads. And then he showed me the Bromfoot, a brilliant little add-on that beefs up the left Brompton pedal – the one that folds. Tom had installed the Bromfoot on his own recently-acquired Brompton bike.

BROMFOOT beefs up the folding pedal on the left side of the Brompton bike.

I ordered the Bromfoot online. It arrived in a matter of days. I installed it in a few minutes. Who would have dreamed that a simple hunk of plastic would enhance the nearly-perfect Brompton experience? Who would take the time and effort to try? A guy in New York City came up with the design and sells the Bromfoot for just $26. Clearly, my own observation concerning the pedals is shared by enough Brompton owners to support an aftermarket product.

So, tonight I installed the Bromfoot and took it for a short road test. I didn't need to go all the way around the block to come up with my verdict: the Bromfoot is a solid improvement to the nearly- perfect bike that serves as my everyday transportation. Brompton owners – and this one is no exception – tend toward hyperbole, but all that affection and zeal are well earned.

The Brompton goes with me on the bus.

SPECIAL NOTE: In March, 2011, I ordered my Brompton online while traveling home by train from the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC. As I waited for delivery, some amazing friends managed to hijack my order, cancel my credit card payment, and purchase the bike themselves as a gift, presented to me from "The Mulligans." One of those Mulligans is Mike Johnson. He reminds us that "God is Love." Ain't that the truth?

Grace. Peace.

Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround

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Enjoy the ride home.

pedalaround.blogspot.com

WIRED: The World Could Save Trillions With Buses and Bikes

2015-09-08T19:43:00.001-07:00

Yep, that's the big news in WIRED magazine:
The World Could Save Trillions With Buses and Bikes

This all sounds eerily familiar. Look back in this blog over the past six years and you'll find me repeating the facts like a broken record. Bikes and transit take all kinds of pressure off personal budgets and free up income for real gains in quality of life. Blah. Blah. Blah.

But now there's a new study out that has a new twist. Apparently, our fuelish way of moving around passively in personal cars is far more expensive than we thought, compared to transit systems and – you guessed it – BICYCLES!

Transit Authority of River City "Bikes on Board" program makes it easy to combine a bike and bus travel.

Cities with great transit systems are cleaner, have less congestion and are easier for people who want to get around. I simplify the message by asking people if they'd like to fatten their wallets and skinny their waistlines. Bikes and transit can help take pressure off our health care systems, and give people the activity they need to feel better and become more productive. But don't take my word for it. Check out this edition of WIRED, with the results of a study by some leading economists.

Here's a link to the article:
The World Could Save Trillions With Buses and Bikes

The new report, Accelerating Low‐Carbon Development in the World’s Cities, was released today by New Climate Economy, a group of economists looking into the real costs and benefits of addressing climate change. I think it's hilarious that their findings came out on the sixth anniversary of My Car Free Experiment. On 09-09-09, I sold my old Volvo and haven't missed it. My bicycle and Transit Authority of River City are my main modes of transportation.

The bottom line, according to the report summary in WIRED: “There’s a significant economic dividend to investing in better transit systems,” says one of the authors, Nick Godfrey. The key is for city leaders to consider things like cycling infrastructure and bus rapid transit not a burden, but an opportunity.

With up to $17 Trillion in savings for cities like Louisville up for grabs, I'd have to agree. But I guess I already said that years ago. Never mind.

Matt Edmondson took possession of my 1991 Volvo 940 Turbo six years ago.

One parting shot: My old Volvo sold to Matt Edmondson six years ago today for $500. Well, his mom and I work in the same building downtown. I asked about the old tank. She tells me that Matt sold it to her for $800 and it's still running great.

Grace. Peace.

Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround

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Enjoy the ride home.

pedalaround.blogspot.com

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Living Proof That You, Too, Can Ride A Bicycle 500 Miles Across Iowa!

2015-09-01T21:35:00.001-07:00

OK. I get it. Maybe you never were an athlete. Maybe you're not so young anymore. Maybe you're carrying around more weight that you'd like and you're not willing to train for months to prepare for a 500 mile bicycle tour like the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, RAGBRAI. I get all that.

I'm 64 and overweight. I hate exercise but love my bike. So those classic excuses are straight from my playbook. But they haven't stopped 20,000 others like me from taking the last full week of July to enjoy the world's longest, most popular bicycle tour.

If you're willing to put away those tired excuses, now's a good time to start planning on next year's 44th edition of RAGBRAI. Here we are at the end of summer, so you still have plenty of time to get your old bike tuned up and enjoy some short rides around the neighborhood before really cold weather sets in months from now.

Before you insist on leaning on the four biggest tired old excuses outlined above for NOT going on the adventure of a lifetime, let me introduce some folks who may change your mind. I think you'll see they're a lot like you.

Ashley "really never like to get all sweaty." Rode 500 miles across Iowa.

1. I've never been the athletic type. Meet Ashley Willingham. She's never been what anyone would call a jock. She's "really never liked to get all sweaty," in her words. But a little over a year ago, Ashley started going on short bike rides with the writer of this blog and he talked her into signing up for RAGBRAI. Ashley didn't train like most athletes because she's a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines. Being out of town for days or even a week at a time makes it impossible to log lots of miles. Stationary bikes in hotel workout rooms often were the best she could do. Her longest training ride before this year's RAGBRAI was 24 miles. This year she rode all the way from the Missouri River to the Mississippi, more than 500 miles.

Alice Hoffmeier, 79, with two new knees, plans to ride across Iowa for the 30th time in 2016.

2. I'm not so young anymore. Meet Alice Hoffmeier. She's going to be 80 next year and she'll be riding across Iowa for the 30th time. Ms. Hoffmeier is a retired school teacher, a grandmother who now teaches music in her home. This year she brought something new to the tour -- a double knee replacement. So, if your excuse is just that you've aged a bit, Alice should provide plenty of inspiration. Nuff said.

Half the people on RAGBRAI are overweight or obese. That's America. So? Keep moving.

3. I'm gonna need to lose some weight first. Meet half the people on RAGBRAI. I'd guess that at least half of all riders are overweight and a surprising percentage are probably clinically obese, but that doesn't get in the the way of having the experience of a lifetime on a bicycle. They don't do it to get skinny and look good. They do it to have FUN! Now that you have your bike tuned up and some great fall weather ahead, you can replace some of those trips to the fridge for a snack and skip some of the crap on TV. Instead, just fill a water bottle and use your bicycle to run a few errands near your home. Reward yourself with a healthy snack. Bikes run best on carrots and celery sticks, orange and apple slices, almonds and granola bars. For high octane, go ahead and have a doughnut, but keep pedaling. Next summer on RAGBRAI you'll be feasting on pork chops, sweet corn and homemade pie.

4. I don't have time to train for something like that. You have time for hours of mindless television and a lot of other passive entertainment. And most of it leaves you feeling like you just wasted an hour of your life you'll never get back. After you watch the video above, take a walk to visit friends. Use Google Maps in the bicycle mode to show you safe routes to a movie theater or grocery. Pick a destination. Make it an adventure. If you live within a few miles of your work, try commuting by bike. That's how I got started. Just short trips. I sold my Volvo station wagon six years ago. I've been car-free ever since. You don't have to give up anything. You have everything to gain from using your own power to get around. Freeze the keys for short trips. You'll probably live longer and have a lot more FUN.

Now, no more excuses. See you next year on the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. Find out more at www.RAGBRAI.com

Grace. Peace.

Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround

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Enjoy the ride home.

pedalaround.blogspot.com

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Occupy Bike Seats And Join A Movement That's Going Somewhere For A Change

2015-08-17T07:40:00.002-07:00

Click on the image to visit OccupyBikeSeats.com

In late 2011, while the Occupy Movement was gaining some momentum and attracting a lot of media attention, I wondered what a movement would look like if it were actually in motion – not just camped in a public park, but moving across the landscape, like a big wave for social concerns. I dashed off my Occupy Bike Seats Manifesto in response to the Occupy Wall Street events that captured so much attention then, but fizzled out in the winter that followed.
The Occupy Bike Seats Manifesto found a permanent home on its own website, right where I parked it four years ago. I called OCCUPY BIKE SEATS “The movement that’s going somewhere for a change.” Without advertising or marketing the site, I managed to attract a few dozen readers and some of them sent me tweets or signed in. My hope was that the Manifesto would go viral and send everyday citizens out into the streets on their own two feet or on bicycles instead of driving cars everywhere. Well, my hopes have not diminished. It’s just taking longer that I expected.

Please pass along this link: OccupyBikeSeats.com and join the movement that’s slowly but surely going somewhere for a change. From the OccupyBikeSeats.com site, readers can study my Manifesto, send me a tweet, find out more about the Movement, sign in, and sign up!

First published November, 2011

it's a simple solution

Join a movement that's going
somewhere for a change.

After years of riding a bicycle for transportation, I'm amazed that the frustrated masses aren't using this noblest of all inventions as a simple solution to most of the issues the Occupy movement rails against. For starters, riding a bike is a lot more fun than sitting around day after day in a stinking public park. Isn't it about time for this movement to, well, get moving?

I've decided to start my own version of Occupy. Today. I bought the OccupyBikeSeats domain name http://OccupyBikeSeats for less than the price of a tank of gas. Now I challenge you to help launch a viral movement and give “Occupy” some much-needed traction. With your participation, “OCCUPY BIKE SEATS” will become a nationwide phenomenon with no hierarchy and one simple objective: to get as many people as possible on bicycles for short trips. Here's my Manifesto and my challenge:

When you OCCUPY BIKE SEATS, you take a step toward better health and energy independence, you become part of a visible and vocal constituency that has the potential to drown out the old-guard oil economy and the lobbyists for the one-percenters who nullify our votes. And you'll have fun doing it.

There are lots of organizations who are like OCCUPY BIKE SEATS – all wanting you to be part of their growing voice. One big difference: They always want you to send money you probably don't have right now. Well, OCCUPY BIKE SEATS doesn't want or need your money! All we ask is that you use a bike – or walk – for your short trips.

When you OCCUPY BIKE SEATS you're doing something to actually fatten your wallet, preserve your health, gain energy independence and recapture some basic freedoms you gave up when the profit-mad one percent carjacked America and got us all hooked on oil. Hang on to your car keys for fun stuff like long vacations – at least until we get those fast trains the rest of the world is building.

If you're among the 99 percent, you can't out-shout the oil companies and the various industry groups who have armies of lobbyists and lawyers pulling down six and seven figure incomes. And now that the Supreme Court has ruled that money is free speech in election campaign coffers, face it, there's no way we can compete. They'll kick our ass on every issue.

That's why they're the one percent and we're the 99 percent. So, the best and most effective means of winning back our environment, our streets, our economy, our resources and our lives, is to show up everywhere on bicycles in the spirit that Occupy Wall Street started.

Why just sit there? Let's roll!

Pedal your influence. Exercise your freedom and power. “OCCUPY BIKE SEATS!” If enough people will make short trips by bike, there will be a glut of oil and gas the likes of which this nation hasn't seen in decades. Cancel those plans to drill in Alaska and forget about building that silly pipeline. Now we can start focusing in earnest on the Third Industrial Revolution technology of the future that folks like Jeremy Rifkin keep telling us about.

Every time you show up on a bike seat in the street you make a powerful statement about healthy living, the environment, sustainability, outrageous oil profits, energy independence, reverence for our planet, and taking back your personal power to make overdue changes.

The bicycle is an amazing machine that has been called "the noblest invention" for good reason. Before it was overtaken by the automobile early in the previous century, the bicycle brought a brand of personal mobility and freedom this nation hasn't seen since those happy days. Trust me, you're gonna love it!

I'm not suggesting that the bicycle is THE answer to all our ills. There is no silver bullet. But when people in growing numbers begin taking charge of their own mobility – even just for short trips – our communities will become more livable, our leaders will have no choice but to create safe routes for pedestrians and cyclists, we'll no longer be carjacked by industry groups and their lobbyists. We'll have no reason to provide billions of dollars in oil subsidies (welfare payments) to big oil execs – and we can quit doing business in parts of the world where people don’t like us very much.

But perhaps more important than all that, we become a highly visible constituency with sovereign human power to make the kinds of changes that are way overdue. And instead of costing money, we save money every time we OCCUPY BIKE SEATS. We'll get fit and put less pressure on our health care system. We'll have more disposable income circulating in our local economies. We'll have a lot more fun.

You don't have to get chased out of a public park in New York or D.C. to change your world. Just OCCUPY BIKE SEATS right where you live.

Be among the first 1,000 to sign in and sign up at OccupyBikeSeats.com and you'll forever be listed as a founding member of a movement that's going somewhere for a change!

Grace. Peace, Bicycle Grease.

The OBS Team

Join a movement that's going somewhere for a change! Sign in and sign up today at http://OccupyBikeSeats.com Find us on Twitter @OccupyBikeSeats and join our Facebook group.

You CAN make a difference!

Support the League of American Bicyclists. http://www.bikeleague.org/

Become part of a growing constituency for change in Washington, D.C. Sign up for free on peopleforbikes.org.

The 'Breaking Bad' of Bicycles

2015-08-02T10:13:00.001-07:00

Brompton's latest ad in Bicycle Times Magazine says it all. I've been a big fan since early 2011, when I ordered my P6 Brompton from my iPhone while traveling home by train from the national Bike Summit in D.C. Aside from its novel Transformer-like ability to morph into a phantom under my office desk, the Brompton serves as a durable and nimble commuter that requires nothing much more than occasional chain lube and tire inflation.

Grace. Peace.

Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround

..........__o

..........\<,

.......( )/ ( )

Enjoy the ride home.

pedalaround.blogspot.com

RAGBRAI Day One:

2015-07-19T11:13:00.001-07:00

Ashley and I field tested our new REI Half Dome tent and enjoyed a pretty good night's sleep before heading out at 7:30. Roadside breakfast burrito at Farm Boys. Lunch at a local diner in Kingsley was a beef hoagie, chips, Coke, and a frozen Snickers. Cyclists run on their stomachs. On our way to Storm Lake.

Grace. Peace.

Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround

..........__o
..........\<,
.......( )/ ( )
Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

The Ceremonial Tire Dipping in The Missouri River

2015-07-18T16:33:00.001-07:00

It's a ritual. We start RAGBRAI by dipping our rear tires in the Missouri. In a week we hope to dip the front tire in the Mississippi.

Grace. Peace.

Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround

..........__o
..........\<,
.......( )/ ( )
Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

Let's ROLL, Already!

2015-07-18T12:51:00.001-07:00

Cooped up in a car all day Friday. Stuffed in a 60-passenger tour bus until mid afternoon Saturday. At last, we're rolling into Sioux City, IA. Tonight, Huey Lewis and the News entertain a city of bicyclists, all eager to head out at dawn tomorrow morning. Let's get on with it, shall we? This is the DesMoines Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa

Grace. Peace.

Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround

..........__o
..........\<,
.......( )/ ( )
Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround

..........__o

..........\<,

.......( )/ ( )

Enjoy the ride home.

pedalaround.blogspot.com

Kirk Kandle

502.345.0229 cell

Loading Bikes for the Shuttle from Davenport to Sioux City

2015-07-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

Pork Belly Ventures is the biggest support crew on RAGBRAI. Their staff hoists bikes to hang on hooks in tractor trailer rigs that will shuttle our two-wheelers across the state. Meanwhile we'll take a charter bus to Sioux City, where we start our journey on Sunday.

Grace. Peace.
Bicycle Grease.

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround
..........__o
..........\<,
.......( )/ ( )
Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

On The Way to Davenport, Shapiro's Deli in Indy

2015-07-17T09:42:00.001-07:00

A Ruben sandwich, a couple of sides, Key Lime Pie and iced tea. That's the start of a bike trip that's as much about the food as it is about cycling. RAGBRAI. After 470+ miles on bicycles we'll probably have gained weight.

Grace. Peace. Bicycle Grease.

Pedalaround
..........__o
..........\<,
.......( )/ ( )
Enjoy the ride home.
pedalaround.blogspot.com

PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

Pedalaround

I'm Back! Back In The Saddle Again, With A Little Help From My Friends

GRACE. PEACE. BICYCLE GREASE. Every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.

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