Cycling Chat #4 and misc.

The Jeep Compass folding bike. Image found here.

In matters of the actual kinds of bikes available these days, I am still very very ignorant. Thus it was today that at Keeper Plaza on the way to work, I saw a folding bike in person for the first time and got all giddy and called out to its owner if I could ask her some questions about it. Rather than flee in terror or threaten to call the cops or something, she was kind enough to spare a few minutes to talk about it with me.

This was how I met Jill Houtz this morning. Jill and her husband own the Secret Gallery, a pottery gallery and studio. Because they live in the upper story of the building that houses the gallery, Jill, when she shopped for a bike for exercise and recreation, needed something light enough to carry up the stairs and compact enough to carry around in her car. So, she settled on the Jeep bike you see pictured here. Though it looks heavy in person, it's actually surprisingly light, and folding it up looks simple and easy. Though she doesn't ride the bus, for cyclists who do as part of their commute (not really necessary in Wichita, but many cyclists in larger metro areas do) a folding bike would be extremely beneficial, seeing as Wichita buses don't have bike racks.

It was a pleasure meeting and talking with Jill and learning a bit more about folding bikes. She's good people, as they say down South. And, her gallery is on Meridian--not at all far from here--so I am looking forward to paying a visit in the near future.

Other matters now: The weather this morning was just about ideal: sunny and cool but not chilly, and the wind held off until I got on base. That said, though, the ride in had its share of adventure:

1) While pulled over to talk to the Mrs. on the cellphone, a pit bull (no leash, not behind a fence) suddenly appeared in the yard across the street from me and seemed undecided about whether to approach me. I decided not to wait for him to decide and rode off slowly. He didn't follow; apparently, he didn't find me interesting enough . . . which, come to think of it, is the way most people find me as well.

2) The western end of Mt. Vernon now has a very deep, very wide ditch running down the middle of it to accommodate the installation of a large storm sewer pipe. This is good news in the long run--the long-term plan for Mt. Vernon in WAMPO is to widen it and install bike lanes. Until that time, this construction and the still-ongoing work on Mt. Vernon for a couple of blocks either side of Broadway I'll be detouring around all that for the foreseeable future.

3) While I saw no interesting dead animals today, I somehow narrowly avoided dispatching a squirrel to join the ranks of the uninteresting ones. It dashed in front of me so quickly that it was gone before I quite realized there was anything there, much less react by swerving.

These things aside, though, I felt surprisingly strong at the end of it. Perhaps that resistance training I did on Sunday had something to do with that.

UPDATE: I had intended to mention as well (but forgot to in the heat of the blogging moment) that the price of gas at some stations here is now well below $3 a gallon--it's dropped about one dollar/gallon since I bought my bike at the end of June. In case you're wondering: Nope. No regrets. Conservation of resources and reducing carbon footprints and all the rest remain just those things. Besides: while in one sense I'm saving less money these days by cycling, in the way that matters more to me--the spending of money--as I pedal my way past the two gas stations on my commute route, that amount remains at $0.

Hither and Yon #2

UPDATE: Welcome to visitors from Austin Bike Blog! As a native Austinite myself (Beat OU!!), I'm doubly pleased y'all found y'all's way here and hope you enjoy your visit here.

A round-up of links and some recent past adventures, in no particular order:

A bit of silliness from my other blog about Elmira Gulch as Kansas cyclist archetype.

Via Bike Commute Tips Blog and BlogNetNews's Cycling page, the news-to-me announcement that part of the just-passed $700 billion-dollar bailout bill was the inclusion of a $20-per-bike-commuting-employee tax break to employers. While Paul of Bike Commute Tips rightly notes that it would have been preferable to include monies or incentives for infrastructure changes leading to bike-friendlier streets--and of course, it goes without saying that we'd all have been much better off without the need for the larger bill of which this is a part--it's also true that this sort of program should help as well in "trickle-up," grassroots movements to encourage cycling and, via growing numbers and awareness, cause municipalities and states to see the value of cycling and mass transit and plan (and invest) accordingly.

Cycling Chat #3: File this under "In case you need another reason to bike-commute." A while back, I biked over to a nearby laundromat with a small load of clothes. While there, a couple walked over to my bike and began talking about it, so I went up to them and struck up a conversation. It turned out that the man had just bought a new bike from Wal-Mart (they don't have much money) and that he has been using bicycles as his primary transportation since 1986. The chief reason for that, he shared, was that one night that year he had been driving while drunk and had an accident. He decided then that perhaps a bike might be a better option for him because, and I quote, "I like my beer."

The pragmatics of cycling manifest themselves in many ways, do they not?

From the League of American Bicyclists comes their list of bicycle-friendly businesses, recently announced at Interbike, the largest bicycle trade show in this country. A quick survey of the list reveals a depressingly-familiar East Coast and West Coast heaviness; on the other hand, though, I'm glad to see the good people of Clif Bar & Company on the list: not only do they make a superior energy bar, they are seriously committed to being good corporate citizens.

And finally: You may have heard that there's a national election next month. I happen to support Barack Obama's candidacy and hope you will consider doing the same. I respect that enormous problems face this country, problems that can appear to dwarf urban policy concerns in terms of importance. Certainly, I'm not a single-issue voter and discourage those who are from thinking like that.

But: if I were, and urban policy were my single issue, here's what I would say about that. First of all, I would make the argument that wise decisions with regard to urban policy have the clear long-term benefits of making our nation a more energy-efficient, healthier and more prosperous place for more of its citizens. And to that end, a thoughtful person who cares about urban policy should strongly consider voting for Obama. Of special interest to cyclists is the following passage from Obama's 12-page Urban Fact Sheet [pdf]:

Build More Livable and Sustainable Communities: Our communities will better serve all of their residents if we are able to leave our cars to walk, bicycle and access other transportation alternatives. As president, Barack Obama will re-evaluate the transportation funding process to ensure that smart growth considerations are taken into account. Obama will build upon his efforts in the Senate to ensure that more Metropolitan Planning
Organizations create policies to incentivize greater bicycle and pedestrian usage of roads and sidewalks, and he will also re-commit federal resources to public mass transportation projects across the country. Better transportation alternatives will not only reduce the amount of time individuals spent commuting, but will also have significant benefits to air quality, public health and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

John McCain's website has no comparable section on urban policy. The American Energy page of his site does address developing alt-fuels and fuel efficiency in cars and improving buildings' energy efficiency; to be sure, those are important tasks to take on. However, unless he addresses them elsewhere McCain's website does not include mass/alternate transportation as being, even potentially, part of the "transportation sector" that, to my mind, should also be considered when addressing our cities' and citizens' future prosperity. Another way to put it: it is not an anti-car argument to say that the fewer cars are on the streets, the more livable--the healthier, the more prosperous--cities become. And of course, there are other ways to reduce the need for cars besides mass transit, such as programs to make it feasible for more workers to be able to afford to live closer to where they work (which Obama's fact sheet also addresses).

As long-time visitors to this blog know, I see real potential in Wichita as regards such matters. It's the biggest city in the state, but its still-short average commute times tell me that it is an excellent candidate for a well-thought-out transportation plan that makes room for pedestrians and mass/alternate transportation via Complete Streets and a re-imagining of the relationship between people's workplaces and residences. It seems to me, if the candidates' websites are any indication, that Obama has considered all this far more carefully than McCain has. If these policy matters are of concern to you, I would urge you to consider all this as you weigh your choices this coming November.

No more politics here--I promise.

But, along the lines of urban and transportation policy, Matthew Yglesias makes the case for congestion pricing.

Sunday Ride #5: K-96 Bike Path

Route map:MapMyRide (I'm sorry to say that Veloroute was not cooperating for me as of this evening; I'll try again tomorrow.)

As announced here back on Thursday, today was the big inaugural gathering of Cycling in Wichita readers and interested others (that's way too wordy for a T-shirt; I'll try to come up with something snappier for next time). Two other folks joined me: Brian and Peter, both of whom not only visit this blog but have actually left comments in the past. Just after 9:30, we left Grove Park, crossed Hillside, and rode the length of the K-96 Bike Path. Aside from our getting caught in a brief rain shower on the way back and my nearly causing Brian to crash when I slowed down suddenly, a good time was had by all. This was by far my longest ride to date, and I'm happy to note that when I got home I felt like I could keep on going.

Both Brian and Peter pulled up on fixed-gear bikes, so today was my introduction to this sort of bike. That's not saying much, of course, given how new I am to cycling. Moreover, both had experience with this bike path--Peter, in fact, uses a stretch of it on his daily commute to Beechcraft. Brian is a native of Wichita and has at one time or another ridden all the city's bike paths.

This bike path was a treat to ride. Between Hillside and Woodlawn, the path passes through grasslands and dense stands of trees in creek bottoms, which gives this path a very different feel from any of the other paths in town. Chisholm Park, in fact, is a Wichita Wild space--a habitat preserve; if it weren't for the paved path and the traffic noise from the highway, you'd likely not know you were in the midst of suburbia. From Woodlawn on, the path either passes through residential areas or hugs K-96. The path is in good condition for its entire length--in fact, it is in better overall shape than the Arkansas River path. Aside from some mild rises on its eastern side, the path is fairly flat.

As I saw at Sedgwick County Park last weekend, lots of riders were out this morning, especially in Chisholm Park and along the path's eastern side. These folks tended to ride in packs, though: more families and groups of cyclists. For that reason, it didn't feel crowded on the path, even though it was busy.

As Brian and Peter and I talked about bike paths in town today, we each lamented the lack of a centrally-located east-west route for cyclists; so, when the path crossed the abandoned railroad right-of-way that runs just south of 17th Street, I know I couldn't help but feel a bit of frustration that, as things stand now, the plans to convert it into a path are on hold.

So, yeah: we had a good time--so much so that we'll try this again toward the end of September.

Quick notes

I'm in the middle of some writing that suddenly got "hot" and which may cause me to be away from "here" for a day or two. But I did want to note a couple of things from yesterday before I forgot them.

Yesterday, while Googling about, I bumped into a site called Find a Safe Ride in Wichita. It's a Google Maps application that allows registrants to locate and briefly describe potential hazards for cyclists. As it turns out, Wichita is one of ten cities served by The Right Ride (one of the others is Kansas City). When I learned that Chris Braiotta, the site's creator, lives in Somerville, Massachusetts, I e-mailed him to ask the obvious question. His reply:

it's simply because someone asked. I created the site just for Boston at first, but then the requests started rolling in for other cities. I think Wichita came along in April when a Army sargeant [sic] stationed there asked for it, and in addition to being happy to help out I didn't want him to shoot me.

So he's not entirely altruistic. But no matter: I hope Wichitans will find their way there and have a look around. I should note, though, that though I'm supposedly registered, I've not been able to log in this morning. When that changes, I'll note that here.

Cycle Chat #2: Yesterday while returning from my morning walk with my dog Scruffy, we met Eric, a resident in the complex where I live, who was wheeling a Schwinn hybrid out of his apartment as we walked past. We chatted very briefly, as he was headed to work. He said he has been bike-commuting for about two and a half years; he has a commute of about nine miles in all (I'm sorry to say I don't remember now where he works). It's a choice that he's pleased to have made and stuck with.

Along these lines, I've seen a couple of other bikes in the complex with panniers and other commuting accoutrements, and yesterday during my evening walk with Scruffy we saw about a half-dozen such folks heading home. We're out there. We are not yet legion for we are not many. But that's changing.

Finally: yesterday during the morning rush hour I rode the route to work that I posted about here. This time, McConnell's west gate was open and so I rode onto the base to the building where my office is--from my apartment to there, a distance of not quite 10.5 miles. When I talked with my colleague Larry (the subject of the first Cycle Chat) back on Tuesday, he said he thought Mt. Vernon would be much busier at that time of day, but that turned out not to be the case: if there was more traffic, it was only a marginal increase. On the ride back home, though, I had to wait for two trains, and a street crew had dug a trench across the street a couple of blocks west of Broadway to lay some pipe. Moreover, I should also note that in that same couple-of-blocks stretch to the west of Broadway, the asphalt has begun to wear away, exposing the original brick paving beneath the streets are originally brick, and whenever they have utility work to do there, the city simply patches over the bricks with asphalt. It's, um, bumpy through there. But the advantages of that route remain so high that I'm willing to put up with them. The bike, of course, might have another opinion on this matter; we'll see how it goes.

Cycle chat #1

The pedestrian/bike bridge spanning the Arkansas at the Keeper of the Plains. Flickr image by Cody Lee Dopps.

My post yesterday concerning my friend Russell's cycling, combined with my growing curiosity about other cyclists that I see out and about and the conversation with the motorist I mentioned here, got me to thinking last night that, as I begin to recognize other riders and they me, I should try to overcome my natural shyness and engage them in conversation about their cycling routines, their thinking about cycling metaphysics (here is an example of what I mean by that), their cycling rants or raves, or whatever else is on their mind that they don't mind sharing. In other words: something like "man-on-the-bikepath" interviews.

As it turned out, today I got a chance to do just that. I had just crossed the Arkansas via the newish pedestrian bridges that span it and the Little Arkansas at Keeper Plaza (my full route map is here, if you're interested), when I happened to run into a colleague of mine named Larry, out for a ride on his recumbent bike. This isn't Larry the Movie-Guy, a name familiar to readers of my other blog, but the present Larry also happens to teach math. Larry, who lives somewhere just to the west of Sedgwick County Park, is in his mid-fifties and was once quite the cyclist, from what I understand. But back troubles led him to recumbent bikes and, though he's not a bike-commuter per se (he teaches most of his classes out at Butler's Andover campus), he rode his bike from home to McConnell one day for a class there during finals week this past May, and here he was downtown, on his way to the central branch of the public library to drop off some books. "My excuse to do a little riding," he said.

Back in May, I had told him of my intention to get a bike and start commuting, and so he asked me about my bike (about which more in an upcoming post). I asked him about the recumbent bike; he said it took him about a month to get really comfortable with it. (Some journalist I am: I just realized I hadn't asked him how long he's had it.) It's an open-road sort of bike, he said, noting that you can't turn too sharply with it. Regarding its physics, he told me something that I hadn't really thought about before: he said all the balancing is done with the body, that the arms "just hang there" on the handlebars. He has an odometer on his bike; at the point where we met each other, he'd travelled 6 miles.

So anyway: Larry, I'd say, is something more than a recreation cyclist, but not exactly a a bike-commuter. But no matter: here he was, 6 miles on his journey with another mile or so left to the library, with his only way back home the bike underneath him. Props to him, I say.