Can't we just all get along?

I was on my way home from work yesterday, cycling along a familiar stretch of road in Sacramento.  The last intersection before I get onto the bike trail is not really set up in a cyclist's favor.  In my direction of travel, there were two left-turn lanes and one narrow lane for traffic going either straight or to the right.  In order to get to the bike trail, I needed to go straight.  Unless one is heading to the bike trail or the wastewater treatment plant, there is little reason that one would go straight at this intersection.  Here I was, nevertheless.  I got there just as the light turned red, so I was sitting right behind the crosswalk, in the middle of the lane.  Ordinarily, I try to scootch over to the left-side of such a shared lane, but there really isn't any extra space here.  It is a narrow lane.  I believe that the CVC would call it "substandard width". 

After sitting there patiently for about thirty seconds, a car pulls up behind me.  It was a small car.  I looked over my right shoulder to see if its turn signal was on.  Nope.  If it was, I might have considered crowding the car next to me--the one in the nearest left-turn lane--to allow this compact to pass me.  No turn signal, though.

So I sat for a few more moments.  Behind me, I hear a shout.  "Get out of my way!"  I get hollered at from time to time, but this one seemed a little unusual.  Nobody was going anywhere, after all, and I double-checked--no turn signal.  He saw me look over my right shoulder.  "Get out of my way, let me turn!" 

So I looked a third time.  "Use your turn signal!" I responded. 

"What?!" was the driver's retort.

"Your turn signal!  Use your blinker!" I made a hand gesture suggesting a flashing light, opening-and-closing my right hand. 

He shouted some explicative and gunned his engine several times.  I faced forward, choosing not to crowd into the left-turn lane on this fellow's account.  After all, his turn signal was still not flashing. 

He gunned his engine again and put it into first gear, roaring right up behind me.  Then he put it into neutral, returning to his original position, still gunning his engine. 

How am I supposed to respond to this?  I sat calmly, watching for the light to turn.   There were probably ten cars waiting to turn left--I had plenty of ready witnesses, should this guy decide to use his vehicle as a weapon. 

The light changed and we all went.  I went straight, the impatient shouter turned right (still gunning his engine, of course), and everyone else turned left. 

I am not clear as to how anyone benefitted from this situation.  If I had been on a motorcycle or in an automobile, me getting out of his way wouldn't have been even an option--and if I drove such a vehicle to work each day, I might have been sitting right there in my motorized rig waiting to go home, just as I was yesterday on my bike.  He gunned his engine and got his hackles up, burning a little extra petrol--which annoys me a little.  I'd rather he'd saved that money to fix his turn signal, if it truely didn't work. 

I certainly didn't benefit and neither did the cause of cyclists.  If I had cowered over onto the sidewalk or into the left-turn lane, I would have only encouraged his future similar behavior toward cyclists.  By doing what I did, I only angered him which probably leads to more aggressive behavior toward cyclists.  It is difficult for me to communicate with every such driver that, if they follow the rules and use their turn signals, I will go BEYOND what the law requires and give extra space.  They don't realize that by giving this extra space, I am endangering myself a bit and probably making the folks in the left-turn lane nervous. 

It's a no-win, but whos-it in the beat-up little compact probably feels slighted that I didn't allow him to get onto his destination twenty seconds sooner.  Gunning his engine, I wonder if he considered killing me over those twenty seconds? 

"There's no Fun in Safe"

Some dude hollered this at me last night when I was getting off of Amtrak.  I had just come into Sacramento Station from Oakland.  There were about thirty passengers--six of us had bicycles.  Two of us were walking our bikes among the crowd in the space between the trains.  The other folks rode their bikes among the pedestrians... one of them shouted that at those of us walking. 

We were SQUARES, obviously.

I walked my bike, commenting to the other cyclist that it wasn't about fun--it was about living with our neighbors, whether they have bikes or not. 

Despite walking my bike all the way to the road, I caught up with the guy riding his fixie along H Street.  I couldn't think of anything to say--I mean, what do you do?  So I didn't.  But what the hell? 

It was funny because I had just seen the Facebook page put together by some UCB freshmen who are trying to resist traffic laws.  These are students who have not yet learned to take responsibility for their own actions:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/BikeBusters/154749877901782

It struck a chord with me.  I just got rid of my car--I think more people should.  Just the same, I believe that cyclists can share the road with motorists.  The trick is to follow the rules.  The trick is to remember that they are people too. 

Even people we don't agree with are people that we have to share a planet with.

Bad weather on weekends mostly.

When I was a little kid, I believed that adults intentionally set it up so that it would rain on the weekend and be beautiful all week.  I was a pessimistic child.

Since then, I have learned to appreciate that bad weather is likely to get you wet no matter what day of the week.  I like having beautiful weekends--cool and sunny, not too breezy.  On the weekends, though, I can usually make an excuse to not go outdoors if a squall blows in.  On weekdays, I have certain obligations which put me on the Sac North Bikeway at quarter after seven each morning. 

The photograph above is of the Sac North Bikeway where it crosses the American River, utilizing the once-upon-a-time Sacramento Interurban commuter train's trestle near the Blue Diamond Almond plant.  It's a little foggy.  It has been most mornings this month.  The big rain storms have swept through on my days off for the most part, which is kinda nice. 

I have options.  I took light-rail and a bus (with my bike) on Monday morning.  It was drizzling lightly and I felt like I might be coming down with a cold.  No big deal.  The rail stop is two blocks away, the bus transfer is pretty painless most of the time, and the bus drops me off two blocks from work.  It takes a little more time than a bike ride but it's okay. 

I'm glad to have the option of taking transit, but the sun was out again this morning and I was on my bike. 

At my last job, I was out hiking most of the time--at least once a week I would have good reason to go out and walk some trail for work.  I got to see a lot of beautiful country in all the weather you can imagine--from blazing sun to sideways sleet.  I'm pretty happy to get a little dose of Mother Nature every day, sandwiching my hours in front of this computer with a half-hour on the saddle. 

Ain't life grand? 



More flats and broken spokes!

I have have had a lot of flats this fall.  This has been due to a combination of things.  I had a piece of rim-tape die on me, which caused two flats (I didn't see the broken bit when I fixed the flat).  Then I had a Presta valve break on me one morning, when I was in a hurry and topping off the tire pressure.  Then on Thursday, when I was riding in...

Bang!  Right through the Armadillo!  Note that the nail went in through the tread and came out through the side-wall, putting two holes into my tube and probably ruining that tire.  Armadillos can take a lot of abuse, but that was too much!  One friend suggested that I get a cow-catcher for the front of my bike. 

I have broken two spokes this month, too.  One of them, just yesterday morning.  If you work at a bike shop, you know to roll your eyes when I say, "I was just riding along when..."  Well.  That's the way it happened!  Sure, I'm a little heavier than the average rider, but I didn't do anything stupid!  So.  Broken spoke on a wheel that's less than five months old--back to the bike shop this week.  I expect it to be covered under warranty--it was when the first spoke broke, three weeks ago. 

Anyway.  This is why I keep three bicycles in my tiny studio apartment in Sacramento.  When I got up in the morning, I found a broken spoke.  So I topped off the rear tire of my back-up roadbike... but broke the Presta valve off.  I rode the mountain bike into work that morning. 

How I get ready for a rainy commute:

Last night, I knew that it would be raining this morning.  My commute usually takes about 35-minutes, each way.  Eight miles and flat, mostly bike trail.  When I went to bed, I figured that if it were POURING, I would take transit with my bike and maybe ride home in afternoon.

It was not pouring, though.  It was raining lightly and a little windy.  If it wasn't a short week, I might have chickened out and taken the bus.  I only work three days this week and I hardly got to ride last week--I was on travel--so I rode. 

As you can see in the photo--and as you probably remember from an earlier post--my bike now has its own rain pants.  I got the set of Planet Bike "Hardcore" yellow fenders about a month ago.  They are pretty burly, designed for touring.  They are also eye-catching--which I wanted because I do not trust my motorized bretheren on the roads of Outer Sacramento.  The fenders are great because they keep me from getting soaked by my own tires.  Riding on wet roads--even under clear skies--I would get soaked by the water flying off of the tires without them.  These allow me to cruise right rough a mud-puddle with not even a splash on my clothes. 

They don't protect me from rain, though.  Yesterday, I bought a high-quality rain jacket for cheap at a Mountain Hardwear factory sale.  It's durable, stretchy, waterproof, breathable, and MATCHES MY FENDERS!  This last attribute is of course not required, but it is really cool and it makes me very visible in the misty rain.  I also have a pair of Patagonia rain pants that I bought years ago on Ebay.  I got dressed in a Patagonia silk-weight top, boxers, socks, and the rain gear.  I usually don't wear much under rain gear when I'm cycling because I just get TOO WARM!  The temperature was 48F this morning, and I was just fine dressed this way.  Part-way to work, I had to open the pit-zips on the jacket. 

Over the rain gear, I wear a pair of old-beat-up gaiters.  These keep the rain pants from funnelling water down into my low-top cycling shoes. 

I have a wool cycling cap which I wear under my helmet.  If it had been pouring, I might have put on a helmet cover to keep out the rain.  Either way, the woolly keeps me warm even when it gets damp. 

I wear neoprene paddling gloves when I go cycling in the rain.  I have a pair of NRS guide gloves that I bought for rowing the Grand Canyon, last year.  These are great--they get wet but still keep me warm and have a fair amount of cushioning. 

My shoes are Keen's Austin pedal shoes.  They look like sorta-dressy brown shoes and go well with my office clothes.  In their soles they hide SPD clips which attach me to my pedals! 

My helmet is a Specialized--Prospero I think.  I got it for the high degree of ventilation it offers--it gets hot here in the summer.  On a day like today, ventilation isn't much of a help, but whatever.  That's why the wool cap. 

I have a piece of double-sided velcro that I have wound through the back of the helmet.  I have a second tail-light mounted there.  I have a front-and-rear set on the bike.  I worry more about cars not seeing me from behind than from the front--my reaction time is better for problems in front of me. 

All suited up like this, I ride to work.  When I get here, I pull clean, dry clothes out of my pannier and change in the restroom.  My cubicle becomes a drying rack for a bunch of damp raingear.  And now, I'm sitting in my cube... eating lunch... looking out the window to see what this afternoon's ride will be like!  In the afternoon, I leave here after dark!

The Big Change

It doesn't seem like much of a change.  I mean, after all, I hardly drive my car anymore.  Since I moved to Sacramento, I mostly drive it from one side of the street to the other, avoiding the street sweeper.

It's nominally for sale, but I cannot find the title so that's kind of on hold.  The new title application is floating around the DMV somewhere.  The registration is up and it needed a smog test before I could pay that bill, so off to the smot test shop I went last week.

Is it good news or bad news that it did NOT pass smog?  I guess I'm upset to learn that my car has been an NO emitter for I don't know how long.  It has been two years since my last smog test.  It is true that I haven't driven much since July, but before that I was driving 500+ miles per week back and forth to Humboldt.  That could have been a lot of pollution. 

I guess it's good news that now I know.  Even better, since it is a smog car and the repair--new catalytic converter--probably costs almost as much as the car is worth, I may be able to sell it to a State of California program designed to remove such cars from the road.  If that goes through, my car will be crushed and hopefully recycled.  Maybe someday the aluminum in my car will go into the tubing for a mid-range road bike.  One can only hope. 

Part of me is sad to see it go.  We've been a lot of places together.  This car and my last one, an 88 Honda Accord, have been all over the West.  These little cars got good fuel economy and were decent at getting into remote places.  I once drove the Accord up Courthouse Wash, in Moab.  The Ford Escort once carried me up the Shaffer Trail, also in Moab.  Both of these cars carried me to dozens of off-the-beaten-path trailheads all over the Sierra Nevada.  Though not what you might think of as 4x4's or rock-crawlers... these cars did all I needed them to do.  After all, hiking and biking were always at the destination! 

At this point, I have no plans to replace my car.  That feels great and somehow revolutionary.  I know lots of people don't have cars.  All my life, though, I have been so surrounded by car culture.  It's exciting to move away from that. 

My bikes, Amtrak, RT, and BART carry me most everywhere I go on a regular basis.  For what I'll be saving in insurance and fees, I can certainly afford to rent a car a couple of times a year to do a backpacking trip somewhere remote.  It's like $40 a day to rent a compact!  So that's my plan.  If you aren't there yet, join me!  If you're thinking about it and want to start a conversation, post a comment! 

OH!  The best part of all of this.  I think I'll get enough from sale of the car to buy a Bikes-At-Work trailer--the 96A.  With that trailer, I will have probably more cargo capacity than I did with the car.  What justice!  Trading my car for a bike trailer! 

November Commuting

This was the view from the bike bridge over the American River, on the Sacramento Northern Bikeway yesterday morning.  I usually head out on my bike just a little after 7am for the eight-mile ride to work.  The whole way in I was riding through postcards.  The sunset just got redder and redder.  Last week's rains have a lot of the sloughs full of still water... which reflected these colors into the bottoms of the trees.  Many of the box elders have lost their leaves now, which opens up new views that haven't seen in a long time.

With the recent rain, I went out and got my bicycle a rain jacket.  The Tempo is now festooned with bright yellow touring fenders which go great with the 80's teal-on-white color scheme.  One of these days I'll get a photo that does the color justice.  It's been nearly 80F this week in the afternoons when I leave work--unseasonably warm.  It seems a sure sign that you can make the rain stop by putting on a rain jacket!

I'm starting to think about my winter rides, what I'll wear, what sort of weather I will make grounds for taking the bus in the morning.  I took the bus a couple days this week because I thought I was getting a cold--even with the perfect cycling weather.  Those couple days were fine but I'm glad to be on the saddle again! 

Next week I'll be out of town.  I will be visiting the old homeland--Northern Indiana and Chicagoland.  Today there is lake-effect snow in LaPorte.  It should hit 75F here in Sacto. 

I'll be in touch when I get back.  Have a great week!