Establishing New Norms

Once you've immersed yourself in cycling, the old way of getting around seems so backward.

I guess if you have a convertible, you can get some feeling of what it is like to be outside with the wind pushing you around, the sounds of the birds in the trees, and the smell of blossoms in the air, but rolling the window down on a sedan just doesn't compare. And what if it starts to rain? Who wouldn't put the top up or roll up the window?

If I'm in a car, I still get the urge to take the back roads or to take detours, but I almost never do. Maybe I should give in to that urge more often and become more deeply immersed in that norm.

When I do take the car, I get this awful feeling thinking about the extra 3500 pounds of glass, rubber and steel I'm carrying around with me. I don't think that norm will leave me now that I know the alternatives.

Thinking as a cyclist instead of a motorist is one norm that has shifted for me. My mileage is another example of adjusting expectations.

This past month I rode 465.8 miles. I rode more miles in January and March and was disappointed I didn't ride more in April. If I look back however, I find that in the last three years, there are only 5 months where I rode more than 465.8 miles and two of those were when I rode on BRAG at 450 miles in a week. Compared to recent months, 465 isn't a lot, but looking back over the past 3 years, I see that I've gotten accustomed to this many miles in a month.

Will cycling become the norm? For many people, no, but as more people grow in their awareness of cycling, learn what cycling can do for them, and discover the sheer fun of cycling, their norms will shift.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 17.4
Number of Cyclists seen: 22 (1.3 per mile)
In-bound Route: Lullwater/PATH trail
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Had to break out my jacket one more time, but still wearing shorts.

TdG - High Road Express

 

Race leader Kanstantsin Siutsou (#28 in the yellow) is escorted by members of his High Road team starting into the 9th of 10 laps. They are at the front of the pelaton and about 40 seconds back from the breakaway at this point.

A group of us rode from Aurora Coffee over the the race course and got to 5th and W Peachtree just as the second lap came by. There was already a breakaway group of about 8-10 riders at this point of the race.

The rain wasn't falling when we got there, but the weather was certainly a factor. Numbers of spectators were down, the speed was down, but the excitement was still there. It's impressive what these athletes can do day after day of hard riding. The only riders I saw with a smile were the ones crossing the finish line ahead of the pack.

The race was fun even though the crowds were thin. Corners were where we found most people and they were enthusiastic. I would have been more enthusiastic if we weren't forced to ride on the sidewalks. Still, riding a bike was a good way to see different parts of the course. I recommend this again next year.

Put a Smile on my Face

As if everyone realized Earth Day means get up the next day and get on your bikes and ride, the cyclists were out everywhere today. I counted 47 cyclists today over 29.6 miles (average of 1.6 cyclists/mile) which is a new record.

I felt like I had been dropped into the future when I stopped at an intersection that already had one cyclist waiting and two pulled up behind me, while another crossed our path in front of us.

Five random bikes at a location I'm used to only seeing the occasional cyclist. It was an impromptu bike party, but we acted like it should happen all the time.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 29.6
Number of Cyclists seen: 47 - new record
In-bound Route: Lullwater/PATH trail (with extensions)
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton (also with extensions)
Weather: The best.

This is Spring in Atlanta

Taken around the front yard in the middle of the day.

GPS Consideration

I'm not a big gadget person. I recognize when I'm spending time with gadgets that don't further my other goals, and avoid the temptation.

My Treo is an example of something that walks the line. I needed a phone and I'd been carrying a Palm Pilot for contact and calendar, so it was nice to combine the two devices into a single hand-held. I'm also aware that it could make a pretty good GPS device with the addition of a Bluetooth GPS receiver.

Now, my odometer on the bike gives me most of what I need: distance and time. Routes I plan out using bikely.com. If I get lost, that just makes it more fun. So, having the maps in the device is not a big deal for me. Being able to track elevation would be nice. I can get a fairly good estimate from bikely.com routes, but I've also seen some inaccuracies. The GPS could give me a better picture of my climb and also would tie it to my speed on the various hills.

There's also the ability to track and then download to bikely.com so I wouldn't have to hand enter my routes.

So, the solution I was considering was the Visiontac VGPS-500 Bluetooth GPS for about $40, and a freeware app for the Treo called CotoGPS that captures tracks. There's also some analysis software that is available for the desktop.

I could substantially improve my data gathering capability for about the price of a bike computer.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 17.4
Number of Cyclists seen: 28
In-bound Route: Lullwater/PATH trail
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: The best; cool in the morning and pleasantly warm in the afternoon.

Uncharacteristic Rudeness

Sunday morning as we were finishing up our usual group ride, we were harrassed by two vehicles, one behind the other, moving well above the speed limit. The second driver was laying on their horn as they passed.

This happened in Ansley Park which has very broad streets. There was plenty of room to get around us. At that point, there were only five riders remaining and we were riding no more than two abreast. There was no reason for the hostile horn.

As I caught up with the car at the next intersection, the driver closed out the space to the right making it easy to approach the driver-side window. I politely but pointedly asked the driver for an explanation of the horn. She ignored me and intended to move on as if she had done nothing.

Another rider quickly arrived and was also ignored so he popped her side mirror. At this, the gentleman in front pops out of his car -- the first car that came around us -- and tells us to stop threatening his wife. The other three riders came up at the same time and soon everyone but the lady driver was arguing back and forth.

The gentleman who jumped out of the first car announces he is a lawyer and wants to get the cops involved and sue everyone, but bluffing only works when no one can see your hand. In the heat of the argument, he mentioned we should have gotten off the road and thus revealed his ignorance of the law. Of course, we were only too happy to get the police involved and it was maybe 30 seconds before the lawyer thought it might be best if everyone returned to what they were doing.

One by one we educate those who don't know how to treat cyclists.

Found me some Bike Parking

 

I did some wandering around and located this beauty of a bike rack. This is the real deal here.

The rack is visible and away from where people would normally walk to/from their car so anyone near the bikes would draw attention. There is a nice separation between the traffic and pedestrians too which you can see below. This is nice.

(I switched my bike to the other end to try that out).


The garage can be reached either from W Peachtree (bike lane) or 5th Street (bike lane) or from Cypress (which is the street I've been using). This spot is one I can recommend.

I'm surprised the property managers weren't able to tell us about it, but that's OK. My bike has a new home.

I think I'll still bring it upstairs from time to time. I can't step into an elevator without it automatically starting up a conversation about cycling. I wish I had brought my bike into the building years ago.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 17.7
Number of Cyclists seen: 18 - all on the way home; most of them rec riders
In-bound Route: Lullwater/PATH trail
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: We're in Atlanta's sweet spot now: sunny, mild and fragrant.