"Can I actually ride a bicycle to work and back every day?"
-hot & bothered L.A. commuter
Tusday 9:41 am...
Mindlessly,
I drummed the steering wheel in some vague attempt to relieve tension.
The next morning, two bicyclists passed me and the other car-addicts, pedaling their fancy bikes into the distance. As I panned forward, my eyes focused on the enormous black wall that was the Hummer H2 in front of me. To my left was a GMC Yukon, empty of course save the 30 something female, shouting into her Razr phone. For miles, we all sat in our huge, inefficient machines, idling away thousands of gallons of gas. The more I thought about those bikes, and their simple, beautiful efficiency, the more I became aware of the waste it was to commute with my car. Then I started finding out some interesting things... Using
calculation tools at environmentaldefense.org,
I was
able to figure out how Then I found out some more things... 1. The average household in Los Angeles County makes 12 car trips each day, and nearly half of those are to destinations less than three miles from home. 2. Driving motor vehicles causes more than half of our air pollution and is the largest Southwest contributor to global warming. 3. Property values go up when car traffic goes down. 4. I watched this very short but very cool video.
I never thought I could give up my car for commuting to work. The car is convenient, fast, and comfortable. I can use my phone, and listen to music or foreign language CDs. I can carry a lot of things in the car. But as I sat there and stared at the Hummer H2 in front of me, I felt a shift... like a refocusing of one's eyes. It was clearly time to do something.
-Rob & Nicole |
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Bright, annoying clothes are important for being seen (and not being hit). My backpack is also bright and annoying. I can carry my work clothes, and lots of other things inside.
My 15w headlamp from Jet Lites. It lights up the road like a real car headlamp, and I can see potholes, sticks or other hazards just fine in the dark. This baby can run for about 6 trips before I recharge it.
My Cat Eye computer displays current speed, average speed, odometer data, riding time, and lots of other cool info.
This tail light from Cat Eye has 5 super-bright LEDs that blink in different patterns. This makes things a lot safer at night.
The finished product. After a few hundred dollars in modifications and special gear, I've got a true commuting bike that can survive the worst L.A. roads.
So, after about 90 miles of commuting to work and back, I have these things to report: 1. Car drivers aren't as rude to me as when I'm in my car. 2. Car drivers tend to be very cautious around bikes, so at least the feeling is mutual. 3. I used to spend 20-30 minutes commuting by car (depending on the traffic). 4. I now spend 29-31 minutes commuting by bike. 5. I'm never stuck in traffic, so my arrival time is more dependable. 6. I take my work clothes in my backpack, and change in the bathroom when I arrive. Since I ride pretty easy for the last mile of the commute, I'm cooled off when I get to work, so I'm not really sweaty. 7. I probably burn around 350 calories for each trip, for a daily total of around 700. 8. I feel like the people who see me commuting on the bike may think about doing it themselves, and this is a good feeling. 9. I now ride the bike on weekends if I have to run errands within 5 miles. It's amazing how much faster I can get around the city on the bike with all the traffic on weekends. 10. Our SUV sits innocently in the garage, waiting to be used for a good reason, like hauling large items, or carrying 4 friends up to the mountain for snowboarding. I have to say, it feels really good to hardly use our SUV at all.
Some interesting related links: Slate.com: Nobody Bikes in L.A. Bikecommute.com The Bike to Work Web Site C.I.C.L.E. Cyclists inciting change... CommuteByBike.com the name says it all FUH2.com a fun look at the monstrosities we love to hate, or just hate. |
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As
I sat in the hot, motionless traffic of Santa Monica Blvd, I knew I'd
be late for work. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I turned up the AC,
tried
to stay calm, made a failed effort to not get mad at things over which
I had no control.
Just
then something flashed by on the
right side of my Xterra, and I saw a guy on a bike cruise up the row
of vehicles, quietly gliding along at probably 20 mph. And he was gone
as fast as he'd appeared.
much
pollution resulted from my monthly commute by car to and from work. Each
and every month, my Xterra (which gets about
23 mpg hwy) was
dumping 338 lbs. of Carbon Dioxide, and 4.1 lbs.
of Carbon Monoxide, plus a long list of other
harmful pollutants
into the air. And this was just for my work commute alone!
By
now most of us have heard about "Peak Oil", and President Bush
has recently cited our addiction to oil as a serious national security
crisis. If you
don't know about it, check out these web sites for a crash course:
I
had a 7 year-old downhill mountain bike with full suspension that was
doing a kick-ass job collecting dust. I took the bike in and had special
tires installed with smooth
surfaces, for
riding
more
efficiently on pavement. They inserted "tuffies", hard plastic liners
into the tires to protect the tubes from being punctured by glass or
other sharp stuff on the road.
Then
they changed my mountain bike crank set over to a road
crank set, which increased my gearing ratio by about 30%, meaning
I could go much faster on level ground.
I found a really good 
My
handlebars were way too low, so I got a new handlebar stem,
plus some carbon fiber bar-ends, so I could ride more comfortably. 
My old helmet was black, and black just isn't very visible at night
time. I found this much better white/silver helmet with excellent ventilation.
Now I'm more visible, and my head doesn't get as sweaty. Mirrors are
absolutely necessary for survival, and this helmet-mounted mirror works
great for quick checks of what's going on behind, but when I need
to know for sure, I always duck my head back 'round for a real look. 
