Shopping by Bike

I was very excited yesterday to take my first shopping trip by bike! Mostly I wanted to do a trial run and see if I could find places to lock the bike up, which you never seem to notice when you’re by car.

First up was a run to JoAnn Fabrics in search of the little plastic safety eyes for the amigurumi animals I’ve been crocheting. And lo and behold, right there at the corner where the fabric store is one of those heavy duty metal racks (I didn’t have my camera with me so I found this photo at bikeparking.com:

In all the years I’ve been going there, I had never noticed it until I rode into the parking lot yesterday. Duh. I wasn’t sure how the stores would like me wandering around with the panniers from the bike, so I only brought one with me. I figured if they don’t mind backpacks and purses, they couldn’t really object to the pannier. I worry too much, nobody even noticed. :::shrug::: And success! They carried the little safety eyes. Not a huge selection, but they had a few sizes (notably the one I wanted) which saved me from having to order them over the net. I then wished I’d brought the other pannier, they had a bunch of cute Halloween stuff on sale but I knew I wouldn’t have room for it all so I’ll have to go back. They’re already trotting out the Christmas stuff so they’re trying to get rid of the Halloween stuff… yikes.

Next stop was Target. I knew they had one of the regular old bike racks, which I have discovered I don’t really like. You can only lock one wheel to this style, and with the front wheel being the quick-release style, I needed both my heavy chain lock and the U-lock. I used the side of the rack which allowed me to secure both wheels to the rack. Again, no one in Target batted an eyelash at me with my pannier. I had that thing PACKED when Ieft, even a 12-can box of cat food. I also had to pick up bathroom tissue, and managed to carry the 12-roll pack home on the handlebars (double-bagged). So yay! At least I got a little exercise and left the car at home for one trip.

Later I rode over to visit my son and his daughter. They live 3 miles away, so it’s only a 15-minute ride with good bike lanes most of the way. It was such a gorgeous day to be out on the bike. I’d like to try doing my weekly grocery shopping by bike, but I usually get way more than will fit in my panniers. I may have to get those wire basket style shopping racks that hold a regular paper grocery bag.

Slacker week

I didn’t ride at all this week, but I content myself with having run the 5K in the Komen Race for the Cure on Sunday. A former co-worker was diagnosed with breast cancer about a year and a half ago, and luckily is still with us even though it was apparently in an advanced stage when it was found. She got the diagnosis about a week before starting a new job. A large group of us walked in the Race with her last year (Mary had been through two rounds of chemo and the surgery by this point), and I had hoped to see her there again this year. However, as things seldom go as planned, after doing the run with another co-worker, we were unable to connect with Mary. By the time we reached her by cellphone, she was already on the east side of Portland having brunch with her parents. Not quite sure how they pulled that off. Judy and I headed off for brunch on our own then and ended up at a place she knew which turned out to be really good, Meriwether’s in NW Portland. We sat at the bar rather than wait for a table and were well-attended to by possibly the friendliest, most pleasant bar tender I have ever seen.

Other than that, Judy and I ran again on Tuesday, but that was the only activity I managed to get in this week.

Screeching Halt

Argh. I think my bike commuting may be at a temporary end. The intersection right at the beginning of my ride, just past where I drop the car and start the bike ride, is under heavy construction right now. They’ve been working on the whole area pretty much since I started the bike commuting: grading (read: removing) hillsides, widening lanes, etc., but this morning it was down to one lane, and nearly at a standstill. Two guys on bikes were trying to make their way through the maze of cars and orange barrels, and it wasn’t pretty. Unless I can find somewhere else to park the car, I may have to cease and desist until they get the worst of the construction finished. Phooey.

UPDATE 9-26:  When I drove by this morning, it looked a little more organized, and traffic seemed to be flowing normally. I still saw the sign warning of lane closure further up, but did see another cyclist coming through the intersection in the direction I’d be riding. I think I’ll give it a try next week again, provided it still looks ok on Monday.

Help Save Sea Turtles

Ok, so I have a thing for turtles. I’ve done this before and I’m sure I’ll do it again. On behalf of Oceana.org and sea turtles everywhere I am reposting the text of an e-mail I received today to sign a petition to save these amazing creatures from needless death and suffering in trawl nets. To wit:

All six species of sea turtles that swim in U.S. waters are listed under the Endangered Species Act, but that doesn’t mean they are safe from fishermen. Believe it or not, many of our country’s trawl fisheries accidentally injure and kill sea turtles by entangling them in their massive nets.

Fortunately, there’s a way to prevent it. It’s called a Turtle Excluder Device – or TED – and it’s an “escape hatch” that allows a sea turtle to wiggle out of the trawl net, relatively unharmed. While some fisheries use TEDs, too many do not, and are not required to.

We need your help to convince the government to protect these ancient creatures by requiring TEDs in all trawl fisheries in the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico that operate in areas with sea turtles.

Help Save Sea Turtles
Protect Sea Turtles from Trawls »

Let me back up – more than 15 years ago, the government took steps to protect sea turtles by requiring the use of TEDs in shrimp and summer flounder trawl fisheries. Studies show that properly used TEDs can lead to a 97 percent reduction in sea turtle net entrapment. Many trawl fisheries catch sea turtles but the shrimp and summer flounder trawl fisheries are the only ones with TED requirements.

The scale of this problem can be seen in the Mid-Atlantic – approximately 770 sea turtles are caught each year in the Mid-Atlantic bottom trawl fisheries leaving hundreds of turtles dead or severely injured, yet only one fishery in this region is required to use TEDs and those TEDs have proven to be too small.

Still not convinced? July 28 marked the 30th anniversary of the loggerhead sea turtle’s addition to the Endangered Species Act. But not only have loggerhead populations failed to recover in the last three decades, they continue to decline. Disturbingly, loggerhead nesting in Florida has declined by 50 percent during the past 10 years.

Sea turtles need better protection from trawl fisheries, and if the government is not going to require fishermen to pull their fishing gear when turtles are likely to be present, the answer is appropriately-sized TEDs along with adequate enforcement and observer coverage. We simply can’t sit and watch as these creatures, which have been around for millions of years, go extinct. Please take action today by telling the government to protect sea turtles from trawls.

For the oceans,
Elizabeth Griffin
Marine Wildlife Scientist
Oceana

It’s in the Blood

A few years back, I was contacted via e-mail by a cousin I had not known existed. He is technically my first cousin, once removed (so my father’s first cousin), and sadly we pretty much had lost contact with that side of the family long long ago. So I was delighted to hear from my new-found family member. We spent time e-mailing and getting acquainted, he filled in many details of family history for me. His own father, my great-uncle had served in WW I as a medic, and I was thrilled to receive a photo of my great-uncle Stephen in his uniform. One of Stephen’s brothers, Michael, had served in the Fighting 69th, and had died in the Rouge Bouquet bunker bombardment in WW I, memorialized by Joyce Kilmer in his poem, “Rouge Bouquet”. This was also immortalized on celluloid in the 1940 James Cagney film, “The Fighting 69th”.

So the bicycling tie-in: Great Uncle Stephen turns out was an avid cyclist. He rode with the Century Road Club Association back in the 1930s and 40s (possibly even before the war, I’m not entirely sure). Apparently they would go on rides from New York City to Philadelphia: 50 miles out, 50 miles back! Jack’s brother, Richard, has 100-yr-old photographs of these guys, heads down, riding single or double-file on those old country roads. There weren’t many paved roads back then! I asked my cousin Jack if he had ever trained for the Tour de France, and while that doesn’t seem to have been the case, during his tour of duty in France in 1917-1918, he did rent a bike while on a three-day leave, found the bombed dug-out where his brother died, then went back to the town to purchase a wreath that he laid at the dug out with a note “To My Brother and Comrades.” Although Jack doesn’t remember his dad mentioning racing, he does have some official badges listing him as “Judge” and “Referee” at some Six Day bicycle races that were popular for many many years. What extraordinary athletes they must have been. Those old bikes of steel, many with no brakes! And no 27 gears. How I wish I could have known Great Uncle Stephen.

Halloween Shopping (and I want my $8 back) ;)

A shameless plug here. Yesterday I was surfing the net and found this beauty at Costume Shopper. I’d been looking for a really good raven for a number of years now with no success. Most of them are quite small, and look more like a crow than a raven (and yes, I realize most people wouldn’t have any idea what the difference is). Anyway, I found this big boy and after debating about spending $14 for a Halloween decoration ($10 for some cheesy item from Target is usually my limit) I decided to order him. I knew if I didn’t I’d kick myself later when I couldn’t remember where I’d seen him on the Web.

So this morning I got my confirmation e-mail for my order, and way down at the bottom they said (and I quote)

Have a Blog? Want Free Shipping?

Help us get the word out about our website, and we’ll reward you with FREE ground shipping. If you have a blog, simply blog about us AND include a link to any of our product web pages, and we will deduct the ground shipping charge from your order!

Remember, the link does not have to be to the home page. If you saw a particular item that was worth letting people know about, you can link there if you’d like.

Now that’s a first, never seen that before so I’m happy to oblige. Anyway, shipping charges being what they are, it sure took some of the sting out of it. I only sprang for ground shipping anyway.

If you do any shopping at this site, be aware that ALL SALES ARE FINAL. I guess a lot of people buy costumes to use for the one night, then try to return them. I can see why they don’t want to take them back, but something like this ought to be returnable if it arrives damaged or not as they represent it on the site. Accordingly, when it arrives, I will take a photo and post it here, along with a review of the quality. I think that’s only fair. OH, and they’re in Jackson, NJ! My grandmother’s house was in Jackson, I have many memories of that house.

UPDATE: On Saturday I received an e-mail from the company thanking me for the blog mention and letting me know my shipping charges would be taken off my order.

UPDATE 10/1:  Bummer. I got a cancellation e-mail last night for my raven order. It seems their supplier is out of stock on them with no estimated date of arrival for more. Phooey. I was wondering what was taking so long. So, the search goes on for a raven decoration.

Hot, Flat and Crowded

Another book to add to my ever-growing (and terrifyingly long) reading list.

I was reading a review by Joseph S. Nye, Jr., of “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” by Thomas L. Friedman. The review from The Washington Post Book World is posted at Powell’s Review-A-Day, please read at least that much.  This ought to get a few folks out of their cars and onto a bike. Here’s an excerpt from the review:

Of course, rousing a full-bellied nation, groggy from decades of energy overconsumption, is no small task. As the current election debate reminds us, the United States has proven inept at developing a serious energy strategy. Our approach, says one expert quoted by Friedman, is “the sum of all lobbies”; we have energy politics rather than energy policy. In the aftermath of 9/11, George W. Bush ignored calls by Friedman and others for a “USA Patriot Tax” of $1 per gallon on gasoline. Instead, the president offered tax cuts and urged us to shop. Rather than stimulating the economy to move toward fuel-efficient vehicles and renewable energy, we became more dependent on China to finance our deficit and Saudi Arabia to fill our gas tanks. Americans wound up paying even more for gas in 2008, but we enabled OPEC to be the tax collector instead of using the revenues ourselves. Friedman calls this a “No Mullah Left Behind” policy and quotes former CIA director Jim Woolsey: “We are funding the rope for the hanging of ourselves.”

You don’t need to start biking to work like I do (and I only do it a couple times a week, a little more than half the distance since I drive half, and bike the rest. This is the equivalent of not driving in one day a week). But for quick trips around town, from one to three miles during which your car is not operating at peak efficiency anyway (it takes that long and longer for the engine to really heat and up and operate efficiently) biking would be an excellent alternative. Get some fresh air, exercise, see things in your neighborhood you’ve never noticed before as you whizz by in your car, it’s all good. I read a comment against biking on someone’s blog, that all the tires cyclists go through end up in landfills… pretty weak. I’ll have my bike for 20 years and more. How many cars does the average American go through in that time? The energy and resources that go into the building of one car far exceeds a set of tires for a bicycle. Our fellow citizens of Planet Earth who reside in other countries are light-years ahead of us in using alternative transportation. You don’t have to become a ‘roadie’ decked out in spandex hunched over your handlebars, there are loads of different types of bikes that are perfect for riding in town for errands. Trek makes some, the Dutch have Work Cycles, Koga Miyata, and I don’t know what all else. Schwinn is still out there, Electra, there are tons of bicycle manufacturers, you’re sure to find one that will suit you. There are all kinds of fun accessories – lights, bells, baskets, panniers, etc. They really can be practical.

And doggone it, they’re just fun!

 

Note to self: Bears and Bikes are a bad combination

So Yahoo! had this on it’s “Odd News” section today:

“A middle school teacher suffered some bruising and big scratch on his back after he struck a bear while riding his bicycle to school.”

What I really want to know is, was he doing 25mph UPHILL? (I think you all know how much I hate hills). I saw a deer the other day riding in to work, she was just leaping through the field as I rode by. I called out “good morning!” and she stopped and looked at me. That was a close-enough-encounter for me. Sure wish I’d had my camera, though.

Community Bike Programs

I ran across Dublin Community Blog via Just Williams in which a scheme is in the works to provide public bicycles in the city of Dublin. I knew Portland had its Yellow Bike Program years ago, but hadn’t heard anything about it for a long time. Apparently it’s defunct, which is a shame. I “Googled” it, and found this entry at Wikipedia, which goes into great depth about community bike sharing programs around the world. Most are very recent, and according to this article Montreal is just launching one this year, although precisely when it doesn’t say:

Montreal will begin a city-wide rollout of rental bicycles in 2008, in an effort to encourage locals and tourists to make use of the city’s already well-established network of bike paths[5]. The rental bicycles will be available from depots located throughout the city, where bikes can be rented from automated stations using a credit card.[6]

The Public Bike System – as the official municipal entity will be known – estimates that by 2009, 2,400 bicycles will be deployed at 300 depots throughout the metro area.

I wish Dublin and Montreal (and all cities) much success with their programs. Perhaps as these systems refine and improve, Portland will give it another go.

Bike Commute Challenge

So here we are in September, and once again it is the BTAs (Bicycle Transportation Alliance) Bike Commute Challenge wherein people are encouraged to sign up on the BTAs Web site to log the miles each day (or week, I guess whatever works for you) that they ride to work. This is my first year bicycle commuting, which is kind of shameful since I worked only seven miles from home for three years before taking the job I now have (25 miles from home) and never rode to work then. Actually it would have been more problematic at that job, as there were no lockers (there was one shower for women, one for men in a company that now has approximately 200 people on-site), no bike racks or lockers, and really no place to keep anything. So the distance is harder now, and more complicated by driving half the way, riding the rest, but at least I can keep essentials at work and not have to carry everything with me everyday.

But anyway… the Bike Commute Challenge is a month-long event, open to individuals or companies in Oregon and SW Washington. I signed up as part of my company’s “team”, so far I have the second-highest number of miles ridden! Eesh, most of them don’t have any miles logged yet so that is likely to change quickly. I only rode once this past week.

I did try out a different way to ride to avoid that one highway overpass that I was so worried about. It adds about a mile to the ride, and is mostly flat, but it parallels the I-5 highway, and wow was it windy! I felt like I was fighting for every inch of ground all the way up the road. It also felt like a “false flat”, it looked flat but there was a bit of a grade to it. Ugh. I really haven’t had any trouble on the overpass, except that of course it’s an uphill, and it can be dangerous if drivers aren’t willing to give me space, or in too much of a hurry to notice me. I’ve only ridden it five times now, but my cycling mentor (who just went back to the UK for two more months) said even he wouldn’t ride it, too scary. I dunno, there’s one other road that’s in another block from the one I took the other day that parallels the highway as well, but since it’s more protected it may not be quite so windy. I might give that a try next time.

And I do think the hills are getting a teensy bit easier. I’m still huffing and puffing by the time I reach the top, but I think I’m reaching the top a little bit faster than I was. I suppose if I rode more often I’d see a faster improvement.