Don't Kill Me

If I can get through tomorrow and Friday, I will have made it the entire week without driving my car. I commuted on my motorcycle today [Wednesday] and Monday and on my bicycle yesterday. Actually, yesterday I biked to school, rode back into town after school to go to the bank and run home and then rode back to school for a function. In all, nearly 25 miles yesterday-- saved just over a tank of gas in Pompey, my trusty Maxima.

Gas prices have fallen in the last week, but they will go up again. Part of what we need to do is find alternatives to conventional means of transportation: mass transit, carpooling, work from home and, yes, bicycling.

I know, the Ducati is somewhat cheating since it uses gas. But one of the reasons I bought it was to save gas. The 50 or so miles per gallon is so much better than the 23-25 mpg of my car.

That being said, please look out for me. And people like me. We are everywhere. Whether I'm on my motorcycle or bicycle, you are bigger than me and will win any collision.

I realize there are a lot of idiots on motorcycles. I really don't need to be fast. I do like the rush of riding. But I get that at 40 MPH. I don't need to go 90. Look for me and my bike as you approach intersections, change lanes and make turns. Drive with extra caution; it could save a life.

I also know there are a lot of people who say bicycles don't belong on the roads. Fair or not fair, until the laws are changed, cyclists are entitled to the same rights on the roads as cars. I believe that we do a terrible job of educating motorists about the rights of cyclists and how to share the road with them. Here are a few things I'd like to pass along as someone who has done a lot of road riding in a lot of places and a decent amount of commuting here at home:

• I did not wake up in the morning thinking, "What can I do to inconvenience the world?" Trust me, if I could go faster I would.
  
• If I do not ride on the far right of the lane, it is intentional. I am trying to force you to go around me instead of "squeezing" by me in the lane.
• Another reason I sometimes don't ride on the far right is for my own safety. Riding more in the lane gives me room for error in case there is an obstacle or drain or something. Plus, the road is cleaner, thus safer. If you've ever walked or ridden on a road, you'll realize how much debris there is closer to the edges-- pebbles and rocks, trash, nails and bolts, glass, etc.
  
• Many states have passed laws that require motorists to give cyclists 3 feet (or 1 meter) when passing. See article in USA Today. Of course, North Carolina is not one of those states. Though it's not a law (yet), it's still a good rule of thumb to follow.
  
• That being said, if you are on a four lane road and the left lane is free, why not get over when you pass? I ride Four Seasons Boulevard to work, one of the main thoroughfares in Hendersonville. Where I have to share with cars, the speed limit is only 35. If it were 55, I would not ride it. Yet in my four trips yesterday, there were at least 8 cars that, with no traffic in the left lane, either "squeezed" by me or barely moved left to pass.
• I really believe more people would commute if it were safer. Some of the ones I've talked to are just terrified to share the road with these large cars and inconsiderate drivers. And probably rightfully so. To me, it would be a good investment in future paving projects to add bike lanes. They look aesthetically nice, promote safe commuting and minimizes conflicts between cars and cyclists. I noticed that almost most of the roads in rural Colorado had paved shoulders (photo below). While not designated bike lanes, they allowed me to ride out of traffic and a safe place to pull off if you were in a broken down car.

Again, it's spring and the weather is warmer. The people on two wheels are coming out. Please be aware of them. They would really appreciate it.

Postscript:
Example of how North Carolina is behind: I took this photo last summer during my bike tour on US 64 between the NC/TN border and Murphy, NC.
I understand the need for rumble strips. They've saved lives. They've alerted me when I have driven. But why not put them on the white line? What could have been a decent place for a cyclist to ride was made useless. I had to ride in the road with traffic going 55-60 MPH. Fortunately, there was not a ton of traffic, so cars could mostly get over into the left lane. But still-- Oregon, Colorado and even Kansas would never allow this.

Bye, Kansas

So it's been an eventful few days since my last post. I stayed in Great Bend on Monday, July 26 so I could get a new tire. When I got to the Golden Belt Bicycle Shop, he did not have any tires in my size (26x1.5). About 5 minutes behind me, another customer asked for the same tire size. The owner was a little embarrassed. He said that he sells about 4 a year and here he had two requests on the same day. He did adjust my rear derailleur that was acting a little slow on the downshifts.

Well, no biggie. I rode on because I was confident I could get two days of riding out of the tire. Off of HWY 156, I stopped by an education center for the Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Refuge and learned a lot about migrating birds. Jumped on HWY 4 and had a very nice, if not hot ride through corn and hay fields and tiny little towns. I did find two great towns on Tuesday-- Marquette (pop ~682), with it's fun downtown and home of the Kansas Motorcycle Museum and Lindsborg (pop 3,300), nicknamed little Sweden it had a brick lined streets, a definite Scandinavian flair and is home of the Bethany College Swedes. Lindsborg is where I camped for the night.


On Wednesday, I had a goal of 115 miles to Harveyville where my friend and North Henderson Art teacher Liz Runkle (and the creator of Baron and Cliff) was doing an art residency. I was riding by 6:00AM and doing great. Took a little break for breakfast in Gypsum. Made it to Hope, where a guy named Holly, feeling bad for me in the heat, bought my slushy. The day was going great-- I was making awesome time, my legs felt fresh and I got a free slushy!

From Hope, it's 8 miles to Herington. Halfway there, I heard a hiss as the air emptied out of my rear tire. In the hot sun, on the side of the road, I fixed the flat. But I was screwed. I didn't carry an extra tire, just tubes and patch kit. As I examined the tire, I saw the cause of the flat-- I had actually worn a hole through the tire. I used some duct tape to try to protect the tube and rode to Herington. Things seemed well until I heard a loud pop. The tire did not make it. No sense in trying to repair it, it would just flat again and I had over 50 miles left to go.

So I call Liz, who drives to Herington and we creatively fit Bella, BOB and everything else in the tiny Toyota Yaris. We go back to Harveyville and Liz shows me the set up. It's an old school that was converted into a sort of refuge for artists to come and work. Liz was housed in an old science room and I got sleep in a history room. Nicole cooked us dinner. It was great, just really hot and humid. We even found a room that had a scale model of Harveyville. What do you do with that? Well, have sock monkeys attack, of course!


Thursday Liz and I rode up to Topeka. We got a new tire for Heang, Liz got paper to work on her prints and we picked up weedeater string for Nicole. Being enticed by air conditioning, we made the decision to watch Inception. I thought it was a really good movie. After wasting more time in A/C in Barnes and Noble, we headed back to Harveyville for dinner.

Today was a pretty good day. I covered 111 miles. Had nice legs and no wind. Breakfast in Burlingame was nice. Baldwin City was a good break from the sun and I had a gyro. I got lots of little breaks just to cool off. Once I got into Olathe and the Kansas City suburbs, things got more difficult. I had to dodge traffic, re-route because of construction and put up with urban drivers. I can't remember anyone shouting anything at me on the entire trip. In a 15 mile span, there were about 6. All teens trying to be smart and who thought they were hilarious. I rallied my way to Lee's Summit, Missouri and found a hotel since there were no campgrounds nearby. I asked if they had a special rate for someone riding across the country and the guy says sure. I got a good deal.

Sunday Observations - May 3

- Psychologist Rollo May was quoted, "It's an old and ironic habit of human beings to run faster when they've lost their way." There's something about us that makes us feel better when we panic. 1 confirmed American death due to swine flu. According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 36,000 Americans die from flu each year.

- May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month in North Carolina. When you're out driving, look for those guys with two wheels. I know some of them are stupid, but please be careful for the sake of the ones who aren't trying to be dumb. Be especially careful around a wobbly guy on a sweet Italian sportbike. He's scared of you and your big cars.

- May is also National Bicycle Month. You should make it a goal to ride your bike to work or the store sometime. And if you are in your car, please also be one the lookout for people who might be commuting on their bikes. And be patient... I don't mean to be slow. I assure you, I would go faster if I could. And I wouldn't be in the road if NC did a better job of providing bicycle lanes.

Go here for Bicycling Commuting Tips.

- Speaking of bikes, I helped my friend Ruth pick a bike yesterday. We visited almost all the shops in Asheville and Ruth settled on a Fuji from Probikes in West Asheville. It was fun and a good purchase!

- Hearn's Bikes, one of Asheville's oldest shops, moved from Merrimon Ave to Asheland and they no longer carry new bikes. Go in there and it's like a museum of used bikes. It really is neat. There were folding bikes, standing bikes, tandems, lots of old Schwinns, a neat selection of single speeds and just some really cool old frames.

- My assistant wrestling coach and his wife just had their first baby on Friday afternoon at 3:19. They were both at work (they both teach with me) when Wendy started having contractions during first period. Please welcome to the world: Sophia Athena Williams.


Crush of the Week:
I read a cool article in Sports Illustrated on the return of Ken Griffey, Jr. to Seattle. A quick recap of the article:
1- Seattle is as infatuated now with Griffey as they were when he was a rookie in 1989.
2- The Mariners are winning, just like the early 90s before A-Rod, Griff and Randy Johnson jumped ship.
3- His swing is still so, so natural and sweet and his smile is still infectious.
4- Griffey is referred to by one beat writer as, in hindsight, the greatest player of the last 20 years.
Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez and so many others have had rumors , accusations and scandals follow them. Not Griffey. He did what players are supposed to do when they get older: be leaders, raise a family, get slower and get injured. It's common knowledge in cycling and body building that athletes dope to recover from fatigue and injury faster. Griffey's numbers are not as staggering because he spent so much time injured. Some of it was bad luck, some was him getting older.

I don't follow baseball as closely as I used to. But I will still pull for the Dodgers (10-0 at home so far) and, at least for this year, I'll root for the Seattle Mariners in the American League.

Eye on the goal; Eyes on the prize

"Obstacles are the frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal."
-Henry Ford

Everyday, I write a new quote of the day in my classroom and my students have to write it in their journals. The quote above was today's quote. It made me think of mountain biking.

One of the most common mistakes by new mountain bikers is "object fixation". This is when the rider focuses on an obstacle such as a rock or root rather than the trail ahead. The general rule is "look where you want to go." If you focus on the obstacle, you inevitably will hit that object. If you look ahead on the trail to where you want to be, your bike will go there while avoiding those dreaded roots and rocks.

When learning to ride my Ducati this summer, the books I consulted and Jim, my riding instructor, emphasized "looking through" a curve. Look where you want to be and you and your bike will lean and be there. Fixate on a pothole or a car heading towards you and you will likely lead your motorcycle straight towards that you are trying to avoid. If ever you feel like you are not going to make it through a curve, just look through and lean because your bike will lean further than you believe it can. Just trust it.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14

The only thing that I did wrong
Was staying in the wilderness too long
Keep your eyes on the prize, Hold on
"Eyes on the Prize"