Amazing! Amazing?
Some have commented that it’s amazing that I go to Costco and similar places on my bike. It’s not that amazing!
My point is not that I do amazing things. My point is that all of us can do these things which we think are amazing, and they are amazingly easy. It only takes about three rides to start to feel my strength improving. So I encourage anyone who wants to improve (or is afraid that they’re not fit enough) to start. Don’t worry about how hard it might be. The Nike slogan expresses it: Just Do It®. For me, this means, enjoy it, no matter the outcome.
For me, an activity is worthwhile if I can answer yes to two questions: 1. Do you enjoy it? And 2. Are you learning or improving at it? The question is not whether you excel at it. Excellence might mean doing better than others. I find there is always someone better, faster, stronger than I am, so there’s little point in trying to be amazingly good at it, unless I enjoy trying.
And there are some things that I do badly. For instance, every so often, I’m invited to play a volleyball game. I’m absolutely terrible at it. When I was a kid, I wouldn’t participate in sports that I wasn’t good at, because I didn’t see the point. There’s the obvious point that I won’t get any good at it if I don’t do it, but that point was lost on me as a kid. I suck at volleyball, but 1, yes, I enjoy playing once a year or two, and 2, I learn from it. So it’s definitely worthwhile for me.
Therefore, I encourage you to get on your bike and ride, for whatever reason you may have, even if you think you suck at it. Ask yourself those two questions.
I like to be weird and do unusual things. In the US, especially in suburbia, it’s unusual to use a bicycle as transportation. I got a lot of “good for you!” compliments yesterday as I towed my trailer to garage sales and the supermarket. That’s nice but in a way, I wish it weren’t unusual. I wish more people did it. It’s not as impractical as people think. Friday night, I rode my bike to my rehearsal with Harmonium. I live in Maplewood, and the rehearsal was in Madison, 11 miles away, over rather hilly terrain. I got to rehearsal all charged up and sang well. I have a powerful headlight and taillight, so I felt safe going home on unlit roads. Yet someone in a convertible sports car apparently thought it appropriate to yell out, “What a freakin’ idiot!” as I rode by. Hmm, I’m an idiot for riding a bike while most “normal” people drive cars? Sorry for my radical thoughts, but I think it’s odd that driving cars has become the normal way to get places, even a short distance away. People think one or two miles is a long distance! And it takes no effort to walk that distance. And if it does, something’s wrong with this picture.
So yes, I do have some radical thoughts, too. I propose that driving a 2,000-pound motor vehicle less than three miles is a reflection of life out of balance. Most car trips are less than three miles. If that’s mostly what you use your car for, you could see your damage to the environment as minimal, since you don’t drive much. But I look at it differently. If most of my car trips are three miles or less, my contribution to the damage is of the worst kind. They are, for the most part, unnecessary injuries to the environment and easily replaced by walking, cycling, public transit, ride sharing, or foregoing the trip. (Also, a car pollutes more in its first three to five miles than any other time.)
Don’t get me wrong. I haven’t gotten rid of my car yet, and I still drive. I still make some short trips. But the first step is consciousness of this. The second step is taking any step towards reducing unnecessary trips. No need to go whole hog and try to replace the car entirely.
In case you don’t know, NJ Transit allows bicycles on its trains when it’s not rush hour. It also allows folding bicycles on trains at all hours. You may not be asked to fold your bike, but it should be foldable. Lately, I’ve been taking my bike into New York so I get around Manhattan by bike rather than by subway. It takes about the same amount of time, and I have more fun, get more exercise, and I save a bit of money.
This past Memorial Day, on the way to my mother’s place, my wife and I rode through Central Park. Now, I’m not normally afraid while riding a bike, but for a change, I was afraid. There were the type of riders who get on a bike only once or twice a year. And there were so many of them! They seemed to be complacent about how to ride because there were no motor vehicles, as if there was no reason to be cautious. They wove left and right without noticing whom they cut off behind them. This is why bicycle paths can be more dangerous than riding in traffic with motor vehicles! Surprised?
As some know, I teach classes to children and adults on how to ride in traffic safely and comfortably. Safety and comfort are important, and they are the barriers for some to riding in traffic. You can learn it! Once you know how to predict others’ actions and how to be predictable, you can feel safer and be safer. If you’re interested in learning more, please place a comment here or send me a note. Or just stay tuned here.
Read Tom Reingold's last post, Zen and the Art of Cyclist Maintenance, here.
Anne Matlack
9:22 pm on Monday, June 6, 2011
Go Tom! I admire this a lot.
Don
8:15 am on Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Will New Jerseyans ride or at least respect the safety of bicycles if gas hits $5/gallon? [yes] [no]
Will New Jerseyans ride or at least respect the safety of bicycles if gas hits $7/gallon? [yes] [no]
Will New Jerseyans ride or at least respect the safety of bicycles if gas hits $12/gallon? [yes] [no]
Do New Jerseyans know that they can turn their old bikes into pedal/electric hybrids for under $500 [yes] [no]
Tom Reingold
11:04 am on Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Thank you, Anne. If you are interested in doing anything like this, we can talk. Anyone can do this, which is one of my key points. Even if you ride a little bit, that's a good thing, for all the usual reasons.
Don, in the last two or three years, I've seen an increase in the number of people riding their bikes for transportation, and it's been steady. It's very small compared with other areas, but it's undeniable and encouraging. We still have challenges ahead, but governments are more receptive than before to accommodate cyclists. They have reasons to do this: they want to do their share to treat the ecology right, they want people of all kinds to access everything, and there is grant money available. Please do a web search on the term "complete streets" which is a policy many towns, states etc. are adopting as a policy.
See http://www.completestreets.org/changing-policy/policy-elements/ and http://blog.cascade.org/2011/02/double-dose/
I feel relatively unthreatened on virtually every road in NJ, and that's largely because I know how to ride safely and comfortably. I teach classes and give lessons on this. It's something that a person can learn, like other skills. And the more of us learn, the more we improve conditions and perceptions for everyone else.
Pat Gilleran
1:39 pm on Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Bloomfield recently passed a Complete Streets resolution and now we're (the Open Space Trust Fund Committee) working on the ordinance.
It's important that all Township streets be designed and constructed to include accommodations for
pedestrians, bicyclists, public transit, and other motorized vehicles and their passengers.
Tom Reingold
12:22 am on Thursday, June 9, 2011
Pat, that’s good to hear. At sombike, we’re going to request South Orange and Maplewood to adopt Complete Streets policies. They’re already leaning in that direction, at least verbally.
sombike = http://www.sombike.com
Complete Streets = http://www.completestreets.org/changing-policy/policy-elements/
Pat Gilleran
11:33 am on Thursday, June 9, 2011
Michael,
You have totally misunderstood Complete Streets. I does not mean bike lanes everwhere .
What are “Complete Streets”?
Complete Streets are streets for everyone. They are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and public transportation users of all ages and abilities are able to safely move along and across a complete street. Complete Streets make it easy to cross the street, walk to shops, and bicycle to work. They allow buses to run on time and make it safe for people to walk to and from train stations.
What do Complete Streets policies do?
Creating complete streets means transportation agencies must change their approach to community roads. By adopting a Complete Streets policy, communities direct their transportation planners and engineers to routinely design and operate the entire right of way to enable safe access for all users, regardless of age, ability, or mode of transportation. This means that every transportation project will make the street network better and safer for drivers, transit users, pedestrians, and bicyclists – making your town a better place to live. The National Complete Streets Coalition has identified the elements of an ideal Complete Streets policy to help you write one for your town.
Pat Gilleran
11:33 am on Thursday, June 9, 2011
The Many Types of Complete Streets
There is no singular design prescription for Complete Streets; each one is unique and responds to its community context. A complete street may include: sidewalks, bike lanes (or wide paved shoulders), special bus lanes, comfortable and accessible public transportation stops, frequent and safe crossing opportunities, median islands, accessible pedestrian signals, curb extensions, narrower travel lanes, roundabouts, and more.
A complete street in a rural area will look quite different from a complete street in a highly urban area, but both are designed to balance safety and convenience for everyone using the road. The below photos show the variety of options in creating roads that are safe for all users, regardless of age, ability, or mode of transportation.
Read more about Complete Streets here:
http://www.completestreets.org/
Beatrice
11:34 am on Thursday, June 9, 2011
Complete Streets introduced to Council by Project Main Street, Caldwell Downtown Alliance team, in March 2010. http://projectmainst.blogspot.com/2010/03/blog-post.html
It would be great to hold a Tour de Le Caldwells with you and other experienced riders who are street savvy leading the way. My daughter is anxious to learn the rules of the road so she can ride on the streets and to school. This summer would work. Happy to help and I am sure residents and merchants will be happy to help and cheer you on!
You may have something here! Anyone who lives and works in The Caldwells would feel confident to ride a bike to work. With bike lanes defined, now that would be the answer! Could we have bike only side streets?
Pat Gilleran
11:42 am on Thursday, June 9, 2011
In Bloomfield we are hoping to make Complete Streets part of the design used by our town.
Our award winning Bloomfield Center Redevelopment Plan envisions “Six Points” as a pedestrian hub. With the addition of safe, well-lit mid-block pedestrian alleys and connections, visitors will have convenient and interesting ways of walking throughout the downtown. Bicycle lanes and conveniently placed bike racks will also encourage riders from intermediate distances to participate in the downtown experience without driving.
Recognizing, however, that cars will continue to be a significant part of the transportation mix, the Bloomfield Parking Authority is undertaking a downtown-wide parking plan, which will ultimately include the construction of new structured public parking—one of many public improvements that will facilitate the redevelopment, rehabilitation and revitalization of downtown Bloomfield.
The plan also addresses public streetscape and open space improvements as well as a façade improvement program that will incentivize and complement the private developments.
http://www.njfuture.org/index.cfm?ctn=9t45e1o30v9g&emn=5u92y86g2h42&fuseaction=user.item&ThisItem=935
Tom Reingold
6:36 pm on Thursday, June 9, 2011
I see someone removed Michael's incendiary comment. He called me nasty names, but he raised some points that are worth addressing, so it's too bad that someone removed it.
I'm not advocating for any fringe kind of activity. I'm hoping to show people that riding a bike can make sense. I dream of places that accommodate cyclists better than New Jersey currently does. Replacing some -- not all -- car trips with bike trips reduces traffic congestion. It also enables more people to use the roads. You can't drive a car if you're too young, old, sick, or poor. I think it's a mistake for us to build our society and assume everyone can get everywhere by car. There some places you can't reach without a car. I don't know if it's a liberal or a conservative idea, but my hope is that we all get equal access to public accommodations, however we choose to travel.
Michael
12:44 pm on Thursday, July 21, 2011
yes I see your point. "they may say we are dreamers, but I'm not the only one... I hope some day you'll join us... and the world will live as one" but thats not the way of the world, and not god's plan. sorry, I wish it were.
Don
9:26 pm on Monday, July 25, 2011
Its not unusual in most other communities to ride bikes as transportation, but here in NJ, I find that for some reason, I only see what look like formal bike riders, wearing "bicycling" clothes and riding expensive looking bikes, and nobody else. Plus the roads here are not bike friendly, it seems. There are very few bike lanes. Neighborhoods that used to be connected by paths that were bikeable, are now enclosed by fences or privatized property. And at the same time, New jerseyans seem unhealthy. They get much less execrcise than they used to. Why? because everything is oriented towards and around cars.
Even as less and less people can afford them.
We recently read that the percentage of Americans who own cars and who have drivers licenses is declining rapidly.
Is the percentage who own and ride bikes also going up? It should be. Otherwise, we're in serious trouble!
Michael
9:27 am on Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Well as usual the libs sucked the fun out of everything in New Jersey. People don't ride bikes anymore because its a liability, you now have to wear a suit of armor to get on one, if you fall on someones property cause you don't know what the heck your doing, the property owner whom was inside watching tv gets sued, so everyone puts up fences and barriers, stores and towns are afraid to get sued by patrons that might get hit by a bike if the bikes on the sidewalk , towns and counties are afraid to get sued if they put in a bike lane and it is not a stone cold perfect setup (which it could never be), and a biker is hit by a car, people whom drive cars won't vote in or pay for bike lanes because it will cause less room and more traffic for cars, Insurance premiums for cars, bikes and health go up. I mean just so many Lib ways to screw up something so simple as riding a bike. you can't restore and old car, you can't go to a clean free beach, you can't fly a model plane, launch a remote control boat, fish, or fart, without a license, lawyer, or Lib friend connection pass.
J S Beckerman
3:50 pm on Tuesday, July 26, 2011
It sounds like Michael forgot to take his lithium today.