10 Reasons to Unplug that Car and Get Out My Bike Helmet (green)

In honor of my father, Sam, who taught me to ride a bike whenever possible.

1) Some hackers have found the ultimate in meanness. They're doing all they can to further mess up commuters as folks great ready to move off home on four wheels. I've been in enough traffic jams that were simply caused by the end product of overpopulation. I don't want to deal with this too. On my bike I can zig zag right on by.  Traffic Congestion Just Got Worse - http://www.siliconbeat.com/2014/05/01/this-is-not-what-san-francisco-needs-right-now/

2) I know that a lot of folks think the idea of robot cars is sexy, but... I want to be out of the way when....Google's Self Driving Cars Hit the City http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/28/tech/innovation/google-self-driving-car/

3) I'd rather turbo boost my bike than my car. And hey this includes blue tooth! http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/power-pitch/bicycle-riders-get-turbo-boost-from-high-tech-wheel-133518768.html

4) If I can ride safer, I'm more likely to pedal, versus turning that ignition key. High Tech Bike with sensors that detect cars in your blind spot http://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/smart-bicycle-tech-hood-youll-know/

5) The Bamgoo Bicycle is much cooler than any car http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/sara-urasini

6) Because crowded roadways can force drivers to jump through too many hoops
http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/news/local/town-hoping-high-tech-can-reduce-traffic-woes/nfm2G/

7) Because in cities like London, driving is discouraged and bikers get benefits. How to Cycle in London http://www.visitlondon.com/traveller-information/getting-around-london/bicycle

8) Because big city driving isn't only a hassle, it can cost you extra just to be on the road http://www.visitlondon.com/traveller-information/getting-around-london/congestion-charge

9) Because I get a little exercise when I bike my errands.

10) Because when I'm on my bike,  I can stop quickly and easily, chat with a neighbor, pet a friendly dog, not fret about finding parking, and easily help a visitor out with directions.

Web Resources

May is National Bike Month - According to the American Bike League,  half of American workers live within 5 miles of work. That doesn't mean it's safe or practical for all of that group to bike to work, but certainly a goodly crop of folks can give it a try.  http://bikeleague.org/content/bike-month-dates-events-0

Will they Ride Them? (Reducing Use of Fossil Fuels)

These young men will be taking care of the planet
when the rest of us move on.
Will bikes like these, help their stewardship efforts?
http://www.bayareabikeshare.com 

San Mateo County is beginning it's participation in a bike sharing program. I've seen quick-trip rental bikes like these in London and San Francisco, and am sure glad to see the idea hitting the suburbs.

Coming out of my study group at the main library in downtown Redwood City yesterday, I talked with a middle aged man and a small group of teenaged boys checking out the new bikes, which will be rentable as of today. The man said that they cost too much for him, and told me that he could buy a used bike for twenty bucks. But I noticed he studied the bikes and the rental arrangement for quite a while. 

The boys were more interested. Kid-like, they scoffed a little over the bikes not being electric. But a couple of them tried the bikes out, insofar as they could since the vehicles were locked in place.

For those who can already ride a bike to work, shop or hit the library it may be less expensive to have your own bike. At $9 a day or $88 (paid up front) - $99 dollars (paid in installments) a year, it's a serious budget consideration. http://www.bayareabikeshare.com 

Like the tee shirts say, "Good Planets are Hard to Find". 

Cutting down on around-town driving can make a real difference.

 I'll be keeping an eye out for these lovely blue bikes on our local streets.

To Zip or Not to Zip?

My first podcast is actually not out as a 'cast. Instead I'm doing the first couple of months as youtube slideshows with audio as I build my podcasting skills.

Part1: Folk, Foxes and Francisco

Part2: Folk, Foxes and Francisco

We are all so gosh-darned environmentally conscientious these days. Everybody’s got a view on the best method for saving the planet. And most of us are involved in our own plan for doing our bit. Are you getting tired of hearing about how all your friends are greener than you are?

There was that woman standing next to me at the Menlo Park Farmer’s market, for example. She was complaining about the prices. Fifty cents more, she said angrily, than the price at the Redwood City Saturday market. I remarked that the farmers pay more for the stalls at our downtown market, than they do one city north.

“I wouldn’t think it would be worth the gas to drive to Redwood City, to save fifty cents on a bouquet of sunflowers.” I tried to say it politely.

“I’ll get there in my hybrid,” she replied smugly. Well it’s pretty clear she is doing her duty by the earth!

I had to grit my teeth together, fighting the impulse to attempt to one-up her. Clearly she doesn’t consider the cost to the environment of producing a brand new car. I also forebore to tell her that, I always walk or bike to the weekly market. How much charm could there really be in showing up somebody who is that much of a dope?

It’s not that I never drive. I just manage to limit doing it. Both my husband and I can get away with it, because neither of us has a commute that requires driving. That’s not an option for everybody, and it certainly hasn’t always been an option for me. You do what you can. I can walk or bike to two grocery stores, a photocopy place and a pharmacy. So most days I do the family shopping in bits and pieces, and my husband makes one big Costco run a week for the heavy stuff. There’s days and evenings when I need a car. I take music and technology classes at the local community colleges, and our public transportation system isn’t well integrated with those campuses, if you live where I live. (I know because I’ve tried it, and pumped the local bus drivers for ideas.) So I drive to my classes.

My neighbor Jen and I have both downsized to one car. A bike racer and regular long-distance rider, Jen bikes everywhere. She ferries her children, via Burley, amazing distances. She and her husband both commute by bike. She also walks to the grocery store most days.

This didn’t start out as a plan to be greener-than-thou. Each of us had two cars until recently. But Jen’s lovely old purple sedan got crunched by another driver in a hurry. Stop signs were apparently not made for everyone. The insurance company gave her $900 for a car that had worked just fine and required little maintenance. My daughter was determined to be a good bike commuter at college, but it just didn’t work out for her. Sometimes you need a car. We are left with reliable Old Blue, the elderly mini van.

If pushed to it, we could each acquire a second vehicle. And that second vehicle, like each of our first ones, would spend a lot of time in our respective driveways. A waste of money neither of us is dying to spend. A waste of space in our none-too-sizable drives. An unnecessary drain on the planets resources, - yes mam - even if we got hybrids.

What would be nice, I thought, would be that Zip Car program. I’m sure you’ve seen it. Didn’t it start on college campuses? A fleet of cars I rent a share in. Access to a car only when I need it. Another expense, but less than that of purchasing a new or used car.

So do either Jen or I Zip?

In a way we do. We setup our own Zip. Each of us already has one car we rarely use. So we back each other up. On the rare occasion when both spouses need the car, and it does happen, we check in with our neighbor.

“Going to be using your car Saturday night, Jen? I’ve got a piano recital at school and Dave needs to drive down south.”

“No bike race this weekend. You’re on. And by the way, I’ve got a doctor’s appointment Tuesday afternoon and Mark needs to take the car, so he can drive down to San Jose after work. That’s not an afternoon when you have class, right?”

It’s not. My Old Blue will get her over to the doctor’s.

City Bound:The Ferry Building (Part 3)

Pedaling up and around the Embarcadero took me to the Ferry Building. You can have your Coit Tower or Fisherman’s Wharf, this place represents San Francisco for me. There was a wooden Ferry House here since 1875. This building dates from 1898. It’s where people who worked in the city crossed on ferries from Oakland and Marin, to get to work each day. It’s also the place where anyone traveling across the country by train ended up. A few people still commute in by boat these days, but most drive.

When I stopped and locked up my bike here, I could hear some of the ferry goers from another era scrambling up from their benches and rushing through the doors to crossover the Embarcadero, out onto Market Street to work. A group of women walk past me, laughing and talking. The dark-haired one, Emily, is a telegrapher. Later on this morning, she’ll be in touch with her fellow op’ in Chicago, my Great Aunt Mabel. Once they finish their business with the transfers, they’ll chat on the wire about Mabel’s handsome new male-friend. Then Emily will instruct her chum to make the next move in that ongoing chess game they’ve been playing for a few weeks.

If ever there was a natural Time Portal, it’s this building.

Please click on the picture above to enjoy the beautiful details

To Be Continued

(Final Episode is Angels and Crocodiles)

City Bound: Car Free to San Francisco (part 1)

Go ahead and click on the photo to fully enjoy the details of the rails. The bike car's the first car on the train and commands the best view looking north to the city.

I took Thursday off and biked over to the local train station to catch the 10:14. Like most romantics, my heart doesn't yearn for city sights. And at the same time, there's something awfully intriguing about the pace of totally urban life, for which I get a tremendous craving every once in a while.

I don't enjoy city driving. And there's no point in it when I've got a lovely wide tired, three-speed bike to companion me, and a train station that's a five minute ride from my house -ten if I stop and talk to a few neighbors along the way. Which I usually do.

Peggy had a bag of lemons out, so of course I stopped at her house too. One of those will come in handy when I make my London Loaf this week.

I made the San Francisco train with the necessary extra five minutes to convince the ticket machine it should accept my debit card, popped my pink cruiser bike on board, and settled into the bike car to listen to the clackety-clack back beat of the train starting up.

to be continued