"Wish every day felt as meaningful as Bike to Work Day?"
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"Wish every day felt as meaningful as Bike to Work Day?"
I'm guessing a lot of you got the same e-mail I did from the League of American Bicyclists with the subject in my thread title. Maybe I've just become cynical in my old age, but....
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That is to say, I biked to work today but it didn't feel any more meaningful than it does any other day.
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#3
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I used bike-to-work week as a way to educate drivers to watch for bikes and shamelessly promote my LBS. For those of us who already bike to work, it is no big deal, but if we can convert just one person into a bike commuter it will be worth it.
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Ironically, yesterday was one of the first commuting "incidents" I've had in a long time. I was waiting behind a car at an intersection, and when our light turned green, the driver just sat there. I don't know if they thought the oncoming turn lane had priority or if they were just spacing out, but I knocked on the trunk to try to get their attention. They pulled forward a little and then braked, which caused me to knock again and yell. Perhaps the knocking confused the driver into thinking I was trying to say something else, I dunno. The good news is that the rest of the time I seem to be tolerated pretty well on the roads.
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Ironically, yesterday was one of the first commuting "incidents" I've had in a long time. I was waiting behind a car at an intersection, and when our light turned green, the driver just sat there. I don't know if they thought the oncoming turn lane had priority or if they were just spacing out, but I knocked on the trunk to try to get their attention. They pulled forward a little and then braked, which caused me to knock again and yell. Perhaps the knocking confused the driver into thinking I was trying to say something else, I dunno. The good news is that the rest of the time I seem to be tolerated pretty well on the roads.
Anyone make a bicycle sized horn that sounds like a car horn? Just for a little "honk-honk" wake up call.
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I wish the work were more meaningful when I get there.
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#9
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A major hindrance is the road design in the US. After switching from a job where I traveled frequently, to a job where I was mostly home; I tried commuting for a couple of years. Fuel injected attitude from having just been in the Netherlands. For about 19 of 21 miles, it was as ideal route as I could imagine in an urban setting, but the second last mile was just suicidal. Between the airport, and commercial parks there's only 3 roads, to get from residential to my office and they all suck, suck, suck.... At one point I tried mixing in public transit, but the time schedules suck, suck, suck.... I finally decided it wasn't worth the risk anymore. I've generally got about 40 yrs of experience riding urban/suburban streets, but I'm pretty choosey about my routes.
Last edited by gear64; 05-19-19 at 06:44 AM.
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https://deltacycle.com/airzound-horn
Been using one one each of my bikes for 25 years.
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I used as an opportunity to try and get a friend to try bike commuting by riding with me to work. His job is in the building across the way from mine. No dice.
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Delta AirZound. Doesn't sound like a car horn, but is loud enough to be heard through closed car windows.
https://deltacycle.com/airzound-horn
Been using one one each of my bikes for 25 years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCbySrOuaYs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8e36yfiwaE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QdtAMxCqnk
https://deltacycle.com/airzound-horn
Been using one one each of my bikes for 25 years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCbySrOuaYs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8e36yfiwaE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QdtAMxCqnk
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This. I'm in favor of a mid-week "Bike to Somewhere More Meaningful than Work Day."
I certainly didn't see any more bikes on the road than usual. For me, it's just what I do, five days a week, year-round (black ice and snow being the exception).
I certainly didn't see any more bikes on the road than usual. For me, it's just what I do, five days a week, year-round (black ice and snow being the exception).
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As a bike commuting novice, this day still gives me a boost to try and get out there more regular basis. This year in Albany, NY there was a lot less coverage for bike to work/green your commute day. Probably due to poor weather though.
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Rode to work last Thu for BTWD (as I do most days), a few colleagues also rode. Rain held off late enough in the morning, but some potential riders might have gotten scared off by the forecast.
But then by lunchtime it was raining pretty good. Since I asked for the company to buy lunch at Chipotle for anybody that rode out, and was the POC on the flyers all over campus, I was compelled to go. One hardy soul joined me:
We had a good time, though we both got soaked (I actually had a rain cape with me, but chose to get wet in solidarity). The Chipotle was just around the corner from his home, so afterwards he was able to clean up. I rode back to work (the rain was done) and changed back into all my dry work clothes.
:
But then by lunchtime it was raining pretty good. Since I asked for the company to buy lunch at Chipotle for anybody that rode out, and was the POC on the flyers all over campus, I was compelled to go. One hardy soul joined me:
We had a good time, though we both got soaked (I actually had a rain cape with me, but chose to get wet in solidarity). The Chipotle was just around the corner from his home, so afterwards he was able to clean up. I rode back to work (the rain was done) and changed back into all my dry work clothes.
:
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Hard to say. How meaningful was it?
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I'm car-free, so I ride everyday. Ironically, I've not ridden to work on Ride to Work Day in years. I take a vacation day and hand out breakfast tacos to other bicycle commuters, then I give a presentation on bicycle commuting to whichever corporation signed up for it. I wrap up the day at a Bike to Work Happy Hour.
I'm supporting the cause, but it's just funny that I don't get to ride that day.
I'm supporting the cause, but it's just funny that I don't get to ride that day.
#21
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I was asked to help man a table in the evening for Bike to Work day on Friday, but I can't, as I'm singing in a concert.
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I was asked to help man a table in the evening for Bike to Work day on Friday, but I can't, as I'm singing in a concert.
Very cool, Tom!
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That's cool! I don't sing (much), but I recently had a concert too
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Our Bike-to-Work day is still about a month away. Colorado’s BTW has always been a month behind the rest of the country because May is not always “spring like”. (We had up to 10” of snow a week ago in Denver!)
That said, I have a love/hate (but mostly hate) relationship with Bike-to-Work day. While I support the general idea of getting people to ride their bikes to work, Bike-to-Work Day is a bit like Easter. People do it once a year and they are “saved” or they have “done their duty”.
Frankly, after 40 years of being involved in this...doing local news stories, helping people plan routes, doing volunteer mechanical work at aid stations..., I’m about ready to start yelling at people. Preaching to the choir, here, but if after 40+ years the number of people who commute to work regularly (like once a week instead of once a year) hasn’t increase, why are we spending so much effort on the program.
Simply put, Bike-to-Work Day is a dismal failure.
That said, I have a love/hate (but mostly hate) relationship with Bike-to-Work day. While I support the general idea of getting people to ride their bikes to work, Bike-to-Work Day is a bit like Easter. People do it once a year and they are “saved” or they have “done their duty”.
Frankly, after 40 years of being involved in this...doing local news stories, helping people plan routes, doing volunteer mechanical work at aid stations..., I’m about ready to start yelling at people. Preaching to the choir, here, but if after 40+ years the number of people who commute to work regularly (like once a week instead of once a year) hasn’t increase, why are we spending so much effort on the program.
Simply put, Bike-to-Work Day is a dismal failure.
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Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
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Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
#25
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@cyccommute, bike commuting has increased noticeably in many places. I don't attribute much of the increases to efforts like bike to work. It's more of a celebration than advocacy, but it doesn't hurt.
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Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
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“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.