Biking is hot!

In more ways than one! I don't know how it is in your community, but around here, cycling as a form of tranportation is finally getting some press. First, the Secretary of Transportation, a Washington, D.C. cyclist himself, talked about the importance of cycling infrastructure on National Public Radio. Locally, my city (Rochester, New York) has been listed as one of the top 50 U.S. cities for bicycling by Bicycling magazine. Okay, granted, it's number 50, but we still made the list! Finally, Rochester is also working on a bicycling master plan.

And, with the rise in gas prices and the recent tragedy of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, many people are turning to cycling as transportation to minimize the use of fossil fuels.

Well, there is a definite need for public policy advocacy in terms of the issues surrounding the oil spill, but that's a topic for many other blogs. With sewgreen's emphasis on living in an earth-friendly manner, I thought I would address one of the perceived barriers for people who would like to commute to work by bike: what to wear.

Specifically, I have found I really have to have a system for what to wear on the bike, and what to wear once I get to work. Some people have jobs where dress is not an issue, and others are comfortable wearing business attire while biking. That's not the case for me, though.

First of all, like I said, biking is hot! Even when it's relatively cool outside and I'm going a short distance, I sweat. So, for the ride, I wear comfortable clothing. It doesn't have to be bright neon lycra and spandex, but light-colored clothing is helpful in terms of visibility. Generally, I wear what I would wear for a walk, except that I pretend the temperature is about 15-20 degrees (Fahrenheit) higher than it actually is, and dress accordingly. (I tend to get warm very quickly; your internal thermostat may vary.)

I carry lunch, clothing, and anything else I need for the day in 2 rear panniers on my bike. I recommend ones that are waterproof, as you never know when a downpour might come. (I'm looking out the window at one right now and hoping that it stops before I have to bike home!) Two panniers are better than one if you carry much of a load at all, as they allow you to evenly distribute the weight.

I find it fairly easy to towel off at work and change into my work clothes. After many times of forgetting some essential piece of clothing, I keep the following in a filing cabinet at work: black shoes, a simple black top, black jacket, bra, and pantyhose. (Black goes with everything!) I also keep a pack towel (found in the camping section of stores, this is a very thin towel that dries quickly), deodorant, and hair product.

Speaking of hair, I'm an au naturel kinda gal, so hair and make-up is mostly a non-issue for me. My hair is extremely short, but I actually do still get helmet head. My solution for that is a cycling cap worn under my helmet. That helps capture some of the sweat and eliminates the indentations in my hair, which really wouldn't add much to my professional credibility.

As a case in point, yesterday, I biked to my first meeting of the day, at another campus of the college where I work than the one in which my office is located. I have biked there several times, and I have a favorite bike rack and big bathroom where it's easy to change. I got there, grabbed one of my panniers with my clothing in it, and changed for my meeting. I should have gotten there a bit earlier, as it was a muggy day and frankly I was still bright red when I got to the meeting. Fortunately it was a fairly casual group whom I know pretty well. I try to have about 10-15 minutes of cooling-down time before my meetings on hot days, but I just didn't have the timing right yesterday!

My next meeting was at a university down the road/bike trail. I changed back into my biking clothes. I could be casual at this meeting, so I just changed into a clean and non-sweaty top for that meeting. Then I headed to my office, and followed my usual routine.

It took some planning, but by 11:30 that morning I had biked over 10 miles, just going about my business. All of these trips only took 5 minutes more (at most) than it would have to drive, and I got some exercise to boot.

Today, my partner gave my bike and me a ride to work (we do have a car; we just try to minimize driving as much as possible) because I was doing a video and didn't have time for the cooling down time. At the end of the day, I grabbed the pannier with my bike clothes in it, changed, and headed home. First, though, I did a 30-minute fast ride along the trail to get my aerobic workout in. Then I headed over to the neighborhood farmers' market. And finally I made it home.

Biking is an invigorating and yet relaxing way to get around. Yes, commuting by bike takes some planning, but once you get in the routine, it's much more carefree than driving, dealing with traffic, and circling for parking spaces.

Share your tips and/or questions about bike commuting in the comments!

Green commuting

Here in the Northeastern region of the U.S., spring has officially arrived! We're supposed to see temperatures near 80(F) this weekend, highly unusual for this time of the year. In addition to getting my garden started, I'll be out on my bike. As you can read in my bio, cycling is a big part of my life.

There are lots of good reasons to bike: it's good for your health, connects you to your surrounding community, reduces the amount of your budget for transportation, and reduces impact on the environment. I first wrote about this at RocBike in 2007, but since this is my first post for sew green, I thought it would be a good idea to re-visit the green reasons for bike commuting.

According to The Consumer’s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices from the Union of Concerned Scientists, the 3 priority areas for consumers in reducing environmental impact are: transportation, food, and household operations. These are the 3 areas in which individual consumers can have the most impact, with transportation being numero uno.

The 5 specific recommended actions to reduce your transportation impact are:

1. Choose a place to live that reduces the need to drive.

2. Think twice before purchasing another car.

3. Choose a fuel-efficient, low-polluting car.

4. Set concrete goals for reducing your travel.

5. Whenever practical, walk, BICYCLE, or take public transportation.

The Earth Policy Institute reports that since 1970, bicycle production has outpaced automobile production, with bicycle production having quadrupled while car production has doubled. The report is optimistic about the potential of bicycling for reducing traffic congestion and pollution.

If you're an aspiring bike commuter, here are a few resources to help you get started:

--Bike Commute Tips blog by Paul Dorn.
--Ten Bike Commuting Myths Dispelled
--and there's always RocBike, which is especially relevant to those of us in wintry climes, but also expresses the sheer joy of bike commuting.

Finally, if you're concerned about safety, check out my post about how I overcame my own fear, after a near-miss accident involving my daughter.

I admire people who are completely car-free, and aspire to be one some day. But I haven’t quite figured out how to make that happen. However, I have been able to figure out how to live less than 5 miles from my place of work/study/yoga practice/spiritual community. I bike, walk, or bus whenever feasible, but since I do have access to a car, I have some guidelines about when I'm "allowed" to drive, which include circumstances such as extremely inclement weather, work-related reasons to drive, illness, and carrying very heavy loads.

What about you, our readers? How do you "green" your commute? Any other bike commuters out there? I'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments, as well as any suggestions for future transportation-related posts you'd like to see here at sew green.

bicycle built for 2 (or 3)

cross posted at twogreenchickens

We are lucky that our situation allows us to be a one car family. My husband rides his bicycle / public transit to work daily, and after we walk the "big sister" to school, I try to use my bike, with the "little sister". She is growing though - and the trailer seems a bit too small these days.

So looking into a "longbike: for carrying the kids - and cargo.

These bicycles are becoming increasingly popular - and in turn more choices are becoming availalbe. Yesterday's Los Angeles Times weighed out some pros and cons. (You can find the article here.)

What I am looking at:

$1199 Xtracycle Radish


$895 KONA Ute longtail


$900 Yuba Mundo Cargo bicycle

Commuting by bicycle? Lots of info at 1 World 2 Wheels.

car {s}hop

we have been a one car family for 2 years now. we always planned on getting a second vehicle. this is l.a. after all and everyone drives. everywhere. but we found that d could manage with a combo of biking and taking public transit to work. it added an extra half hour or so onto his commute, but he found he was was less stressed, and in better physical shape too. we have been lucky to have an extra car (thanks friends and family!) at our disposal through all this - "just in case" - and it has come in handy when something has come up where i can't pick up the kids in our usual way. a kind of car-share that has worked will in a pinch.

but we are looking now for a second of our own. i think the ideal would be something very fuel efficient with a low carbon footprint. of course. and a camper/van. to ease our weekend getaways and our yearly trip up the coast to canada. and it could also serve as our "just in case" vehicle.

where to look? and how do i decide? oh i do like those hybrids you see all over the place (sam, leslie, you do love yours, don't you? and they are comfy for family outings?). but i keep thinking straight vegetalbe oil (svo), and ultimately waste vegetable oil (wvo), may be the way for us to go. i worry about the impact of the demand for palm oil that biodiesel may cause. of course inroads into pond scum fueling my car sound interesting. and the idea of a used vehicle appeals to me. (converting an older diesel to wvo and practicing the 3 R's as much as possible.) but we do need one reliable vehicle. (again - this is l.a...) we certainly are not waiting for ford and gm's much touted corn ethanol fueled vehicles. (you can read more about "why corn ethanol isn't the answer" here.) i have checked out the top 10 green cars (unfortunately for the uk and many models not available here - but it gives me some ideas.)

i don't like car shopping at the best of times - hence our 2 yr lack of a second vehicle - and all these additional issues begin to overwhelm me - as you can see. oh yes, and of course we are trying to do this on a budget.

so i turned to my "go to girl", and friend alegre, of Green and Greener. she told me:

"From an environmental stand point I’m torn. While I haven’t found CO2 info about burning used veggie oil, I agree that it’s always better for something to get used two or more times before it enters the waste stream. However, I also believe that lowering CO2 emissions is the SINGLE MOST IMPORANT thing we can do right now because of the urgency of global warming. So I’d recommend getting a PRIUS, having it modified to be a full-plug-in (find info here) and then make sure that you are signed up for GREEN POWER with DWP (if you don’t have solar panels) so that the energy you are getting is CO2 emission free."

so there you are. we are looking and thinking and wondering if, as more hybrids come on the market the price will beging to decrease. (perhaps i will still be blogging about this in another two years!)

in the meantime, i have purchased a terrapass for our minivan.

i would love your feedback on this.

wanted: earth-friendly, reliable set of vehicles for family of four. must be willing to commute during the week, enjoy short drives to the beach, and weekends in the mountains as well as yearly drives to the great white north.

any ideas?

All aboard!

I’m the first to admit I have romantic notions about trains. I have sentimental attachments to them as my memories from them are all fun. Riding with my girl scout friends in elementary school (can’t remember where we went, but I know it involved giggling), riding with my mormor in Sweden, doing the Eurail thing with Laurel (We only got kicked off once, in Italy for accidentally getting on the bullet train when we’d only paid the regular train fare. Those Italian train conductors were a bit intense.), avoiding (this time on purpose by hiding in the bathroom) paying the fare to Båstad with Daniel (during a year I spent in Lund, Sweden) and travelling to the Norwegian fjords in 2001 (as seen above and below – the only photos of mine from my train adventures that I could find).



Most recently I took the train from Emeryville, California to Auburn, California (riding the Zephyr). I had no idea it would be such a party. I left on a Friday, and the train was surprisingly populated. Commuter regulars were opening their mini-wines (bought in the dining car), and celebrating the end of the work week. Some staggered down the aisles with lemon-capped beers. On the way back to SF, the train was also quite populated, this time with Oakland A’s baseball game goers. A cute granddad and his decked out in Oakland A gear grandson quietly picnicked together.

My point is, I love trains. I do not understand why there aren’t bullet trains and regular train riding going on all over the US. It is so much more environmentally sound (and safer) than car driving en masse or riding the plane! And you can read, get work done, dine, have a party, play cards, draw, take photos, journal, walk around, craft, etc. on the train!

The SF Guardian recently had a good article about Schwarzenegger’s postponing the realization of a California bullet train. The California bullet train has been in the works since the 1980’s, and in planning for almost 10 years. Why is it taking so long? There are these folks who say a bullet train would cut into hundreds of parks and protected areas in California. This is obviously not good for the environment. But I wonder in the long run, which has a greater impact, cutting into some of these protected areas (I’m assuming not by huge amounts since the rail would run alongside existing rails), or continued degradation due to so much car driving (which will only increase as the population increases, and which will require wider and more roads, also cutting into land). The reason Schwarzenegger is not getting this train moving is not related to the land impact however. His reason is all about cost-effectiveness in the short term. When are politicians going to realize we need to think in the long term, especially if they’re claiming, as Schwarzenegger is, to be environmentally conscious?!

Honestly, I think it will be hard to persuade car-drivers to switch to the train. But with some good advertising, with growing awareness of how our car-centered lives are severely hurting our environment, and with a bullet train travelling much faster than a car, perhaps a slow transition to trainriding and public transport is possible....

In the Bay Area, you can get involved with the bullet-train supporters. And write to Schwarzenegger.

Some flickry train goodness:
longing.
waking up on the train at 6 am.
from driftwould
7-1
an old train car

It's all about the dining car:
dining car nap
dining car (check out those seats!)
dining car table
lunch on the train

If you’re looking for a train-related movie, Station Agent is one of my all-time favorites.