Today on my ride to work, I broke my personal and probably most people’s record in the flats. And I am not only talking about the quantity but also quality.

Ok, start from beginning. I just recently moved to a new place in San Jose. Now my commute instead of involving suicide missions on Matilda Avenue in Sunnyvale, I just jump on the Guadalupe Trail at my condo and ride that all the way to Alviso. I have to cross a single road. The bad? Well, the Guadalupe Trail is currently mostly packed gravel. But it is totally worth it. Especially on my fixed gear. I zip at 20 mph and not worry about the cars.

Well, today in the morning I was waiting to cross the single road I have to cross and as everywhere in the Bay Area, the intersection has the car friendly but bike unfriendly sensors. So, I jumped on the sidewalk and pressed the pedestrian button. On the way back on the road I went through some brush. When I started to ride, I notice my tires are covered with some brown stuff. So I stopped to remove that and to my horror realize that the stuff was about a hundred thorns per tire. After removing couple of them, I heard the tire deflating.

So, I walked back home and switched to my road bike and zipped using the surface roads to work. Those roads are actually pretty good backup, especially since there is actually less traffic on them and are generally faster than my old commute from Sunnyvale. That is even though my new commute is close to 8 miles and my old one was close to 6 miles.

But back to my tire problem. I have not yet taken the tire apart, but I am convinced that what I will see is a tube littered with tiny holes all over the place. Coworker recommended I get the puncture proof tires. He recommended Armadillo. I guess I will see. It would be nice to find some with a more aggressive profile than a regular road tires. Something that will work good on the gravel.

Tags: Bike to Work,Biking,Move,Rants
Categories: Biking, Rants
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Should the bikes be on the roads? Well, this is a tricky question… for some people. For me it is pretty simple. Yes. But, let’s go baby steps. What is the best way to travel? It turns out the most efficient way is bike. The least efficient way is a single passenger car. In between are things like trains, buses, walking, etc.

But what is the cost of each mode of transportation? Well, walking is pretty much free. For biking, you got to buy a bike. Most people will say that trains are super expensive, because you have to build tracks etc. But what about cars? What is the cost of a car? Well, let’s do a quick math. My assumption is that we buy a car and throw it away 10 years later.

• Normal car: $17,000
• Gas for 10 years at 22 mpg and 15,000 miles per year and $4 per gallon: (15000 / 22) * $4 * 10 = $27,240
• Oil changes every 3000 miles: (15000 / 3000) * $15 * 10 = $750
• Repairs let say $500 per year: $5,000
• Insurance and registration is another $900 per year: $9,000

Did I forget something? Anyway, according to my math, the total cost of having a car for 10 years is about $58,990. But is that the total cost of driving?

Let’s start by comparing this to a bike. Not completely fair comparison, but let’s try it anyway:

• Normal bike: $800
• Panniers, trailer: $600
• Tubes, break pads, let say 10 tubes a year ($5), 2 tires a year ($20), 2 sets of break pads a year ($20): $1000
• Repairs let say $200 per year: $2,000

Did I miss something here? Well, the total is $4,400. And this is for a bike that is tuned twice a year, gets new tires and break pads once a year, has panniers, trailer and so on.

Ok, how about public transportation. Assuming you live in the Bay Area, you are looking at the cost of a bus and Caltrain, Bart, Ace, or Amtrak. So, you are looking at anywhere from $5 to $12 per day for the commuter rail, and couple of dollars per day for the bus if you need a local connection. Assuming the worst, you are looking at $2 for a bus in the south bay, $6 for the Caltrain to San Francisco, and another $1.5 in San Francisco. This twice a day is $19 per day, which in 10 years is about $49,400. But this is the worst case. Also, all public transportation modes have 10 rides or monthly plans. Also, there are commuter tax breaks for the public transport. All these incentives can lower the cost of riding down to couple of $100 per year.

So, according to this, whoever can bike to work should. There is significant saving in that. So even ignoring impact on environment, health, and time, this should be enough motivation for most people to change their transportation habits.

Tags: Bike to Work,Cycling,Driving,math,Public Transportation
Categories: Biking, Environment
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Here are some random pages I saw and I thought were cool/funny/interesting/crazy:

• Pay off your share of the US national debt

Transportation

• Bike to work is healthy
• Energy cost of movement
• Live longer, run
• Cool and scary photos of traffic from space

Vegan

• Naked chicks protesting against UK guards wearing fur
• E. coli in Whole Foods beef

Social Security Number

• Protect your SSN
• How secure is your SSN

Tags: Bike to Work,Cycling,Driving,Politics,Running,sickness,Veganism,websites
Categories: Biking, Environment, Geeky, Peace, Veganism
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I am consistently harassed by car drivers when I ride bike to work or back home. Most of them seem to be annoyed by the fact that I am on the road where they think only cars should be. But according to CA Department of Motor Vehicles, I have all right to be there:

Permitted Movements from Bicycle Lanes

21208. (a) Whenever a bicycle lane has been established on a roadway pursuant to Section 21207, any person operating a bicycle upon the roadway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time shall ride within the bicycle lane, except that the person may move out of the lane under any of the following situations:

(1) When overtaking and passing another bicycle, vehicle, or pedestrian within the lane or about to enter the lane if the overtaking and passing cannot be done safely within the lane.

(2) When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.

(3) When reasonably necessary to leave the bicycle lane to avoid debris or other hazardous conditions.

(4) When approaching a place where a right turn is authorized.

(b) No person operating a bicycle shall leave a bicycle lane until the movement can be made with reasonable safety and then only after giving an appropriate signal in the manner provided in Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 22100) in the event that any vehicle may be affected by the movement.
Amended Sec. 5, Ch. 674, Stats. 1996. Effective January 1, 1997.

In other words, if there is no bike lane, and this is not a freeway, I have a right to be on the road. Also, if there is potentially damaging stuff or some other obstacle on the bike lane, I can go on the road.

Tags: Bike to Work,California,Cycling,Safety
Categories: Biking, Rants
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Since I moved to California, I have been biking to work and around town. I still have a car, but since I hardly use it, it is on a good way out. Currently it is used as a garage for my road bike. Not the most effective use of a car, but hey, at least I don’t drive it.

I have a funny story that happened a while ago, but I finally happened to remember it again. One day I am parking my bike into my car and there is a note on my car. The note said that since my car was abandoned, it will be towed away. I had to explain them that my car is fairly new, fully registered, on a dedicated parking spot, has the tag of the apartment building, etc and I just don’t use it that often, since I bike to work. They responded by saying that if I go to vacation I should let them know. Explaining that I did not go to vacation did not help a whole lot. Eventually the person told me that since the car has so much dust on it, they could not see the apartment building tag. This was of course complete lie, since you could see the tag without any problem. So, finally they pretty much told me that I have to use my car at least once a week.

So much for the green environment.

After this incident I checked my lease agreement for the apartment and they actually spell out that you have to move car at least once every five days. What is wrong with this picture? I pay for that parking spot. My car is completely legal, I have all the papers, registration, insurance etc. Why do I have to move it? Anybody?

Tags: Bike to Work,Cycling,Driving,Environment,Villains
Categories: Biking, Environment, Rants
2 Comments »