Reporting from Buckhead

It's probably been for two years that various cyclists have complained that we always do the bicycle commuter breakfasts somewhere along the routes between Decatur and Midtown/Downtown. Certainly this is where I see the most cyclists, but because commuter cyclists' numbers have more than doubled since I began counting a few years ago, I thought perhaps it is time to expand our repertoire.

The logistical problem was how to cover long distances without being too late for work. The obvious solution was to take advantage of MARTA. The expeditionary party of Stephen and myself met at the Decatur Station and boarded the train over to Five Points to catch the northbound train headed to Buckhead.

It was fitting that Bradley met us at the Flying Biscuit. Not only is he well-practiced in the bike/bus commute (Lawrenceville to Vinings four days a week), but he had also suggested our meeting spot. (I'll need to spend more time in Buckhead before I can suggest breakfast spots.)

Bradley did well to choose the Flying Biscuit. Although there is a bike rack in the parking deck, we found a convenient covered spot for our bikes right in front of the Flying Biscuit's windows. This was sufficient for our four bikes, but we'll use the bike racks now that we know where they are.

Kevin lives in Buckhead and also commutes out to Vinings. He has been involved with the striping of the bike lanes that criss-cross Buckhead. I was quite pleased to find these along the stretch of Peachtree just south of the Buckhead MARTA and the Terminus Building at Piedmont where we met. Although there were a number of vehicles making right turns across this bike lane, the motorists gave us adequate consideration when making their turn. Their speeds were a little higher than what I'm accustomed to between Decatur and Downtown/Midtown, but I found the motorists were polite and considerate. It seems Kevin's work is paying off.

Now that we've tested out the schedule and know where everything is, we plan to run this again on Friday March 19.

Commute Summary

One-way Cycling Distance: 11.0 miles
MARTA Departure/Destination: from Decatur (E6 - Blue line) to Buckhead (N7 - Red line)
Number of Cyclists meeting for Breakfast: 4 (2 Decatur/Midtown delegates, 2 Buckhead delegates)
In-bound Route:
- Bicycle: Virginia-Highland to Decatur
- Blue line MARTA train: Westbound Decatur to 5 Points
- Red line MARTA train: Northbound 5 Points to Buckhead
- Dining Room: Breakfast at Flying Biscuit
- Bicycle: Down Peachtree into Midtown
Weather: 100% sunny, finally getting above freezing
What I ordered: Oatmeal pancakes with Peaches (4.5 out of 5 stars)
What I'll order next time: French Toast

Dreaming Out Loud

Riding in this morning, I noticed a long poem written along the PATH trail, but I was riding right-to-left and this wasn't in Hebrew. I thought if there was enough light coming back home the poem might make a nice video.

Once again, bike speed is the right speed.

This isn't far from the Chicken Feet sculpture I wrote about a couple of weeks ago.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 18.6
Number of Cyclists seen: 12
In-bound Route: Goofin' 9.6
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Chilly enough to pull out the gloves for the first time this season.

Skirts and Geeks - 3rd Friday Commute

The title might make more sense if it were Skirts and Greeks, or even Togas and Greeks, but Skirts and Geeks is more accurate, if not rather ... um, intriguing?

Most of the Geeks are not in Skirts, although some may be, but there's a different reason that Skirts and Geeks go together on bicycles.

The 3rd Friday Commute is coming up and we'll be following our monthly ritual of making other people wish they were having as much fun as us: Meet in Decatur at the Square, ride a few miles toward Midtown/Downtown, stop along the way at a breakfast spot with good bike parking, refill our tanks (28 miles per biscuit), and -- leaving nothing to chance -- a new part of the ritual: pre-planned discussion topics.

Here's where we get to the Skirts and the Geeks.

At the October Bike Commuter Breakfast we discussed "What Women Want (from cycling)". The discussion was purely conjectural since no women were present. For Friday's breakfast, we should have some women to help us out. If not, we may have to rely on this post from a fellow Georgia blogger Sweet Georgia Brown. So far, we've got at least one woman cyclist sharing her thoughts about getting "more skirts" on bicycles, and we hope to pick up a few more by discussing what women want.

Another proposed topic is something a few of us have been knocking around for several months. We call ourselves the Atlanta Bike Geeks and look for opportunities to help cyclists using technology and more specifically, computer technology. We're Geeks who ride bikes, and some of us do wear skirts. We had proposed to discuss how technology could help the cycling community. It was yesterday however, that I received an email about how Atlanta is working to become the most digitally mapped city in the US.

Running and cycling around with GPS's so we can create an open-source map is the cool sort of thing that gets a geek excited. Better than skirts. (But maybe not better than skirts on bikes.)

Removing Excuses

I grew up in Savannah without air-conditioning. When we moved into our current house, we didn't have air-conditioning. My sweat glands have had lots of training.

When I ride my bike to the office, it doesn't matter how slow I go, or how cool it is, I sweat. There's less sweat during the winter, but even on the day it was 11 degrees, I still managed to break a sweat. Sweat is what my sweat glands have been trained to do and they do it very well.

Many people won't ride a bike to work for this reason. (Well, because of their own sweat, not mine.) Not having a shower at the office is the reason I frequently hear for not commuting by bike. Since AT&T doesn't have showers, I've had a hard time convincing co-workers they should ride a bike to the office.

I haven't had a good answer for sweat control until the Shower Pass became available.



For $15/month, the Plaza Executive Health Club (PEHC) offers a showers-only membership. This is a good price and I plan to try it out starting next month. I'll be posting my experience -- complete with photos <wink> -- after I give it a try.

The folks over at Midtown Transportation Solutions were kind enough to make arrangements with the PEHC. These are the same guys who put together the Commuter Rewards program that has put a bunch of cash in my pocket.


There's one personal excuse that may go away. By way of introduction, I have a confession to make: I don't ride my bike to the office every day of the week.

I've got the option to work at home, and on mornings I miss my time slot to get in the shower, I often stay at home and shower later in the day. If at all. This was good during Atlanta's water restriction period, but it's been bad for my commuting miles. Why miss out on a commute to the office just because I couldn't get into the shower on time?

The Shower Pass has removed that excuse.

Something out of Nothing?

On my way home today, I rode along with cyclists #4 and #5. Together we counted cyclist #6 on the Freedom Park Trail. They were headed to the Pizza Ride. I was making my usual commute home, but the route afforded us a few miles of chatting.

As I approached the intersection of Springdale and the By Way, I came across cyclists numbered 15-19 headed down the By Way to the CVS ride. I frequently ride with these guys, but I didn't get the chance to chat since we were headed in opposite directions. Exchanging greetings would have to do.

On one hand, seeing our fellow cyclists on the road is nothing. We should expect see each other from time to time.

On the other hand, why are we so happy to see cyclists and especially those we know? Is it simply seeing and being seen? Is it the conversation? Is it a bond we share with our fellow cyclists?

I really don't know why it feels good, but I'm going to keep doing it.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 18.7
Number of Cyclists seen: 26 (only 6 inbound, but 20 on the way home)
In-bound Route: Lullwater/PATH trail
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: No rain for a change, but still rather humid

Tree Climbing on my Commute

It's unusual to see more cyclists in the morning than the afternoon, but then, on the afternoon's route, the cyclists had to climb over fallen trees. The one blocking the PATH trail would make a good cyclo-cross course.

Three trees on Clifton were down within a few hundred yards.

These came down during Monday morning's storm. I've taken pictures of the ones blocking my path, but many others were also down. More storms on the way. Perhaps more tree climbing on my way to the office.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 19.8
Number of Cyclists seen: 15 inbound, 10 outbound.
In-bound Route: Goofin' 9.6 with detour around fallen tree
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton (climbed over the tree on the way back)
Weather: humid and warm

Contributing Commuting Routes to a Visual Catalog

I've added a big step forward with the ability for others to add their routes to the visual catalog. Routes in bikely.com routes may be added directly. Leave a comment if you've got a route in a different tool if you'd like me to upload your route.

These are the steps for adding your route from Bikely.com:

1. If you're using Firefox, drag the following link to the Bookmark Toolbar. If you're using IE, right-click the following link and "Add to Favorites ...". IE will prompt you asking if the link is safe because it contains the javascript for saving the bikely route. You'll click on this bookmark later to save the bikely.com route that is being displayed (Add to Catalog).
   
2. Visit the bikely.com page that displays the route you want to add to the catalog.
   
3. Click on the bookmark and your route is saved to the catalog. The browser then shows the complete catalog.
   
4. You may add as many as you like.
   

You can also view the current catalog without adding a new route.

This is being published on the Facebook page "Bike Commuters of Atlanta" so routes for bicycle commutes in Atlanta would certainly be preferred, but it would be good to see other utility cycling routes. I plan to add a second catalog of routes for recreational and group rides. Who knows, if this takes off, I may add more categories, but I'd like to start with commuting and utility routes.

There's a performance reason for starting with this type of catalog. Commuting and utility routes are generally much shorter and load much faster. When the catalog has long routes (50+ miles), the performance is sluggish. If your commute is 50 miles however, I'd like to see it in here.

Spontaneous non-Combustion

It was over before I could pull out my camera.

Perhaps there will come a day when this is commonplace -- it certainly felt commonplace judging from the complete lack of any reaction -- but at the corner of Peachtree and 5th ...

Rewind several months: In April of 2007, one block away, three cyclists spontaneously met at the stoplight. The following Spring, five cyclists' paths converged upon the intersection. This morning, I followed a pair of cyclists approaching a third cyclist waiting at the light. Before I clipped out, another approached from the left and then another from the right. Six simultaneous, independent bicycle commuters. No internal combustion required.

I like when the commute turns into a group ride.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 18.8
Number of Cyclists seen: 25 (9 inbound and 16 outbound)
In-bound Route: Goofin' 9.6
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Maybe I should have worn long pants. Fingers stiff with no gloves. Must have been closer to freezing than I thought.

Gas Shortage/Cycling story carried by Local Radio Station

 

It's been a bit of trouble finding gas in Atlanta the past week or so. Much of it is panic buying, but when people can't find gas, they tend to panic. It appears some of the panic has subsided when I rode past the gas station down the corner from where I live (notice there are no SUVs filling up and there is a scooter), but even with short lines at the pump, there were still record numbers of cyclists out. I counted 43 today when 20 has been a good number.

The effect on cycling is also getting in the news. Atlanta's WGST 640AM spoke with myself and ABC's Rebecca Serna yesterday about bike commuting, the health benefits, and how to gain confidence negotiating traffic on a bike. The interview was aired this morning on Jennifer Perry's Wellness Wednesday spot (listen here) during the Morning Drive show.

The gas panic has gotten people thinking about what they would do if they can't find gas. The alternatives have always been there. Now people are starting to notice.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 18.9
Number of Cyclists seen: 55 (wow) 12 in AM and 43 in PM
In-bound Route: Goofin' 9.6
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Fall is slipping in, sunny with a cool breeze, but still riding in shorts

New Crop of Bicycle Commuters

Whether it's been gas prices, global warming, or falling behind on the car payment, more people are riding bicycles during my daily commute. I ride my bike to work because I want to be the change I want to see in the world. More cyclists is what I want and I like what I see.

I'd like it even better if this new crop of bicycle commuters would

• Ride on the street instead of the sidewalk.
  
• Take the ear buds out.
  
• Stay on the right side of the road.
  

Once I tried to admonish a cyclist for running red lights. It didn't go so well and I'm sorry I had confronted him. He's still riding, but I fear this tactic could stop others from riding. I don't call out cyclists running red lights anymore.

Still, we want to socialize the ideas that lead to safe and courteous cycling. How best to do this?

I had written not long ago about "Sowing Flowers". Perhaps the best way to set the tone is to set an example. Be the change you want to see in the world.

One of the places I've found this works best is at a stop light. When I'm in front of another cyclist, they usually will not come around me to run a red light. When they are in front and run the light, they often notice that I haven't followed. It's a simple message: there are people on bikes who stop at red lights.

So we begin another school year and the training of a new crop of bicycle commuters. What sort of teachers will they find?

Slowing Down

I've been riding a lot lately, and the energy drop from inadequate rest has me reconsidering how I ride. I've been logging my miles for years, but only in the past two days have I realized how attached I'd become to average speed. I was happy to find I don't have to worry about my average speed dipping if I don't enter a time for the trip. I still get credit for the miles, but I don't wear myself down trying to keep a certain pace when what I really need is rest.

And today, for the first time in 10 days, I didn't get on the bike at all. (I do have an itch to get out, though.)

It is perhaps for this reason, the following blog caught my eye: Slow Bicycle. I wouldn't have given a second look to a site about riding slow on 3-speed bikes if I hadn't reached my personal epiphany regarding average speed. The "style over speed" perspective brings into sharp focus a lot of the reasons we ride and don't ride in the US.

Slow Bicycle goes hand in hand with another recent development I need to post about: since early July, I ride a heavy commuter bike to work instead of my road bike. It's another trusty touring frame, but instead of 9-speed indexed shifters and aluminum frame, this commuter is a steel-framed friction-shifter from the early 80s. Complete with kickstand. A fellow rider donated the frame because it matches my size better and I've been happy to put it back into service.

But it is heavy and I ride to work a good 10% slower on this bike even with more effort. It's the extra effort that has been wearing me down. The old bike is helping me adjust my attitudes.

So speed has been one of my barometers for how much I'm getting out of the miles I put in and how smart I am with my rides, but I'm also reminding myself there are other ways to measure the rewards of time spent in the saddle.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 0
Number of Cyclists seen: 0
In-bound Route: bedroom downstairs to office
Out-bound Route: office to kitchen
Weather: Outside the window, looks pretty warm.

Bit by Bit - Easing into Bike Commuting

When I first started commuting by bike, I rode on days when I had plenty of time, the sun was shining but not hot and I had not gotten exercise in a while. I had a car which could conveniently get me to work and operating the car was relatively cheap back then, but I thought it was a good way to get exercise and to enjoy a ride during the middle of the week. I was getting good miles on the weekend, and wanted to ride during the week, so an occasional commute to the office gave me an extra 15 miles per trip.

I didn't have a rack, lock or other accessories. I just put everything in my backpack, rode in my work clothes (keeping a pair of shoes at the office), and parked the bike inside my office. Since I could pick and choose which days I would ride, weather or sweat was rarely an issue.

Over the years, I would add accessories such as the rack and panniers. I started with the panniers when I began making camping trips by bike and soon found I could carry groceries in those panniers. The recreational riding often seemed to lead to more utilitarian uses. That was 20-30 years ago.

Then, for several years, I had gotten away from cycling: I was coaching my kids soccer, my job was 25 miles away with no mass transit, and my 25 year-old bike needed a great deal of work. But a few years ago, I switched jobs, my kids outgrew my coaching ability, and I got a new bike. I immediately started riding with fellow soccer dads on Sunday mornings.

As before, the weekend rides had me looking for miles during the week. Since I had done this before, commuting to the office was an obvious first choice.

I'm still riding for fun, but over the years, bit by bit, I've expanded both my array of accessories and my repertoire. This has allowed me to abandon the car completely for trips to the office. I can deal with weather, sweat, transporting my laptop, customer meetings, you name it.

This didn't happen overnight. I've reached daily bike commuting by increments over a period of years. It's been driven by my desire to get exercise and my enjoyment of being outdoors, but over time, I've come to recognize a multitude of other benefits. I'm hooked now. Even if gas were to go back to 1980 prices, I'd still be riding.

If a bike is your primary means of transportation, you know what I'm talking about. If you've ridden recreationally, but haven't tried getting to work, pick a favorable day with favorable conditions and try it out. If you choose well, the experience will probably have you looking for more opportunities to enjoy the trip by bike.

If you've tasted the fruits of bicycle commuting but have found some obstacles, try working through some alternatives. I know a few people who put their bike on the back of the car, park a reasonable distance away from the office and then ride the remainder along a nice route of their choice. One guy I work with brings his bike on the bus in the morning and then rides home in the evening.

There are all sorts of ways to commute recreationally. You'll be taking it one trip at a time.

How to Commute when there isn't a Shower

 

OK, this is a picture of a bike rack that doesn't appear to go with the title of this post, but it really does. It only requires a modest amount of imagination which I'll promptly explain.

This is a picture of three bikes on the rack from Friday, and although there were also three bikes on the rack today, it wasn't the same three bikes. Today's bike that is not shown in the picture above was walked up rather than ridden. I met the owner as he was walking up and he admitted he cheats.

Admitting you cheat isn't how most conversations start out, but it was effective at getting things rolling.

The gentleman was dressed in business casual while I was dressed in moist salt. I suspected something was up before he admitted he cheats, but he quickly explained that he rides the bus with his bike on the way in, and then rides his bike home in the afternoon.

Nice. I'm glad our public transit has bike racks installed on the buses.

I've always taken it a little easier coming into the office to avoid too much sweat and then let it all out on the way home. This guy had a pretty good plan worked out.

If AT&T had showers, we'd miss much of the richness of experience that cycling to work provides. We'd ride the same way all the time and make boring commutes. Well, not as boring as the people we see inside the steel cages with really wide tires, but close.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 17.3
Number of Cyclists seen: 32 (11 in the AM, 21 in the PM)
In-bound Route: Lullwater/PATH trail
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Warm but not as hot as last week (80s)

2nd 1000 miles of 2008

My periodic assessment of my miles gives me an opportunity to see where I'm spending my time on the bike and to provide hard data for judging if I'm accomplishing what I want to accomplish.

The mileage chart shows good balance between commuting and weekend riding, but I could use some more errand miles.

One of the reasons I ride a bike is to "be the change I want to see in the world". People will see me running these errands and perhaps decide that they too can run errands on their bike. If I want more people to run errands on their bike, I need to make more trips.



The number of trips heavily favors commuting. I'm happy that most of the time I get on my bike, I'm making a trip to the office. When I count cyclists, most of the increase is coming from more bike commuters getting out on the roads, so I can think to myself that I'm part of that change in the world.

Put a Smile on my Face

As if everyone realized Earth Day means get up the next day and get on your bikes and ride, the cyclists were out everywhere today. I counted 47 cyclists today over 29.6 miles (average of 1.6 cyclists/mile) which is a new record.

I felt like I had been dropped into the future when I stopped at an intersection that already had one cyclist waiting and two pulled up behind me, while another crossed our path in front of us.

Five random bikes at a location I'm used to only seeing the occasional cyclist. It was an impromptu bike party, but we acted like it should happen all the time.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 29.6
Number of Cyclists seen: 47 - new record
In-bound Route: Lullwater/PATH trail (with extensions)
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton (also with extensions)
Weather: The best.

Has the 14th Street Bridge closing gotten you on your bike?

The Midtown Alliance is interested to hear from Midtown commuters who have recently begun riding a bike to work to avoid the traffic snarls resulting from the 14th Street Bridge closing. I have noticed an increase in new bike commuters (many are riding on the sidewalk) around Midtown, but I have yet to strike up conversation with any.

I provided a story about how my Sunday ride found auto traffic in the Bus/Bike lane on the 17th Street Bridge, and the police officers we spoke with were sympathetic with the motorists because of the bridge closing.

Let me know if you or anyone you know was a former single-occupant driver and is now leaving the car at home even if it is only occasionally.

Eat the Waffelaco

Chris calls it BaconEggsnCheeseWaffleSandwich, but that's as much of a mouthful as the meal itself. It's folded over and eaten like a taco, so I call it the waffelaco.

It's a cyclist's meal and you can tell I'm enjoying every bit of it.



Another fellow cyclist who did not join us for the Commuter Breakfast is looking for commuter's stories. Chris's waffelaco might become legend.

Somebody got my Spot

Somebody got my spot on the office bike rack. Not only is this the first rack mate of the year, but the first rack mate who has ever gotten my spot.

I've been parking my bike there since 1999. I've knocked off most of that missing gray paint. Hmmph!

Well, if I expect more cyclists to come into the office, I ought to get used to it. At least it's another Trek.

Working out with Weights

I don't usually carry a laptop back and forth to the office. I'm fortunate to have a backup machine in case one of them is out of commission, but since the office machine was getting upgraded, I carried the home machine into the office. Along with the accessories, this was an extra 10-12 pounds. Noticeable, but not too bad.

On the way home, I brought the new laptop back home along with the old one. This pushed the extra weight over 20 lbs. I could not hold my cadence, but I still got a good workout. We'll find out tomorrow morning if I've achieved the right amount of soreness ;-).

Good number of commuters today but none joined me on the Wednesday Bike Train. I'm not running into anyone that I had ridden with during the fall, and only the guy on a fixie have I seen more than once. The 3rd Friday Commute is working much better so I may focus my energies on this Recreational Commute.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 17.8
Number of Cyclists seen: 21 (11 inbound, but none headed in my direction)
In-bound Route: Wednesday Bike Train
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Just above freezing in AM, shorts in the afternoon

Would Cyclists like an audience with City Transportation Planners?

This isn't getting the buzz that I thought it might. The City of Atlanta's Bureau of Planning is developing a transportation plan, it started last fall, and the local cycling forums appear to have been quiet about it.

With the popularity of cycling on the rise in Atlanta, this is our opportunity to influence Atlanta's transportation planning.

There are a couple of ways cyclists in Atlanta can exercise their citizenship muscles:

1. Fill out an on-line survey telling the planners you use your bike, prefer walkable communities, and want to see public investment in accommodating a life-style that is less car-oriented. In only a few moments, you can help tip the scales in favor of cycling.
   
2. Attend open workshops that run for a week per neighborhood from 10AM to 8PM. For most intown residents, the meetings will occur at City Hall East during the week of March 24-27 (Mon - Thu).
   

We often lament that government isn't doing anything for the cyclist, but if we don't tell government what we want, how will it know? Government works best when its citizens are involved. I'm inviting you to 1) fill out the survey and 2) join me one evening to go down and talk with the planners at City Hall East.

We can even ride our bikes over there.