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

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.)

Fort Collins, CO tries its first Winter Bike to Work Day

This morning we rode through a chilly drizzle to get to work on our Third Friday Commute from Decatur to Midtown. The Third Friday Commute is a year-round bike pool for those of us who don't want to wait until May for the official Bike to Work Day.

Fort Collins, Colorado was probably chillier for their first Winter Bike to Work Day. I guess here in Atlanta, we're not the only ones who want more Bike to Work Days.

3rd Friday Commute - a Bike Pool

Bike to Work Day in May is fine, but why do we have to wait so long? Aren't there enough of us to have mini Bike to Work Days throughout the year?

There were enough bike commuters last month for a small group to ride into Midtown from the Decatur Square. We'd been chatting on the SBL Forum about co-ordinating our commute (not as easy as you would think), and managed to generate sufficient enjoyment to ensure we wouldn't have to wait until May for the next Bike to Work Day.

I'd like to invite both experienced and new bike commuters to join me Dec 21 on another commute from Decatur's Square into Midtown. I'm offering a list of routes to entice the fancies of a broad group of riders. Participants can vote which route we take.

1. The first choice is a repeat of our Nov 16 ride. It climbs Mt. Coventry to get to Emory Village, and then passes through Virginia-Highland to Piedmont Park to reach 12th at Peachtree.
   
2. The second choice climbs Mt. McLendon then turns onto Clifton to follow the Freedom Park PATH trail to 5th and Peachtree.
   
3. The third choice also climbs Mt. McLendon but continues through L5P down Euclid to Edgewood. This route brings us past the Thumbs Up Diner on Edgewood. Downtowners can continue, but the route will turn north on Jackson to join the PATH trail to 5th and Peachtree.
   
4. The fourth and southernmost choice doesn't have a mountain to climb, but the route isn't flat either. It heads south through Oakhurst to join Hosea Williams Blvd. and then hooks up with Wylie to the Krog Street Tunnel before joining Edgewood. This also brings us past the Thumbs Up Diner and also turns north on Jackson to end up at 5th and Peachtree.
   

Rules:
Rules? We don't need no stinking rules!

OK, some suggestions:

• Meet at the Decatur Square at 7:15AM. Leave before 7:30AM.
  
• We're trying out scheduling this for the 3rd Friday of each month.
  
• Those who intend to participate get to vote on the route we take. I'm leaving it open how we come to a consensus.
  
• We ride at a commuter's pace, 10-15 MPH.
  
• No set timetable. If you'd like to join in after we leave the square, let someone know where to look for you so we don't miss you.
  
• Traffic laws are obeyed. Safety and Courtesy are good for everyone's morning.
  
• Flexible on changing the route based on the whimsy of the participants. We're getting to work, but the point is to enjoy the ride in.
  
• Beginners are welcome and encouraged. We're a friendly group.
  

Old Friends vs. New Friends

At the corner of N Highland and the Freedom Parkway, the 8:24AM stop on the Wednesday Bike Train, I faced a dilemma. I could either try to catch and recruit two new guys who just joined the path ahead of me, or I could hang back with maptester who was pulling up to the intersection.

I'd like more riders to know about my year-round Bike to Work days, but it's also good to ride with the guys you have ridden with before.

I guess it's nice to have these choices.

I rode with maptester. There will be plenty of chasing to do on other days.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 17.7
Number of Cyclists seen: 24
In-bound Route: Wednesday Bike Train
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Had to shed my windbreaker.

Social Commuting

A foursome of riders met at a coffee shop on Decatur's Square and rode into work this morning. Four guys riding into work together isn't unusual, except perhaps for the following:

1. The guy who led the ride had the day off from work
   
2. Route ended up only within 2 miles of second guy's destination
   
3. Third guy rode 4.5 miles in the opposite direction to start out (we passed his house 2/3 of the way back in)
   
4. Fourth guy rode 10+ miles out of his way to join in and had to refuel (peanut butter sandwich) upon reaching our meeting spot.
   

Was it worth it? Oh, we're going to do it again.

We chatted and learned more about each other. We took our time. We chose the scenic route a couple of times. SO different from being stuck in traffic.

People want to be part of something bigger. Although this isn't very big, I think we want this to succeed. We're calling it the Decatur/Midtown Bike Train on the SBL Forum.

Yes, getting to work is something we're going to do one way or the other and yes, all four of us are experienced bike commuters who enjoy riding to work. But, we went out of our way to meet up with each other in freezing temperatures to be a part of this.

In our quiet unassuming way, we became the change we want to see in the world, and that is a very social commute.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 22.1
Number of Cyclists seen: Didn't pay close attention; too busy chatting
In-bound Route: Decatur/Midtown Bike Train
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Below freezing for the first time this season

Slow, Steady Train

Despite the number of different people I see riding the Wednesday Bike Train route, I'm not sure we'll ever have even 10 people riding together. On the other hand, our Sunday Morning group ride often carried much fewer than 10 for several years. Now we typically get at least a dozen and a couple dozen on good days. The encouraging news is there has only been one day out of the last 7 weeks that no one joined me on the ride.

This morning I was accompanied by Amy, a Ga Tech student studying Civil Engineering. She has a full appreciation of communities whose amenities are within easy walking and cycling distance. It is an idea whose time has come.

I haven't posted a panorama in a while. I had made a few recent attempts, but this is the only one that I've been pleased with.



The bridge in the lower right-hand corner reminds me of the winter of 1982. I was a student at Tech at the time and we were in the middle of Snow Jam. A sudden afternoon snow storm caught many people downtown and everybody joined in a big party across the city. All the roads were blocked with stranded cars so lots of people were walking everywhere.

Several of my best memories occurred during those few snowed-in days, but the "sledding" day is near the top. We took sheets of linoleum down to Candler Park (pictured here) and slid down the 1/4 mile hill that ended at the bridge you see in the panorama. We tried over and over to steer a sheet of slippery flatness across that bridge without falling into the water. The hill is out of view to the right of the bridge.

Most of the steering involved picking the initial fall line because the best you could do with your feet or hands was keep your head facing the trees you wanted to avoid. About half-way down the slope was a ridge you would disappear over. On Graham's turn, we watched him disappear over the ridge and then turned our eyes to watch if he would cross the bridge. We didn't see exactly what happened, but what we could see gave us a pretty good idea. One of the dogwood trees whose top was all we could see, had the snow shaken loose. This observation fit well with our next observation: an empty piece of linoleum sliding across the bridge.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 17.8
Number of Cyclists seen: 37 - A very good number
In-bound Route: Wednesday Bike Train
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: 57 in AM, 70s in afternoon. Mostly sunny.

Decatur to Midtown Bike Train

Back in September, two events -- which would otherwise have been quickly forgotten -- coincided and made whoopee inside my head:

• I tossed a Bike to Work Day flyer while cleaning off my desk.
  
• I read a post about a Commute Train.
  

I had tossed the flyer thinking it would be nice to do this more than once a year. The post talked about people who were organizing informal bike to work days.

This got the Wednesday Bike Train going. On Friday, a group of us will be riding in from Decatur. Before long, we'll be having Bike to Work days all the time.

SBL Forum could become Bike Commuter Magnet

The Southern Bicycle League (SBL) has one of the more popular forums for Atlanta. It's where my Wednesday Bike Train gets the most online traffic and it may be getting the attention of new commuters.

The ride and route I posted below from myCyclingLog.com is what I recommended for a new bike commuter I ran across earlier today on the Commuting Routes forum. Recruiting and encouraging new riders is really what I wanted to accomplish with the Bike Train, so maybe it is working after all.

Sun, Nov 11, 2007 - 14.60 mi [Cycling]
14.60 mi in 00:52:52 hours at 16.57 mi/h on Trek 1200. [Cycling] Checking out a route I wanted to recommend to a new commuter. The route listed below is part of what I rode.
Posted from My Cycling Log

EastlandHeights-GSU

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Wed, Nov 7, 2007 - 8.60 mi [Cycling]

Wed, Nov 7, 2007 - 8.60 mi [Cycling]
8.60 mi in 00:37:29 hours at 13.77 mi/h on Trek 1200. [Cycling] Came across two riders at Candler Park. I rode with Rick along the PATH until Jackson Street where he turned south toward Spelman where he teaches. He had ridden from Avondale.

The other rider only shared our route until Moreland and I didn't get his name. He was riding into Midtown.

First day with long pants. 34 Degrees when I started.
Posted from My Cycling Log

Halloween Bike Train

21 people dressed up as a cyclist today, including myself. None of the cyclists stood out, but someone at my office did. A recently married woman wore her wedding gown to work.

The weather was good this morning, so my hopes were high that I would find someone to join me on the Bike Train. I waited until two minutes after my scheduled time, but no one joined me at the start. Coming through Emory, I found a few headed in other directions. At Paideia, everyone seemed to be headed to the school. At the Candler Park Bridge, I arrived a minute early and waited until three minutes late. I only saw a man walking his dog. I raced up to the next stop hoping to sweep someone on the uphill. Empty. I hung around at the Carter Center and saw a few bikes headed in perpendicular directions.

The near misses were making me hungry to bag a riding partner. The hunt was getting serious. My eyes opened wider. My head swiveled.

I got to the next stop two minutes early and spotted someone crossing the bridge ahead of me, but was blocked by the traffic. There was a risk of losing my prey even though it appeared to be moving slowly. The light changed. The traffic parted and I rode through in hot pursuit. When I came over the bridge, my prey had vanished.

Since I was ahead of schedule chasing the ghost, I waited for a minute or two and then it occurred to me I should be waiting instead at a spot where more riders typically come by. I was off again.

Approaching North Ave, I spotted a rider ahead of me at the light on Ponce. I knew the pattern of this light and knew they would probably get away. If I hadn't delayed at the last spot, I probably would have caught them. It turned out they did get away.

I was still early though and decided to hang out on 5th street. I always see cyclists headed my way on 5th street. Well, I didn't see anyone by the time the light changed so I sat and waved the traffic around to wait for the next light. Still no one showed up on a bike, but I still had time so I waited for another light. Finally, looking behind me down the street, I saw a cyclist approaching, and then they mysteriously disappeared. Well, actually, they turned one block before reaching me. For a moment I considered chasing them, but if I had caught them, it would have ruined my story.

Sometimes you come back empty-handed, but I'll treat that as a reminder that sometimes, the journey is the destination.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 18.0
Number of Cyclists seen: 20
In-bound Route: Wednesday Bike Train
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Sunny and just the right temperature

Bike Train in the Rain

We had a record number of Bike Train participants this morning.

OK, we actually tied the record and the record is only three, but with all the rain we were riding through, I'm happy there were three of us. After rolling down to Aurora through a steady drizzle, I was expecting to ride by myself the whole way. When I got to the 8:17 stop in Candler Park, a couple of guys from Decatur rode through. I joined them and we chatted about the route and where we were headed. It turns out Aaron also rides to AT&T and we work in adjacent buildings. Our companion for the ride works up at Colony Square.

There is a streak I've got going that looked like it was going to be broken today. Ever since chainstretcher rode with me on the Bike Train two weeks ago, I've spotted him either coming or going every day that I've commuted by bike. Today, it wasn't until I was less than a half-mile from the house that I spotted chainstretcher topping off the hill I had just crested.

Not seeing chainstretcher for months if not years and then seeing him every day was wild enough when it happened three days in a row, but this has been running two weeks now.

Must be some kind of juju. It feels like good juju.

Thought you might enjoy Michelle's story about Kitty juju. It's a little bit spooky. Yes, black cats and ... well, you can read for yourself.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 18.2
Number of Cyclists seen: 15 cyclists, many of them waterlogged
In-bound Route: Wednesday Bike Train
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Rainy on the way in, 50s on the way home.

Report from the 8:17AM stop

This morning I rode with chainstretcher starting from Aurora Coffee in VaHi. The timing is a little bit of a squeeze for chainstretcher since he's trying to get to his office by 8:40 and there lies one of the challenges to the Bike Train. Not everyone has the same schedule.

This did not diminish the ride.

• We rode a little quicker and the cool morning allowed a good work rate without too much sweat.
  
• We ran across a couple other people we knew, but because of our schedule, did not ride with them.
  
• Spent some face-time with some folks we only know through the forums.
  

On the way home, I spotted Jeff by Candler Park while I was chatting with Barry who rides with us on Sundays.

Big changes require small steps. Today's steps look like they're pointed in the right direction.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 16.5
Number of Cyclists seen: 32 (14 in, 18 out)
In-bound Route: Wednesday Bike Train
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: low 60s inbound; mild outbound

Out on the Edge of Darkness there rides a Bike Train

Now I've been happy lately
thinking about the good things to come
and I believe it could be
something good has begun

-- Cat Stevens, Bike (Peace) Train

This morning I enjoyed the company of Jeff from Decatur. We rode along the PATH portion of the route from Moreland to Jackson street smiling and feeling pleasant about our good fortune to be riding bikes to work.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 17.6
Number of Cyclists seen: 35 total (17 inbound is a record)
In-bound Route: Wednesday Bike Train
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Mild and drizzly inbound, but the pavement stayed dry. Overcast but dry outbound.

Wednesday BikeTrain: Candler Park to Ga Tech

Here's the first fruit of a plant seeded back on back on Sep 7th. In a nutshell, I didn't want to wait until Bike-to-Work Day to ride into the office with other cyclists, so I published a route and invited others to join me.

The route below is an interactive map. Clicking on points within the map provide times we expect the bike train to be hitting those intersections. You can also zoom and move the map around by clicking and dragging.

Wednesday BikeTrain: Candler Park to Ga Tech

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

To make this easier to follow, I've summarized the times below.



A few points about this route and how it works:

• Beginners are welcome. The more the merrier.
  
• This gets people on the Tech campus in time for 9AM classes. We hit Peachtree at 5th street at 8:42 AM.
  
• I ride every Wednesday, rain or shine. 19F in January wasn't too cold for me.
  
• The route is suitable for both in and out, but I've only got times listed for the inbound.
  
• You'll notice this route heads away from Midtown and over toward Emory to start. Most commuters would join in around Candler Park or so, but Aurora Coffee in VaHi is not a bad place to meet.
  
• You can join or leave our train at any spot.
  
• Traffic laws are obeyed. Safety and Courtesy are good for everyone.
  
• Leave a comment if you'd like to ride with us.
  
• For some history, the SBL Forum has a topic for this route, but again, current discussion can occur here using comments.
  

Bike Pooling

This past Wednesday at the office, I was clearing my desk when I considered whether or not to toss a flyer I had for Atlanta's Bike to Work Day back in May. I had kept the flyer around thinking how nice it was to see so many people on bikes. I was able to let go of the flyer with the consoling thought that I could probably startup a monthly bike to work ride.

The next day, I find a post on Commute by Bike -- published the same day -- about commuting with other cyclists.

It must be a sign.

Today I set about recruiting other riders. Already it's going pretty well.

I talked with a rider who hasn't started commuting. He lives a few miles from me in the opposite direction of the office, but is still within cycling distance. I offered to ride in with him. This led to a discussion of routes and I think we'll have a new commuter before long.

On the ride home I struck up a conversation with a fellow commuter I had not met before. I asked if he would join in a bike-to-work day. He's interested, so it looks like there might be something to this.

I'm still sorting out the approach, but here's some of my ideas:

• Treat it as an outreach to recruit new riders and get them comfortable with a bike commute.
  
• Let others know about my route on a particular day of the week (Wednesday's say) and invite others to join along.
  
• Find a route more likely to pick up a good number of riders, meet those riders and invite them to ride together.
  
• Find and recruit existing bike commuters to help build up a social network along a specific route.
  
• Work out different planned routes for the various Friday's of each month. For example, first Friday is Emory through Piedmont Park to Georgia Tech, second Friday is from Grant Park to Midtown.
  
• Publish our trials and tribulations so others can learn from what we've accomplished.
  

It's all about getting cyclists on the road.

Commute Summary

Round Trip Distance: 17.9
Number of Cyclists seen: 19
In-bound Route: Lullwater/PATH
Out-bound Route: Emory via Clifton
Weather: Warm but still had plenty of water left in my bottle