Two Wheeling

Warning: Ice Biking can be Hazardous to your Health

This is my 4th winter biking to work--it's invigorating and I love it! But a cycling friend recently reminded me of the danger of biking on ice.....he has a good friend who crashed on ice and suffered a serious head injury.

My friend, Richard, is absolutely right. I have crashed, and fortunately escaped without serious injury, several times on black ice and have now adopted a rule not to bike to work on days when there is a significant amount of ice on the roads and bikepaths. Ice is the ONLY thing that can keep me off my bike. (BTW, the bikepaths are rarely plowed so I do most of my winter riding on the streets, especially High Street., which are plowed regularly and bikeable on most winter days.)

The good news is Columbus doesn't normally get much snow and ice and when we do, it usually melts within a few days. This, coupled with our flat terrain gives Columbus a real advantage over other cities attempting to match our pedaling revolution.

I am proud to be a twowheeling pioneer and hope I am making a contribution to CBus' pedaling revolution. My goal is to demonstrate, and convince my fellow citizens, that bicyling is a viable form of urban transportation ON MOST DAYS. But it's important that we use good judgment and utilize other forms of transportation such as mass transit (yes, and even "boxes"!) when the weather makes it too dangerous to bike. This makes good common sense (of course you know what Mark Twain said about common sense................it's not too common!).

10 days and counting until the Winter Solstice--can't wait!

What a Day!

As forecast, the winds were unbelievable today, gusting to 60 mph--it was a challenge to keep the bike between the lane lines--and the temp dropped from 50 this morning to 20 on the way home.

I like to bike on days like today--when most folks wouldn't consider it. I have good, warm clothing, so the cold doesn't bother me. There's no better way to feel connected to the environment.

Our good friend, Jeff Olson, of ALTA Consulting (the top bikeway consulting firm in the U.S. that spearheaded the Bicentennial Bikeway Plan) was in town today to meet with the folks in Dublin. Dublin is looking to implement a 21st century bikeway plan to help them attract and retain new economy workers and tech companies. He stopped by my office to have lunch with several of CBus' most passionate twowheelers. He mesmerized us with updates on the pedaling revolution sweeping America. He came directly from high level meetings in Washington, D.C. where support for bikeway plans and mode shift is achieving significant momentum. It is very possible that significant federal funding will soon be available to help cities like Columbus move the dial. That's the good news.

On the bad news front, I am sorry to report that according to recent articles in The Columbus Dispatch experts are projecting that by 2018, 50% of Americans will be obese and that recent advances in cancer research and treatment are being offset by the increasing incidence of cancer due to obesity. I am convinced that active transportation will play a significant role in solving this public health crisis.

The 2009/10 ice biking season is now in full swing and we are fast approaching one of the most important twowheeling days of the year--December 21, the Winter Solstice. Before I took up twowheeling, I paid little attention to this day, but the gradual increase in daylight beginning on the winter solstice is a real milestone for those of us who are biking in the dark to and from work each day. And we know that we're starting the countdown to spring at it will soon be time to shed our winter biking clothes and wallow in the warmth, smells and sounds of the earth, awakening from its winter slumber. Spring feels especially special when you've biked through the winter. This will be my fourth winter ice biking to work. Please consider joining me.   

   

It's Amazing....

....what you experience when you bike to work everyday--like this morning. I pulled out of my driveway at 9 am and began the short ride through my neighborhood to get to the Olentangy bike path. As I rounded a turn I was startled to come face to face with a large buck--as in male deer--standing in the middle of the road. Mind you, I don't live in a rural neighborhood, I live in the middle of the city, the Clintonville area to be precise.

I stopped the bike within 20 feet of the deer and waited. After staring each other down for 30+ seconds, the buck scampered off. This time of year, during the rut, bucks can be very aggressive. The thought crossed my mind that, if he charged, I'd have to fight him off with my bike. That would have been quite a scene.

Last week I met Ashley on the Olentangy bike path. I was passing her and struck up a conversation--I'm interested in why, how far, how long, etc. folks bike to work and school. Ashley is a senior civil engineering major at OSU and began biking to OSU from her home in Worthington every day. She said her major is very stressful and biking is a excellent stress reliever. 

Ashley looked like a model. She was tall,  very slender and cute.....even in her bike helmet (bike helmets are not very flattering.)

We talked about all the reasons people bike to work and school, i.e. to save money (you can save $8-$10,000 per year trading in your car for a bike), to preserve the environment, and to lose weight and maintain your health. I was just about to say to Ashley that she obviously didn't need to bike to lose weight when she said, "I've lost 60 pounds this year since I started biking."

I looked at her in disbelief and almost rode off the path. "Did you just say 60 pounds, as in 6--0?" "Yes," she replied. I was slender in high school, but when I got to school I ate more food and was less active and I just gradually gained 60 pounds. But I've lost it all by biking. I love to bike.

Looking at her, I just couldn't imagine her with 60 more pounds. I've been saying for years we need to quit joking about our college freshman gaining the "freshman 15." But Ashely was living proof that we need to get our young people out of cars and on to bikes.

Why Can't I Be More Like Gandhi?

I've been riding High Street to work the last couple weeks--the new pavement north of the University is beautiful. I was enjoying the smooth ride and the brisk morning air when my good humor was rudely interrupted by a blaring truck horn! I turned around in time to see a pick up truck speeding up to pass me.......I could see the driver rolling his window down to say something to me. "Get the hell off the road, you a__hole!" he yelled as he passed me. My first reaction was shock. I was riding to the right hand side of the lane, obeying all the traffic laws.

I've often wondered what Ganhdi, or MLK, would do in this situation? I envision them smiling gently, nodding their heads softly, perhaps even waving and saying a silent prayer for the truck driver as he sped out of view. That's what I've always wanted to do, too. I've played this scene over and over in my mind so that I would be ready when the opportunity arose, and this was it.......my big chance to shine. But instead of elevating my game, turning the other cheek and taking civilization to another level, I blew it.

"F__K YOU, YOU  A__HOLE, I HAVE JUST AS MUCH RIGHT TO BE ON THE ROAD AS YOU DO!" I yelled at the driver and, in case he couldn't hear me, I flipped him the bird.

I immediately felt terrible. Not only is this an unacceptable way for a 53 year-old man to behave, but my rude temper tantrum will only fuel that driver's disdain for bicyclists. Hell, the next time he may not even blow his horn--he'll just run someone over. 

I mentally "spanked" myself all the way down High Street. When I started down the hill into the University district I was heartened to see 3 bicycles ahead of me. I rode up behind, and then passed, them. "Hell, for a minute I thought I was in Portland," I said to the OSU students and they smiled back.

I stopped at a red light at King and High and pulled up next to a middle aged cyclist who I've seen before. "Thank God.....there IS other intelligent life in the universe!" I exclaimed to him. He smiled, too.

Unfortunately, my two positive interactions this morning can't outweigh my negative encounter with the truck driver, and my own bad behavior. I hope that if this happens again (and I'm pretty confident it will), I will have the self control to smile and wave and in that way help create peaceful coexistence on the roads for "boxes" and bikes.

Where Am I?

Thursday, October 8, 10:15 pm.............I just arrived home. After dinner with my family in the Short North for Kate's 23rd birthday, I rode home through a light rain. I'm disoriented by the day's events and trying to get my bearings.

I spent the afternoon at the Greater Ohio/Brookings Institute "Restoring Prosperity to Ohio" Steering Committee Meeting. As usual, I showed up in spandex to a meeting with 30+ suits and knew immediately I was out of place. I had reviewed the white papers that had been circulated in advance of the meeting and I figured this would be another "blah blah, blah blah, blah" discussion of how we might possibly reinvent and save Ohio. The white papers were sobering.......6 of the 7 largest cities in Ohio have lost significant population over the past 3 or 4 decades, e.g. Cleveland had 950,000 in 1950 and has 395,000 today (and Cuyahoga County has lost 19% of its population since 1970). The median sales price of a home in Cleveland has declined from $62,000 in 2007 to $15,500 in 2008.

Greater Ohio/Brookings is recommending that our 6 great, declining cities adopt a "shrinking city" strategy to "right size" these cities for their declining populations. This involves demolishing homes and neighborhoods and creating green space and urban farms and community gardens to take up the vacant space. This is probably the right, and perhaps only, thing we can do but it is very sad.

At the beginning of the meeting, everyone stood and introduced him/herself. When it was my turn I stood and said, "I'm Doug Morgan, an attorney with Calfee Halter. I've been car free for 7 years and believe that if we all still lived within biking or walking distance of where we worked and went to school and the market we wouldn't be here today."  There were lots of good "practical", "finger in the dike" ideas at the meeting, but no bold ideas that might get us back on track. My suggestion for a constitutional convention to  eliminate the multiplicity of governmental and pseudo-governmental subdivisions and thereby save money which could be spent on fixing our urban schools and/or lowering our taxes did not get a helluva lot of support.

After the meeting, I joined Beth, Brandon, Kate and Corey at a local restaurant for Kate's 23rd birthday. Looking at my kids, I felt for the first time that I couldn't in good conscience ask them to  "take one for the team" and remain in Ohio. I have little confidence that our political system is capable of providing the leadership to move our state forward. And I am at a loss to find this leadership anywhere else. I hate to say it because I love Ohio, but i wouldn't blame my kids for leaving for greener pastures.

Maybe when I get on my bike tomorrow I'll feel better........I usually do.   

2009 Biking Season Comes to a Close

This has been another outstanding year for twowheeling in CBus! With the support of lots of folks like the Mayor, Consider Biking, MORPC, Yay Bikes, Battelle, the Corporate Cycling Caucus, and others we're moving the dial. Our 2009 accomplishments included: the inaugural Peletonia ride with Lance Armstrong, a bigger and better "Bike to Work Week" in May (Thanks, Matt Young and Battelle!), the creation and printing of the first ever central Ohio Bike Map (color coding the roads for their "bikeability"), the launch of the Columbus Corporate Cycling Caucus and the creation of the "Corporate TwoWheel Toolkit" (this toolkit explains to companies why encouraging employees to bike and walk to work is good for their bottom line and how they can facilitate and encourage biking to work--we're aiming to have bike ambassadors at every central Ohio workplace), the Pedal Instead folks are setting up bike corals at major area events (like OSU football games) and making it easy for folks to bike instead of drive to these events (Thanks Catherine Girves!), the City continues to improve the bikeway system (e.g. the newly reconstructed Henderson Road bridge is now a model of bikeability), Dublin created a new bicycle advisory committee (80 Dublin citizens applied for the 16 positions) to help make Dublin more bikeable and vibrant (City Manager Terry Foegler understands that this is what new economy workers want---go for it Dublin!), and with the income tax increase we should be poised to build the first phase of the Bicentennial Bikeway Plan. In short, lots of great things are HAPPENING to make it easier and safer for you to bike around CBus. (I'm sure my twowheelling friends will let me know if I missed any other great accomplishments this year.)

If you want a good read, check out "Pedaling Revolution" by Jeff Mapes (Oregon State University Press). A reporter for the Oregonian in Portland, Jeff traces the pedaling revolution going on in cities across America. This book confirms that we are RIGHT ON TRACK with our efforts in CBus and provides a road map and inspiration for where we need to move our community. I'd encourage you to buy this book, read it and pass it on to other CBus thought leaders. It can help us create the "right" new vision for our city.

I have to call out Mayor "Bikin Mike" Coleman. His leadership on our cycling initiatives has been OUTSTANDING! I have seen the Mayor at countless biking events, ON HIS BIKE!, and he has become a tireless advocate for the pedaling revolution in CBus. Mike, you're great! and we owe you big!

As has become our custom in CBUS, please join me on Friday, October 30, for the 2009 Closing Day ride and Happy Hour. We're gonna skip the morning ride, but will meet at "Bill's Feet" at 5 pm and ride to the Pig Iron BBQ on N. High (just north of Graceland Shopping Center). For those of you riding from other parts of the City, we should arrive at the Pig by 6 pm, so plan to meet us there............and as always the beers are on me!   

                                    

Where've You Been?

Sorry I've been non-communicative lately. I can't tell if it's because I've had too little, or too much, to say. There are good things happening on the twowheeling front in CBus..........hundreds of folks biking to Buckeye games and overrunning the bike corals.....the reconstruction of Henderson Road has been a pain, but the bike path over the bridge has been widened and is wonderful!.............the reconstruction and repaving of High Street between Arcadia and Lane is almost completed and is very bike friendly.''

Columbus is receiving national recognition for our efforts to promote people-powered transportation. Eg. an MBA student in San Francisco, doing a paper on corporate biking programs, heard about our "twowheel toolkit" and called to request a copy......he called back to say it's the best thing he's seen anywhere in the country and asked permission to use it in his presentation. "Sure," I replied. "Just pass along any best practices you discover elsewhere in the country....and plug CBus if you get the chance.

On a personal note, Brandon is back from Bali (physically, if not mentally) and Kate is newly graduated from Miami of Ohio, and looking for a job in the wellness field.

I Finally Got the Iron Butt!

[This is a long post regarding my motorcycle ride to and from Sturgis, South Dakota, so if you're not into "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," please feel free to skip it. I'll do another post about our time at Sturgis.........WITH PHOTOS........you WON"T want to miss that!] 

I got back last night from Sturgis, South Dakota and the famous Harley Davidson Bike Week rally they hold there every year (motorcyles, not bicycles). Steve, John and I left at 6 am last Sunday morning to ride the 1300 miles out. Many folks "trailer" their bikes to the rally, but we insist on riding. (You see lots of tee-shirts with sayings like, "Nice Trailer..........PUSSY!" or " I RODE my Bike to Trailer Week.")

We usually take 2 1/2 days to ride to Sturgis, but this year we decided to try for the coveted "Iron Butt" to get us there quick. The Iron Butt is an honor awarded to motorcyclists who ride 1,000 miles in 24 hours or 1,500 miles in 36 hours. There's an Iron Butt Club that qualifies rides and issues the Iron Butt patches which are worn as badges of honor.

Riding 1,000 miles in 24 hours on a motorcycle is very difficult, especially when you consider weather conditions, traffic delays (especially around cities like Chicago), road construction, and the available daylight (I normally refuse to ride after dark for fear of hitting a deer which several riders did this year on their way to the rally......these accidents are usually fatal.) Riding west is best because it gives you 2 extra hours of daylight.

John and I departed from Columbus and headed north to pick up Steve who'd been at Put-in-Bay (adding another challenge to attaining the Butt.) The weather was good and we averaged 80+ mph across I-90. We made 800 miles to Blue Earth, Iowa by dusk and I was about to waive my "don't ride after dark rule" to make the final 200 miles to Mitchell, South Dakota when a local guy saw us getting on our bikes to leave. "You guys sure you want keep riding? The deer are thick around here and riders hit 'em all the time. Hell, they just life-flighted a guy out yesterday. Around here we put our bikes away at dark." That was it, I was done........we got a motel room in Blue Earth and left the Iron Butt for another day. (I've been paranoid about hitting deer ever since one came through the windshield of Beth's Volvo two Thanksgivings ago and nearly killed our son, Brandon.......if interested, you can search for my post on this harrowing experience in the archives below.)

We had a great 3 days in Sturgis. We stayed the last night at a bed and breakfast at the base of Devil's Tower near Sundance, Wyoming. Steve and I needed to get home quick, so we decided to try again for the Iron Butt on the return trip, which is more difficult because, riding east, you lose 2 hours of daylight and you're a lot more tired after riding to Sturgis and partying for 3 days.

The clouds were gathering as we left Devil's Tower a little before 6 am. Coming through the hills we rode through dense fog for 100 miles and then all hell broke lose. The rain came in sheets and the winds knocked us all over the road. My face began to sting as hail stones coming at 70 mph left welts. My riding glasses began to fog up and before long, I couldn't see 10 feet in front of me. I pulled to the side of the freeway in time to see Steve disappear into a wall of water as he passed a semi. I figured we'd try to hook up somewhere down the road. At this point I didn't give a damn about the Iron Butt.........I was focused on surviving.

For the next 8 hours I made my way through the massive storm, stopping every 50-75 miles to de-fog my glasses and rest. Riding in these conditions is fatiguing and dangerous. (An ambulance screamed past me at one point to get to a rider who went down.) Before my cell phone died, I left Steve a message, "Ride as far as you can, leave me a message where you are and I'll try to get there by dark." I really didn't really think I could catch him because he rides fast and, in the storm, I was only riding 65-75 mph (instead of our usual 80-90 mph) and making frequent stops.

Finally, I outran the storm. The rain stopped and the sun came out. I got off I-90 somewhere in bum-f__k Iowa to get gas and followed the signs to a small, one-pump town a couple miles off the highway. Normally during Sturgis week there are lots of bikes at every gas station along the route, but  I was the only bike at this out of the way station. I gassed up and was finishing an energy drink as I heard another bike approaching and Steve pulled up to the pump. 

We made Grinnel, Iowa by dark, got some dinner and 5 hours of sleep and were back on the bikes by 6 am. The storm, moving east, had overtaken us so we rode in heavy rain for 9 more hours before we outran it again. Steve and I parted ways just west of Columbus as he took his route home to Dublin. I looked down at my odometer, then my watch, and did some quick ciphering. Notwithstanding the weather, I had logged almost 1,350 miles in less than 34 hours. I didn't get the 1,000 mile Iron Butt, but the 1,500 Butt was within reach.

I got to Columbus, and kept going, to New Concord (home of John Glenn) 70 miles east of Columbus. I gassed up at the exit (getting my time stamped receipt and the name and phone number of a witness) and turned for home. When I gassed up at the station near my house, the receipt said 7:48 EST and my odometer showed I had traveled 1,554 miles from Devil's Tower, Wyoming in the requisite 36 hours. I had my Iron Butt.

It's been 12 hours since I got off my bike and my ears are still ringing with the sound of pipes and the rest of my body is just getting used to not hurtling through space. My bike needs washed but my ass hurts and I don't know if I can even make the short ride to the car wash today, but I will because I owe it to my bike.

Motorcycling and bicycling have a lot in common. People who are attracted to two-wheeled transportation like moving in the open air where they can smell and really see things. And they understand and embrace the risk that comes with riding 2 wheels in a culture that's been built, to a fault, around the automobile. Call us renegades, outlaws or pioneers........twowheeling gets in your blood, or maybe it's already in our DNA. Whatever it is, I sense we could use a bit more of it to help us move forward during troubled times.  

  

Memories of Morse Road

My good friend, Judge Bill Klatt, began twowheeling to his job as a Court of Appeals judge at the Franklin County Courthouse last year. When asked my a reporter what he likes best about biking to work, he replied, "It makes me feel like a kid again."

Like me, many of my twowheeling friends, hadn't been on a bike in decades........since they were kids. Once they reached "driving" age, they parked their bikes in a remote corner of the garage and eagerly embraced the rite of passage to adulthood.....getting a car. Everything in our culture, and on TV, conditioned us to believe we needed a car to be "cool."

On Monday I biked out Morse Road to Limited Brands to attend a meeting of the Council on World Affairs Sustainability Advisory Committee. I used to bike out Morse Road as a kid in the 1960's, before they built Northland Shopping Mall.......kinda ironic that when I biked out there on Monday there was no Northland Mall (they tore it down a few years ago). But boy, did this ride bring back memories.

In 1962, we moved from a 2 bedroom house in the heart of Clintonville to a rambling 1910 farmhouse on 5 acres at 366 Morse Road. (I was 6 at the time and had 3 younger siblings and one on the way.........I guess my parents thought we needed a bit more room, which was a good decision since they went on to have a 6th child a year later.) We loved this old farmhouse on the edge of town. Our 1/4 mile gravel drive was lined with 60 year-old peonies and when you drove down the lane in May when the peonies were in bloom it smelled like you were driving through perfume.

My parents bought our new/old home from a 50-something, never-been-married-or-had-kids bachelor named Morris Zuckerman. Part of the deal was that Mr. Zuckerman was permitted to live in the house for 6-12 months after closing WITH US! (In more than 25 years practicing law I've never seen any real estate transaction with this feature and would never recommend it to a friend or client.) I guess Mr. Zuckerman could drive a hard bargain. Of course, my parents loved this house so much they probably would have agreed to almost anything to get it.

So there we were.......my late 20-somethings dad and 8-months pregnant mom, us 4 1/2 kids under the age of 6, and a 50-something confirmed Jewish bachelor......just one big happy family. Mom instructed us to call him "Mr. Zuckerman" and to try not to disturb him. Mr. Zuckerman moved all his furniture and possessions into one downstairs room at the base of the stairs and he stayed in there most of the time with his door shut. I think he tried to be nice to us at first, but we asked him lots of questions, "Mr. Zuckerman, what's this?" and "Mr. Zuckerman, why are you doing that?" We were curious and he was a curiosity, so of course we pestered the daylights out of him. And we had the run of the rest of the house, and I mean RUN. We constantly ran through the house, up and down the stairs, yelling and screaming and fighting like brothers and sisters do. It must have been loud as hell because we had wood floors and no carpeting. We only had 1 full bathroom and a very small 1/2 bath downstairs (but the toilet didn't work).  

Mr. Zuckerman was a serious amateur photographer. We soon discovered where he kept all his equipment and negatives. He even had movie film stored in those cool metal containers. The basement was really dark, so we had to take the movies out of the cannisters and unroll them a bit to get them over to the window where we could hold them up to the light. We tried, but couldn't, get them back in the cannisters.

Mr. Zuckerman moved out in less than a month. He left so fast, he forgot to take most of his photo equipment and film.

I hadn't thought of Mr. Zuckerman in decades........it's funny, sometime, the things you think about when you're on your bike.

Join Us This Thursday for Happy Hour at Cafe Bella

All Consider Biking members and "prospective" members are invited to join us this Thursday, July 30, from 5-7:30 PM at Cafe Bella for happy hour. (Don't worry, we define "prospective" broadly, i.e. if you're not a Consider Biking member, you are by definition a "prospective" member.)

Cafe Bella is located at 2593 North High Street, just north of Hudson. We'll be out back on the patio so ride/drive around back to the parking lot where we'll have a secure place for the bikes.

If you've not been to Cafe Bella, you're in for a treat. The proprietor, Vince, is an engineer by training who prefers cooking great Italian food and pioneering an amazing urban gardening concept that he will explain to us. It's not just a concept.......he has raised and given away thousands of vegetable plants through the food pantry to lower income families. He's also working on an aquaculture system that he will also give away to lower income families so that they can homegrow fish.

Cafe Bella doesn't have a liquor license, but Vince allows his customers to bring in beer and wine to eat with their meals (and doesn't even charge a corkage fee!) Like the old Nancy's, Vince doesn't have a set price.......you pay what you can afford and feel the meal was worth (he does have "suggested" prices which are very reasonable.)

My good friend, Dale Crandell, and I are donating all the beer and wine for the happy hour, but we are asking cyclists to contribute $10 per person to pay Vince for the great appetizers he is going to prepare for us........all in all a pretty good deal, I think.

This event is brought to you by Consider Biking (which isn't making a dime on it).....consider it a "member benefit." If you're not already a member of Consider Biking, I would be grateful if you would consider becoming a member. Our mission is simple...........to get more butts, I mean people, on bikes in central Ohio. We're making a real difference by advocating for bicycling, working on the Bicentennial Bikeway Plan, updating the city traffic code, creating bicyle maps, sponsoring and helping with organized rides, like the Ride of Silence, and providing information on all things biking to our community. We have a very puny budget and are always dreaming of the things we could do with more resources. You can check us out (and sign up for a membership) at www.considerbiking.org. 

I hope you can join us on Thursday! (Please rsvp to me at dmorgan@calfee.com asap so we can get a headcount to give to Vince so he knows how much food to prepare.)