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This picture is worth a thousand words......and is the best recruiting tool to get more butts on bikes.
Why not save lots of $$$ and get some exercise in the process......consider biking to work! To see how easy and safe it is, go directly to www.considerbiking.org!
This morning's commute down High Street started like every other this month (except it wasn't raining for once). There was a slight headwind out of the south, but nothing like the beastly headwind I fought through yesterday.
But as I passed Mozart's Cafe and Bike Source, I heard a roar and suddenly a Budweiser beer truck lurched out of the Giant Eagle parking lot and came right at me. I yelled and veered out of its path into the other lane--fortunately no cars were coming. I stopped a little ways down the road to get a photo, thinking I might send it to the company and ask them to instruct their drivers to be nicer to twowheelers. The truck actually pulled over to apologize--that was nice. I apologized for flipping them off (I hate it when I do that--it's a bad habit.)
Gas prices keep heading up.
We're gonna be seeing lots more twowheelers on the road this year.
Finally, here's a photo of the recently installed plantings at Columbus Commons. This is gonna be a nice place to hang out this summer!
The Franklin County Commissioners held a press conference this morning to announce they've adopted our "2 by 2012" initiative--our aim is to get every citizen biking to work, school or to run errands twice a month. Commissioner Brown, Brooks and O'Grady each spoke sincerely about the reasons for encouraging County employees and residents to lose two wheels twice per month. Commissioner Brown indicated that a recent ranking of the personal health of Ohioans puts Franklin County towards the bottom of the list (65th out 88). Commissioner Brooks discussed the unsustainable cost to the County and area businesses bottom lines from double digit increases in healthcare costs, much of which is related to the obesity epidemic--she acknowledged that biking can help reverse this trend. Commissioner O'Grady calculated that if someone bikes to and from work 25 miles round trip, you would save $15 per day (actually the annual cost savings of "retiring" just one of the family's autos will save $8-10,000 per year).
So the Commissioners signed on for "2 by 2012" and are providing incentives, e.g. lunch discounts, and flexible work schedules (check with your supervisor first) to encourage County employees to bike to work.
Bob Connors, the talk show host, heard that the Commissioners were adopting "2 by 2012" and poked a little fun at them this morning. "So are the Commissioners going to bike to work?" he asked skeptically. Well, Bob, I asked them point blank in front of the TV cameras and their answer? A resounding, "YES!" In fact, here's a shot of Commissioner Brooks trying out County Clerk of Courts O'Shaughnessy's stylish urban commuter bike. To me, she looks like she's ready to go!
And here's a shot of County Clerk of Courts O'Shaughnessy explaining to Commissioner Brooks how to carry everything you need in your panniers.
Commissioner Brooks said she plans to hop on one of the Clintonville to Downtown BIKE BUSES soon. (Check out the BIKE BUSES running all over CBUS at www.ridenet.net. Click on "Rides.")
Finally, here's a shot of my trusty steed tied up to one of the new bike racks recently installed outside the new County Courthouse.
Bob Connors also questioned how much good biking to work 2 days per month can do? I hereby challenge Bob to put his butt where his mouth is and give it a try. Whatta ya say, Bob?
I was biking to work down High Street today as usual, enjoying this fine spring weather and marveling at how many other cylists I am seeing on High Street these days--sharrows and $4.00 gas will have that effect. Passing through the University district, I caught sight of 3 twowheelers a couple blocks ahead. Just then a light turned red in front of them and I was looking forward to catching them before it turned green and riding the rest of the way downtown with them. But they just blew through the redlight like it didn't exist. A few blocks further they blew through another one. I stopped at both lights and still caught them in the Short North.
These are teachable moments, but fraught with risk. Being by nature very independent, cyclists hate to be lectured or preached to about violating traffic laws. There's no question under the law that bicycles are "vehicles" entitled to use the highways, but it's also clear that cyclists must obey the traffic laws when they use the highways--for their own safety and the safety of others.
"Morning guys, how're you doing?" I asked as I biked into their midst. "Great," they replied. "Hey, I hate to preach, but there's nothing that pisses off motorists and gives us a bad rep than when you blow through lights like you did back there," I preached in as non-judgmental a tone as I could muster. Unfortunately, there's no way to sugar coat this message. "We always blow through lights," came the response. I shrugged and biked on ahead. I stopped at a redlight at Nationwide Blvd.--2 of the riders stopped behind the line of cars turning left and the 3rd rider blew through the light and turned right. I guess you could consider it a "rolling" right turn on red.
Ironically, my friend and law school classmate, Steve Magas, the best know bicycle attorney in the state has an editorial in the Dispatch today regarding bicycle traffic laws. Most knowledgeable cyclists realize it's in our best long-term interest to obey traffic laws, not only to stay safe, but to ensure that we earn and maintain the respect of the community as we turn Columbus into the bicycle capital of the US. It's the only way we can do it.
The grass is greening up and they're installing the carousel at Columbus Commons. I think this is going to be a very nice place for folks to hang out this summer.
So, hold onto your horses!
Despite the rain, I was enjoying my morning commute down High Street this morning until I saw a bunch of flashing lights at the south end of the Short North and yellow tape stretched across the street to block traffic. I always get a pit in my stomach when I see flashing lights on High Street, thinking it could be an incident involving a cyclist.
I got up on the sidewalk and tried to get closer to see what was going on. A police office sitting in a cruiser in an alley barked at me through his bullhorn, "Stop! Go Back!" I rode over to the cruiser and asked him if I could proceed down the alley and detour through Goodale Park. "You may," he replied.
Once I got to Goodale Ave. I headed back up to High Street and rode over the cap to where a couple bystanders were watching 4 or 5 police and fire vehicles, including the bomb squad.
"What's going on, " I asked. "Suspicious package," they explained.
Damn, I didn't think anyone saw me slip that spud in my shorts. :)
The signs of spring are just beginning to emerge--just wait til the the temps warm a bit and nature cuts loose!
Remember, the BIKE BUSES are now up and running. You can find the times and routes at www.ridenet.net (click on "Rides"). Please pass along to your friends and colleagues. With gas heading to $5 per gallon, it makes good sense to catch a ride on the BIKE BUS!
I don't really mind riding in the rain-when it's a warm rain like this morning, it's actually kind of enjoyable. It helps to have rain gear, especially rain pants and dri-socks.
I got caught in a gully washer this morning on my way to OSU tech licensing. Unfortunately I didn't have my rain gear on (it wasn't supposed to rain until this afternoon!) and I got soaked.
That's me wringing out my NON-dri-socks (into my shoe) right before going into a meeting with my client.
Another useful tip--put your wallet and I-Phone in plastic sandwich bags.
On my way downtown after the meeting, I noticed the wind had shifted and was in my face. Forecast is for high winds this afternoon--if it's a tailwind it could be a fun ride on a butt rocket!
FYI--some bank drive-throughs don't object if you BIKE THROUGH (if you look closely, you can see my reflection--looking like a drowned rat--in the glass).
Remember, our BIKE BUSES start running tomorrow. You can find the routes and meeting places/departure times at www.ridenet.net. My BIKE BUS leaves Panera Bread on N. High at 7 am to head downtown. Come join me!
in the Victorian arches in the Short North? The answer: one--a great guy named Glenn.
I caught Glenn in the act as I was biking to work this morning. I couldn't believe that he was changing a single light bulb--it looked like quite the production. So I stopped to ask him about it.
Glenn installed the lighted arches that help define the Short North neighborhood. The arches were installed several years ago to replicate the arches that used to grace High Street decades ago. The original lighting system failed and Glenn replaced it with the current LED system a few years ago. He says it's working well, but occasionally an individual light will fail and he has to replace it.
I told Glenn that I remember biking up High Street at night when he and his crew were installing the new lighting system. I also told him I really enjoy biking under the arches when the arches are lighted and changing color.
Glenn is clearly proud of the installation and was happy to explain to me how it works. Each light has its own little computer which signals the main computer when it goes down, so Glenn doesn't have to monitor the 800+ lights on the 16 arches.
I asked Glenn what one of these fancy lights costs, but he wouldn't tell me--I'll bet it's a lot.
It's amazing what you can learn when you twowheel to work.
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