Half of all trips made by car in the U.S. are less than 2 miles. My modest proposal is for you to just consider using a humble bicycle every once in a while instead of getting into your car. You may find you like it. Improve your health, save some money, make the world a better place--Go By Bike!
Here's a fun sign I passed on the road today. What a great statement on the way things are. The "Stop" sign as authority figure commanding a simple traffic rule. The righteous animal advocate hijacking the command and the other side expressing their opinion by telling the "hippie" to "shut up!". Beautiful.
Turkey Bike! from Brendan on Vimeo.
After cruising up the hill from breakfast, we decided to celebrate the day by taking a drive up to West Milford to take a ride on Clinton Road. The road is closed to traffic because of a washed out bridge about half way between route 23 at the start and Warwick Tpk 9 miles away so we figured it would be worth using the car to get here. 
It was a nice diversion and added to the holiday feel of the day. After lunch we pressed on and circumnavigated Upper Greenwood lake before making the return trip back across Clinton Rd to Route 23. All in all a terrific day!
Who You Are Looking At: Denville Mayor Ted Hussa and Sgt. Brian Donnelly of the Denville PD
What You Are Looking At: The start of the first Denville Town Bike Ride.
Why it is Significant: It is a mile post in our effort to make Denville a cycling friendly community.
I love the panorama capability of my G10 and photoshop. Here is a three shot view from the Hilton Hotel in Madison, WI, overlooking Lake Momona and the Momona terrace convention center designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. I am here for a couple of days at "Trek World" the annual dealer show put on by Trek to showcase their new products and get us pumped up for the next season. It is tough to get pumped up for the next year because we are still pretty caught up in this year! But I won't lie and say that I am not looking forward to leaving 2009 behind us.
Trek is a great company and they make, arguably, some of the best products in the bike industry. But what I really love about Trek is the amount of resources they spend on bicycle advocacy. This year we were lucky to attend a fundraiser/thank you party for Congressman Jim Oberstar from Minnesota who is considered the father of the modern bicycle advocacy movement. Congressman Oberstar was the first elected official who had the vision to understand that bicycles could be an important mode of transportation in our country. He understood early on that bicycles are an efficient, environmentally sound, and healthy way for folks to get from point A to point B. Since the early 90's Congressman Oberstar, along with Earl Blumenauer from Oregon, has been a key supporter of legislation that has funded cycling and pedestrian transportation enhancements as part of our national transportation plan.
These events never fail to inspire me to keep trying to move the bicycle agenda forward. I will have to increase my efforts back at home and push to make Denville the first bicycle friendly community in New Jersey. John Burke, the president of Trek Bicycle and also a rabid dog advocate, displayed a map of the many League of American Bicyclist designated towns and cities that applied for and earned ratings. The number increase from 2003 to 2009 was dramatic but what stood out to me on the map was the big blank spot between Delaware and Rhode Island that had no stars. Pretty embarrassing for New Jersey. Anyway, at the Bike Summit in Washington for the past few years, we have been talking about a summit for New Jersey. I think it's time to make it happen. If you live in New Jersey, count on hearing from me in the coming weeks to get your help. In the meantime, if you have a bike, ride it. If you don't have a bike, get one. And then ride it!
Peace!
I was watching “Morning Joe” on MSNBC this morning like I do almost every day. I don’t care much for Joe Scarborough but as far as conservatives go he’s not so bad. I watch the show because they have good guests and the tone of the show is a good balance to the uber-liberal shows on at night. Naturally, today, they were discussing healthcare and the CIA program for assassinating Al Queada operatives. Meanwhile the crawler at the bottom of the screen throws a bunch of other headlines at you so you can get more information in less time. Hooray for technology! As the show was going to commercial they had a live picture on the screen of the current space shuttle mission while simultaneously running a crawler blurb about Walter Cronkite’s memorial service.
Suddenly, I had one of those moments where you feel like you are instantly spun to the other side of the room. It’s like you are standing there watching a scene in front of you and then Bam! You are now standing on the opposite side of the room and everything looks different even though you are looking at the same thing.
I grew up with Walter Cronkite on the TV. My parents watched Cronkite, without fail, every single night of the week. That was when news was news. The three things that stand out for me from the mid sixties through the seventies were the nightly reports about Viet Nam, the Apollo space program, and Watergate. In a large sense, I think these things, along with my Father’s commentary about them along way, have formed much of my own point of view about the world. Now, if you’re thinking that I am going to break my promise about this blog being non-political, you can rest assured that I am not.
The point is about how far we have come since John Kennedy first challenged America to achieve something great just for the sake of doing it. Here we are on the 40th anniversary of meeting that first challenge. Walter Cronkite, the newsman through who's eyes we watched those momentous events unfold, is dead, and now we routinely send people into space and send crystal clear images back to our morning news programs as a matter of routine. Most of us barely give it a second thought. So where do we go now? As a society we seem to have forgotten how to dream big. Have we seen the passing of the greatest generation? Have we become so petty and selfish that we can no longer achieve great things for society? Historically it seems like all great societies crumble because people become complacent and lazy, forgetting how it is they got to where they are to begin with. What is the next great challenge that will fire our imaginations and fuel our ingenuity? Is it health care? Is it rebuilding our energy and transportation infrastructures? Who will lead us? For me, my year without cars is really all about rethinking what my actual requirements are for an interesting and satisfying life. What do I value and why? What can I contribute? These are questions that I think many of us struggle with at some point in our lives. But then again, it seems like many people never give it a thought and go through life grabbing at what ever they can without purpose.
So my quest will continue. Day 9 it poured rain all day long but I rode in to work and car pooled home. Day 10 was a nice ride in and then I headed over to the Tourne for our weekly mountain bike ride. Today I rode my mountain bike back to work. So that’s 11 days with one less car on the road. Beyond that I’m not sure what it means yet.
It's official, single speed fixie culture has "jumped the shark". What started out as the subculture of bike messengers living on the fringe and became the iconic symbol of trustafarians and pretentious art school dropouts in lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, has now been co-opted by middle aged bike geeks in suburban New Jersey. The now famous bike culture blogger "Bike Snob NYC" has been chronicling the downfall of hipster "street cred" for two years now but I think I can claim the title as the driver of the final nail. Yes, Cathy and I now have our own color matched, single speed, recycled frame, bicycles complete with deep V rims and colored chains. We think they're cool and that's how I know that no self respecting hipster should be caught dead on one. But you know what? I don't care! These bikes are fun to ride. We don't dress up in bike clothes and ride these bikes for miles and miles. We ride them from home into town about 2 miles to get a cup of coffee. These bikes are just perfect for that. I really don't want to have to put on my super hero bike costume and special shoes to make this short of a trip and I feel guilty as hell getting into my car to get there but I am, after all, too lazy to walk. Simple and fun is what these bikes are all about. Maybe if people thought they too would not have to wear a superhero bike costume in order to enjoy riding a bike, they might want to ride more. Hmmm...Maybe I'm on to something. The bike industry has been trying to make this happen for the past few years but it seems like the only company making headway in this area is Electra,
a company that focuses a lot of energy on making their bikes fun. But there is something fun about making your own statement with a bike that you cobbled together yourself from reclaimed parts. My town bike is made from an old Schwinn World Sport I found in the garbage pile behind our Long Valley store. A little paint and a few parts and this bike lives to ride another day. I will be honest
in saying that I don't love the ride quality of the bike but it's only for a couple of miles so how good does it have to be? Cathy's bike on the other hand
Holy cow, what a week! I looked at my last entry date, last monday. Do you ever get the feeling that you must be blacking out for days at a time and you keep missing stuff? Time flies when you are overwhelmed. The picture above is Cathy and I on Sunday getting back from our breakfast and grocery ride. Sunday's weather was just about perfect and we enjoyed the day tremendously. Now it's Wednesday, June 10th already, and I don't feel like I am any closer to convincing anyone they should give up their cars every once in a while in favor of using a bike. I can understand why though. The weather during last week was soul crushing and this week is shaping up for more of the same. Still, I am committed to riding into work and last week I only rode in actual rain on one day and I actually enjoyed
the experience because I was clever enough to use rain gear. But weather can be pretty intimidating. Yesterday morning I drove in because of the copious amounts of lightning striking the ground. Had I been on my bike during those storms I would have to find shelter. Today I will ride a mountain bike to work instead of the Fargo and hook up with our Wednesday night mountain bike ride.
This past Sunday, instead of loading our bikes into the car, Cathy and I rode to the Tourne Park for some mountain biking, did our ride and then rode home. we didn't get into the car once all day! I set the bikes up to ride better on the street and then reset for trail riding. I think one of the lessons I am learning is that things we imagine to be more trouble than they are worth turn out to be completely the opposite. Getting over the inertia of laziness and just doing small, simple things, one at a time, add up to lots of things getting done in a seemingly effortless way. But the little tasks tend to keep piling up and so I must put my nose back to the grind stone and continue on. And remember, when it comes to using your bike more, or doing anything really, whether you think you can, or you think you cannot, you are usually right!
This was the scene outside of the Smartworld Coffee shop on Sunday Morning. 4 bikes belonging to people who used their bike instead of their cars. (Okay, 2 of them are ours) We had a nice chat with a couple of guys who were riding their mountain bikes back from a ride at the Tourne Park a few miles away. You could ask for a nicer day but you wouldn't get it! After breakfast and coffee we headed over to the supermarket to pick up some things we needed at home. I will admit to being glad the A&P is only a little over a mile from home because groceries are heavy. After a couple of chores we loaded up the toy wagon and headed over to Deer Pond Park for some mountain biking. The park is a great place to spend the afternoon riding on buff single track without too, too much climbing. (Just enough to keep you honest).
Seeing a bike lane marker in our neck of the woods is like seeing a rare species of warbler when you are out birding. Not that I would have any idea what that is like because even thinking about walking through the woods peering through binoculars looking for birds makes me depressed. But, to each his own. No offense to you bird watchers out there.
This marker was seen in the town of Madison, NJ while I was on a nice ride before work this morning. I completed a 42 mile ride at a sprightly pace of 18 mph but I had to stop to record this rarity.
While I was pedaling this morning I also rode into the middle of a charity ride for the local chapter of Habitat For Humanity. A lot of riders passed me in the opposite direction I was traveling in, some going fast, some going slow. It was actually a beautiful sight seeing all of those different types of riders. There were road bikes and hybrids, fit people and fat people, people dressed in flashy team kit and plenty in sweats and t-shirts.
When I ride my bike I wave and greet every cyclist I meet on the route. I am not one of those people that only acknowledges people on fancy bikes either. I don't care what you are on, or how you are riding it, if you are riding a bike you receive a " howdy!", or "'morning!". This morning was no different. I smiled and waved to all of the folks passing by. But the weirdest thing was happening. I noticed a lot of people were not even acknowledging my greeting. And it's not the people you would have expected. The obvious "non-enthusiasts" were all very friendly and seemed to be really enjoying the morning. The people showing the stone face were the guys on the fancy road bikes. Some of these guys were so grim looking that it made me wonder why they bother riding at all. So serious!! The other thing I noticed were that lots of the un-friendlies were riding Specialized brand bikes. Weird. It could be that there are just more people riding Specialized bikes but it seemed like the people on other brands of bikes were waving back more. I don't what it means, I just thought it was odd. Oh well, I will keep on waving.
After last weeks glorious weather I awoke this morning to overcast skies, light drizzle, and a temperature about 20 degrees cooler. Kind of yucky. I was determined to ride in to work anyway and donned my waterproof rain jacket and headed out. It turns out that the riding at a gentle pace and paying attention to all the cool stuff around me made the ride in as pleasant as always. Riding a lot always does the same thing to me. The more I get, the more I want. I am back at the point where I get cranky if I don't get to ride. I like the time I get to think about this and that and work out the pesky little challenges I will face during the day. My route in to work is mostly on highway 46 which is, for most of the trip, a six or eight lane divided highway. It's your typical suburban sprawl connector with lots of strip malls and such. But the shoulder on the east bound side is very wide and generally in good condition so using it for the ride in makes a lot of sense. Except, of course, for the dumb-asses in the cars. What is it about being in a car that causes pretty much everyone to make choices that are stupid and dangerous? Texting, holding your phone to your head in such away that makes it impossible to really look around while changing lanes, reaching down under your seat to find your donut; you know you've done it and so have I. This morning, an old guy in the left lane was signaling to move right. There is a driver in the right lane who, instead of being a good neighbor and allowing him over, speeds up to prevent the guy in the left from moving. Well, old guy is undeterred and also speeds up and darts into a space that is really too small for his car. Old guy continues his move into what we call a Jersey sweep (crossing three lanes without slowing down) and continues into a driveway entrance to a medical center accompanied by the squeal of brakes. Now mind you, this all happened about 10 feet in front of me and had I been just a little further up the road, I would have been under the wheels of old guy's car. I couldn't help myself. I followed old guy into the parking lot and pulled him over to express my thoughts. I know what you're thinking. You figure that I am going to start screaming at the guy but I can tell you that this strategy has never worked for me in the past. I just asked him if not missing turn and having to circle around and come back was worth accidentally killing a human being in the process. The guy was actually very apologetic and he said that he did see me but the guy next him caused him to act so dangerously. I asked him to please be more careful and moved on. 
Sunday was mountain bike day. Here, I am riding on the new Cannondale Rize One. The Rize is a 5 inch travel all mountain bike and weighs only 24.5 pounds by virtue of its carbon frame and tasty array of XTR components and Mavic Crossmax SLR wheels. This is a pretty dramatic change from the fully rigid single- speed bike I have been riding until now. It was a fantastic day for a ride and it was a blast riding this bike but as you can see in the picture, the rain we were promised never showed up and the Tourne was filled with people walking about. We only rode for an hour and then called it a day.
Nice weekend! After a couple of very busy weeks we got a much need break with 2 days off in a row for the holiday. That almost never happens in retail so it was like having a mini vacation. Although much of the region had heavy rain on Sunday, we were blessed with two near perfect days. My brother Rob drove up from Georgia on Sunday with his wife Didi to pick up his new bike, "Ugo". Rob names all of his bikes and his new ride is named Ugo because it is a DeRosa. Only bike geeks know that the founder of Derosa bikes is Ugo DeRosa. My brother is as goofy about bikes as I am! In the picture is Rob and Cathy enjoying a nice iced coffee after Ugo's maiden voyage.
