Bike Lane Marker!

Bike Lane Marker
Originally uploaded by brendan61

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.

Please, pass with care!

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.

Last week a rider was hit and left for dead near this spot. It was 10:30 at night and I am guessing that the rider had no lights and probably was not wearing a helmet but some careless moron ran this guy over and drove away to leave him bleeding on the street. Come on people! Aren't we better than that? How did we become so selfish and numb? How can we solve any of the challenges that face us if we can't even show each other some basic respect?

So here is my tiny request. Slow down a little. Take a little more care. There is nothing waiting for you at work, or at home, or at the mall, that is worth killing another human being, or yourself for that matter. Hang up the phone, put on your makeup at home, pick your radio station before you put the car in drive. You know what to do. Please, please, please..do it. You may find yourself enjoying your life a little more when you slow down and appreciate the beauty that is all around.

Test Riding The Rize

Test Riding The Rize
Originally uploaded by brendan61

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.

Memorial Day Weekend

Nice Bikes
Originally uploaded by brendan61

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.

Denville Earth Day 5 23 09

Denville Earth Day 5 23 09
Originally uploaded by brendan61

It's Saturday and it was another beautiful morning for a ride. I was able to ride the Serotta today because I was not actually commuting, just going for a nice ride. 20 miles pretty fast and ready to start my day refreshed from the effort.
We continued our "Go By Bike" campaign by participating in Denville's "Earth Day" exposition at the town hall. In the picture with Cathy is Ted Hussa, the Mayor of Denville, with his commuter bike. The Mayor is a big supporter of cycling and recognizes the positive impact of being a "bike friendly" community. The Mayor invited us to share his display space so that we could help promote the idea. So far we have signed up a bunch of people in our "Go By Bike" contest and I actually spotted some riders with the flags on their bicycles last week during bike to work week. Very cool! We still have a long way to go but on days like today I believe that a cultural shift towards better transportation solutions could actually happen.
Thanks for reading and keep on riding!

The Ride Home

The Ride Home
Originally uploaded by brendan61

Aaaahh! Back in bike clothes again. The ride home today was another beauty. Cathy rode her bike to work again today and stopped by the store on her way home to ride with me. The light was beautiful and the blowing flags were too good to pass up. Out came the camera and I rode back across the bridge for this photo op. This is the kind of stuff you miss when you are stuck in traffic in your car. I'm just sayin'.

Street Clothes

Street Clothes
Originally uploaded by brendan61

As promised, it's Thursday and I rode in to work in regular shorts and a T-shirt. The 2 concessions I made to "bike" clothing were my shoes (my pedals are set up for SPD) and gloves, I hate riding with no gloves so I wore them. Sue me. So here's the set up. It is another fantastically beautiful day. I left the house at 9:00am with a temperature of 70 degrees F. Not too humid. The conditions were perfect. I rode at a leisurely 17mph. That sounds kind of like a lot but consider that the ride is mostly downhill (622ft elevation loss) and only 8.5 miles. I was comfortable while riding but when I stopped and got off my T-shirt was wet and, how do I put this, I was making my own gravy.The folks in Copenhagen apparently have weather more conducive to cotton than we do. I will be going back to "bike" clothing.

In other bike local bike news, we delivered 101 Police Bikes to 90 New Jersey Police Departments. The event, created by the Keith Neumann Foundation, was pretty spectacular. The Neumann Foundation was created 17 years ago to honor fallen police officer Keith Neumann. I have been working with Steve Toal, Keith's brother in law, for 15 years in supplying bikes to the foundation. This year, through an anonymous donation, the Foundation was able to purchase 101 bikes, which is equal to the number of bikes they donated over the past 15 years. The number 101 is significant because it was Keith Neumann's badge number. Police departments all over the state use bicycles as an effective tool for patrol and community policing. Good stuff.

Clown Costume

BP at the store
Originally uploaded by brendan61

Here is a picture from this mornings commute. It was a stunning day and the ride was most enjoyable. But while I ride I tend to think about all sorts of stuff. I got to thinking about why more people don't want to do this. I mean, I feel so much better after my ride in the morning I have a hard time believing other folks don't want to experience this also. When I arrived at my destination and I got a look at myself in the windows as I rode past the store, I started to understand a little. Let's face it, I look pretty ridiculous in my Cycle Craft team kit and riding the Salsa Fargo with the blue and yellow panniers on the back along route 46. Now, me personally, I don't really care how ridiculous I look but I can understand that this might be one of barriers people create for themselves. Most are not very comfortable with the idea of seeming odd to the rest of world. In fact, most of the people I encounter on bikes out on the road actually are pretty weird! Am I turning into one of those nut jobs that people point at and wonder out loud if my parents dropped me on my head when I was a baby? Anyway, I still feel like I am pretty normal and my goofy appearance is part of my defense shield on the road. I also find that bike clothes are very comfortable to ride in.

Over in Copenhagen over 40% of the people use bikes as transportation. They don't use helmets and they ride in their regular clothes. Check out the link at the side of this blog to Copenhagenize.com to get the flavor. The fellow that writes the blog contends that there is no need for special clothing to ride a bike and people in the states would be more willing to use their bikes if they didn't have to wear a costume. Hmmm...maybe, maybe not.

So, as an experiment, I will do my ride on Thursday in my regular work clothes and forego my post ride shower. Oh yeah, that's another barrier people in the USA have created for themselves. A little bit of pre-work sweating is un-acceptable and most people assume that their is no way to overcome that problem so there's no sense in even considering it.

But no worries, I will do it and report back with my findings.

Until then, keep the rubber side down.

Fargo and Beyond!

_DSC0066
Originally uploaded by brendan61

Now that Bike To Work Week is over, I can get back to biking to work. Pictured here is my new commuter bike, the Salsa Fargo. It's a 29er mountain bike/touring bike. It carries a big load and goes just about anywhere. I rode it for the second time this morning and I had a fantastic, leisurely ride to work. Truly a pleasure!

A New Direction

IMG_0902
Originally uploaded by brendan61

For those of you who had been following "Brendan's Bike Blog" and noticed it has been missing from the Cycle Craft Home Page, let me explain a bit. My posts were becoming somewhat political in nature and I actually received one or two comments chastising me for connecting a commercial business with my personal political leanings. Although I find it somewhat disheartening that someone would actually threaten me because they did not share my point of view I realized that expressing political ideas was not helping me achieve my objective of getting more people to embrace cycling as a sensible alternative for personal transportation. However, regardless of your political leanings, I think it is safe to say that I support bike use.

So here, without bias, is a new blog dedicated to promoting bicycling, in all it's forms, as a smart, healthy, and fun lifestyle choice. My goal is to share my own personal experiences with you for entertainment, education, and perhaps some motivation. As always, thanks for reading and be safe out there!

P.S. Clicking on the pictures will bring you to my Flikr page.

Ready For Business

_DSC0007_2
Originally uploaded by brendan61

So last week was bike to work week and I thought it would be kind of fun to give out coffee and bagels to people on their bikes. We set up every morning from 6:30am to 9:30am. We actually only gave out 3 servings of coffee to people on bikes but we did speak to lots of people who wondered what the heck we were doing out there. So in a sense we were successful in at least raising awareness a tiny bit.