I saw these bikes at Interbike

I thought they were nice in a subtle,elegant sort of way
http://nyti.ms/8ZGcbC

Going by Bike In Montreal

Bold Fashion Statement

It's been another long while since my last post as life gobbles up big chunks of time. July 13th marked the anniversary of "Life Without a Car" and while I still don't own a car, I have not been riding more than once or twice a week. The store has been very busy and there was that whole wedding thing going on. Cathy and I tied the knot in a nice little ceremony outside on what I believe has to have been the nicest day of the year. (Last Saturday). We just got back from our honeymoon in Montreal, Canada. We picked Montreal for it's European charm without the whole international flight hassle. Plus, we heard that it is a "bicycle friendly" city. I don't know if friendly is the word I would choose but there seems to be an acceptance from the motorized traffic that bicycles are a part of the system and it all worked pretty well. Separated bike lanes on major roads and marked lanes as well as sharrows on others keep the bike traffic moving nicely. The interesting part was that motor traffic moved smoothly as well.

Bixi Montreal from Brendan on Vimeo.
One of the cool things about Montreal is the "Bixi" bike sharing system. All around the city you can find Bixi stations with bikes available for you to hop on and go. It's cheap and easy to get around and it's fun! While we were in Montreal the weather was uncharacteristically hot and it got a little uncomfortable riding to and fro but all in all the "Bixi" is a great way to get around.

Masion Des Cyclists

On Friday we took a Bixi ride from our downtown hotel to the "Maison Des Cyclists" across the street from the "Parc De Le Fontaine". The Maison houses the administrative offices of Velo Quebec Association, the main cycling advocacy organization for the province. The Maison also has a terrific cafe that makes great coffee, a book and map store and a travel agency that specializes in bike trips. 

At the Maison we spent some time with Marc Jolicoeur, the Director of Research for Velo Quebec. Marc graciously took time out of his day to give a couple of un-announced advocates from New Jersey the low down on the cycling movement in Montreal which now boasts over 360 kilometers of separated and/or marked bike routes. It's amazing to me that the city has made the commitment to active transportation that includes bicycles even though the harsh Canadian winter makes riding very impractical from November through April. However, as Marc pointed out, it didn't happen overnight. They have been working on this since 1985! So why is it so hard hard to get people on board with the active transport concept here in New Jersey? The demand exists, the benefits are obvious, and the return on investment is large-- I just don't understand the resistance. 

On another day we went on a three hour tour (insert Gilligan's Island joke of choice) around the Montreal. We were led through the city on bikes by a very knowledgeable guide who brought us to many of the city's historical highlights and along some quieter back lanes to show us how regular Montrealers live. We rode on rented hybrid bikes and had to wear the oh so fashionable blaze orange vests but the ride was a lot of fun-Definitely a departure from our regular ride experience. 

Learning about the canal

Without a doubt, Montreal is a fun place to visit. Great food, generally nice people, lots of history, plenty of shopping (bring money!), the Olympic Park, Botanical Gardens, museums and a very happening nightlife scene, all make for a memorable trip.

Now it's back to work for a busy fall season getting the store ready for 2011 and enjoying the crispy autumn riding weather, a welcome relief from our record hot summer. Yes, life is good when you "Go By Bike".
Click here to see the whole album!

One Year In!

It's been a year since I started "My Year Without Cars". It's a bit of a misnomer though because it's not like I just made all the cars disappear. No, cars are a fact of life--to be tolerated and dealt with like noisy children or hemorrhoids.

I started out to see if I could change my lifestyle to become independent of the automobile/oil slave culture that seems to dominate everything. So how did I do, you ask? Well to be quite honest I am somewhat disappointed with myself because I couldn't cut the strings entirely. That's the part of my personality that never accepts any results--good enough never is. My own assessment is that I could have done much more. But then again, as some people have pointed out to me, I did a lot.

Here are some stats:

167 recorded trips

2,630 miles

127,479 feet of vertical climbing

Average speed 15.7 MPH

167,072 calories

I actually had more mileage but for various reasons they were not recorded so I will go with the record.

Believe it or not at least 90% of the mileage was "car trip replacement". So what does that mean in terms of impact? Well, rounding the numbers a bit, I saved about 110 gallons of gas. Multiply that by the amount of carbon in a gallon of gas (6 pounds for those of you scoring at home) for a total of 660 pounds, multiplied by about 3.7 when you combine it with the oxygen in the air and I saved about 2090 pounds of carbon dioxide. Maybe that doesn't sound like a lot but imagine that we could reduce the number of car miles driven in the US by 10%. Let's do the math--200 million cars driving an average of 12,500 miles per year. That's 2.5 trillion miles times 660 pounds of carbon dioxide. I don't care who you are, that's a lot of CO2 right there! (Picture Larry the Cable Guy reading that last bit for effect.) Anyway, you get the picture, if we could reduce that by 10% we would make a significant difference. A little change individually can add up to big numbers together.

So what else happened this past year? Well,

I'm in better shape than I have been in a really long time.

I finally did sell my car and gave myself a $6000 "raise" in the process.

I joined the New Jersey Bicycle Coalition as a board member and mounted the first ever New Jersey Bike Summit bringing together advocates from around the state.

New Jersey received a Bronze rating as a bicycle friendly state from the League of American Bicyclists and moved up to eighth from 10th place on the ranking list.

I raised $1500 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation and completed another ride in Austin, TX.

I inspired several people to shake the bonds of oil slavery and use their bikes for transportation.

I convinced ten other people to ride their bikes to the supermarket with me and buy a turkey and then deliver said turkey by bike to a Foodbank Thanksgiving food drive.

I experienced the changing of the seasons in a way that car bound people never will.

I rode a mountain bike with my best friend to the top of the Tourne at sunset and asked her to marry me. She said "yes"!

All in all it's been a pretty good year. So now what? In the spirit of continuous improvement (because good enough never is), I will continue my quest to cast off the oily chains of petroleum addiction, to wit:

I will double my transportation miles.

I will continue working to make New Jersey a better place for cyclists (watch out Portland, Jersey is in the house!).

This year we will get a "yes" vote on a 3 foot passing law protecting vulnerable users including cyclists, pedestrians, emergency workers, etc.

I will convince at least 30 people to join the Coalition.

So there it is. One year since I started. Maybe I should change my theme to "A Life Without Cars".
See the year in pictures here:

The year in pictures

Bike Commuting and The Suspension Of The Desire For Comfort

Bike To Work Week Rain Day from Brendan on Vimeo.

Watch the video above before continuing on. It's only a couple of minutes. 

Can you picture yourself riding in these conditions? When I ride on these kinds of days I always get to thinking and this ride was no different.  While cruising along with the trucks whizzing past me and the chilly drizzle coating me in gossamer dew like the automatic watering system in the A&P produce section, as the water dripped from my helmet I had another one of those "Aha!" moments. I realized that part of the reason I have these brainstorms while  riding in less than ideal circumstances is that my brain is shutting off the part that demands physical comfort and focusing on the internal stuff. It's just a defense mechanism, pure and simple! I think this is the thing that allows us to do stuff like climb Mount Everest, or pick up decaying road kill, or change stinky diapers. 

When we need to, we have the ability to push through unpleasant circumstances in order to get something we want. When we do it enough, the circumstances simply become circumstances and no longer push us out of our comfort zone. We can get used to anything. 

When it comes to getting people change their behavior, i.e.-not using their cars for trips under 2 miles-, it just won't happen until the painful circumstance of paying $5 for a gallon of gas overcomes the potential discomfort of using their own power for transportation. We can build bike lanes and parking, put up share the road signs, spend money on public awareness campaigns, etc. --None of those things will have a broad impact until people can overcome the perception that they are going to be uncomfortable. The biggest hurdle that we face in preventing us from ruining our planet is that, as a nation, we are soft. We have lost touch with our ability to "tough it out" and our selfishness is preventing us from thinking globally. 

When I ride past the lines of mini-vans, and SUVs and sports cars filled with overweight, donut eating, stressed-out oil slaves, with their telephones pressed to their heads as they carelessly weave about totally separated from the world, I want to shout out to them "wake up and seize your power, it's not too late!"

But unfortunately they are too comfortable to hear me and, sadly, will never realize the gifts they possess. 

The Power of Choice and Commitment

Can an alcoholic really quit drinking if the house is full of booze? Is it possible for an overweight person to lose weight if the cupboard is filled with Twinkies, chips, and soda? Maybe, but the odds are against success. And so, like the junkie who must quit heroin or die, I sold my car to drive no more. When I started the year without cars last July, I figured that I could park my car and just resist the temptation to use it except when absolutely necessary. But when the weather turned rough and the winter darkness took over both the sky and my mood, I couldn't resist the comfort of heat and separation from the elements. I used my bicycle very little from December through March. Yes, I was very busy with planning the New Jersey Bikes Summit and I needed to travel a lot, but the reality is I chose driving my car because it was easier. I can’t really say that I was forced to drive--I chose to. But now I am choosing to not drive and getting rid of my car is the best way for me to be able to stick to my choice. It feels good to be able to make this harder choice. Unlike my friend Javier, who rides to work everyday in every type of weather, I have a choice. Lot’s of people who say, “well, that’s good for you, but I have no choice” don’t realize that they do have a choice but won’t own up to it. If you choose to drive in a car, that’s fine. I guess my point is that people make up all kinds of rationalizations and excuses for their behavior without accepting responsibility for their choices.

Us humans have an amazing capacity for willful ignorance. I don’t think most people would say they don’t care about their health, or the environment, or the safety of their neighbors, but if you looked around how could you conclude that they did care? We continue to eat poorly, smoke, drink, waste resources, drive like idiots, poison our air and water, treat our neighbors with contempt and just generally make bad choices as though we were forced to do these things. We can get caught up in listening and reacting to one “expert” or another on just about any topic but at the end of the day I think most of us can judge good from bad, healthy from harmful, right action from wrong. But here we are, willfully ignoring that many of our choices will lead to results we know that we don't want. We know it ahead of time and we do it anyway and then act surprised when it happens. People dying in accidents involving drunk driving are a great example. You have a couple of drinks, you know your impaired, you get in your car and drive home anyway. Whoops, you killed someone on the way. Then you hire a lawyer to try and get you out of it because you don’t want to suffer the consequences of your choice.

My choice to ride my bike on the street presents a real possibility of injury or death as a result of my choice. The person who chooses to send a text message while driving might veer into the shoulder where I am riding and run me over. We will both have to accept the results of our choices.  

beau coup bottles

beau coup bottles
Originally uploaded by brendan61

One of the signs that bicycles are a priority at our house.

Winter is Over!

Wow, it's been over a month since I've posted! Early spring is always a very busy time of year for a bike store and this year has been particularly so. The weather turned nice a few weeks earlier than usual and as a result the floodgates have opened and the deluge folks looking to get back on their bikes has been overwhelming. Here below is a short film from the "great flood of 2010" that happened a few weeks ago. Some people are still recovering from flooding.  Riding a bike in rain has been interesting, to say the least!

The Great Flood of 2010 from Brendan on Vimeo.

New Jersey Bike Summit!

The first ever New Jersey Bicycle Summit is over and we are on our way to a better New Jersey. 130 advocates from around the state joined together with national advocates, state legislators and the Department of Transportation to energize the Bicycle Friendly Movement and set an agenda for the future. 

Included below are my opening remarks:

As the United States of America travels headlong into the future, our nation faces monumental challenges unprecedented in human history. We are on the tipping point between saving and irreparably ruining the atmosphere on which our very lives depend. Americans face a crisis of health from debilitating illnesses due to lack of exercise and poor dietary choices. Our children are becoming lethargic, obese- diabetics who are incapable of walking a mile to school and we are spending ourselves into oblivion trying to fight these problems through a corrupt insurance system that provides obscene profits to a select few while denying care to many in need.  Meanwhile, our national security is increasingly threatened by an insatiable appetite for energy produced in foreign lands filled with people who have no interest in our continued success. As people buy more and more cars to get to jobs, and shopping, and recreation that all become farther and farther apart, our roads become jammed with traffic and our air becomes poison. Our quality of life, that was supposed to get better as technology eased our burdens, has become increasingly stressful and unsatisfying.

Just recently people seem to be waking up and realizing that we must address these problems before it is too late. We’re all “going green”. Prizes are offered for technological breakthroughs and billions are spent trying to figure out how to perpetuate the misguided car culture by replacing gas powered cars with electric cars that don’t really address the underlying problem of time and space. But what if there was a simpler solution? What if people had the freedom to go where they wanted at a reasonably fast speed and not use a single drop of gas or watt of electricity? What if four people could travel in the space now used by only one? What if this solution made people healthier by reducing their weight and improving the efficiency of their circulatory system? What if this solution was cheap to buy and easy to maintain? Wouldn’t that be marvelous? The best part is that this solution already exists and has been with us since the nineteenth century! This solution for freedom in personal transportation is the humble bicycle. 

Our challenge is not in coming up with this solution but in helping people to recognize and embrace this obvious truth. All of the arguments that are offered to exclude bicycles as a part of a larger solution in overcoming problems in health, energy, and transportation, are all easily overcome in light of the successes in places like Copenhagen Denmark, Davis California, Portland Oregon, and Louisville Kentucky. In all of these examples it is shown that quality of life improves for cyclists and non-cyclists alike. Reduced traffic congestion and pollution, better health and lower healthcare costs, energy saved—who could possibly argue against these benefits? And yet here we are, faced with the challenge of carrying this message and proving to the people of New Jersey that these things are worth having. It is up to us to bring this truth to our neighbors and elected officials that an equitable transportation infrastructure benefits everyone. People have asked me why we need the bike coalition.  There are already many people engaged in this work. The West Windsor Bike/Ped Association, Bike/Walk Montclair, Hoboken Sweet Streets, JORBA, and Walk/bike New Jersey, just to name a few. But I say, that if we are going to make real changes, we must unify our efforts and speak with one voice in doing our part for the well being of future generations. So let today be the day that we look back to as the turning point in creating a better New Jersey, not just for ourselves, but for everyone. Let today be the day that we join together in proclaiming  “The future is coming and it will be powered by people!” 

Happiness Rides A Bicycle

Life is short, there’s no denying it. And what is the purpose for any individual in living life? This is a question that has been pondered and debated since there has been language. Once you get to the point where just getting food is no longer the main activity on your daily agenda, you start to wonder just what is the point. I suppose that religion, and books, and plays, and songs, and TV shows, and movies, and paintings, and every other form of expression and communication that examines the nature of being,

exist because of this question. So what of it? Well, I am no robe wearing monk who spends a lot of time meditating on this but I will have to agree with the Dalai Lama on this one who counsels that happiness is the point of life. We exist to experience happiness. That is a simple and elegant answer, no? So how do you get to experience happiness? Well, that’s where it gets tricky again. For each individual the definition of happiness might be different. The Lama (big hitter the Lama) says that you will experience happiness by being selfless and doing things for others. We end our own suffering by letting go of the desire for the impermanent things of the physical world.

I’m not saying that’s how it is because I still find the thought of riding a really nice bicycle to be very appealing and makes me happy just thinking about it!  People do seem to be able to tell you whether or not they feel happy though, and it appears to be a pretty good indicator of how excited you are about being alive. So if the point is to be happy what does it take to make it happen? I’m not completely sure but I think I do have some clues. First, I think it’s important to find out where there are lots of happy people. Now, at this point you might be tempted to just ask them why they are happy but you wouldn’t get the same answer from any two people. Similar yes, but the answer for each person is likely to be different. No, at this point it’s better to just examine the circumstances in which these happy people live and you will have your “Aha!” moment. Fortunately all of this research has been done for us! You can read about it here. Do you know where the happiest people in the world live? The answer is Denmark. The United States did not even make the top ten. However, if you want to know where the happiest people in the United States are, you can read about it here. The short answer is Boulder, Colorado.

So, if the happiest place in the world is Denmark, what are the circumstances that the Danes live with? Socialized medicine and education, where everybody gets free education and healthcare, about 2% unemployment, and one of the highest GDP per capita of any industrialized nation. Yet, the average Dane only works about 37 hours per week! To top it off, the Danish culture embraces the idea of livable cities and communities that focus on people instead of cars. As a result, about 40% of the population uses a bicycle for transportation every day.

So what does Boulder have in common with Denmark? Well, it’s not free healthcare. We know that for sure! There is public education but  once you’re out of high school it ain’t free any more. So what’s the commonality? Boulder is focused on creating communities for people that include bike lanes and livable public spaces! Folks in Boulder place a strong emphasis on a healthy lifestyle that balances work and the rest of life. (Just like Denmark!) Happy people have figured out that working a lot makes you wealthy but it does not make you happy. Happy people have also figured out that if you are overweight and lethargic you probably are not able to really enjoy life the way you would like.

So the answer we are all looking for has been circling around us all along.

The answer is bicycles. Or, I should say, the idea of bicycles and what they represent. It’s not necessarily the bicycles themselves that are making people happy (although I am sure it happens a lot) because in Denmark, even the people who don’t ride a bicycle are happier because they too enjoy the underlying benefits of livable communities that emphasize the importance of people over machines.  Less pollution, healthier people, a tolerable pace of life that leaves time to enjoy the simple things—I submit that these are the things that make for happiness and they arrive on the seat of a bicycle.

Snowpocalypse!

Snowpocalypse from Brendan on Vimeo.

As promised here is a snowy video. In the scheme of things this is really not such a big deal but since we have not had much snowfall for the past few years it seems like one. It is much worse down in Washington DC but still, the folks from places like Buffalo, NY and the high country in Colorado laugh at us because we act like such a bunch of babies. Snowpocalypse indeed. One of the funny things (or maybe not so funny, depending on your point of view) are the jackasses at Fox News (?) like Shawn Hannity using this snow fall as a way of saying "see? this proves there's no climate change!" Aye, aye, aye--is it normal for people to behave in such a willfully ignorant way? Anyway, enjoy the moment of Zen.

Snow Day

Okay, so not what you would expect for an entry titled "Snow Day". I can assure you it is snowing and by the looks of it we are going to get walloped pretty good. This is a picture of my exercise ball sitting next to a window. The light was nice and I couldn't resist shooting it. At least it's getting used for something! I continue to go through the winter only getting on my bike (outside) about once a week. I am using the indoor trainer some to try and retain a little fitness but my winter flab is still gaining a hold. On the bright side, I may finally get a chance to use my snowshoes that I got 4 years ago and have used only once. Not for lack of interest but more for lack of a snowfall over a few inches. I think I will head outside and shoot some pix and vids. God, I am looking forward to spring.

Whatever happened to.....

Those commercials where they tell you not to "cross in the middle of the street", and "Cross at the green, not in between"? They used to play these with those jingles that to this day stick in my head. Anyone who grew up in the 60's and 70's knows what I'm talking about. Simple, effective commercials that kept kids from running into the road. Apparently this guy did not get the message. See? I'm not just against bad driving, I'm against bad walking and riding as well.

Good Driver TV! from Brendan on Vimeo.

The video is short and it's tough to see what's going on but basically it's a guy trying to run across route 53 but he just ran right into traffic. The alert motorist avoided running him over even though the guy did the "confused squirrel" dance in the middle of the road. "I'm going! No, I'm staying! No, I'm going again." The pedestrian was not even really that far from the crosswalk, and I am certain that he started his journey at that corner but from some reason decided darting out into traffic was a better choice.

It's amazing how often we just get an impulse in our heads and "boom", there we are, running into the road. I'm certain you have had those moments. Your driving down the road absent-mindedly and, whoops!, "holy crap that's my exit!" You're in the left lane doing seventy and you are 500 feet from the exit. Wheeee! The "jersey sweep" across 3 lanes, into the exit safety zone and off the highway you go leaving startled, angry drivers in your wake. Wouldn't it be smarter to just miss the exit, turn around and comeback? No one ever seems to think about whether or not being 1 or 2 minutes late is worth risking the lives of all the people who have had to react to an impulse. Do we, as humans, have some sort of filter that prevents us from thinking about all the horrible things that happen to us if we are rolling our cars down the road at high speed, end over end, broken glass and twisted metal shredding our delicate skin while bones shatter and brains are damaged beyond repair? It's a curious thing. Scary as hell, but curious.

What the heck is the big hurry?

Bad Driver TV Episode V from Brendan on Vimeo.

It's Thursday again, the day after our indoor training night with the Bulldogs and I was all pumped up to ride outside again. It was a beautiful morning, a little on the chilly side, but I was dressed just right and the riding was very pleasant. I only witnessed one poor driving incident, chronicled in the video above. It got me to thinking, as usual, about all of the nutty stuff I see people in cars, and on bikes, doing out on the road and how one stupid act by one person can lead to a crappy day for lots of other folks. How many times have you been late for work because of a traffic jam caused by inattentive drivers colliding and bring all traffic around them to a halt? The deeper I get into the bike advocacy world, the more it seems an impossible task to get people to think and behave differently when it comes to how they drive. I have to look into the statistics but my gut tells me that there are probably more and more accidents on the road as people become more and more distracted by their electronic doodads and our lives become more and more rushed as we try to squeeze the demands of the modern world into the same 24 hours we have always had. The demands seem greater but the time allowed to meet them remains the same. The technology that is supposed to reduce our burdens and worry seem only to be creating more stress and anxiety in the world. Tempers are short and the quality of "quality time" seems to be getting lower. Really, all I want is to be able to go on a nice ride and not be constantly worried that some bonehead is going to run me over. Is that too much?

Ouch

So, it's come to this. Indoor training. Our sponsored team, the Bulldogs, are leading a trainer night at the Parsippany location of Cycle Craft and I am reluctantly participating even though I would rather do almost anything other than riding an indoor trainer. It's probably the A.D.D. thing but I have a really hard time keeping my attention on riding nowhere for more than a few minutes. The group thing definitely helps because there is plenty of socializing in between the bouts of heavy breathing and sweating. After not having ridden for about a month I was hurting by the end of the session. You would be amazed at how challenging a ride to nowhere can be! Emboldened by my trainer session, I got back on my commuter tank on Thursday and managed the 8 mile "short" route to work on Thursday. I gotta be honest, it was not a very inspiring ride. It's Monday morning and I am thinking I should ride in again today. The air is cool, but not too bad, and the road is wet but I am compelled. I do it for myself but I also do it to make a point. Does it make a difference to anyone else? To me? Can tiny things make a difference? I feel like I am whispering in a windstorm.

Winter Blues

The year without cars has ground to a halt. I have not ridden a bike since the second week of December.  So here comes the littany of excuses. It seems like this winter is going to be one of the first "real" winters we have had in a long time. It has been pretty darn cold and there has been snow on the ground since before Christmas. Plus, in addition to my "day job" at the bike shop I have been putting in a lot of hours working on the New Jersey Bike Summit for the NJBC. Now, after a month of not riding, I am putting on weight and getting back on the bike will be a struggle. Having a car just makes it too easy to choose comfort over conviction. Getting to work in the morning would not be so bad but having to come home at 9:00 PM in the dark and cold is turning out to be a pretty formidable barrier. In addition to the obvious comfort issues, I always have it in the back of my mind how vulnerable I am out on the roadway and somehow, winter just seems to make me think about it more. That said, if we had bike lanes and traffic control devices that protect cyclists, I would be a lot more inclined to make the trips by bike, even in the dead of winter. I would probably feel more secure if there were some number of other people out there on bikes as well. Think Copenhagen and the bike highways that lead from the countryside into the city.

The NJ Bike Summit is coming along and I think we will hit our goal for attendence. I am realizing just how daunting a task it is to make one street bicycle friendly, let alone a whole state! This is gong to be a long haul but I still believe there is no reason why New Jersey can't be like Colorado, or California, or Louisville Kentucky, or Montreal, or Denmark, or Bogota Colombia, and on and on. Hmmm... I feel like going out for a ride!