News Roundup - 4/10

Live PDX has a story (here) about the Filmed by Bike Festival happening in Portland, Oregon. Two days of short films about or including bicycles. The 39 films were selected from over 100 submissions.

The Taiwan Journal has a fantastic story (here) about a man who chose to ride his bicycle to the Tibetan Holy City and his trials and trevails about three years ago. This article is really just announcing his book that he wrote about the journey. I can't describe the article in any way that would do it justice, just go read it.





Cycling

Remeber to "Pick Up Some Trash!"

Just a friendly reminder that Wednesday's are the days we help clean up our neighborhoods by picking up some trash.

Site changes

I'm trying to clean up the look of this blog. Clearing out some the adsense ads and adding the REI ads in. I think it will make the page a lot easier to look at. The REI banner in the bottom of the posts will take you to the REI site, where you can get any outdoor equipment you need. The word cycling below it will take you directly to the REI cycling store. If you are looking to get something from REI.com please support this site by using the links below.





Cycling

Wednesday News Roundup

Phoenix Business Journal has a story (here) about how the cost of owning and driving a car is going up.

"AAA agrees that consumers looking to save money need look no further than
their driveway. The auto club has released a new edition of Your Driving
Costs, which compares the costs of operating different types of vehicles to
help consumers make informed purchases and budget for annual automotive
expenses.

Driving costs are based on national fuel averages, routine maintenance,
tires, insurance, license and registration, loan finance charges and
depreciation costs."

It goes on to note that gas prices are not the only thing to go up, tires, registration and taxes are also on the rise. The most interesting part is the per mile and annual estimated cost of driving a car (which does not include the cost of the actual vehicle). The average cost is $0.514 per mile or $8121 a year. They also note that you can lower your cost by switching from a large vehicle or SUV to a smaller more fuel efficient vehicle. (But somehow fail to mention that you can reduce those costs even further if you walk, bicycle or use public transportation.


Northern Kentucky University's newspaper, The Northerner, reports about Wi-fi in Highland Heights city busses that was developed along with the university. (here)

While this is a wonderful development in commuting (or potentially disastrous depending on how you feel about wireless technology,) the best part of the article is this quote: "Adding Wi-Fi was something we really wanted to do to encourage young professionals to ride..." This kind of forward thinking is exactly what we should all hope that our own local transit authority is using in developing transit in our areas.


In personal news, I bought a tank of gas for my car yesterday (I had to drive to make a chiropractor appointment), and spent slightly over $50(!!!!!). The good news is that it was the first tank I've purchased since the first week of February. (Although to be perfectly fair, I loaned my car to my brother in March and he put some gas in, though not a full tank.)

Technorati

Sorry about the lack of posts. I've been dealing with life and the accident. I've added a technorati button to the side bar and each post, so please feel free to click it for me.

First off, I just want you to know that I'm OK.

Bikeradar.com posted a list of April Fool's jokes that bicyclists can play. (here)

My favorite is the fourth one where you call home and instead of saying hi or hello you start with: "first off, I just want you to know that I'm ok." Allow a pregnant pause and then ask a mundane question like "what is for dinner?" Allow hilarity to ensue.

I told you that story so I could tell you this one:

First off, I want you to know that I'm ok.

...

Yesterday I was hit by a car. No april fool's joke here. I'm not going to go into exactly what happened here (if you are truly interested, email me) but just know that I'm doing ok. Took some time off work to go to urgent care and my chiropractor today. X-rays on my leg came back negative but I am very sore. I opened a claim with the driver's insurance and because I don't know how that is all going to go, I'm choosing to err on the side of caution and not publicly post any details.

Once I'm through what will likely become an ordeal, I plan on posting a thorough "what to do if you are struck by a vehicle" article. Currently, I only know some of what I should be doing.

Reflections on Pick up Some Trash Day

Yesterday I celebrated Pick up Some Trash Day by picking up trash on my bike between work and the trolley and then again later on a short walk to the store. I think it is a lot easier to do when walking (say, with your dog) than when cycling. I also noticed that even with my slow speed and several stops on my ride to the train, I didn’t get home any later than normal.

The hardest part of Pick up Some Trash Day celebrations is retraining your self to see litter. After spending years ignoring trash I would often mentally skip over the trash as I saw it. Also, I noticed that on my bike, I don’t really want to pick up trash from the sidewalks or planters and walking I’d rather not get the stuff in the streets.

All in all it was a pleasurable experience that I look forward to for next week.

However, at one point I had to stop and ask myself: Am I turning into “that guy”? You know who I mean, the guy in your neighborhood growing up. You always saw him around. He seemed to bicycle everywhere he went (often in the same old jacket). You would often see him pick up trash (or at least recycling) and put it into his handle bar basket. When I asked my wife this question, her answer was a quick ‘yes.’ But then we both wondered, “is that a bad thing?” I don’t have an answer for that one.