KC Bike Commuting

30-degree swing

2009-12-01T06:54:00.004-06:00

... or close to it. Yesterday, it was 20-something in the morning, 50-something in the afternoon. Mother Nature keeps pushing that "One Last Beautiful Afternoon For Riding" and today looks to be more of the same, but it was warmer this morning.

Last night: a quick stop by Electronics Supply Co. after work. Riding in shorts at the end of November in KC is not normal.

Also, I recently re-shot the front panel of my Sun Ultra 5 because I somehow lost the high resolution version. I think I like this one as a wallpaper better than the last one (highest resolution available).

Click for big.

Patching

2009-11-28T14:54:00.004-06:00

Last night, I had to apply some patches for OpenBSD, which some of you may know is my favorite operating system. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, it's software like Windows or Ubuntu, or Mac OS X. Except more secure and not very easy for people who aren't nerds to use.

My least favorite part of patching any system is the part where you have to reboot, and the computer is not in front of you, but 15 miles away or even further. If something didn't go right, I'd have to mess with a bunch of stuff to fix it.

Today: Patching a pinch flat.

Also, taking advantage of this awesome sunny weather to recharge my radio. I haven't yet had to use the crank to charge it up. I know from past experience that cranking for power sucks, but on just solar power alone, it lasts many hours at a reasonable volume with mixed flashlight use. It finally died on me this week. I usually leave it in the window to charge.

Consumer Zombies

2009-11-27T08:18:00.002-06:00

Bus stop at the Maul.

While I love frobs and gizmos just as much as the next geek, the whole Black Friday Blitz thing is not my style at all. I'm going to attempt to get excited make things for Christmas. I can bake. I have hand tools. I am deft with the soldering iron. I'll figure something out.

Lectures

2009-11-24T07:07:00.000-06:00

I am convinced that bananas are probably the ultimate on-the-go breakfast for bicycle commuters. This morning, I placed the nutrient-rich peel at the base of some bushes at the bus stop and was promptly read the littering riot act by a fellow rider. I picked the peel up and placed it 'where it belongs:' in a plastic trash bag on the bus where it'll still bio-degrade, but its benefits will be trapped in a plastic barrier, isolated in a landfill somewhere. Go Green(tm)! Don't litter.

This passive-aggressive moment has been fueled by Chiquita Bananas and The Roasterie coffee.

This never gets old.

2009-11-19T17:05:00.001-06:00

FlashBak safety light

2009-11-18T22:16:00.003-06:00

I've been using this since about the beginning of November. It can clip to a jersey, backpack, pannier or whatever.

Here's a video. Yeah. It's kind of bright.

Check out my full review on BikeCommuters.com.

Another November WTF

2009-11-18T21:11:00.001-06:00

I took this a week ago, and didn't run into it until tonight.

First Snow!

2009-11-17T06:48:00.001-06:00

Camera phone. I know.

Ripple Glass

2009-11-13T07:51:00.006-06:00

RippleGlass bins are showing up all over the greater Kansas City area. Since the city itself doesn't have an easy-to-use glass recycling protocol, some local companies rallied together to make it a lot more convenient to recycle glass. While I have my reservations about the whole "green" thing, the benefits of easy glass recycling are many, and reach beyond saving the Earth. Namely: I'm hoping it helps reduce the amount of broken glass we cyclists must subject our tires to.

I was also happy to see my company's logo on them. This one showed up in the far corner of the parking lot northwest of the 11th and Wyandotte intersection, right near my office. This is cool, because even suburban commuters can throw a bag of bottles into their vehicles and easily drop them off on their way to work instead of how things used to work: Make a dedicated glass drop-off trip to some part of town you probably wouldn't otherwise visit.

Pretty nifty, if you ask me.

Cargo.

2009-11-10T20:20:00.004-06:00

I had to snag something from CCCKC for a friend on my way home. Hey, I got some extra room on the road today. It was a whopping 2.5 pounds. I know, because I had to ship it. Heck, I'd almost be willing to lug this thing around all year long. I didn't even notice it, and had to look back a few times to make sure it was still back there.

I'm pretty sure the UPS guy who passed me was thinking "Jeez, FedEx is really cutting back!"

I could have done without this, though. I was okay, but this kind of glare makes it hard to see cyclists on the road.

I'm still awestruck that we're in the middle of November and we continue to have this kind of weather.

Random Tunage:
808 State - Olympic
Orbital - The Moebius

Repeat Weekend

2009-11-08T15:49:00.003-06:00

Another spring-like November morning.

The wind out of the south was a fight, adding almost 20 minutes to my trip to church this morning. Well, and I was hauling a pannier full of canned goods and other stuff for a local food drive.

Of course, after jettisoning the ballast and getting a lot of help from the great tailwind:

I averaged about 19 MPH on the way home, and saw a brand new Nissan GT-R (R35) near Johnson County Air Center. That's a slick machine. About $90,000 worth.

Links

2009-11-06T06:57:00.005-06:00

One for Warren, who has a thing about squirrels. Okay, so do I. Click the image for a full-on video of different angles. Via jwz.

A nifty automated high-density bike parking solution in Japan

Another overkill snow vehicle that's not a bicycle. Looks fun, no?

More Do-it-Yourself bicycle lighting

Eric uses the Tilt-Shift photo generator to shrink KC

A bicycle made of kegs. Yes, *those* kegs.

Dave mulls over attire and accessories for winter bike commuting in KC

How Colorado became "Bike Friendly"

That's all for today. Have a great weekend!

Tattoo. Kind of.

2009-11-05T16:34:00.002-06:00

This is what happens when you have full panniers and take both hands off the bike at a stop. It falls over and rolls forward. When you lean into it to catch it, you get gouged.

It looks a lot less intense (and not nearly as cool) now that it's all cleaned off.

Random Tunage:
Junkie XL - Mushroom
Jerry Ropero - The Storm (Inpetto Remix)

Thought / rant: punctuality

2009-11-02T06:53:00.003-06:00

Of all the ways to be inconsiderate to others, I find tardiness to be the most selfish. Unabashedly demanding your peers wait patiently on your behalf expresses the utmost of disrespect for their time, and a narcissistic exaltation of whatever it is that happens to hold you up. Isolated incidents are easy to forgive, but when this kind of behavior occurs repeatedly, I can't help but feel personally slighted.

To all of you constant late-runners out there: Pack the night before. Go to bed a bit earlier if you struggle with the snooze button. Keep some breakfast bars on hand and skip the Starbuck's and McDonald's. Put off your TV-, Internet-, or whatever-addiction for a few hours.

You might expect this rant to be related to my personal life or my office environment; It's not. Most of the people in my personal and professional life are both prompt and meticulous. This one has to do with transit, as one of "the regulars" has taken to showing up to the bus stop several minutes late -- almost daily -- while expecting the bus driver to stall. This morning, it was to the point of asking a friend that was already on the bus to see if the driver could hang out a few minutes longer than usual. I find this action particularly repulsive because one person's brazen conceit directly affected the punctuality of dozens of others. Many transit devotees have transfers to catch downtown, or expect to be in their offices at a specific time.

Fortunately, the bus eventually left without the person on board, but it was still 5 minutes later than usual. Yes, I could have spoken up and rattled the bus driver's cage. Instead, I'm going to be curmudgeonly passive-aggressive about it. I can only hope that one of the late-runner's friends has a chat about punctuality and manners sometime soon. I'm growing quite weary of untenable tardiness.

Turning this around, I did meet another occasional bike commuter on the bus this morning. John works for a local bank, and has a nice road bike that he's planning on riding all the way home this evening. John, if you see this, contact me. I have the perfect route to get you back home, using some roads that for some reason or another aren't on Google Maps yet.

November, huh?

2009-11-01T18:43:00.004-06:00

Last night was chilly, as I was walking around my friend Don's neighborhood with his youngest kids while they went door-to-door trick-or-treating. It felt like a typical late October night, and there was a great harvest moon to match... not quite full, but close. Imagine my surprise this morning: I had to go outside to grab something, and the temperature had probably climbed 10 degrees overnight. I had to be at church around 10:00 this morning, and I couldn't bring myself to drive. I saddled up a little after 9:00 and took a modest pace for the 11-mile jaunt to church, thinking of a post on repurposed by Joey Haney. I haven't ridden to church in quite a while.

After church, I had to go to my parents' place in Stilwell, which is about 12 miles from church. Most of the ride to church and to my parents place was into wind about 10-15 MPH. My aunt and uncle were in town from Seattle, so we had a nice family meal with my sister and grandmother as well. Then it was time to come home. I pulled over next to Johnson County Executive Airport's VOR Ground Station (a type of directional radio broadcast that helps pilots navigate) to snap this one:

It figures that just as I put my camera away, a plane would take off almost right over the top of my bike. I missed that shot. I saw a total of five cyclists on the road today. I dropped one roadie northbound on Metcalf, got left in the dust behind two others on 159th, and saw two more cyclists going the other direction. It was about 73 degrees when I got home, and I had a great tailwind for most of the return trip. I couldn't even believe it. What a gorgeous day for some errands by bike!

Distance: 43.5mi
Rolling Time: 3h04m
Avg. Speed: 14.2 mph
Top Speed: 33.4 mph

Random Tunage:
The Postal Service - Brand New Colony
Way Out West - Call Me

One Year, Four Months and Two Days

2009-10-27T08:33:00.004-05:00

That's the last time I had to drive to the office for my usual work shift. I don't suppose it's a bad run of things. I just wish the circumstances this morning (me forgetting to set my alarm) were a bit more noble. One morning on I-35 per year is more than enough to remind me why I don't like driving on a daily basis.

Bonus: I did find a parking spot not too far from the office that "only" costs $5 per day.

Insult to injury: I saw a bike commuter I've never seen before wheel into my office building as I walked in from the parking lot.

Random Tunage:
David May - Superstar
Tangerine Dream - Machine Language

Octobber.

2009-10-26T11:05:00.002-05:00

I figure I can finally post this since "Octobber" is almost over and I finally have next month's bus pass in hand. It has been pestering me all month.

Sorry for the "quality", I'm sending this from my phone.

Fender Poncho

2009-10-22T09:00:00.001-05:00

It's been raining for the better part of a day, now. The roads are
soaked, and the rain was still coming down pretty good this morning.
Normally, I don't worry about getting wet, but temperatures in the 50s
are enough to make me consider using the poncho. I haven't worn it in
several months, so I was half expecting it to be a bit musty.
Fortunately, I remembered to properly dry it out before packing it
away, so it was just like new. I've used it less than 10 times since I
bought it. It's a step up from the $2 emergency ponchos. I think it
set me back about $6. The sides snap shut and it doesn't really have
sleeves, but it has a hood and the material is thick enough to not
tear at the first sign of snagging on things. It's about the cheapest
looking thing I've ever seen. I threw on a short-sleeve biz-casual
shirt and some shorts under the poncho, then rolled out the door.
There's no avoiding wet legs with just a poncho, and this sleeveless
one won't do much for anything beyond my elbows.

Of course, the poncho won't help at all without fenders to keep the
wheels from throwing grime and water straight up from below you, so I
was doubly glad to have those, too. I probably looked like more of a
dork than usual this morning, but at least I was dry. I was able to
wipe my legs down with a towel (Ford Prefect would be proud!), throw
on some work pants and head straight up to the office. Poncho good.
Maybe not as good as a full-on (and expensive) Gore-Tex rain suit, but
it's the next best thing for shorter rides in the rain.

That new bus smell.

2009-10-20T16:18:00.001-05:00

Bus #225. The latest and greatest arrow in Johnson County Transit's quiver. Less than 5,000 miles and has that wonderful new-bus smell (which is actually glue fumes, VOCs and the remnants of solvent evaporating from the paint)

Now, when can we get some real all-day transit service, weekend coverage and new routes? Bus #225 is going to sit dormant all day while people work. No one really needs to travel between 8a and 4p anyway, right?

Yeah, I'll take some mocha with my whipped cream

2009-10-20T09:16:00.004-05:00

We had a taste of what early fall is all about for the first part of this week. Lows in the 50s, highs in the 70s, all broken up by an early morning thunderstorm.

We have the windows open, and the crack of distant thunder stirred me a bit, but not enough to open my eyes. Just enough to realize that our two cats had managed to crowd me to the very edge of the bed and out from under the covers. The fan was blowing humid, chilly air onto me so I writhed around a bit to get back under the blankets, nudging the cats a bit, never really opening my eyes. A bright flash illuminated the room, leaving a blue-on-red capillary afterimage. Seconds later, a roll of thunder filled the room and prompted me to glance at the clock. It was just a bit after 5:00 AM. One of the cats decided to watch the storm pass by moving to the window. Goofy cat. I dozed for a while longer. There really is nothing quite like a cool breeze and a thunderstorm.

The storm was brief, and had mostly passed by the time I left. There was one good lightning bolt - cloud-to-cloud - that reared its head right after I left. The wet roadway was no match for my fenders, and I remained dry.

Lorin and I had agreed to grab coffee before work, and when I got mine, it came with a little more flair than usual. I'm pretty sure there was more whipped cream and chocolate shavings than there was actual mocha.

Also, Keith, one of the cyclists for the Downtown KC Improvement District came over and talked to Lorin and I for a bit. The city doesn't allow them to ride on wet roads (for insurance purposes) so he was on foot today. His Gary Fisher FastCity got stolen a few months ago, so he's been rockin' the Dr. Dew. He's thinking of trying to organize a ride out to St. Louis (or somewhere else that's a pretty good distance) then catching Amtrak back to KC. That sounds like fun to me!

Random Tunage:
Digital Witchcraft - Pocket Universe
The Spoons - Nova Heart (Redanka Dub Mix)

Fall

2009-10-17T16:26:00.004-05:00

Even though temperatures were in the 40s yesterday, I kept the jacket off, left the gloves on, and made sure my ears were covered. My hands, ears, and toes always seem to be the most sensitive to cold. For some reason, though, I really don't care how cold my arms get. They acted like radiators for my back, which was burning up the whole ride home, since I was using my backpack yesterday instead of the panniers. All of this is from yesterday.

Blurry but fun on the Turkey Creek Trail. Lots of joggers out, too.

Near my apartment complex:

A different kind of fall, no I didn't eat it. This was on Main Street southbound from River Market. I hit River Market Cyclery around lunch time to get the mounting tab for my Take-A-Look mirror.

This is corrugated plastic that's actually been zip-tied into place. Also, a lot of the deadly storm drains have spraypaint markings leading up to them. Most of this stuff looks very, very unofficial, so I'm guessing it's vigilante activism. This storm drain is not much different than the one I ruined my rear wheel on just 3 days after getting The Twelve. No, I didn't fall, but these drainage grates are a serious hazard.

Random Tunage:
Chemical Brothers - It Doesn't Matter
Paul Van Dyk ft. David Byrne - Fall With Me

Blog woes: Japanese Spam Of Love

2009-10-16T10:41:00.002-05:00

For some reason, one of my posts attracts a TON of spam in Japanese -- at least one attempted post per day. I ran a few of them through Google Translate just for giggles. Every single one that I bothered to translate mentions love. Bizarre.

Thank goodness for comment moderation.

New Gear.

2009-10-16T08:35:00.004-05:00

My helmet went missing a few Fridays ago. I think I might have left it on the bus in an over-worked haze following several weeks without a proper day off due to massive amounts of weekend work that had to get done at the office. It never turned up. My old Bell Solar had several scuffs and bash marks on it from low-speed mountain biking impacts. Nothing that would be likely to keep it from doing its job, but it was probably due to be replaced anyway.

I've been using my wife's Bell Sweep R (a sweet helmet in its own right) for the time being, but decided it was time to get another one. I liked my old Bell Solar so much that I picked up another one just like it aside for color. Since my Take-A-Look mirror also went missing, I bought a replacement for that as well, but the LBS was fresh out of helmet mounting tabs. I will have to make one up myself, or find another shop in town that has them in stock.

Obviously, I replaced my saddle as well. I have to give props to my buddies at Bike America in Olathe. I didn't need a fancy, new-tech saddle (of which they had plenty), so I got a heck of a bargain on an OEM take-off Bontrager Race. When customers upgrade their bike before leaving the shop, but don't want to take the OEM part with them, the techs toss the part into the OEM Take-Off pile. If you know to ask the techs, they'll let you rummage the pile. I'm betting a lot of shops have a similar system, as there's no need to throw away new parts.

I scored the saddle, helmet and mirror for under $50 total. How cool is that?

Similarly, if you're into dumpster-diving, you can often find USED take-off parts from upgrades in the rubbish bin out back. Bike shops don't resell this stuff in the store, even if there's some life left in it. I'm betting the wrenches probably set aside the really good and like-new parts for themselves, but I'm not sure. Just something to keep in mind between Christmas and spring, when people are getting ready for the new season.

Soon, The Twelve will need new brakes, chain, and cassette but it's almost time to switch over to my mountain bike for winter, and The Goat needs some things as well. The coming two weeks will tell how I prioritize that stuff.

Random Tunage:
Goo Goo Dolls - Can't Let It Go
Peter Bailey - Electrified

Sausage [Links]

2009-10-15T09:10:00.001-05:00

Stuff I've found interesting lately.

jwz and his buddy netik had a run-in with a car in SF. Dude. You don't mess with jwz.

CommuteByBike teases us with a new Fisher that I'm drooling over. Winter commuter, anyone?!

KC has the nation's scariest haunted house. I think I'm going haunted housing this weekend.

Pedal Powered OLPC. Sweet!

Jalopnik covers some of the bizarre snow vehicles found in Antarctica. I can't believe there's not a Pugsley in there. Oh, and did you see Chris' Big Dumb Pug?!

Fritz at Cyclelicio.us shows us another commuter challenge, wherein a couple of cyclists (one wearing a helmet cam) beat a chartered helicopter across town. I can't help but wonder why none of these challenges ever put people on motorcycles. Oh, wait. They'd win. Oh well. It' good publicity for bicycles.

Dave is apparently back in the saddle after his circumstances became quite favorable for bike commuting. He picked a hell of a time to get back on board, but hey... Welcome back!

Drew Carey is donating up to $1M to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. $1 for every follower he gets via Twitter through the end of the year. This initially started as a $25,000 bid on Drew Olanoff's @Drew twitter handle and has quickly exploded. Cancer is everywhere, and I believe that LAF is a worthy cause on its own, not just because its founder is a world-renowned cyclist.

Gloomy.

2009-10-15T07:14:00.001-05:00