New Seat...Bent Sprocket!

Roz Tate and I have got a wild hair to loose weight and get into some sort of shape. So this morning I went to the bike shop in C'ville and bought an old man seat, installed it, and rode out to meet Tate at Richo's. While enroute my bent front sprocket gave up the ghost and I lost my two most comfortable gear speeds. (This has been Gremlin week for sure!) Anyway I arrived unscathed.

We then proceeded (in his vechicle) to Sam Peden park to lap the lake a couple of times. We both broke a good sweat and agreed to meet Sunday AM to do it all over again.

I grabbed a glass of H2O at the pub and headed home via Jon's house. He wasn't home but I met he and N walking in that direction about Elm Street. We spoke for a few minutes and I proceed on the my domoicile. So far I don't feel any worse for the wear. I may learn to like exercise yet!

Morning ride, Sunday, April 30.

Tim already has suggested a ride on Sunday morning, circa 9 - 10 a.m.

Anyone else? Ed's out of town. Kevin R. knows the plan.

Coexist

Encouraging motorists and bicyclists to share the road.

The key messages of the campaign are as follows:

1.) Reminding motorists to leave at least 3 feet of space when passing bicyclists, and to pass slowly and carefully.

2.) Reminding bicyclists to ride predictably in the roadway.

3.) Reminding motorists to check their side mirrors for approaching bicyclists before opening their car doors after parking.

4.) Reminding bicyclists to ride at least 3 feet outside of the dangerous door zone - the area just next to parked cars, where doors can suddenly and dangerously fly open.

*borrowed for education & safety from http://www.sfbike.org/

My Training Schedule Is In The Toilet

It has been over a week since I last rode by bike, today was testament that my training schedule for my upcoming bicycle trip out west has suffered a slight blow. It may be that having worked none stop without a day off for a couple of weeks has weakened my body and spirit, but the trip this afternoon was so nice and relaxing I did not wish it to stop.

Cruised out around IUS and then back towards downtown NA, with a pit stop at Destinations Booksellers where I saw Randy and Jeff. Made my way over to the river and out Corydon Pike before turning around and heading back home via Camp Ave hill, where I ran out of gas.

Probably tried to do too much with little rest, but damn it was fun.

Rides

After re-thinking my earlier post, I came home and decided to redo it. This is an open forum blog created for myself and for others to chat about or communicate about bicycling. I stole part of RAB's post from yesterday and thought I had an avenue that we could expand on, when in reality it was nothing more than HIS thoughts about possible rides on Monday this summer and nothing more. If, he wishes to include folks for a scheduled ride, he will do so.

That said, I would wish for J. Barthold and others to be Contributors to this blog and have input as well as help set up group rides. That was the vision when the idea of this blog was conceived by me and my longtime friend RAB. We have made it perfectly clear that this blog is here for whomever wishes to log, keep track of or just tell us fellow cyclists of their own experience on their rides. Our longtime friend Lloyd made the leap and asked to be a Contributor and I personally think that is way cool. If you ride around the block with kids, that would be really cool to hear. If you road from here to Indy and back that is cool, too. The nice weather is upon us people, share your experiences.

Send me or Roger and email and we will see to it that you will be a Contributor to this locally shared blog.

Ed

What a Weekend!

I got the bike out yesterday afternoon and took a tour around New albany. One could not ask for a more perfect day to ride!

I probably did a meager 5 to 6 miles total, but ya gotta start somewhere. Hope to catch up with some of you to ride as the season goes on!

Thanks Ed - hope to be back in the saddle again.

I'm back after two weeks of riding and walking.

We saw a surprising number of bikers on the Pacific Coast highway, and even a recumbent (sic). It's narrow, but signs everywhere warn drivers to share the road. Promising, but such great distances ...

Ed, apologies for not linking with Terry; I spoke with him twice, but in the end we had to hustle to make it to North Coast in Ft. Bragg to catch the people before they went to Seattle for the craft brew show. I took a rain check and PROMISED (with your indulgence) to join the two of you for a cycling week in the Bay Area very soon.

For those making the German/Czech/Austrian trip in late August, planning now begins in earnest.

More on that later. When's the next ride?

How's the city doing for bicycling, not NA but we can only wish.

*This is all borrowed for local bicycle education from http://www.sfbike.org/

How's the city doing for bicycling? Get your opinion in the mix!

Take the 2006 SF Bicycle Survey online! As a central part of our work to publish San Francisco's first-ever Report Card on Bicycling in San Francisco, we need the input of everyone who cycles in the city — our 2006 Survey of Bicycling in San Francisco asks you to share your opinions on riding a bicycle in the city — how satisfied you are with bicycle facilities and amenities — how safe you feel when riding — how the city rates for bicycling.
The results of this survey will come together in the 2006 Report Card on Bicycling in San Francisco which we'll be presenting to Mayor Newson on Bike to Work Day (May 18). Spread the word, share the link and help us collect the broadest and deepest sample of cyclist sentiment!

Louisville Loop With A Twist

Did not get a ride in yesterday due to domestic grass cutting maintenance, but made it out this fine day. Rode the Louisville loop which I had not been able to do since the closing of the Old Sliver Creek Bridge, but rode the white line of IN 62 across Silver Creek and then across Emery Crossing to the Ohio and then over to the Clark Memorial Bridge, road over to Louisville Slugger Field and then return back home through parts of Jeffersonville and Clarksville.

It was a nice change of scenery, as well as switching riding routes that is always important to keeping it fresh. I really miss the old bridge and will be glad when it is repaired. My avenues to Clark County have been reduced greatly since its closure.
Total ride was 29 miles.
b

E_Day

This E Day was spent with memories of past E Days and how they have shaped the person responsible for this post. Details later on a more deserving blog, but for now it is cycling. This morning as any other Sunday with coffee and newsprint. Prepared dinner and then hit the road. Rode up Edwardsville hill into a prevailing dark cloud that brought much rain after I had made it home. Made my way around Quarry and Old Hill Roads, down the Paoli Pike Hill, back to Community Park and then to downtown NA and then back up Spring Street Hill to home.

This holiday of sorts is always measured with personal trife: death, seroius injury, near death and living past all of the mentioned. Another Christian Holiday in which I have never fit.
b

Friday

Just returned from a ride loop up Edwardsville Hill an around Quarry/Old Vincennes Roads and home. The weather.com says that it is 86 degrees, 49% humidity and the wind is between 15 and 20 mph. Did we have much of a spring this year or did it just go from nice to hot? Not complaining at all.
b

Tis been a good day over all for moi. Spent most of the day attending a safety meeting for Duke Energy(my new employer this year) in Columbus Indiana, came home and rode my bicycle for 25 miles out Charlestown, Payne Koeller, County Line, Bugaboo, Grant Line Road’s, then through Community Park to Green Valley Road back to downtown NA and then up Old Spring Street Hill to home. Went afterwards to Bridge Liquors for quaffing items, only to find a new selection of $1.00 brews in the close out cart; big bottles of Salvation from Avery, Éphémère from Unibroue and St Georges Ale from Young’s Ram Brewery. Total amount spent for $1.00 beers = $30. Beer cycling is a good thing
Oh Yeah!
b

$2.90

Buy a bicycle and beat the high price of fuel, plus save some of our resources.

Urban Young Ride Demand For Bicycle Innovation

*from Reuters
By Lucas van GrinsvenThu Apr 6, 8:41 AM ET

Marcel Bouw always regarded his four-person bicycle as an indulgence. Then it was stolen.
"We had our third child and then at the same time our bicycle was stolen. We found it was essential to have one -- I cannot bring my three children to day care on a normal bicycle," he said.
Until recently, people such as Bouw could not buy a bicycle other than a straightforward two-wheeler that carries a maximum of two children, one behind the handlebars and one on the back. It is a delicate and unsafe balancing act.
In the past few years, however, a class of young designers and welders emerged in countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark to address the inner-city transport needs of families and companies. Their designs are taking congested cities by storm.
Riding the streets of Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Stockholm are thousands of radically new bikes, ranging from tricycles for day care centers that carry eight children and low-seater bicycles with passenger-carrying trunks in front, to robust transport bikes with large containers for delivery boys.
And folding bikes and retro army bikes can be spotted everywhere.
"Bicycle design has been incredibly dormant for decades. Now there's an explosion of new forms," said Cees Steijn of Amazing Wheels from IJmuiden, a coastal town near Amsterdam.
They are not cheap, said Radha Meloni, 32, a shopkeeper and mother of two who paid 1,200 euros ($1,454) for a second-hand tricycle cargo bike with two benches. New ones start at 1,500 euros.
Yet it still beats the price of a decent second-hand car, let alone a new one.
"It's a big investment, but a car costs more, plus you have to buy petrol. I can park my tricycle anywhere. I'm much more flexible," she said.
Cargo bicycles fulfill needs that previously were met only by the car: capacity and safety.
"I have two children and so does my sister who lives nearby," Meloni said. "We take care of each other's children and I can't carry four on a bicycle. I needed a transport bike. It's much more stable than a bicycle."
URBAN PROFESSIONALS
The first of the new style bikes, compact and light enough to be used by anyone, were designed by Danish bicycle-maker Christiania, named after the traffic-free enclave in Copenhagen.
The initial designers were environmentalists. But today's customer base is much bigger. Most buyers are pragmatic urban professionals like Jouke Schouten, 33, who is a carpenter and does not own a car.
"We live in the center and it's a nuisance to find car parking," said the father of two, who pulls his children and the groceries in a trailer behind his bike.
High car parking fees and abundant bike lanes have ensured that 35 percent of local trips in Amsterdam are made by bike.
In other Dutch and Danish cities the percentage is even higher, according to Dutch figures.
Even large enterprises, and consumers and businesses in other countries are picking up on the new bicycle trend.
Coca Cola in Belgium has bought dozens of Smart Trikes from Amazing Wheels for summer sales on the promenades along the North Sea. Postmen in the Netherlands deliver mail with trikes. Employees at chemical plants and on oil rigs in the Netherlands and Britain use rugged Truck bikes from Swedish company Monark.
Christiania and Amazing Wheels are taking orders from France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, Australia and the Middle East. Two-year-old WorkCycles is exporting to the United States.
WorkCycles is experiencing solid growth, says the company's Chris van der Oord. Annual sales of new tricycle and bicycle designs in the Netherlands alone have risen to tens of thousands.
BIG WHEEL TRADITION
The recent International Bicycle Design Competition in Taiwan, the 10th edition of the industry's main design competition, attracted 400 entries. The winning design, announced in March, was a tricycle from French designer Yves Plattard. The runners-up were another tricycle from Korean designer Woo Seungkyun and a city bike from Chinese designer Feng Wei li.
The top three designs featured small wheels, which the traditional bike industry hates to adopt. The industry insists on a triangular frame and large wheels with low friction. They have not used any of the last 10 years of innovative bicycle designs from the competition, although today's 20 inch wheels are just as good as 28 inch ones, said juror Han Goes.
"If the industry would just be prepared to adopt 20 inch wheels, it would create a design opportunity to get rid of the triangle frame. We can move to one size fits all and there will be more room for luggage and passengers," he said.
"The last major new bicycle concept adopted by the industry was the mountain bike in 1985. The big bicycle makers are introvert and not market oriented.
"They design new bikes by choosing a new gear shift, a new saddle and a new color. But the consumer doesn't care about that. The consumer has specific needs, like bringing children to school," Goes added.
The breakthrough came with independent and creative bike makers, who did not wait for the big firms but were prepared to self-produce their own radical designs. Danish designers are now bringing to market a tricycle that can be converted into a normal bicycle.
With annual sales of new models already in the thousands, that should be a lesson for the big manufacturers.
"The niches addressed by these small bicycle makers aren't small at all," Goes said.

Sunday April 9th

Sunny 59°F
Wind from ENE 4 mph
Took a short ride around the City of NA today after spending the day working in the yard, trying as most of you to stay ahead of the springtime chores we all face this time of year as home owners. This upcoming week looks like it may be a real nice week of weather to get some quality exercise or just cruising on the bikes. See you on the street!
b

77 Degrees

Skipped work this afternoon to take my bride to the airport; she is going to visit our son in Charleston,SC. Got in a fifteen mile ride in gusty conditions, but was lovin' the 77 degrees just the same. Hopeful to get some riding in tomorrow and Sunday if the weather isn't too bad.

Wow What A Beauty Of A Day

Took advantage of just a fantastic day weather wise and the fact that I got off from work at regular quitting time instead of storm restoration mega hours on the electrical grid. Made a great loop from my home up Old Vincennes to Quarry Road, then over to Corydon Pike and down that great hill. Took Main Street up to Silver Street and then right onto Charlestown Road. Dodged through rush hour traffic and over through Community Park, up Green Valley Road to Captain Frank and then over the Frisco like hilly streets of Woodland Subdivision and then home.
One hour and fifty two minutes of splendor, minus the traffic on Charlestown Road. Have a good trip Roger and stay in touch.