bike + dog + hot brit

swoon.
(ok, would have been even better with a helmet)

Fido, I rarely miss you...

I had a lot of reasons for getting rid of my car a few years ago. Environmental, health, financial... but I'd be lying if I didn't say that #1 was the inconvenience of having a car. Yes, that's right. Inconvenient to own a car. 

Here's why, from 7x7, an online/in print mag about our seven mile by seven mile city by the bay, San Francisco.

379,898 cars registered in San Francisco
and…
320,000 street parking spaces (including meters) in SF

But wait…there’s more.  That number is just cars.  There are also 61,755 trucks, 20,144 motorcycles, and 8,536 trailers registered in San Francisco, bringing the total number of registered vehicles in SF to 470,333.

And that’s not all.
Each day there is an increase of approximately +35,400 vehicles in San Francisco during the daytime hours monday through Friday, bringing the grand total to:

505,733 vehicles
and
320,000 street parking spaces

Eleven months later...

I finally donated blood. New Year's Resolution complete. (For what it's worth, I've used my crockpot a bunch over the past month as well.)

Also almost donated some blood on my bike ride in to work today. Damn rain. Stayed rubber-side down, but ended up nailing my paw on a MUNI (bus) stop.

VV

Velo Vogue is a bike-centric, picture-heavy, San Francisco-loving blog that I enjoy having in my Google Reader.

That said, this post has no pictures. But does a good job of summing up the fun and feelings of biking in The City (And I think it holds true for men too - don't know why the author chose to call out just her gender in the title.)

How a Woman Feels on a Bike

Helmet hair

Is a bike helmet really that bad? Or do I just really not care about my hair enough?

Photo 1: Helmet is "on," but inactive

Photo 2: Helmet is active

That said, I'm sure that this sort of technology might be really useful for other body parts or sports.

Airbag Helmet from Treehugger

Cow -> biodiesel -> Amtrak

Amtrak's trying out cow-based biodiesel on some of its trains. Nice.

Salon article here.

Issues I have with this piece:
They're concerned about biodiesel harming rubber components in the engine. Yes. This is correct. But why not just take the safe route and replace those with synthetics? (This is what is done in older diesel cars and trucks so that they can safely use biodiesel)

Also, biodiesel not ONLY reduces carbon-dioxide emissions, but also reduces Nitrogen Oxide and Sulfur Oxide (NOx and SOx), both of which contribute to poor air quality and health problems, such as asthma.

shipping cost < a lot of stuff

This whole no-car biznass is going just fine. Mostly because I live in a city that has adequate public transportation, my office is three miles from my apartment and I ride my bike all over town. Friends have been gracious enough to drive for longer journeys. Somehow, it works out. I'm lucky. I also joined ZipCar and have used it twice since last December (1x a month - an average I'd be happy to maintain!) - once to go on a beautiful hike at Point Reyes and I shared with my BFF and fellow Zipster, on New Year's Eve. Both were full-day trips and included some sort of major shopping extravaganza at the end (Trader Joe's/Target). But I've also found that I'm doing a lot of shopping online (slow cooker and space heater... both online purchases). And shipping fees are like this extra ugh at the end of the online transaction. Until a wise friend in Chicago (who has a similar bike/public transit/ZipCar kind of lifestyle) pointed out that...

Shipping cost < ZipCar trip < Car ownership

Genius. Of course, I'm totally guilty of buying online when I could go to a local store. But then I'd have to actually ENTER a store or a mall, which is generally not fun. (But has been on occasion, as witnessed by CP and HW.)
and...
Shipping cost < missed out fun.

Let's not discuss greenhouse gas emissions due to shipping vs. missed out fun.

three forwards

Three things. All forwarded to me. And I'm "forwarding" them to you here. Bwahahaha. Passive forwarding.

FORWARD NUMBER ONE 
Last night a UPS man came to the house to deliver a package...normal
He was wearing a Saftey Jacket, not the normal Brown...Different
He also had on a Bike helmet...Way different

I asked him what was up and he said that we here in Palo Alto are the third community (Portland, Seattle, Palo Alto...He mentioned that San Jose might be up soon and it seems like Oregon is about to boom) in the US where UPS is trying out bike delivery.  Every morning they drop of a tractor trailer full of packages in the neighborhood and then 6 guys with bikes and bike trailers ride around and deliver the packages. 

He said that it is really working well, he is way tired at the end of the day, but that it is much easier to get around town.

This is a trial, just for the holiday season, but he hopes that it will take off and become a full time gig.  Lets hope it does!!

---------------------------

I just found this about the Portland program:

"Shipping giant United Parcel Service (UPS) will add a new weapon to its arsenal in the holiday shipping battle this year — bicycles.

Jeff Grant, the company’s workforce planning manager for the Oregon district (that includes Vancouver, WA), says UPS plans to hire 28 bike delivery employees this season. In the Portland metro area, Grant says eight riders will be hired. I spoke with Grant via phone yesterday. He said the main impetus for the bike delivery program was to save money.

“For every three bikes we use for deliveries, we save an average of 17 gallons of fuel per day (compared to one truck). That’s about $50 in savings.” Across the entire district, Grant says for every three bikes used during the holiday season, UPS will save $38,000 in vehicle operation and upkeep costs.

UPS has purchased a fleet of mountain bikes outfitted with a 200 pound capacity trailer (with a cover for rain of course) and a set of lights. All bike delivery staff will be uniformed and helmets are required.


Before hitting the road, Grant says each rider will undergo a paid orientation and training session. The custom-tailored training will focus on operating the bicycle and trailer safely. “We realize the riders will be experienced already,” says Grant, “but have they ever pulled 200 pounds? Do they know the safe following distance in wet weather?”


According to Grant, he’ll ask delivery staff to deliver about 25-50 packages per day, compared to 150 stops a day for a normal “package car”. Grant added an interesting historical note to this story: UPS started delivering by bike in Seattle (where they were founded) over 100 years ago. Today, the company once again uses bikes for deliveries up in Seattle and Grant said it went so well they’ve decided to expand the program. 


UPS is looking to hire bike delivery people in Vancouver (WA), Portland, Salem, Corvallis, Eugene, and Medford. If you’re interested, call Maria Mason at (503) 978-7409 or email mariamason(at)ups(dot)com."

Image borrowed from FROG blog cuz I wanted to show a picture of the trailer.

FORWARD NUMBER TWO

Tired of feeling tired?

Get the WakeMate, the cell phone accessory wristband that lets you sleep less and feel better! 

http://www.wakemate.com/ 

FORWARD NUMBER THREE

Fantastic.  Greg sends along this DIY FYI:

"Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations.. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever.Great stories. But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.

Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn't realize it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard."

Edit: I don't know what's up with all of the excessive spacing. I don't see it that way in my Compose screen in blogger. :( Sorry it's kind of unpleasant to read.

Save $500 a month on transportation costs

By living in San Francisco vs the burbs.
I buy this if you live & work in the city. I'd like to take a look at the data - like, what if you live and work in Pacifica (monthly transportation estimated at $1246). Wouldn't that bring you closer to the Bay Area Burden's San Francisco figure of $792? I don't know. Check it out later on today when that site goes live with a calculator!


Since getting rid of my car, what are my transportation costs? I'm going to shoot for the high side of my potential cost...
Take the bus six times. $12
BART to Berkeley & back, twice. $16
Get two flats, need new tubes. $8
Plus my own time to fix the flats. Estimate 15 min per flat. Say I'm a $60/ hour kinda gal. $30
General bike maintenance, let's call it 30 min. $30
Cab fare. Estimate $10 a trip, three trips. $30
Get a ride from a friend, pay the bridge toll/help with gas. $15
= $141
Sweet.
It'll go up when/if I do ZipCar. A $50/year fee and then whatever trips I take in the ZipCar. And then longer trips where I spend more on gas money, or even renting a car. Let's say $200/month, on average. Still, pretty great. Of course, that does NOT include the $400 I just dropped on a plane ticket to go to Illinois this weekend. Or what I'll spend on my Christmas airfare. Or what I'd have to spend to get a new bike, or the $150-250 I expect to drop on getting my ride set up with some new panniers and rack. Regardless, I'm really friggin lucky to be able to be car free.

Ba-ay Bridge is fal-ling down. Fal-ling down. Fal-ling down.

An AlertSF email:

The Bay Bridge remains closed indefinitely with no estimate for re-opening by Caltrans. Please avoid impacted areas and utilize alternate forms of transportation. No further AlertSF notifications will be made unless there is new information about the expected opening.

(Ok, I made one little edit. The email came with indefinitely spelled indefinately and so I fixed it.)

Oh, and "a lot of people" = 280,000 cars. Dayum. I am happy to not be one of them as part of my daily (all in-town) commute.
Background and informative article here.

fido has found a new home

i sold fido on monday night. it was very strange to do a large cash transaction out in the street on a monday night (thank goodness a friend came to help me), but it worked. fido is in the capable hands of a pizza delivery boy.

i am sad and relieved. fido was my first major purchase, pretty much ever. i bought him on my birthday in 2001, just six weeks after moving to california. and now... no longer mine. however, relieved to not have to deal with a car anymore. that street parking thing was killing me. i had to move my car 1-2 times a week, sometimes driving around for an hour to find a spot. major suckage.

so now, on to zipcar and motorcycles... and, of course, my bike. i'm planning to outfit my commuter with rear panniers again, get her a tune-up and maybe eventually buy one of these super sweet helmets -

I want one of these.

Talk about knowing your customer. What is something that sucks about riding your bike to meet friends out for dinner? Needing a place to store your lock, wallet, keys, bike lights - sometimes your standard purse won't cut it... and sometimes dudes don't have enough room in their pockets (you know, especially if they're opting for skinny jeans).

Enter the Velopocket, from Hambone Designs. Attach your bag to your bike! Now, this won't solve my "where do I put my heels when I need to ride in flats" or "it's warm now, but this is SF - it will be 30 degrees colder once the sun sets" kind of issues. But for a simple evening out, this is a very stylish, bike-centric option that makes me smile. Mutliple fabric options and some that look like sleek, industrial style clutches - and another that has a purse strap.

Website here.

Etsy link here.

bike helmet replacement

Good little PSA from the team at RoadBikeRider -

Helmet Replacement

What's the matter? Your helmet is several seasons old but appears to be in good condition. However, even though you haven't damaged it in a crash or with rough treatment, you've heard that helmets lose some of their protective ability as they age. You're wondering if you should junk this skid lid and buy a new one.

Here's help: It's often recommended that a helmet worn frequently should be replaced every 3 years or so. The reason is that the foam degrades due to sun, heat, salty sweat and other environmental factors, added to the usual knocks of regular cycling activity. These things make the foam unable to provide full protection in the event of a head impact.

A helmet should certainly be replaced after it's smacked in a crash or even dented by a hard drop.

However, some experts (presumably those not working for helmet companies) maintain that a helmet will do the job no matter what its age as long as it's undamaged. In their view, there is no age limit.

There's no arguing, though, that buying a new helmet every 3 years will keep you current with comfort and safety features as well as style.

It's remarkable the improvements we've seen in helmet lightness, ventilation and fit. Almost every new model has a "cradle" for the lower rear of the head. This makes a helmet more stable on bumps and rough roads, and it'll stay in place better when the reason for wearing a helmet is happening.

You can find big savings on some of this year's helmets when next year's models are introduced. Check bike shops and catalogs, find the price and style you like, then wear that nice new helmet on every ride you take.

Could your next flight be a little greener?

Fuck yeah!

Thanks for posting this, Treehugger. Though, I was surprised that the "urban woody green waste, such as yard clippings" are made into "Synthetic Diesel" instead of biodiesel. Wikipedia helps define the two - basically, it's a process difference. Synthetic diesel is made using non-oil, organic mater using a gasification technique and the Fischer-Tropsch process and biodiesel (starts from bio-oil) follows the transesterfication process.

8 US Airlines to Use Synthetic Diesel Made from Plant Waste

by Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York on 08.18.09

Photo via CDN

Good news for alternative fuel fans--eight major US airlines have just signed a deal to use 1.5 million gallons of synthetic diesel made from plant waste.

The synthetic diesel will be used for ground-service transportation at LAX, starting in 2012. According to Greenwire, the fuel, made by Rentech Inc, will "be made primarily from urban woody green waste such as yard clippings." Rentech will evidently begin mass producing the fuel at a plant in California to satisfy the demand.

Greenwire continues:

The Air Transport Association of America, the domestic industry trade group that joined Rentech in announcing the deal, called the purchasing agreement the first of its kind and said it could signal an industrywide move toward using lower-carbon fuels.

This could indeed prove to be a good segue to adding synthetic jet fuels to the airlines' fuel diets as well--a product that Rentech also manufactures.

So who's buying the green fuels? Anybody who's anybody in the US airline industry it seems, despite a glaring omission or two (no Jet Blue?). Here's the list:

Using the renewable fuel will be American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, US Airways, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines and UPS Airlines.

Anyhow, a small step in the right direction here.

Transportation next steps

My car and bike hate each other - a column that resonates with those of us who ride and drive (not that I drive in the city very often - it's stressful, I get lost and I'm bad at it)

My solution?
1. get an eye exam (since good distance vision seems like a nice thing to have when going > 20 miles an hour)
2. sign up for a motorcycle class
3. prepare to sell Fido (clean, get past history together, Kelley Blue Book value, Craigslist it)
4. sell my car
5. get zipcar for times when i need a car
6. buy a motorcycle + associated gear
7. continue to ride my bike for my daily commute, when drinking may be involved, etc, but have the additional freedom of motorcycling

Obviously, 5 could come before 3...and if I find any sort of awesome deals on gear (I've seen quite a few lightly used small helmets on CL), I'll get that too. Ideally, I'd like to use the proceeds from the sale of Fido to fund the motorcycle purchase.

Solar-Powered Bicycle Parking Pods

Hmmm. What do I want when I park my bike?
For my bike to be there, intact, when I return

What would be really cool?
A place to securely store other stuff, like in a locker

What if I had a really long commute or ride?
A shower

What if I don't want to be on the grid, or don't want to use dirty power?
A solar powered shower

Boo-yah. Check out this link to a bike parking pod concept (Thanks again TH!). It's about the size of one car parking spot. Solar powered showers, bike lockers and racks.

Not totally sure where this would be most useful - most offices around here supply secure parking and some have showers... or there's a gym nearby. Perhaps for office parks that are a little more out there, or for bike-in camping. What do you think?

DYBTWD

What did I do this evening? I participated (for just my second time ever - thanks LF!) in a weekly bike ride called the Butter Lap (cuz it's smoooooth like butta). ~30? riders, roadies, fixies, commuters, cyclocross, mountain bikes all doing a nice lap around the city. Today, being the day before Bike to Work Day, was:

Drive Your Bike to Work Day.

Did I mention that the Butter riders are a hilarious bunch?

Riders were given the option of riding their bikes OR hitching their bikes (that's the "driving your bike" part) to the top of the disco limo. Of course, the folks *in* the car then yelled things like "Get a car, you dirty hippies!" at all of us on the ride. Good times. I'm now sporting a temporary tattoo with the Drive Your Bike to Work Day on my right calf "so that other riders can see it when I pass them (recommended another rider)."




Here's a flickr site with pics from last year and the DYBTWD blog. http://www.driveyourbike.org/wp/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woo/2517479076/in/pool-driveyourbike

Some thoughts from my bike commute

On the way to work.

• Damn it, I'm late
• Hey - that pain that I felt under my right breast *isn't* a tumor (I was all worried last night that I had breast cancer). That's just exactly where my Timbuk2 messenger bag sits and I've been carrying around a bunch of crap with me, like my LEED AP New Construction Reference Book, swimming gear, running gear, my lunch, etc.
  
• I better make this light (I have a nice gradual downhill at the very start, but there's a stop light just one block into it)
• My goodness, you must be cold. Didn't you read the weather on your iPhone this morning like I did? Get some pants!
  
• Crap. I have a lot of stuff to do today.
• My calf effing hurts (I got a ginormous cramp yesterday while at the pool. G$ was over and helped me work it out, but even my physical therapist said I needed to take the day off because it was so bad and *still* cramped this afternoon)
• Will I ever make this light (Market at Hyde/Grove)? I don't think I've ever made this light.
• Thank you tour bus, for hanging out in my bike lane. I'm going to just hope the cars thank me for jumping over into their lane. Oh wait, they don't.
  
• Ahhhh, the smell of oatmeal in the morning. I love that industrial oatmeal smell. I used to love the oatmeal in the dorm at college. My current breakfast, various mixed grains - quinoa, pearl barley & bulgur - isn't quite the same.
  
• Just another block down, I pass the John Mitchell Salon School. I don't smell it, but I imagine that I'm smelling hairspray.
• Seriously dude, why did you just get in front of me?
• Will I ever ride up this hill fast enough to get that light? Do I care?
  
• I hope I have my badge.
• My back hurts. Stupid book.
• I'm hungry.
  

On the way home.

• Dude. My calf is busted.
  
• That was a bad-ass move. You've got to be careful. This badassery is going to get you in trouble. Maybe you should start mixing up your routes sometimes to keep on your toes.
  
• Thanks mail truck! You blocked the traffic lane instead of my lane. Way to keep me safe!
• Since when do homeless looking dudes smell like Ambercrombie & Fitch cologne?
• I dated a guy who wore A&F cologne. I loved it. It was a long distance relationship and he gave me one of his nearly empty bottles. Ahhh, romance.
  
• Ahhh, the smell of Subway. Mediocre sandwiches, but I love the smell of the freshly baked breads.
• Ew. Pee smell.
  
• I'm so happy they repaved this stretch of Howard. Then I turned... Oh, back to bumps again.
• Girl, get a helmet. Mine is awesome.
• Why on earth are you trying to start ahead of me AGAIN? Did I not JUST pass you after the last intersection that you and your wobbly, no-helmet self tried that sh!t?
• I need to finish up the answer key for my finance class (I'm a TA), study for LEED, do my laundry and cook some of the veggies I got in my CSA.
  
• Oh honey. You and your skinny legs are not starting this again. I am going to run your ass over if you do not get out of my way.
• I need to practice putting my right foot down. I always unclip (on my road and mountain bikes, I'm not clipped in on my commuter) my left foot. This seems like a good way to get some ambidexterity.
• Dude, my calf hurts. This hill sucks.
  

Cars. Sometimes nice.

Bike commuting in the rain isn't great. It's kind of scary in the dark and, well, wet. Fenders, a rain jacket and rain pants keep me fairly dry though and it's still generally faster than the bus.

However, tonight I rode my bike to track... to run in the rain. I think my fingers and toes are still thawing out.

Needless to say, I was really happy to get a ride home in a dry car.

(Also nice to hang out more with CP.)

Ultimate bike lane coolness

From Treehugger.

So yeah, it's been a while since I've posted... and all I give you is this picture. Happy 2009 folks. It's going to be a good year.