A life without bike commuting -- the COVID-19 pandemic

-
Bike to Work Day 2018
Life off the bike feels weird. Sure, I enjoy sleeping in a bit later (when my kids let me) and spending more time with the family, but giving up bike commuting has been disruptive. I am definitely a bit softer around the middle, less focused, and missing my sunrise and sunset reflection time on the bike. My occasional mid-week mountain bike jaunts are fun, but unfortunately not often or long enough to make up from my usual routine. I've even thought about hopping on the trainer (gasp!). I look forward to seeing my usual peeps out on the route again soon. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

A growing sea of blinky red lights

-
Image
Cycling (especially the serious to semi-serious road riding bunch) definitely has noticeable fashion and gear trends. Right now it's all about bright pink and orange attire, giant mono-lens mirrored glasses, and Rapha. At least here in the Bay Area. There's one trend that I hope sticks around for good: blinking red tail lights. It used to be only for dorky commuters and night rides, but I'm pleased to see an increasing use amongst a huge range of riders. Now it's common to see a flashing light on a $10k+ rig rolling out on a clear day. Yay for safety! These things have become so bright, compact, long-lasting, and affordable that there's no reason not to have one (and use it). I bought my Portland Design Works Danger Zone Tail Light  (Retail: $30, good price: $23) more than 5 years ago . When the button stopped functioning well I emailed the company and they sent me a replacement within a couple days. I just had to show a picture that it wasn't due to ...
Read more

Riding at night

-
Image
Sunset on Mt. Hollywood Dr in Griffith Park It's September and the days are getting noticeably shorter. Those morning or late afternoon rides are now becoming less doable as darkness encroaches. Well, now might be the time to get yourself ready for night riding! Riding in the dark does not have to be a dangerous and scary experience! With some planning and proper equipment, riding at night can be just as pleasant as a daytime cruise. And you can easily extend your available riding time by starting your morning ride before the sun is up, or wrapping your afternoon ride well after sunset. I'll share my approach to night rides by looking at 3 topics: Gear Route planning Safety tips Gear When it comes to your bike, there are two absolutely essential items that you need to ride safely in the dark. First, a good tail light keeps you safe by alerting motorists to your presence and allowing them to steer clear of you. Second, a good headlights has a dual purposes o...
Read more

Trying out new ways to document safety issues on streets

-
Image
One recent Saturday I took a casual ride via the Skyline route from SF to San Mateo. This is a route I  often take during non-shelter-in-place times to make the "long commute" from Sausalito to Mountain View with SF2G . I used the opportunity to photo document some bicycle safety issues on the route (mostly debris and overgrown vegetation into the shoulder). I used rough guide: cataloging issues where more than 1/2 the shoulder is unavailable for some reason. Yikes! Overgrown vegetation + glass + high speed traffic Caltrans has jurisdiction for the roads where I  was cataloging issues. I know that they have an online submission form , but I have come across a few issues with this approach: You have input a specific geolocation for each issues, and I had over 20 issues to report There is no embedded w...
Read more