Disappointment is a funny thing. I wasn’t sure when I got up this morning whether I was going to ride my bike or walk to the train. I hate to admit it but I don’t always like doing a riding commute. Walking to the train is just so simple, and fairly calm and stress-free. If […]
Category Archives: Transportation Alternatives
Sensible advice on visibility
I’ve complained before (though perhaps not on this blog) about the advice given to cyclists to “ride as if you’re invisible”, because it just doesn’t make any sense. If you assume no one sees you, you can’t ride with traffic at all. Finally, a piece of cycling instructional material backs me up: People will often […]
Nashbar wins again
I’m guessing the crappy knicker thing with Nashbar was just a fluke, because I ordered some more stuff from them recently and it came today and everything looks great. The Cateye magnet works fine with the Cannondale computer I mysteriously either lost the magnet for or which was defectively packaged with no magnet. I also […]
101 in 1001 #49: Bike advocacy volunteering: BTWD 2008
So Thursday was Bike to Work Day, for which I was determined to do something more than just biking to work. After all, every day is already bike to work day in that sense. So I decided to volunteer to help out as an Outreach Host for SVBC at an Energizer Station, to provide information […]
I’m a self-propelled person!
I picked up a copy of Momentum magazine (“The magazine for self-propelled people”) out of a box they brought us at Maker Faire to take to SFBC. It turns out it’s an awesome magazine, and it’s incredibly cool that the ads are all for things I might actually want, or want to know about — […]
511 is strange sometimes
I sometimes don’t understand 511. Or rather, I understand, but I just disagree. There are three trips that I looked at for getting where I was going tonight. The one I actually wanted was the third one. The other two are marginally shorter (by 2-3 minutes) and in one case quite a bit more complicated, […]
I just LOVE cargo bikes!
Here’s some awesome stuff I’ve been checking out: Bakfietsen How can you not love something named Bakfietsen?! Okay, they’re stupidly expensive, but you could still buy four of them for the price of a car, and with a rain tent for your cargo and enough room for three kids and groceries, why would you need […]
Caltrain bike tips
Courtesy the brilliant minds on the SVBC listserv and especially Margaret Okuzumi, ED of the Bay Rail Alliance and a very nice and friendly person: Caltrain Bike Tips Caltrain will tell you the bike rules, but those of us who use it every day will tell you how to do better than the rules and […]
Why I bother
Michael Pollan has an article in the New York Times magazine this week called “Why bother?” It’s essentially a long apology (in the old rhetorical sense) for personal action, personal virtue, in the cause of reducing our carbon emissions. One of the last entries I wrote in my old journal before I switched over was […]
Accepting peak restrictions
I was looking at a Netflix flier on M’s floor this morning and remarked “Funny they say that the plans start at 4.99 per month when the 4.99 plan really isn’t all that useful.” Then I thought, well, the 4.99 plan is 1 movie at a time, 2 per month. How often do I really […]