Tracks installed on new coaster
Your fishing photos
Your vacation photos
Happy Earth Day!
Happy Earth Day!
Today is the 38th annual celebration of the planet we call home, and a day to step back and think about things we can do to preserve and restore our natural resources…
So that’s the official line on Earth Day, but I want to know: what do YOU think about Earth Day?
Is it a time to reflect on accomplishments?
A time to call for more action?
Or something in-between?
Send a post, let us know, then go outside and do something good for the planet.
Home > Blogs > Living Green > Archives > 2008 > May > 17 > Entry
Get your bike on, part III
Lots of good stuff to cover today.
First, my car continues to sit unused. I will admit that my wife and I drove to dinner and the Beer Barons festival at Muhlhauser Barn last night, but that was partly a safety issue - the roads to get from home to where we went are not well suited for novice cyclists, such as my wife. In the interest of dinner with a lovely woman, I caved and rode shotgun (at least we were ride-sharing, in a sense).
I was back on the bike today, though, for a couple of photo stops. First on the list was the West Chester Farmer’s Market. They’re open Saturdays till October, and it was a good turnout. I’ll dig more into local eating later this week, but go to the gallery at pulsejournal.com to see what it was like.
I also stopped by a big Boy Scout event at VOA Park. Read more about it at my West Chester news and issues blog. It’s inspiring to see the kids having fun without requiring a bunch of electronic diversions - there is hope for our youth.
Overall, going bike-only has been great. It cuts way down on my work-out time, and I’m able to make local appointments without out too much hassle.
Some of you have written in with questions about bike commuting, and I wanted to respond to one in particular, sent the other day:
“I’d love to bike to work, but I work second shift and usually don’t go home until 1:30 or 2:00 a.m. Not just that, but if I were to ride to and from work I would have to contend with the big big big hill on SR 48 through Oakwood. Going down? Fine. Going up? Not so much. Suggestions?”
First off, the hills. The beauty of a bike is that the more you ride, the flatter the hills become. You become more adept at hitting the right gear combination for each part of the hill, and you get stronger in a hurry. Give the commute a couple of weeks before you write off a hill as too steep. Odds are, you’ll flatten it in no time.
As far as night riding goes, it’s certainly possible and I have seen a good number of commuters in the dark around West Chester Twp. The trick is to be seen - one or two good blinking tail lights catch drivers’ eyes, and there are headlights on the market as strong as car headlights. A neat thing about biking in the dark, if you haven’t tried it, is that the slower speed means the headlight is more for others to see you than for you to see. There’s an older, but still pretty comprehensive website on night riding here that goes more in-depth about the different types of lights out there.
Hope that helps. So what other questions do people have about bike commuting? The bottom line is that more cyclists on the road mean friendlier and cleaner roads and communities, so get out the bike, and get your bike on!
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: car-free commuting
Comments
By Lee Wong
May 19, 2008 8:26 AM | Link to this
On Saturday, I rode my bike to the Farmers Market in the morning & the Muhlhauser Barn in the evening. Each time, I got the front roll parking spot - free! I also witnessed the good people of West Chester walking their dogs, jogging, biking to the family events on the weekend. It was a fun and beautiful weekend indeed.