Report: May 14-27

I forgot to do this last week so I’m combining two weeks.

Trips -
MinusCar: 18
Multi-occupant Auto: 11
Single occupant Auto: 5
Destinations: 57

A couple of these trips are to my new favorite coffee shop – Dunn Brothers Coffee. The ride is a nice way to get 30 miles in and reacquaint myself with parts of the city. They are displaying local cartoonist art for May.

My Car Miles: 55
My Bike Miles: 147

While You Were Away

I was absent from work last Friday. Turns out my employer got into the spirit of Bike to Work Day with out me. They installed a bike rack. A MinusCar reading co-worker complained about the loss of a premium parking spot.



It's ok. This weekend he's coming over to till my garden and rid me of my sod. The Wife and I ripped up this sod together with a spade. It was painful yet fun.



That same day I planted four Roma Tomato plants in pots. Three survived transplant.

Finally, here's my favorite picture that I took from Bike To Work Day. It's the final stop of the pub crawl.

20 Hours Of Bike To Work Day (my recap)

Here are my recollections of how our local Bike To Work Day went down.

I must begin with a confession. I didn’t bike to work on Bike To Work Day. I took the day off from work. My day began at 4:30am as I rolled out my driveway followed closely by my Bob Trailer loaded with water, money, a change of clothes, a laptop, a book and my Bike To Work Day organizational folder. I was ready to be self contained for a long time.

I rode the six lane main road into downtown – pretty much had it to myself – and arrived in the pre-dawn shadow of Naked David to the sights and sounds of heavy preparation. It was a beautiful sight to see so much activity so early in the morning.

By 8am we estimate close to 200 people had ridden their bikes through, enjoyed some coffee and bagels, listened to some live music or talked to some vendors, and headed off to work. It was a very good, very hopping morning. I picked up a gift pack from My LBS which included a logo adorned bike bell. IT is now adorned with the bell.

Between events we replaced a faulty generator. It quit working as the morning band was finishing up. United Rental did a nice job with setting things right. We enjoyed multiple conversations amongst the committee while we made sure to keep people’s goods from blowing into the flood stage river. We also stood by while a dad pulled his drowning 2-year-old out of the river. Apparently the wind got the best of the little one. Thankfullly the river didn't.

At the end of the work day, as people were departing the office the Toby Kane Band launched their first set. Five or six brother/sister unicyclists strutted their stuff while a local artist created caricatures for all comers. Numbers for the evening event were less than the morning (and less than expected) but I got to enjoy the sounds of my favorite local band – so I was fine.

After some hasty clean up we headed out on the abbreviated two bar pub crawl, then as the sun set, I joined the FAB Starlight Ride. I logged 40 miles for the day, rolled into my garage after midnight, washed a days worth of hard work and bike ride off and crawled in to bed.

Perfect.

Report: May 7 - 13

Did you participate in the gas boycott on Tuesday? I did too. Well, actually my current gas boycott is 39 days. It doesn’t matter that you didn’t buy gas on Tuesday because you topped off on Monday or filled up before you ran out today. Want to drive down demand? Comsume less. Want to really drive down demand? Comsume less - of everything.

Ride a bike.

Trips -
MinusCar: 14
Multi-occupant Auto: 2
Single occupant Auto: 2
Destinations: 31

I tossed up some good numbers this week. My LBS put together my new bike. I had to drive to the big FAB member meeting. Rode the doughnut ride and met the BikingBrady blogger from Verm-town. Did he come all the way here just to ride with us? Noap. Friday night, enjoyed some downtown enchiladas in the presence of a guy named S@nford, and saw Mr. Bite heading home from a Friday night ride. The Mom was more thrilled with the Snakebite spotting than The S@nford.

My Car Miles: 29
My Bike Miles: 87

Bike To Work day is in two days.

Go.

Report: April 30-May 6

Trips -
MinusCar: 6
Multi-occupant Auto: 8
Single occupant Auto: 8
Destinations: 26

Rain kept the week mediocre and then rain plus the need to deliver 20 Bike To Work posters around town on Saturday made the car miles go through the roof.

My Car Miles: 86
My Bike Miles: 97

I woke up Sunday morning headed 35 miles north to the in-laws to put their dock in the water. The wind was a brisk 25mph from the south. I put up the sail and coasted in to lake country to join The Family. They let me ride home with them.

There's This

I wasn’t going to blog today because I’m supposed to be answering the following questions for the SF Bu!sness J*ournal:

How long have you been involved in SF Bike to Work Day?
Why are you so supportive of biking to work?
What do you get out of it?

I'm at a loss for words. :)

I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to announce that The MinusCar Project is the #1 Google hit for “’getting laid’ in Sioux falls, sd”. I don't understand why everybody thinks Snakebite is the naughty one.

I noticed my favorite South Dakota energy company has announced the Home Suite Home contest. “NorthWestern Energy will improve the energy efficiency in three customers’ homes by awarding them with a new appliance suite and energy improvement measures, such as compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs)… Winners will be chosen based upon the essay they submit which explains why they think their home should be chosen.” They do nice work over there.

Wednesday night is cleaning night at the MinusCar household. During supper The Wife said she needed groceries…and why don’t you give yourself a little bike ride and go get them for me. Yeah that’s right; I traded housecleaning for a bike ride.

I attached the Bob trailer to the IF bike (oh how I’ve missed a bike that I could say that about), loaded up the Banjo Brother’s Commuter Backpack with some ice packs for the cold items and off I went for the six mile round trip. I bought eggs. None of them broke.

The FAB kickoff was last night. Yes, some people joined. I’m just happy to have one of the May big bike bashes behind me. Here's a photo of people that may or may not have been in attendance.



If you look closely you can see an idiot in a MinusCar t-shirt.

"It" Is Naked

"It" is alot like the MinusCar messenger bag.



It took about 30 minutes to get that bike stand wrapped just right for the photo.

Blow the photo up to see top secret information about The Owner's plans for the year. Including Monday's Tour de Kota sign up party.

More "It"

I wonder how far into the loan process it would take them to realize I'm the motor of the bike. I wonder if the process would end then.



(close)

Two Weeks To B2W

The final Sioux Falls Bike to Work Day poster is complete. Special thanks to The Planner and The City for five(?) years of beautiful media for Bike to Work Day. You've outdone yourselves this year.



See a bigger JPG. Download a PDF.
Visit the official website www.bikesiouxfalls.org

I (heart) Vanity Plates

Here's an article from Rapid City about South Dakota's attempt to recall a woman's vanity plates. Seems "MPEACHW" generated a complaint which prompted the state to action.

This is all it takes to put an end to vanity plates? I feel sorry for the next vanity plate that issues a drive by suggestion to me.

So much gets said about the DMV, I think they've summed themselves up nicely, "I don’t think we ever would have issued it if we’d have picked up on what it was inferring.”

Yes, the lady really likes peaches. Send her the plates.

The Rain Was Supposed To Arrive Tomorrow

I cut out of work early today to run some errands. The skies were promising rain and 45 minutes into my two hour outing the promise was fulfilled. I met the FAB President at the bank to arrange for her to sign the check book. Woo hoo, FAB can spend money now! Then I cruised downtown to drop a check for The Planner for the Bike to Work Day sound permit. Yes, we will be rocking the downtown morning and evening on May 18. From there I rode the long way home. I got wet, but I also got 23 miles. I noticed The Dad rode to work today too. I hope he was ok with the rain.

The Planner says a section of the local bike trail will be closed starting Monday through September. He just found out about it today. The section is quite well used; it will affect a lot of people. There is no suitable immediate detour, although he did hint at some underground (think drainage ways) detours that could be in place in a few weeks. The press release for the closure is...follow that link. I wonder if people will decide to just hang up their bikes for the summer. I think it’s a prime occasion to reintroduce people to the art of city roads.

Somewhere along the way, as close to the middle of nowhere as anywhere, I came upon a child walking her Roadmaster. She said her chain keeps falling off. What I found was catastrophic failure of the bottom bracket. I’m sure it will appear in a local shop shortly, “can you fix this?” Disposable bikes – put ‘em in the landfill - there ought’r be a law cause there’s no fixing that. The girl had a long way to walk too.

I noticed the Life Bikin’ blog is calling on me to show some pictures of "it". I have this.

Report: April 23-29

Trips -
MinusCar: 8
Multi-occupant Auto: 4
Single occupant Auto: 4
Destinations: 26

My Car Miles: 41
My Bike Miles: 67

Just A Couple Things

Well...as expected all my favorite people are headed off to read my defense of Al Gore. Hope you all liked it.

It was so hot today I got my rollers out and rode indoors (maybe).

If you're nice I'll tell you about my perfect Saturday morning sometime.

The City of Sioux Falls has the Sioux Falls Bike to Work Day PSA is in the can and bootlegged on the Club FAB website. Yeah that's right, FAB scooped the official Bike to Work site. In the video you might see The Dad, The Owner, Snakebite and one of The Iconoclasts. Oh yeah, and reportedly the bike cops just happened by during filming and were persuaded to participate. I think their enthusiasm is evident.

Go.

The Non-Post Post

UPDATE: the defense can be found here.

---

Sorry. No post today. I just left a 500 word comment on someone elses blog. It's a defense of Al Gore. It's ok though, in conclusion I say that I think he's wrong.

I only did it because I like the blog and the blogger.

Maybe the blogger will give me permission to link to it.

:)

Good night.

Report: April 16-22

It's been a long time since I've given a report. I see these as important because I want to avoid misrepresenting how much I use (or don't use) my car.

January 8-14 was the last time I reported. January I was very busy with other blogging topics and the weather kept my numbers sufficiently bad. I took February off from blogging. March, April - did these months happen already?

See. I better bring back the reporting.

Trips -
MinusCar: 12
Multi-occupant Auto: 3
Single occupant Auto: 2
Destinations: 25

Of course, having a good week makes a guy want to be honest too. :)

My Car Miles: 17
My Bike Miles: 89

The next report is already going to be worse.

Local Daily Gets FAB

The local daily ran a little feature about local bike clubs today. There's a rumor going around that Mr. Bite is quoted. I've read the article a couple times and I don't see mention of Snakebite anywhere.

The club's name is Falls Area Bicyclists - www.clubfab.org

I might be a board member. Mr. Bite might be a board member. The Owner might be a financial contributor. With Bike to Work day the 18th and FAB open house on the 8th, this might be why our combined blogging is less than spectacular. Well, less spectacular than usual. (The Cycling in South Dakota blogger is on the board as well.)

FAB even has a Coffee & Doughnut Ride.

Earth Day/Sun Day

I noticed Google is displaying an iceberg (maybe it's a glacier?) which reminds me that it must be Earth Day. Some of my conservative friends will think that I’ve been gearing up for this day for a long time. I prefer to think of it as a Sabbath day; a day of consuming and producing as little as I possibly can.

As I was opening this week’s set of bills and solicitations I noticed the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) is attempting to cash in on Earth Day and Climate Change. Seems they think bicycling is a helpful way to mitigate global warming. I agree. Tom DeWeese was right, there’s a lot of money to be gotten off this climate thing! Maybe I’ll send them both a little something…’cause there’s a lot of money to be gotten off this climate thing.



Over the past few days I’ve been running into sustainability and green ideas in unusual or new (and welcome) places. LAB’s solicitation is, to my knowledge, the first time they’ve talked global warming. At investment club the two annual reports I reviewed contained surprises.

The first was Duke Energy. The cover features a random and thoughtful face next to the words, “Changing minds. Changing habits.” I should mention that Duke Energy is my second favorite energy company. I wrote about it once before. Inside the annual report I found these words:

“…the most environmentally sound, inexpensive and reliable kilowatt hour is the one we don’t have to produce. Generating “save a watts” is just one part of the equation that requires our customers to change how they use electricity…"

Is that a call to personal responsibility?

The second report was from Corporate Office Properties Trust. They were touting their LEEDS Certified buildings and made the statement that green, sustainable buildings are the future.

The future is now.

I learned a little about LEEDS Certification this week. I was inviting the Museum of Visual Materials to join the Bike to Work Celebration. When they open in June they will have a shower available for people who commute to downtown by bicycle. I understood the building was going to be LEEDS certified so I asked my contact there about it.

“In addition to the shower, we have several other green qualities including soy-based insulation, flooring made from bamboo and cork, birch and quartzite from Minnesota (supplies from less than 500 miles cut down on transportation costs and support the local economy) diverted rain water to irrigate the landscaping, photo voltaic panels (solar power), cabinetry made with wheat…the list goes on. We’ll have a complete green/LEED tour available after we open.“

I wonder how my wheat allergic The Boy 5 will like the cabinetry.

Enjoy. Sabbath.

Done. Next.

Perennials are done. Next up, the backyard garden.

Funny

Update 4/19 8am - I watched a bunch of Virginia Tech YouTube video this morning. This post, when placed next to those videos, becomes much less funny. Sorry about that.

But the horse - still. golden.

Someone sent me an online quiz today. By looking at a photo can you tell the difference between a programming language inventor and a serial killer? I'm a little afraid of what this says about me; I got 10 right out of 10.

http://www.malevole.com/mv/misc/killerquiz/

And then from Fat Boy Cyclist's post this video of a horse that jumps a fence and joins a peloton. Wow.

http://www.glumbert.com/media/tourdehorse

Enjoy.

Yesterday: My Lucky Day

Have I mentioned there’s a new bike club in town? It’s true. More on that to come.

This morning I rode to the neighborhood Caribou coffee for a celebratory cup of joe (decaf please). Twenty urban, bike trail free miles later and the party was over (I live in a big neighborhood). I’m celebrating because Snakebite (Mr. Bite to you) is over there talking about how busy he is and yesterday was my lucky day. It’s because Snakebite is so busy that I get to have lucky days.

As I mounted my bike at the end of a long rather pleasant week of work the Snake-phone rang. “Hey, I just want you to know that Rich Show will play for Bike to Work.” And with that statement the picture of how I would paint a Sioux Falls Bike to Work Day celebration was complete.

The money is in the bank. The details have been worked out. Tentative commitments have been made. Now it’s time to take the money out of the bank, do the media work, and let the day happen. There’s plenty of potential for failure but like Mr. Bite says, “I think we need a little chaos on that day.”

I can't write about Bike to Work Day and sound like I'm the only one who's doing it. There's a committee of 5 to 10 people who are actively trying to make the whole day work. The Owner is one. Snakebite is one. Maybe I’ll introduce the others after the day proves successful.

In a few weeks I’ll get to face my biggest fear – what if you throw a party and nobody comes? An advantage of doing what I can about global warming is I get to trade my biggest fears for things I actually can do something about.

Go.