Bike To Work Tease

That guy over there at CycleSD was nice enough to create this.

Bob's 3'1" Fish

Does Bob Mercer suggest measuring the three feet between me and his 4000lbs of steel and glass with a 3'1" fish?

Thanks Bob.

...and the company. I shant forget the company.

The third best is the reward.

The second best part is the rain isn't a factor because it's no different from splashing.

The best part of riding in weather like this is the high percentage of motorists that stay home.

Where DOES The Time Go?

Is this thing still on?

I haven't yet made summary of my MinusCar performance for 2009 - so I've got no empirical evidence of improvement. I think my car miles decreased again but I'm not sure. I DO know that last year I purchased my first tank of gas on January 26. This year I'll likely be a day or in arrears of that pace.

Lots of snow. Lots of snow and rain. A little extra driving to enjoy the snow on skis and snowshoes is putting me a tad off pace.

--

In other noise - the top three MinusCar Project efforts at this very moment are...

I'm on the schedule to teach the League of American Bicyclists Traffic Skills 101 through the school districts Community Education program. This is probably the most important development for me personally.

State Senator Jerstad introduced 3ft Please legislation this week. The MinusCar Project is mostly ambivalent about asking for additional legislation. It's important for lots of cyclists though - it's a movement that's sweeping the nation, so I'll be supporting the effort by helping the South Dakota Bicycle Coalition.

South Dakota law already says "The driver of any vehicle overtaking another vehicle proceeding in the same direction shall pass at a safe distance to the left thereof." 3ft Legislation gives an objective distance - which is necessary given the number of people surrounded by 4,000lbs of glass and metal that don't know what a "safe distance to the left thereof" is.

Falls Area Singletrack's efforts to bring off-road biking into the city continues to progress. A meeting tomorrow with the land manager (City Parks) will lead to another meeting will lead to another meeting.

Meanwhile Articles of Incorporation are being signed, bylaws are being drafted, the checkbook ended up in my hands after a meetup at Monk's this evening. Yep, evidence people still trust me with their money. We're planning the trailbuilding kickoff and the approach to the summer's trailbuilding activities. Snakebite's riding herd on this project - we're calling him President Snakebite now.

Finally, Bike To Work Day is the third Friday in May. It's a late start for planning but we're in our third year of putting on essentially the same event. I THINK things will fall into place. If not, there's still going to be free pancakes. There will also be an increased presence of the Snakebite's Bike To Work Challenge. The MinusCar Project will be offering assistance.

It's not an accident that there's four things on my top three list.

I Have Transportation Issues

Today as I waited for SAM (formerly Sioux Falls Transit) surrounded by beautiful falling snow lit by the red taillights by passing motorists a dear woman stopped on the road behind me and inquired if I'd like a ride to school. How surprised she would have been to find this snow covered old man sitting in her passenger seat.

I declined.

The snow continued for most of the day again turning me into the snowman checking in for his workout session. I assured the desk folks that I do occasionally find a way to exercise outside…which somewhat alarmingly isn’t free. It takes taxes or special permission, or both.

Later in the day I was informed repairs were complete on The MinusCar. After another decent walk through much less falling snow, I was sitting in the driver’s seat of a running car. It had been a few days since I’d last handled a steering wheel.

On the way home I stopped long enough at Best Buy for The MinusCar to break again.

So there I was. Without a car. Stranded. Just the way I like it.

I wandered west on 41st Street and found Señor Wiener. I stopped and enjoyed a chili dog and some innuendo from Sioux Falls premier weiner specialists.

I wandered west some more and decided to check for Adbusters Magazine at Barnes & Noble. Sold out. I browsed for a moment and realized the book I wanted to read was in my pocket so I filled The MinusCup with some chai and read…

…until The Family caught up to me and we went home to shovelling.

The end.

SNSNYDR 2010

After the Spoke-n-Sport New Year's Day Ride everybody's on pace for a 5,000 mile year.



Let's go!

MinusCar TV: Good Neighbor Edition

Sometime last February my TV stopped working. I may have missed a memo but whatever. There's plenty of good material on the intertubes.

This week I found myself in an e-mail conversation making the case that the effort I and others are putting into Falls Area Singletrack (FAST) satisfies James Howard Kunstler’s requirement that we make ourselves “useful to [our] neighbors and fellow citizens.”

A remarkable theme emerged for me over the next few days.

In his superb TED Talk Kunstler says, "Life in the mid 21st century is going to be about living locally. Be prepared to be good neighbors." It’s his final point. Watch the whole talk at the TED website.

Later in the week Krista Tippett talked with Bill McKibben on her Speaking of Faith program. He’s "founder of 350.org, a global climate campaign named after what scientists deem the safe level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, 350 parts per million."

Krista says he’s written, "Research has shown that when we live on car-filled streets our number of close friends drops by half. We eat half the meals we used to with friends, family, neighbors...The big question for this century may turn out to be how fast we can relearn the skill of neighborliness."

Finally the Sanctuary For Independent Media has released this video of Reverend Billy and The Stop Shopping Gospel Choir. In “Beatitudes of Buylessness” he finishes off the song with “Blessed are you who disturb the customer. You just might be loving your neighbor.”



So Merry Christmas! I celebrated numerous times this week the birth of the man who got killed for saying crazy things like “The second greatest commandment in the bible is to love your neighbor as yourself.” What was true 2000 years ago is confirmed by many of my favorite people today.

Happy Birthday Baby Jesus.

Wardrobe Malfunction & Mouth Run-On

This evening as I prepared my wardrobe for the ride home I found myself facing a zipper problem. The Fox Stormfront jacket that I celebrated in this blog post from January 2006 had developed a faulty zipper.

This was critical. I was desperate for time and facing the necessity of riding home in mid-teen temperatures with an unzipped jacket. Luckily a second zipper pull on the jacket saved me.

Now I'm looking with suspicion on my other single zipper pull jackets. I don't know if I'll be able to trust again.

---

I stood and spoke favorably to the City Council tonight about the Shape Sioux Falls 2035 Comprehensive Plan. There are verified reports that Mr. Bite did as well but he availed himself an earlier opportunity. I did not see him nor hear his words.

I find myself contemplating the replacement of TV with real tangible experiences – and I consider that I might be on to something. In front of me was the mayor whom I'd handed a LAB Bicycle Friendly Community award to a couple months ago. To my left was councilor Kenny Anderson whom I'd last seen (and mostly first seen) less than a week ago inside the Kenny Anderson Community Center. We were presenting the FAST/Leaders Park plan to some of his constituents.

I was highlighting some of my favorite bits of the plan and got to corridors. In an attempt to demonstrate the importance of planning corridors I suggested one need only watch a group of teenage girls try to walk from the Empire Mall to the Empire East Mall to realize corridors need attention.

I relinquished the podium. The next man to speak identified himself with his name, his address, and his high level position at the Empire Mall - "thank you very much” – which received a fair amount of laughter.

I stand by my statement.

Footprints In A Contest!

I've entered my popular and very special "Footprints" photo in the Alliance For Biking and Walking's People Powered Movment Photo Contest.

I wouldn't mind at all if readers visited the photo and gave it a vote or two.

Furthermore I wouldn't mind at all if you spread the word, event a little.

For my Footprints story read the post here.

Thanks.

Carbon Lite? Go Outside.

Saturday morning I got up bright and early and headed off to lead the regularly scheduled FAB Coffee & Donut Ride. I arrived at the rendevous to find four hearty souls waiting in the 26-degree temps.

A guest! We were pleased to have Tom from Minneapolis join us for the ride. It didn't take long to learn he volunteers for Transit for Livable Communities, one of my favorite organizations, and he knows some of my (heros?) favorite people.

We headed off to Dunn Brothers - and I managed 27 miles for the morning.

In the afternoon The Family headed to the Outdoor Campus. We explored the place for a few hours. I took some pictures of the wildlife along the way.

I failed to take a picture of the snake we found warming in the sun. Snakes. November. The Boy 7 and The Wife saw a deer - I didn't get a photo of that either.

I did get a tree sloth.



There was a kid who's not necessarily soft spoken but he still had a big stick .



We found these ducks.



This one appeared to be Alpha.



Finally, it was clear that we'd overstayed our welcome.



We wandered some more and found a bird named Woody...



...and a tree that could hold everybody up.



Finally it was getting late...



...so we headed home.

Wandering around the city. Left the car behind a while ago. Haircuts, Caribou (we got in trouble for beverages on the bus - a risk I knowingly took), couldn't quite grasp the 10th & Phillips demonstration as we passed on the bus. They were gone when we were able to make our way back. I assume PETA. Finally the Visual Arts Center - Scott Ehrisman's got a piece it kinda like - and Roller Dollz photos too.

Good times exploring.

091123 Transportation Donut

Some weeks it just all comes together...



A bit of a big week in MinusCarLandia. There a few pots on the stove. I'm almost to busy too drive - and that's reflected in the donut!

My favorite meeting this last week was the CAC of the MPO at SECOG. There was lots of discussion about what it means to have received the Bicycle Friendly Community award. Lots of people are pretty happy about it. I didn't hear a bit of cynicism. When traffic engineers are happy about bikes, I'm happy about bikes.

At that meeting an engineer explained how it was that for many years traffic engineers have gnashed their teeth and asked the question - what would happen if the sensitivity of vehicle sensors was increased to detect bikes. Would it mess up traffic?

Our fresh young engineer turned all that upside down by going out and increasing the sensitivity of some of the vehicle sensors.

That story brought a lot of laughter into the room. If you can't laugh at yourselves who can you laugh at, eh?

--

The other big things are the No Impact Man movie and the Falls Area Singletrack project. There's probably a post or two about those nearby.

Playing In The Dirt

After more than a year The Falls Area Singletrack (FAST) project at Leaders Park is just about out of the incubator. The City's Parks Board approved our proposal and agreed to let it go to the neighborhood for public input.



The Parks Department has a website for the project as well.

Yesterday FAST held an informational meeting for interested people. I had my usual "what if you throw a party and nobody comes?" anxiety and the bike community showed up with five times my minimum expectation.

That Snakebitten fellow and I worked the agenda. There was plenty of participation by attendees and I feel like we're ready to respond to most any question we might get.

No Impact Man: The Movie Part III - It's Happening

There I was, minding my own business and this poster arrived.



It's a free movie! About The No Impact Man.

Please come.

If you're Facebook inclined the event page is here.

No Impact Man: The Movie Part II

The other day on the way to work I stopped off for a warm cup of joe. That's not the only Joe I found, the director of The Sioux Falls Green Project was in there.

We chatted. I'm all like, "MinusCar Project."

He's all like "Sioux Falls Green Project."

I'm all like "No Impact Project (the movie)."

He's all like, "hmmmm..."

(parts of this post may be fictionalized for a poor attempt at enhanced drama. can you feel it? the drama?)

(i totally want to be clear, Joe doesn't at all sound like this when he talks. i on the other hand, as far as you know, do.)

091116 Transportation Donut

The ratio of bike to single occupant vehicle looks good. The multi-occupant miles are very high due to a trip to Mitchell for a meeting about the South Dakota Bicycle Coalition.

The high cost of state level advocacy, darn. The meeting was good though. We know what we're doing for the next 9-ish months.

No Impact Man: The Movie

I noticed the No Impact Man movie is out and about. I was thinking the other day how nice it would be if it showed in Sioux Falls. Colin Beavan has been blogging his journey for a long time and often puts words down that resonate VERY well with me.

What's not to like - it's the No Impact Project. No Impact Project, MinusCar Project - like peanut butter and chocolate, no?

So I was just thinking how nice it would be if it showed in Sioux Falls.

Here's the trailer. Watch it. Even it's good.



Yeah, I like the No Impact Man and the No Impact Project.