A fuel cell bicycle?

While doing some random internet searching, I came across this bike:

It almost looks like a rocket bike with those jet packs on the back. Actually, it is a hydrogen fuel cell bicycle. Of course, I went straight for the snark. Why would someone spend $3000 on a bike that would do the work for them? I mean, you can get a motorcycle that might have a little more speed for that much money.

Then I got to thinking. There had to be a real reason for producing a fuel cell bicycle. So I checked out the company, Horizon Fuel Cell Technology.

My snark was replaced with, "Gee-whiz, that is a good idea."

The idea behind this bicycle is that bicycles are needed to prevent congestion in major cities. Building a fuel cell car does nothing to address the problem of congestion. Another issue with the car is the amount of money and effort that goes into building one. The company believes that spending their resources on many bicycles rather than one car is a better bet. They even have a fancy picture that makes their point.




Interesting concept. I am curious to see how this plays out.

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2008 - A review

The original purpose of this blog was to highlight my utilitarian trips by bicycle. I have always enjoying bicycling, but I did it more as a sport or pleasure. It was occasionally a mode of transportation. If it was a really nice day or my car broke down, there was always the bike.

In 2008, I changed that. I looked at my bike as the first vechicle and my car became what I used when I could not use the bike. The only thing I miss about driving is listening to the radio at ungodly loud volumes.

I really began slowly. It was a trip to the grocery store or church. Then I would try school every once in a while. Eventually, I began riding to school every day. There were times in 2008 that my car sat in the driveway for more than two weeks.

By the end of 2008, I had ridden a hair more than 3000 commuting miles. (I did not count pleasure rides.) That is more than 1000 more miles than my original goal. To put that into some sort of perspective, I put roughly 6000 miles on my car during 2008.

There are a number of things that I learned throughout the year...

• Those white lines that are painted on the road to tell the cars where to stop get very slippery in rain.
• There is nothing better than riding in a snowstorm.
• Riding with kids is awesome.
  
• There is an art to dressing for the rain. I have tried more than once to create a post about it, but I have a hard time putting it into words.
• After a while, the cars really do begin to get used to you being on the road.
• The worst thing about doing a blog is the guilty feeling about not updating it.
• The second worst thing the shamelessly promoting it.
• I really need to take better care of my bike chain.
• Other than my email, the only website I check every day is Yehuda Moon.
• There is a certain peacefulness to riding everyday.
• If I do not ride, I start to get crabby.
• Golf courses have a funny smell.
• Beer tastes better after a long ride.
• Beer tastes better during a long ride.
• I can carry anything I want on the Xtracycle.
• Secretly, I like it when people are amazed that I rode on a bike.
• I really need to get my backspace key fixed on my keyboard.

2009 has the potential to banner year for me. I have some great plans. I hope to share them with you all as they happen.

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A belated David Babcock update

back in July, David Babcock was shot and killed in Toledo. He was a first-time bicycle commuter. This case really bothered me because I used to ride the area he was killed. It's been almost ten years since I have moved from Toledo, but I still recognize the area as if I had never left.

I would even ride the area at the same time as him. To imagine someone killing another person for no real reason is mind boggling. The story was that Dounche Jones was attempting to rob Babcock, but he resisted. So Jones shot him in the face. Nothing was stolen.

Jones was caught because he was overheard bragging about the murder to his friends. Two separate people heard this and went to the police. There is plenty of hope for people doing the right thing.

During a three-day trial at the start of the month, these two gentlemen and seventeen other witnesses presented their case to a jury in Toledo. It took two hours for the jury to return a guilty verdict. Having served on a few juries, the case has to be pretty open and shut to return a verdict in two hours.

A few days later, 20-year-old Dounche Jones was sentenced to life in prison with a chance of parole after 18 years.

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Stay at home week

The latest attempt to save gas is coming from ABC. Conserve gas by staying at home during the week of the 21st. In a very altruistic move, ABC has decided to help our pocketbooks and the environment at the same time.
Thanks ABC. Only two-thirds of Americans are overweight. With your help, we can get that to 100 percent.

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When did it become us vs. them?

While searching Google News for something interesting to read, I came across an article from Fort Collins, Colorado. They have installed bike friendly sensors at their stop lights. My first thought was to post a "we need this in Columbus" type of post. After all, I can wait to turn left at the light at Kenny and Treemont every day. I'll admit it, I typically run that red light because it does not know I am there.

When I read the article, I was not expecting the negative comments. I expect them whenever a bicyclist complains about drivers. "We'll respect bikes as soon as the follow the rules of the road." Yeah, we have all heard it. There is nothing new there. I expect the negative comments whenever a cyclist is injured (or killed) by a car. "Roads are for cars. Take your toys on the sidewalk."

Cyclists respond in the familiar way. We say, "Laws are on our side," or "You can easily kill us with a single mistake." This argument is played out whenever the word "bicycle" finds its way into any article.

It's the same argument over and over. I grew tired of it a while back and excused myself from all discussions. To be frank, I have no idea why the negative comments in the article caught me off guard.

Why does it have to be this way?

Last weekend I was stopped at a stoplight in a small town. A guy in a pick-up truck pulled up next to me and said, "Pedal your ass right out of town city boy."

A few weeks ago, a guy in a dump truck told me, "I could run you over and never notice."

What encourages people make comments like that to a complete stranger?

A while back, I was passed with inches to spare. Then, the same driver stopped for a group of geese in the road. The driver waited until all geese were out of the road before passing.

Why do geese get more courtesy than a human being?

Why does it have to be us vs. them?

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Back to school

The past couple of weeks have been a mix of vacation and getting reading for the new school year.  In the downtime, I have been writing a little bit, but I keep finding myself side tracked after a while.  That happens when there is a bunch of stuff to do.

Bike Commuters has a great post about getting off your duff and walking/biking to school.  These types of plea often result in someone saying that children can walk/bike to school because of a busy road.  When I was in middle school, I rode a bus because the only way to get to school was to go down a state route.  

As most middle schoolers do, I ended up getting a detention.  I think it was for throwing paper in the classroom, but that really is not that important.  When I was dismissed from the detention, I grabbed my stuff and began to walk out the door.  Ms. G., the teacher, stopped me and asked me where I was going.  I told her that my dad was making me walk home as a punishment.  Ms. G. was shocked that someone could be so mean as to make a middle school kid walk home. Ms. G. got on the telephone with my dad and said told him to pick me up.  She told him how dangerous it was to have me walking.  

My dad lost the debate with Ms. G.  He would have to pick me up.  I was conflicted.  I was getting out of having to walk home, but my dad was the master of creative punishments.  

When my dad showed up, I opened the door to hop in his truck.  He looked at me and asked, "What are you doing?"  I stared for a second.  He continued, "You punishment is that you have to walk home, get walking."  He turned to Ms. G. and promised to keep me safe.  

I walked the  four miles to my house that day.  My dad drove behind me the entire way.  

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Junk Raft

I found the Junk Raft website about a week or two ago in the Discover Magazine blog. It's taken me a while to read the entire thing, but I found it to be both fascinating and disgusting at the same time.

In order to raise awareness of the problem of plastics in the ocean, they are sailing to Hawaii on a raft made of junk plastic.

Probably the most disturbing thing I saw was this picture:

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Night riding

If you have read this blog for a while, you already know that I love riding in the dark.  (If you have not been reading, I also love riding in the snow and the rain.)  Last night was another one of the great rides.  It's not a major ride.  It's only about 13 miles.  I can easily go out and be home in less than an hour.  I love this ride because it takes me to an area that makes me forget that I live so close to a major city.

I am riding down a road with very little car traffic.  It's pretty safe to turn off my lights and enjoy the darkness.  It takes a few seconds, but my eyes adjust.  The glow from Columbus is enough to help me see.  To the left and to the right are corn fields.  The corn is easily eight or nine feet tall.  In the darkness, I feel like it is a corn tunnel.  Fire flies are flashing all over the place.

It's pretty dark, but the sun has not completely set.  There is still an orange glow to the west.  I pulled off the road and sat on the edge of one of the corn fields.  I watched the orange turn more orange and darker until it became completely dark.

Now that the sun has set, it is time to head home.  I'm only two miles from home, but I am still far from everything.  I still don't turn on my lights.  The night does not need to be invaded.  Soon enough I will hear the hear the cars and see the lights, but for now I can enjoy being alone in the dark.

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Cartoons

This is what happens when I get lazy. Cartoons with no comments from me. I'll let someone else do the work for me.

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A.T.'s Tree

My trip to school takes me past three golf courses. Here's a view of one of them. This is a private golf course that I assume costs a lot of money to be a member.

I find it odd that this golf course almost never has anyone playing on it. You can be sure if I spent a whole bunch of money on anything, I would use it as much as possible. I look at it and it is simply beautiful. Even so, I take the opinion of Bill Foster in Falling Down.

It's not enough you have all these beautiful acres fenced in for your little game, but you gotta kill me with a golf ball? You should have children playing here, you should have families having picnics, you should have a goddamn petting zoo. But instead you've got these stupid electric carts for you old men with nothing better to do.


As I ride by, I see this stump. The tree continues to try to live, so the initials are almost completely disguised. I don't know the story behind these two letters, so I made up my own.

I imagine that A.T. is some guy who hates his job. After his boss told him to cut down the tree, A.T. decided to carve his initals into the stump. It was a small act of defiance, but it made A.T. feel pretty good. Now, as he drives past the gold course, he can always say that he left his mark.

That is one one the great things about being on the bike; there is plenty of time to think.

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Today's column by Ann Fisher

For those of you who are not from Columbus, Ann writes a column for the Dispatch. Generally, I like her writing. Maybe sometime, I will give her a call and buy her a beer.

Today's column was about how people just do not know the laws regarding cycling. Should bikes be on the sidewalk? Can cyclists pass cars stopped at a red light? Do cyclists have to ride on the shoulder? It was pretty interesting because average Joe does not know the answers.

Then we read along a little further and find Upper Arlington Police Officer Heather Galli's thoughts. "Some bicyclists don't follow all the rules, but they want special treatment," she says.

Why do people use bicyclists who break the law as an example as to why cyclists need to be trained or taken off the road? Cyclists want special treatment? Nope, we just don't want to be road kill. That's all. Let me live long enough to see my children grow up. That's pretty special treatment.

How about the website that sells these windshield stickers: They are breaking the law, and wanting people to move out of their way. That's special treatment. But that is different, right? It's a car breaking the law. In that case, it is just fine.

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Good drivers

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. ~Herm Albright

I spend a great deal of time writing and thinking about the bad drivers. You know the ones... they blow through the stop sign at Walgreen's and almost hit you you despite three lights on the front of the bike. I'm not going to talk about that idiot today. Today I am going to be positive. Here is a list of some of the good drivers in Columbus.

Probably the nicest drivers I have come across has been the fleet of Majestic Drywall trucks. Their shop is on my commute to school, so I am passed by three or four trucks each morning. I have never had a problem with any of them. I'm not sure if they are so nice because my neighbor works there, or they are genuinely nice. Personally, I don't care why they are nice to me. It's just nice that they are.

Team Fishel has another set of good drivers. They do something in construction also. I'm not exactly sure what, but judging by the size of their trucks, it is something big.

Although I can point a finger at these drivers, there are an overwhelming majority of drivers who will share the road without any hesitation. Just today, a guy in a green Ford Explorer passed me. Then, he pulled off the road. I got a good look at him because I was stopped at a stop light. He waited the entire time I was stopped. As I rode past, he shouted out that I was dragging straps off the back of the Xtracycle.

A few weeks ago, I stopped for a break while I was on a trip. I found a nice shady spot and pulled off the road. Some guy in a white car stopped to see if everything was OK.

Before the Xtracycle, I bought too much at the grocery store. I was struggling with getting everything on the rack. Someone came out and helped tie everything down on my rack.

Most people are good people.

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But, at least... it's not on my bike

I saw this commercial last night while watching the Columbus Destroyers get beat by the Cleveland Gladiators.



So some kid finds a POS car on the side of the road and decides to fix it up. It takes his entire summer and a bunch of money, but heck, it's worth it as long as he does not have to suffer the humiliation of riding a bike, right?

Streetsblog has a much better (and funnier) write-up on this commercial.

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Rainy Saturday mornings

Sometimes I just feel like writing. Like today. The problem is that nothing has really happened that is writing worthy. That's when Google News comes to the rescue.

I typed in bicycling and sifted through countless articles about bicycle commuting is more popular now because of gas prices. There were also a bunch of articles blasting Obama for looking like a dork while wearing a bicycle helmet. (I don't mean for this blog to get political, but if you are voting based on which candidate does not look like a dork, please stay home in November.)

First up: Man with fake mustache robs surprise bank, flees on bicycle

This was the first thing that popped into my head when I read that.

Then I thought... if only there was some way he could disguise himself and his fake 'stache...
Up next: Crazy two person bicycle


I guess this is supposed to be used as a trust building gizmo. If both people decide to pedal, they will crash. If both decide to steer, they will crash. I am just imagining how much stronger a marriage will be after both people spend the weekend in the emergency room followed by weeks of recovery.

Finally: Cycling: Bad for the economy?

At last, someone is willing to expose the downside of cycling.

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Bike plans get OK

A while back I wrote about Columbus's bike plan. Most great ideas are simply that, great ideas. Sometimes though, those great ideas get put into action. This seems to be one of those. Last night, the Columbus City Council voted to approve the funding for the plan.

Good job Columbus.

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My personal ride of silence

I love to ride at night. If I had to list the top three conditions to ride in, it would be snow, night, and warm rain. Tonight I decided I needed some ice cream, so a trip to Handel's was on.

(A lighter side note here, Handel's has the best ice cream ever. If there is one remotely close to you, you need to get there.)

I headed out, then decided to take the long route. The silence of the neighborhood made me pause. Earlier today was Columbus's Ride of Silence. I was not able to make it, but I did stop and make my daughters say a little prayer with me as everyone left the statehouse around 7:00.

I rode for about an hour tonight. I thought about the time I was hit by a car. Twelve years ago a car right hooked me. I remember looking her in the eye right before impact. I was knocked off my bike and unconscious for a short period. The worst of my injuries were a separated shoulder and a sprained wrist. The lady that hit me drove off. I was lucky. I could have been seriously injured. Instead, I was only hurt enough to take an evening off work.

I don't know why I keep torturing myself, but I cannot look at any of the ghost bikes without getting emotional. I wonder if these have the same affect on non-cyclists.

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Bike to Work Week -- part four

Earlier this week, Columbus's mayor Mike Coleman introduced the city's bike plan. I haven't commented yet because I wanted to read all 287 pages. Now that I have read it, I think this is a great project that I am excited to see put into action.

Here are the current bicycling accommodations on my end of Columbus:

If you are trying to figure out where I live, I live just north of Galloway Road.

The streets marked in yellow are the ones that have a wide, paved shoulder. That's it. I'm not sure what is considered a wide shoulder. On Galloway road the shoulder goes from three feet to six inches back to three feet, then back to six inches several times.

This does not mean this area is a dangerous place to be. I feel like I can hold my own on almost any road in the area. There are couple of hairy spots, but they are portions, not an entire trip.

Now I am as selfish as anyone. While I think the plan is a good one, what I really want to know is how will it affect me?

The map below is the proposed improvements. The green dotted lines are proposed paths. The blue dotted lines are where bike lanes are to be added to the road.

I have been joking with people that this plan should be renamed "Rick's personal bike routes." Every road I ride is being improved in some way. Trabue Road, the main road on my commute is getting a path. West Broad, which I use for almost all shopping, is getting bike lanes. The death trap called Hilliard-Rome Road is even getting some bike lanes.

While I joke that this is great for me, it is really great for the west side. These paths are being placed right in the main arteries of this side of town.

Please Columbus, make this happen.

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The best part of my commute

A while back, I posted my commute to work.  Here's the elevation profile.  If you read it left to right, it is the trip to work.  That big dip there is where I cross the river. 

I'm sure this is nothing compared to people who live in the more mountainous areas of the United States.  I'm not even sure I think this is bad.  I've ridden bigger and steeper hills in southeastern Ohio. 

The real reason I point this out is because of the best three minutes of the entire trip.  Do you see that mostly flat part between four and six miles?  By some weird chance, there is never a car on the road with me on my trip home.  It's almost as if that is the reward for humping up the hill.  It's also a little break before the road narrows to one lane in each direction.  I have three minutes of absolute peace.  It's a bizarre coincidence that happens because of my speed and the timing of traffic lights. 

The trip home can be tough.  This little bit of peace and quiet is a wonderful treat.

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It's not me, it's you

According to a AAA report, George Carlin (and my grandfather) were right.  No one knows how to drive except me.   Again, I am getting information from the Columbus Dispatch.  If you doubt that this is real, take a look at the comments in the "Hot Issue" area.  Look at all of the people who claim, "I can talk on my cell phone while driving without a problem.  It's everyone who is the problem."

Or, if you do not feel like clicking, look at the chart to the left.  (Sorry about the quality.)   75% of people feel they are more careful than anyone else on the road.  I had pictures of Lake Wobegon in my head when I read that.  

I am happy to see my personal pet peeve addressed.  Fifty percent of people admit to speeding up to beat a red light.  At the same time, 70% admit it is dangerous.  At a minimum, 20% of people are saying, "screw being safe.  I have to be first."

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Arrows

Does anyone else ride over the arrows painted on the road and pretend you are in some sort of video game?  You know the kind... where you get hyperspeed when you hit the arrows.

No?  Really?  Carry on then.

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