The first mobile post. This year has been a wash so far, the most recent problem is recuperating from a sports injury.

Long time off the saddle

I am planning on finally getting to work and back on the bike on Friday. I have not even been on the bike this year but I need to get back to it if I want to best replacing 20% of my commuting miles again this year.

The new son is sleeping much better and the everyone is doing better at home. Worried about the wind, but will have to take it a little at a time.

Quest is going going....

My brother in law has been looking for a cheap bike and my garage is getting too full. I was going to convert the Quest into a rain bike. I'm running out of time and the Trek has not been getting flats since I switched tires, so it's expendable. BIL meet quest. Get it out of my garage! It will hold up alright for him and he gets a bell and a few other goodies too. I need to spend some time to get it better working order, so it's not gone yet.

Bike Friendliness State Rankings

I think I need to join the League of American Bicyclists. The league ranked all 50 states for how bicycle friendly they are. I'm discouraged by the results.

State Ranks
23. Virginia
31. Delaware
34. New York
35. Maryland
38. Pennsylvania
50. West Virginia

The District of Columbia is not ranked for obvious reasons.

There are only three communities in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed that have been recognized as bicycle friendly by the league.

1. District of Columbia (Bronze level for Engineering)
2. Arlington, VA (Silver level for Engineering,Education,Encouragement,Enforcement)
3. Charlottesville, VA (Bronze level for Engineering)

I'm not suggesting that we only use bicycles to commute, but it would help address so many problems if we developed policies and infrastructure to make it easier for cars, trucks, buses, pedestrians and bicycles to share the road.

The reason why I'm not riding as much

My goal for 3000 miles this year might not be met. No big deal. I'd rather have two kids and a happy wife right now. The second kid is a little late, and I'm going to be really cutting back on commuting for at least the next month. I might get one or two trips into work. I'll try riding to the stores while people sleep.

Breaking the Strap...

By far the majority of the miles I ride are replacing miles that I would be driving. Either I'm commuting to work or getting to the store to pick up a those items that I can pack into my backpack. Today I decided to take a trip to Fort Smallwood park and back while my daughter and very pregnant wife were both taking naps. Total recreation. Not what I'm used to.

So I manage to break the left pedal strap. Before I even get two miles into it. Had to limp home. On the way home I hit a red light, no shoulder, so I take the lane. But apparently not enough of it since a MG decides to pass me at the red light. Threads the needle between me a left turning pickup truck.

So much for recreational riding. Time to replace the straps...

Totals through July

So how have I been doing this year....

Yearly totals through July...
Car Miles Saved: 1,670.60
Gallons of Gas Saved: 49.76
Gas Money Saved: $176.71
Bike Commute Round Trips: 50

Breakin' the Law...

I've been using a bicycle for at least part of my commute for over a year now. During that time I've seen all sorts of things from my fellow commuters. Here are some of my favorites.

"I don't stop at red lights." A quote from fellow bike commuter after I showed him a short cut through Annapolis traffic and stopped at a red light at the end of the short cut. Of course he kept going. There are bicyclists that stop at red lights and those that don't.

The pedestrian who was attempting to cross mainstreet behind the stopped cars I was coming up to, who decided to stop and retreat back to sidewalk when he saw me coming. I was actually stopping at my place in line. Confused him so much he didn't know what to do. "I thought you were going to blow by on the right."

The car that decided to take a right at a stop light this morning. By going around the car that was already stopped in the lane he was in. So the car crossed the double yellow lines after I started to turn left into the lane, following a green left turn arrow. Being in a car with headlights on did not make me more visible.

The bicylist that I passed on the trail that I saw later going the wrong way on the road and also going through a red light.

The cars that refuse to stop for me on the crosswalks when the trail intersects a road.

Googling and heartrate monitor

I figured out how to maintain my current stats on the blog using a widget on my google spreadsheets. So less work to maintain my summary.

I also have been compiling my heart rate data. I think maybe I need to back off a bit some days. My average heart rate on the trips in and home is between 85% and 90% of max on the last two segments of each trip.

Win a free Trek...

Just in case you happen to be looking for a new commuter bike, check out the Go By Bike Challenge. I've embedded their widget in the side bar.

Squeaky Chains...

I finally took the time to clean and lube the squeaky chain. It needed it.

There are more cyclists on the B & A Trail now. Some are friendly, some not so much. I really appreciate the pairs that decide to ride on both sides of the trail so you can't pass them easily and when you annouce passing left, they get all confused. Oh well. At least they are out there pedaling.

When I was stopped at a light tonight, there was a motorcyclist on a Yamaha model that I didn't recognize. Had a good chat, we both have to watch out for cagers. At some point I want to buy a motorcycle, already have the license and the MSF safety class.

I just missed every light on the way home after the trail. Added 4 minutes to that part of the trip.

Cost saving tips car commuting.

I've been a little focused on the bike commutes so far. Hey it's still new to me. Cut me a little slack. I understand that not everyone can commute by bicycle, so some other lessons I've learned for saving gas. The 1994 Geo Prizm that I am replacing is rated to get a combined city/highway MPG of 26. I get 36 MPG driving and I'm rarely driving highway miles.

Having a car get 36 miles instead of 26 means I use 1.6 less gallons of gas when I drive 5 days a week (about 155 miles).

Over the course of the year, I'll use about 80 less gallons of gas commuting. This means more jewelry and flowers for my wife. Which might help me get more time to commute by bike, leading to more jewelry and flowers. Not too bad of a cycle, don't you think?

I calculate the MPG for my car every time I fill up the tank. That way I can tell if my driving habits are slipping or if things are working, or the car needs some attention. There are a number of websites where you can learn to calculate MPG.

I keep the tires inflated to at least the recommended psi value, but not above the maximum tire pressure. I try to check it weekly.

I accelerate slowly up to my steady traveling speed. This isn't always the speed limit, but remember the more you speed, the worse your gas mileage is going to be.

I take my foot of the gas and coast when I am approaching a light that is or will be red before I'd get there. Extreme hyper milers will shut the car off.

I coast going down hills. On the way into work, if lights are in my favor, I can coast almost 3 miles out of 15 without slowing up traffic.

I commute during off peak times whenever possible. This varies throughout the year. If I leave my house by 7:20 I spend less time wasting gas sitting at red lights. If I can leave work before 4:30 then the traffic out of Annapolis isn't too bad. The commute time winds up being shorter, so I can spend more time during things I like to do.

I only use air conditioning when it is really hot. On most days the vents and windows are sufficient. When I lived in Florida, my car didn't have AC and I survived, it's not any hotter here.
During the warmer months, I park my car so it has been in the shade for at least an hour when I leave work. I also use sunshades. This means I don't need to use the AC to cool of the car when I start out home.

There are other tips to increase your car's MPG out there.

To save on commuting costs either increase the MPG of your commuting vehicle or reduce the number of miles you drive. Some ideas for this are to use mass transit, carpool, ride a bike, walk, run, kayak, telecommute, or work a compressed work week. This is by no means a comprehensive list, feel free to use your imagination or google.

Poplar Trail

I found this one commuting into Annapolis from Anne Arundel Medical Center. Take a left on Poplar avenue just before you come to West Street on Admiral Drive. It takes you to the Police Station. If you are a bit braver, you can take the parking area across the road from the police station all the way to the Loews hotel.

This was a pleasant surprise, I thought I'd be dealing with mid day traffic on West Street. Not my favorite thing to do.

June wrap up.

New to me car has been inherited. 2002 Ford Escort. So far I'm seeing about 35 MPG on the highway running without AC. My old car will be up for sale soon, the Geo has been my primary car for 11 years.

In June, I managed to commute by bicycle 13 times. This paid off the new tube and the Bontrager Race Lite Hardcase tire that has fought off rear flats all month. Thank you Bike Doctor! I've decided to keep the rack on the Trek with the new tire, but I have not yet found the time to install the fenders on the Quest.

While I was looking for a map which shows the various bike trails in the area, I found out that Annapolis has a Bicycle Transportation Committee I was not able to find the map, but I did find out that they want to publish one.

Totals for the year:
$134.50 not spent on gas.
39.09 gallons of gas not bought.
39 commuting round trips

Triple Digits

Perhaps very hot and humid weather clears up the congestion on the Baltimore and Annapolis Trail. There were very few people on the trail, but more than when the temperatures were below freezing.

I might need to bring another water bottle along for the afternoon rides.

I need to bring the family car into the shop for maintenance tomorrow. I might ride in from the shop or take the shuttle.

4 out of 5 ain't bad

For the first time this year I was able to ride into work 4 out of 5 days. Of course, the one day I drove, there was an accident and it took more than an hour to get into work. I was impressed with how quickly the B & A Trail was cleaned up after the intense storms that rolled through the area on Wednesday night.

I've now passed the thousand mile mark for both bike miles traveled and car miles saved. It's not a one for one thing, since most days I need to bike farther than I would have driven.

Unfortunately I might have gotten the wrong fenders for the Quest. I might still be able to rig something up. I also need to figure out the rack and how to fit it on the Quest.

2008 totals through June 6:
31.09 gallons of gas saved
$103.30 not spent on gas
1039 miles not driven

New Rear Tire

Yesterday, my patch job on the punctured rear tire held up almost to Bike Doctor. Not too big of a deal since I was getting a new tire tire anyway. A quick tube patch later (it seems that I've gotten much better at this) and I was limping there.

They recommended a Bontrager Race Lite Hardcase since I commute. Sounds good to me, I was already thinking Kevlar anyway. It felt fine on the way home and in this morning. Let's see how it holds up.

My door to door commute time yesterday only took 53 minutes. Today it was almost 56 minutes.

It was good to talk with other commuters, but no luck on seeing the Arkel handlebar bags.

End of May Report

Totals for the year so far:
27.70 gallons of gas saved
$90.04 dollars saved.
915 miles on the bike.

The Plant Bike Freddy Fenders, O2 cycling series rain jacket, small Nashbar Fly bag, Nashbar Handlebar bag, new rear light, and bottle cage showed up Tuesday.

The rain coat seems to be a little on the cheap side, but it was a return from nashbar so it was only about $20 bucks . I already wore it this week on Wednesday, there was a little rain when I rode in to work. It seemed to work fine, but I'll need to be careful to not rip it.

The Nashbar handlebar bag was 72% off, but I'm going to have to either rig up something to keep it up or return it. I'm wondering if the Arkel small bar bag is too expensive of a Father's day gift to ask for...While I thinking about it, the utility basket looks pretty good too, once I get the rack moved to the Quest, no way is that going on the Trek.

The small fly bar works good for holding my park multitool and a spare tube. There's not a lot of room leftover. I should be able to put on some tire levelers in it. It is pretty easy to attach to the seat and there is a loop to hang my Nashbar Brillant Taillight.

I haven't been able to put the fenders on the Quest yet. And the rack and panniers are still on the Trek until I figure out the handlebar bag situation.

The riding has been good. But the roads can get quite a bit of debris on them, I'm wondering about the kevlar tires to help reduce the chances of puncture flats.

Another Flat and a plan

The rear tire on my Trek 1.2 was flat this morning. I think that it's the fourth rear flat that I needed to fix since January. Instead of taking the time to replace the tube, I turned to the old Quest Crestwood. The transition from road racer to the cheap mountain bike was jarring. The barrels passing as tires were a sight. But they made short work of the debris that was still on the bike lanes after all of the storms. It only took my 65 minutes to get in, or ten minutes longer than on the Trek. Now I am thinking of setting the Quest up as my bad weather commuter and short errand bike (when I normally drive) by adding fenders, moving the rack and paniers, getting another cage for a water bottle and also moving the pedals and toe clips to the Quest.

The Trek will get clipless pedals, a handlebar bag for lunches and small clothes, a seat bag for tools and tube. Hopefully this will get more weight off my rear tire. This will be the my fair weather commuter.

The Quest will have the rack, panniers, the old Trek pedals and fenders and I use it to transport clothes for the week to the office and ride in wet weather and after storms until debris. Since it's a cheap bike, I'm not too worried about the rain. Hopefully I can get this setup fairly soon.

2008 totals:
$73.22 saved in gasoline
23.05 gallons saved
750 miles not driven

May Weather

So far so good this month. I've been able to ride the bike 3 out of 5 days. As an added bonus, My wife and I got recertified in adult/child/infant CPR and we got to eat a dinner overlooking the harbor in Annapolis.

The trial keeps getting busier, there are quite a few people out with their kids during the evening commute home.

I broke down and bought a watch/heart rate monitor from amazon. I wanted a watch to time contractions and to time legs of my trip in. Hopefully the HRM will help my target training that will led to shorter commute times.

So far for the month I've been able to save 3.14 gallons of gas. And my best time in is now 57 minutes.