Cabin Fever

Hello, friends!

I haven't posted on this blog in 3 weeks. Do you know why I haven't posted on this blog in 3 weeks? BECAUSE I HAVEN'T BIKED IN 3 WEEKS!!! Friends, it is seriously driving me crazy! Between my travel schedule (2 trips to Saint Louis) and the weather (one big snow that has since melted slightly and frozen multiple times, making the roads way too icy) I've been stuck walking (not terrible), carpooling (less than ideal but still good), and driving places (OH THE HORRORS!!!)

Friends, I shouldn't have to drive a quarter mile to my friend's house to watch the Oscars because the ice is all over the sidewalks. I shouldn't have to have my dreams dashed when I wake up to a high in the 30's, only to see that the overnight low was in the teens and there are death traps everywhere. I shouldn't have to wait for April before hopping on my bike again because the weather is going to be too finicky otherwise. These things shouldn't be!

So, friends, tomorrow I'm going for it. The high is supposed to be 25 but sunny. Today was sunny enough so that some of the ice on the roads actually evaporated. I have planned out my route to account for slick patches that I've already seen today. TOMORROW, WE ARE BIKING... and it is going to be glorious.

If you're a religious person, please pray for me. Oh, and pray for Megan too... she's less excited than I am about me getting out there. =0).

Stats:
NOTHING. There are no stats. And it makes me sad...

Grand Total: $725
In the Positive: $121.99

Happy Biking!

~Adam

After The Thaw...

Hello, friends!

So, apparently, this post from a few weeks ago (February 6) was never posted! I guess it's better late than never, right? Enjoy me talking about ice for 6 paragraphs. =0).

One thing that I've said over and over again is that I can do cold but I don't do wet. If it's 4 degrees outside but it's dry, I'll try biking. If it's raining, snowing, or has any sort of "wintery mix" then it doesn't matter how warm it is. I don't have the balance or good enough of a bike for me to brave that terrain.

What makes things a little odder are weeks like the one that we're having here in Columbia right now. Today the high will be about 50. Yesterday it was in the teens all day. The day before that there was snow but it stayed around 32 so there wasn't much accumulation. Tuesday was relatively nice with a high in the mid 30's. Monday was BITTER cold. Sunday we had a wintery mix storm in the evening. It was like they say: if you don't like the weather in (insert your state name here so long as it isn't California, Arizona, or Florida), wait a few minutes because it will change. =0).

Days like yesterday are easy ones to decide to not bike. There was snow on the ground. Much of it melted as soon as it hit the ground, turning it into water. The overnight low got nowhere near 32 degrees, so all the water turned into ice. Ice and bikes don't go together well. Ergo, no biking.

However, days like today are a little bit tougher to decipher. The temperature is up so I don't have to worry about ice for the most part but I do have worry about slick roads (on account of all the melted ice) and if there are any patches of ice under shade (Like by the side of my house) then the ice may not be all the way thawed yet. It can still be a 50-50 proposition as to whether or not it's a good idea to go biking or not on a day like this.

So what does a guy like me do? I bike. =0). Of course I bike! I may go a little bit slower and make sure that I'm only hitting dry spots but you'd better believe that I'm going for a ride if I can. I have too much fun riding. I can always use the exercise. I also need to keep this blog going so I can buy a new bike. There are too many reasons for me to NOT bike when the ice is off the ground.

I made it to campus today with no problems. My plan is to leave this afternoon so I can beat the evening freeze (another reason why biking in this weather isn't a slam dunk) making it the perfect crime. Here's to good tread on my tires and fully protective fenders to keep me from getting wet!

Stats:
Miles: 6 miles ($.25)
Meters: 13 hours ($13)

Total: ($13.25)

Grand Total: $725.00
In the Positive: 721.99 

Happy Biking!

~Adam

Cycling Fashion... or lack there of...

Hello, friends!

A few weeks ago I posted about how I don't care about looking ridiculous when it comes to biking because I need to stay warm and dry more than anything. At the time, I was really only concerned with my clothing. A few days ago, I realized that the same principles also apply to my head/hair when it comes to biking. Here's what went down.

I was biking back from campus when I decided to stop by my bike shop to ask a few questions about a new bike I'd heard about (more on that later). I hung out with the folk at the shop for while then started on my way home. As I was about to put my helmet back on my head, I saw my reflection in the window and the photo below is what I saw...

Let me break it down for you. When it's cold, I wear a ski mask type thing so that my face doesn't get frozen. It's super warm and I love it. It's made of fleece which means it can get a little statc-y. What you see is the how my head looks when I take off my helmet.

Here's what happened next. I walked back into the store and said to my friend who works there, "Hey, why didn't you tell me my hair looked like this while we were talking?!" His answer was priceless.

"Dude, this is a bike shop. Everyone's hair looks like that. I didn't even notice." =0).

This is what I love about biking. There's a certain fraternity of bikers. We get why folk have their right pant leg rolled up to their knee. No one blinks when someone walks in looking like they're working on a Don King impression. Cycling fashion is just a different beast and I love it.

Stats:
Distance: 9 miles ($.35)
Meters: 15 hours ($15)

Total: $15.35
Grand Total: $711.75 (Past $700! Hooray!)
In the Positive: $108.74 (Past $100! Hooray again!)

Happy Biking!

~Adam

New Meters!

Hello, friends!

With the beginning of the new year, comes new laws in the city that don't directly affect bikers but definitely affect this blog.

Starting 2 weeks ago, there have been 2 major changes:

- Meters downtown have now been changed to $1/hour to match meters on campus

- Meters downtown are now active until 7pm, which is 2 hours later from last year.

On the one hand, this doesn't really affect bikers like me. I don't pay meters (thus, the reason for this blog) so how much they cost or how long they go don't actually affect me directly.

HOWEVER, this entire blog is based on the money that I save because I bike and don't drive either on campus or downtown. That means that when the meters go for later and are more expensive, I actually save more money by biking and not driving. Which means, we get that much closer to our goal of saving another $600 that much faster. Hooray!

There's also the chance that the increase in meter rates means that more people will try biking. The weather has been relatively mild and dry, which may mean that more people are willing to brave the elements and pedal a bit. If that's the case, then I may see some increased traffic around town. It shouldn't affect me too much but I'll definitely be sure to keep wearing my helmet. (Safety is no accident!). 

Below you'll see a change in the stats. I've stopped making a distinction between meters downtown and meters on campus. It's all just the same rate now so we'll count it as such. Here's to some great biking!

Stats:
Distance: 9 miles ($.32)
Meters: 12 hours ($12)

Total: $12.32
Grand Total: $696.40
In the Positive: $93.39

Happy Biking!

~Adam

Lost Lock!

Hello, friends!

An interesting thing happened to me a few days ago. I was getting ready to bike downtown when I noticed that my bike lock was missing! I retraced my steps along my ride but I couldn't find it anywhere. I honestly have no idea what happened to it. I have another bike lock so it's not actually that big of a deal but definitely an oddity.

This isn't the first time I've lost a bike lock, nor is it the oddest time that's happened. When I was in high school I biked to school. I only lived less than a mile from campus so it was a pretty quick trip. There was a rack outside the parking lot to my high school that was pretty much a horizontal bar that ran about 50 feet or so. There were usually about 2 dozen bikes locked up next to mine on any given day. Being the slightly OCD guy that I am, I always locked my bike in just about the same place.

One day I came out of class at the end of the day and noticed that something was off. My bike was at the wrong end of the bike rack. Added to that, the gears had been shifted and the bike lock was gone. To this day, I have no idea what happened but I'm glad that my bike wasn't stolen. My best guess is that someone just took my bike for a joyride but I'm still not entirely sure as to why they didn't steal the thing. (Fun note: that bike was later stolen in college.)

Stats:
Distance: 11 miles ($.41)
Meters: 3 hours on campus ($3) + 4 hours downtown ($2.40)

Total: $5.81
Grand Total: $684.08
In the Positive: $81.07

Happy Biking!

~Adam

The Joys of Donating My Laptop

Hello, friends!

Happy 2015 to you. Here's hoping that 2015 kicks 2014's butt in every possible way. I know that I'm ready for a new year. =0).

I was thinking about the past year and all the biking I did and didn't do over the course of the year. One thought that came to mind was how much more biking I did after I donated my laptop in the Fall.

Let me set the stage for you. In early 2014 I bought a new tablet and spent most of the year getting used to its usage, essentially trying to see if I could use it to replace my laptop, which was functional but heavy and kind of cumbersome. From a biking standpoint, a chance to replace my 7lb laptop with a less than 1lb tablet was might enticing.

Honestly, things were going well but not perfectly. The truth is that a tablet is not the same as a laptop. I could do most of the things that I wanted to do but not everything. The hardest was definitely using office products like Word, Excel, etc. Tablets are good but the experience isn't as easy as a regular computer. As I used the tablet more and more, I got more and more comfortable with the functionality of it but not 100% then.

Then, right before the semester started, a coworker was asking around to see if anyone had an old laptop they would be willing to donate to one of the interns he was supervising. This was my chance. I was getting used to the tablet but could I wean myself completely off of the laptop. How would I survive?

Well, I finally decided to donate the laptop and I figured out how I was going to survive: by biking more. =0).

My solution was simple: now that I don't have a laptop, I have to bike to campus to use the free campus computers more. Before I could have an "admin" day at home and just stayed glued to my couch while doing work (and watching cartoons). Now, if I want to be REALLY productive, it means biking to campus and hanging out a few hours there. That means more miles biked and more meters saved. It was an unforeseen benefit but one I definitely don't mind.

Ironically, these past few weeks I haven't biked much at all because of travel and such. Still, once the semester starts, I'm sure we'll be right back to it.

Stats:
Miles: 9 miles ($.34)
Hours: 9 hours on campus ($9)

Total: $9.34
Grand Total: $678.27
In the Positive: $75.26

Happy Biking!

~Adam

Biking and White Privilege...

Hello, friends!

I'm sure you've seen a lot of things about race in the news lately. I've even written a few things myself about what's been happening in St. Louis, New York, and really all over the country. Of course, I'm by no means an expert about American race relations. I'm just a Chinese guy with a bike.

A few weeks ago, this post made its rounds through the Facebook cycle about biking and white privilege. The author even wrote a follow up post to address many of the comments that folk posted underneath his post. While not perfect (no analogy is) I really resonated with the idea of being a biker in a driver's world. It led to a really great Facebook conversation with some folk about the idea of white privilege and personal responsibility which led to my blog post from last week. The blog itself is very well written so I won't add too much more to it beyond some personal experiences.

When Megan and I got married in 2012, we spent our first year living in St. Louis. I would commute to Columbia weekly but spent most of my time in St. Louis. It was there that I saw how much legislation and the system can improve or inhibit cycling (and then, using the analogy, how legislation and the system can improve or inhibit race relations).

St. Louis is one of my favorite cities in the world but it is NOT a bike friendly city. There are very few bike lanes, the sidewalks are not well kept, and generally, the drivers are not the most observant when it comes to noticing their 2-wheeled road sharers. Not every place in St. Louis is bad and there have been improvements made over time. I'm sure that it's better than it was before. Still, the fact remains that St. Louis is not a bike friendly place to live.

Compare that with Portland, which is definitely the most bike-friendly city in the US. Portland has bike racks everywhere for parking (even at the airport apparently!). There are bike specific traffic signals. As one author put it, it is impossible to run for mayor in Portland without a bike platform. It's by no means perfect. It's still easier to be a car in Portland than a bike. But from what I can tell, bikes are a part of the culture and the cars are aware of their presence. The system has put things in place in order to create a safe environment for those who have an inherent disadvantage.

Friends, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done both in terms of systematic injustice towards minorities and making cities more bike-friendly. Obviously, the former is SO MUCH MORE IMPORTANT than the latter. Still, if we can make life easier for those who have the option of getting off their bike and getting into a car, can't we fight just as hard for those who have no choice but to always be a minority?

Stats:
Miles biked: 17 ($.82)
Meters: 21 hours on campus ($21) + 4 hours downtown ($2.40)

Total: $24.22
Grand Total: $668.93
In the Positive: $65.92

Happy Biking!

~Adam