Tonight we went to Provo …
18 July, 2008
Tonight we went to Provo. This is something of a rarity for my family as of late. It is partly because we try to avoid using the car as much as possible, and my wife hasn’t wanted to pedal the kids back up the hill, and it is partly due to the fact that we are trying to eat at home more. We used to go get a pizza and then head over to the arboretum at BYU to eat it and watch the ducks and turtles in the pond. Well, tonight we decided we were going to do it again. Only this time we decided to ride. I rode the bakfiets with the kids in it, and the wife rode her Trek FX. We left at about 4:30 and headed off to Provo to get our pizza. I live near UVU in the southwest part of Orem, and Orem city is just in the process of putting bike lanes on 400 West in front of Lakeridge Junior High School. We rode those over to the bike lanes on 1200 South and took them east to the University Mall where we skipped over a block to the trail along University Parkway. That trail takes you right down into Provo. From there we hit the streets. Freedom Boulevard took us to get the pizza, then it was up 700 North in Provo where we hit bike lanes again after crossing University Avenue. From there it was just a few blocks and over one to get to the park. Up to this point, everything went swimmingly, partly due to the fact that it was all either level or downhill. Dinner and the ducks and turtles were great. Having young kids kind of changes your thinking just a bit as you learn to see things with their eyes. To them, the world is a place of wonder and exciting new things. A duck waddling around can be the highlight of the day. Following our adventures at the park, we took off on the bike lanes on 800 North and headed back to Freedom Boulevard where we headed north and then left over to the Provo Macey’s grocery store. A few things at the store and then we hoped on the Provo River Parkway Trail which runs right by the store. From there it was a quick little jaunt over to the College Connector trail running alongside University Parkway and then it was a reversal of our course and home. It was a very relaxing and fun evening. My wife remarked that she was amazed at how fast it was to get from place to place, especially the grocery store, by bike. Faster than with the car was her comment. Tomorrow we are planning to go back to Provo to do some shopping at the farmers market. I don’t know who will ride the bakfiets this time, but it should be equally fun and rewarding. The kids enjoyed themselves as usual. The lesson we took away from this adventure is that the hill isn’t as bad as we thought it might be, even with two kids and the groceries in a big heavy bike like the bakfiets. I think we’ll start to do it a bit more. Somehow I need to figure out how to get an xtracycle so that we can carry even more home with us. Milage via Google Earth, 10.65. Have a great night! I know we will!
ps: Sorry for the lack of a picture. I’m working on it.
Building a Bicycle Infrastructure
18 July, 2008
Straight from Brian Williams and NBC Nightly News, here’s a video on the growing trend of bicycle commuting and how Portland leads the way. Among the changes to city infrastructure: traffic calming, bike lanes, and extra parking spaces.
Washington D.C. is even starting a bike rental program this year. Very Cool (see this post).
The link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25573628#25573628
And the corresponding story, Deadly tension on the roads — cars vs. bikes (c’mon, can you pick a more sensational headline?):
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25695376/
The article also mentions the high demand faced by Utah’s FrontRunner, as more and more cyclists pack their bikes on the train (see this post).
For now, this level of exposure is fantastic. We’ll probably add some commentary in future posts.
Childhood Obesity and Cycling
17 July, 2008
In August 2007, the American Journal of Preventive Medicine published a study about the transportation trends among schoolchildren. Covering a period from 1969 to 2001, the study highlights a decrease in “active transportation.” For example, in 1969, almost 90 percent of kids who lived within one mile of school pedaled their way or walked. By 2001, the number of students biking or walking at least once per week dipped to 48 percent.
Trek Bicycle claims that “in 1964, 50% of kids rode to school and the obesity rate was 12%…in 2004, 3% rode to school and the obesity rate was 45%.”
Other research points out several “obstacles” that prevent greater participation in cycling. The more cars a family owns, the less likely the children are to ride bikes to school. The Associated Press, covering the story, added, “many suburban and rural areas are built without sidewalks, good crosswalks or other safety features.”
Perhaps most telling though, is the attitude of one Georgia mother, who claimed that it was too “uncool” for her son to ride a bike to school.
Go By Bike Challenge
16 July, 2008
Bicycling(to save gas) in the Media
16 July, 2008
While attending a meeting a few months ago, I met a reporter. We started talking about bicycles and such and she asked if I might be interested in doing an interview. I said sure. Now, I’ve met many reporters and many have asked me to do interviews and I’ve always said yes. It has never happened. This time it did. You can read her article from the Daily Herald by clicking on the picture. She did a great job. It was perhaps the most accurate and most fair article of any I’ve seen on cycling in a long time. Most of the media is making a big deal out of how many people are now cycling to work or for errands so they can save gas. That is a great reason to cycle, but it almost sounds depressing. I hope that people that have started cycling aren’t put off by the sometimes negative view of cycling that the mainstream media portrays. I hope that they will continue to ride. It has so many more benefits than just saving gas. After all, in European cities such as Copenhagen and Amsterdam, it is the people with a good education and a desire to be healthy and active that ride bikes. They recognize that cycling is good for much more than saving gas. It is great for your health and so much more. Don’t let the pundits get you down. Be elegant. Be sophisticated. Ride a bike!
Driving to Work Alone
15 July, 2008
My sister, who works in Salt Lake Valley, shared a surprising number with me the other day. UTA conducted a survey of her and her co-workers. The survey pointed out that 82% of the people working for her employer drive to work in their cars alone.
I had always noticed that the number of people driving solo on I-15 seemed high. The 82% number confirms what I had expected. Without knowing how far each of these people has to drive, it’s perhaps impossible to recommend that more of them start riding a bike to work tomorrow. So what should we do?
Even if we can’t avoid driving to work for now, here are some ideas on how to start small and increase our amount of cycling bit by bit.
- Take a little ride on the Provo River Trail once or twice a week
- Ride your bike to church
- Use your bike, rather than your car, to make a quick stop at your neighbor’s
- Rent mountain bikes at Sundance or Deer Valley and ride the trails for a day
- Buy a bike for your child(ren) and go on rides together
These are just a few of the ways we can gradually start cycling more often. In a previous post, Brad discussed the choice of where to live and how this affects our cost of living.
Tales from the Commute
15 July, 2008
On my way home this afternoon, I heard one of the most depressing sounds a cyclist can hear. The sound of a new tire going from 120 psi to 0 psi in about a second. Only this time, the result was a little worse. As you can see, my tire was almost cut in half by something I ran over at the intersection of Geneva Rd. and Center St. in Provo.
The rubbery carnage. And I already know what you're thinking...yes, I moonlight as a professional hand model.
I made it through the intersection safely, then inspected the damage. It’s always a bummer to know that you have to patch a tube on the side of the road. It is a bigger bummer to know you have to replace a tire.
Yet, in almost two years, this is the biggest repair/maintenance cost I have had to pay. Two years. The cost? About $45 for a new tube and tire.
A Heavy Load
14 July, 2008
A couple of years ago I remember reading a story about commuting and its costs. It was about a report from the Center for Housing Policy entitled “A Heavy Load: The Combined Housing and Transportation Burdens of Working Families.” 
It intrigued me because it was something that I had never given a whole lot of thought to. Since that time, I have thought about it a great deal. My summary of the article and the report is this. It costs nearly as much to live in a place such as Eagle Mountain or Saratoga Springs and then commute into Salt Lake City or Orem/Provo as it would to pay more for a house up front and live near a Trax station or within walking or cycling distance of your employment. These communities are called exurbs and around the country are the places where people are having problems with very expensive commutes, to work and to the grocery store, as well as a decreasing quality of life with an ever increasing percentage of household income going to transportation costs. I know many people who say that they can’t afford to live close to work, but now they are nearly unable to afford to get to work. Everyone has to make their own decisions about where they are going to live. I believe that they have only just started to explore the option of actually living a life at least a little less dependent on the personal automobile. Perhaps in the future there will be more impetus to spend our tax dollars on public transportation and people scaled transportation infrastructure, and zoning laws will enable and encourage people to live closer to where they work, closer to shopping, closer to other people, closer to culture. In fact, in many places it is already happening! More on this subject will be forthcoming. I look forward to reading your thoughts on this subject. Keep the comments coming! And share this blog with your friends, cyclists or not. Transportation affects everyone!
Mental Evolution
13 July, 2008
Bicycling Presentation to the Utah Valley Sierra Forum
I am not the same person today that I was five years ago. I have gone through a continuous kind of mental evolution throughout that time. Actually, if I am really honest with myself, it has been happening continuously since I was born, but those early years while cute and adorable aren’t nearly as interesting as the mental evolution of an adult. To get someone to admit that they continue to evolve and change their thinking past the time they graduate from college seems to me to be rather remarkable. What does this have to do with bikes you ask? Everything. Five years ago I knew that something needed to be done, but I didn’t know what it was. So, I started attending meetings, reading voraciously as my wife will happily tell you, and, don’t say this to loud, but I GOT INVOLVED. I joined a committee. Then I joined a board of directors, then I joined other boards and commissions and committees and now I know things and I think things and professionals in the field of transportation ask for my opinion on things such as how to design a road to be more bicycle friendly. That is just plain weird, but at the same time it is really cool. I haven’t sat around and I haven’t become complacent. I haven’t been apathetic. I have changed. I continue to do so, particularly in regards to community and bicycling and how the two should interact. Things are beginning to take shape in my mind and you will, if you start to read this blog, and keep reading it, be able to share it with me. That is all for now. See how much you have to look forward to? I know. I’m a tease.
Bike Liberty
13 July, 2008
In Paris, a bicycle called Vélib’ (a contraction of velo – bicycle, and liberté – liberty) is becoming a hot item. Available for rent at various stations throughout the city, the bike project is actually a huge money-maker for its owner, and an advertising opportunity for everyone else. You can read about it here.
Velib' bikes, lined up and ready to rent (image courtesy of the New York Times)
Some downsides still exist, such as the high number of thefts of the bicycles as well as a few deaths. It is still a large, busy city, so cyclists must be that much more defensive and careful. Not to downplay the seriousness of these incidents, but the Vélib’ project is doing a lot to solve some of Paris’ transportation problems.
“Bicycles become fashionable, and the more bikes there are in a city, the safer it is, and the more the city will give space to bicyclists,” Mr. Pheulpin said.
What’s amazing to me is that the city has managed to make cycling on a 50-pound bike a fashionable thing to do. What do you think, could an entrepreneur here in Provo or Orem do the same thing?
