Commuting with an Umbrella

It was raining today, quite heavily in fact. In an urban environment that provides very little consideration for folks using bicycles it is not a pleasant experience, especially if it is anything more than a light spring rain.

Mostly this is due to the road curving to the edges, where the bicycle lanes are. This is to help drain water off during especially heavy storms to make it safer for drivers. That is the key, drivers, for cyclists traveling along the curb water collects, pools and covers up the potholes that were already there. Combine this with poor roads that are barely ride-able when it is dry, cars speeding past and hopefully not splashing you, low visibility in general, and loss of braking/maneuverability, you have a very unpleasant environment.

What does riding with an umbrella have to do with it? Citizen cyclists (I believe Copenhagenize has popularized the term) should be able to ride safely while carrying an umbrella if they choose to do so.

This gets to the problem with most of the built infrastructure for bicycling in the USA. It is not designed so that it is if not pleasant, at least tolerable, to ride in the rain or any other weather condition, or any time when it is not 75 degrees in the middle of the day with little traffic and a bit of sun in May.

I might argue that even with the typical built infrastructure today, it is mainly presumed that folks using it will do something else when it rains, or are really out to enjoy the ride and not actually get anywhere safely and comfortably, or are too die-hard for rain and puddles to stop them.

All of that being said, with a little coordination and picking the right streets one can ride with an umbrella even in the crazy road environment of Cambridge/Allston. My route earlier today is below, with the parts I used my umbrella in blue and the rest in light red.

click through for the full map

As you can see of my approximately 3.5 mile urban route I can use an umbrella safely about 60% of the time (around 2.2 miles) However that is just me, I am pretty comfortable and secure with my bicycle, I have good breaks and good control. For somebody who does not use a bike often, if they tried to bike with an umbrella there is only one section where they could. A .6mi section from Western Ave to the overpass of the highway. This is so little that it is not even worth it, unless you lived along here and were going to the bank or a friends house nearby.

The reason that would even be possible is that this is a traffic calmed road designed to be so narrow two cars can not pass each other but two bikes and a single car driving carefully can.

View Larger Map
Yes this is actually two way! This design means very limited auto traffic and what traffic there is is usually driving very carefully and slowly and typically won't even pass a bike going in the same direction, although there is room to do so safely.

In general these issues are why we need to really look at how we are designing bicycle infrastructure. No we can't design around the best rain protection possible (covered elevated paths etc.) but we should start looking at how we build roads and side-paths that can allow folks on bikes, or wheelchairs, or on foot to better enjoy getting to where they need to go even when it is raining out, or snowing, or hot or cold.

More thoughts on weather cycling and what other countries are doing (notably not the US) some point soon.

Montreal prologue

Habitat from Expo 67, Montreal.

This post is just the prologue to a 4 part series on cycling in Montréal. I visit the city usually 2 to 3 times a year and have been doing so for the past 17+ years, and as such have sometimes taken the push for cycling, and separated infrastructure, for granted.

On the other hand, I simply may have not appreciated it, noticed it, or been unable to take pictures. Now with the opportunities that Bixi opens up, I am able to get a first hand picture of the bike share program, as well as the routes that make it safe for a less experienced cyclist, to get to many destinations in the city using a Bixi.

• Part one will be some pictures and thoughts on a commuter cycling highway along the famous Habitat 67.
• Part two will be some of the separated infrastructure of the city, from the eye of a Bixi.
• Part three will be just on Bixi, from Fall 2009 and Fall 2010, what they seemed to have learned, and what improvements are perhaps needed, as well as impressions on use.
• Finally part 4 will deal with bicycle parking in the city, and the variations of parking stalls that are used.

I will attempt to spread them out, and by breaking them up I hope to be able to post a little bit shorter posts on each one, and be able to go a bit more in-depth. I will plan to start posting part one later next week, and attempt to post one every week or so. However, finals are coming up, as well as my graduation, so there will most likely be a delay in part three and four at least.

Thanks for reading!

New lanes in DC, now if only we had some better representation...

Thanks to FastLane.dot.gov for the picture
These lanes have caused a bit of controversy, check out WashCycle for more info on the process, maybe they are worse than the version 1.0 but they are there none the less and should significantly help. There may be an issue with pedestrians at crossing, especially at night, hopefully the problem will be solved before any major harm is done.

These buffered bike lanes are right down Pennsylvania Ave. in DC, hopefully if the bike share is up and running by the time I get to go back down, I can start doing some trips using the infrastructure, and taking pictures. (not deleting my memory card this time!!!)

Ray LaHood was there as part of the ribbon cutting and to show his support for these projects, which is always great!

check out his blog on the installation here and the WashCycle coverage here. There is a video on both posts as well

Snow... seriously???

Right, the pictures are yesterday morning before riding in and then last evening when I got home.

It snowed all day, about half an inch on the grass. Yes it is April, I had to check to make sure...

As the temperature was around 40 it was very very wet snow, which meant that unlike the typical dry snow we get, I was soaked by the time I got in this morning, and really soaked coming home.

Did I mention the wind was from the North West at a sustained ~10 mph? Oh and also that it was gusting to near 20mph? yeaahhh good times. Hence why I was royally soaked coming home.

I am ready for spring, Plattsburgh. Annyyyy time now...

should be 75 by the weekend...

riggghhtttt....

Seeing in the rain, not quite like singing in the rain

thanks to Ed Yourdon via Flickr

This comes from the folks over at BikePortland.org.

the question:

I commute about 3 miles to work (and back, obviously) 5-6 days a week, and I wear glasses. This becomes an issue when it’s raining, and was wondering what other glasses-wearing riders do about it. I asked the gentleman at my local bike shop, and he didn’t really have any useful suggestions — so I turn to you! I know they have prescription goggles, but I was really hoping for a slightly less expensive alternative — something I can wear over my glasses, perhaps? Please help!

This is actually a question I had for a good long time, and still often have. This was posed to the BikePortland community and garnered over 50 responses. If you ever have an issue ridding in the rain, head on over and check out some of the recommendations. This is especially true if you wear glasses. Fogging also came up, with some answers but that depends more on what your glasses are made of and the type of chemicals you could use that would not eat them up.

I would pay good money for a small battery powered windshield wiper for my glasses... somebody should invent that quick...

One of my friends who works at my Co-Op had a friend who basically cut up a bit of a windshield wiper (the rubber part) and then glued/affixed that to the thumb of his riding gloves. This enabled him when it was really raining, to effectively wipe the water off as he went. To great success. However the flaw of that of course is you have to take your hands off and your vision is partially obscured for a few seconds, when in the rain those few seconds of loss of site and control could cause problems. The design is good, and it works and I am thinking of doing something similar.

Do you have something that works for you?

link to the original post, Here.

What a week!

I have to say this week was pretty crazy and limited my ability to be on the bike every day. I biked in Monday with no problems.

Tuesday I biked in but conditions after 8pm and slick(and snowy) shoulders persuaded me to take a ride home, so the bike and I piled into the back of a Forester of a good friend who lives only a 1 mile from me and away we went.

Wednesday comes along and snow galore, I wake up at about 6inches of wet snow, the roads are a mess and the rural highway I live on barely has the road cleared, let alone my small 2 foot section of shoulder I ride on. Classes were still on so needed to come in for 11, had my friend pick me up on their way into town. It snowed throughout the day with classes canceling at 4pm that day with the promise for much more snow on Thursday; I had a classmate bring me home.

The roads are clear mostly on Thursday thanks to warm temperatures around 39, it was very wet with lots of water but unfortunately the shoulders were only about 6in to 1 foot along the 2 mile rural rout I have to travel before I get to wider roads. So once again, my friend and her husband were carpooling into town so picked me up and made it to my 9:30 class. I had another good co-op friend bring me home that night, it was late due to Sign class so can be tricky for the people I know since most are home by the time I need to come home.

Today I brought the bike out as the roads were just fine, enough melting had happened to give me a shoulder into town, I knew it would be wet but that’s ok, I don’t mind too much.

Indeed, it was quite wet, I always forget that my front fender is only meant to prevent spray into my face and is crap at keeping it off the chain, my feet, or my legs. I cant wait for the full fenders on my Breezer, that being idk when it will get ridden in the rain since I will be very reluctant to ride it in messy weather!

Oh and the sidewalk was actually cleared! However as is typical the badly designed separated cycle path was not cleared. This city does a horrid job of cleaning sidewalks, mostly because it puts the responsibility on the citizen to do it, so in the areas where nobody lives, it does not get cleared, or in homes with old ladies, its not cleared. This is of course exasperated by the fact that the crews clearing the roads overnight need a place to put the snow and thus designate sidewalks as a dumping ground making snow banks of 2-3 feet in some locations and leaving maybe 1 foot clear right next to the building.

Next week should be better, in good news the temps are warming a bit, which I always welcome!

A deer in the headlights (or the bike light actually)

Well saw my first deer up close tonight cycling home about 8:20pm. It was located about where the yellow marker is in the above imagine from Google Earth. I saw a deer in the fall much closer to home, but it was many many yards ahead of me and way out of my headlights, this one was right next to the road in a fallowed field on the lake side of the road I ride on. I am very quiet when riding, my bike is well oiled and everything, but i did have a good amount of tire noise since I was going about 17mph on this stretch, it jumped up and bounded out away from the road.

I like commuting in a rural environment but I am always scared I am going to have a deer or other large animal jump out in front of me and I wont be able to stop. Granted I am not moving that fast but still there is a risk, especially since I am practically silent running and so an animal may think it safe. I am lit up like a Christmas tree so hopefully that's enough to keep most things away.

always an interesting ride home...

The cold kills things I think...

sorry updates and posts are sparse, with limited time and very limited energy its hard to get on here and get something moving. I will try but never fear I am still at it and will update when I can.

that said, my nifty little trip odometer suddenly stopped working this afternoon after a week and a day of service... I think the cold might have done it in actually bit I honestly dont know, I am quite disappointed really, as it was useful to have the time, speed, total distance, average speed and so forth on a nice little display.

in other news its still really cold, but no snow... unlike the rest of the east coast.

It's cold!!

So I was riding home on Friday, I had a water bottle (re-purposed glass bottle)with a small bit of water in it, as well as a Ginger Brew from Maine Root in the backpack. Now its been really cold, wind chill into the negative teens Fahrenheit and it was very cold Thursday and Friday, its better today and should be this week. Anyway I was coming home, double layers of gloves, 5 top layers, long socks, balaclava+wind/rain breaker hood for my head. I was pretty warm except for my upper thighs, but anyway I get home and get inside and take the water and Ginger out of my backpack, to find the water is frozen solid, and the Ginger is a slush!! This was after a 25 minute ride.

man that's some cooling there, times like this I do envy the folks in their steel cages with heaters, thankfully it usually does not stay cold that long.

onto another week

Studded Bike Tires, Update.

Well we have definitely had some snow and ice lately. Temperatures have been cold and we received about eight inches total of snowfall over the last week or so. I've put a decent amount of miles on the studded tires and now have a firmer grip of what they are like.

I LOVE THEM. My goodness I should have tried these years ago. As I previously mentioned I purchased the Nokian mount and ground 160's. One hundred and sixty carbide studs arrayed towards the outside of the tire. When I first mounted them, I was unsure as to how well they would perform. Here is the most notable improvement I have had.

Those of you who ride in the winter know that sideways slip is what gets us in winter riding. When you apply power to the pedals you also apply some sideways force to the tires, since the pedals are mounted to either side of the center line of the bicycle, there is no way to avoid that. It's not an issue unless you are on a surface that would allow you to lose traction. Snow, ice or gravel will allow the tire to slip sideways. Most of the time this forces you to occasionally put a foot down to stop the bike from sliding out from under you.

An experienced rider can compensate for much of this, but occasionally you will still have that slip that goes too far and it is either foot down or all down and you fall as the bike slides out from under you. With the studded tire you still have that slip, but it is only a couple of inches, then the studs on the outer edges of the tires catch as they dig in.

A good example of how much this helps was my trip to the grocery store yesterday. The most direct and safest route for me for this is plowed sidewalk. The store is located on the busiest road in town with traffic speeds of 50+ mph. They plow the sidewalk which leaves about 3 inches of soft snow with a base of ice from previous snowfall. Soft snow over ice is just about the worst for slipping. Normally I would travel slow and be prepared to put a foot down on this trip. But I made the transition from the road to the sidewalk portion and just kept going, the rear end would slip as expected, for about 2-3 inches then the studs would catch and I would continue on. I never had to put a foot down the whole trip and my speed was almost double what I would normally have maintained on that route this time of year.

I did a maintenance inspection yesterday on the bike. I'm missing one stud, which I had noted when I installed the tires. So I have lost zero studs since I started using the tires, tread wear is not noticeable as of yet. I'm very happy with the tires and they are going to be my new winter tires from now on.

Winter Weather

Image thanks to David Hembrow.

With another storm soon upon us here in New England I wanted to point you over to David Hembrow who has been doing a very nice roundup on winter cycling as the Netherlands has been hit with a good deal of snow of late. He has a couple posts up about his commute in and some of a nice city center rush hour traffic. I find it very interesting how they deal with snow and bikes and how Plattsburgh, or Dover deals with it. In Plattsburgh its up to the residents to shovel their sidewalks, and well if nobody lives along a stretch (I show a picture of it in This post) of sidewalk or bike path, its not going to get cleared. This path I am talking about in particular is in a lower income area and its use is mainly folks who are walking into town or biking into town because they cant afford a car and don’t want to wait for the infrequent bus. I went by 4 days after our major storm, roads were perfectly clear but none of the paths were even clear, just the small spots where people had walked. It’s a sad state I feel if we can’t even expect towns and cities to clear public walks for pedestrians. Certainly if they cant do that, do you think they would plow a bike path? You have got to be kidding me.
At least in Dover we have sidewalk plows that come by even in the middle of a storm and plow in our driveway! :P It does at least a good job of clearing the walks, even if the shoulders of the road are not cleared so great, at least pedestrians are pretty well served. I like to think these little machines could be employed to clear separated bike paths if a city already had them, and since they are built for sidewalks I imagine that they are not a one off hand built thing either. Its doable, cities just need to care enough, or have enough cyclists that would be pissed off if inconvenienced more then they already are.

Anyway head over to A View from the Cycle Path and take a look at it done right, and take some comfort maybe that at least one country gets it. In the meantime ride safe and ride often, a little snow never hurt anybody ;)

a little end of year roundup

Well for sure it’s been an interesting year for me, and well obviously for the first 6 months of this little ol blog. I first actually became interested in cycling and transportation and planning and all that this spring in the UK, I was in a ENV planning program before but was focusing a bit more on policy then planning. That has certainly changed and with it the sites I read and where I go on the interwebz. I think commuting this semester by bike has certainly been really useful; I spent money on some upgrades for the bike, some nice accessories that needed to be done. However, I truly need a different frame and a different bike if I hope to keep this commute up for sure. I am looking at the Breezer UpTown 8 and now I need to find a local dealer that has one so I can test ride it, which is turning out to be more of a problem then I originally anticipated.

I did some rough math for the semester, and it seems I did between 900 and 1050 miles for the semester, I tend to lean a bit more toward the higher number but I think I was just under 1000 miles for the semester. That’s about 500 hours in the saddle, and it’s been good. It’s been exciting, depressing, painful, joyous, and peaceful. I missed 2 days due to snow and excessive baggage needing to be transported (more then my bike can carry safely at the moment) and well I don’t feel safe biking on a rural highway with snowplows going by me at 50. I have been yelled at, honked at, almost run over, whistled at, complemented, had pictures taken of and been attacked by lots of rain and head winds. It’s been an interesting semester. I look forward to the next, hopefully on a new bike that will be better for me and better for my riding conditions. I look forward to this New Year with excitement for sure.
I wish you a happy New Year and keep looking for posts into the New Year; I got a couple coming up soon (read when I get to write them) and back to some infrastructure Friday posts for sure!
Be well

a sad day :(

I lost one of my little buddies sometimes yesterday in the snow...


A 7led planet bike Blinky rear light :( I had it for around 4 years, and it bounced out of my back along with its rechargeable batteries (with plenty of life left, although not new) as I was biking through the snow around campus yesterday. It was my trusty light, had traveled through 4 states and 3 countries, I loved that little light, it was more then just a means to be seen, I felt attached, I loved it as it was my first even bike light, almost like loosing a friend.

its a day of mourning :(



in other news I found one on ebay for 10$ won the bid and its being shipped to my house back home :P not the same but still an effective companion to my new 1/2watt rear Blinky.

rest in peace Blinky, hopefully somebody finds it after the thaw and brings it a second life

A wee bit of Snow

Well not to bad for the first real storm of the season. Woke up this morning expecting it, but I also had an 8am ecology exam! well one look at a snowplow going down the road at about 45 meant biking in was not going to happen even if it was doable, I dont trust the cars, and I dont trust the 10ton snowplows with a wave of snow out in front. Hitched a ride in with a housemate and loaded the bike onboard, going to get a ride home and lock the bike in the theatre shop until tomorrow afternoon when it should be mostly cleared.

so I am thinking over winter break, putting together some kind of snow ski contraption thing for riding on roads when they are not plowed, or minimally plowed. I am thinking wooden/composite snow ski's that would attach to the rear frame and/or the front fork. put a mountain bike tire on deflated a bit and go at it, with stability of 4 legs with a wide spread and power from a thick rear wheel I think it has promise. However depth of snow will be important, some type of spring system or adjustment might be needed so wheel can get traction while ski's can ride on top...

or maybe I could get a car :P but thats not nearly as fun ;)

I will throw some pictures up later :)

anybody else crazy enough to ride in a snowstorm on unplowed roads/sidewalks? do you attach a shovel to the front and clear your own path? (also a thought)

A Little Wet... no make that A Whole Freaking Lot Wet

Yep its that time again, seems us crazies on the bike have a whole lot of water to deal with (poor brits are getting drenched!) so I have a question for our two readers out there (hi mom! hi Jim!)

I don’t mind too much riding in the rain; it’s annoying but doable.

How the heck do you keep the water off your glasses at night, cause when its raining at night I literally cant see anything, even if its a light drizzle, water drops on the glasses magnify any light out there and my headlamp which works nicely, can not even be seen by me. I have a very rural stretch, about a mile, and I am scared I am going to hit something, either a living animal crossing the road, hearing no cars coming, or a dead one that missed the cars use road memo. It scares me to death. In the urban setting I am mostly ok and know the route enough to be fine, but I am biking on a 50mph rural highway! Lucky my double Planet Bike rear lights are bright enough to make sure I don’t get run over but none the less, how do you do it???

Second my franken-bike is a mountain with front shocks, which means I have no mounting ability for a front full fender. I have a mountain bike fender that prevents water going into my face, but it does not go low enough so my shoes, pants, socks, and lower legs are always soaked, and it’s not a fun feeling. Is my only option to replace that front fork with an unsuspended one and deal with the (loads) of potholes (they hurt as it is and I can feel the shocks working)

Thoughts on this?

Oh and while I am at it, in the winter I wear a full lycra mask to prevent my skin from freezing (no joke, it happens) its nice and dandy and all but unless I breath properly and even then sometimes the air travels up and fogs my glasses, which promptly freezes and then I cant see anything. I then have to take them off and everything becomes a big fuzzy blur, but it’s the only way I can get home when that happens, short of stopping ever minute to warm and melt my glasses.

Is somebody trying to tell me if I wear glasses I shouldn’t bike? Cause they are certainly causing problems...

The frames are metal, couldn’t I hook some type of heater to them and heat them up, maybe using a battery or my own body heat? Or white Vinegar to prevent fogging?
I am also thinking Rain-X (the car windshield stuff) for the glasses but idk how I feel about that stuff so close to my face all the time and having to reapply it every time I clean them...