Day 1

The current state of the River Trail

Admission: I almost always ride my bike to work, but rarely do I ride my bicycle.

In other words, I take my motorcycle to work as often as possible, so I do better than the average car with my 55 to 60 mpg, my small parking footprint and relatively few raw resources required in the manufacture and upkeep of my transportation. If anyone is wondering, Ride to Work Day for motorcycles, is July 15.

Today, May 11, of course is the first day of Bike to Work Week (I guess they need a week, ’cause they move so slow compared to motorcycles), and I still did not ride my bicycle to work. Like everyone else who failed, I have an excuse: 2.3 million errands and meetings to fit into a very small time span and a very large space span.

Internal combustion aided and abetted me and I feel OK about it.

But I do plan to honor Bike to Work Week for the remaining four days. 4.7 miles each way is not a big deal in a normal city, but in Santa Fe, it can feel like a death wish. Still, ever since being an avid rider and amateur racer in the 1980s, I have remained a big bicycle dork, so I’m looking foward to it.

In fact, my big dilemma is wheter to take the fixie–fast and light–the single speed coaster brake with the big farmers market basket–utilitarian with a touch of hooligan–or the 29er–able to roll over cars at will.

All are single speeds, naturally: it’s pretty flat around here and I lost my taste for riding up steep mountain roads a long time ago. Continue reading »

Just arrived at City Hall, in advance of tomorrow’s event at the Railyard.

7 a.m. – 10 a.m. BIKE TO WORK DAY on the Railyard
FREE food, coffee, t-shirts to the first 350 people, prizes and giveaways – take a swing at the goathead piñata – Bikeways maps – bicycle maintenance experts – Youth helmet fitting – Santa Fe Trails bus demo – join a convoy to the Railyard, route details and map online!

There’s also a Critical Mass right leaving from the Plaza at 5:30 p.m. TODAY. I’ll be there. I heard it will end in beer.

Today Gov. Bill Richardson issued a proclamation declaring May 11-15 New Mexico’s official “Bike to Work” week. Among his stated reasons (full doc here) :

WHEREAS, the economic, environmental and health effects of a car-dependent world are extensive and far reaching; and

WHEREAS, New Mexico has assumed a nationwide leadership role in the advancement of ground-breaking energy efficiency policies and practices to promote and implement energy conservation, renewable energy development, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficiency measure; and

WHEREAS, as part of New Mexico’s “Lead by Example” initiative it is the goal of all Executive Branch state agencies to achieve a 20 percent usage reduction below 2005 levels in the state fleet and transportation-related activities by 2015 based on the average transportation-related energy usage per state employee; and

WHEREAS, bicycle commuting is an effective means to improve air quality, reduce traffic congestion and noise, and to conserve energy;

Well, the governor isn’t exactly leading by example. Spokesman Gilbert Gallegos tells SFR that, no, the governor will not be riding his bike to work this week. However, he does, indeed, own a bike.

Hot on the heels of SFR’s own commuter survey, the Santa Fe Metropolitan Planning Organization is out with a two-page survey, geared mainly at cyclists and timed to Bike to Work Week.

I filled one out last week. You should too—even if you’re not a cyclist—although it’s a bit of a pain to print out and mail the PDF. Better to just pick up a form at one of this week’s many Bike To Work events.

(Update: Or use this fill-out-able version of the survey PDF, released late yesterday: Click to download.)

The best part of the survey is the essay question, natch. Not to try to influence your answers, but I suggested: Bike boxes at dangerous intersections, a “rolling stop” law for cyclists at lower-traffic intersections, and smoother shoulders, among other things. Last year I wrote an article for SFR’s sister paper in Portland with many more suggestions for bike-ped improvements that could work in Santa Fe.

Last week I got a letter from Severn Thomas of Livingston, Montana, who’ll be riding in the Santa Fe Century on May 17, “in the ‘Obama’ jersey.”

“As a serious recreational cyclist I have been the target of frequent verbal abuse; had bottles, trash and other projectiles thrown at me; been threatened with bodily harm; and nearly run off the road by several motorists,” Thomas writes. “Cyclists are not simply going to go away, and brazen attempts made by ill-tempered and irresponsible motorists to deny cyclist’s rights will only radicalize elements on both sides.”

Granted, there are plenty of irresponsible cyclists. Not two hours ago I passed a guy cycling the wrong way, in traffic, past the new convention center downtown. But as I cyclist, I know that Thomas is right.

On Sunday morning, headed south on Agua Fria, the driver of a big, shiny blue pickup tried to force me out of the rode as I merged out of the right-turn-only lane approaching an intersection. He then spent a moment honking at me as we waited for the light to turn green, only quieting down when I made it clear, by shouting, that I had a right to the road as well.

Even worse, a few weeks ago I had a similar experience with a city bus while at a red light on Guadalupe at Alameda. I could hear the bus creeping forward behind me. When I turned to look at the driver, he motioned that he wanted to take the right turn on red, which would’ve required me to enter the intersection on a red light. By creeping forward, he was essentially forcing me into cross traffic. This was a city bus, mind you.

Has any cyclist in Santa Fe not had several experiences like this?

Continue reading »