The Cycling Dude

Thoughts On Bicycle Commuting

Well, I'm home again for tomorrow, and as I check my blogs I come across a commenter who, when I visit her weblog, I discover has written an entertaining piece on Bicycling in Chicago, Skokie, & Seattle.

Fran's piece can be read at Northwest Notes: Bicycle stories..

Enjoy....

Bicycle Built for Two

Ok, so it's after midnite, guys, and since you forgot to get flowers and candy for your sweetie, you were banished for the night to the couch and, unable to sleep, you decided to surf the net and ended up here because of your interest in Bicycling.

As a thank you for your excellent taste in blogging choices I hereby am gonna help you out in your time of need:

STEP 1: Wake the Little Lady up and drag her back to the computer.

Don't forget to grovel with repeated "I'm Sorry's" & "Please Forgive Me's" as you explain, along the way, that you want her to "Pretty Please" listen to & read something you found online.

STEP 2: If you have made it this far then click on the link below.

Quick, now, before she wakes up completely, slaps you upside your sorry head, and goes back to bed!

Daisy Bell by Harry Dacre, 1892

STEP 3: If all goes according to plan she will instantly forgive you, if not for ALL your sins, then at least for the one that got you put in the dog house yesterday.

No need to thank me, now, just enjoy the rest of the night.

DISCLAIMER: I am NOT RESPONSIBLE for what may happen, of a negative nature, if you decide to try to accompany the music by attempting to sing along.......

Interesting Information about DAISY BELL: Including a Parody!

Fine Kettle of Fish

Well, this is a fine kettle of fish.

I've been away from my computer for most of the last week due to my full work schedule and having to stay at my sisters house in Orange County.

The good news is that I'm home today & Saturday and am adding more links to the site, and a few posts as well.

I'll be glad when I find an apartment and can settle down into a routine again.

I got hold of a copy of a new Cycling magazine and have wiled away the time on the bus commute everyday reading the thing and planning how to write about it here.

I did manage to go riding about 20 miles along the coast over the weekend for my first taste of a long ride along the beach in Orange County.

I didn't do it with an eye toward writing about it here, but to just get out of the house, relax, and feel what a long ride is like again, after not having gone on one for quite some time.

I hope next week to ride the route from that magazine article I linked to last week. The ride I took was the northern end of that one for the most part, and will make for an interesting report when I get around to it.

One thing readers may notice is the focus on links, here, to clubs and organizations in California.

Since I live in this fair state its clubs and organizations will be highlighted ( which is good for tourists, vacationers, & folks planning to relocate especially ).

Putting every link to every such group in all 50 states, and Internationally, would be near impossible so I decided that, while there will be links to other states & nations, I want to concentrate on finding those links that will provide the most connections to clubs and organizations in their individual states and nations so keep your eyes peeled for such links in the future.

A sort of less is more solution to providing information.

I want my links to be an information resource for cyclists, and hope that what links I do provide prove useful to those who come upon them.

Church of the Almighty Bicycle

And, now, for a little fun and laughter, and serious food for thought.....

Not being one who has ever owned a car, or understood their inner workings or mystique I don't usually read articles about them.

I made an exception, this morning, for an article I found in the LOS ANGELES TIMES.

In the church of the almighty auto: by Nancy Rommelmann.

My sense of humor saw the wonderful possibilities in playing a game of word switch, with many of the things the author said in her piece, to see how they sounded when thinking of bicyclists:

These were just a few ( MY WORDS IN BOLD ):

1. Trying to distill Southern Californians' relationships with their bicycles is as ridiculous as suggesting, "If you've got a few minutes, I'll explain this whole love thing."

2. What are our bicycles but daily devotionals that we need, adore and hate?

3. We name our bicycles, we yell at our bicycles.....

4. We take our bicycles for a long drive along Mulholland Drive at sunset.

5. When we are not engaged with our own bicycles, we're involved with others. We slobber over the ( name your manufacturer ) concept bikes at the Bike Expo. We ask the girl at the Farmers Market about her Trek

6. Our level of engagement with bicycles is never neutral. There is always a reason behind our choices, among them aesthetics, power, piety, and economy.

With this game in mind, reading the rest of this, fascinating in its own right, article on auto extremists gives one much to ponder.

In our love of all things cycling there are some of us who aren't that different, sometimes, than the person who thinks his/her car is anything but mere transportation.

OC Metro Mag on Coastal Cycling

Long Beach Cyclist Strives to Lure Business Magazine Readers to Get Out of the Office and Pedal Along the Beach

As I went about the business of filing job applications, yesterday, I found some free reading material in the form of an Orange County business lifestyle magazine called OC METRO.

On the verge of tossing the little darling in the nearby trash, after perusing its table of contents, I spotted a piece on cycling and settled down to read it on the bus ride home.

The article is entitled: Coastal Biking: Cruising on 2 wheels between Seal Beach & the Balboa Peninsula.

Having only travelled twice on one small stretch of this route ( in Newport Beach ) I was very interested in reading further because riding the whole route is one of the first things on my agenda in my new home.

I liked the writers approach to his tale right from the start. He begins as follows:

"Exercise is not a word that most of us confuse with "fun". Running laps on a treadmill or banging some weights at the gym are good for us, but they offer little in the way of stimulation.
Bicycling, however, offers both great exercise and ( if you choose the right location ) a mental workout, too. After riding along the Orange County coast you may not realize just how many calories you have burned."

Interspersing comments by a cycling expert & a local shop owner, the writer takes a simple, step by step, approach to the route.

He describes the route in stages, including degree of ease or difficulty, landmarks, mileage, sites to see, & places to refuel & go potty in a sometimes humorous pep talk of a travelogue that ends with some very good advice to riders of all skill levels.

The full round trip is approximately 36 miles and, if you tire out, there is always the OCTA # 1 bus to haul you and your steed back along PCH to your starting point.

If you get lost, using his directions........

Well, I won't have an opinion on THAT aspect of the story until I get a chance to put it to the test, hopefully in the next week or 2. :-)

The article, in its entirety, can be found here: Coastal Biking: by Jason Reed

Enjoy!

A Costa Mesa Rush Hour

AND YOU THOUGHT THE FREEWAYS WERE STUFFED TO THE GILLS DURING RUSH HOUR?

Try being a MOTORIST on ADAMS between Costa Mesa & Huntington Beach. :-)

Unbelievable! The bus was 20 minutes late. :-)

However, it's almost as bad at other times of the day or night so being able to ride a bike as a commuting alternative is great.

One evening, this week, I had the chance to do so for the first time and, even the bike lane didn't dampen my enthusiasm.

The distance from my work, to my sisters house is aproximately 5 miles, and the route has a couple of easliy managed rolling hills.

It took me only 30 minutes, and felt alot quicker.

I am already discovering that many of the main N/S & E/W streets are heavily used, and that this usage by commuters played a big role in the redsign of the MASS TRANSIT ROUTES in the county to having many routes that spend most of their time going in straight lines, or at least on one street or a combo of 2-4 instead of numerous twists and turns down side streets that no-one cares to use.

As a bicyclist, especially one unafraid in traffic, I find much to recommend, on first contemplation, this street layout, even with alot of hilly stretches.

I may change my mind after further exploration, but for now......

Back in the Fast (Bike) Lane

Ok, it's been a hectic 1st week in Orange County, but in between commuting by bus to and from work, I've managed to read an interesting article on cycling in OC, and one on cars that had me laughing when I substituted certain words to make it more cycling centered.

Oh, and I had my first cycling excursion on the streets of my future cycling playground......

Surrounded by Rollies!

Big ones! Small ones! Long ones! Short ones!

Orange County has a zillion of them!

Or so it seems....

Over the last few days, as I apartment hunted and traveled to and from work, I have seen more hilly stretches of pavement than I can keep track of. :-)

To be a serious cyclist here means staying in shape because you will definitely get a workout in many areas of the County. :-)

Another thing I've noticed is the sheer number of BIKE LANES everywhere you ride in Orange County.

BIKE LANES have their uses, but I don't feel bound to use them exclusively if staying out of them is safer, or I can use a different route.

Just like I'm NOT one of those who thinks the CAR/TRUCK/SUV is the spawn of the Devil. I'm also not one of those who thinks the BIKE LANE is their 3rd cousin, once removed, or something like that. :-)

CBC Blog of the Month!

To the annonymous individual or individuals who were instrumental in THE CYCLING DUDE being chosen as BLOG OF THE MONTH in the current e-mail Newsletter of the CALIFORNIA BICYCLE COALITION:

Thank You! :-)

I am honored that you think so positively of my new born baby. :-)