The Cycling Dude

1st of 3 Mtn. to Sea Trails opens in Orange County, Ca.

This is great news for Cyclists of all stripes, and walkers, and hikers, as well.

Three trails connecting the Cleveland National Forest to the ocean are focal points of an Irvine Co. plan to preserve 50,000 acres of the old Irvine Ranch.

Company Chairman Donald Bren announced Thursday that the Bren Foundation will donate $20 million to the Irvine Ranch Land Reserve Trust to expand access to the area, the largest portions encompassing Weir, Fremont and Limestone Canyons to the north, Shady and Bommer Canyons in the south and the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park.

California has a great reputation for some of the best hiking, and biking spots in the nation, and Orange County's place in it has just gotten an unbelievable boost.

The first trail, called "Mountains-to-Sea," runs from Weir Canyon all the way to Newport Coast.

Portions of the trail were completed years ago, but the Irvine Co. worked with five cities - Irvine, Newport Beach, Tustin, Orange and Anaheim - and the county to link all the segments.

The other two planned trails will straddle the planned Great Park and also run from the mountains to the sea. Bren said he wants those trails opened within 18 months.

I've written about portions of this trail, that I've rode on my bike, and the Newport Back Bay is one of my favorite, and interesting, places to visit.

For Bren preserving the land for recreational use is a passion.

Bren asked the elected officials and conservation leaders gathered at Irvine Regional Park on Thursday to join him in an "unwavering commitment to ensure that this precious land is managed, improved and enjoyed forever."

Bren's latest donation brings to $50 million the contributions to the reserve by the Bren Foundation. The money will be spent to cut 30 new trails, some as long as 17 miles.

"I believe we can create a world-renowned park, restored and managed to standards that inspire others," he said.

Choosing to make this announcement in Irvine was important to him:

"We chose this setting because of the park's deep historical ties to our company's open space and historical legacy," Bren said of his gift to the Irvine Ranch Land Reserve.

Irvine Regional Park, just outside the northwest city limits of Orange, was donated to the county in 1897 by Irvine Co. founder James Irvine. The land reserve, 50,000-plus acres, includes 11,000 acres set aside in 2001.

When most folks think of the Irvine Co. they think of housing tracts, and Shopping Malls, and may not realize the historic part the company has played in the preservation of open land in Orange County.

The opportunities for exercise, fun, and adventure, are endless in the Great Outdoors, and  depending on the time of day you choose to wander about you may, alongside an amazing variety of trees and blooming wildflowers, see abundant wildlife such as bobcats, deer, rabbits, squirrels, skunks, fish, lizards, snakes, bats, ducks, and a variety of other local, and migratory, birds.

This particular route  ( Wonderful Interactive MAP!! ) passes through the cities of Orange, Tustin, Irvine and Newport Beach, and the other 2, future routes, will be further to the south.

Stories in:

OC REGISTER. ( Free Reg. required. )

Daily Pilot.

Daily Pilot Editor.

Dave, Maxine, 2 bikes, and all of Canada before them

Blame Canada!

Well, 2 of its citizens anyway. :-D

If more steps are taken down the road of finding cures for cancers then the money raised by 2 intrepid Canadians will have played a small part.

I was given a heads up about the Blog known as Dave and Maxine's Cross Canada Bicycle Trek, and decided to take a look.

They explain their mission this way:

The aim of our cycle ride is to raise funds for lung research, and we will be doing this through the BC Lung Association to which all donations go directly. All costs of the trip will be paid by ourselves. Our ride will finish in Vancouver in time to join the annual 200km BC Lung Trek for Life and Breath 2005.

Their Blog was begun in January, but they only began their ride this month with a projected September finish.

They will travel from Newfoundland to British Columbia before all is said and done.

Well over 9,000 miles.

I want to share with you some of my favorite entries in their blog so far as a way to encourage you to check it out:

1. April 21st.

Reality of the vastness and the whole concept of cycling across Canada is sinking in a little deeper. Probably not as deep as it will be sinking by day 6.

With the reality I was listening to a niggly little voice in my head asking will I really be able to do this? I guess that would be called doubt. I thought some more about this as I was surprised at myself and realized I was a bit anxious as I don't like to start something I can't finish.

For more: Reality sinks in.

2. This ride is a showcase for "Hybrids" such as my own trusty steed.

April 28th:

Both Dave and Maxine have a class of bicycle known as "Hybrid". That is, not true road bikes with ultralight frames and skinny wheels, but neither are they low geared heavy mountain bikes with fatty tires. They are truly a hybrid standing somewhere between the two, and designed for long distance asphalt road touring.

For more: For the Techies out there!

3. and 4. May 9th and 12th the ride begins!

We are off!  and Recipe for Frazzled Cyclists.

5. May 13th: Weather or not here we come!

One of the main reasons for choosing to ride east to west was to avoid facing the Rockies within a few weks of starting out. Well, did Newfoundland have a surprise for us...

A piece of advice to other cyclists heading this way - when a Newfoundlander tells you the weather "will be nice today", he means something quite different to the Vancouver Island version of "nice" weather!!!

Learn about Newfoundland Suprises. :-D

6. We won't just write about the trip, but show it to ya, too!

The 1st photos.

7.  May 22: Geocaching.

As readers of my other blog know I've joined the Bookcrossing Phenomenon, and have in 3 months released several books "into the wild".

Well, the Geocache  experience  was one of Bookcrossings inspirations, and Dave and Maxine get into the act.

Follow Dave and Maxine on their journey here.

Hunting, Fishing, Bicycling?

Before you scratch your head in puzzlement, too much, be assurred that Ken Allen, of The Morning Sentinel in Maine, has explained.

In April he wrote an article that answers the all important question:

Why should anglers and hunters pick up another sport such as bicycling?

I want to share a little secret with you, and I say "secret" because it is almost sacrilegious for an angler-hunter to admit the following. Many years ago, when snowy winds soughed under the eaves, my thoughts drifted to spring afternoons on a river, casting dry flies to rising trout. These days, though, my winter day dreams often include images of bicycling down a country road with overhanging trees and shadowed splotches on pavement.

Yes, bicycling in Maine has everything to recommend it -- wonderful exercise, great scenery, low traffic (by New England standards), camaraderie and rugged hills that arguably change this aerobic workout to anaerobic, which needs a brief explanation. Bicycling up a long, gently sloping incline can feel as aerobic as dancing, but a steep ridge can make bikers think that they are on a leg-lifting machine, trying to move 200 pounds.

He proceeds to answer the question he poses in this way:

One perfect reason is conditioning. Bikes offer us a cardiovascular regimen that makes it a snap to walk hardwood ridges in the fall or wade deep currents in the spring. In short, besides bicycling being just plain fun, the sport makes hunting and fishing just that more enjoyable. After deer hunting or fishing hard since dawn, it just feels great to have spring in your legs late in the day.

Another reason for getting into bicycling is this: 1) Bikers pedaling along a road can silently approach a small patch of deer woods for an evening vigil, or better yet, easily traverse north-country roads behind gates, where landowners prohibit motorized access but allow bikes. The latter opens up opportunities for superb angling away from crowds.

Now, who would have thunk it? :-D

He goes on to talk about his cycling experiences a little, and to encourage his readers to join the fun.

He also tells of the following excellent resource for cycling in Maine which I've long had a link to in my Cycle USA collection of links:

The Maine Department of Transportation put out a wonderful, free booklet for bicyclists -- "Explore Maine by Bike," which includes foldout maps of 25 bicycle loops around the state.

Information on how to get this booklet is available from the Maine Department of Transportation, #16 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0016; www.exploremaine.org/bike.

Full Story -- Morning Sentinel Online/MainToday.com: Bicycling perfect way for hunters, anglers to keep fit.

Interactive online bicycle mapping tool debuts in Oakland

This is cool. :-)

As part of its program to spread the word that bicycling is a viable commuting choice, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission of Oakland, Ca., in April added an interactive online bicycle mapping tool to its popular Cycling Web site. The free 511 BikeMapper(SM) service contains maps of all existing off-street bicycle paths, on-street bike lanes and designated bike routes in the whole 9 county Bay Area, and it allows cyclists to specify where they want to ride to, see what bikeways are available in the specific areas, and print the map, or maps, they might need.

A link to the website now appears in my California Route Info section.

The things this tool allows you to do are quite interesting.

The 511 BikeMapper(SM) is part of a nationwide trend toward online bicycle
mapping and is the first one-stop resource for bicycling maps that cover the
entire nine-county Bay Area. The 511 BikeMapper(SM) does not automatically
determine the best route or provide turn-by-turn directions. Rather, it
displays bike paths, bike lanes and bike routes within areas you specify -- by
city, zip code or address -- and provides tools to interact with the map and
to print maps yourself. This allows you to see all available options and
decide for yourself which route to take for bike trips.
    Among the innovative features of the 511 BikeMapper(SM) is a "Show Slope" option that allows users to identify hilly portions of bike routes with grades of 5 percent or more. Varying slopes are identified by color. The 511
BikeMapper(SM) database encompasses more than 3,000 miles of bicycle paths, on-street bike lanes and local streets that are designated as bike routes.

That last must be for those who don't want the fun of being suprised on an afternoon ride hither, and yon. :-D

There are plans to add more info as more of the cities in the counties  take stock of just what they have to offer in bicycle facilities, and as new trails, and routes are created.

It is being stressed that computer users  can play an important part in fine-tuning the database.

"We've carefully screened the information, but it's a brand new product. So a few inaccuracies could still turn up. We're urging BikeMapper(SM) users to e-mail us if they have a correction or addition, and to check back with http://www.511.org for periodic updates."  The e-mail address for 511 BikeMapper(SM) feedback is bikemapper-@-mtc.ca.gov.

Full Story on PR Newswire: 511 Service Adds Online Bicycle Mapping.

Green Party ignores Cycling Dude

A week ago I reported that a member of the Co-Directors of the Green Party USA wrote me that Critical Mass was going be an upcoming topic for discussion.

On the 11th I replied as follows:

Dear Jody,

Interesting....

If my reporting, and letters, stir the GPUS into exploring the CM movement more deeply, even if it in the end decides to still show support from time to time, then I'll consider my efforts did something useful.

Or maybe the only thing going on at your confab will be y'all sticking pins in voodoo dolls, and I'll start feeling sharp pains in my nether regions until I quit being such a muckraker. :-D

You see, I write about the movement, and have links to its sites, on my Blog, so not just I can learn more about it, and thus become more informed, but so my fellow ordinary Bicyclists, most of whom probably don't have a clue about CM, positive, or negative, can become more informed, especially before they choose whether to participate in CM events.

Since my letter to you several new developements have occurred, here, at The Cycling Dude, that you will find interesting:

Google Alert brings news stories about recent NY CM, and I investigate 2 websites with interesting Pro CM content. 

BIKEBLOG: A fascinating new Blog that is All Time's Up, All Critical Mass, all the time, and is an instructive, and interesting, read.

BIKEBLOG author responds to me, at length, and cordially, spurring discussion on both blogs.

If what I'm doing spurs discussion, and debate, and increases the knowledge of my fellow cyclists then I'm doing my job, whether they end up agreeing with me or not.

Sincerely yours,

The response was very interesting, and disappointing because I had hoped for more:

May 11th:

It has been brought to my attention that you are already in communication with the GPUS Media Committee.  Please continue using that as your connection to the Green Party of the United States.  They will advise the Steering Committee of the need for our involvement if and as appropriate.

Membership information for the Green Party of the United States, as well as the GPUS Platform, is available on our website at gp.org.

Jody Grage Haug

Is it just me, or does the above indicate to you, dear reader, that she, and possibly her Comrades as well, may never even have bothered to read ANY of the links I sent them?

If she had then she would have already known, without having to be told by the Media Committee ( which apparently took a while to decide to say anything at all ), that I'd been in contact with those folks, and know that I don't want to join the Greens, and that I did a mostly favorable piece on their cycling platform.

My reply, on the 12th, to this was as follows:

Dear Jody,

The reason I took the step of letting the co-directors know of what I was doing was that Nancy Allen never replied, and Scott McLarty made it clear how dismissive he was of me, and my concerns.

I took his communications as an indication that, even if he had bothered to read my writings, he had not passed the links on to you, and your comrades as I had hoped he would.

If you have read the links I sent you in both my e-mails, then you will see our back, and forth, and will understand why I am reluctant to write to either of them again.

If you have looked at my Blog, and its collection of resources for Cyclists, then you will know that I'm no right-wing flake, but a serious Bicyclist, who just happens to be Conservative.

If you prefer that I no-longer write you, or the other co-directors, then I will not do so.

You have my e-mail, and I hope still have the links, in case you, or anyone else, cares to read, or even to respond to, my writings, and I hope that if anything interesting regarding Critical Mass comes out of your next Steering Committee meeting that might be of interest to me, and my readers, you consider letting me know about it.

Also, feel free to send me heads up concerning anything related to bicycling that the GP may issue pronouncements on, or participate in, for consideration to be mentioned on The Cycling Dude.

Sincerely yours,

As of this writing I have yet to hear again from anyone in the Green Party USA.

Not even a Thank You for the discussion of the cycling elements of the Party Platform.

Just one more failure by CM supporters to seriously address the negative side to the movement that I, and others, keep reporting on.

Look, if I am willing to report what positive stories I can dig up then there has to be someone in the movement, or who supports it, willing to discuss the negative, in a more than "just in passing", or even dismissive, way, if at all.

Thank You Dean Esmay

I wish to thank the great, and entertaining, writer of Dean's World, Dean Esmay, for linking to my coverage of the Critical Mass story.

Dean does a stellar job of "Defending the liberal tradition in history, science, and philosophy."

As mentioned previously, due to my unexpectedly having to find another Apartment on short notice ( Not MY decision! ), I'm going to be a little slow following up on the CM Story.

But... not near as slow as supporters of CM are in being brave enough to come here and, instead of replying just to a comment made elsewhere, replying to specific archived posts in my CM series. :-D

Only 2 folks have responded, and basically in response to that comment.

Everyone else seems to be only willing to take me to task in the safe haven of that website. :-D

I'll get to those interesting comments soon, I promise.

As for the Greens...

I think they are just plain flummoxed by yours truly. :-D

The latest: Green Party Ignores Cycling Dude.

For now...

I'd like to welcome any of Dean's readers who, being fellow cyclists, are just now discovering this site, and its many resources.

Feel free to root around among the links, and archives, to your hearts content, and Happy Trails!

Apartment Hunting by Bike and Bus

Just when I was getting in a groove...

Thank goodness the word didn't come down on Friday the 13th! :-D

We recently had our rent raised by $12 ( to $673 ), here at the Branch Maceyugoserbulgarigreekadonian Compound, and a new Manager for the Property we are located on was also installed.

When I returned from work Thursday night I found a notice on my door:

I was being given 60 days notice to vacate.

My 1st reaction was: What the F***???

Then I went to bed, and slept on it.

The scoop.

What this means for the next 2 months is a lot of my free time will be focused on finding new digs, and that I will post when I can.

I've been reading, and thinking about how to respond to the recent comments of Mr. Green , and others, and had plans to post my thoughts on my days off, Monday, and Tuesday.

I'd planned to finish adding links to the CYCLE USA List as well.

That will all have to wait a little longer, thought there will be some related posts made in the meantime that should amuse those following the story.

Also, I WILL finally post reports of the 2 bike rides I took during my vacation in March.

I will be doing this by bike, bus, and on foot, so should lose a few pounds in the process.

Wish me luck, and success, as I get the Great OC Apartment Hunt underway. :-D

Trend Spotting Blog wants your Bike Photos

There is an interesting website with worldwide contributors:

PSFK is a community of trend spotters, futurists, forward-thinking-individuals and cool hunters in Fashion, Design, Advertising, IT, Government, Art, You-Name-It around the world. Sightings of trends are fed to a group of main site editors who then may or may not publish them on the site. We email a weekly and monthly newsletter too to subscribers.

Hmmm, does this mean someone thought The Cycling Dude is Trendy ?

I got this e-mail, and thought I'd pass it along:

Hey there,

I run a blog called PSFK and we run monthly competitions on Flickr to find cool photos of things and stuff. This month we're looking for photos of 'cool bikes' - we even have been given nice camera bag prizes from Crumpler in Australia.

Check it out (and enter).

Thought this would be of interest to you and your blog readers.

Cheers,

Piers

Want to see some cool Bike pictures?

Go here.

As for Dude being Trendy ?

Who knows? :-D

Green Party: Topic on our Agenda

Whoa....

My Letter to the co-chairs of the Green Party brought a very interesting response today from 1 of them:

This topic will be on the agenda for the next conference call of the GPUS Steering Committee.

Thanks,

Jody Grage Haug

Now, I don't know what this means, but one can hope it indicates that the Party, even if it in the end decides to continue its support of the Critical Mass movement, will at least  decide to do what I'm trying to do, and learn more about it, choose how, and when, to support it, and maybe criticize it from time to time.

Maybe I'll get a more detailed response after the confab....

Or maybe the only thing going on will be them sticking pins in voodoo dolls, and I'll start feeling sharp pains in my nether regions until I quit being such a muckraker. :-D

For your Convenience here is the story so far:

1. Green Party turns red as it angrily defends Critical Mass.

2. Green Party silent in response to Cycling Dude.

3. Greens Media Man: Debate not worth my time.

4. Closed Minded: Moi?

5. The Green Party and the Bicycle.

6. A letter to the Green Party.

7. 1st CM Google Alert disappointing.

8. Still We Ride: A CM BikeBlog.

9. BIKEBLOG'S Michael Green Responds.

I hope to respond to Mr. Green in the next few days as free time allows.

Bikeblog's Michael Green Responds

I left the following comment over at Bikeblog, Sunday, hoping to have someone respond:

I have gotten so sick of reading, and being told, that Critical Mass "is not an organization, it's an unorganized coincidence. It's a movement ... of bicycles, in the streets", and everyone is encouraged to show up, and just start riding, blah, blah, blah.

Can we stop with that BS for good now?

Time's Up is an activist organiztion, with a major focus on bicycling issues, openly promoting monthly Critical Mass rides.

CM is not leaderless, and unorganized it surely isn't, especially when organizations set up and publicize a CM event.

Time's Up does many good things on behalf of cycling issues, and is to be commended for that, but think for a moment.....

I mean, REALLY THINK....

I'm all for Freedom of Speech, and Assembly, when done in a peacable, non-threatening manner and, most importantly, legally.

And I think bad cops should be punished, as do most cops of my acquaintance.

However, isn't it possible that the reason the city is so focused on CM is that far too often those attending, and even sponsoring, such events, in the USA, and around the world, have agendas far different than the supposed "promoting sustainable environmental solutions" that ordinary "real cyclists" think they are attending these rides to promote?

If Time's Up, and other Bicycle Activism groups, did what was neccessary to ensure their sponsorship of CM kept Anarchists, and other disruptive elements uninterested in better bicycling, out of their events then maybe the rest of us would respect the movement, if not agreeing with its tactics.

CM supporters should use all that energy to make sure that their precious Critical Mass focuses on issues relevent to Bicycling, because as long as it does not entirely do so it does more harm than good to the cause of Bicycling, and the impression many car drivers, law enforcement, and government officials, have of cyclists in general.

The Cycling Dude
Costa Mesa, Ca.

My comment included a link to this blog, and to my CM Archive.

What follows is the response, yesterday, from Michael Green, the writer of BIKEBLOG, moved here, from its original spot in the comments to one of my posts:

Dear cycling dude,

I appreciate your comments and would like a chance to respond. I understand your frustration about defining critical mass, especially in this world of non-democratic hierarchical top-down prepackaged events. I would still have to argue that critical mass is a leaderless event. Just because certain individuals show leadership and promote the ride is no reason to claim that they are in charge and take responsibility for an event that happens in over 300 cities around the world. I do not understand why this sickens you so much? This issue about definition is really coming to a head here in New York City. The police seriously want a definition of critical mass…they are looking for a head in which to chop off. They want to claim Time’s Up is responsible for Critical Mass and they want them to apply for a permit. A federal judge ruled this out because he could find no validity in the cops argument. “Who would ask for a permit?” No one takes responsibility for the ride. I realize Time’s Up is the most prevalent in promoting critical mass, but it is also advertised in Time out magazine, on various blogs, on email list servs…should all those people be held accountable? Should I be held accountable if I go to critical mass and ride at the front of the pack and suggest everyone goes left at the next intersection? The police would love that. The police are so desperate for a leader that they are trying to sue 4 people as the leaders of critical mass, because the cops saw their names a bunch of times in article about Time’s Up. I doubt they will succeed in State court, but this hasn’t stopped them from putting 4 people through legal and financial hell just because they are in search of a black and white-tidy little packaged definition.

Like I say, your frustration is understandable…but what really disturbs me is your ignorance on the crack down of critical mass in NYC. I may have some expertise in this field since I have attended just about every ride since 2000.

This is not just a few bad cops wilding on a Friday night. This is a systematic crack down on descent and on people’s rights of free assembly. This has been going on ever since the twin towers fell. When President George W. Bush and the right wing republicans got a green light to label anything they didn’t like as either terrorism or on the home-front anarchism. This ism words have come in very handy for the police. Our police chief even said, “the ride was peaceful and then it got taken over by anarchists.” Who are these people? I know people who claim to be anarchists, they weren’t being violent on the ride. I’ve been to critical mass in at least five other cities and NYC has always been the calmest and self regulated. Besides this is NYC, if people go around punching SUV windows like they do in Portland Oregon, your libel to get shot. All of this manifested at the Republican National Convention when the same scooter cops who had been friendly and helped facilitate the ride for six years suddenly turned their mopeds into the crowd and started making arrests…violent arrests. 5,000 people attended this event. Was critical mass targeted because it got too popular? Right before the convention a document surfaced called “operation overlord II” This was a manual for cops to use during the RNC to handle large scale demonstrations…in it’s pages is a section on critical mass. So this bike ride has become part of the police’s checklist of things that are to be stopped at demonstrations. Part of there propaganda used to scare the rank-n-file officers, make them not understand that this is a peaceful bike ride and not a group of hooded anarchists breaking windows and hating the W.T.O. These are commands that stem from the mayor and chief of police who think it is an appropriate response to the bike ride to turn it into a police state. Every Friday night since RNC in August 2004 it has been a terror to ride your bike. Never knowing if an undercover will leap off his bike and throw you to the ground or if you’ll be given a 200 fine for running a red light even if your no where near the ride. Not knowing that if you bike is locked up a cop may come an cut your lock and confiscate your property. This is the world we are living in. This is what should make you sick and tired.

I am so sick and tired of people scapegoating anarchists or ecoterrorists when the can’t just sit down and think about what it means to have a constitution and the fact that you don’t need a leader or a permit to ride your bicycle with a group of people on a Friday night.

Maybe this will help you think more about critical mass…I mean really think.

I pray the WTO, the IMF or the RNC never comes to Costa Mesa California, because all of your rights will be suspended and we can all blame it on anarchists.

Michael Green
Not the leader of critical mass
bikeblog

Now, why can't the folks over at the Green Party show this much conviction, and this much guts, by venturing into my place for a little sharing of views?  :-D

So far 1 person has weighed in on the debate over at Mike's place, and you can to, if interested.