In response to the shocking death of Verter Ginestra on Saturday on 360 and serious hit and run injuries of cyclist Evan Baird, Please Be Kind to Cyclists is bring the the Austin cycling community together this Thursday for a special ride called Pedaling for Safer Roads.

“Thursday’s gathering will be a chance to send a message to lawmakers to create better infrastructure for cyclists, to implement comprehensive safety awareness and education among drivers, and to create and enforce laws protecting cyclists. Saturday’s fatal crash and Monday’s hit and run mark two serious cycling tragedies in Austin in less than a week. There have been three cycling deaths so far this year and many more injured. We hope that this gathering can be a catalyst for change to educate drivers and protect everyone who rides a bicycle.”

More on the ride from Fox 7.

It’s time to say ¡Ya basta! Please mark your calendar and come to City Hall this Thursday night.

Pedaling for Safer Roads
7 PM
Austin City Hall

Here are the details:

The Campaign: Bike Lights and Helmets for Kids

If this Grassroots campaign raises $400, then BikeTexas can provide bike lights for 40 Texas cyclists to ensure they have the necessary equipment to ride to work or school safely. Each additional $10 raised will provide a bike light set for another child or adult in need.

Through its partnership with Safe Routes to School, BikeTexas works with teachers and schools to educate children about bicycle safety and increase the number of children who bike to school. To date, the program has reached more than 4,000 teachers and approximately 200,000 children with safe cycling education.

This fundraising special expires on April 22, 2012.

Mayor: Both Lee Leffingwell and Brigid Shea
Place 2: Mike Martinez
Place 5: Bill Spelman
Place 6: Sheryl Cole

Visit their site for a full list of reasons behind the endorsements. If you want to vote in the May 12 election you have until this Thursday, April 12 to register with the Tax Assessor’s office.

The 16th annual Political Pedal this Friday

Since 1997 each year we help connect the Austin City Council candidates, the Travis County candidates and other candidates with the cycling community while riding on the common denominator of 2 wheels!

4:45 pm (gathering); 5pm – 5:30 pm (candidate speeches); 5:30 pm – 6pm (ride); 6 pm – 7:45pm (happy hour).

Hosted by Scott Johnson (your organizer), the Austin Cycling Association, Uncle Billy’s Brew and Que, Mellow Johnnys bike shop. Please RSVP. Complimentary food provided while it lasts.

Details: please call Scott Johnson at (512) 389-2250 (H) – land line or e-mail scottaj1@juno.com

The Inverted Bike Shop from Show Love on Vimeo.

In a confluence of bloggy excellence, I have been thinking about biking (well duh) but more specifically bike shops. Four things I have read over the last couple of months along with conversations with local bike shop owners has really got me thinking about the role of shops in our bike ecosystem here in Austin. Firstly, a tongue in cheek post by BikeSnob, detailing your different types of local bike shops had me thinking through and assigning the labels to all the shops I know. Then last week I stumbled across a video from 718 Cyclery with a completely different take on the bike shop experience finally today, I was reading over a post on Adventure Journal about the Salvagetti bike shop in Denver, which has grown their business through relationships and openness. All of this got me thinking about our local shops and their roles in our two-wheeled success.

I have a favorite shop, but in terms of convenience it is not optimal. The shops that are within biking distance (what I consider convenient) either don’t have what I am looking for or when I don’t know what I want they have too many average options, but nothing that stands out. Most of the shops also have plenty of bike options for people who want to road ride, hit the local mountain bike trails, or “hybrid” bike that really doesn’t do anything except maybe collect dust in suburban garages. Missing from so many local shops I have visited, are bikes for a casual user who wants an option to go and get groceries. What I loved about the 718 video was their philosophy to help the customer find the bike they want/need instead of trying to squeeze the customer on a bike that doesn’t meet their needs.

Shops are in the business of making money and they are able to offer selection based on what bike companies are providing, which in many cases is limited to high performance machines that are more effective at logging 50+ miles instead of heading to the grocery story to pick up a sixer of Shiner. Maybe this is what people want when they come in to buy a bike, but what if they come in and don’t know what they want. With the limited choices available do these customers get guided to a bike that doesn’t actually meet those needs? A look at your local bike shop’s demo calendar highlights the bikes shops are actually trying to sell. If we want to get more people to integrate bikes into their daily lives we need to show them there are bikes that more comfortably meet the needs of daily life. I am waiting for the day a local shop decides to do a demo day at a local grocery store. Maybe they don’t sell as many carbon fiber speed machines, but I would think they would make a killing on accessories. Most bikes you buy in the store today don’t come with a front basket, rear rack, fenders, panniers, etc, but if people had a chance to put their groceries in a bike, ride it around the parking lot, and they would see it really wasn’t that difficult….I believe they would be more likely to pick up these items the next time they visited their local shop.

Or we could just wait for gas prices to keep going up….$100+ fill-ups have a way driving people out of their cages and onto bikes.

Just last week Mrs. B completed a video of myself and the boys out for a ride.  For her first attempt at making a video, I think she did a pretty darn good job.  Obviously I wanted to share this video with friends and family spread around the globe, so I posted it on Facebook.  The resulting comments led to an interesting discussion at home and on the web, which still has me grappling with my thought/philosophy on the issues of wearing a helmet….not just on my head, but plunking one down on the head of my kids (both on the bike and in the trailer).

I don’t want to even attempt to wrap my arms around the whole helmet debate that rages across the internet nearly every week, if not day.  More (and less) qualified individuals have offered valid points on both sides of the divide.  Right now when we are riding the bikes around the neighborhood, which is nearly every day we don’t wear helmets.  We have helmets, good gravy do we have helmets – big ones, little ones, boy ones, girl ones (for the cousins) but when cruising around the neighborhood, at a very leisurely pace, it just doesn’t seem necessary.  We are on quiet neighborhood streets, sidewalks, and trails and the greatest obstacle we face on most rides is falling over because we are going so SLOW.  This isn’t going to be a rant about never wearing a helmet, because my giant noggin has been saved many a time by wearing a helmet.  I always wear a helmet when I am commuting to work, but never wear one when I ride to pick up a sixer of Shiner at the grocery store less than a mile away.  I don’t have any hard and fast rules about when I wear a helmet and when I don’t – for the most part I would say the following

Helmet = longer trips and/or higher speed

No Helmet = slow and local

The real concern that people expressed was about my children not wearing helmets, and that is the part of the debate that I am still wrestling with even now as I write this.  The Boy has just started riding – and he wants to do it all of the time.  We now carry his bike with us wherever we go, just so he can ride it at each new location.  How do I continue to foster this love of riding while keeping him safe?  Mrs. B rode a bike as a kid, but to this day….she remembers when she stopped riding as a kid, it was the day she was told by her parents that she needed to wear a helmet if she was going to ride her bike.  It took nearly twenty years and a sweet Raleigh step through to get her back on the road.  Right now, The Boy doesn’t mind wearing a helmet – and somedays he even puts one on without being asked, but my greatest fear is that by living in fear I will drive my kid inside to the video games, and when he gets older into an intrenched mindset that cars are the only way to survive.

I awake in the darkness, the birds are still sleeping, but this poor baby is awake.

To shake of the sleepiness in the morning I read the latest news. I read articles  that come in short paragraphs: small portions that my half alert brain can chew on. The first article I see is, “Increased number of auto-pedestrian fatalities in Austin arouses concern.” It seems to jump off the screen at me this particular morning.

Sunday mornings are typically one of my favorite days to be out on the road. The white noise roar of the day-time city is almost silent and the crowds of cars are absent.

This Sunday morning, before I even reach the top of the hill that exits my neighborhood, the beaming headlights of a car quickly approach. The car makes an exaggerated swerve away from me. The auto-pedestrian fatalities article lingers on the forefront of my mind. I question the alertness of the driver. I am thankful that the driver perceived my flashing headlight, yet I still feel unsettled by the speed they were traveling through the residential streets, and that they swerved away from me despite us both traveling in our respective lanes at a safe distance apart.

Once on the main road, Cherrywood Lane, the accustomed site of dedicated joggers is replaced by high beams of cars. The lazy Sunday morning vibe is lagging by the scatter brained late night Saturday vibe. In addition to the cars, I peddle past several separate huddled groups of people. Their small staggered steps remind of the fluid movement of a flock of birds. Dazed, lost, sleepless, inebriated. It feels a small eruption of 6th street after last call.

From Cherrywood Lane, I head west on Manor. The streets are more narrow on Manor than Cherrywood, but there is clear markings of a bike lane on Manor. Personally I think that bike lanes create a false sense of security. Obviously a car can easily traverse the one dimensional white line. My senses are still in a heightened state from the swerving-speeding car from earlier, and I look over my shoulder to eye-ball each car that passes me on Manor. The last vehicle to pass me before I turn off of Manor is an ambulance. The lights are on in the cab of the ambulance, and I can almost make eye contact with the patient. He is strapped in a stretcher and I can see the nasal cannula that is on his face to provide extra oxygen. I have no idea of the event that lead to this man being escorted to the hospital via ambulance but I do I feel a slight fluttering in my stomach. The news article, the swerving car, the ambulance passing. All these successive events feel like ominous reminders of the potential dangers of cycling on the hung over streets of Austin.

The last straw occurs in the final stretch between east and west Austin. Typically cars are parked in the bike lane along the this part of Manor Road, and this morning is no exception. The first parked car is a large black SUV. Shattered plastic lays crumbled on the street. The rear driver’s side of the SUV is smashed in, and it appears that the vehicle hasn’t been moved since the accident. All the signs of the accident point towards a hit-and-run into a parked car.

I increase the speed of pedaling, and hurry to reach my destination at work. The streets feel unsafe to me this Sunday morning, and I can’t remember the last time I felt this way in Austin.

Despite our mutual surprise to suddenly appear face to foggy face, the surprise was replaced by a sense of solidarity. Biped and bi-pedal solidarity. Together, outdoors, pre-dawn. The will to arise before the sun does and the force of our two legs to propel us onward through the fog.

“Solidarity. Not Charity.” Treasure City Thrift store’s slogan mirrors my cycling intentions. The helmeted nod of recognition or the the two finger wave from a hand grasping brake levers are examples of simple signs of solidarity from other cyclists that I often experience when I am on the road.

The solidarity sentiment amongst other pedestrians (or runners as in my early morning ride) and cyclists triggered the thoughts: How often do I positively connect to vehicle driver’s when I am on the road? Do I ever wave to a cars? When do I intentionally try to make eye contact with drivers?

The roads are shared with vehicles, but the connection of solidarity is not.

My partner was involved in a hit-and-run two days ago. The scene was downtown Austin. Pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles intermixed in tight quarters amongst narrow streets.
The life/work style of corporate business culture equates speed with efficiency. Timeliness leads to short cuts. A driver took a short cut that could have cost my partner his life.

The car raced across three lanes of traffic to enter a parking garage, and then decided to do it again in reverse. In rapid succession the car drove in reverse across the three lanes, and through the bike lane as well. Quick response and brakes in good working order prevented serious injury. Instead, my partner endo-ed over the trunk of the car instead of being smashed into by the rear end of the car. The driver sped off while my partner lay frazzled on the pavement.

I don’t want empathy from vehicle drivers. I want accountability and I want connection. Movement in single ton metal boxes (ie cars) should not be a barrier to the outside world. I want solidarity. The road is shared for four wheels, two wheels, two feet.

I wonder how the crash would have been different if the driver of the car felt solidarity with the cyclist. Maybe she would have recognized the bicycle coming up the road long before she chose to accelerate. Maybe she would have but the car in park, gotten out, and checked to see if he was ok.

I know that I cannot change the variables and dependents of a past event. I can be conscious of the antagonistic sentiments that sometimes exist between cyclists and drivers. I can choose to ride my bicycle with my chin up, looking into the eyes of the drivers I interact with, and give a wave of solidarity as often as I can.

Getting around

The streets get crazy downtown, especially by the end of next week when there are four bands playing within spitting distance. Blow off the car and ride instead. There is $5 guarded bike parking at E. 6th & I-35 just west of the highway.

If you don’t have a bike with you, check out these rental options near downtown.

Austin Bike Rentals, E. 6th & I-35 (during SXSW only), (512) 277-0609: Fleet of cruiser bikes.

Barton Spring Bike Rental, 1707 Barton Springs Blvd., (512) 614-4676: Options include cruisers, road and mountain bikes, and e-bikes.

Bicycle Sport Shop, 517 S. Lamar Blvd, (512) 477-3472: Options include cruisers, road and mountain bikes,and tandems.

Mellow Johnny’s, 400 Nueces St, (512) 473-0222: Options include cruisers, road, and mountain bikes.

Pop-up Bikeshare

In addition, folding bike company Tern will be providing 150 8 speed versions of their bikes to badge holders during SXSW Interactive. Calling the program SXcycles, the bike share program will be available at 513 E. Cesar Chavez from Friday, March 9, through Tuesday, March 13, from 9:00am until 2:00am. Bikes will be available on a first come, first serve basis but riders can pre-register with their information on VeloLet.com to save time waiting for their Tern.

Each SXcycle rider will receive a Link D8 along with a helmet, a lock, as well as BioLogic front and rear lights, Portage Rack, and Commute bag for stowing laptops, tablets, and other festival necessities.

Mobile Social

For the past 6 years, the bloggers at BikeHugger have organized a SXSW social ride, called the Mobile Social. In the last couple years, it has gotten huge. In response, there will be double the MoSo this year. We’re social riding twice. This is the first ride with Tweet House and Mellow Johnnys. The second is on Sunday and that’s around town with Social Cycling ATX and Tern. We represent the intersection of bikes, technology and culture at SXSW. Join us for our annual social ride(s) with SXSW attendees and Social Cycling ATX. We’ll ride, blog, and the party at Mellow Johnnys. No SXSW badges needed to attend.

Saturday, March 10 starting at 5 PM at 96 Bar, 96 Rainey Street and Sunday, March 11 starting at 6 PM at Club de Ville, 900 Red River.

Waterloo Cycles hosts SXSWaterloo

Local bike shop Waterloo Cycles is hosting Live Music and Free Beer from Adelberts Brewing and the folks at Hops and Grains

Waterloo Cycles
2815 Fruth (behind the Chevron at 29th & Guadalupe)
more info at waterloocycles.com

SXSWaterloo Thursday 15 March
2.00PM- Body Parts
2.30PM- Emperor X
3.15PM- Seasons
4.15PM- Hatcham Social Club
5.15PM- Math the Band

SXSWaterloo Friday 16 March
1.00PM- Foreign Resort
1.30PM- Judson McKinney
2.00PM- Brice Woodall
2.30PM- Living Kills
3.15PM- Chapter 24
4.15PM- Manhattan Murder Mystery

SXSWaterloo Saturday 17 March
12.30PM- Iji
01.00PM- Boonesboro
01.30PM- Grown Up Noise
02.00PM- Moonmen on the Moon, Man
02.30PM- Corita
03.30PM- Torches in Trees
04.15PM- Halaska
05.15PM- Fan Modine

That has been the motto of my bicycle interactions of late.

Every time I see a stylized bicycle in use that I have never personally tried before, adrenaline starts dripping into my blood stream. I try to imagine what the ride would be like. A few cases for illustrating: I spied a recumbent bicycle rider pedaling against the wind while heading north west in the bike lane on Airport Boulevard. I imagine what it feels like to be reclined, in what looks like a lawn chair, while pedaling. I wonder what his eyes see on the ground while traveling closer to the asphalt. What shift in the center of gravity must happen to keep bicycle and rider parallel to the earth?

A double-decker tall bike rides into the western sunset on 38th ½ Street. The bicycle is already in motion, and I try to imagine how he got himself atop of the seat. He is taller than most single story home roof tops in the neighborhood. I bet his view of the sunset amidst the tree tops is amazing. On the 6 foot long seat stay there are four small mounts that resemble the wall mounts you would use to climb a rock wall in an indoor gym. He heads toward the dual overpass and underpass at IH 35 and 38th ½. His head is so close to the underpass, I wonder if he feels claustrophobic as he makes eye contact with the rock doves perched in their nests.

So when the opportunity presented itself to try a new bicycle, I jumped on it, figuratively and literally. Full suspension mountain bikes with specs designed specifically for women were available for a free trial trail ride. I do the mental math, and realize the bicycle I have been offered to ride would cost more than any car that I’ve ever purchased in my life. My frugal attitude of “Why buy something new, when you can get it used,” seemed like a mute point. Even a used full suspension bicycle would still add up to the single most expensive lifetime purchase thus far for me.

I put the price tag on the back burner of my mind, and try to get as much air as possible on the BMX loop jumps at Walnut Creek. The whir of green juniper tree branches, the gush of air flowing past my ears, my wheels reconnecting with the earth; all feel priceless.

I attempted to further this level of intoxication of bicycle big air by taking it a step further and gaining the biggest air possible: sky diving (sans bicycle, of course).

The anticipation during the airplane ride to 15,000 feet, the thrill of free falling through the air like a meteor headed back to earth, and feeling grounded as my feet reconnected with the earth again, all preceded the nauseating motion sickness that ensued for the remainder of the day. My equilibrium was left in the sky, and confirmed that my maximum level of big air is had on two wheels.

When I originally saw the list of potential host cities, I figured that Austin was low man on the totem pole, when compared to bike crazy Boulder (established CX community, ridiculously awesome CX course, and a number of former National Champions), Asheville was planning on holding there potential race at the Biltmore Estate, which is unbelievably cool.  Although I have been to Zilker Park thousands of times, I had never looked at from the eyes of a CX racer, that all changed when I when out with a rabid group of fellow racers to talk with race promoters about course layout.  Following that meeting, I felt much better about our chances, and began an all out social promotion campaign.  Along with our extremely active Facebook campaign, Asheville also put in a very aggressive social campaign, and for the most part, all sides were able to keep things positive.  We were told USA Cycling would make a decision in early February, and as the weeks wore on I started to get anxious.

Apparently USA Cycling was taking such a long time because each host city all presented such unique and diverse cases.  It must have been a bit like comparing apples, peaches, and pecans.  In a what I consider a truly excellent decision, USA Cycling decided to award each of the potential host cities one year instead of two.

So without further ado, I would like to Congratulations to the City of Boulder on Hosting CX Nationals in 2014, HURRAY for Austin for 2015, and little ‘ol Asheville for being chosen to host 2016 CX Nationals.  I have no doubt that each city is going to do their own thing to grow the sport, and now competitors are going to get to experience the variety of US Cross.  The people of Austin are also in for a HUGE treat, because Zilker is going to be a great host venue for “the greatest show on two wheels that also includes lots of heckling and beer.”