Solus Sto

Anyone who knows me or has read any of the posts on the blogs can probably tell you how into bikes I am. I’m no die-hard lycra-clad weekend racer, either. I ride everyday, rain or shine (thankfully there’s more shine than rain in California), to work, to get groceries, for fun, for health, whatever. I am down with the velorution!

Being in this mindset, I am constantly aware of how inadequate the United States is when it comes to accomodating bicyclists. There are bike lanes around here, and truthfully, the San Francisco Bay Area is pretty good about bikes. There is a consciousness of the bicyclist in this area, and that counts for a lot. Doesn’t stop dumbasses in SUVs and over-priced European imports from getting to close to me or yelling the occasional profanity as they pass, but that’s something I can live with.

I am warmed to my core, however, when I see videos like the one below. Ever the optimist, I have hope that some day people in America will have cities like this.

No matter where I am, in the summer months I always think back to Montana. I spent 4 years in the Big Sky, and summers in Missoula were always some of my best times. During most of them I was traipsing around the woods with a pack and Pulaski chasing smoke, but other times I would just be hanging out along the Clark Fork fishing for trout. Good effin’ times.

Anyodd, in conjunction with these seasonal longings and rememberances, I also heard John Denver’s “Wild Montana Skies” this afternoon. It made me think even harder on the Bitterroot and I managed to scrounge up the below video. For the record, I miss John Denver.

“Never learned to cry …” That’s some hardcore shit.

Sometimes when you blog, if you blog fairly regularly, you encounter times when you feel you SHOULD be posting, but there’s so much else going on you don’t find the time to tell the world all about just how cool you are. What a dilemma. What to do? In my case, I just don’t write.

The silliness involved in this situation is not lost on me. But still, some part of me during the day is thinking that I need to keep this thing alive. In the very smallest of ways, blogging is a form of writing and that is something I need to do as much of as is possible. Did that last sentence even make sense? I need an editor …

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So I’ve been reading the published notebooks of cartoonist Chris Ware. I saw him and Art Spiegelman at the JCC in San Francisco this spring with Eva. It was interesting to hear him speak before I even purchased the book. It is a very personal decision to publish your notebooks, especially if you’re an illustrator. There’s so much of him on the pages, and Ware did not hold back. I’d be interested to know how much editing, if any, was done to the book before it was printed. It’s a worthwhile “read.”

If you are interested, you should also check some of his more “regular” books. Chris Ware is a talented artist with a real gift for narrative, and he has a quirky sense of humor, to boot.

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I need to get my bike tuned up. Roxie has been very, very good to me. I do know that running her fixie is adding extra stress to the parts, and it’s a new build to begin with, so the parts are adjusting and “breaking in” daily. I’ve done basic adjustments over the last two months, but it’s better to let a true bike mechanic give ‘er a once over, I feel.

On that note, I’ve also installed new “Power Grip” straps, which are an answer to the typical toe cages bikers use. I’m not about to buy new bike shoes, so these seemed a worthwhile attempt. We’ll see … I’m still not used to getting strapped in, but the results on biking were immediate today. Every motion is translated into the bike, so you get more power with every push. That much I like.

Haven’t posted for awhile, and for that, I apologize.

It has been quite hot here in the Bay Area lately. What iwth fires all around and bad air days (thank you fossil fuels!) we’ve been getting the bad end of this deal over the last week. I’ve been biking to work (of course), and it has been rather pleasant, nonetheless. In fact, the warm weather has been quite nice to ride in. I must pause and thank Eva here for her genrous birthday present of a wool jersey, as this has kept me reasonably cool during the rides.

Speaking of Eva and the bike ride, we recently moved into a new apartment together, and this has been good thus far. We’re in Menlo Park, which is a bigger change for her than it is for me. The aprtment has hands-dwn the best balcony I’ve ever been privvy to, thanks in no small part to my love of all things Tiki/Tropical and Eva’s willingness to go along with that fetish. We’ve made the place what I call an “Island Fortress” complete with bamboo fencing and palm trees. I’ll try to get some pics up soon.

One of the added benfits of the new apartment is a new route to work on the ol’ Schwinn. Roxie and I now get to cruise some less trafficked streets, which I enjoy. Middlefield is a good road with a bike lane, but the fact remains that there are cars zipping by you at well over the 30 MPH speed limit, so the chance to take little back roads through the quietier portions of Menlo Park/Atherton is something that appeals to me. On that note, I’ve also altered my route through Redwood City and Little Michoacan, taking advantage of the pedestrian bridege over 5th Avenue. This drops me right into a residential ‘hood that reminds me so much of New Mexico, if for no other reason than everyone who lives along the strech is Latino. People living in the streets, not literally, but conducting their lives out in the open. I’ve seen people growing corn in the front yards (no lie), plyaing dominoes on the sidewalk (and craps), and there is one block with, I shit-you-not upwards of 20 pairs of sneakers on the power lines. It is undoubtedly my favorite part of the commute.

Work has been a mess lately. We’ve had some personnel shifting, and aside from the obvious morale issues this causes, it makes the work load that much more of a burden. Not to mention the nature of the work itself is shifting, so we have that to deal with as well. All I can do is keep my head up, get the words out and try to stay sane.

Recently the Governator came down to my neck of the woods and visited the Tesla Motors factory. Tesla Motors makes an electric car, it runs around $100k and has a range of somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 miles, give or take.

As much as I think electric cars are a step in the right direction, I don’t think they’re the solution to America’s transit problems. The one nice thing about electric cars is that they get rid of the emissions right off the bat, or so people think. Problem is, where does all that electricity come from? Coal power plants, more than likely. So, even though you’re not polluting every time you start up your little roadster, you’re still polluting, albeit 100 miles away from the power station. However, if solar and wind energies were harnessed you could negate this pretty much altogether. That’s a good thing, but it will take people really wanting to offset the carbon totally, not just from the exhaust pipe.

The other real problem with an electric car is that it does nothing to ease congestion. What the hell’s the use of having an electric car if you still have to sit in traffic all afternoon/morning? So you’re not polluting the air, you’re still contributing to sprawl and wasteful, misguided land use policies.

The above animation succinctly points out the problem, and offers the ultimate solution: choice. More options for travel makes everyone a happy camper.