Signing off for now

Maintaining this blog doesn't really require much effort from me, as evidenced by the infrequency of my posts and their generally low quality. However, feeling guilty about not updating the site is surprisingly time consuming. In addition, my situation as a cyclist is much changed since I started Bike Year, as described in my last post. So for now, I've decided to discontinue updating the site and reallocate the time and mental energy I previously used worrying over it. I'm going to need all I can get as a new doctoral student. I will continue posting, often about bicycle related issues, at Sustainable Savannah.

I recognize that folks still somehow find their way Bike Year (again, despite my failure to update it) and sometimes find it useful, so I'm not planning to take it down. I hope to pick it up again after the end of fall semester in December. Maybe I'll even offer another installment of the Tentative Utility Cyclist Gift Guide series, which the all-seeing eye of Google Analytics tells me are some of the most viewed posts on the site. Before I go away, however, I'd like to answer Adam's questions. He wrote:

"I moved here in May and am planning to join you in your commuting as soon as I get a bike for it. Besides Habersham and Lincoln, are there any other streets that you know of that have bike lanes or perhaps know of a map of Savannah with bike lanes marked? Also, I think it would be nice to have a list of places that have bike racks in town. Any idea if such a list exists?"

Welcome to Savannah, Adam! The answers to both your questions are yes and no.

First, as you have no doubt discovered, Savannah has very few pavement marked bicycle lanes. However, you can see a map of all designated bike routes in the county by downloading the 2000 Chatham County Bikeway Plan from the Metropolitan Planning Commission Web site. Click here for the .pdf. A word of caution about this document: As the title suggests, it is nearly a decade old and in dire need of updating.

Another option is a map created earlier this year by the Savannah Development and Renewal Authority as part of its Dump the Pump alternative commuting promotion. Kristin Hyser may have some left over. She can be contacted through the SDRA Web site. Or you can download a .pdf by clicking here.But another caveat: The map shows bike route and rack locations only in the National Historic Landmark District. And it will be out of date soon, as the City of Savannah will be deploying new bike racks, thanks to the hard work of the city's director of parking and mobility and daily bicycle commuter, Sean Brandon.

I suppose, Adam, the real answer to both your questions is the Savannah Bicycle Campaign. Bicycle facilities, including parking, are high on the group's priority list. Please consider getting involved or coming out for one of our events. We'd love to have your help in making Savannah a better place for cyclists, which will make it a better place for everyone.

And with that, I'll say so long for now. See you in December.

I've found my people

Whoops! Another Bike Year has expired and I totally forgot to mark this historic occasion with a post of some kind. In June 2006 I asked readers if I should continue it past the one year mark. An overwhelming surge of public support (five comments) convinced me to continue. But at least I'm doing better than last year, when I waited until the middle of August to acknowledge the passage of another Bike Year. I'm almost a whole month ahead of schedule.

If I could identify one trend in my bicycle experiences over the last year, it would be this: My cycling life has become a lot less solitary. Previously I saw myself as existing apart of the rest of the cycling world. As a transportational cyclist, I didn't fit well into the other local cycling tribes.

But I'm no longer a lone wolf.

You see, I've been able to meet more of my fellow cyclists. And by "meet" I mean that I've actually met with them. And ridden bikes with them. And stood around waiting for television reporters with them. This is very different from Bike Year One, when most of my bicycle pals lived on the Internet. Before April of this year, the largest group I'd ever ridden with included three other cyclists (Well, at least as an adult. I remember riding in some large pods of BMX bikes as a kid). Over the last three months I've shared pleasant rides with groups ranging from 30 to 250 others. And there's another ride coming up this Sunday.

What accounts from the remarkable change in direction? Three words: Savannah Bicycle Campaign.

Better car designs needed

While there have been advancements in automobile designs over the years, they remain in many ways very primitive machines. Sure, you can have an in-car theater system installed or get a GPS thingy to tell you where to turn, but the modern motorist still faces the same old problems as his or her ancestors back in the caveman days.

For instance, facing forward is good for seeing what's in front of the car and all, but there are certain situations in which it is a major hassle. Imagine that you are trying to steer your car while simultaneously screaming obscenities at a bicyclist who is following in your starboard wake. There are really no good options. The only practical way to handle this is to stick your head out of the window, turn to your right and try to yell over the top of the car with your chin hovering above the roof.

Detroit, can you help with this, please?

I discovered recently how this serious limitation in car design impacts motorists. I watched a woman endure great difficulty as she offered a lengthy critique of how I was operating my vehicle, while at the same time trying to drive her own. Some of the only bits of her lecture I was able to make out were, "get your dumb ass out of the road," and what a presume was a threat. At least I think that she was insinuating with, "I'll run your ass over."

Truth be told, I invited the chain of events that led to her impromptu, but impassioned speech. There's a squeeze point on my homeward bound commute just south of Anderson Street. Because there are almost always cars parked on the street around the intersection, my habit is to take the lane, communicating to motorists that it is not safe to pass. In almost every case motorists recognize what I'm doing and wait until I clear the row of parked cars and move right before passing me.

I guess I didn't move far enough left in the lane, because the motorist I've described above decided to pass me with just inches between her right fender and my left elbow. Displeased, I sounded my horn. This startled her front seat passenger, who — since he was not wearing a seat belt — nearly jumped into her lap. It took her a couple seconds to take stock of the situation, but once she had a read on it, her head and torso were outside the car. Luckily, she was not wearing a seat belt either, so she was able to quickly assume screaming position.

She kept it up for about a block, periodically swerving into the other lane. I pedaled along watching her grapple with her car's obvious design flaw. She'd launch a burst of profanity, then pop back into the car to check her rear view mirror for my reaction. Employing a strategy I'd read about on the Internet, each time she emerged to deliver her missives, I smiled and waved. This spurred her to on to several encores. Until she eventually turned onto a side street.

Meanwhile, the hit and run driver who injured two cyclists on Tybee Road is still at large.

Two cyclists injured in hit and run on Tybee Road, driver sought by police

WTOC-TV and WSAV-TV report that two cyclists were hit on U.S. Highway 80 near Fort Pulaski on Friday. From one of the victims:

"I've been told it was a white van and it's missing the passenger rear view mirror and passenger head lamp," said Chiang. "I hope they turn themselves in or someone find them because it's not right to leave two kids when they have been hit by a car, not right at all."

Read the full story here and here.

A story in today's Savannah Morning News gives more information and reports the driver is still at large:

"You hate to think it was intentional, but it sure looked that way," said Jim Pedrick, who witnessed the incident along with his wife. Pedrick, a Lafarge Cement Co. worker, said his wife alerted him of the bicyclists on the shoulder of U.S. 80, so he changed lanes to allow for more room. "I was going 50 miles per hour, so the truck had to be going faster than me," Pedrick said After the pickup struck both bicyclists, the driver sped off toward Savannah, Pedrick said.

Anyone with information on the hit and run is asked contact the Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department or Crime Stoppers 912-234-2020.

This is the second time this year a motorist has hit a cyclist and left the scene. Back in January a cyclist was hit and seriously injured by a hit and run driver downtown. And last night a child was killed by a hit and run driver on Abercorn Street. That murderous motorist is also still at large.

Exposing the media bicycle bias

Recently on a television program called "Fox & Friends," I caught the end of a report from a youthful correspondent, who interviewed other young people about their use of bicycles for transportation. Her conclusion: While there are some benefits to getting around on a bike, that doesn't change the fact that riding bicycles is, as everyone knows, for nerds.

Thanks for telling it like it is, Fox!

Yet this morning on "Today," NBC's man in Miami approvingly covered the "growing popularity" of bicycle commuting. Kerry Sanders was actually aboard a bicycle as he filed his report, which included an adult female who rides her bike to work and — get this — also rides the thing to the grocery store and uses it to handle other errands. No mention was made of her social awkwardness or fan fiction hobby.

I became suspicious.

Meanwhile, back over on "Fox & Friends," the crew welcomed "radio heavyweights Rick and Bubba" for a segment that Fox Friend Brian Kilmeade proclaimed "flat out fun." Take heart Americans! The "two sexiest fat men alive" have a three pronged plan to solve the problem of high fuel prices. And no, nerds, none of them involve bicycles:

1. Eliminate all taxes on gasoline.
2. Drill for all the oil that's sloshing around under our feet here right here in the U.S.A.
3. Invade other countries and take their oil by force. This idea, they admitted, might be "a little controversial."

Now that's some first class "family entertainment with Christian values" for you!

Inspired by Rick and Bubba, I set out to expose the "Today" show's pro-bicycle propaganda for what it is. I quickly discovered NBC is in the pocket of Big Bike. Don't believe me? Here's something the folks at the Rainbow Chicken network don't want you to know: According to my secret Internet source, Matt Lauer's father was a "bicycle company executive."

Still don't believe Lauer is a member of the shadowy bicycular elite, determined to use his position at the "Today" anchor desk to further the agenda of radical bicyclists? Check out this incriminating photograph of Lauer I found on a blog associated with a company that fabricates large aluminum tubes:

Bike Month Update Part 2

Scofflaw cyclists or skewed perspective?

In a letter to the editor published last week in the Savannah Morning News (scroll down to "Cyclists need road manners, too"), a motorist catalogs traffic infractions committed by a pair of cyclists. While at least one of his charges is valid — riding without lights at dusk is a very bad idea — it's a little hard to follow our narrator's account of having "experienced" two cyclists. They are accused first of traveling fast and then of riding slowly. Our motorist claims the cyclists were riding side by side (legal under state law) but then identifies one of them as the "front rider." Did he encounter them on Habersham Street or Kensington Drive? And how could they turn "into" Reynolds? As far as I can tell neither Habersham nor Kensington intersects Reynolds.


Contradictory and confusing information aside, our motorist's chief complaint seems to be that the cyclists were "backing up traffic" as he "patiently waited," prevented from "swinging around them" by oncoming traffic. What if we look at the scenario from a different angle? Maybe these cyclists were every bit the rude, reckless and irresponsible individuals they are portrayed to be, but how does this chain of events appear when not viewed through the windshield?

Could it be that the cyclists were taking the lane to prevent our motorist from endangering their lives? State law allows cyclists to move to the center of the lane when it is too narrow to share safely with a motor vehicle. Our motorist notes that one cyclist made an impolite hand gesture as he overtook them. Is that such a surprise? Would he not be upset if he was in the midst of a left turn when another motorist passed on his left?

But the real question is this: Has our motorist written similar letters to the editor chronicling the hazardous driving he witnesses on a daily basis? Surely he sees many more examples of reckless behavior perpetrated by other motorists. If he doesn't see them, then he's driving around with his eyes closed. What makes the cyclists more suitable targets of a scolding letter than the inattentive and aggressive drivers, who are much more common on local streets and represent a much greater danger to our motorist and other roadway users?

Finally, our motorist warns cyclists that "they are not going to fare as well as the vehicle they come in contact with." I've not met a single cyclist who thinks he or she is going to come out on top in a collision with a car. That's not to say that cyclists don't make bad decisions. It's just that they are not motivated by the belief that they will emerge unscathed from a car vs. bike crash. And really, which party should shoulder the most responsibility? Seems to me it should be the operator of the vehicle most likely to cause injury or death.

Another commuting first

My commute to work yesterday was unlike any I've ever made. From Victory Drive all the way to Huntington Street, I saw only a handful of cars and none of them were anywhere near me. I saw them way up in the distance, but I never shared the same block of Lincoln Street with them. However, I did see a dozen other cyclists. Of course I recognize that a lot of people had the day off because of the holiday, but it sure was nice to imagine what it would be like if cyclists outnumbered motorists every day.

Bike Month Update

I've been warned

I awoke last Sunday morning to the sound of thunder. How far off I sat and wondered. Started humming a song from 1976 and for the rest of the day I couldn't get "Night Moves" out of my head.

Rain was in the forecast, so I jumped on the bike and went out for a ride. I figured I'd be inside for the rest of the day. I was heading east on Washington Avenue when a silver Crown Victoria overtook me. Just before it passed, I received a blast from its horn. I caught up with the driver as she was exiting the car at the corner of Washington and Waters. I said good morning and asked if she could please resist the urge honk at cyclists as she passed.

She said, "I honked to warn you that I was behind you."

I said, "I knew you were there. Blowing your horn wasn't necessary."

She said, "You were in the middle of the road and you should have a light on the back of your bike."

For the record, I was not in the middle of the road. I was actually farther right than I usually ride. And I did my Planet Bike Superflash was on the back of my bike. It wasn't on. But, obviously she saw me and honked so why was she suggesting that I needed a light? Somewhat befuddled, I managed this reply.

I said, "The problem with honking at a cyclist is that your attempt to warn them might actually startle them into your path."

She said, "You were in the middle of the road," and started to walk away.

I said, "Please, just think twice before honking at a cyclists again," and wished her a pleasant morning.

A mirror image commute

Monday brought a first for me. Despite the fact that I've commuted to work on a bicycle almost every day for a couple years now, I've never found myself in the company of the same bicycle commuter on both the way to work and the way home. But this morning, a guy on a gold Specialized mountain bike pulled up next to me as I waited for the light to change at the corner of Habersham Street and Victory Drive. That afternoon, he pulled up next to me on the other side of the same intersection. We started talking and I discovered he's the guy who wrote this excellent letter to the editor (scroll down past Tom Barton's head to "'Dump the Pump' is a great start").

Test riding the Wheelie

After work I quickly changed clothes and pedaled over to Historic Grayson Stadium to meet up with other members of the Savannah Bicycle Campaign. Our purpose was to reconnoiter the route for Sunday's Savannah Wheelie ride, which will include the mysterious Police Memorial Trail and portions of the Parkside Historic District. Everyone who rides in the Wheelie can purchase a ticket to see the Savannah Sand Gnats take on the Greenville Drive for $2 off the normal general admission price.

Official Endorsements

While I'm very pleased that Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson and Chatham County Commission Chairman Pete Liakakis participated in last month's Savannah Wheelie ride, I'm even more impressed with the ongoing commitment to cycling demonstrated by other city officials. Mary Landers catalogs some of them in her story about yesterday's Dump the Pump Coffee Break.

From the Bike Year Mailbag

Jason: Roc Bike is the first missing link that's no longer missing.

Christy: I'm presume you've tried Bicycle Link, Quality Bikes, Island Cycles and Star Bikes? If so, I guess your only other option is to keep an eye open for a trailer to show up on Craig's List or watch for a new trailer to go on sale from Nashbar or another mail order house. I have seen trailers at Goodwill, but not on a regular basis. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Matt: I'm glad you're OK. You should certainly get the driver's number if you are hit by a car. What's more, I'd say you should call the police as well. Why? To understand how many car vs. bicycle crashes occur, it's important that these incidents are reported. I didn't follow my own advice when this happened to me and I realize now I made a mistake.