Out of Gas

The sense that, to quote Robert Carlyle’s character in Formula 51/51st State, the United States is “Albania in neon” has been compounded this week by the fact that Atlanta has run out of gas. Every gas station I’ve passed has those little covers over the pumps, thanks to hurricanes Gustav and Ike (we get our fuel from the Gulf of Mexico in these here parts), together with generally poor refining capacity. It’s the 1970s all over again! But hopefully not the 1930s. Rosh Hashanah is nearly here, and I don’t think I can deal with the brownshirts.

Although a lot of people have been terribly inconvenienced, I’m horribly smug about how little this affects me. Today I did 16.62 miles of errand cycling (yes, I am obsessed with quantification), between lunch at Chic-Fil-A (they’re Christian fundamentalists, but oh so tasty), work in a coffee shop and a ride to the pub. And not a gallon of gasoline used. The perfect storm of self-satisfaction.

Technically speaking, we just need gas in order to do our weekly grocery run. If we broke it up into a few trips we could do it by bike right now. Or we could get an S.U.B. That is to say, a Sports Utility Bike or Xtracycle. In fact, what with the impending apocalypse and all, we’ve basically decided that this is where our next tax refund is going. Look, they’re gorgeous:

You can buy one outright, or get a kit to convert an existing bike. As LMS has a Raleigh in the garage that we use only for guests, we’re going to go the latter route. Which should mean that we can leave the car at home when buying food. Just the thing for the Mad Max future that most Atlantans are one empty gas tank away from ushering in.

On another, less apocalyptic note, according to the League of American Bicyclists, this great state of Georgia is 49th in our republic for bike friendliness. Screw you, West Virginia!

AfricaBike

Two things have arguably saved my sanity in the last couple of years: Afrobeat and cycling.

Afrobeat because there’s something about Fela Kuti’s infectious grooves that latch onto the third of my brain that would otherwise be screaming with stress and anxiety. And cycling because, well, it’s cycling. I get to exercise, get around pleasantly, lose weight (15 lbs so far) and consume fewer natural resources.

So far I’m yet to find a way to combine these two life-saving obsessions. But AfricaBike sure comes close.

Kona has built a bicycle specifically suited for Africa: rugged, easy to maintain, and cheap. You and I can buy one for $375. But we can also buy one for a health worker in Africa for a mere $100. The idea being, of course, that home health care workers can deliver more ARV drugs to HIV/AIDS patients if they can actually, you know, get to people’s homes. And look! AfricaBike even has its own MySpace page. I wonder if it will be my friend?

As I don’t ride while listening to music — I consider the combination of bike riding and earphones to be almost as nuts as riding without a helmet — I can’t directly combine my love of Fela with my love of cycling. But I can salute Fela’s Pan-Africanism by giving it up to AfricaBike.

You’d look hotter in a helmet

So I’m seeing more and more people cycling without helmets. Maybe it’s because more people are using their bikes to get around these days, so there are more inexperienced cyclists out there. Or maybe it’s the pernicious influence of this study, which argued that motorists give cyclists more room if they’re not wearing a helmet. In either case, it’s really alarming.

Helmets save lives. And even if it is true that people without helmets are given more room by drivers (though I’m a bit skeptical of that), when you actually do fall off a bike they protect your noggin. Besides, if that study is right, it only sums up current driving culture, which can change over time. Were everyone to wear a helmet, drivers’ behaviour would presumably be different.

Anyway, all I know is that when I was in the emergency room after falling off my bike and breaking my wrist, the first thing every doctor I met asked me was, “were you wearing a helmet?” Perhaps I need a “you’d look hotter in a helmet” t-shirt. Because you really would. Not that you’re not hot now, of course.

On another note, Ride Smart has launched a “bike buddy” program, encouraging seasoned bike commuters to mentor new riders. A great idea, though probably not for me. Even if I weren’t working from home right now, I’d probably be so horribly cantankerous in the morning as to scare the other person away from cycling for life. But maybe someone else could do this. Someone who is, you know, a nicer person than me.

And be sure to check out the various links at the bottom of the bike buddy page, which include services such as a guaranteed ride home program and bicycle roadside assistance (though the former link appears to be dead right now).

Anyway, here in Atlanta gas has leapt 40 cents in one day following Hurricane Ike. LMS’s mum, who lives in Houston, is doing fine. I’m glad about that, and glad that we won’t need to fill the car up for at least two more weeks.

Make way for the JCC

Introducing a new Atlanta bike blogger, the Jewish City Chick. Welcome! JCC rides single speed here in town. I look forward to her musings about biking in this car-crazed metropolis.

Oddly Ikea-like

Wahey! I’ve received and installed my new bike computer. I’m replacing my wireless front wheel computer with a wired rear-mounted one, so that I can get accurate mileage while on the trainer. Not that I’m actually going anywhere when on the trainer, but you get the picture. It also measures cadence, which is not something I’ve been able to do before.

Installing it was predictably simple yet simultaneously tricky: the concept is easy, but the zip ties… oh the zip ties! And there was no way to get the cadence sensor close enough to the cadence magnet. The picture in the instructions alluded to some sort of extra plastic thingie and yet… no extra plastic thingie. But I padded the magnet out a few milimeters with some inner tube rubber and everything now seems to be hunky dory (as Bowie would say, were he into this sort of thing; I assume he has people to install bike computers for him).

Next stop: an actual ride.

First Person

An account of the Faster Mustache 24 race from the point of view of the male lap leader, Eddie O. He did 371.93 miles in 24 hours. I am in awe of these maniacs.

Weekly Record

This week brought an all-time record in my cycling mileage: 73.51 miles. The crazy thing is, I did that Monday to Friday, in rides taken after I’d finished work for the day. Last night, while under the influence of a martini, some beers and a few gin and tonics, I contemplated a Stone Mountain run this morning to get that up to 100 miles. Strangely enough, I was too hungover after I woke up to even think about getting on a bike.

Of course, had I been crazy enough to do the Faster Mustache 24 I could have done a couple of centuries in one day. Erm… or not.

24 Hours of Cycling Madness

So my friend Emily just came tops among female riders in the Faster Mustache 24, completing more laps than any other woman. That’s an insane 24 hours of Atlanta urban cycling. She rode twenty circuits of this route with no sleep, amounting to 240-something miles. Lunacy!

This is what someone looks like after they’ve been riding a bike for 24 hours:

Oddly normal, given the circumstances. Here’s her amazingly glorious bike:

Riders were trackable live on Google Earth, as they carried RFID cards and had to swipe in at a number of locations around town. Here’s a snapshot from this morning:

Now this wasn’t necessarily 24 hours of solid riding. Just a race to complete the most number of laps possible within a 24 hour period. So, if you wanted, you could rest, eat pizza, take a nap, have a beer, etc. But if you’re serious about winning, obviously you want to do as little of that as possible. Hence Emily’s insane 24 hours of riding, with no sleep. Shivering madness, I tell you! But also totally cool and an amazing achievement. Especially four months after back surgery.

The atmosphere at the finishing point today (Johnny’s Pizza) was a glorious mix of exhaustion, drunkenness and bike nerdiness:

And insanity. Did I mention the insanity?

Anyway, congratulations to Emily on a majorly ass-kicking achievement. All due, in her own words, to “pure stubbornness.”

Are Fixies More Shabbat-Friendly?

Time to discuss the overlap of two things dear to my heart, cycling and being Jewish. Now I’m not even remotely observant, but I do know a good debate when I see one. And I was just reminded of this discussion on soc.culture.jewish.moderated, sent to me ages and ages ago by Cycledork.

In short, can observant Jews ride bicycles on Shabbat?

The answer, of course, depends on what you mean by “observant,” “ride,” “bicycle,” “Jew,” and “Shabbat.” But it also makes for an interesting discussion.

The crux of the matter lies with what constitutes work. If riding a bicycle is work, then no, obviously cycling is forbidden on Shabbat (unless, maybe, you’re just freewheeling downhill). But what if merely repairing a bicycle is work? Well then, of course, you need a track bike. As one of the participants suggests:

With all the great technological developments in Shabbat-compliant appliances and equipment — everything from stoves to electric wheelchairs and telephones that can be used on Shabbat — why is it so hard to make a bicycle that would satisfy the rabbinical authorities?  Take, for instance, my old track bike. No gears, no brakes, just direct chain drive without a freewheel, and the addition of some non-pneumatic tires could eliminate the risk of a flat tire.

Who knew?! Fixies aren’t just cool for their stripped-down aesthetic. They’re also appropriate for those who are Shomer Shabbos.

Note to self…

Smoking past a patrol car in your car is terrifying and stupid. Smoking past a bike cop on your bike, though, is just plain awesome.