Got Bottle

It’s been a mildly odd biking week. First off, I lost my bottle on Monday. No, not my nerve, my actual bottle. To be fair, it’s in a bottle holder strapped by velcro to my rack pack, as there’s no room on the frame of my commuter thanks to my big-ass lock. Today I lost my bottle again, but thankfully a friendly motorist told me it had skipped off to the other side of the street and I was able to recover it. There are friendly motorists? Who knew?! Anyway, if anyone knows of a good handlebar-mounted bottle holder, I’d be glad to hear about it.

Then on Tuesday, all excited to go in wearing my new O2 rain/wind jacket (the last of which was reduced to a bloodied polypropylene mass by my fall), I found that I had a flat in my back tire. Arse! But it did mean that I got to take the newly inflated foldable on MARTA. After dealing with my heavy pannier-laden commuter on the train the Breezer was a joy. It was like biking with, well, nothing. And that’s without folding it up, which I could have if the train was crowded. Foldables are just so damn cool, especially in combination with mass transit.

And then, upon putting a new tube in my commuter bike yesterday, I discovered that the tire bead had separated from the wall. So it was new tire time. At least now I can change a tube pretty quickly.

Anyway, I was finally able to bike in this morning. Cold and sunny, but I was resplendent in my many layers, O2 jacket (in my favourite colour, “don’t run over me”) and, under my helmet, my new, warming safety yarmulke. Lotsa fun. And, unless I am totally shagged out by the end of the day, I think I’ll give biking home a shot.

Which would make today’s commuting tally 15 miles.

Trip Planner

So while out of commission I’ve been relying a lot on public transportation. Well, okay, just the MARTA train. I was tempted to finally brave the buses, but given that I do actually own a car and that MARTA thinks that a bus that comes every thirty minutes counts as something worth shouting about (rather than a shameful lack of frequency) I ended up sticking to rail. Luckily I live and work on the train, so I’ve been able to get where I need to go without driving.

MARTA, contrary to the claims of its many boneheaded detractors, is wonderful, at least when compared to the alternative (using a car). But it’s less wonderful when compared to what it could be. To wit, this map, devised by the good people at Citizens for Progressive Transit:

This is what the Atlanta transit system should look like (in zoomable detail here), as opposed to its current pitiful number of rail lines.

CFPT also has an Atlanta non-driver’s trip planner: simply enter your destination, along with whether you will cycle, walk, use transit or some combination thereof, and it will tell you which buses and trains to catch, or how long your walk or ride will be, together with the route. Needless to say, biking is usually fastest.