Shek's Footprint » Addiction

Cargo Bike Picnic Ride Recap

Abhishek Mukherjee — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:42:14 +0000

I organized a cargo bike picnic ride last sunday. I wanted to promote the utilitarian aspect of bicycles so people can supplement some of their car trips on a bicycle.

Seven people showed up, including me. The excellent company made up for the lack of participation by far.

The ride was promoted paper free. No posters and leaflets. In the age of blogs, RSS feeds and feed readers, it is pointless to print posters. Ride information was shared on Urban Core and Bikejax, both imensely popular websites. I also created a facebook event where 30 or more people agreed to attend inspite of the Tour de Cure going on. Lakshore Shwinn, a local bike shop that carries xtracycles also sent messages on twitter and facebook.

Many people who missed the bicycle ride are probably at work watch oil spewing out of the extraction site on bp’s live feed. They shake their heads in dissapoitment to bp’s lack of proper oil spill containment and to the damage done to sea life and beaches. They may even shed a tear at the sight of oil drenched birds. They prepare to end their work day and make their way home in the comfort of their gasoline powered cars. Over the weekend, they will probably make their way to the grocery store or a restaurant in their cars, run into friends and talk about boycotting bp, then drive their cars back home.

I like to hope that people would do somethign to lessen their usage of gasoline. It causes pollution, spills and war. It also supports the car tax. I hope they replace some of their trips with a bicycle. Even a short trip.

I am supplementing my motorcycle commute with a bicycle. I have been riding two days to work and am upping it to three. Moreso, I am supplementing my bicycle commute to work with my motorcycle. 14 miles is quite long.

I am also drooling on the pictures from the Cargo Bike Race in Copenhagen.

I organized a cargo bike picnic ride last Sunday. I wanted to promote the utilitarian aspect of bicycles so people can supplement some of their car trips on a bicycle.

Seven people showed up, including me. The excellent company made up for the lack of participation by far.

The ride was promoted paper free. No posters and leaflets. In the age of blogs, RSS feeds and feed readers, it is pointless to print posters. Ride information was shared on Urban Core and Bikejax, both very popular websites. I also created a facebook event where 30 or more people agreed to attend in spite of the Tour de Cure going on. Lakshore Shwinn, a local bike shop that carries xtracycles also sent messages on twitter and facebook.

Many people who missed the bicycle ride are probably at work watch oil spewing out of the extraction site on bp’s live feed. They shake their heads in disappointment to bp’s lack of proper oil spill containment and to the damage done to sea life and beaches. They may even shed a tear at the sight of oil drenched birds. They prepare to end their work day and make their way home in the comfort of their gasoline powered cars. Over the weekend, they will probably make their way to the grocery store or a restaurant in their cars, run into friends and talk about boycotting bp, then drive their cars back home.

I like to hope that people would do something to lessen their usage of gasoline. It causes pollution, spills and war. It also supports the car tax. I hope they replace some of their trips with a bicycle. Even a short trip.

I have been riding two days to work and am upping it to three. I am supplementing my bicycle commute to work with my motorcycle. 14 miles is quite long.

I am also drooling on the pictures from the Cargo Bike Race in Copenhagen.

One Twenty Five

Abhishek Mukherjee — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:54:44 +0000

I remember growing up during the beginning of consumerism in India. My father owned a car that I used for errands and to transport myself to the commuter rail station. He used the company car to commute to work. Before I have been driving, I watched my friends get motorcycles and scooters. I have been drooling over motorcycles for as long as I can remember.

Mom and Dad, fearing traffic conditions of Bombay, never bought me one. After laboriously evaluating every production motorcycle in India through magazines and internet, I had zeroed in on the Enfield Bullet 350 as the object of my affection. I got to ride a 1971 Royal Enfield Bullet 350 on the closed streets of Godrej & Boyce manufacturing campus. Even though I ended up pushing the heavy kick-start bike back to its owner for a quarter mile, consumerism was taking over. I wanted to acquire motorcycles from everything like the Enfield 350 to the over powered liquid cooled V4 engined Yamaha V-Max. Frugal options like 100 cc to 150 cc commuter motorcycles legendary for their reliability, affordability and fuel efficiency were not on my radar.

Today, I find myself on the other side of the fence. Fending off motorcycle-lifestyle-consumerists is becoming a way of life. My choice of 125 cubic centimeters of reciprocating pistons is everything but laughed upon. There are, however, some people who commend my decision to be a practical one and not wanting to buy a motorcycle to wave it as a phallic symbol.

Others: Get what you really want. You will grow tired of this in three months.

Me: But I don’t have $9000 for the Triumph America. I want to keep my operating costs low.

Others: Put it on your credit card. Ask for an extension on your limit. Get financing. (in other words, get deeper into debt like the rest of us)

Me: I get 90+ miles per gallon. Insurance costs only $181 annually for Liability and Comprehensive.

Others: You will grow out of it soon. Get what you really want.

Me: I just want to commute. Not really worried about speed.

Others: You’ll think your bike is too slow in 3 months.

I am in a position where only time can tell if I grow tired of this bike quickly. Till now, my top speed has been a modest 30 mph on slippery rainy conditions with slippery new tires. I plan to own this bike for two to three years till I can afford to own and maintain a bigger motorcycle without going into debt. I am not, however, excited about being pulled into the rat race of traffic and commute. Owning a motor vehicle is one step closer to being another brick in the wall.

This purchase does not end bicycle use but only curtails it on unfriendly suburban roads. The Xtracycle has tons of storage and versatility that the Eliminator can not rival. Come grocery shopping day or dog food purchase day, I will be hauling the long-tail with a smile on my face, suburbia or not. Once I move to the Urban Core, I plan to only use the motorcycle for commuting to work and back and maybe a long trip to the other corner of town. Other times, the motorcycle stays parked.

This is Why They Call it an Addiction

Abhishek Mukherjee — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:43:24 +0000

“I’ve used up gas just looking for gas,”

”Right now, I’ll pay anything for gas,” Jenkins said. “I don’t care if it’s $5 or $6 a gallon. I need it.”

A quote from the recent gas shortages in Atlanta sounds very familiar to parts of the script of ‘Trainspotting‘. See news article for the complete story (article).

I dont understand why people have forgotton the meaning of freedom. Freedom dependent on goods and services other than basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter is addiction. See more information on addiction here (link).

Does Jacksonville have a plan B if this were to happen here or are we going to be stuck in our SUVs? I am sure that Jacksonville will be worse off because Atlanta atleast has MARTA. Jacksonville has nothing. This is a list of Jacksonville’s illustrious projects (link).