Most roadway design engineers are not motorcyclists or bicyclists for that matter. These two groups usually get left out during planning. When a co-worker asked me how my commute has been lately, I decided to bring forth the issue of grooves cut on the road surface. I made a case that it is designed for four wheeled traffic and is potentially unsafe for motorcyclists. Tires get caught in the grooves which make the motorcycle follow the grooves till they get traction back. This happens back and forth and the motorcyclist is helpless in controlling the machine efficiently. Lighter motorcycles like mine feel it more than some heavier ones. An accident at interstate speeds with moving traffic can be fatal.

Motorcyclists are about 2% of registered vehicles. My coworkers made a point that roads are designed for the majority. They argued that it is my choice of lifestyle to ride a motorcycle and the engineers should not have to bend over backwards to accommodate my personal life choices. I am sure some of his comments were friendly banter but it made me think about concept of designing for majority. It effectively puts a price-tag on the value of a motorcyclist’s life. What is an acceptable price of anyone’s life?

What determines majority?

Is it just number of registered cars v/s motorcycles? The cars win hands down. I have designed a different method of scoring majority that is fairer and somewhat biased.

It has two factors:

Factor One > Occupants per 100 lbs

Factor Two > Gallons per 100 mile per occupant

Assumptions:

• Average motorcycle = Suzuki SV 650
• Average Car = Honda Civic
• One occupant per car
• One occupant per motorcycle
• Fuel efficiencies from company websites

Factor Two – Gallons per 100 mile per occupant. A 650 cc motorcycle gets around 55 mpg (city + hwy). Therefore, the single rider uses 1.81 gallons per 100 miles travelled. A 2010 Honda Civic gets 29 mpg (city + hwy). A single occupant uses 3.44 gallons every 100 miles driven. Therefore, a Civic user is 1.9 times the fuel footprint of a motorcycle. Factor Two result = 1.9

Factor One multiplied to Factor Two gives 11.37. Therefore, each motorcycle on the road gets multiplied by 11.37 to become a car equivalent. With motorcycles being 2% of registered vehicles, for every 98 cars on the road, there were 2 motorcycles. Now, for every 98 cars on the road, there are 2 X 11.37 = 22.75 motorcycles on the road. That is a share of 18% of traffic. Even though a minority, it is not negligible any more.

There are factors such as less wear on the road by motorcycles due to low weight thereby requiring less road maintenance that I have not considered. I have also not considered how motorcycles are unfavorable in adverse weather conditions since I ride all year and it has nothing to do with considering roadway design. Noise pollution on some larger cruisers and choppers is also not considered since plenty of cars have loud exhausts and a lot of them also blare loud music. Most motorcycles don’t come with sound systems.

I am a little biased on my two factor calculation but every road designer and transportation engineer is biased towards cars. I don’t feel guilty.

All of the above rant and pseudo-mathematics mostly try to convey that cars take a front seat in any planning. Cars are convenient, safe, protected from elements and quick. Motorcycles are not that convenient, safe with proper training, not protected from elements at all but are quick. Bicycles are neither of the three but probably the safest. Bicycles are convenient if one lives in a bicycle-centric city. Cars do cost the most amount of money to purchase and operate. They suck people deeper into dependence than a commuter motorcycle does. Yet, we promote it.

We are supposed to be the smarter of the mammals!

It is a small sized board that was light enough to be pinned to my cubicle wall. It was the statistics tracker for my car-light days.

Since I was sparsely driving my car, I decided to track what I was exactly doing.

• The first line says when I last filled up my gas tank. 14th august had been 26 days since I I updated the board last. I put my car up for sale (link)  in the beginning of October which shows when I stopped updating the board.
• The next line tracks the gallons used since the last fill up. In 26 days, I had driven 143 miles at the rate of 24.5 miles per gallon and used 5.8 gallons.
• I had ridden 923 miles since I started commuting by bike in the end of May 2008. A coworker added “Days ridden in Tropical Storm : 1″ since I rode to work and back on one of the first days of tropical storm Fay hitting us. Riding in strong winds and rain was challenging but I lived just two miles away. That was also the day I did not get honked or yelled at.
• I tracked days that I had not driven the car. This prompted me to question the times I did drive thereby thinking of alternatives. The xtracycle was purchased out of this statistic.
• My goal was to ride atleast 250 miles a month. Below that, I measured the miles I rode each month. Since I stopped tracking by the end of September, I never updated this board.

Discovering this white board brought me back good memories. Those were very passionate days and played a strong role in making me what I am today. It is because of those days, and that whiteboard that I joined forces with Matt at Bikejax and executed a successful bike valet. We are expanding it this weekend due to higher numbers of commuters to the Arts Market.

I am buying a motorcycle. It has been my life long goals to own one and I am finally doing it. I enjoy living car free. I enjoy not heavily depending on oil for transportation. I also enjoy not having any insurance expense.

I have chosen to move to another part of town 13 miles away. A bicycle friendly and socially active part of town. I therefore need a motorcycle to commute to and from work. I would have done it on a bicycle but I have a dog to take care of and it is not fair to leave her in a room for 12+ hours while I am away.

My goals are to keep my expense at a minimum, gasoline usage low and not much insurance to pay. I have been looking at commuter motorcycles for a while. These are the options I am considering:

My route includes 12 miles of Interstate 95 and State Road 202 where the average speed of travel is 65 mph.

Only I95 has a minimum limit of 40 mph. It is recommended that to ride a motorcycle on a roadway, one should at least ride at the speed of traffic with some reserve power left to accelerate away from danger. I have heard stories from friends about how they were able to wring the throttle to escape an accident. It is not a common occurrence but it only takes one accident. This renders the Eliminator and the Suzuki not worthy of the interstate.

The motorcycle culture in USA, much like the bicycle culture is very much biased towards recreation. I have been battling this consumerist materialistic more-power-is-never-enough attitude for a few weeks. It is time to define my goals strongly and move towards a decision objectively.

Kawasaki Eliminator 125: I have been a secret fan of this bike in India where it is sold with a 180cc engine. It maintains its styling nicely even with a smaller engine.

Pros:

• Low styling (low center of gravity)
• High gas mileage (low carbon footprint)
• Least cost of the three (more money saved to replace my dying laptop)
• Low desirability (for theft)
• Low insurance ($181 per year includes comprehensive and liability)

Cons:

• Not worthy of interstate riding (Elongates my 15 min one way trip time to 30 min)

Suzuki TU250X: This reminds me of 70s style motorcycles I grew up watching. I like the sit-up styling unlike the foot-forward cruiser styling of the Eliminator.

Pros:

• High gas mileage (low carbon footprint)
• Low cost (more money saved to replace my dying laptop)
• Low desirability (for theft)
• Low insurance ($171 per year includes comprehensive and liability)
• Electronic Fuel injected

Cons:

• Not worthy of interstate riding. It will struggle to keep up. (Elongates my 15 min one way trip time to 30 min)

Buell Blast: This single cylinder has a reputation for hit-and-miss reliability. Some people seem to not have any problems with it while some complain. It was designed to be a maintenance free beginner bike.

Pros:

• Interstate ready. I wont have to take alternate routes on slower roads.
• Low center of gravity (muffler is tucked under the engine)
• Belt drive

Cons:

• Lowest gas mileage of the three (though very respectable)
• Hit and miss reliability in reviews
• High cost (low value for money)
• Highest insurance by far ($497 per year includes comprehensive and liability)

Conclusion:

The utility of these bikes goes up only with the Buell which allows me to keep pace with interstate traffic and have plenty of juice left to pull away from danger. Other than that, I don’t really see any extra utility. I will spend an extra 30 minutes (15 each way) by commuting on Phillips Highway but I am usually in no hurry and always have time. It fails to justify the cost over the Eliminator and the Suzuki.

I will get to ride the likes of the Eliminator and the Suzuki during my Motorcycle Safety Training Basic Rider Course. The final decision will have to wait till then. I am leaning towards the Eliminator though. It can provide the joy of cruising along at my own pace at a very affordable price. It is also a good step towards upgrading to a classic styled bike in a few years…like this one.

A cyclist who knocked down an 84-year-old pedestrian who later died has been jailed for seven months and banned from driving for a year.

Darren Hall, 20, rode down a hill in Weymouth too fast he then went up on to the pavement on a blind bend to avoid a red traffic light, Dorchester Crown Court heard. Hall hit Ronald Turner in August last year. He died 13 days later.

Hall, of Weymouth, pleaded guilty to the 19th Century offence of wanton and furious driving causing bodily harm.

Posted via email from shek’s posterous

When I was stopped for the first time, the passenger, male, leaned out of the window and asked me fairly politely with a hint of frustration to stay on the side of the road. I turned around and explained that the lane is less than fourteen feet wide making it unsafe for me to stay on the side. To this, the passenger asked me why I don’t wear a helmet! This was a rhetorical question on the passenger’s behalf because he quickly returned to his usual perch and rolled the windows up as I was saying, “It is not the law”.

The inherent problem with the motorist’s abrasive culture against bicyclists is that few take time to research the law and its inherent flaws. I wish they would like to stop for a conversation and let me explain that I don’t wear a helmet not only because it is not the law. I would start by the epic video of Jens Voigt crashing at high speeds during Stage 16 of the 2009 Tour de France, wearing a helmet but sustaining injuries on his face, not a scratch on his helmet. Further, I would talk about the two crashes during last month’s Women’s ride where the first one walked off without head injuries while the second one had a swollen ankle and no head injuries.

Thereafter, I would point to this study http://bhsi.org/walkerstudy.htm where a cyclist gets extra room and consideration when not wearing a helmet. Though this study was done in the UK, it holds true for USA because the cycling culture and its popularity are similar in both countries. Moreover, I have personally experienced the change in attitude of the motorists in terms of passing clearance once I ditched my helmet.

What I do is bicycling for transportation. Most times I ride under 12 miles per hour. At that speed a fall will mostly result from being hit by a 3000 pound or heavier vehicle, at which point a helmet is vastly insufficient.

From Ken Keifer’s research on this matter,

bicycle head injuries constitute only about from 1.02% to 1.54% of the US total serious head injuries and from .56% to .87% of the head injury deaths. The largest group of head injuries, by the way, are among motorists. Therefore, bicycling is not dangerous, nor is it a leading cause of head injury.

The passenger in the car had already made up his mind that I was illegally blocking his path. After our brief conversation, he had assumed that I am a hypocrite who is spinning his own tales of safety. I find that inference bigotry because he isn’t the one on the same road as rush hour motorists pedaling along. It is foolish to pass judgment on an activity that you are not participating in and therefore can not comprehend.

Last year, I attempted riding on Southside Blvd between Deerwood Park Blvd and Touchton Rd. Twice. Being on the same road as cars traveling at excess of 50 mph seriously questions ones safety. I don’t mean to target Southside but it is the only road within easy reach of me and tends to portray a healthy mix of demography representative of the Jacksonville suburbs. The argument made below with Southside Blvd in perspective may be made for all major connecting roads.

More people start using bicycles as transportation when they have the option to use it to go to a place of business such as movie theaters, restaurants etc. Families prefer to visit such businesses with their family members. Workers such as bartenders, waiting staff, movie theater staff can save more if they incur less car-related expenses: gas, insurance, maintenance.

The map below shows residential neighborhoods in blue, Tinseltown with its movie theaters, bars and restaurants in pink and the direct route in red. The entire length of the red lined route is 4.4 miles, an easy ride.

The speed limit on this stretch is 45 mph. Cars usually travel here at 50 mph to 60 mph. There is some shoulder on this road. It is usually littered with debris and not very wide. Turning lanes at Baymeadows Rd, Deerwood Park Blvd, exit to JTB, entry from JTB, Gate Parkway etc cause a serious hazard for a cyclist in the shoulder.

The Challenge:

Lets assume that you are sold on the idea of bicycles as transportation. You are out with your family, kids on their bikes and are planning to visit a restaurant for dinner. Maybe you are single and are out with a date on your bicycles to Mellow Mushroom to catch the live band on Friday night. Maybe you want to attempt one less car trip to the movie theater to meet your friends for the new Harry Potter movie.

Here are two methods (A and B) of travel. Which one would you chose?

Method A:

The video below created by Keri from Commute Orlando shows how to ride on the road where the speed limit is 55 mph. The trick here is to not control the outside lane in the center but on the outer two thirds. Remember, you are not required to wear lycra or ride at +15 mph as is depicted in the video below. Normal clothes and a comfortable 10 mph on your beach cruiser is acceptable.

Pros:

1. Utilize existing road infrastructure for bicycle commutes. 92% of your Income Tax, Sales Tax and Property Tax pays for those roads anyway.

Cons:

1. Some of the cars switching lanes to overtake do so at a very close proximity to Keri’s bike. A slight oversight, miscalculation or distraction will lead to a crash that nobody wants. We all know how sparingly motorists use cell phones, radios and iPods.
2. During three minutes of the video, Keri gets yelled at only once. Firstly, this implies that Orlando traffic in that area is much much more civil than Jacksonville traffic in any area. Try riding on University Blvd or Southside Blvd to find out. Secondly, this questions the time of the day. Trying to ride like this in rush hour may not be as pleasant. Maybe the motorists could even see the video cameras strapped onto the helmets.
3. What we never see is cars once overtaken cutting back into the lane in an aggressive manner. That behavior is prevented by the presence of the second rider in front of Keri. Cutting in front of the cyclist aggressively is a dangerous move and is more prevalent in slower traffic.

These cons reduce what is called Subjective Safety: Are you near fast moving traffic ? Is it easy to make a turn across traffic ? Do you have to cycle "fast" in order to keep up ?

Method B:

Imagine if Southside Blvd and all similar roads with a speed limit of above 35 mph had a bike path separated from motorized traffic by a curb, a grassy shoulder and maybe even some trees. This, when complimented with appropriate forced yields at turning lane intersections and stop signs for the segregated bike path reduces any conflict with motorists.

Given such infrastructure, would you ride here with your children?

Would you let your children ride bikes to school?

Would you let your teenage son or daughter commute on these roads to visit after school programs, sports practice, friends etc?

Would you have a quality commute and in turn, a quality life?

Laws governing cyclists are sometimes loosely imposed. We see a lot of cyclists riding in the dark with no reflectors or lights. We see well dressed cyclists with headphones or riding against the flow of traffic or both! These are just some examples where a cyclist is being inconsiderate of the law and safety. When a cyclist does follow the law, occasionally, a law enforcement officer questions the interpretation of the law. This leads to unnecessary agony and irritation on the part of the cyclist.

For example, Fredrick Ungewitter (link), has a very well documented saga of mishaps faced due to police officers misinterpreting the law. He was riding his velomobile on a road of substandard width and was pulled over for impeding traffic. He was controlling the lane.

Read the excruciating debate that followed the traffic stop here: http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2009/02/17/impeding-traffic-the-audio/

Further,

In February, Fred was pulled over in Port Orange for controlling a narrow lane on a multi-lane road. He was informed by 2 officers that he was required to ride on the far right edge of the lane. The officers were not interested in actually reading the WHOLE statute which gives Fred the right to use the full lane. Instead they told him they would ticket him if they saw him controlling the lane again. They made good on the promise. Twice. And basically promised to continue citing him if he continued “testing” them. And it wasn’t just cops in the field, the impetus for this harassment was coming straight from the chief of police.

After consulting with Lawyers, the citation was eventually dismissed. See post here: http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2009/04/05/citation-dismissed/

When Fred is not being cited, he has to deal with impatient motorists on the road. I am sure all us bicyclists have seen this behavior.

When parked, his velomobile deals with members of his ‘fan club’!

I solemnly thank Fred for standing up for bicyclists. His videos and detailed records of encounters continue to advocate.

Fred’s story intrigues me and begs to ask if the above reactions are towards velomobiles specifically? They look like cars and the name sounds like what someone with a cape rides. I looked across the Atlantic to see what those Europeans do when they see a velomobile.

Here is a video of David Hembrow riding a velomobile through the streets of Assen.

Notice how motor vehicles stop for any one on the segregated bike path. It is a culture and a law that is enforced. The funny thing is, there is no misinterpreted language, no lost exceptions to rules [exception 3 to statuette 316.2065(5)], no gray areas (riding two abreast laws) and no doubts if a bicycle is a vehicle and has the same rights and responsibilities as other vehicles on the road. One rule: yield  to bikes. The segregated path keeps motorists out of cyclists way and vice versa. I am sure daily life in The Netherlands on a bicycle is not entirely friction-free but situations like the ones Fred was in never arise.

Moreover, there is a much higher quality of life when one can ride without having to carry laminated copies of official court documents (link). This logic isn’t rocket science.

Some people like to hypothesize that segregation implies motorist superiority. Repeated examples like priority to bikes at traffic lights prove the converse. I think they assume that once segregated paths are built, the city walks away. There is more science involved. For a detailed explanation, visit here: PDF link to Bicycle Policy, Cycling in The Netherlands 2009

Given a velomobile, where would you rather dance?

I have thought about buying a new city bike (preferably a Velorbis Churchill Balloon) and preserving this 30+ year old Amsterdam bike, but bikes are made to be ridden. So, I shall honor the creation of this bike and it shall be my mode of leisurely short distance travel. For those who have not experienced the joys of a city bike (not hybrid but dutch design bikes), you don’t know what you are missing. I even bought a pair of aviators to match the bicycle.

Today, I ordered a Solvit Trackr Dog Trailer, large, for Laya. The internal dimensions measure up well with Laya’s collar to butt length. If she likes it, my trusty 2007 Saturn Aura will receive its last oil change from me and will be put up for sale.

I had some time to reflect back on my misery during my ride back home. Not only was I late, I was also soggy and tired. I put myself into harms way by riding my bicycle on roads with no shoulders and bike lanes during low visibility conditions! This is where a Plan B would help. A bus route, sub way, light rail or even the presense of a car-sharing agency like zip car would make my day a lot happier (and drier). The easy way out was to have carried a spare pair of shorts and protective rain-pants but the safety issue is still unsolved.

The better Jacksonville plan (link here) was put into action with an extra 0.5% sales tax to make jacksonville a better city in terms of infrastructure. So, they proceeded to improve vital elements like expanding libraries but have been also spending a considerable amount of money in expanding roads. People have been expanding roads for a century now. What problem has that solved? It is insanity to do the same thing and expect a different result. The city seems to be doing a fast-paced effort towards starting commuter rail but that is limited in its scope. We need more light rail and street cars for intra-city movement if the city does not plan to expand roads indefinitely. We need a plan B. I need a plan B.

I want to successfully live car-free and it appears that the city has made it very difficult to get around without a car. Till the city gets its act together and till I am patient enough to not move to a smarter city like Portland OR, I will have to grow an extra pair of balls and be my own plan B.

cash prizes involved

see page on right: http://www.sheksfootprint.com/ditch-the-car

then comments go here

UPDATE – 19 Sept 2008

I have decided to sell my car no matter what. The contest is hereby closed.