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.

A friend recently moved next door and her work is literally a stone throw away from her apartment. She get a lunch break which she uses to get out of the office and walk her dog. She willingly agreed to walk Laya for me if I chose to ride my bicycle to work. Since I am not in the best of shape, I am only riding to work twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday. I want to get to 3 days and eventually all 5 days.

My work is a 28 mile round trip and it involves climbing the Acosta bridge. The morning rides are very refreshing. The afternoon rides are a little tiring. Between the sun and 5 PM rush hour traffic, I am fighting several battles on my bicycle.

I am riding my xtracycle to work. It is the only long distance bicycle with multiple gears and a rock solid construction. Moreover, the heavy bike gives me a good workout. This is my second week and I can already feel the difference. Moreover, this is an appropriate activity for Bike Month rather than group ride with police escorts like this one: link

Riding a bicycle does not save me a whole lot of money since I am only offsetting minor wear and tear on the motorcycle and negligible fuel usage. Yup, I have been getting over 75 miles per gallon on the little Kawasaki. All I did was reduce my speed on Phillips Highway from 50 to 45. Enjoy the graphs and charts. Happy motoring!

We have been reinforcing the utilitarian prowess of a bicycle by providing free valet parking at the Riverside Arts Market. People who choose to use their bicycles as modes of transportation are being encouraged at the market.

We have met many amazing people arriving at the market on their bikes. From little kids on trikes to mommies with kids in a trailer. Since we are always occupied at the market guarding the bikes (with our dear lives), we never get an opportunity to ride and hang out with these amazing people. Hence, we came up with the Cargo Bike Picnic Ride. It is a three mile leisurely ride in the friendly streets of Riverside that ends in a picnic. People are encouraged to bring their picnic gear, games, beverages, musical instruments etc. along for the ride.

Information Website: http://shekscrib.com/cargobikepicnic

Date: Sunday 23 May, 2 pm

Start: Five Points Coffee & Spice (820 Lomax)

End: Memorial Park

If you have parked with us, here is a chance to ride with us and hang out at beautiful Memorial Park. If you haven’t parked with us yet, you are welcome too. Anything that can carry cargo is allowed, including your backpack. Bring your friends along for the ride or simply have them meet us at Memorial Park for the picnic.

After the middleburgh rest stop at 23 miles, the girls kept riding. They refused to stop every 10 miles or so. I let them pedal ahead and stopped after the intersention of SR 16, 34 miles into the trip. I drank water, let blood flow into places starved of it and checked google maps to find the state park. We had decided to meet at the state park.

Feeling a little refreshed, I got back on the saddle. The road looked uphill as far as the eye could see. That can be a serious demotivator if you are close to hitting your wall. A few miles through, I saw the girls resting outside a white fence of some farm. They asked me to stop but I had a good momentum going. I didn’t want to break it. So, I yelled back,” see you at the state park” and kept going.

41 miles into the trip was Golden Head Branch state park. It costs $2 to get in for a bicyclist. I did not pay and stopped by a bench near the gate. By the time I had mixed a bottle of Gatorade, the girls arrived. They seemed to be in high spirits till they saw my exquisite roast beef sandwich. They had eaten soggy tuna salad sandwiches sitting by that fence.

This stop was also my wall. I had given in all I wanted to give to this trip. I wanted to give up. My butt was hurting but recovering well at stops. My upper back and right shoulder were beginning to hurt more reminding me of all the training I did not do. My legs and quads were totally fine. No sign of any discomfort there. I must have used gears properly. After spending 45 mins at the park, we headed towards Keystone Heights.

There is a new segregated bike path that starts outside this park and goes all the way to Keystone heights. It is about 6 miles long. We passed a lot of lakes with very low water levels. I guess some neighboring big cities (Jacksonville) are sucking up the Aquafir.

The ride though Keystone Heights was the best stretch. The road was curvy and a good mix of some downhill and some uphill. SR 21 goes through downdown Keystone Heights. There is not much shoulder here till you reach Melrose.

There is no better way to see Keystone Heights than on a bicycle.

We stopped at a gas station in the 50 mile mark before reaching Melrose. I sprayed all chains and gears with a grease. The girls got ice for their water. We should have stopped longer and eaten something. All I had was a drink of water. Right after Melrose on SR 26, five miles from this stop, my stomach told me I was hungry. I stopped and watched the girls ride away. After a snack of trail mix and water, after facilitating more blood flow, I set off again. This was 54 miles into the trip. The next six miles were slow. I saw the girls at some point way out in the horizon but never caught up wih them.

At mile 60, I stopped at the intersection of US 301 and SR 26. No sign of the girls here either. Under a shady tree, I devoured some more sandwich, some sweet potato chips and 16 oz of Gatorade. I walked and stretched. 30 mins after this stop, I set off again. The stretch of 26 after 301 is also a joy to ride in. Moreover, Gainesville city limits are less than ten miles away. I powered through this section using the remaining of my quads. The shoulder and arms were killing me.

A mile before the intersection of 223 and 26, the girls called me. They had taken a turn and weren’t sure of it. That was a good call since it would have added a few extra miles to their trip. I met up with them, snacked and drank water, then set off on SR 222. This is NE 39th street which goes along Gainesille airport.

The fast riding seemed to have taken a toll on the girls here. They no longer sped away towards their destination like before. Their speed was somewhere around 6-8 mph and they kept at it chatting and singing. I was having to brake in order to stay behind them. So I took off and reached the Gainesville city limit sign. After I took a picture and called a friend, the girls arrived. We spent more time taking pictures which should show up on facebook soon. With five miles left to go, we got back on the saddles.

We turned on Wlado Rd which has a segregated bike path into the city. Our speeds were a leisurely 10 mph on the 2 miles of this trail.

77.91 miles later, I was taking a hot shower in my friend’s apartment reflecting on this impossible accomplishment.

I did not think I could do it. My appreciation goes out to the girls who after exhaustion and severe sun burn want to ride back. I am catching a ride back. I am just not masochistic enough.

Posted via email from shek’s posterous

We have a Murray 10 speed with 26 inch tires and a Huffy with 24 inch wheels and knobby offroad tires. Charisse on the Huffy is working harder than the rest of us. She is also riding this bike for the first time. Ever!

I need to stop typing and get some nutrition in.

Posted via email from shek’s posterous

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.

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 was taken outside the City Hall valet station.

Find them here: http://www.sheksfootprint.com/my-bicycles

So how is living car free in a part of town with an undesirable quality? Challenging would be my answer on an optimistic day. The grocery store is only a mile away. With a tiny bit of planning, grocery shopping is achieved in one trip on the weekend. The trusted Xtracycle is a fantastic grocery hauler. For that mid-week craving of Mexican food or to buy a critical grocery item I missed, I whip out the old single speed Dutch bike. Its front basket has plenty cargo capacity for a doggie bag or a case of Yuengling.

Zaxby’s, the only fried chicken restaurant worth visiting, is 5 miles away, mostly through deserted local roads. A trip there takes 30 minutes. I usually go alone as what I do with my fried chicken isn’t pretty. Riding back can be tad adventurous. Sitting on a hard saddle for half an hour after ingesting spicy buffalo sauce smothered chicken fingers isn’t ideal. The Town Center Mall with its departmental stores, pet food stores and Friday Farmer’s Market is within 3 miles away. In fact, I am hopping over there this evening for errands, all on a bike.

Dry cleaning seems challenging but easily solved if you ask the good Turkish people to fold your clothes into boxes. A trip to the movie theater dictates a longer route than one would take if driving but I chose to not ride on roads with a loosely imposed 45 mph speed limit. A trip to downtown is 12 miles long and a fairly pleasant one. A trip to the beach is 13 miles long and not so pleasant. Surprisingly, distance is not a challenging factor. I have gladly ridden 10 miles to a dentist, had her drill, scrape and clean my teeth and ridden back smiling, only this time with better teeth. On days with tighter schedules, I have hired a taxi cab.

So what is the challenging part, you ask? It is the people who meet you on the road through their protective shields of glass and metal. Living in a neighborhood with a walk score of 20 subjects you to people, who usually love their car-dependent life styles. They also have a patriotic attachment to things like big rims on their Kia and the roads they drive those low-profiles on. Most walkscore-20-dwellers will take the on-road-bicyclist-infringement without any patience. The bridged gap between walkable destinations and drivable ones is ugly.

It feels like the free-radical was always a part of the bike and the bike was built with the free-radical in mind. The way it attaches itself to an existing bike is the most attractive feature of the xtracycle. You can go for longer rides and not feel any different than before the conversion. I rode it 10 miles to a friend’s house today and at times I forgot that I was riding an xtracycle. This is a genius invention and deserves a lot of credit.

I am Abhishek Mukherjee and on behalf of Bajrang, I approve this message.

By the way, I am looking for a name for my Dutch bike. Suggestions will be helpful. I do think it is a ’she’!

Brooklyn at Cycledelic-Fixity has voluntered to be the only reasonable bicycle shop owner that will put it together for a reasonable price. His cool shop is around 14 miles from my apartment in the historic Riverside area of Downtown. He came out of his shop to greet me as I had started to un-strap the bike rack. He said that he recognized my bike as I am a celebrity thanks to these guys: link.

I browsed around his shop a little drooled on the fixies in various stages of completion. Some day after the car is sold! I did pop in at Jax Ebikes (link) but it was closed, so I decided to head back home. I have never ridden my bike from Downtown to home. Since I may have to do it tomorrow, I decided to give the route a shot in the car. I went up the Acosta bridge and then on Philips all the way south to Baymeadows (see route: View Larger Map)

The section of Philips between San Marco and Emerson is pretty desolate and sad. It is one slip away form being a ghost town. I hope the road is as less crowded tomorrow as it was today. Maybe I should have Brooklyn install a Katana holder while he is at it, a custom from Hattori Hanzo none the less!

As for the name of this post, well, that is the new name of my xtracycle-attched-specialized. The god of strength in the Indian mythology is the name of this bike which is my strength to go car free. In today’s car-dependent world, this bike is my Plan B and my extra set of bollocks! Eat this Big Oil!