Shek's Footprint

I am a little perplexed about the engineering aspect of the Yike Bike that TIME was so attracted to. It is an electric bicycle without the ability to pedal if you were to run out of power. It does not have any fancy gyroscopic technology to keep upright. It is very light but I’d rather not see it hit a bump on the road, send the rider flying forward while the carbon fiber shatters into pieces. It is designed for urban environments, no? So, why is TIME awarding this pseudo electric bike such honor as vertical farming and bladeless fans? Does this indicate that America is interested in transportation without any physical activity?

The Yike Bike is electronically limited to about the same speed as a Segway. It does not improve the health of the people by making them pedal. It costs more than an average city bike. I guess to justify a Yike Bike, one has to understand the mentality of the people who like toys like the Segway. I don’t see the Yike Bike being used in malls, airports and amusement parks, since one can not just stand on it without movement. Therefore, it will only be used by commuters.

In fact, it would be ideal for my commute to work and back, twice a day except, I will be less visible since one sits so low on a Yike Bike. incidentally, Yike Bike manufacturers think one is more visible on it than on a bicycle. Also, I wont be keeping those pounds off that I normally would riding a bicycle. I am sure my wallet will feel a lot lighter too, since my mode of transport costs over $40 to own. Yes, my daily commuter dutch bike cost me $40.

The Yike Bike will successfully segue between lycraed roadies and techie geeks, bypassing pedal power for transportation. It will be hope against human powered mobility initiatives, namely walking and bicycling, with a recurring non-renewable energy requirement. It will be the new vehicle of choice to go to the next World of Warcraft convention.

At least it encourages people to live in urban environments because one cant really get anywhere important on a Yike Bike in the suburbs.

I have been silent on this blog for around a month and a half. Firstly, I apologize to all my readers for being inconsistent. I pledge to post at least once a week. If not, you can hire someone locally to blow the air off my bicycle tires.

I have been partly ashamed to post here and partly have no material to write about bicycling or conservation. I am ashamed because I have bought a motorcycle. Though the justifications are solid, it has taken me away from bicycles. I have barely ridden a bicycle three times since I bought the Kawasaki. This is in stark contrast with my car free life since November 2008.

I am very close to moving to a part of town with a walk score of over 80. That will allow me to have a high quality bicycle usage than my current suburban hell hole. Moreover, that part of town recycles.

Since September, I have not ridden the motorcycle to any place other than work, errands between commutes to work and a friend’s dinner party so he could see it. I did ride to Downtown once to see how the longer commute would feel. I am not comfortable cycing in this zip code yet.

As time passes, I get closer to my move and a new life, namely a new life surrounded by beautiful historic houses with tons of character and the friendly people who live and walk in those neighborhoods. I will be closer to my friends and Laya will have access to several parks and barky friends.

Getting over 65 miles per gallon on the motorcycle is not bad either. As the engine breaks in more and the carburetors get smoother, I hope to reach the 80 miles per gallon mark.

This video has been on my ‘to watch’ list for a while. It showes a bicycle path on the street of Amsterdamsestraatweg in Utrecht, Netherlands. It was posted on David Hembrow’s blog here: link

Things to notice are the traffic lights, car parking, car traffic and intersections on this road.

A majority of complaints made against this segregated type of infrastructure is the dynamics of intersections  between bicycle path and motorised traffic. Remember that due to this infrastructure, a majority of people are on bicycles, not in cars, thereby reducing the volume of cars on the roads that lead to the supposedly friction at intersections. Moreover, there are laws in place to reduce this friction leading to one of the lower bicycle accident rates in the world.

Another complaint made by some Vehicular Cyclists is that this system gives cars and wealthy car owners more superiority. I dont know if car owners feel superior in this video but a substantially large and growing number bicyclists seemed to be enjoying a high quality commute involving zero emissions, absymally low financial burdens and a healthy body.

Note a woman with a small child on her bicycle pedaling down the street with no worries. This sight is almost never visible in USA where Vehicular Cyclists demand we rightfully take our position on existing roads with traffic. I have asked this question before (link) and continue to wonder why a mother would not ride her bicycle on car-traffic-laden-infrastructure-less streets with her new born!

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.

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.

The nail that stands out gets hammered the most.

Calling a much slower instrument a vehicle and placing it on the road with much larger vehicles only with a thin shear blanket of a law is lazy. I am of the opinion that the definition of bicycles as vehicles is flawed. If the law and motorist’s courtesy is all that sufficiently protects a cyclist on a road, then let’s remove sidewalks and place the pedestrians on the road as well. They can use the shoulder and save bucket loads of money on concrete sidewalks.

Projecting a vehicular cyclist logic forward, cars, motorcycles, buses, trucks, tractor-trailers, bicycles, wheel chair bound disabled people, pedestrians etc. will all be called ‘widgets’ and all widgets will share the road with each other. Why should pedestrians be separated from the road to make it easier for vehicles to travel safely? Why support vehicular superiority? Vehicular Cyclists do not aggressively support Shared Space (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_space), making their arguments hypocritic and selfish.

Living in any sprawled area with no infrastructure but the blind principles of John Forrester makes life friction-full. Yells and honks start becoming an itch that wouldn’t cease so much that you would wish to cut off your limb to ease the pain. Initially, optimism and gumption help overcome the constant reminder that you as a bicyclist are unwanted and unwelcome on the road. The hammering does not stop, not till a large organization (Eg. a government) recognizes it and makes plans to stop it. Such efforts are usually graced with positive and constructive outcomes as seen in the cities of Portland OR, Davis CA and New York City NY.

I have decided to stop getting hammered. I am buying a motorcycle and moving to a bicycle-friendly neighborhood further away from work. I am moving from the top of a pile of bicycle commuters to the bottom of the pile of motor-vehicle commuters. In my efforts to latch on to a higher dynamic quality, namely car-free bicycle commuting, I am degenerating to an activity of lower quality, namely motorcycle ownership for commuting. I have kept gas bills, insurance and depreciation on the motorcycle to a frugal low of $100 a month, which used to be my taxi fare budget.

Lastly, the people who continue to bicycle commute here, Jonathan, Jose, Rebekah and the couple others who I haven’t met, are bigger people than I am. They are true heroes.