Chicago Bike Blog

Your 2008 Biking Goals

Goals, targets, resolutions.... Whatever you call them, you may be making some this time of the year. And if you are a cyclist, your goals may have something to do with your bike.

I know some people advocate setting big and audacious goals, even hairy ones sometimes. The problem with these types of goals is that you feel like a big failure if you happen to not meet them. Which is quite likely, in large part due to the size and audacity of the goal.
I'd like to advance a concept of small, modest goals. Here are the benefits of setting this type of goals:

• They are easier to reach
• They are easier to modify
• They are not likely to make you feel like a failure

For example, you could set a big, audacious goal like this:
I WILL RIDE MY BIKE TO WORK THIS YEAR EVERY DAY, NO MATTER WHAT, RAIN OR SHINE!
Unless you are already fully committed to a car-free lifestyle, there are several things wrong with this goal.

• It sets you up for failure. Anything could come up, and you know it will, and you have failed.
• There is no middle ground: it's either complete success, or else it's failure.
• There is no way to redeem the failure. If for some reason you cannot, or choose not to ride on a given day, you have already failed for the whole year.

Instead, you could set a small, modest goal like this:
I will ride my bike x-number of miles this year.
This type of goal has some advantages.

• It can be broken up into manageable monthly, weekly and daily chunks.
• You can exceed you goal. If you exceed it temporarily, it's easier to forgive yourself if you fall behind another time.
• Conversely, if you've fallen behind, you can recalculate your monthly and weekly requirements for the remainder of the year, and still catch up.
• Even if you don't catch up, you haven't completely failed. Maybe you've biked 800 miles rather than a thousand. That's not bad!

Don't ruin your biking experience by setting yourself up for failure. Especially if you are a relatively new cyclist. Try some small, modest goals that will help enhance your enjoyment of cycling. Like these:

• I will keep my biking stuff in one place, so it's convenient for me to hop on my bike when I feel like it.
• I will make a list of places that are easy for me to get to by bike, and try to ride there whenever I can.
• I will challenge myself a couple of times a month to do a bike ride that tests my comfort zone (longer distance, bad weather, heavier traffic, etc.)
• When making my daily transportation choices, I will consider my bike as a viable option.

The Commute By Bike blog ran this quote a few days ago, from the transportation alternatives coordinator for the city of Dallas:

“We have this picture of cycling commuters as being like supermen, and that discourages other people from doing it. When I came into this job, our thinking was we needed to enable cyclists to make 40-mile bike trips. Now my thinking is we need to have development in place that allows a cyclist to make a one-mile bike trip.”

Here's to the New Year, and millions of car-bound Chicagoans making the the switch to the one-mile bike trip.

Ten reasons bikes are better for winter commuting

Great reasons are listed on RocBike.

Happy Christmas

War is over!
(If you want it)

Best Buy? Think Again...

I don't usually rant, but I will today:
Here's another reason to patronize your small local retailer: we don't hire security goons with taser guns to bring unruly customers into order!
That's what happened to a Florida woman shopping at a Best Buy recently. She was apparently accused of using a bogus credit card that actually turned out to be hers.
I've witnessed other questionable incidents at Best Buy, but this is going too far. As someone who has been a victim of a policeman's temper gone too far, let me tell you that good communication can go a long way toward resolving a dispute. People get upset when they are not being heard, when they don't understand, and when they are not offered an opportunity to speak. Being upset does not make you a criminal.
Whatever happened to the "customer is always right?" Wasn't there another way to clarify the dispute? What happened to dialog? Why do we continue to patronize these outfits?  Is getting a deal worth this kind of treatment? Why do we continue to call security thugs "Officers"? And finally, what is happening in our country?
I don't have the answers. Do you?

Strida Folding Bike Review

There is a very thorough review of a rider's first encounter with the Strida folding bike on the Commute By Bike blog. I am looking forward to an objective review of the actual riding experience. This first installment covers the trials and tribulations of assembling the bike out of the box.

Of course, if you live in Chicago, you can skip that step, as Rapid Transit is part of Strida's fledgling dealer network, an we'll do all that stuff for you, plus teach you how to fold it, so you can just enjoy the ride.
But perhaps, we could do something about posting that instructional assembly video o YouTube? Hm...

World Bicycle Relief Building Party

What's it like to lug a bundle of firewood to your home every day to cook a meal?

(Heck, yours truly doesn't even carry the firewood from her own garage...)

What's it like to trudge for miles with containers of drinking water?

(Find out what these guys decided to get for Christmas this year)

We don't know. We can only imagine, and let me tell you, it's hard enough to pick these things up, let alone hike across the countryside with them.
Bicycles can help. A lot. The World Bicycle Relief web page tells you how much.  For people in the developing world a bicycle is a godsend. It  boosts a single person's carrying capacity five times, increases the distance they can travel four times, frees up valuable time, and increases a health worker's capacity to reach people in need more than ten-fold.  It gives people access to services, jobs, markets and education.
Yesterday, we were privileged to participate in a World Bicycle Relief bicycle building event.  According to F. K. Day, the president of the organization and Executive VP of the Chicago-based SRAM Corporation, he approached Boeing Company for donations and sponsorship of bicycles. Boeing, in turn, wanted to organize a team-building event for their downtown-Chicago employees. They put these two ideas together, and created a team-building project, whose purpose was to assemble bicycles to be sent to people in need in Zambia.
Over 75 Boeing employees participated, assembling about 50 bicycles. Our Rapid Transit mechanics were on hand to offer help, advice and encouragement to the new bike builders.
They worked in teams of two. Each team would exchange photos with the local assembler in Zambia, and the final recipient of the bike, thus establishing a tangible history and connection between people half-way around the world.

(Frames and wheels waiting to be turned int bicycles)

(Ben surveys the crowd of assemblers)

(Ronnie cheers on his assembly team)

(Sam watches as an assembler adjusts a wheel)


(This bike is nearly done)

(This one IS done)

(At the end of the day, there will be fifty bikes here)

Think you'd like to help? Click below:

Last-Minute Gifts for Cyclists

Last minute?!

Yep. One measly week left. Don't squander it at the mall.

In this installment of Chicago's ULTIMATE Cyclist Gift Guide, we race through Rapid Transit, and grab everything that seems like a good idea for a cyclist on your holiday list. Big or small, there is something here for everyone.

• Folding Multi-tools ($20-50).
• KRYPTONITE Evolution Mini ($65) compact bicycle lock.
• Festive handlebar tape ($12-20). Available in a rainbow of colors, this will dress up any road bike.
• Safety-orange helmet ($57), or other stylish helmets

• Something warm for under the helmet (headbands, beanies and such from $12). Also, a selection of one-of-a-kind cycling caps made by our very own Elise (modeled by Elise & Ben).

• Handlebar or helmet mirror (<$20).
• Smartwool socks ($12-20; after you've tried these, it's hard to go back to ordinary socks).
• Brooks leather bicycle seat (from about $70).
• Rear rack. This JANDD Expdition rack ($82) is a workhorse; other racks available from about $40.

• Rainwear. From a simple helmet cover to a full rain suit, this will be appreciated by any hardy cyclist.
• "I Love My Bike" bell , and other bells (from $5).

You could also get lights, clipless pedals, tires, bags, fenders, cycle computers, handlebar grips, horns, baskets, cargo trailers, kid trailers, heck, you could even get a bike! OK, I'm all out of breath. If you need more ideas, click here. You can access all our coupons here. Oh, and Merry Christmas.

Best Emergency Bike Attire: IT'S FREE!

This one speaks for itself:

We're on a road to nowhere...

Speaking of Valley Line Bike Path... Although they've really ripped up Bryn Mawr Ave just south of Kostner, it looks like work on the bike path to nowhere is progressing rather nicely:

Why "to nowhere"? Well, it'll take you as far north as Devon, where you can only ride east, because of the median in the middle of the street. You're on your own then. Devon is not cyclist-friendly at this point, with two lanes of traffic each way, and no shoulder.

If you're heading north, I suppose the best solution would be to hoof it across the median, and catch Kilbourn half a block north, and follow the small residential streets that skirt the western edge of the old train line, but then you get to Touhy, and you're on your own again.

Maybe one day CDOT and CBF will work out a little more trail integration. I may be old and grey by then. Sigh... In the meantime, by spring we should be able to ride the Valley Line to Devon and back, and enjoy its pretty bridges.

Best Streets for Biking in Chicago

A familiar internal debate: Elston Ave., or... something else?

For many Chicago cyclists, the diagonal streets: Lincoln, Milwaukee, Elston, are the preferred routes, simply because they shave distance off of the commute (remember Pythagoras?). While generally faster and more efficient, these streets also tend to be favored by motorists trying to avoid highway congestion, and they are punctuated by complicated and decidedly cyclist-unfriendly three-way intersections where they happen to intersect two other major streets running on the grid pattern.

The problem you run into in Chicago when you choose smaller streets, at least on the north and north-west side of the city, is that most of them dead end at either I90/94, or the Chicago River, or both. There is a handful of "happy medium" streets that offer a good compromise. Here are some of my favorites:

• Sacramento. A nice little spur from Elston to Milwaukee, in case you've gotten sick of one and are a ready for the other. Sacramento gets you conveniently under the highway at a point where there is only one little-known ramp for cars. (If you're going further south than Milwaukee, you have to make some choices around Humboldt Park, as Sacramento abruptly turns into a boulevard with heavy car traffic.)
• Bryn Mawr. A great street from getting to the lakefront from the north-west side of the city. But it dead-ends at Rosehill Cemetery! Pssst... just go right through the cemetery (you didn't hear it here). Very few cars, nice scenery, quiet, and you'll come out right around Ravenswood. I hear they plow, too. (Note: this route is currently under construction at the train crossing at Kostner, while the Valley Line bike path is being built. You will have to dismount and cross the mess on foot.)
  

  

  
  
• Granville. Good way to get from east to west Rogers Park. Traffic-calming round-abouts have been installed, and the street has traffic lights at most major crossings. At Kedzie, ride two blocks south, and join the riverfront path that takes you underneath Lincoln Ave, and all the way to Lawrence.
• Cortland-Armitage. Probably the best way to get from Bucktown to the lakefront. It gets you under the highway (a little snarly right at this point, but no car ramps), and over the river. Jog north half a block when you get to Racine, and make a right on Armitage. It gets busy with all the little stores, but cars aren't pulling it an out of big parking lots like they do on Elston. It's a little slower going, but much more pleasant then the alternatives like North or Fullerton.
• If I had to chose a north-south street, it would have to be Damen: few shopping outlets along the way, room for only one lane of cars each way, and decent amount of room between moving traffic and parked cars.

To virtually explore other good streets for cycling, visit the Chicago Bike Map.