Chicago Bike Blog

Safe and hospitable streets

At the end of my previous post, on the death of cyclist Matthew Manger-Lynch, I expressed this sentiment:

It is out sincerest hope that one day, soon, Chicago's streets will be safe and hospitable to all cyclists.

A commenter left the following remarks:

Traffic signals and stop signs are there to make Chicago's streets safe and hospitable. The streets are safe, if the rules are followed. Ignoring those rules puts lives at peril, as it has in this tragedy. As we share the roads with fellow cyclists, vehicles, and pedestrians, we must follow the rules and be aware of our surroundings.

I agree with the commenter a hundred percent about following the rules of the road, and being aware and vigilant. We, as Rapid Transit owners, have been cyclists for many years, and we invariably follow the rules of the road. This is also what we advocate to our customers. Following the rules of the road has as much to do with our own safety, as with protecting the safety of other road users. I believe that anything we can do to promote safe and responsible cycling will eventually lead to increased acceptance of cyclists on the road. Events that defy those rules can do just the opposite.

The hope that I expressed in my earlier post had more to do with the attitudes that were being aired online after the Chicago Tribune posted the article on Matthew's death. I cannot begin to express the range of reactions I experienced reading people's responses to this tragedy. I cannot, and will not, in good conscience, come down on either side of this issue. That does not mean that I am blind and deaf to the arguments presented by the different sides.

As to the safety and hospitability of our streets, putting aside the particular tragic event that just took place, I think it is disingenuous to assume that just because we have rules in place, safety and hospitbility automatically follow. Safety is only partly a function of rules. For the rules to be effective, there needs to be education and enforcement. In my twenty years of riding a bike on Chicago's streets, I have never witnessed bicyclist rights enforced anywhere. Hospitability is even harder to enforce, because it is almost entirely a matter of attitude. Unfortunately, the attitudes of those who cycle, and those who do not, often clash.

When I say I hope for safe and hospitable streets, I am asking for a fundamental change of attitude. From where I'm standing, it doesn't even appear on the horizon.

Matthew Manger-Lynch

We are shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic death of Matthew Manger-Lynch. Our heartfelt sympathies go out to his wife, family and friends.

We are all cyclists here. However safely we ride, and however many precautions we take, we, urban cyclists are painfully aware that riding in traffic is an activity fraught with risk and danger. It is out sincerest hope that one day, soon, Chicago's streets will be safe and hospitable to all cyclists.

Is that so hard?

Let other bike shops (click, click) do what they may.

At this shop, we want to invite, not intimidate the beginner; listen, not preach to the curious; and salute, not marginalize the commuter.

Commuting cyclists have been our bread and butter since 1994. They have told us what bikes they want to see at our store. They have come back and informed us, in no uncertain terms, which products were simply crap. They have recommended street-tested items for us to sell. They have dripped salty slush on our floor and leaned their mud-spattered bikes against our displays. With a glint of hope in their eyes, they have brought their pretzeled wheels for us to fix. The grime from their chains has clogged and corroded our drain. The gunk and debris in their tires has smeared our hands and cut our fingers. The worn parts taken off their bikes filled our trash bins -- nothing there worth saving even for the boneyard. We've talked with them for hours as the snot slowly melted from the tips of their noses, and as the pungent aroma of a hard-pedaling cyclist enveloped in a weatherproof jacket, exposed to fumes and exhaust, wafted through the air. We've run out of fenders, slicks, racks and gloves trying to keep up with them. We've lost sleep over their complaints and criticisms, but also accepted many a six-pack, tip and compliment. They have sustained us through fourteen insane summers, and, crucially, fourteen desperate winters.

They are our heroes. Rapid Transit Cycleshop is, has been, and always will be a bike shop crazy in love with commuters.

Our fancy location

Aaah!... Wicker Park!

(Rapid Transit's original sign, painted by Chicago's theater personality Jeff Dorchen. Sadly, it was destroyed in a basement flood...)

Where the going rates for a commercial lease hover around $30-40 (and in one place even a whopping $75/sf) according to the MLS of Northern Illinois. To figure out what that costs a month, multiply the base rent by the square footage of the facility and divide by 12 months. Let's say you have a 3,000 sf storefront, and $35/sf. Your monthly rent would be $8,750, plus perhaps $250-350 in your share of property taxes, maintenance fees and insurance due to the landlord.

When we signed our lease with the original landlord for the little dump on the corner of North and Wolcott back in 1993, our rent was a thousand bucks per month, and a handshake. Little did we know that 1900 W. North Ave. would become a coveted address, commanding several times that amount in rent. But this is now, that was then.

(Schwinn Stingray, donated by our friend Mark, getting ready to become our shop emblem)

Then, the space was left vacant by the Curious Theater Branch, the street was crawling with pimps and prostitutes, artists had the run of the place and the neighborhood teetered on the edge of gentrification. The giant question mark on the sidewalk in front of our new storefront, painted by the departing tenants, foreshadowed an uncertain fate.

But we didn't have time to ask questions. A thousand bucks was a lot of money to two people with no income and the planned opening day looming over the horizon. We rolled up our sleeves and went to work converting the black, dusty theater space to a friendly neighborhood bike shop.

(Chris, Mark and Deb figuring out how to hang the Stingray)

Did I mention the walls were black? And the ceiling? The walls inside of the bathroom (such as it was) were black. For weeks, Chris returned home covered from head to toe with a thick layer of black dust, flecks of paint and plaster. As chunks of walls and ceiling came down, inside the rafters we discovered exciting things like an enormous abandoned rats nest, a broken Schlitz neon sign, syringes and spoons, rodent corpses, remnants of old costumes, moldy magazines, unending supply of dust and dirt. When the first roller dipped in white paint touched the wall, we danced with wild abandon across the gritty linoleum floor. Friends and relatives came to help with the various jobs that still needed to get done. Permits? Back then, no one asked. Paper taped to the windows concealed our activities, and no one checked up on us back then.

(Now Open. You can see, that even on our first day we were committed to bike commuters: fenders and racks are in evidence)

Amidst this frantic activity, a couple daring suppliers' reps came and perched with us on milk crates, clipboards in hand, taking orders (on credit) from two young people with a vision, persuasive manner, a word of honor, and... well... not much else.

That was then...

(The beta version of the Stingray)

Last summer, when our leases were up for renewal, and we were considering all options, our attorney suggested we ask ourselves, whether a small, family run bicycle shop is still viable at the corner of North and Wolcott in Chicago.

I guess we'll find out.

Well, it's mostly true...

It was gratifying to see this article about Rapid Transit today. A nice break from the boutique woes of Wicker Park, don't you think?

How did we end up at this fashionable address, anyway?
(I'll have to tell you tomorrow...)

How to get more kids to ride bikes?

First of all, let me assure you that I don't know the answer to this question.

It came up in a panel discussion of bicycle dealers at Frostbike, a trade show and conference held in Minneapolis by one of our favorite suppliers, Quality Bicycle Products.

The topic of the panel was Building Long Term Value in Your Business. After a lengthy conversation about profits, ROI, gross margins and inventory turns, one shop owner pointed out that our long-term success as bicycle dealers depends on people who are children today riding bikes in the future. He bemoaned the fact that he saw fewer and fewer kids riding bikes in his community.

Some dealers saw a possible solution in the Safe Routes To School Program. The man who raised the question replied that his shop was in a rural community, with far-flung homes, some as far as 25 miles from the local school. Not to be a nay-sayer, but I would add that any program is highly dependent on follow-through of its participants. It's one thing to generate widespread interest and participation in a one-day event, and quite another to get a regular commitment. Unless people in the community sincerely believe that bicycles are a genuine transportation option for their children, they are not likely to buy into the program for the long-term.

So, how do we get more young people to ride bikes?

• The hardest step is infrastructure. More people would feel more comfortable about riding bikes, and letting their children ride bikes, if more safe places to ride, especially interlinked OFF-STREET PATHS were available.
• Organized rides and programs. Don't get me wrong: I fully support creating opportunities for people to ride, and generating community interest around the idea of cycling. The more kids see others around them using bikes to get around, the more it becomes a socially acceptable activity. I just don't think such programs can be a stand-alone solution.
• Family culture of biking and walking. When children experience alternative transportation first hand, from an early age, I believe they will always see it as a viable option. Cycling parents, who shuttle their kids around by bike in various attachments provide their kids with ongoing education not only about the rules of the road, but also about finesse, adaptability, autonomy and alternatives.
• Trusting young people to make their own decisions. Think of your own family. Were they cyclists? Maybe. But many, like mine and my husband's, were not. How do we become cyclists? As young adults, we look around and begin to assess our options. We are capable of making decisions that are different from those prevalent in the families and communities in which we grew up. That's how change happens.

So, while I don't have a definitive answer, I do have hope.

Icecapades

Everyone wants to join the discussion on winter cycling. Today, it's Chris, my partner in crime (aka, co-owner of Rapid Transit Cycleshop). He couldn't keep quiet any longer:

Ahem!... he said,  If I may weigh in on this?...

And he continued:

The all-time worst winter bike that I have is my Bacchetta Corsa recumbent.  Despite this, I use it all the time in the winter because it is so darn comfortable. When I ride my recumbent to work, I'm nearly always asked how I deal with the ice and snow.  The simple answer is that I avoid riding over that which might make me fall. This lesson was learned the hard way:

Years ago, I was riding south on the lakefront path.  I was riding a skinny tire racing bike. The weather was just under freezing, the wind coming off the lake, with a strong northerly component. The pavement was free of ice and snow, at least as far as I could tell. I was riding towards Hyde Park, and I had to have been going at least 20mph, because the wind was on my back. I felt that exhilaration of completely effortless riding.

The same wind, however, was whipping the lake up and huge breakers were smashing the sea wall along the path. It was after dark. The path itself veered close enough to the sea wall at this particular spot for the waves to spray over the path. Without warning I hit an ice patch where the waves spilled out onto the path.  Suddenly the pavement went from bone dry to to crazy slick, with a long run of wet ice freshly coated with water. I don't think I had time to picture myself catapulting at top speed into the chilly waters of Lake Michigan. I barely had time to wrap my head around the abrupt and unfortunate change in riding conditions. At the highest speed that I could imagine pedaling my bike, I was dancing across the ice.  The bike went left, right, sideways, and every way you could think of. 

I held on for dear life, and, amazingly, did not fall. I was simply immobilized with surprise and fear. Perhaps doing nothing was the reason I stayed upright, and did not break any bones. That and being 20-something, dumb and lucky. Sheer dumb luck.

It was not my fate that night to fall, but after I reconnected with dry pavement, I proceeded with caution for the rest of my journey that night. I have tried, though not always successfully, to use caution and sense on journeys I've undertaken since.

Lesson learned: The key to using any bike in less-than-optimal situations is matching your equipment, your riding attitude and your technique to the actual conditions of that day. When we talk about "winter riding", it's important to remember that the terms encompasses a wide, and possibly changing, range of conditions, and you need to make sure that the solutions you choose are appropriate for those conditions. Although someone riding on rural roads in the northern regions of the US may have extensive snow and cold weather riding experience, this expertise may not translate well into an urban setting, where roads are plowed and dry, salted and slushy, or alternate between one and the other.

A few conditions that one might have to contend with on the streets of Chicago in winter:

Cold dry ice.
Encountered on cold days without significant snow fall.  The trickiest part may be spotting it. Once you do, most of the time you can cautiously ride over this. The next trick when riding over this type of ice is to avoid any sudden movements. (Yep. If you allow yourself to be freaked out, as in: "holy crap! I'm on black ice!", you will fall. --Justyna's comment) Strangely, I find that my street bike outfitted with 2" slicks (yes, completely bald tires) works just fine, if not better, than some treaded tires.

Slushy, salty wet snow. 
The salt and road grime in this stuff is nasty for your clothes, for most moving parts of your bike, and for your spirit. Narrow tires with little or no tread, coupled with fenders, pick up the least amount of slush.  Narrower tires tend to cut down to the pavement and help the rider make headway.  Be ready to clean your bike after you've been through this stuff.

During and right after a significant snow storm.
Before the plows come out, or on plowed streets without salting, one might see significant ruts from passing vehicles.  For this type of riding, I'd vote for an off-road bike with wide tires with some widely-spaced treads. I find too much tread can pick up lots of snow, weigh down the wheels, and make it hard to accelerate. Shift your body weight towards the rear of the bike, and follow the more promising wheel ruts. 
When the conditions are like this, I might go out just for fun, like here, for the sheer pleasure of rolling through the snow. Or get my x-country skis.

Wet ice, or ice with water on it. 
You already know what can happen. Unless you have studded tires, watch out! 
The use of studded tires should be reserved for very specialized type of riding. Such as plowed or compressed icy roads that have not been salted.  Or wet and frozen sand. Or expeditions over iced rivers or lakes. If studded tires give you a sense of security, by all means use them in a urban environment. But keep in mind they are not optimally suited for riding on pavement. A second set of interchangeable wheels, or a bike dedicated to severe winter conditions might also be a answer.

Into the snow...

My recent posts on Sheldon Brown's death and snow biking got a great response from an old customer. Chris Wilson writes:

I spent most my first 35 years in snowy hilly Boston, 25 of them on bicycles.  Through my brother Michael, I met Sheldon Brown a couple of times around 1974, probably at the Bicycle Repair Collective.  Sheldon explained to me how to make my own studded tire.

Back then, most of us were riding 3-speeds with 26x1-3/8" tires and 10-speeds with 27x1-1/4" tires, and we had more time, energy, and muscle than money -- the opposite of my current circumstances.  I built my year-round commuter/shopper on an old Raleigh Grand Prix 10-speed frame, geared low with a snow-proof Sturmey-Archer 5-speed hub.  (The frame took standard English cottered cranks, allowing me to use a crank-chainring from a 3-speed.)  We hadn't heard of mountain bikes or commercial studded tires.

I made that studded tire, and used that for quite a few years on my 5-speed homebrew Raleigh.  Sheldon said that I only needed it the front wheel, which I didn't believe at first.  Of course, he was right because on the front it kept me from falling over, which is more important than traction.  That studded tire felt like it was full of concrete instead of air, but it grabbed glare ice, even better than a modern commercial studded tire.

This was Sheldon Brown's studded-tire recipe:

• Take a new tire.
• Stick roofing nails (which are galvanized and have wide heads) through it from the inside, slightly offset from the center of the tread.
• Cut the sidewalls off of a worn-out tire, keeping only the tread. (Or, get a Mr. Tuffy, but we didn't have those back then.)
• Put the worn-out tread inside the first tire, to cover up the heads of the roofing nails.
• Mount the whole thing on a FRONT wheel, squeezing a tube inside.  (It's a lot easier with a tube at least one size narrower than you would normally use, but I didn't have one.)
• Pump it up.
• This is the most difficult step: Cut the points of the roof nails off, leaving about 3/32 " protruding from the tire. (One needs really tough cutting pliers for this. A hacksaw doesn't work, because the nails won't hold still.  Bolt cutters might work, but I've never tried them.  For me, the best tool is a pair of Klein electrician's/lineperson's pliers, which can cut 1/4"-20 bolts. Klein puts the pivot much closer to the blades than any other manufacturer does, giving much better leverage. Klein is the preferred brand of electricians, such as I once was.)
• Put the wheel into the front fork of your bike.
• Ride through snow and on ice.

Nearly 20 years ago, I scrapped that old Raleigh, got a mountain bike equipped with a 5-speed hub and a commercial studded tire, and moved to the friendly flatlands of Chicago.  I joined the friendly Evanston Bicycle Club. I learned to cycle on the beaches of Lake Michigan in the winter, when the sand freezes hard after a soaking rain.  More recently, my back started complaining, and Rapid Transit sold me first recumbent.

And, Sheldon Brown, via his website, is still teaching me.  I will miss him.

Chris points out that a more recent homemade studded tire, which he has not tried, is described at ICEBIKE at the bottom of  this page. It is worth noting that both Chris and ICEBIKE recommend studded tires for riding -- you got it -- on ice. For the kind of snow we've been having in Chicago, any number of good off-road tires will do the trick. And, if you are riding on ploughed roads, a set of good, inverted-tread street tires, run at a slightly lower-than-normal psi will serve you well.

More on the topic of winter tires coming soon.

Bikes are inexpensive! People are lazy.

This heading was a conclusion drawn by a commenter on a recent post on CommuteByBike. Here's a little more of what he had to say:

Where there is a will there is a way. There just is no will. North Americans aren’t fat asses by accident. There are plenty of choices available to the consumer right now. Any quality mountain bike with lights, a rack, some panniers and slick tires will do the job more than adequately. We need to stop waiting for the manufacturers to build the perfect bike. We have literally dozens of bikes that will do the job available now.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

I'd like to add my three-cents' worth to this.

First of all, it is a common misconception that you need to have a very expensive bike in order to be a serious and successful commuter. We have sold bikes to commuters in the Chicago area for nearly fourteen years. For every cyclist who has spent in excess of $1500 on a new bike, there are perhaps ten who buy a bike for under $500. Many of those folks are or become serious commuters. Many more people find bikes recycled in one way or another from the waste stream, and use them for commuting year-round in our midwestern climate. One of our oldest customers, who has a number of fancier bikes, uses a basic single-speed folder to get herself and her Schnauzer all over the city. Several people on our staff, including yours truly, use older bikes that we've adapted and maintained over the years as dependable and durable commuters.

Unfortunately, I think the above commenter is right. The fact that more people are not on bikes is fundamentally a matter of values more than price tag. Even the most cursory google search reveals what most people spend their money on, and how much money they spend. I have compiled some of these items, and, for comparison, suggested bicycles (or commuting gear) you could purchase instead. I used stuff we carry at Rapid Transit.

I think you may find that if only price were the object, bicycles compare rather favorably:

• Popular gaming systems (Wii, Playstation3). The system itself will set you back $400-500, plus $50 per EACH premium game. So let's say five games in a year (really, I have no idea how many games an enthusiast would buy a year, but five seems like a good number). So now you have  $650-$750 at your disposal. At this price you could get yourself a Jamis Coda Sport, with fenders, rack, and a Kryptonite Evolution lock. You might even have enough left over for a helmet.
• What's a fancy game system if you don't have a big TV to play on? A highly rated 52" plasma TV will cost you $3000-4500. You could buy one really nice bike for yourself. Like this one. But at this price, you can get everyone in the family on one. How about a Bacchetta Corsa recumbent for the more adventurous family member,  a Jamis Aurora Elite for the traditionalist, a Marin Bayview Trail for your older kid, and a nice convertible Chariot Cougar double trailer for the twins? Might as well get them started on the bike culture while they're young.
• As long as you have a big TV, you should get a good program package to go with it. How about Comcast Triple Play, which will also cover your internet and phone. This will run $99 a month (each and every month). For about one year of this privilege, you could get a Surly Long Haul Trucker with a Burley Flat Bed trailer. One more month, and you could go for the BOB trailer.
• Speaking of cell phones, you won't be able to buy a bike for a cost of a Razr (but you could get some useful accessories), but for an iPhone, at 400-500, you could get one of the most perfect minimalist commuters, a Marin Muir Woods with a lock. (I could, but I will not, include a MacBook in this comparison, because I happen to think that they are absolutely essential for existence).
• For $1000-2000 you could buy a stationary exercise machine, which might help you get fit, but will not help you get anywhere. For that kind of money you could treat yourself to Kona Jake The Snake, a Chrome messenger bag and a helmet. Or for maximum commuting flexibility, get the Bike Friday Tikit.
• And how about those small but regular expenses that really add up over time. Such as:
  
  • Lattes. Let's say you indulge three time a week at $4, times 52 weeks, that's about $600, which you could spend instead on a Dahon Curve folding bike.
  • Transit pass. At $75 a month, a CTA pass will cost you $900 per year. Don't give up the CTA entirely. Public transit is a good thing. Here's an idea: use the CTA when the weather is bad. Save half the money and get yourself a Breezer Freedom or a Marin Larkspur.
    
  • Health club membership. About a grand? But now that you are riding your bike and not the bus more often, maybe you can skip it. In that case, you can afford a much nicer bike, such as Jamis Coda Comp, or perhaps and Exile 29-er. Throw in the money saved in the step above, and you can step up to a Kona Sutra.
  • Gas. Oooh boy. There are so many ways you could approach this. Let's use my own experience. A fill-up on my minivan costs about $70 these days. Let's say I fill up once every two weeks. Ten weeks' worth of gas would yield me $350. That would just about get me on a Kona Smoke. If you are more serious about giving up your car, make it 20 weeks, and you could afford a Kona Paddywagon or a Marin Fairfax.

Of course, this is just a handful of examples to demonstrate how affordable bicycles really are in the scheme of things. This doesn't even begin to address the rewards -- improved health, physical and mental, cleaner air, sheer enjoyment -- that bicycles offer over these other pursuits. And I'm not asking for privation. But now imagine that some people could give up ALL of the above items. And not just for one year, but forever. Now they could afford to buy bikes not only for themselves, but for all the neighbors on their block! And maybe even send some overseas to help folks around the world. Wow.

Anyway, a pipe dream. People are lazy.

Related posts:
Some Of Our Favorite Bikes Are Hybrids
What Is A Commuter Bike
The Cost of Biking
It's not about the Stuff, Part IV

Sheldon Brown Dies

Sheldon Brown, the man behind the legendary on-line bike resource, sheldonbrown.com, died of a massive heart attack at the age of 63. Even before the days of the World Wide Web, he dispensed bicycle wisdom and advice via an online newsgroup. He always did this with authority, good humor and without condescension.

The cycling community has lost a beloved and highly valued member. He will be sorely missed.

Related articles:
Sheldon Brown: 1944-2008, BikeMagic.com
Tech Guru Sheldon Brown Dies, Bicycle Retailer and Industry News