Commuting tips from Arkel

This shared from the Arkel Website, these folks make some excellent panniers!

Commuting tips

Going to work by bike? Welcome to the growing group! Some are doing it by obligation, for health, because of money, political reasons, because it feels good or to save the earth. The following are but tidbits of ideas on commuting. My idea is to help fellow commuters to share our combined experiences. Just here at Arkel do 85% of our staff commute to work on a bike, with dedicated indoor parking!! If you don’t do it already, by all means try it—for whatever reason you want Louise, our Quality Control specialist . . . and author of these commuting tips

What to wear What to wear depends on where you live, of course. The Canadian climate is not the same as the California climate, but some basic rules can be carried over. Work clothes are pretty much off, except maybe for some very short commutes. Two things make that unpractical: sweat and wrinkling. Most of us will sweat somewhat, which is not really appealing when wearing a shirt, but even if you don’t the pedaling motion will wrinkle well-pressed pants in no-time, like behind the knees and at the crotch. Instead wear light, comfortable clothes or breathable cycling wear to maximize your experience. Maybe you have a place at work to hang or store your cycling clothes. Maybe you don’t. If you don’t then keep some room in your panniers for them. If you sweat a lot and have to store your riding clothes in your panniers, maybe it would be wise to carry a spare pair of shorts. Spandex are great because they're light and you can wash them in a sink, and they dry in no time. The classic spin on work clothes is to prepare a complete set of matchable outfits for the week ahead and drive the lot to the workplace once a week and bring back the old ones for washing. If you’re like many of us here at Arkel who don’t even own a car, it’s not realistic. Commuting can still be accomplished without great pains, as we all at Arkel are good examples of that. For instance, our California guy, Daniel, has his shirts cleaned and “boxed” so there is enough space inside the individual plastic bag they are folded in, to also fit a pair of folded pants, underwear, t-shirt, socks, tie and a belt. For him the T-42's fit everything perfect and give him enough room for a laptop (laptop pannier) , business files, books and his lunch! Everything is so tight that nothing moves during the ride for a wrinkle free look. He even uses the plastic bag to put his bike clothes in. Paul, our General Manager, commutes with our Briefcase. He uses one compartment solely for clothes. By compressing the webbing he effectively stabilizes everything for fresh garnments at work.  Safety first First and foremost. always wear a helmet. It's cheap brain insurance and it's only a question of time before you will use it, ask anyone! Wear bright colors. They are not only more visible during the night, they are more eye-catching during the day too. You can’t be too visible. When riding at night not only should you have all the equipment required by law, but also make sure to adhere to the “see and be seen” mentality. Use active lights front and rear. Make sure your panniers have reflective stripes, wear reflective leg bands and don’t shy away from a reflective vest. It looks dorky, but not more than a suit in a coffin. Your loved ones will thank you. Obey traffic laws. We can’t stress this one enough. One day it will save you life. And if it don’t save yours, it may save others by demonstrating the proper example and not antagonizing motorists. Stop at all red lights and stop signs, even when there's no traffic. It's a good habit to get into. Obey traffic laws: Keep off the sidewalks. Obey traffic laws: Stay off narrow, one way streets. Obey traffic laws: Act like a car which never has the right of way. Be predictable. Hand signals were invented for cars. When cars had no directional lights hand signals became mandatory. Use them to indicate your moves to motorists. They’ll love you for it, because neither of you will be guessing what the other is doing. Look through the back windows of parked cars to spot drivers about to exit without warning. If passing such a car with unclear intent, extend a hand forward as you come about the door in case the door opens on your side. Providing you are forceful enough you may stop the driver from opening the door in front of your kneecaps...at least long enough for you to pass. Don’t shout to motorists, unless absolutely necessary. Life is too short to waste your precious time and energy, and often will do nothing but distract you thus making an accident even more likely. Learn crash manoeuvers, think of possible last minute escape routes and how to ditch, and if all else fails, apply your first aid knowledge for whomever is involved. Practice over grass in your backyard or in the park. It’s a good skill to know anyways. Sometimes in life you must learn to let go.  Day-to-day necessities Commuting and seatbags don’t go well together unless you can park your bike inside your workspace. Leave nothing on your bike that can be removed or stolen. Try to use panniers and stuff everything inside. There’s no denying that a backpack or a courier bag is quicker to use than a set of panniers, but consider the following. Panniers are not hard on your back, heavy on your shoulders, hot when you sweat, make you lose your balance during quick manoeuvers or risk snapping a vertebra in case of a fall. Similarly, consider that a backpack will not protect your derailleur on a side impact, will not cushion your bike on a brick wall and does not look good inside of corporate buildings. Our vote: panniers, any day. Are your surprised? Be sure to have some money in case of an emergency. A calling card is a minimum and enough money for at least a snack and drink is preferable. Stack basic tools inside an old sock that you can then use as a glove for roadside repairs. Basics are a spare tube, a pump or 2 CO2 cartridges (if it fits with your philosophy), tire levers, and anything else you feel comfortable with. Anyways at that point you’ll be late for work! And it will be on the most important day, so always give yourself extra time and use the "spare" minutes to enjoy the flowers along the route. Carry I.D. where they can be found. Better to be safe than sorry! While you’re at it, put basic identification inside the seat tube of your bike. Something like "This bike belongs to Jane Smith, 34 Main Street, 555-5656" in case it gets stolen. You never know, you could get a phone call from a bike shop later!!!  Bike rigging! We’re talking commuting! Stay low-key and stay away from loud colors. If you lock your bike outside, think of masking most areas of the frame. Make the bike unappealing. Fenders are a must, unless you live in Tucson. Minimal weight, maximum payoff. Hey, bonus advantage: most people think it looks . . . errr . . . un-sexy (well we kind of like them ourselves, but that’s just us), thus less appeal for the would be thief. Tire liners, Thorn-proof tubes, Kevlar tires, Slime, whatever makes your tire less prone to flats is a blessing to your boss. Anything else is up to you. Racing bike, mountain bike, hybrid, fixed gear, one speed, city bike. Whatever suits you, as long as you enjoy it and it's road worthy. And the small details . . . If a shower is available to you, by all means indulge yourself. Don’t forget the towel, and a regular hygiene kit that you can stash in a drawer. Soap, shampoo, deodorant are the basics, plus a toothbrush and toothpaste. A hand dryer machine in the restroom also makes a good blow dryer. If a shower is not available to you, leave a package of "disposable wet napkins" at your work place. They’re practical and will degunk all but the most intimate parts of your body, leaving a fresh scent too! Intricate hairstyles will sometimes discourage riders from wearing a helmet or riding a bike altogether. Small tip: most mousses or hair gels will be reactivated with a little water, easying the task to rebuild a presentable, loveable look.

15 Car-Free Myths and Truths

15 Car-Free Myths and Truths
By Bill Poindexter aka “The Car-free American”

1. It is hard to live car-free!
False. It is not hard to live car-free. It may be inconvenient, but not hard. Think about it, people had been living car-free up to the early 1900s. No one died because they did not own a car, nor will you if you go car-free or car-lite. It takes time to get use to it, but it all comes together and becomes more natural than car use. Basically being carfree is getting back to nature-you get healthier, it is good for environment, and you meet your community-face to face rather than car to car. It is also nice to save money.

2. It is always fun
True: Most of the time it is FUN. Usually the weather is the fun or non fun factor. But there are other factors too; heavy traffic, if you are tired, or sick, or a strong headwind. Then again, those are all factors that make driving a car not fun too.

3. People look down at you
True: sometimes they do. That is ok; at the end of the day most secretly wish they could live carfree. Everyone will tell you that it is "cool."

4. You have to have special equipment
False: Good walking shoes and a bicycle. And you do not have to have an expensive bicycle, just one that works well for you. Overtime you’ll figure out your own personal style of transportation. Keep it simple. If it roles and feels good go with it. Take your time, do not spend alot of money.

5. You will lose a lot of weight
Maybe, if you burn off more than you take in. You will get fit-that is for sure. Diet is still important though, I recommend a "whole food" diet of non processed foods. Raw nuts, Olive oil, fresh vegetables, quality protein, berries, whole cheeses will give you all the energy you need...I recently lost 70+ lbs eating the above foods.

6. You will save money
True: No more gas! No more insurance! No more car payment! No more personal property tax! No more oil changes! I think the last time I figured I save about $8,000 per year (what I spent the last year I owned a car).

7. You cannot live carfree if you have a young family
False: You can, millions do, it is just more inconvenient until you become use to it. It is definitely easier in more urban settings and some suburban. If you live in the country it may not be practical, in which case a car is necessary, but it does not mean you have to use it all the time. Kids are carfree, and they make it work. Don't use your family as a excuse, instead use them as the primary motivation for living a healthier lifestyle!

8. You will get hit by a car or crash
Big false: Nonsense! Only if you don’t pay attention to your surroundings. The odds are still in your favor…not to get squished. I have spent 10 years riding in traffic a have never been hit by a car. I ride with the assumption the drivers do not see me. If you have a driver's license you know the laws, obey them and you should be ok walking or bicycling for transportation.

9. People will make fun of you if you do not own a car and /or bike places
False and true: Well, if they do, make fun of them back. They are jealous you are out enjoying yourself. I find that most people want to be carfree, I mean, when they go on vacation, they don't want to go someplace they have to drive all the time, no, they want to go some place to relax, walk or bike.

10. You will instantly be “Green.”
False: There is more to being green than just using alternative transportation. Carfree is a step in the right direction. A BIG STEP.

11. You will miss out on event because you won’t be able to get there.
True, sometimes that does happen, but you will be able to see and feel much more than you ever have in a car, so you’ll gain much more richness in your life. You will also learn to support events in your local community and you will add value as you arrive by your own steam. It makes your transportation an adventure!

12. I will have to own special clothes for bicycling?
False: You can wear anything you want. If you are riding longer than an hour, you may want to make sure you are wearing something comfortable. Bike shorts were made for a reason. Time on the bike will be your best teacher. I now rarely wear specialized gear or shoes. I keep it simple and comfortable.

13. I do not have time to be car-free
False: most Americans waste a crap load of time in their cars going to places they don’t need to go to or watching TV. I suspect you could find a bit of time to get healthier, save the environment, and make your community stronger. There is always time to do something good for you. It comes down to needs versus wants-“do I really need to drive to the Wal-Mart to buy more crap I don’t need.” Or “can we hop on the bikes and go to the local store to buy what we really need?” Then again...there are exceptions:)

14. Car-free means never owning or driving a car
False: It is a little confusing I admit. Typically Car-free means living with out a car and Car-lite means owning a car, but using it on a limited basis. Any journey you take without the use of a car, no matter the distance, is car-free.

15. Living car-free makes me happy!

Bill's bicycle with the bags, has over 30,000 commuting miles on
it.

TRUE: I love the lifestyle. Living car-free has helped me become healthier, I feel like I am polluting less, I save money, and I have developed very strong relationships in my community because of my lifestyle.


Bill Poindexter lives in Kansas City, Missouri and has lived the highly evolved life style of living carfree.

Just Ride

Easy Riders                              

‘Just Ride,’ by Grant Petersen

By DAVE EGGERS

Published: July 27, 2012 New York Times Book Review

Many a weekend bicycle rider has had the same unsettling experience: You ask a friend to ride with you along some scenic, low-impact route. You show up wearing shorts, Sambas and a T-shirt, and he shows up dressed for an Olympic time trial. On his torso is a very tight shirt slashed with a half-dozen garish colors and logos irrelevant to him. His helmet, decorated with flames or stripes or both, is equipped with a rearview mirror. A rubber straw dangles around his neck like a fur stole, through which he can drink fluids from a container on his back. And then there are the spandex leg-­enclosures. These have patches of yellow on either flank, giving the impression that your friend is wearing chaps. Yellow-and-black spandex chaps.

JUST RIDE

A Radically Practical Guide to Riding Your Bike

By Grant Petersen

Illustrated. 212 pp. Workman Publishing. Paper, $13.95.

All this for a 10-mile ride on a bike path.

If you can identify with the more casually dressed biker described above, or if you want to go biking but have been scared away by the sport’s cult of gear and equipment, then your bible has been written. Grant Petersen’s “Just Ride” is a wonderfully sane, down to earth and frequently funny guide to riding, maintaining, fixing and enjoying your bicycle. That so much common sense will be considered revelatory, even revolutionary, is a testament to how loony the bike world has become.

Grant Petersen-Author and Bicycle Friend

Petersen opens with this salvo: “My main goal with this book is to point out what I see as bike racing’s bad influence on bicycles, equipment and attitudes, and then undo it.” And he goes on to prove, conclusively, that most of what ails the world of cycling comes from nonprofessional riders pretending, or being bullied into pretending, that they’re professionals. The solution, he says, is to emulate kids and other “Unracers” — people who bike for fun and not profit.

The accepted orthodoxies are upended, one after another. Petersen is skeptical of special biking shoes. He is pro-kickstand, pro-mud-flap. He thinks a wide, comfortable saddle is O.K. He doesn’t see why anyone needs more than eight gears. He thinks fragile carbon-fiber bikes and ­super-narrow tires are impractical for just about everyone (“Getting paid to ride them is the only good reason I can think of to ride that kind of bike”). He has nuanced thoughts on helmets (he wears his at night but not during the day) and reminds us that biking is “lousy all-around exercise” and shouldn’t be considered a stand-alone regimen. But most satisfying is his takedown of the tight-shirt, ­spandex-shorts phenomenon. “In its need for special clothing,” he writes, “bicycle riding is less like scuba diving and more like a pickup basketball game.” A regular cotton T-shirt and a pair of shorts will ventilate better, he says, and if you’re not trying to shave seconds off a world record, the microscopic aerodynamic advantages of tight synthetic clothing just don’t apply to you.

Coming from just anyone, this kind of thinking wouldn’t carry much weight. But Petersen raced for six years, then worked at Bridgestone, Japan’s largest bike maker, as a designer and marketer. When the company closed its American office, he opened his own shop, Rivendell Bicycle Works, in Walnut Creek, Calif. It would seem, then, that Petersen, as the ultimate insider, would be the first guy to push expensive racing gear on every would-be enthusiast to walk into his shop.

But with this book, he’s trying to bring biking back to a state of moderation and rationality. If you like the gear, he’s fine with that, and if you don’t agree with all his advice, no problem. But he makes the case that at its core, biking should be a simple, democratic, sometimes ludicrously enjoyable means of getting around. “No matter how much your bike costs,” he says, “unless you use it to make a living, it is a toy, and it should be fun.” Amen.

Learn more about Grant and Rivendell Bicycle Works

Carless in Montana



Ginny Sullivan

 This from the Adventure Cycling Association

CARLESS

Speaking of Adventure Cycling staffers, here's a link to a terrific story from the December 23 edition of the daily Missoulian about Ginny Sullivan, our special projects director, and her family's newly adopted car-free lifestyle in Montana's Garden City. "The lifestyle change hasn't been insurmountable for the Sullivans, who already did much walking and biking to get around town," writes reporter Keila Szpaller.

"[Sixteen-year-old] Mac would prefer to have a car for trips to places like Target, but he believes the family will be able to sustain the transition despite some obstacles. 'I think that we can pull it off, but when we need to go out to get dog food, it's quite a challenge,'

Mac said." Read the rest of the story here:

http://bit.ly/uh9szG