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In an effort to save gas, exercise and help out the environment a little I have been riding my bicycle to the Harold Bank Justice Center in Clayton County then taking the X-press transit bus from there downtown to work. I have requested a bike rack to lock my bike too numerous times and have also requested a bike rack on the bus with no results on either. so I end up having to lock my bike to a light post next to the bus stop.

I was asked to post this to let people know that it is possible to commute long distances by bike, so this http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2020081 is my bike commute. It consists of getting up at 4:30am and riding 5 miles to the Windward park-n-ride bus lot and taking the bus down GA400 to the North Springs train station. From there I take the train south to the East Point Marta station and then ride the final 4 or so miles to my office.

Yes, most of it is on the bus/train, but I do get 35-40 minutes of riding time in twice a day. On the way home it is easier to increase riding miles because I can ride to the Doraville station and ride 18 miles home from there or go to the North Springs station and take the bus to Mansell Rd and go 10 miles via the Bigcreek Greenway to home. The basic way takes about 2 hours to complete.

Today and tomorrow are Ozone Red alert days for the Atlanta area, highlighted in various news reports. We've already had a number of “Yellow” alerts, that warn people with sensitive respiratory conditions not to spend time outside. With the Red alert, everyone is warned to stay inside, and asked to avoid pumping gas until the evening hours, and (ideally) to carpool or avoid driving as much as possible. Being Americans, most of our citizens pay not attention.

So yesterday, while biking home on the PATH, I passed President Jimmy Carter, also on a bicycle. I didn't recognize him at first (he had sunglasses and a helmet on), but as I passed him, I smiled, he said "hello," and well, that voice is fairly unmistakeable. The fact was confirmed shortly thereafter by the Secret Service agent on bicycle right behind him, followed by a large black SUV, that hopped right up onto the PATH to follow the President.
Which leads us to ask....what kind of bicycle does Jimmy Carter ride? (I was too awestruck to notice.) And is he interested in being celebrity endorser of the Atlanta Bicycle Campaign?

[This is first in a series of Things I See On My Bike Commute That I Would Not See In A Car.]

I've spent the last three days in Houston, Texas, attending a professional conference. The city reminds me of Atlanta with a central business district, outlying areas of highrise development (think downtown/midtown/Buckhead), and it has a lot of crazy car traffic. It also has the flavor of Savannah with oak trees framing major roadways, lots of parks, churches, and several universities, and generally flat terrain. The humidity is also as high as the temperature...and it's been hot! What's struck me most is the direction Houston is taking their transportation system, and how the cycling community is behaving around town.

You may have seen or heard the little news item this week; aggressive drivers are more likely to have bumper stickers on their vehicles.

Why is that? The theory is that these people are more territorial than average (or possessive about their private spaces). By putting stickers on their car, they proclaim it as Mine Mine Mine! Regardless, those with bumper stickers blew their horns an average of two seconds faster than those without such claims of ownership. (To get them to honk, researchers put a driver in a turn lane who stayed stopped after the light turned.)

What does this mean for cyclists? Well, it's useful for us to have a clue about who might be more aggressive. But we can assume all drivers can be aggressive, and position ourselves accordingly.

The Bike Ride Across Georgia, or BRAG, is riding this week, out of Oxford to Griffin and Macon and on to the coast. I rode BRAG a few times in the past (usually with kids) and have a few more ideas to share based on that experience.

I ran a bike magazine test this weekend. They suggested weigh yourself, bike for an hour without drinking, then re-weigh yourself. All weights are done nude (which is French for naked, I believe).

I did it. Waited until 3 pm when it was nicely warm (probably in the low 90's) covered myself with sunscreen, and headed out the door, riding an hour, trying to imitate the end of a century or other ride, when you've lost that cool morning excitement when you felt that you could do anything, and instead you're trying to NOT think about the ride, or where your body aches.

It's June, and it's hot! Not like when I was a kid – of course, but then, we're changing the climate, so we can expect things to get even hotter.

What's a poor cyclist to do? ADD WATER To WIND CHILL!

Yesterday at the Commuter Breakfast, a new cyclist, seeing me bike up in a skirt, asked where she could go to buy a skirtguard. For those of you who have no need for one of these, skirtguards keep long/flowy skirts from getting caught in the rear wheel spokes. While a popular feature on bikes abroad, they are darn near impossible to find in the states.

Copenhagen girls (a terrific blog by the way) has a good bit on skirtguards found here.