Anything Goes Challenge: Megan Takes the Bus

Megan lives within 10 miles of me in Silicon Valley but I’ve never met her. Her challenge: getting to a medical appointment two cities away without driving or biking after surgery. For her entry into the Anything Goes Commute Challenge, she compares hitching a ride with a friend vs taking the bus. This is her story.

Because of recent surgery, I can’t drive my car or ride a bike for a few weeks. I needed to get to the medical clinic for some tests and I considered taking a friend up on her offer of helping me during my convalescence, but it just didn’t seem right to ask her to drive a total of about 40 miles just to get me to the clinic that is only seven miles from my house. My solution was to get a family member to drive me to the clinic then take the bus home.

Driving to the clinic: Driving during Monday morning commute traffic using mostly Central Expressway and Evelyn Avenue took 30 minutes. Cost: It’s hard to analyze. My best guess is $2 to travel seven miles. [Editor's note: US federal reimbursement rate is 56.5 cents/mile so I'm estimating it at $3.95]

Transit home from clinic: The return trip home took 58 minutes by walking and taking the VTA 22 bus. Considering the fact that the return trip from the clinic was during mid-morning which meant that the local bus that I transferred to from the 22 was running only every 30 minutes, I think that only 58 minutes to return home was not too bad. If I had taken the 522 Rapid bus, I probably could have traveled home even faster.

Cost: $4 ($2 for each leg of trip home). Note to self: figure out how to buy a day pass using the Clipper card.

LadyFleur had recently mentioned using an iPhone app for the VTA bus routes so I checked it out then bought it while at the clinic when I was between appointments. After using the SJ Transit app for this morning’s trip, I find that I really like it. It helps me overcome my hesitation to using the VTA bus system to get places since I don’t always have a paper schedule with me. Frankly, the paper schedules were harder for me to use than this app.

The Clipper card is another innovation that has helped me get out of my car and on to the bus. As an infrequent bus rider, it was always hard to make sure I had exact change for a bus trip. Scanning a Clipper card is much easier than digging around in my purse for $2.

Sorry, but while juggling my iPhone, checking the timer on my phone, checking the SJ Transit app for route info and watching for my bus stop, I didn’t take any photos.

Megan

Never fear, Megan, I took your bus challenge and snapped some photos on the trip. After digging up my old transit maps I realized it had been almost 20 years since I’d ridden the bus! Thanks for getting me back on the bus, and even more for taking the Anything Goes Commute Challenge.

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Anything Goes Challenge: Frank Crosses the Border

When most people think of bike commuters in the Netherlands, they imagine dressed-up people riding upright Dutch bikes rolling short distances along on cyclepaths in compact city centers. While many Dutch commuters do fit this mold, there are others like Frank, whose commute is roughly 20 miles, a distance that’s more typical for suburban America. But his Anything Goes Commute Challenge is hardly American. This is his story.

Since February 19th this year, I’ve started a new job which offered a new commuting challenge, riding 60 km (37 mi) per day instead of 21 km (13 mi). But as cycling is my main hobby, I took on the challenge and started out with at least three or four times per week cycling to work.

My daily trip takes me from the Netherlands to Belgium. As soon as I cross the border a significant change in road maintenance becomes painfully clear. Roads in Belgium are very much in worse state then in the Netherlands, especially the secondary roads. [Editor's note: The well-kept road below must be Dutch.]

Based on this, driving by car would be the most obvious option, but after finding my definitive route I still prefer to take the trip by bike. Not because of the costs or the compensation, but because of these advantages:

• Almost 3,5 hours relaxing work-out, clearing my mind while listening to my favourite music
• I arrive more “mentally fresh” by bike than by car
• The 2,5 km ride through the woods is beautiful in any season and I consider it an extra bonus for my efforts

Another, more medical, reason for commuting by bike is the fact that my doctor suspects I’m narcoleptic, so cycling is a bit safer for me than driving a car.

The disadvantages of doing this commute by bike I find are:

• I start work between 5:30 and 6:00 am, so every day I have to get up at 3:00 am. :-\
• The prevalent wind direction is southwest, so every day on my way home I’ve got to face headwind.
• Depending on the weather conditions, the trip can take up to two hours.

The advantages of driving by car are straightforward. It’s quick and dry. The disadvantages of driving by car are that it’s a boring trip with lots of speed bumps. It’s a longer distance that can be stressful during rush hour.

My personal score card of this commute:

The compensation is a government ruling in Belgium which is paid through my salary. That’s one advantage of working for a Belgian employer. Here in the Netherlands the compensation is much less.

Note that I don’t have to pack clothing due to the nature of my job and I pass three shops along the way and always carry panniers, so (some) shopping is no problem. Also, in the village where our company is located are several options to go for lunch, even in work clothes (it’s easy, people).

Personally, I don’t think my ride time by bicycle is wasted time as I work out and relax. I really found this challenge a very good idea and I liked it lot. Hope you can come up with more of these ideas!

Dutch greetings and safe riding, Frank.

Thanks, Frank, for participating in the Anything Goes Commute Challenge, and for not letting a longer, earlier morning commute with a tough headwind keep you off the bike!

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Fashion Friday: Wrapped in Confidence

In an interview during a product launch enhanced by flash mobs of young women chanting “Be the woman you want to be!” and dancing by the Eiffel Tower, Diane von Furstenberg said, “My mission is to empower women to feel beautiful and secure and confident. Because when you are confident you are beautiful.”

No wonder her iconic wrap dress has been embraced by women of all ages, shapes and sizes for over 40 years, including me. I’m always confident in my wrap knit dresses, on or off the bike. Mission accomplished, Diane!

The overlap of the wrap skirt gives me extra coverage when I’m in the saddle.

The wrap dress flatters almost every figure. I love the neckline.

Confident and secure and ready to take on any situation. Thanks, DVF!

About Fashion Friday: Inspired by a 2011 Bike to Work Day challenge sponsored by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, this series highlights the broad range of “dress for the destination” bicycling fashions.

P.S. Diane, sign me up to dance in your flash mob at your next launch. I’ll even fly to Paris for it.

 

Bike Commute Diaries: Spring Rain, Morning Peace

When you live in a city that averages over 300 days of sunshine and less than 15 inches of rain a year, riding in light rain along a quiet path is a special treat. And for me this morning, a peaceful way to start my day.

About the Bike Commute Diaries: Launched in May 2012 for National Bike Month, this series explores the unexpected and surprising things I’ve learned about bicycling for transportation.

 

Anything Goes Challenge: Margaret Walks in L.A.

There’s a famous saying: “Nobody walks in L.A.” If you’ve ever been to Los Angeles you know that the saying is close to the truth. L.A. is where cars were crowned king and their kingdom spread across the nation and the world through the movie industry. But not everyone drives in L.A. just to cross a street. Margaret rides her bike to work every day, and for her Anything Goes Challenge she did the unthinkable–WALK. This is her story.

I like to ride my bike to work from my home near Los Angeles International Airport to my job in Manhattan Beach. Door to door one way is 30-60 minutes and 4.5 miles if I take the city route and 9 miles if I take the popular bike path along the beach known as “The Strand”. My commute takes me past the stereotypical SoCal landscape…aerospace industry, movie studios, million dollar homes and the beach.

When I read about the Anything Goes Commute Challenge, I was intrigued. I’ve always wanted to try, just once, to walk to work. But I didn’t want to walk all the way home. For this challenge, I decided to take public transport TO work and then walk home FROM work.

The Commute To Work: Transit

To complete this challenge I needed public transit timetables and routes. Living a 10 min walk from the Metro Line station, I am familiar with the Metro train service. However, I have only a vague idea of the bus service. I know which bus passes by my office, but have no clue where to board near my house.

Using Metro Trip Planner, I plugged in my travel details and came up with a dizzying array of possibilities, which I narrowed down to three:

1. Walk 0.6 mi to bus stop, catch City bus #1. Transfer to Metro bus #2. Walk 0.1 mi to office. Total: $1.40.
2. Walk 0.9 mi to Metro Line. Take train, transfer to Metro bus #2. Walk 0.1 mi to office. Total: $3.00
3. Walk 1.3 mi to bus stop, catch Metro bus #2. Walk 0.1 mi to office. Total: $1.50

I chose the most expensive option, #2, because I wanted to get in three modes of transport. Also, I could use my Transit Access Pass (TAP) card for the entire trip.

Advantages of Transit: The bus and train stop are an easy walk from my house. The service is frequent during rush hour, so no stress about missing my boarding and the TAP card was easy to use. I enjoyed being in the hustle and bustle of morning commuters. My commute is just short enough to be a pleasant experience and almost as fast as commuting by bike. I enjoyed experiencing little moments such as the man selling steaming hot tamales and coffee at the bus stop.

Disadvantages of Transit: Riding the bus and train are more expensive than riding my bike, and my exercise is limited to just 13 minutes of walking. By 10:00am I was tired because I didn’t have my ‘wake-up’ ride. And the bus does not pass by the stores I frequent, making it inconvenient to run errands after work. I was initially concerned that the walk to the Metro station might not be safe in the dark since it passes liquor stores, run-down motels and a former strip joint. But after I walked it I decided my fears were unfounded.

The Commute Home: Walking

For the commute home, I walked the 4.5 miles. I couldn’t have picked a better day. Temperature was sunny and 65F, light winds at my back and a downhill or flat walk. I chose not to walk my bike route home, which is quiet and mostly through residential neighborhoods, but instead a route that includes 2.7 miles along a major, six lane boulevard. I chose this route so that I would pass small shops and a mall.

Walking down a major boulevard is just as stressful as biking it. What an eye opener! I was hyper-vigilant to the cars exiting driveways as well as drivers making turns from intersections, all without bothering to check for pedestrians. After one mile, I abandoned the plan to continue on the boulevard and instead cut through a mall parking lot. I stopped for a half hour break to collect my wits and enjoy a Happy Hour appetizer of baba ganoush and water, before heading off to a ‘quieter’, yet major street.

Advantages of walking: I noticed even more walking than when biking. Retired professional soccer player and sports commentator Alexi Lalas jogged right past me. That’s a different type of exercise than biking.

Disadvantages of Walking: It takes a long time to get to destinations and probably won’t be as pleasant once the warmer weather arrives. I must wear proper walking shoes (Skechers, ftw!) and am limited by what I can carry, so it’s not ideal to pickup groceries along the way.

Overall Assessment: Biking to work everyday is by no means a ‘rut’. However, it was nice to mix it up for a change by taking the train and bus. I really enjoyed the feeling of living in a city with proper public transportation, even though L.A. isn’t quite there yet. The bus and train were clean and on time. I liked seeing all types of commuters taking advantage of public transport. I was pleasantly surprised when my train arrived at 06:07a with standing room only. Also, by taking a different route to work, I was able to see that there are a lot more cyclists out there (I only see a few when I bike).

What’s Next for Margaret: This will not be my last time utilizing public transport to get to work. I am positive that I will not be walking home anytime soon, but instead taking option #3 and walking 1.3 miles home. Thanks Ladyfleur, for putting me up to the challenge!

Thanks, Margaret, for participating in the Anything Goes Challenge and proving that somebody walks in LA!

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All photos in this post are courtesy of Margaret and are used with her permission.

 

When Mom’s Taxi is a Bike

When I speak up at public meetings for improving bicycling in my city, I regularly hear the naysayers: “You can’t carry groceries on a bike,” “You can’t ride in the rain,” “You can’t ride a bike in professional clothes,” “It’s too cold and dark in the winter.” I can speak from personal experience to handily dispel all these myths.

But for “Mothers need cars to take their kids all over town” I have to rely on stories from my friends. Like Karin, my former housemate who bought a bike trailer and started taking her son Anthony to day care on her way to work as soon as he could hold up his head. The 10 mile round trip gave Karin regular exercise that fit within a tight mommy schedule. And trust me, Karin isn’t a happy camper without regular exercise.

Now Karin has another job that doesn’t work for a bike commute with a day care drop off, but she and Anthony regularly ride around town: to the park, the farmer’s market, the swimming pool and even Baskin Robbins.

Karin and I met Elly through Girl Scouts where we formed a group we called the “leaders without daughters” because we didn’t have kids. Like Karin, Elly now has a son who rides with her to day care and around town. Elly says: “He sings to me while we ride (and makes up songs). I think he enjoys it because everything is closer and more immediate. He can say hello to people we pass, point out dogs and interesting sights.”

When Karin starting riding baby Anthony to day care on her work commute, she was the only parent I knew who did it. Now, I’m seeing more and more riding parents their kids to day care or to school. I rarely get the opportunity to snap a shot. They’re rushing to get to school while I’m rushing to catch the train.

But at the Energizer Station on Bike to Work Day last week I met this family. The mom and baby were riding to work and day care at Stanford University. The dad and sibling were along for the ride. All were perfectly content.

Karin told me a long time ago I should write about balance bikes. She said that Anthony learned to ride a two-wheel pedal bike in less than an hour because he had ridden a balance bike first. Since I only write about what I experience directly, I wish I had been there to see it. I can only imagine the smile on Anthony’s face.

But I did meet this two-year-old girl rocking a balance bike as she and her parents rode through our cul-de-sac. They had come from the grocery store almost 1/2 mile away and had another 1/2 mile to go before the reached home. That little girl has both endurance and some mad downhill skillz as you’ll see below.

Do you use a bike to take your kid to day care, to school or just around town? What were your biggest challenges? What tips do you have for parents who are curious to try it?

Photos of Karin and Elly in this post are courtesy of them and are used with their permission.

 

Silicon Valley Bike Style

Copenhagen has Cycle Chic, New York has #BikeNYC and San Francisco has Bike Pretty, but did you know that Silicon Valley has Bike Style? Yes, indeed, in the last couple of years, I’ve been spying more and more stylish people riding beautiful bikes all over the Valley. The word is out that you don’t have to get kitted out in lycra or other performance bike wear every time you hop on a bike.

I had never seen as many stylish people on bikes strutting their stuff as I did at the Bike Away From Work Bash hosted by the SVBC at San José City Hall last Thursday night. I grabbed people out of the bike valet line and quickly snapped almost 50 bike portraits. The full set of portraits shows an amazingly diverse community of riders. Whether in lycra or jeans or work clothes, everyone looks great when they’re on their bike.

What’s your bike style? Urban edgy? Frills and lace? Preppy classic? Euro sophisticated? Slouchy chic? Whatever it is, you can show it off by uploading your photo on the newly launched Silicon Valley Bike Style.

Black and white and classy all over with a porteur-racked mixte.

Bow tie, horn-rim glasses and dress shirt on a burnt orange city bike.

Lime green jacket with a twist on step-thru with flowery wicker basket.

Laid-back and smart in business casual on a flat foot geometry bike.

Sweet as cupcake in a pinafore and mary janes on a drop-bar mixte.

Plaid zip cardigan and a flat cap with a classic green and white cruiser.

Ballet neck top and ballet flats with a full pleated skirt on a wicker basket mixte.

V-neck sweater and cycling shoes on a early-1990s aluminum road bike.

Bold blue striped tunic and floppy hat with my French-inspired mixte.

Euro style jacket and messenger bag on a vintage French mountain bike.

Red polka dots and retro piped skirt on a sunny yellow loop frame.

Scoop neck T, light sweater, slim jeans and boots on an long-tail Xtracycle.

 

Fashion Friday: Katie in Candy Apple Red

Some things are just made for each other, even when they’re not. Katie fell in love with this retro-styled A-line skirt, delightfully piped in red with big red buttons. But it took years to find its perfect mate: red polka-dotted blouse with delicate tuxedo ruffles and a narrow-banded collar and sleeves. A match made in heaven.

Katie was one of the many fashionable people at the SVBC Bike Away from Work Bash at San Jose City Hall.

Thongs in seafoam green add a touch of flair to the red and white palette.

Two sizes of polka dots on this blouse: big on the bodice, tiny on the ruffles.

When you see a skirt this unique for sale you don’t pass it by.

About Fashion Friday: Inspired by a 2011 Bike to Work Day challenge sponsored by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, this series highlights the broad range of “dress for the destination” bicycling fashions.

 

Bike Commute Diaries: Energized by the Mayor

I saw lots of new faces on bikes on my commute this morning. You see, we’re celebrating Bike to Work Day today so the casual commuters were out in force and gathering at Energizer Stations for coffee and snacks. The new face I was most surprised to see? Mountain View Mayor John Inks on a bike. That got me energized.

About the Bike Commute Diaries: Launched in May 2012 for National Bike Month, this series explores the unexpected and surprising things I’ve learned about bicycling for transportation.

 

Anything Goes Challenge: At Dawn, Nadia Rides

I’ve known Nadia for years. She and I fumbled our way into cyclocross racing together and emerged friends. Nadia lives on Potrero Hill in San Francisco and commutes to her office along the bay in South San Francisco. Here is her Anything Goes Commute Challenge story, condensed from an extensive series of posts on her blog.

I started riding to work last year after ten years of car commuting. I’m not a newbie to bike commuting–riding was my primary mode of transport for about 13 years, most recently when I was in law school, riding up and down the East Bay Hills with my casebooks in my panniers. I returned to cycle commuting last year as a way to integrate exercise and commuting and to get some JOY in my morning commute.

Solo Ride: My canonical bike commute is a solo ride along the most direct route between my home and work. It’s 1/3 city riding, 1/3 semi-suburban and 1/3 blissful Bay Trail. It’s not all pretty on this route, which features some fairly gritty urban riding. To minimize the traffic congestion on the gritty part of the route, I leave early–between 6am and 7am. I really like getting to work on the early side and I really, really like leaving work by the fixed company-bus schedules. I tend to stay late to finish up work otherwise.

Company Shuttle: My employer provides bus service to and from work, with routes over the SF Bay Area. Two of the bus routes have stops that are ~2 miles from my house, so I use this bus ride-bike ride combination to get home on days when I ride to work in the morning. I put my bike in the luggage compartment below the bus, relax on the bus on the ride into the city, then ride home from the bus stop. My employer also offers a $2 each way reimbursement for not driving, showers/towels/bath products on campus and secure bike parking.

Group Ride: There is a surprisingly large community of San Francisco bike commuters going south in the morning, and I’ve been pleased to join various groups for the early morning ride in. I’ve been riding with SF2G about once every two weeks on their First Friday Friendly Frolic, a “no rider left behind” ride, and slower Style 3 rides. I’ll also leave earlier than a faster group, see how long it takes them to catch me, then attempt to hang on. I also commute with co-workers every now and then–either by plan or by running into them on the road.

The group rides are fun for a lot of reasons, including the company, the challenge (I always ride faster up the little hills when with a group!), and for the draft in the headwind-y bits. I also really like the reinforcement of committing to a group ride in advance–this helps get me up and out in the morning and keeps me out of the car. Riding with a group also breaks up the tedium of doing the same route again and again.

I have several alternative routes that I take to increase the mileage and riding challenge and for variety.

Dawn of the Dead: “Dawn of the Dead” goes out of the city on Mission Street or Alameny, then circles around the backside of Mount San Bruno. It goes through Colma, the city of cemeteries, and if I time it right, I arrive at the cemeteries at sunrise. After a screaming descent, I cross the freeway and head to work on the Bay Trail.

San Bruno Mountain: I love this little mountain that sits right in the middle of my commute. While my standard routes circumnavigate the base of the mountain, I sometimes go right over the mountain on the way to work. I head out of the city on Mission, turn left on Crocker, which climbs steeply up the backside of the mountain. A bike legal dirt path winds around the ridge line, affording wonderful views over the city, the bay and the summit. A fun descent down Guadalupe Parkway and I’m back on the canonical route to work.

Commuting with Panniers: During the challenge I took my first trip in on my “new” commuting machine: my old road bike repurposed with a rack and single pannier to carry a heavy laptop. I won’t ride with it in my backpack as its weight bothers my back. The bike has been ready to go with rack and gear for a few months, but I’d been apprehensive about riding it in. I was worried that it would be less fun to ride in on the heavier rig: the bike weighs in at about 25 pounds un-loaded, and the rack, pannier and laptop add another 10 pounds.

I learned it was pretty nice to ride in without a backpack! The bike has lower gearing so I made it up my steep (18%) initial climb and the single pannier didn’t impact handling much except when I was out of the saddle. I felt sluggishly slow on the ride, but my ride in took 55 minutes which is within normal range. I did notice the weight while carrying the bike downstairs to exit my home in the morning and when lifting the bike to put it into the company bus on the way home from work. But the weight was manageable.

Overall assessment: I give the win to the bike commute with the shuttle ride home. I get the most exercise by riding, especially the alternative routes which add on miles/challenge. It’s also the most fun and least stressful, plus I get social benefit when I commute with others.

My best days at work start with a bike ride. I have noticeably lower levels of stress throughout the day. Endorphins in action? I don’t know but whatever the mechanism, I’ll take it!

*Biggest downside is the factor Nadia finds most significant

What’s the next challenge for Nadia: I bike commute 2-3 times a week at best–definitely something to keep plugging away at. This commute challenge has afforded me the opportunity to think about some other options for getting into work. The most obvious was getting my pannier-enabled commuter bike up and running so I can ride in when I have my work laptop at home. Another is to find an alternative route for post- 7am starts so I can ride in a little later if necessary, rather than driving because I dislike my normal cycling route at that time due to heavy truck and freeway traffic on a portion of the route. I have an alternative route in mind that I’ll try out soon.

Thanks, Nadia, for participating in the Anything Goes Commute Challenge! To learn more about Nadia’s challenge insights and her other adventures, check out her blog.

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All photos in this post are courtesy of Nadia and are used with her permission.