I am a Cyclist and I am Angry

Mangled Bike
Originally uploaded by darren_mirfield

Another week, another motorist-strikes-cyclist fatality. It is a travesty that there is such a nonchalant attitude of "oh well, just an accident". If a driver's negligence killed a motorist instead of a cyclist, there would be charges filed, and outrage. Not so with cyclist fatalities. The last two were both killed by drivers breaking the law, passing on the wrong side of the road, drunken driving, etc.
MURDER in my humble opinion. Until we start sharing the road, these tragedies will continue. I have ridden all over this fair city of Louisville, and for the most part, drivers are civilized road partners. I won't mention the 2nd Street Bridge, which scares the living hell out of me, but otherwise, I feel pretty safe around here.
What I do not like is the cavalier attitude of the police and media about cycle-car accidents. As we make strides to be more cycle-friendly, these attitudes must change. Any driver who strikes a cyclist and breaks the law should be prosectuted to the full extent of the law. We owe it to the victims.

In Memory- Jesse Tate Who Nurtured my Love of Cycling

Jesse Clark Tate
My uncle Jesse Tate passed away Sunday, August 31, 2008, in Springfield, Mo. Jesse was born September 12, 1930. Many knew him through his ownership of A & B Cycle, the Schwinn dealership in Springfield, Missouri from 1962 to 1992. Those of us who knew him also knew his strong work ethic and the desire to do a task right the first time. He used to show me around the shop, and helped feed my love of cycling, that I still have to this day. We will miss you but know we will see you again. I have many kind memories of Uncle Jesse. Who wouldn't love an uncle who owned a bike shop and had a 1890's style handlebar moustache?

Harvest Wind Farm

On my recent bike tour in the thumb of Michigan, I saw a welcome sight for greenies everywhere. The Harvest Wind Farm is a cooperative of 32 working windmills in rural Michigan northeast of Flint. All but one of these were turning and generating power as I rode by. The other was inop/not yet installed? According to the blurb I read on a signpost when I got to Pigeon, Mi. This windfarm generates enough power to meet the needs of 1500 households. There is a constant breeze off Lake Huron, and these babies will get a workout!

Bike Tour of Michigan Thumb

I spent a couple of days last week touring the "Thumb" area of Michigan. This is a rural area filled with farms, flat land, wide shoulders and constant headwind off Lake Huron.
I went through areas like Frankenmuth, which is a neo-Bavarian tourist town. Lots of nice shops and restaurants along the way. I skirted Bay City and made my way over toward Bad Axe where I spent the night. Lots of heat and humidity. The roads were great except for the small portion that turned out to be gravel for about a half mile. Sometimes the map isn't very clear about stuff like that. I like to tour with an open agenda and little formal planning. Just ride and end up where you end up. I stayed the night in Bad Axe because I like the name of the place.
Day Two: All went well until I experienced a catastrophic drivetrain problem in a little town called Unionville. At this point I was only 35 miles from my car, so I stayed with my gear and my friend Mark peddled on to get the car, and then drove back to get me. Note to self: Get your derailleur and cables check over before the ride, especially on a 10 year old Bianchi with 10,000 miles on it... Otherwise the Bianchi did great.



This scenic river flows into Lake Huron.

On a whim, I took a side road into this park and was glad I did. I sat there for a while beside the still waters and restoreth my soul.















Here is Pigeon, Michigan which, like the namesake of the town itself was a great place
to roost for a short time. I sat on the bench in the picture, fluttered around a bit, made a lot of noise, annoyed the passers-by and talked to locals about the humidity. I'm not sure a pigeon would do the latter, but I did. I refrained from pooping on any statuary, which was also very unpigeonlike of me. Overall a scenic little town with friendly folks.

Next year I will do another ride somewhere. I have all winter to plan it. And maybe do some bike maintenance. New cables, derailleur tuneup. And definitely take less stuff with me. I must ask this question of everything in my panniers. "Do I really need to peddle this?" Every ounce takes energy to move it.

Ready for my Summer Tour '08

A few years ago, my friend Mark and I decided to do a short bike tour. We rode from Marshall, Mi. across northern Indiana and back. We are going to do it again this year, riding along Lake Huron in the "thumb" of Michigan.

Here is the funny thing about me and Mark... We love bike touring because there is always some near catastrophic event that we can laugh about later. Years ago, we were in Cincinnati and our car got towed in 10 degree weather. We had to walk several miles in the cold and dark to retrieve it. I had left my coat in the car as well. One time when in college, we were walking to a local restaurant when it started to downpour. Mark was running head-first into the restaurant, when he accidentally hit his head on their advertising sign, cracking both the sign and his head. On our last bike tour, we rode through rain for 25 miles. We arrived at our destination for the night, a town in rural northern Indiana. We had made no reservations, since it was "in the middle of nowhere". Got there. Sold out. We are looking forward to what calamity this year's ride will bring. It makes for great stories. Years down the road! We would never use GPS. Who wants to know where they are at all the time?

And we never pack enough food or water. That way I can halucinate convenient stores over the next hill. (I know there's one just ahead...)