Bike Commuting

I'm sitting in my office at the end of Friday, looking at my bike. It's a beautiful day, mid-60s, sun shining, and I rode to work. Unlike last Friday, I won't need a pickup to get home because it's raining. This is perfect biking weather; too bad it won't last and in two months I'll be facing a 30 minute commute in 90 degree temps.

Last Saturday I attended the first ever Salt Lake City Bike Summit. A bike summit is a sort of convention for bikers. Not racers or even touring bikers, but those who promote cycling as a way of life. It was interesting to hear all the work going on behind the scenes to make cycling a legitimate form of transportation. In other countries, biking is "what we do". That was the theme repeated by several of the speakers who had interviewed cyclists in Europe, Asia and other countries where biking is the norm, not a fringe element. One day maybe the U.S. will be there, too.

Spring

There 's a definite feel of spring in the air today. The sky is clear, the south-facing slopes of the mountains are bare and I've even seen a few people in shorts and flip-flops, though that's rushing things just a tad.

It's time to start thinking about cycling, especially with the Tour of California going on this week. I spent some time the other day surfing the net for bicycle rides this summer, and found quite a few potential ones. I'd like to be up to at least a 60-75 mile ride by the end of the summer. There are several around the valley and in the Heber Valley, beginning with the Salt Lake Marathon ride in April and ending in September. Of course, last week was the St. George Century and next month is the Skinny Tire Festival in Moab. But the weather hasn't quite been good enough to get outside much yet.

UDOT Sets Bicycle Priority

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is holding a series of public meetings around Utah beginning today and continuining through late October. The purpose of the meetings is to gain public input for UDOT's study of corridors throughout the state to prioritize bicycle improvements. Tonight's meeting will be in Park City. Meetings are scheduled in Orem, Vernal, Logan, Ogden, Price, Richfield, Manti, Salt Lake City (on October 13 at 5:00 p.m. in the City Library, 210 East 400 South), Moab, Blanding and ending in St. George on October 22. Anyone interested in the future of cycling in Utah should attend. Those anti-cyclists will surely be present to voice their opposition to sharing the road.

Coincidentally (or not) today Salt Lake mayor Ralph Becker held a press conference to announce details of a "Shared Lane Marking" system for Salt Lake City roads. This is due to the increasing number of cyclists on city streets.

Bicycle Commuting Article

The September issue of Catalyst is on the newsstands and online. You can view my article here:

http://www.catalystmagazine.net/

Click on the link "Read the latest issue of Catalyst magazine online" and look for "The Well Tempered Bicycle Commuter".

The second installment of my article will be on its way to the editor shortly. Hopefully in a month or so we will have a link to that article.

For those of you who haven't considered commuting by bike, think about how much you could help traffic congestion, do your part to save energy, get a little exercise and meet some great people.