Joggers, walkers and bikers all share the Chipman Trail. Here's a video to celebrate everybody's efforts to stay in shape!
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Breezy Day
There was a strong wind out of the west this morning when I started my commute to Pullman. It lasted the whole 45-minute trip to the office. I simply geared down and made the best of it. In today's video, I tried to capture some of that wind rustling through the tall grass along the trail.
Some folks have told me that they look forward to more video of me biking in nasty weather. I was thinking about that today as the wind howled in my ears. I don't mind rain, dark, heat, cold or even a little snow. However, a strong head wind is truly aweful particularly with rain and cold added to the mix.
Some folks have told me that they look forward to more video of me biking in nasty weather. I was thinking about that today as the wind howled in my ears. I don't mind rain, dark, heat, cold or even a little snow. However, a strong head wind is truly aweful particularly with rain and cold added to the mix.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
On bike racks and backup plans
A useful piece of equipment for bike commuting is a good bike rack for the car. It's essential for getting bikes around town as a back up in case of emergency (bad weather, flat tire, mechanical problems). A bike rack is also useful as part of a usual day's commute. To illustrate, on Thursday I biked to Pullman. I had an evening with friends planned that involved a trip to Steptoe Butte. I hitched a ride with a friend to the Butte, and then rather than go back to Pullman afterwards (it was quite late by then), I got a ride home to Moscow, leaving my bike in the office. The next day, I drove to Pullman with the bike rack, stopping off on the way to pick up Luke's bike, which he had left at the building in town (the 1912 Center) where he does Karate. When I was done in the office, I walked my bike to the car, hoisted it onto the rack with Luke's bike, and drove home to Moscow.
Our bike rack fits four bikes. This past summer, we took a road trip out to Wisconsin to visit family. We hauled all four bikes on the rack and camping gear in the overhead carrier. I've included a picture of the car after it was all loaded up. I had to remove the seats and pedals, and I also loosened the handle-bar stems on the mountain bikes and rotated the handle bars 90o. In this way, the handle bars lined up with the bike frames so that they fit firmly on the rack. I then stashed the pedals and seats with the camping gear in the overhead. We travelled over 4,000 miles round trip without any problem.
Our bike rack fits four bikes. This past summer, we took a road trip out to Wisconsin to visit family. We hauled all four bikes on the rack and camping gear in the overhead carrier. I've included a picture of the car after it was all loaded up. I had to remove the seats and pedals, and I also loosened the handle-bar stems on the mountain bikes and rotated the handle bars 90o. In this way, the handle bars lined up with the bike frames so that they fit firmly on the rack. I then stashed the pedals and seats with the camping gear in the overhead. We travelled over 4,000 miles round trip without any problem.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Some errands around town
I deviated from my normal route home today in order to run a few errands. I often stop at the Moscow Food Co-op. Today I made a trip first to the bank and then the computer store. I got turned around once, and I had to cross Hwy 8 a few times as it runs through Moscow. Otherwise, it was an easy trip.
As you can see in the video clip, I am either in a bike lane or on the trail pretty much the whole time. Running simple errands like this on a bike is so much more pleasant than in a car.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Cleaning up after the Route of the Hiawatha
We took a family trip with friends over Labor Day Weekend to the Route of the Hiawatha bike trail along the Idaho-Montana border. The trail has 10 tunnels, 7 trestles and breath-taking scenery. I've made a short video of our adventures along the trail.
The trail is pretty rocky and definitely not for slick tires on road bikes! I put knobby tires on my bike to handle the rough ride. The trail is also very dusty. Our bikes and our clothes were completely covered in dust by the end of the day. The dust on clothes was easy to get off, but the dusty bikes were another matter altogether.
I rode along admiring the beautiful views and accumulating ever greater quantities of dust on my bike. Then, it occurred to me that this same bike would be in my office at work in just a couple of days. Like many faculty, my office is not big. I have a great view of the Palouse but precious little space to advise students. Add a bike into the space, and it feels tighter still. I keep a towel in my panier to wipe down the bike after it rains; otherwise, I have a drippy bike and pools of oily water for students and colleagues to splash in. By the same token, a dusty, dirty bike is like having a horribly dusty piece of furniture in the office. Nobody wants to look at it or touch it for fear of getting filthy themselves. This wouldn't do at all! I spent Sunday morning "dusting" my bike so that I could have a much cleaner office the following week.
The trail is pretty rocky and definitely not for slick tires on road bikes! I put knobby tires on my bike to handle the rough ride. The trail is also very dusty. Our bikes and our clothes were completely covered in dust by the end of the day. The dust on clothes was easy to get off, but the dusty bikes were another matter altogether.
I rode along admiring the beautiful views and accumulating ever greater quantities of dust on my bike. Then, it occurred to me that this same bike would be in my office at work in just a couple of days. Like many faculty, my office is not big. I have a great view of the Palouse but precious little space to advise students. Add a bike into the space, and it feels tighter still. I keep a towel in my panier to wipe down the bike after it rains; otherwise, I have a drippy bike and pools of oily water for students and colleagues to splash in. By the same token, a dusty, dirty bike is like having a horribly dusty piece of furniture in the office. Nobody wants to look at it or touch it for fear of getting filthy themselves. This wouldn't do at all! I spent Sunday morning "dusting" my bike so that I could have a much cleaner office the following week.
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