[SDCBC] YouTube, etc.

Tue Apr 1 21:55:35 EDT 2008

Hi Mary.  Electric bicycles offer another stepping stone for those trips that are a little longer than you'd want to do everyday on a standard bike.  I ride an electric bicycle almost everyday and rode this morning from UTC to downtown (greater than 13 miles) to do jury duty.  Electrics can provide a great workout (if you want it), but you can always ease up on the workout if you aren't feeling like sweating up a storm.  It's certainly better than driving and allows you to go all the same places bicycles can.  

I use my electric as my commute vehicle and ride my road bike on the weekends.

Eric

----- Original Message ----
From: Mary Winn <mary.e.winn at gmail.com>
To: tony at tonypietsch.com
Cc: Sdcbc <sdcbc at bikesandiego.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 1, 2008 11:23:14 AM
Subject: Re: [SDCBC] YouTube, etc.

Hi!  I am fairly new to San Diego and new to the SDBC e-mail group.  I  
am a big supporter of developing the use of alternative transportation  
such as the bicycle and I couldn't help but put in my two cents about  
the best way to increase bicycle use in SD.  I don't know about the  
history of bicycle transportation in the area but after living here  
for just over 6 months, I can tell you that it is not always a fun and  
enjoyable experience.

I recently moved from Ann Arbor, MI where I road my bike or took the  
bus from my home to work almost everyday.  It wasn't a long trip, only  
4 or 5 miles, and it was fairly safe.  I moved to SD in September with  
the intention of doing the same thing, bike or bus to work everyday.   
However, it wasn't quite so simple.

I am a graduate student at UCSD but for personal reasons I chose not  
to live in UTC or the surrounding La Jolla area.  Instead, I chose to  
live in North Park.  My options to get to campus are a.) bike the ~15  
miles to campus involving many dangerous intersections, busy  
arterials, and steep inclines with a heavy backpack, b.) bike the 3  
miles to the UCSD Hillcrest Medical Center and take the shuttle from  
there, c.) drive (expensive) or d.) take the bus system (an extremely  
long trip).

I went with option b as my primary choice with a. and c. as  
alternative options.  (I must mention that I commute with a rider  
fairly new to cycling as a form of transportation so we are taking  
baby steps in hopes to make option a. our primary choice).  Though the  
3 mile bike from North Park to Hillcrest is neither long nor extremely  
difficult in terms of terrain, I am limited in options and traffic can  
be dangerous with University and El Cajon being the only direct  
options (all side streets are not direct and involve numerous  
intersections where traffic does not stop on the cross street making  
them more dangerous in my opinion than either University or El  
Cajon).  I am a fairly "aggressive" rider in that I'll take the lane  
if there is no bike lane but I'm safe, using hand signals when  
possible, slowing down when necessary, always aware, and willing to  
get off my bike and walk.

To make a long story short, as a new resident of San Diego, I find the  
two biggest limitations to using a bicycle as a form of transportation  
are distance and terrain.  The third limitation is safety.  Even with  
a safe system in place for bicyclists, I think it will be difficult to  
overcome the primary limitations.  I agree with Tony, in order for  
bicycles to become a popular form a transportation, there will need to  
be major social change with an emphasis on community and working close  
to home (less than 5-10 miles).

As an avid cyclist, I would love to see a better, more bicycle  
friendly infrastructure so I can get from North Park to the UCSD  
campus or any other surrounding area safely by bicycle but there are  
few people like those in this e-mail group willing to bike 10+ miles  
especially when you had a few steep hills.

I have no solution but based on the limitations I see thus far, I  
think a system which integrates multiple forms of alternative  
transportation methods in a safe and effective manor is a good start.   
Better ways to transport bikes on public buses.  Increased trolley  
lines.  More frequent and more express bus services.  And simple  
things like bike racks (or more of them) at shuttle stops.

I enjoy reading the debates about bicycle use in San Diego and I hope  
to become more active in SDBC soon!  In the mean time, I am continuing  
to lead by example, using alternative forms of transportation on a  
daily basis.

Mary

On Apr 1, 2008, at 8:51 AM, Tony Pietsch wrote:

> Adding just a little perspective on what a small change in income  
> can make
> on traffic, I have an excellent example from relatively recent  
> travel to
> Vietnam and understand from others that China is going through much  
> the same
> process.  Sarah and I toured the length of Vietnam from Hanoi to  
> Saigon (Ho
> Chi Minh City, but no one there calls it that) in 2000-2001.  We had  
> heard
> such great things at the time about the cycling from other eco- 
> tourists in
> the early '90s about how bicycle oriented the country was, and  
> although
> still 3rd world and communist had a strong capitalist wave that was  
> making
> the country prosperous and friendly.
>
> Indeed, we encountered a great deal of hope for the future and  
> tolerance
> from the Vietnamese for the "slow" pace of improvement, but nearly  
> everyone
> benefited from the change in economic policy; the government was  
> either
> helpful or ignored. We saw that along Route 1 (the only paved roadway
> running the full length north to south) that nearly every building had
> electricity including some mud hovels with satellite dishes.
>
> To our dismay, the small average increase in disposable income  
> nearly always
> went to converting the family mode of transportation from a bicycle  
> to a
> noisy, polluting name-brand knock-off motorcycle/moped -- no, not  
> what we
> think of here, but basically a bicycle with an underpowered gas  
> engine on it
> that was loaded with up to a family of five.  In major cities, a large
> number of these recent "motorists" were wearing cloth masks to keep  
> out the
> thickest of the unburnt hydrocarbons.  Even between villages in the  
> country
> it was impossible to get away from these nuisances since everyone  
> wanted to
> pull up alongside and converse with us.  What had been a fairly  
> egalitarian
> (except for cars) society had split into the new middle class on  
> mopeds and
> those hoping to get a moped next year.
>
> The air was hard to breath whenever congestion arose, and the  
> traffic signs,
> signals and striping were regarded (as near as we could tell) as
> "suggestions", with even red lights being routinely run if the driver
> thought that they could get away with it without getting killed.
>
> We were stunned at the transformation from a bicycle-centric society  
> of
> fairly uniform pace to one of "free-for-all" traffic and pollution  
> so far
> out of control in as little as five years!  Hardly bicycle friendly  
> as we
> nearly got hit cycling on the far right of the road by a car making an
> sudden "illegal" pass from the opposite direction just because the  
> driver
> thought we would make yet more room -- over a cliff.  We won't be  
> back.
>
> But the lesson remains -- at the first opportunity this country of  
> nearly 80
> million opted for just a minor increase in transport speed and ease,  
> even at
> a huge cost to their environment and personal health.  The irony  
> here is
> that their newfound "freedom" of powered transportation had actually
> DECREASED the average speed on the road because of the increased  
> congestion,
> and they were dealing with it by getting ever more aggressive with the
> expected result that we saw and heard a large number of accidents and
> deaths.  For us this was a shock -- but thinking of the "acceptable"  
> number
> of motorist deaths (not to mention bicycle and pedestrian) that we  
> have
> become inured to in this country (US society), one has to wonder  
> whether
> this has become an inevitable phase resulting from greater wealth and
> isolation from one's neighbors?
>
> I very much wish that more people believed in "road karma", both  
> here and
> abroad, but don't hold out much hope unless we become true communities
> again, knowing our neighbors individually and personally (not  
> necessarily
> liking all of them, but at least knowing their beliefs and trying to  
> find
> common desires) and working toward what's in the best interest of our
> society instead of the "where's my immediate gratification" that  
> seems to be
> fairly universal whenever income and power become paramount.
>
> I'm beginning to feel like an old fuddy-duddy and at the same time  
> returning
> to my roots in the '60s and '70s with "give peace a chance" and  
> "what if
> they gave a war and nobody came?"
>
> Anybody else out there "getting the same vibes?"
> Tony
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sdcbc-bounces at bikesandiego.org [mailto:sdcbc-bounces at bikesandiego.org 
> ]
> On Behalf Of Thomas Magee
> Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 7:37 PM
> To: 'John Forester'; 'sdcbc'
> Subject: Re: [SDCBC] YouTube - SoCal Arterials and Lane Splitting  
> videos
>
>
> ".... Furthermore, the American bikeway program has been running for  
> thirty
> years, with very little switch from motoring to bicycling. I don't  
> hold out
> much reason to hope for a different outcome within the planning  
> horizon."
>
> --
> John Forester, MS, PE
>
> And this is due in large part to the commercial media promoting  
> automobiles
> -- fast, luxury, hot styling, you take your pick.  It's a big part  
> of our
> American culture, especially here in CA.
>
> Who is there that will give John Q. Public, his neighbors and  
> friends -- and
> everybody else -- the encouragement to ride a bike in the first place?
>
> My belief is that, in the short term, we continue bicycling by good  
> example,
> while making every effort to appear in the media to explain why  
> America
> needs to change the culture -- for a multitude of reasons.  It  
> begins with
> you and me.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> You are subscribed to the SDCBC mailing list as mary.e.winn at gmail.com
> To unsubscribe or change mailing options, go to http://www.bikesandiego.org/mailman/listinfo/sdcbc
> List privacy information is located at http://www.stickman-computing.org/aup
> Opinions expressed here are those of the individual poster and do  
> not necessarily reflect the positions of the SDCBC or it's Board.
> For help or to talk with someone other than the mail robot, send e- 
> mail to postmaster at stickman-computing.org

_______________________________________________

You are subscribed to the SDCBC mailing list as econver at yahoo.com
To unsubscribe or change mailing options, go to http://www.bikesandiego.org/mailman/listinfo/sdcbc
List privacy information is located at http://www.stickman-computing.org/aup
Opinions expressed here are those of the individual poster and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the SDCBC or it's Board.
For help or to talk with someone other than the mail robot, send e-mail to postmaster at stickman-computing.org

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.bikesandiego.org/pipermail/sdcbc/attachments/20080401/2610e62a/attachment-0001.html 