2 Wheels Maybe

It's that day again - the last day of bike commuter nirvana. Yep, the Lubbock Independent School District is flinging its doors open to welcome in the chaos kids tomorrow. The sun, it rose. The best part of summer for me is the relaxed traffic. The college students all go home to the metroplex. The locals get to sleep in a bit. And the bicyclists can relax a bit more and not adjust their routes away from schools. Morning commutes in summer are the stuff dreams are made of! (We won't discuss the triple-digit afternoon rides home, but even those are more relaxed.) At coffee - I had the place to myself. Tomorrow - it'll be noisy and crowded. Unlimited Routing This is the last day I'll cruise carelessly past Jayne Ann Miller Elementary. This morning I pedaled past three public schools and cut through the parking lot of one private school. My commute was 4/10 of a mile shorter than it'll be tomorrow. Commuting is for the Birds At ...

This past week, a rare opportunity presented itself. I went riding strictly for fun! I built the Huffy Klunker specifically for riding the bike trails at Lubbock's own Mae Simmons Park and I finally got to try it out. (It says, "I'm stumped".) I headed west on the faster trails, but the gravelly uphills were more challenge than I was up for, so I headed east where the trail is more level, has great curves, gentle berms, and a plethora of mesquite trees, prairie dogs, and seven-lined skinks - all great stuff for a mesquite hugger like me. What did the fish yell when it swam into a concrete wall? There were lots of birds out too. My favorite was a snowy egret stalking the mossy shallows below the dam. Ignore the finger and check out the view - water, windmills, and trees! The riding was a blast. There were a couple of jerseyed guys my age out there on 29" fully-suspended rigs. I hope they were having fun and getting away from thei...

I see her about once a week, always near this intersection, and I don't know how she feels on the inside, but she's fearless on the outside. She pedals down Slide Road a little before 8am - peak morning traffic. Cars behind her quickly change lanes in a rush not to get stuck behind her. Occasionally there's honking and a finger or two being waved. Is what she's doing legal in Texas? Absolutely. In cycling circles, it's known as "taking the lane". When is it legal to take a lane? Learn more at BikeTexas.org Early mornings on the weekend, it's not rare to see recreational road bikers take a lane on normally busy Lubbock streets, but seeing a lone bicycle commuter in peak traffic - that's rare. Lots of bikes pass through this intersection every day, but they do so on the makeshift pedestrian walkway. Even then, it's a sketchy place to cross. Lubbock is not a great town to bike. But it is trying to get better. And, surprisingly, ...

Another gorgeous morning sky today   Yesterday I ran across an article from Awesome 98: Lubbock is thinking about improving biking and walking around the city   Here's a quote from the article:   If you have ever complained that its too dangerous to ride your bike or walk in Lubbock, you're not alone. I try to ride my bike a lot when the weather is good, but I make sure I stay away from any big streets because even having to cross them quickly is damn near impossible.   Me, I felt the same way a few years ago, but then I joined the National Bike Challenge , started commuting to work a few days per week, and overcame (most) of my fear of crossing the big streets. (And life became much better!)   How about you? Do you ride? Do you walk? Would you ride or walk more if you found it easier/safer?   Why do I ask? Well, the Awesome98 article contains two links where the city is asking for your input into this discussion. One is a survey...