Danika

    Danika Tyler Garcia (photo credit: Danika's mom)

I see ghost bikes wherever I ride all across the country - and the world, for that matter. Part of why they are made is to memorialize a person who was killed while riding their bike.

One of those killed - here in San Jose - was a teenager named Danika. While I was volunteering for Good Karma Bikes (which I sadly haven’t been able to do for a few months since keeping my freelance writing hamster wheel spinning has become a full-time job in and of itself) I helped her mom locate an old bicycle that could be turned into a ghost bike. 

She contacted me again last week: twists and turns in life meant the ghost bike couldn’t be put up right away. She decided to put it up this past Friday, which was Danika’s 17th birthday. That means she was born on September 9th, 1999 - 9/9/99. 

As some of you know already, I am miffed at the collective way cyclist deaths are covered in the press. Not just because one can play a macabre Cyclist Death Bingo game and - in terms of the scant information conveyed - get five across every time, but because nobody follows up. 

Well, I did. 

In an email, I asked Danika’s mom how she was and asked her to tell me about her daughter. This is what she wrote me (and she gave me permission to reprint it here):

“Danika was a nerd. A big, gentle nerd.”

“She hated bullies, and stuck up for the outcasts. Her friends were the choir/drama kid, LGBTQ kids, anime kids, the kids that are considered "different". The day after the crash, the students at Del Mar had a memorial for her. It lasted until the next morning. Supervised by Danika's best friends Mom.”

“One boy came up to me, wearing a three piece suit that was 3 inches too small for him. He said, "Danika was the only one to talk to me on my first day at school”.” 

“She was kind. Babies loved her. We have a huge Nicaraguan family and lots of little ones. They all flocked to her. Like the Pied Piper of toddlers.”

“I remember how, when I was a teenager, I would tell my mom (I) hated her. All the time. The thing that comforts me now, is she never, not once, told me she hated me. I'll hold that in my heart until I see her again.”

                                 Danika's Ghost Bike (photo credit: Danika's mom)

I mentioned the last time I wrote about ghost bikes that when I pick one out I just look for the biggest one I can find so it can be seen easily. But all of Danika’s mom’s words? All her grief, all Danika’s friends, family and teachers’ grief? There isn’t enough space on the bike frame to write it. 

When someone takes a ride somewhere, they should get to where they are going without incident. Yes, cyclists need to take ownership over their safety and absolutely, drivers need to slow down (and, as Cyclelicious just showed in his coverage of yet another unnecessary road death, never pass cyclists unless you have plenty of room to do so). But street design is also a ‘person of interest’ when a cyclist or pedestrian is hurt or killed on the road. 

So that’s my plea to the media: not only do I want you to follow up on the grieving done by survivors but also follow up with the ‘person of interest’ in every one of these cases: the road itself. In the time that has passed since the death, has the road been redesigned to encourage slower speeds? Has a road diet been done or complete streets initiatives implemented? Are there adequate warning signs of dangers? When you observe people at the site, do you see them engaging in the same behavior that led to the death? What do elected officials have to say? 

                                 Danika's Ghost Bike (photo credit: Danika's mom)

I know journalists are overworked and underpaid but follow up stories like this are more important than stories about Donald Trump’s hair or any ‘daily tracking poll.’ The kind of stories I’m talking about might encourage safer driving, safer cycling and smarter road design - all things that can save lives and up the chances someone like Danika will live to see another birthday (and, from what her mom described, touch more lives). 

Thank you, Danika’s mom, for talking with me. I am thinking of you and of the empty space at a table in a school cafeteria your daughter should be sitting and the empty spot on the street where she should be biking. 

Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

What a Kid Killed by an Alligator Can Teach the Media About Covering Bike/Ped Accidents

Unless you’ve been living under Boris Johnson’s Brexit campaign bus*, you probably know that a kid was killed by an alligator in Florida a couple of weeks ago. 

At first I dismissed the story - it just seemed to be a part of the media’s love affair with ‘disproportionality of fear’ stories; meaning, telling us with a straight face what we should be afraid of when what we should really fear just goes by unchecked. 

For instance, about 400,000 people have died in car collisions in the United States in the last 14 years. But we don’t hear about that kind of thing the way we should since the news is often a filler between car commercials. But the rare roller coaster accident? The rare child dragged around by a gorilla? The rare kid being snatched by an alligator? The network news has a graphic ready by the 5:00pm broadcast. 

The kid that was killed by an alligator in Florida teaches us both about the disproportionality of media attention and the disproportionality of fear (I talked about both in a piece I wrote recently for Blaze when I came across a rattlesnake while mountain biking…and found out how insanely rare fatal snake bites are). 

So even though the story seems to have been dragged from the media news cycle** we can actually talk about the coverage the poor child received and what the media can learn from its own coverage - and that is this: I want the media to cover bicycle/car collisions exactly like the way they covered the Alligator Kid. 

Stay with me: if you walk through the timeline of the Kid-Killed-By-Alligator news cycle, you’ll see several parallels to how we wish - no, how we need - news coverage of bike vs. car crashes to be. 

So here we go: reporters of all ages please take note.

1) Don’t Blame the Victim 

Kids move freely in an environment. So do cyclists. We think it inappropriate to blame the kid for what happened. Let’s think it inappropriate to blame the cyclist.

Classic example is when the media has more information about whether or not a pedestrian hit by a car was in a sidewalk than any other detail about the crash that killed or injured him or her. The sidewalk detail is important as a detail but as I’ve written before, we can’t ask about whether or not a pedestrian was in a sidewalk in a sneering, blame-the-victim fashion. 

So, instantly, do not blame the victim.

2) Ask ‘What Could Have Been Done to the Environment to Make This Safer?’

Intersection in Stamford where a pedestrian was killed in 2014. The media covered the immediate aftermath but moved the coverage elsewhere quickly afterward. (From: How Complete Streets Can Save Lives) 

With the attention off the blaming of the kid (and the alligator but I’ll talk about that in a minute) the next thing that news stories have to have is an examination of the environment. In the case of the Alligator Kid: there was a ‘No Swimming’ sign but the tone taken by the press was that wasn’t enough. 

I saw a horrendous lack of discussion about the environment in a recent Stamford Advocate story about a cyclist who was killed by a  car on Tresser Boulevard - the stretch of Route 1 in Stamford I know has just about no infrastructure for cyclists. “Without Helmet, Stamford Bicyclist Never Had A Chance” was the headline. Nothing about how God-Awful that road is for people who do not use a car to go from one place to another. 

3) Make it a Dangerous Time to Be An Alligator (Motorist) 

At least six alligators were killed in the hunt for the one that grabbed the kid. Obviously that’s just terrible and shouldn't have happened. I don’t condone the killing of animals that aren’t ordinarily found at a New England BBQ place, the killing of motorists, the murder of everyone in the phone book named Sarah Connor, and so on. 

But what if - in a The Far Side sort of way - alligators could read, watch TV, and owned smart phones? 

In the event of someone being snatched by an unknown reptile or killed from a hit-and-run, make sure every alligator/motorist knows that heaven and earth will be moved so the guilty party is found. If everyone knows the guilty will be hunted for, found and punished severely, it will hopefully sear into the minds of innocents not to do what the alligator (or dangerous motorist) did. 

4) Cover the Redesign of the Environment 

One aspect of a Road Diet involves reducing the width of a travel lane from 12' (or even more) to 11'. The cars tend to drive slower and the move makes room for a bike lane. 

The journalists in Florida just wouldn’t shut up about the lack of infrastructure that, if it existed, would have decreased the odds of the incident happening. They had a story about it every day. They showed footage of the area in the days that followed the incident. They asked concerned people how they felt about the fact the environment hadn’t changed. And the media asked the people who controlled the environment why they weren’t making it safer immediately.  Over and over. The news media seemed to ask themselves what would make Disney take out a restraining order and took away a teaspoon of the effort needed to get to that stage.

That’s the way the media needs to work. Are you reading this, CNN, Fox, NBC, ABC, The Hogwart's Gazette and the rest of you? Follow-up. Keep the pressure on. And annoy. You may not win any Pulitzers but you’ll save lives. 

So there we have it. For all the Jimmy Olsens and Tom Brokaws out there: it is never too late to apply some Alligator Coverage Logic to deaths and injuries on our roadways. I look forward to reading and viewing your coverage from now on. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

    A bit of context: This graphic was made when I was making a point about the whole issue of cyclists running red lights. That it is a problem but the stakes are a lot different when a cyclist does it rather than a motorist since the aftermath never, ever looks like this. 

* Watch Last Week Tonight with John Oliver if you don't know what that is. If you do know what that is, watch Last Week Tonight with John Oliver anyway. 

**too soon?

DIYBIKING.COM Reviews the Blaze LaserLight

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to be in London, where I visited Blaze to check out their signature product: the LaserLight. Other than holding the light in my hands and seeing how good the image looks on carpets on cubicle walls, I didn’t get to spend much time with it. 

But now I finally have one so I’ll be able to give you a more thorough review (Full disclosure: I write a regular series of cycling articles for Blaze's Blog but my initial impressions of the LaserLight were written long before this relationship began - and I am not being paid to write this post). 

While I’m now in the position to write about the LaserLight in a non-abstract way, I can confirm that my initial impressions were correct: it’s a sweet light. 

The design of this thing wasn’t phoned in: it has heft due to its construction (Blaze has geekalicious video clips of how it's made on their site) but it just made me confident it would be hard to break. The light comes with a special, bright green charging cable with magnets that attach to the charging area on the top of the light. It’s made that way to help it stay water resistant. The only downside is if you lose or damage the hard-to-lose bright green cable you have to order a replacement. Also, since the magnets don’t click into a recessed space on the light (like a MacBook does) the cable can get bumped out of place if you charge it on a cluttered workbench.

The bracket that attaches the LaserLight to your handlebar exudes confidence - especially when you measure it against lesser brackets (an extra Blaze bracket can also be ordered separately if you have multiple bikes).

When it is on the handlebars it doesn’t feel like it will ever come off - and that’s important.  A quick rummage of the 304 reminded me that I’ve found quite a few bike lights in the road.

From left to right: a taillight I found in Darien, Connecticut, another I found in Redwood City, California and a bike headlight - that looks like E.T.’s severed head - I found in Strasbourg, France. I use the latter two frequently. I also have a functional taillight I found in New Canaan years ago I still use on my Bike Friday. 

That’s why the bracket is an unsung innovation: your bike light won’t work effectively if it falls off your bike. 

Once you have the bracket in place on your handlebars, Blaze recommends you position your light so the laser image appears “five or six meters” from the bike. Unlike Blaze, I am not going to make my American audience Google ‘meters to feet’ so instead I’ll use the unit of measure “about 1.5 times the length of a Fiat 500.”

As cool as the bike light is, we have to remember it - and a lot of bike lights for that matter - aren’t made for the cyclist. They’re made for the people the cyclist comes into contact with on the road. Many of these people are rushed, clumsy, angry, tired, distracted, have dirty headlamps, haven’t replaced their windshield wipers since Nixon was in office, and drive vehicles that can kill us. 

To illustrate that point I put my LaserLight on a clamp attached to one of my speaker stands - tied with my City Bike and my hospital room table as the best $5 I’ve ever spent at a tag sale - and set it at the same height as my handlebars. 

Mindful of the time I was shooed away by the Stamford police when trying to test bike lights in real world conditions, I wanted to be quick when I hustled out onto a street in San Jose. 

I first set the stand about five feet behind my parallel-parked car, turned on just the LED light, and got behind the wheel so I could look in the rearview mirror. 

Now that isn’t too bad but imagine what it would look like on a busy street with a lot more lights. And admit it: when you un-parallel park, you give the mirror a fleeting glance before you look out the windshield and drive off. 

But that’s where center-stage feature of the LaserLight comes in: when it is on, this is what the driver will see out the windshield - and that’s if it doesn’t catch their eye as it zips by the side window. 

The Blaze LaserLight doesn’t send a message to drivers that they own the road and we don’t. It sends a message to that one driver who will ease off the gas or pause an extra few seconds before turning when they see it.  And that’s important to remember: there are a over a billion motor vehicles zipping around out there. You can only be killed by one of them and, to paraphrase Nathan Fillion’s character from the cancelled-too-soon Firefly: “the trick is to die of old age before it finds you.”  

This bike light - when used in conjunction with responsible riding -  raises the odds you’ll die of old age. Not only that, but because it is such a conversation piece (sometimes, with motorists who roll down their window to speak with you at red lights) it raises the profile of cycling. When I’m passing several pedestrians and hear one of them exclaim “Look at that bike light!” I think that maybe, just maybe, a conversation about driving less and biking more takes place long after I’ve pedaled out of earshot. Visit Blaze.cc or ask your local bike shop to buy one. It's north of $125 most places - but I've met the people who designed the thing: they're worth it and so is the light. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

All I Want For Christmas is for Drivers to Slow the F*** Down

    Ghost Bike on the Corner of Monterrey Boulevard and Lewis Street in San Jose two weeks ago.

I had to assist in the birth of two ghost bikes recently. 

You know what a ghost bike is: it’s a bicycle painted entirely white chained to a location where a cyclist was killed by a person driving a motor vehicle. And yes: the word you want to use is ‘killed.’ I’m not going to call these things accidents. Dropping a 15mm wrench on my foot is an accident. These are more.  

Anyway, the way both events happened was I learned someone wanted to build a memorial while volunteering at Good Karma Bikes. The searches began with me scouring the racks of recently donated bikes. 

Good Karma Bikes does not want bicycles that are beyond repair or  bikes that originate from a department store - the former for obvious reasons and the latter because they’re made of cheap materials. But some make it inside anyway, and my eyes find them first. Stupid questions enter my head. Did this person like mountain biking more than road biking? Were they short or tall? Would they be insulted that they are being memorialized by a rusty Roadmaster instead of the classic - but irreparable - Schwinn?

   Ghost bike spotted on my most recent visit to London

In the end I just pick out the largest bike I can find. Hopefully drivers will notice it and remember to slow down and cyclists will see it and remember to take as much ownership as possible over their personal safety. 

I also hope motorists reading the subsequent news coverage - if there is any - will ease off the accelerator as well. But the stories, like the one about the killing of Jeffrey P. Donnelly in Palo Alto and the the killing of Rosamaria Ruminski in San Jose - are short and almost never venture into the bicycle user’s life or the emotional aftermath of their death. I have yet to see reporters interviewing shattered families a year or more after a needless traffic fatality, or hold city leaders accountable when a deadly intersection remains unchanged months or years after the blood has been washed away from the pavement. 

  Ghost bike in New York City. 

But the news stories about driver error appear quickly forgotten. A reminder of that was seen this week another San Jose Mercury News article: California now wants a licensed motorist to be behind the wheel of all self-driving cars so they can take over if something goes wrong. I can only shake my head and ask: why isn’t this the other way around? I want self-driving technology in every car ready to take over from any human driver who stupidly doesn’t slow down when facing the sun, who chooses to blast through an advance green, and who chooses to go ten to twenty miles an hour over the speed limit. 

A still from DIYBIKING.COM's video on Self-Driving Cars  

I’m still hopeful the days of the angry driver, the distracted driver, the careless driver, the tired driver are numbered. But until the clock really starts running down, motorists need to drive slower. You’re not a professional driver on a closed course. You’re an amateur driver on a crowded course - and your vehicle is a whole lot deadlier than mine.

   My fixie (switched to a single-speed freewheel and bearing a sign bought from Staples)

So remember: if you’re driving so fast that you don’t see the cyclist or pedestrian you’re driving too fast. You can wait an extra four seconds to get where you are going. Use the gas pedal less and your eyes more and maybe everyone can get home to their families this holiday season. And if you're riding in the car with someone with a heavy foot - call them on it. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

DIYBIKING.COM Presents This Week's News (at 1:87th Normal Size)

This was a big week for me: I wrote something that I'm getting paid for (only freelancers know how exciting that can be) welded something and made a pretty drastic change to my fixed gear bike (more on both later).

But this was a week for my miniatures, so, without delay, this summary:  

Good Karma Bikes Has A Move Date & Needs Volunteers

Getting the final move date took so long you’d have thought Ted Cruz was filibustering at San Jose City Hall, but it finally came together: after being forced to change their banners on their ‘visit our new location’ signs, Good Karma Bikes’ finally got their move date. Even I had no idea where the new address was, so I looked it up on my iPhone and began drawing the map on an Expo board. Minutes later, I had the graphic and must give a shout-out to everyone who tweeted, retweeted and otherwise shared the image. 

This move is only 0.3 miles but it’s a good long distance considering how much stuff needs to go. So please volunteer to help them pack (and you may even see me there helping with some boxes).

Stop Trying to Beat the Train 

I would have to guess that Silicon Valley has a higher number of geniuses per capita compared to other places around the country and yet some still can’t understand that you can’t beat the train at a crossing. Amtrak, Caltrain, VTA whatever: it's the house at the casino, peeps.

These accidents are caused both by stupidity and cars just crowding  the roads; there are too many motorists and too few incentives for people to bike to work instead.

When there were four incidents in one day I had to act as only a maturity impaired man with a box of 1:87 scale miniatures can. Happily, this got retweeted quite a bit. 

And not to sound like a character on the television show ‘Silicon Valley’ - but when a car gets hit by a train it can be very inconvenient for me. That may not sound politically correct but because my wife takes public transport to get home and has to coordinate her commute with Marty-McFly-hitting-the-lightning-bolt-at-the-clock-tower-accuracy, I have to be ready to pick her up at whatever VTA or Caltrain station works that day. When there are serious delays I know I’m not the only person affected by this because that is what happens with cars: it is an interconnected system with multiple points of failure and one crash of one vehicle can affect thousands of other travelers: just look at 680 this very morning.

Put another way: it doesn’t make a difference how good the latest Tesla is if it is blocked by Nissan Leaf…or some other car...or blocked by a new car accident. 

Area Woman Complains About Parking at BART 

I have written about ways to solve parking problems for years and within minutes of seeing a My KRON4 news story yesterday morning about this issue I created this graphic (I was in the shop at the time and my miniatures from the Good Karma graphic hadn't been put away yet). 

I just had the pleasure of writing my latest column for Blaze in the UK and for the next one I'm discussing how ridiculously wide a lot of streets in Silicon Valley are (a fact that wasn’t lost on me when I participated in the wonderful Viva Calle SJ event this past Sunday): 

The way a lot of places work goes like this: we build infrastructure for cars, we get cars. A week after the infrastructure is built, complaints arise and new car infrastructure is built. Complains arise again, and…the cycle continues.

But it can’t anymore. The KRON4 story correctly pointed out that adding car spaces isn’t easy and is absolutely not cheap. So how about we get rid of car spaces and add a ton of good bike parking and make it easy for those who can do it safely to ride to the BART station? 

Hopefully people who make decisions will see this question and seriously answer it - and that everyone in the Bay Area like Good Karma Bikes on Facebook and get ready to help them with their big move. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding.

Follow me on Twitter: @michaelknorris 

DIYBIKING.COM is Now Writing for Blaze.cc!

Created for Good Karma Bikes using old reflectors arranged on my garage floor shot with an iPhone using the flash (if you try this and don't use the flash, it looks like a bunch of reflectors arranged on a garage floor).

Here’s something you’re going to like: I’m now writing for Blaze; the U.K. based makers of the innovative Blaze Laserlight. This changes absolutely nothing about DIYBIKING.COM except make my grin wider.

Here’s the link to my first column: ‘The First Six Places to Bike When You Move to a New City.’ Read it. Like it. Share it on social media. Follow the Blaze blog as they have a lot of talented writers working with them (and me). 

Also (and this is for my San Jose/Bay Area readers): I’m still volunteering for Good Karma Bikes in San Jose and doing a push this week to get more likes on Facebook. GKB uses Zuckerburg’s brainchild to ask for volunteers and make announcements - and there’s going to be a lot of both going on in the next few weeks, so please click her to 'like’ Good Karma Bikes on Facebook. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

Happy Halloween/Bike Safety Awareness Week

I just need to begin this post with the following statement: 

Please be nice to the the selfless nurse who helped treat Ebola patients - Kari Hickox. Because she isn't a heavyset male racist in a cowboy hat, Ms. Hickox is not being hailed as a hero for not doing what the government tells her to do. Symptom free, she chose to go on a bike ride with her boyfriend. I have ridden in Maine and I can attest to the drawing power of biking in Vacationland, so whether you open doorknobs with Kleenex's or not, don't judge her harshly. 

And Ms. Hickox, if you're reading this, you're welcome to come bike down in The Nutmeg State with me anytime. And not to worry: if Governor LePage insists on following you here while wagging a finger, I have a bike here he can use, too: he did say he doesn't want you 'within three feet of anybody' so with that in mind I'd be happy with either of you doing a PSA for Connecticut to tell drivers they have to obey the 'three foot law' when passing a cyclist. Hey, you can even do a PSA together - whether he wants to wear a Walter White respirator is up to him. 

But I digress.

While Kari Hickox was taking what was probably the safest bike ride anyone could take this week (Police escort? Sweet!) I've been thinking about what to do to remind cyclists to double down on staying safe while riding at night. The rule of thumb is: when you're absolutely, 100% positive you and your bike are visible enough...add.

And there's a lot you can add:  You can add BikeGlow (spaghetti-like strands of lights that are shown in the last photo). You can buy reflective tape just about anywhere and affix it to your bike or your helmet and also get yourself to a bike shop and get some new equipment (if you're in Stamford: Danny's Cycles and Pacific Swim Bike Run are great places to go. Remember, Daylight Savings Time starts this weekend and that means most workers will be biking home in darkness at the end of the workday). 

Let's quickly run through a couple of options. When it comes to a great example of adding things to make biking safer, I haven't seen anything better than Blaze. They're a company in London I was lucky enough to visit a few months back to check out their product. 

To the everyday observer, an ordinary bike light. But they designed and added a tiny laser mounted next to the lens that projects an image of a bicycle several feet out in front. 

Truckers and drivers can see it on the ground and know there is a cyclist coming - and that's especially important if you want to avoid the 'right hook' which is a 'left hook' in Britain since they still insist on driving on the wrong side. You can see a demo video on the Blaze web site, but in an office in broad daylight it's equally cool.

I know it is sold in the U.S. but I haven't been able to find it in Stamford, but it will be going on my Christmas list this year, to be sure. 

While we're on the subject of lasers: I bought a laser guide for a circular saw at Harbor Freight Tools for $5. It's about twice as thick as a pen but half the length and when switched on points a red line along whatever piece of plywood you want to cut. 

I rarely cut plywood. But I do bike often, and I discovered that a slight modification on the base of the laser guide made it easy to mount on the seat stay of my city bike. Here's what it looks like.

Oops. I left the flash on (but related to the subject you can see the subtle reflective tape I've put in several placed around the bike isn't so subtle when the light is hitting it). 

Here's what it looks like in the dark:

Even though I need to change up the mount since my foot can hit it when getting off the bike, it works: I rode to the Stamford Government Center and back at night and was thankful for the visual reminder for motorists that they - by Connecticut state law - have to leave three feet of space between themselves and bicyclists when passing. 

If you don't have access to the Blaze or circular saw guides, visit your local bike shop, say you want to add things to your bike to ride safer, and they'll hook you up with what you need. Post your tricked-out, visible self and your bike on Twitter with the hashtag #diybikingatnight. And since I have to go pick up some candy before the Elsa, Anna and lil' snowman dude parade starts tonight, I'll close this post right now. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

Mill River Greenway Ride & Rally Tomorrow

Before I begin, I must give thanks to the Stamford Advocate and reporter Elizabeth Kim for the front page story on cycling activism in Stamford. Please head to your newsstand while there is still time and buy a copy. 

Additionally, I must thank photographer Lindsay Perry (who I met last year during the Cycling with Candidates project) even though she, along with the paper's editors, ignored my warning of a decline in circulation and included a photograph of me in the story. In spite of that, if you do not subscribe to the Stamford Advocate, buy today's paper. Well worth the $1. 

Now: let's move on to tomorrow: the Mill River Bike Ride & Rally.

Pacific Swim Bike Run, located at 575 Pacific Street, is among the great businesses in Stamford that are sponsoring this event and will be found at Kosciuszko Park tomorrow.  

After looking at the weather forecast for Stamford - and thinking about the wet but ultimately successful Bike to Work Day 2014 - I decided I might move to California and plan a variety of bike-related events all over the state in order to end the drought. 

Even though the weather in Connecticut is officially 'iffy' on yet another outdoor bike event I am involved with, the three-mile ride from Scalzi Park to Kosciuszko Park is still, as of this moment, on. But if you can't ride safely in rain or wet weather safely just head to Kosciuszko Park (200 Elmcroft Road) and pick up the event by 11:00 at the pavilion.  

And it goes without saying: if you have a bike and can ride it safely, bring a helmet and wear it properly.

Let's hope the weather gods smile upon us all tomorrow - and stretch a hotel shower cap over your helmet if you must. I'll be bringing a few just in case. Hope you come to the event to support the Mill River Greenway and a more bike friendly Stamford. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

Need Help Launching Town Hall Meeting Curmudgeon 2.0

(Please attend the Stamford Master Plan Meeting on Tuesday, October 7th at the government center - 888 Washington Boulevard - at 6:00pm). 

I've been to a lot of town meetings - including the Merritt Parkway Trail meetings of Westport, Stamford, and, most recently, Greenwich. 

It was at the Greenwich meeting a couple of weeks ago I recognized a familiar sight: Town Hall Meeting Curmudgeon 1.0. 

No matter what town or city you live in, you know who I am talking about. Town Hall Meeting Curmudgeon 1.0 can't say anything without first relating the number of decades they've lived in the place they live in. They wag their index finger like it's a bodily function. They ignore facts that don't support their own assertions and use fear as a kind of constructive Play-Doh to build their own reality. If Town Hall Meeting Curmudgeon 1.0 hears anything he or she doesn't like, THMC1.0 will sit and cross their arms like a sulking child.

Sometimes this will be preceded by a brief, talk-to-the-hand gesture directed toward the person they want to tune out. 

This was on full display at the Greenwich Merritt Parkway Trail meeting. Now as you know I have no love for that project but I have to take issue with a couple of THMC1.0's at the meeting who insisted the trail supporters from out-of-town who were attending shouldn't be speaking because, well, they don't live in Greenwich. Of course, at least one non-Greenwich resident that I know of spoke out against the trail and yet that person wasn't scorned or rudely interrupted (and state and federal tax dollars are everyone's business no matter where the money is spent). 

After having a finger wagged in my direction at the Greenwich meeting for committing the non-pardonable act of riding a folding bike there and talking about it, I decided that I've had enough of THMC1.0. It is an antiquated piece of equipment that inspired the creation of the town leaders from 'Footloose.' It is time to build an alternative, and I need everyone's help to do it. 

To be clear I'm not suggesting THMC1.0 should go away. Their voices count just as much as anyone else's. But it is time for cyclists in Stamford (and everywhere else, for that matter) to launch Town Hall Meeting Curmudgeon 2.0.  

If I made it an app, I'm sure I could get funding.

Here are some of my proposed specifications of Town Hall Meeting Curmudgeon 2.0:

• They put down Candy Crush and Zimbio quizzes to attend town hall meetings in the first place. 

• They post about upcoming town hall meetings on social media and tell everyone and anyone they are attending.

• They raise their hands at town and city meetings to speak up. And when they introduce themselves they often say how many weeks or months they've lived in town - and how many years they want to stay in town. 

• They talk about how they want their town or city to look in the years to come instead of being nostalgic about the way the town or city they live in used to be. 

• They have a firm command of the facts - but know how not to use them in a patronizing way. 

• They talk about economic benefits of important improvement projects like bike lanes and bike parking - and also gently remind everyone that cyclists don't drop out of the sky but instead give out car parking spaces as gifts.

• They respect the opinions and voices of others and don't ever get personal or patronize those making dissimilar arguments.

• THMC2.0 takes many forms: a young apartment dwelling woman who frequently loses track of how many roommates she has. A frustrated commuter who has his or her folding bike at their side. A cool mom with two well-behaved kids seated next to her. A dad with two well-behaved kids seated next to him. A new voter. An intern. A person born after 'The Goonies' was in theaters. High heels. Sneakers. Dress shoes. Only the T-1000 can take as many forms as THMC2.0. 

The most important distinction of THMC2.0: They outnumber everyone else and they are the ones most remembered when the meeting adjourns. 

So Stamford, with its patchwork of bike lanes and little in the way of infrastructure, has a Master Plan meeting on Tuesday, October 7th. This is where we turn things around. This is the Adlai Stevenson at the UN during the Cuban Missile Crisis Moment. But like the robotic lions in Voltron, we must all join together to become a powerful force. 

Are you too young or too old to understand that reference? Substitute 'Voltron' with 'Constructicons.' What about now? Still don't get it? Good. You're the one I want at the meeting. Wait. You're forty and wearing a 'Voltron' T-shirt? I want you at the meeting too. 

Seriously: you need to bring a crowd to influence one. If THMC2.0 outnumbers (and outclasses) THMC1.0, it is THMC2.0 that will be remembered - especially when zoning boards, planning boards, and town representatives sit down to talk afterwards. 

Please attend the Stamford Master Plan meeting on Tuesday, October 7th at 6:00pm and form THMC2.0. And, a few short days later, go to the Mill River Greenway rally. After all, cities are built by the people who show up. Thanks for reading and thanks, more than ever, for riding.

Connecticut Cyclists: Mark Your Calendars

   Cyclists in Stamford, 2014 

I hope you all noticed the ear-to-ear grin of Gil Simmons on News 8 today. That's right: if you're in the Connecticut area, summer has been granted a stay of execution for at least the next couple of days. 

But now, while you're still at work dreaming of what you're going to do when you get off the clock, you're reading this blog, which is cutting into your productivity. However, if you want to look busy in case the brass strides around the corner of your cubicle, get out your calendar and jot these things down. Better still, jot these things down on social media so you can tell your friends.

1) Bridgeport: Bikeport Co-op Bike Ride (Saturday, September 27th, 1pm at McLevy Green)

If you live in or near Bridgeport and like cycling, ice cream, or both - this is the ride for you: At McLevy Green at 1pm on Saturday, the Bikeport Co-Op is having its monthly bike ride - and given the lovely weather forecast they are lucking out with the destination: Timothy's Ice Cream in Black Rock at 2974 Fairfield Avenue. All riders of all skill levels are welcome, and if you want more info email them at BikeportCT@gmail.com or use The Twitter: @BikeportCT and follow Bikeport on Facebook here. 

The people running Bikeport understand that bikes lift cities - and a community development bike program (similar to the Ohio City Co-Op I volunteered for in Cleveland) is just what the city needs. If you want to help raise funds for the Bikeport Co-Op in Bridgeport, visit their Indiegogo page and make a donation (read: difference). 

2) Stamford: Hearing on High Ridge/Long Ridge Study (Tuesday, September 30th, 7:00pm at 888 Washington Boulevard in Stamford)

I will concede this probably will not nearly be as much fun as the Bikeport Co-op ice cream ride. This is the equivalent of the Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts Ride that takes place annually in Portland, Oregon.* But it is a follow up on the crowded rally for bike lanes in June. 

   Rally for Bike Lanes on High Ridge Road, June 2014 

And this hearing isn't even a ride unless you pedal to the Stamford Government Center at 888 Washington Boulevard in Stamford: Simply turn right into the parking garage and you'll find the bike rack near the door. Try not to scuff the bike Stamford Downtown gave Mayor Martin during Bike to Work Day. 

When you do lock up, head inside and be ready to talk about the benefits of bike lanes. 

                 Scale model of road with 12' travel lanes (left) and 11' travel lanes (right)

This hearing starts at 7:00pm, and I urge you to be there with your bike helmet sitting neatly in your lap. And when the time comes for public comments about whether or not the city should proceed to install bike lanes on High Ridge and Long Ridge road, make them. Don't assume someone else will put their hand up. Remember: there are a lot of people in Stamford (or, any city, for that matter) who'd be much more inclined to choose the bike and leave the car at home if they knew they could do it safely. That would mean we'd all make it to work or back home faster. 

3) Stamford: Mill River Greenway Bike Ride & Rally (Saturday, October 11, 10:00am - 2:00pm. Optional ride starts at Scalzi Park/event takes place at Kosciuszko Park)

     Cyclists enjoying Mill River Park, Stamford, Fall 2013

If you're going to build car-free bike paths, the place to start is in the shadows of skyscrapers. That's where most of the people are and where bike infrastructure can do the most good. 

And like the beautiful Mill River Park in Stamford, it can really improve the look of a city. Who can forget Philadelphia: the city of brotherly love, cheesesteaks, and Bruce Springsteen shuffling around with his hands in his pockets? 

     From DIYBIKING.COM's Philadelphia Trip, Fall 2013

That music video would have been different if The Boss was riding a Cannondale, wouldn't it?

But back to Stamford: if you didn't read my post a couple of weeks back and haven't been paying attention to the text on the right of your computer screen, here goes: This family-friendly event, aimed at showing support of the Mill River Greenway and a more bikeable and walkable city starts at 10:00am with an optional 3-mile bike ride that starts at Scalzi Park and ends at Kosciuszko Park. 

At Kosciuszko park, there will be live music, games and food trucks. All our welcome - including all candidates for public office. Much like Cycling with Candidates, this is a Bikepartisan event. 

The Oct. 11 ride is presented by People Friendly Stamford and was created by the Mill River Park Collaborative, Stamford Downtown, Regional Plan Association and Harbor Point. The sponsors include the four great Stamford businesses of Lorca, Exhale, Pacific Swim Bike Run and Danny's Cycles as well as Purdue and Hampton Inn & Suites. 

4) Gun Buy Back Program (Stamford Police Department, 805 Bedford Street, Saturday, September 27th 10:00am - 2:00pm) 

Other than the fact the best ones are made out of high-quality steel (in your face, carbon fiber fanboys!) guns and bikes don't have a lot in common. 

But no matter how you feel about firearms or the second amendment I think we can all agree that if you have a gun in your home and…I don't know…don't want it there, you can turn it in to the Stamford Police Department on Bedford Street tomorrow (Saturday, September 27th) between 10:00am and 2:00pm. If you bring in an operational firearm, you will receive a gift card for $75 (rifles or shotguns) $100 for handguns and $150 for assault weapons. Guns have to be unloaded and carried inside in a box or a bag; more information can be found in the Stamford Advocate. 

Not only are initiatives like this one of those things that helps keep cities safer, but you also might have some cash to spend if you want to buy a bike at, for instance, Danny's Cycles or Pacific Swim Bike Run. Bikes are better than guns for a lot of reasons - and I'm not even counting the fact that if you're cleaning a bike and it slips out of your hands there is no chance it will kill or injure your next door neighbor. 

So mark your calendars, wear your helmets properly, drop your weapons, raise your voices, eat that ice cream, apply that sunblock and have a fantastic weekend. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding.  

*There is no Broccoli and Brussels Sprouts Ride in Portland, Oregon. I made it up.**

**However, knowing firsthand how weird Portland is, it may actually exist.***

***And if it does, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the words 'organic' or 'vegan' were thrown into the mix.