How to Talk to a Non-Cycling Liberal About Bicycling

Cycling itself is neither liberal nor conservative, and experienced cyclists find they mostly agree on how stuff works on and around bikes, and what to do in various traffic situations. However, non-cycling liberals seem to love to talk about bicycling, even though they (by definition) don’t actually ride bikes themselves.

However, as a matter of fact, cycling is a favored non-cycling liberal theme. Presumably, cycling will save the planet from global climate change. Most non-cycling liberals, however, are conflicted about cycling. Their ignorance leads them to get wrapped up in “us versus them” class warfare, espousing amusing views on transportation cycling, and indulging their overpowering urges towards more government control; the old notion of "better too much than too little." As a result, caution is in order so that you can talk to liberals (or non-liberals) about bicycling truthfully, without appearing on their “fascist enemies of the state” list. This caution should apply to you as a cyclist, whether you are liberal OR conservative.

 LIBERAL CYCLING CONFLICT
The fundamental difficulty non-cycling liberals have about bicycling is that while it is the mode of transportation that needs government intervention less than any other (besides walking), it also conflicts with the principle that government is a solution rather than merely a parasitic problem. As a result of the conflict, they fail to realize their well-intentioned efforts usually fail, while some of their crazy schemes go beyond failure and discourage cycling, or even maim and kill cyclists. One should be very careful about pointing this out, even to liberal cycling advocates (who are rarely ignorant of the problems). Instead, you can take advantage of this conflict to meaningfully communicate with non-cycling liberals about cycling without selling out. Just don’t get the notion that any of them will ever purchase carbon offsets from you when you ride your bike to work. I know this from first-hand experience. Non of my non-cycling liberal coworkers wanted to purchase carbon offsets from me, even to the extent that they all go to park one spot closer to the entry door since I didn't use up a parking spot and I arrived at work earlier than they did - resulting in less co-worker CO2 exhalation walking in from the car.

FEAR AND LOATHING
Liberals start out with a victim mentality. Rather than establishing facts, non-cycling liberals presume that cyclists are helpless to operate their bikes without special protection and intervention, and evil motorists (undoubtedly, fat cat bankers and the rich) are actually trying to kill cyclists. They forget our transportation system is dependent on trucks for delivery of goods (including goods for cyclists), and that private motor vehicles provide incomparable point-to-point transportation for moderate (between ten and two hundred miles) distances. Its why liberals like to drive their hybrid cars around, even while bemoaning the traffic. The cyclist as victim mentality leads them to meddle. Because few liberals really ride bikes themselves, they make things worse, arguing for things like door zone bike lanes, side paths that are crisscrossed by driveways, forgetting to get bike racks installed at destinations, and creating routes that randomly start and stop rather than integrating into any conceivably useful transportation element. Liberal politicians have it easier, since they simply pander to their constituents and bring the pork home. The liberal pols aren’t trying to actually HURT cyclists; they just mostly don’t know any better. The only politicians I have seen that looked comfortable on a bike on the road were Ron Paul (R), Betsy Price (R) and Wendy Davis (D). I'll note that Beto O'Rourke gets a pass here, as the only politician I know who had a parent killed while riding a bike, so he ought to know.

Liberal politicians compound things by making laws for cyclists to follow “for their protection.” Helmet laws, safe passing laws, and even mandatory side path laws (like Oregon) are all liberal artifacts that neglect a fundamental principle: “If you want to discourage an activity, regulate it more and claim it’s dangerous.” That summarizes the liberal approach to cycling. I'm not sure that's better than the "let's regulate people more" faction of the GOP that want to simply ban things they don't like, but it winds up having a similar effect of reducing cycling.

COMMON GROUND
Since you won’t get far by talking to non-cycling liberals about meat and potato things like educating cyclists or enforcing valid traffic laws, how DO you influence non-cycling liberals towards a more realistic view? LOOK FOR THE COMMON GROUND. While you won’t reform a non-cycling lefty by this tactic alone, you can plant some solid principles into their blathering nonsense about saving the planet with bikes.  The five principles below will get your pinko friends nodding in agreement, and maybe some will rub off on them. Small government cycling principles that even liberals can accept include:

• Worse than Benign Neglect – As a cyclist, you will no doubt know of many situations where government intervention has actively made things worse for cyclists. I am sad to report that even redneck poseurs have used the power of the state to make things worse for cyclists, but liberals are notorious for compounding rule upon rule until the poor cyclists have nothing left to do but throw their hands up. Helmet laws are one such example. I wore a helmet on my commute. If I lived in Seattle, I could not legally ride my bike without a helmet, though I could still ride as long as I wore a broken helmet backwards and unstrapped. Whether helmets are a good idea or not is not the issue here, but whether the case is clear and compelling enough (more important than things like health benefits of cycling to cite just one example) to use the power of the nanny state to mandate people wear one. If more ammo is needed, mention to your non-cycling liberal friend that helmet laws are mostly used by police to further stick it to people of color who happen to be riding a bike. If you really want to confuse things, suggest googling "Seattle Bike Helmet Law." This last item really merits another, futher post. Another example where liberal rules are worse than benign neglect are the periodic cases where you’ll get a liberal principal that bans bikes from his/her school “for the safety of the children.” When you cite these examples, MOST liberals will be nodding in agreement with you. If you need to, you can even cite cases of redneck crazies that want to use government to make cyclists stick to the sidewalk or simply restrict the right access to common public ways that has existed throughout the life of our republic. Such troglodytes are an embarrassment to the whole principle of a small, constitutional government. But that is yet another post entirely. Such scum should simply move somewhere like Russia, where they’ll be happy with authoritarian government.
• Spending on Needed Connections – Another area where you can get your non-cycling liberal friends nodding in agreement is pointing out simple and cheap bicycle and pedestrian connections that make it easier for people to get from place to place without motors. When we were growing up, good walk/bike connections were called “shortcuts.” Due to many years of misguided zoning laws and development that valued the appearance of pastoral purity more than the reality, there are now many places where it is difficult to get around OTHER than by car. While some bike projects are expensive (natural liberal darlings), these are vastly outnumbered by cases where a simple expedient of a bit of critical thought and consideration can improve life for us all. I’m sure you can come up with examples of your own. If you feel REAL DARING, you might mention, in passing, that hundreds of these connectivity improvements can be made for the price of a second-rate recreational multi-use path, or even a door zone bike lane. Shortcuts put real TEETH into the “one mile solution.” One thing you DON’T want to mention – putting AMTRAK out of its misery could fund all the quality bike projects (long and short ones alike) we might imagine and move many more people, while still saving money. Suggesting it’s time for AMTRAK to go will get you shunned - and not just by our current President. Unlike bikes, passenger rail has become entirely a creature of big government. It's sad because I really like trains, and they can make a great complement for a bike commute.
• Government Dictated Car Parking– A side effect of many years of liberal land use development rules and restrictions is the institutionalization of grossly inefficient land use (ironic, considering cities also invariably want higher density). Cities require lots of parking spaces nowadays, and only recently have these wise governmental bodies begun to consider bicycles. When your friend drives you to the mall in his/her Prius, you will have no trouble pointing out how simply and unobtrusively merchants COULD have accommodated bicycles instead of designing to discourage same to comply with government edicts. Your friend might not ever ride a bike, but will nod knowingly, and might begin to see parking in a less ignorant fashion from behind the windshield (trust me, even liberals don’t drive Yugos any more). In reality, bike parking is less a matter of government intervention than teaching people to see what is already available and how it can enhance their customer base. If you give businesses equal credit for bike spaces as for car spaces, you’ll see a lot more bike spaces.
• Discriminatory Laws and Police Teaching – Liberals will generally be receptive to the observation that there are many laws that actively discriminate against cyclists. I could do a whole post series on a small sampling of such. What’s more, while I hate to say it, most liberals will also be receptive to the concept that police are out to get cyclists. In reality, police (and even prosecutors) rarely actively persecute cyclists. Instead, bicycles are a minor element of law enforcement duties, most police drive lots of miles in cars, and cyclists are viewed as adults playing with toys; collectively, this leads to a general ignorance of bicycling law and safe cycling practice. NONE of the officers that testified against Reed Bates had any dedicated bicycle law training and none of them knew the principles of how to safely operate a bicycle in traffic.  You’ll get your liberal friend agreeing with you based on his/her prejudice against law enforcement, but you will not have to fudge the truth to obtain the agreement.
• Smart Cyclists SHOUT OUT – Most liberals will either give you a blank look or recoil in horror at the notion that cyclists should learn to operate bikes safely and within the law (the EDUCATION principle espoused by the Bike League). It simply won’t register that this might be more important than simply adding another door-zone bike lane. Liberals will, however, happily agree that cycling education should be more readily available to people, and that the government is not doing its part in this regard. It is simple truth that schools don’t teach kids safe cycling as a part of PE classes. What’s more, most any liberal will agree that educated cyclists will advocate better. The only thing you’ll need to be very careful of in this regard is in avoiding any suggestion that cyclists are generally anything other than innocent victims, that maybe many people on bikes need the education even more than the average motorist, or that butts on bikes might not be the best idea if those NEW butts are completely clueless. Most of all, you should avoid mentioning that smarter cyclists are much pickier about getting ONLY infrastructure that doesn’t put them in added danger. THAT, my friend, would be good for ALL cyclists.

IN CONCLUSION
It isn’t really hard to talk to a non-cycling liberal about bicycling. Most liberals tend to think of bicycling as a liberal activity, so that’ll work to your advantage, as long as you don’t try to claim cycling isn’t dangerous, or that you can go places even if nobody painted special segregated facilities on the road (sometimes it’s actually easier without that paint).

Learning from a Non-Teachable Moment

This morning, I learned some things when I rode to get coffee. I didn't learn anything in particular from the ride, but rather from the fairly short wait in line at the drive-thru.

It started like this - I left for coffee here in Ocean Shores about an hour later than normal - at 7AM rather than 6. As a result, early-rising tourists were starting to line up.

As a result, I wound up behind a silver Chevrolet Suburban. Like many in line, the driver didn't think to turn off his engine while stopped. Perhaps he was afraid his engine wouldn't restart if he shut it off or maybe he was still a bit sleepy. Who knows? Anyway, it got beyond typical when his cigarette smoke also wafted back. It got even further beyond typical and created the "learning from non-teachable" when he tossed his half-smoked cigarette onto the curb near me close to the wooden siding of the coffee establishment in order to pull forward and order his beverage.

Not considering things fully, I inquired if he realized his cigarette was still lighted and if he wanted it back. As you might expect, the answer came back in the negative. Then I forgot about non-teachable moments and suggested he pick up his (expletive deleted) item. Before you knew it, his passenger came out of the SUV and said "I'll take care of the cigarette but don't cuss at my husband."

At this point, I memorized the SUV license plate number - something I should have done routinely.  This was my first learning from the non-teachable moment. I'll not repeat than number here other than to note the license plate holder was from Tacoma, despite the "Ocean Shores Cares" decal affixed to his back window. It's good to learn from such episodes to do something like routinely mentally noting licenses - just in case.

In my second learning I also learned that some people just think that we on bikes simply ought NOT to be in drivethru lines to start with, even if the walk-up lobby is shut due to a pandemic. Or perhaps they just don't think things through at all.

In my own defense, at least I had the presence of mind to not going beyond calling out that the Suburban shouldn't have been in the drivethru line either, and I also considered what I'd do if the Suburban backed up after getting coffee. Upon reflection, the notion that bikes should not be in drivethrus seems even more common than the notion that they ought not be on any kind of road. My third learning was what if the guy had a gun and even more anger issues? In other words, avoid escalation when dealing with a questionable stranger.

One thing I learned only after the SUV drove off - my barista noted that the SUV had an ash tray and if the driver was going to smoke in it he ought to use that ash tray. Golly, I hadn't thought of that as the passenger yelled at me about how bikes should not be in a drivethru.

Hmm...

Rise and Decline of Bike Share

Five Years Ago, Bike Share and Scooter Rental were Neck and Neck. Now Scooters FAR Outpace Bike Share

This is a fable for our times. It was just a bit more than five years ago that bike share programs really go going. I will use history from the Seattle Bike Blog (SBB) as illustrative of bike share.

The first SBB post on the subject was made on May 5, 2014. By August 25, 2014, the headline: 

"It’s really happening. Today, you can buy a membership for a Seattle public bike share system."

 Somewhat grumpily, I forecast, on July 29, 2014:

"They’ll later use our tax dollars to subsidize the bike share system when it fails due to their policies. Perhaps they’ll emulate NYC in outlawing large soft drinks and in arresting cyclists for imagined offenses."

 At this point, the system was run by Pronto, a subsidiary of Alta Planning. It used fixed bike stations and tried to work around the Seattle helmet laws in order to draw in casual riders who didn't happen to bring their own helmets along on the chance they might want to rent a bike. Before too long, this became a drain, leading them to charge for helmet rentals. On May 11, 2015, SBB reported:

"If you buy a 24-hour or three-day pass to use Pronto Cycle Share, you will now have to pay an extra $2 to check out a helmet."

It also became clear that the service area with bike stations was pretty limited, and, as a result, on June 8, 2015, SBB reported:

"...the biggest problem with Pronto is that the service area is simply too small to meet most people’s needs. And under the current business model, the system would expand slowly over time as more private sponsorship investments or city budget line items lead the way. It’s a plan that creates solid benefits for relatively little public investment, but it’s not a plan that can truly revolutionize transportation and low-income access to bicycling in Seattle. 

"That’s why the city has put together a visionary plan for a massive, fast expansion of Pronto that would increase the service area from five square miles to 42 square miles..."

Bike share was growing by leaps and bounds! However, cracks were beginning to appear. While Seattle proposed a massive expenditure to dramatically increase the size of Pronto, and (move in to management of Pronto as well), the Feds said "nope." By October 27, 2015, SBB reported:

"...the city still intends to move forward with an expansion. Mayor Ed Murray’s proposed 2016 budget includes $5 million for expanding Pronto. If that funding is approved by the City Council, the path forward really hinges on whether the city focuses on expanding the station area or on electric bike technology."

Scooters - Cheaper Than Ebikes, Faster than Pedal Bikes

Electric bikes - well that IS a new development indeed. Things went down a bit further, when, on February 4, 2016, the SBB post headline read:

"Pronto needs city buyout before end of March, how did we get here?"

And things continued downhill for the Pronto, station-based bike share. By October 10, 2016, SBB reported:

"Though it’s not final, Seattle has indicated that it intends to select a young Quebec-based company to launch an all-new electric-assist bike share system. 

"That means both Motivate, the current Pronto Cycle Share operator, and the existing Pronto equipment are out if the deal goes through. The city is now negotiating directly with Quebec-based Bewegen to finalize a deal."

Now, bikes were only a part of the solution if they were electric assist, though bike stations were still the fundamental backbone of the system. By October 20, 2016, the SBB headline read:

"Council faces a choice: Kill Pronto now or make lemonade out of the existing stations?"

There it was, bike share, at least if it wasn't "electric" was going away - and fast. In January, on the 13th, SBB headlined the final resolution:

"Mayor Ed Murray has scrapped his bike share expansion plan, ending the city’s efforts to create a new public e-assist bike system to replace the doomed Pronto system set to shut down March 31. This officially ends a frustrating era..."

And so it was. Bike share was dead in Seattle. A victim of inflexible docking stations, mandatory helmet laws, and bureaucratic meddling, just to mention three factors. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

On July 19th, 2017, SBB reported on the beginning of dockless bike share. Spin and LimeBike started operation and exceeded the old Pronto system ridership in their first week. They would have done better, but old city rules were still in place that presumed an "ease into the water" approach. The report of the death of bike share was greatly exaggerated. By December 15, 2017, SBB headlined:

"Bike share pilot’s daily ridership blows past Pronto’s lifetime totals, rivals both streetcars combined."

and, in that article, stated:

"...bike share services are already rivaling two streetcar lines that cost about $190 million to build is pretty incredible. Free-floating bike share services have cost the City of Seattle almost nothing. In fact, these companies pay the city permit fees. And at $1/ride, bike share is the cheapest way to get around other than walking or owning your own (not-high-end) bicycle. That’s far, far cheaper than other private mobility services, like car share, taxis and app taxis."

However, this was about the peak for bike share. Instead, the future looked like e bikes and scooters. On August 19, 2018, SBB reviewed the timeline. Notably:

"2018: Lime introduces 15¢ per minute e-bikes, Spin leaves town as it transitions to scooters and ofo leaves town as their China-based business begins imploding. Bike ridership in Seattle increases significantly, smashing bike counter records all over town. Uber-owned Jump joins Lime at the end of the year as the $1 pedal bikes disappear."

Lime Rental Scooter

Scooters are Getting Fancier

Which brings me up to the present. Recently, in downtown Dallas, I noticed scooters ALL OVER THE PLACE. All of them were electrically powered. There was not a single "regular" bike to be had. Things didn't look a whole lot different in Seattle. The story continues to evolve. As with bikes, it appears that many of the people who rent these electric scooters do not understand that they are really renting a small motorcycle and zooming along sidewalks and against traffic is really NOT a good idea. Perhaps our driver licensing system should start by ensuring that  prospective motorists understand that the rules of the road apply to ALL that use wheeled things on public roadways (sidewalks are also part of those roadways) and require people to demonstrate they can do so with scooters and bikes before they move up to more powerful vehicles.

But I digress. Over on SBB, they are arguing that the best thing to do is bring back the dock system, but spend a LOT more money and make the bikes cheap to rent. Somehow, I think most people want a motorized item that they can simply pick up wherever they happen to be. It's been 30 years since the Soviet Union fell...

After Renting, Many People Scooter Along the Sidewalk

Bicycle Connections

Google Maps Satellite View of Where Patrick Francis O'Rourke was Killed on his Bicycle in 2001

As my loyal reader knows, Beto O'Rourke ("e" as in prounounced in the word "President," not "e"as pronounced in the Canadian word "eh') is from Texas and has announced a run for President. This post, however, is not about Beto. This post is about Beto's dad. 

Most people do not know that Beto's father, Patrick Francis O'Rourke, was an avid cyclist - AND a politician. Pat sent a "payment due" bill to Ronald Reagan's US Government in 1986 for reimbursement to El Paso, and was Jesse Jackson's 1988 Texas Campaign Chair. In his day, in his mostly Latino area, Pat was known as the "Tip O'Neill" of El Paso politics. Like our current President (and Ronald Reagan before him), Pat was a lifelong Democrat that became a Republican - in Pat's case, finding what he considered a better way occurred sometime before 1992. But I digress.

In 2000, Pat O'Rourke made a cross-country trip on his recumbent bicycle from Oregon to New York. Pat blogged about it on the Stanton Street Blog,  which Amy O'Rourke, (Beto's wife) sold in 2017. I was unable to find Pat's original bike posts, and a search on it for "bicycle" revealed nothing. Perhaps my loyal reader can find something. I will update this post if I make a later discovery. My loyal reader might also contact Stanton Street to see if they want to 'fess up and repost.

Unfortunately, Pat's cross-country bike trip is not the end of the story. After Pat got back to El Paso, he continued to ride until one day in early July 2001. On that day; a day like many others, Patrick Francis O'Rourke was riding his bicycle near Artcraft Road and Westside Drive. The intersection is about a block from the New Mexico border on the western outskirts of El Paso. Somewhere nearby, Pat was struck from behind by a motorist and killed. I don't know the crash details (newspapers called it an "accident" - some misnomers just continue on and on), and I will update this post if I find more details later.

The crash in which Pat O'Rourke was killed illustrates something that is not well understood within the cycling advocacy community, but SHOULD be. In my blog, I constantly issue the refrain that "the danger is from ahead" and my refrain is true - in urban areas that have intersections, driveways and other hazards, and even more so in these places when the cyclist is controlling his or her lane in accordance with good practice. However, My refrain is NOT nearly so true on high-speed rural roads, such as that where Pat O'Rourke was killed. Statistically, "from behind" collisions are rare, but they have a very high fatality rate because of the sheer energy with which the cyclist is impacted when hit by a heavy, high speed motor vehicle, or even a protrusion from a motor vehicle such as a side mirror.

Hit-from-behind collisions are more common than in the past because more cyclists take long, country rides - they don't like urban traffic. Shoulder riding on a highway reduces the likelihood of a collision because it can be avoided by the simple expedient of the motorist staying within his or her traffic lane, but all the reflective material on the back of police cars and fire trucks, and all the mirrors cyclists and motorists swear by, do not obviate the fact that any highway shoulder is a dangerous place, even if one arrived there in a heavy motor vehicle. Lots of cycling advocates and traffic engineers have  gotten enamored with the notion of "protected" cycling lanes to reduce "hit from behind" fatalities, but cones, lane dots, rumble strips, any of their variants, or low curbs won't protect a cyclist on a rural highway that is in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Protecting non motorized road users on high speed country roads is something that we, as a society, have not really even BEGUN to come to grips with. Even John Forester relates fearful journeys he made on such roads when traffic got heavy.

Beto doesn't speak about his father much in public, though his father was also a politician. Beto shares the middle name of "Francis" with his father, grandfather, and great grandfather, and his childhood nickname avoided confusion within the family. After Beto's rebellious youth, in which he acted more like George W Bush than any other recent President, he came back home to El Paso and delivered the eulogy at Pat's funeral. Two links to stories involving Pat may be found here and here. Patrick's grave memorial including his obituary may be found here.

From now on, when I hear people try to denigrate Beto by calling him "Robert" or even more, by calling him "Francis," I will inwardly smile at how they are ignorantly honoring his immigrant family, or his cyclist father. From a Facebook image at left, taken from one of the links above, you can see Pat and Beto.

Patrick O'Rourke's life is memorialized here. At that site, you can also trace his ancestry back at least into Ireland. Cycling may be fun and safe - but we should remember that there are unexpected occasions when it is NOT. Be especially careful on high-speed, narrow, country roads where at least SOME motorists do not expect a cyclist or anything else to "suddenly" appear in front of them...

Sometimes They Act Like Jerks, Sometimes they Don't

One principle of staying safe as a cyclist, or as any sort of road user, is to keep your eyes and brain engaged. Last week, I was cycling along in Aberdeen, Washington. Suddenly, a lady ran a stop sign (there was no stop sign for me) without slowing and cut me off. Momentarily forgetting it wasn't a teachable moment, I yelled out the obvious as she zoomed by: "Hey, you just ran a stop sign!"

A few blocks later, another lady came up to her stop sign and I was able to proceed without any danger of impact. I waved at this second lady. The situations coming up to the intersection were pretty much identical in both situations. As the title says...

It was a fairly low stress reminder why you do not ride on autopilot. It is also a reminder of how cycling is fun and safe if you simply pay attention. I'd probably have been going ten MPH faster had I been motoring and avoiding the first collision might have been much more dramatic.

Bicycle Mystery

In response to my "Goodbye to Old Friends" post, Whareagle made a comment from which I quote:

• "whareagle said...  Dude - go to "Google Trends" and type in 'cycling', then focus in on the US, then Texas, and set the date to 2004-present. We're F'ed. The US is F'ed in regards to cycling, and Texas is REALLY F'ed.  I'm out of business. I got a call from TWO other Level 1 coaches, asking for work..."

At the time, I advised against panic (I've been known to cite Google Trends myself, such as here and here), even though he was completely correct in his observation of the Google trends.  These are shown in the two graphics below, along with "bicycle" for comparison

US Google Trends for bicycle and cycling. Bicycle now sits at 33% of its Peak

Things Look EVEN WORSE in Texas, Where Bicycle has dropped to 25% of its Peak

Things certainly look dark for those of us that frequently use human-powered two wheeled vehicles for transport. However, things are not always as bleak as they first appear. To check things out a little more thoroughly, I tried a couple of similar, but different search terms, adding "Bicycle" as a topic rather than a search term, and also "bike" as a comparitive search term. THAT shows a rather different story

Searching for the Term "Bike" Suggests Searches are 76% of the Peak

I checked further, Looking at my old post, I decided to see how the term "vampire" has fared over time, since it was more popular than "cyclist" back when I posted here. Well, instead of cyclist and vampire in Texas as I used then, I used bike and vampire in Texas. The results are shown below:

As you may note, the term "bike" is still sitting at 69% of its peak, while interest in "vampire" has dropped to 29% of its peak. My point? I think panic is premature and we'd be wise to not get too thrilled with cycling-related results from Google Trends.

Vampires Seem to be Disappearing from Texas!

Reconsidering Electric Bikes

Over time, I’ve been somewhat ambivalent about electric bikes. Doing a search, I noted them here and here. While I’ve never gotten enthusiastic about buying one, neither have I condemned them as a new form of “Spawn of Satan.” Lately, however, my opinion has been getting more strongly formed. Now, I’m strongly in favor of electric bikes, unless I’m against them. Either way, I’m less neutral. You see, this summer, a company started renting electric bikes in Ocean Shores, Washington.

On busy weekends, these guys might have a dozen or so electric bikes rented out at one time. The bikes “look like beach cruiser” bikes. However, they go LOTS faster. What makes me less ambivalent is that I notice the tourists that rent these things seem FAR MORE likely to act like they are operating a vehicle than the tourists that rent human-only-powered bikes. Commonly, the electric bike tourists control their lane rather than hugging the RH extreme of the roadway. Yup, they seem to pretty much ride in a manner that approximates "the line of sweetness." It makes me wonder since these people have not been through any sort of bike ed classes. They just feel comfortable using their legal rights to a “narrow” lane instead of hugging the road edge. I also have not seem them riding (illegally) the city sidewalks, also like a lot of the human-powered bikes. All of this SHOULD be goodness for those of us (well, at least ONE of us) here in Ocean Shores that operate using sound traffic principles. If that proves to be the case, there’s an upside to electric bikes that might help all other cyclists, and particularly be helpful in conditioning motorists to expect safe bike operation. Hurrah for electric bikes!!!!!

OTOH, like a lot of other small towns, one should remember that the government people of Ocean Shores expect bikes to operate at the EXTREME RIGHT of any road, as documented here. It’s the typical “from behind a windshield” bias against non-motorized road users, codified in a "for now" fuzzy manner. Should they decide to make new draconian ordinances, that might hurt cyclists that prefer to ride in accord with generally accepted “best practices.”

What will transpire? That determines whether I’m STRONGLY in favor of, or opposed to, electric bikes. I suspect that any stupid laws that the city might consider will, as their current cycling laws are, be almost universally ignored, in which case, I repeat “Hurrah for electric bikes!!!” Who’d have thought electric bikes might be a force for equitable treatment of all cyclists?

Battle of Cars

Readers that have ever perused the comments on pretty much any news article about bicycles has seen sentiments similar to “in the battle between cars and bikes, the cars always win.” Presumably, that gives some superior right to the road to those cars. Actually, more accurately, it gives superior rights to the operators of those cars. These commenters clearly have not thought things through very thoroughly, since in any battle between a car and an 18 wheeler, the car is always going to lose, just as it would if going into battle against an M1A1 Abrams Tank. Mostly, they forget that the roads are for all users. Not merely the fast (like Jaguars) or big (like giant trucks).

Moss Shadow of the Dear Departed Post Office Bike Rack

Earlier this week, I saw the outcome of a battle between a Toyota Camry and the Ocean Shores Post Office. The Camry, after jumping the curb and colliding with the slow-moving building, clearly was the loser, though the Post Office suffered significant damage as well. The BIG losers, as is sometimes the case when motorists lose control, are cyclists. You see, before hitting the post office, the Toyota completely obliterated the bike rack in front of the post office. It was not a very good bike rack – the wheel bender type. Had it been a solid “wave” rack, it might have saved the PO from thousands in damage. I have never used the rack, instead either parking my bike in the lobby, wheeling it inside, or simply parking it next to the entrance. I’ve never seen anybody else use the rack either. As an aside, while I didn’t meet the Camry owner, the car had a handicap placard. I was told that the driver had no license or insurance, though I have no way to confirm that. Tell THAT to commenters that want to require cyclists to get licenses and insurance even though they represent only a tiny danger to other road users.

                                                                                          

View of How Far the Toyota Made it Into the Post Office

Still, as I left the PO, I was unable to resist commenting – “I’m sure glad I didn’t have my bike parked at THAT rack!” The next morning, when I came back to take photos for this post, I also noticed a bit of motorist humor had been added to the carnage in the form of a note, complete with a smiley.

Proof that Even Motorists Have a Sense of Humor!

PS: The thought just occurred to me that when the Toyota as starting up, the safest place to be riding a bike was in the parking lot, right BEHIND the Toyota. Rantwick's mom would not be pleased...

Mystifyed

In past years, I watched the political process with much less confusion than this year.

In alphabetical order:

Democrats

• Hillary declares a resounding victory where the Iowa Party will not release actual votes: Link HERE
• Bernie wins New Hampshire by over 20 points, but Hillary gets more delegates as noted by link HERE. I guess the Democratic Party isn't entirely "democratic."
• Albright suggests any woman not supporting Hillary has "a special place in Hell" as noted HERE (video). She didn't specify if Carly was included or if that only applied to Bernie supporters.
• Gloria Steinem claims that young women voting for Bernie are due to "those are where the boys are" as noted HERE
• On that basis, Hillary is over 10% to nomination as noted by link HERE
• There's a little confusion, as some are calling for "Slow Joe" to get back in the race as noted by link HERE. I do NOT think that will happen.
• 
  

Republicans

• Trump seems to be this year's "Teflon Candidate" based on his many divisive comments. I'll let y'all choose your choice of "expletive deleted" ones.
• Cruz did not win even the New Hampshire Counties closest to Canada. Despite his actions, I expect he's still eligible to run for Canadian office including Prime Minister. Whatever else might be said about him, he's the best Canadian Senator from Texas!
• Rubio,while his statements about "Obama knew what he was doing" rang true (to me), he got into a robot mode and seems to have self destructed.
• I can't think of anything horrible Kasich claimed, though in a previous debate, I noted "he doesn't belong up on that stage with the real candidates."
• As far as I've heard, Carly Fiorina hasn't withdrawn yet, though it sounds like Chris Christie is a little more realistic. Perhaps it is an advantage of being a Governor.
• Ben Carson is probably the best qualified one of either party to deal with Obamacare, but he's on a downward death spiral. He got half the votes of Carly in NH.
• Jeb Bush has spent more money for less results than anybody from anywhere. Even with his mom "two Bush's are enough" campaigning for him. We will see if older brother George W helps. I think not. His mom had it right.

Other

• Bloomberg is considering a third party bid, as noted HERE.
• I don't see much coverage of the Libertarian Party

Full Disclosure

• I was the only one in my ROTC Detachment that had a "Don't Blame Me, I Voted for McGovern" button on my backpack. Link HERE.
• Jimmy Carter pretty much cured me of voting for Democrats. His malaise affected me, as did his support of the Shah's regime in Iran. His actions after leaving office show the lack of wisdom of electing any one-term Governor to the presidency. Ditto for one-term Senators.
• I never voted for Reagan, though I voted in both of those elections
• I proudly voted for McCain (not a war hero according to Trump), but much less so for Romney.

I guess I'm getting a little jaded...

Bicycle Wisdom Rediscovered #1

Aftermath of High Winds in Ocean Shores

When high winds abound, do NOT trust a kickstand to keep your bicycle upright. Better lay it down gently yourself…

                        

Corollary – when high winds abound, and you foolishly trusted a kickstand, make sure the bike won’t hit a car when it DOES fall over.

                

Luckily, this time, when it fell over, it only bent a brake handle. Neighbor’s car was undamaged.

Kickstands Don't Restrain a Bike Well in Gusty Winds

Elvis Has Left the Building

Elvis Slept Here

Oklahoma, among other things, is home to the longest stretch of Route 66. Back in the days before air travel became routine and the Interstate Highway System reshaped America, Elvis Presley and his entourage would travel along "the Mother Road" and often stayed at the Tradewinds Inn in Clinton, Oklahoma when traveling from Memphis to the west coast. It was a bit further along the road from where they stopped for dinner.

Elvis Had "The Room With No Number," But it USED to be Room 215

Being "The King," Elvis stayed in what he considered the best room, Room 215. I've heard others in his party slept in Room 216 next door. Over the years, fans have absconded with the room number plate so many times that nowadays, it is simply an unmarked door. The room is still decorated in the way it was back when Elvis still occasionally WAS in the building. Shag carpet and all. The motel has definitely seen better days and is now MORE than a little seedy. Tripadvisor has it rated at 1.5 stars out of 5. Needless to say, we didn't have the inclination to stay there.

Clinton is also notable for having one of the best Route 66 museums.

 

Worst Election

Mostly, I don't get into politics on this blog, though occasionally, I'll relate some personal experience with "Healthcare Reform" like HERE and HERE. However, our latest midterm elections reminded me of something attributed to Winston Churchill. Namely:

"It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."

We shall see how things work over the next two years in our democracy. For the Republicans:

• I'd like to see them remove the "threshold" for the deduction of medical expenses on one's income tax. The threshold is so high that few qualify to take it. Perhaps, instead of all the "subsidy" stuff emphasis on this, income tax credits might be a less bureaucratic approach. I don't know, I'm not a politician, nor do I play one on TV.
• I'd also like to see them amend the "bathroom" rule (see the first link) so cyclists aren't penalized. That never had anything to do with healthcare reform in the first place.
• I'd like to see medical insurance run for full years without "one size fits all" signups at the end of each calendar year. It seems to me that most states are able to handle license tabs this way and, though I am eligible because of a qualifying "life event," hardly any of the insurance companies really want to deal with anything out of the norm. Things are automated enough now that the "calendar year" stuff is a relic of the 20th Century.
• I've now had a bit of experience with what insurance companies set up before "pre-existing" conditions were banned, Congress needs to realize that complete repeal is not really a solution, especially after the inevitable repeal gesture is vetoed. Some sort of mandate is, unfortunately, required if pre-existing conditions are not allowed to cripple coverage. Otherwise, insurance companies will act to maximize their return and minimize their risk exposure. As they did up until the end of 2013.

To be fair, I also have a few requests for Obama and the many Democrats that remain in Congress:

• Mostly, they are the same requests as for the Republicans.
• Also that they float some REAL proposals for reform of the law that the Republicans can get behind. I'd like to see some of those made public. Well, made public sometime after Christmas. I'd rather not have Fox and MSNBC endlessly blathering on about this during the Holiday season.

Perhaps, with some serious bipartisan effort, we can pare the law down to something under a thousand pages. At least we can hope for some change.

New Mexico Quickly

Looking at Texas From New Mexico. Glenrio's Seen Better Days

Recently, we made a little road trip and spent time in New Mexico on the route. We mostly avoided freeways, except for a stretch where I-40 provides good access to remnants of Historic Route 66. Always a sneaky one, I suggested that we pass through Los Alamos, site of the legendary blog “LosAlamos Bikes.” Unfortunately, thunderstorms were passing through the area and so my wife vetoed the detour.

Back Before the Interstate, You Might Have Stopped Here Before Crossing into New Mexico

Going from Texas, the tour begins with the border town of Glenrio. One might have stopped at a café or purchased gas on the Texas side of the border. The motel closest to the border was seen as the “Last Motel in Texas” if you were looking from the Texas side or as the “First Motel in Texas” if you were standing on the New Mexico side of the border. Apparently, all the gas stations were on the Texas side of the border because Texas gas taxes were lower. On the other hand, all the liquor was on the New Mexico side because it was a “dry” county on the Texas side. I was also somewhat surprised to hear about the “Glenrio Historic District” from the NPS website. One wonders how you have a historic district in an unincorporated town that has two inhabited houses and a dog.

 

San Jon Gas Station's been Long Closed Based on the Size of the Tree

Anyway, in New Mexico as you head west is the little town of San Jon. As you can see, some of these places have been declining for many years. The tree at the gas station was growing out of where they used to have a gas pump mounted. San Jon has held on better than Glenrio, with 300 souls remaining after the freeway bypassed it.

 

Tucumcari's Got Lots of "Still Open" Route 66 Architecture

Further west is “Greater Tucumcari.” Tucumcari was and still is one of the larger towns in eastern New Mexico. It was a rail stop, still is a county seat, and there are lots of “Route 66” sights. Still, the city has visibly declined in the last decade. When we moved to Texas, we stayed at the “Payless Inn.” It was not too wonderful a place, but “Tripadvisor” and “Yelp” and various other sites were not available on the road in those days before smart phones. As you can see, the motel never fulfilled its promise to reinvent itself as the Taaj, and it recently burned to the ground. What’s more, we saw two other buildings in Tucumcari that also burned down.

 

Motel We Stayed at on the Outskirts of Tucumari - It was Bad Then, but Worse Now

We also stopped in Las Vegas. Nope, we weren’t hoping to visit some “History Channel” reality show, but Las Vegas is an underrated place that has a much nicer central plaza than “Sundance Square” in Fort Worth. It has real history, as a(probably of several) place where Kearney proclaimed that New Mexico would henceforth be part of the USA. There used to be a water tower in the plaza where three outlaws were hanged/shot by vigilantes, but I didn't see it, so it is probably gone. It is a mostly well preserved and enjoyable piece of the “old west.” Las Vegas is fairly poor, based on the number of pawn shops and a continuing slow decline in population. For those that aren't really excited about seeing where outlaws got hanged, Las Vegas is also the locale where the motorcyclists met Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider, and it was INVADED in the original Red Dawn movie (I guess New Mexico looks more like Colorado than Colorado)!

 

Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas - Across the Street from the Plaza

Well Maintained Las Vegas Main Drag - with Someone Going Through a Trash Can - Probably NOT a Former Dodge City Gang Member

The “Star” of New Mexico for tourism (at least in summer when there's no skiing at Taos) is Santa Fe. Santa Fe is the capitol of New Mexico and has about twice the population of Olympia in Washington State. For those that are not familiar with its history, it was well established when the Dutch first stepped foot on Manhattan Island and when the Pilgrims came to New England. I found the St Francis railroad crossings to be VERY interesting and worse than Khal portrayed them on his blog. The first time I encountered the distance between the “place to stop” and the actual intersection, we were confused and had a discussion about whether we were properly stopped or if there might be another place to stop that we hadn’t been informed about. Railroad crossings at shallow angles are rare enough that I can’t say I’m totally surprised that people on bikes get whacked or trapped. I imagine motorist collisions are not rare either.

 

Some Crossings Aren't Good for ANY Road (or Trail Users) - Images from Google Maps

 

 

Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe - it is NOT near St Francis Drive!

We Stayed in a Very Nice Old Motel that Starred in a 1989 Documentary that Still Draws German Tourists

Motoring along further we went through the “four corners” area, saw the majesty of Shiprock (and the little town named same, and enjoyed the beauty of southeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado.

Shiprock in Northwestern New Mexico

 

Out of New Mexico and into Utah

 

Little Steps

Is Texas Food Local if You Buy it in Ocean Shores? Well, it's More Local than Chilean Produce

Chandra, in his excellent "Green Comotion" blog, recently made a post where he included much good information from Dr Mercola about the viability of our food and health aspects of food. That post was here.

One aspect of Dr Mercola's article could have been improved. While his nine recommendations are all very worthwhile, I'd suggest a few MORE for those of us that aren't in a position to go "all the way," but may have to motor a long way to get some of those foods while our local grocery is a short bike ride. For the vegans amongst us, you may want to close your eyes with regard to my final recommendation. I'll continue from where Dr Mercola left off, with an emphasis on "easy to do" items.

10. SHOP THE EDGES OF THE STORE
It is well known that most of the most highly processed foods are in the middle of the store. Hence, sites such as mass.gov recommend that you get most of your food around the edges of the store. They have a good generic diagram to show this which is reproduced below. Simply shopping the edges of the store will be a step in the right direction.

Your Store Will Probably Vary, but the Principles Still Work

11. TEXAS LOCAL IS BETTER THAN FURRIN STUFF
While in Ocean Shores, buying things like kale might be best if it comes from Grays Harbor County, it is still better to buy from Texas than from somewhere the produce must be airlifted.

12. SHOP BY BIKE
Dr Mercola failed to consider the effects of transport of the shopper on food usage. While the Ocean Shores IGA might lack somewhat in organic and other "good" choices, one wonders at the tradeoff between non-local produce bought locally, versus local produce bought non-locally. IGA is next door to the espresso stand and I bicycle by there each morning. The "local" source of Hoquiam produce is 30 miles away.

IGA - Official Grocery Store of Frankenbike and Kermit

13. SHOP A GOOD FARMER'S MARKET WHEN YOU'RE GOING BY
Ocean Shores DOES have a farmer's market on summer weekends. Oddly, little of the produce at this market is produced anywhere close to Ocean Shores. Still, I go there on my bike. See rule 12. However, we've taken to stopping by the Hoquiam Farmer's Market when we have occasion to motor over in that direction. Their produce is mostly grown in Grays Harbor County and there're a lot of organic items.



Hoquiam Farmer's Market Has No Decent Bike Parking and is a LONG Ways from OS, but has EXCELLENT Organic Produce
The Lettuce is Grown by the Grizzlies (Hoquiam High School)

14. DIG FOR ALL YOU'RE WORTH
Vegans please close your eyes now. The rest of you may read the newspaper headline below. 'Nuff sed.



Definitely "NON GMO" and Locally Sourced. For the Record, Clam Guns do NOT Have "High Capacity Magazines"