I Love Trains, BUT

Over at Carbon Trace, is a post where High Speed Rail is extolled. I really WANT to be a rail fan, but I'm also a skeptic. I LIKE trains and I have an annual pass for TRE/DART in my wallet as I write this. OTOH, let's look at what actually happens when government gets in the middle of transportation. More specifically, let's ignore all the huge subsidies that happen to help cars push other road users off the road and focus ONLY on rail. More specifically, let's ignore light rail and focus on one specific trip.

I went to the Amtrak website. I found that I could book a trip from Dallas to Fort Worth in March. It would cost $7 and would take one hour and thirty five minutes to get from Dallas to Fort Worth. As far as I can tell, I have one choice each day, and it'd cost a bundle to bring my bike along. The site isn't too easy to use, so I can't really say for sure if I might be able to go sometime sooner, but that is definitely the transit time and price.

ON THE OTHER HAND, should I have happened upon a totally different website, that of TRE, I would have found that I could get from Dallas to Fort Worth, via train, any day of the week I wished except Sunday, with many choices and no problems if I wanted to bring my bike along. The price for a one-way trip? $3.75. Actually, for 50 cents more than the price of that government-subsidized Amtrak ticket, I can buy a government-subsidized TRE ticket that'd let me ride around the entire DFW metroplex all day, bike in tow, until I simply dropped from nervous exhaustion.

Oh, I forgot, the cheap TRE route takes 58 minutes. I can leave Dallas after the Amtrak train and be there at the destination to greet the arriving train.

Certainly, Amtrak is in a different market than TRE, but IMHO, it seems that Amtrak would need LESS of my tax dollars if they weren't totally clueless. $7 to go from Dallas to Fort Worth? You gotta be kidding me. It's no wonder that rail in the US is on its knees. What's more, these guys seem pretty clueless that there are other competitors out there called "airlines" that are faster, with more flexible prices. Price out how much it'd cost to travel by train from Florida to Washington State, versus the price to fly. What's more, compare the advance booking necessary. If this is what we have for trains, it really MIGHT be better to simply pull the plug. Certainly this is not a wise use of the tax money extracted from me each year - to offer a poor service at twice the price of other options.

At least bikes don't depend on government subsidies and I hope it stays that way. UPDATE - nothing less than $9 on AMTRAK through August. You CAN ride for $7.50 if you wait until September - or else ride today for half the price on TRE WITH your bike.

A World of Difference

Dawn Comes Late This Time of Year. THAT Means Sunset is Also Getting Later

Last year, making my v2 commute, I bemoaned the return of daylight savings time. Last year, it meant I returned to the period of total darkness for almost the entire hour and a half ride in to work. I don't mind riding in the dark, but a long ride in the dark, every morning, gets me a little down.

THIS YEAR, the return of DST was an entirely different situation. Between the shorter commute time and the mighty P7 light, a dark morning commute is quite different. THIS YEAR, the return of a dark commute means extra daylight AFTER work and THAT means I can do extra exploring after work in full daylight. The TRE train, in particular, beckons. In contrast to last year, where the TRE was a full hour's ride from work, now, it is just across the street from work and down the block.

P7 Bike Light to the Left, VW Jetta Lights to the Right

7:40 was the hour of dawn this morning. I'd been at work the better part of an hour. The TRE beckons!


The TRE May be a Waste of Taxpayer Money, But I'll Ride It!



Just a Little Commute Short Stop

Webb House in Colleyville, Texas, on a BEAUTIFUL August Day

I've never done a lot of stopping to look at the sights along my commute route. Today's subject is directly along my route, both to and from work, and, what's more, it's lit up when it is dark out, making it hard to miss. Lately, I've been thinking about outlining some of the Cotton Belt Railway features in Tarrant County. This house sits within sight of the rails.

Who says you can't stop and look around when riding on the road bike? It just took me over a year to do so...

The Story of the Webb House

Somehow, I Don't Think the Caboose is in "Period" Markings for the Cotton Belt Line

Grapevine Vintage Railroad Runs Along the Cotton Belt Bike Path, Right Past the Webb House in Colleyville

Greed Can Make You Stupid

Click on images for larger version if you want to read the details

Money for Bike Commuting Four months after I started my new commute to FW Alliance Airport in April, I got the email above. It caught my attention because it announced a “Commuter Challenge” based on tryparkingit.com, which happens to be the site I use to log my commute.

I read the flyer, partly reproduced below, and saw there was CASH INVOLVED! I’m willing to be bribed for bike rides already logged. Call me weak – I went down the proverbial garden path with no prompting. A review confirmed I’m rolling up twice as many miles in 2009 as I recorded in 2008. I could see myself claiming to my wife that Buddy was getting amortized quicker than planned, opening up the way to guilt-free bike stuff purchases. My chances seemed strong, since we were well into the competition, My confidence was increased knowing that tryparkingit severely limits retroactive mileage logging; ensuring no carpetbagger could sneak in at the last minute.

Waiting for the Envelope I patiently waited for the invitation to the Awards Ceremony. I updated my profile. I thought about endorsement contracts and book deals. I scoped out eggbeater pedals. When the announcement came out about the Awards Luncheon, I bumped up the “proactive factor.” This prompted the email thread below:

Snookered and Snippy This is how it works? A steenkin' committee of suits evaluating nominations from people that probably wouldn't know a bike from roller skates? How the heck is someone on a bike supposed to compete with someone running 10 people in a vanpool up from Waco, much less a telecommuter? Why didn’t you just SAY “bogus?” And so I found out how Commuter Cyclist awards get made. Perhaps, in return, I helped the clean air folks make a little forward progress. I hope so.

Three Observations
• Awards aren’t always as they appear, especially when one's greed causes 1+1 to equal $250
• Try to be civil, even when in a snit. It's not really worth it to do otherwise
• My correspondent was polite, and note how quickly my emails were returned. Kudos!

What IS a “Best Bike Commuter?” Personally, I don’t think mileage should be the only criteria for such an award. I tip my hat to anyone riding every day, in all weather; lugging in clothes and equipment. I tip my hat to anyone that gets a major bike commuter effort going. CommuteOrlando comes to mind. Someone finally got bike racks put on DART buses. I’m sure each reader can think of other examples. Honestly, looking round the back of area restaurants, I’m not sure "Best Bike Commuter" makes more sense than “Best SUV Commuter.”

Still, those eggbeater pedals WOULD have been nice for cyclocross season. Sigh...

Prelude – WHAT?

It was late January of 2009. I’d just purchased “Buddy” for use in commuting from Colleyville to Haltom City. I thought it was a pretty long commute, at 14 miles each way. On bad weather days, I could break the ride up with a leg on the TRE. Things were good. It all started to unravel in February when we found that our work location might shift to Fort Worth Alliance Airport (FWAA), a place I’d only visited three or four times. It was a long way from home. People told me the roads out by FWAA were brutal, and I got a sinking feeling that maybe my bicycle commuting was coming to an end.

Next, Can I Make This Ride?
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Use More Sunblock!

This time of year, I rarely cycle between 10AM and 4:30PM. Waiting for the TRE this morning, I tried out my new camera. It illustrates just how damaging the sun is to skin, even when it's not at its most intense.

Also shown: classy "Costco Court Classic" Frankenbike cycling togs, and my "Colorado" cycling socks (ski, baby!) that recently reappeared in my drawer after a long absence. Those Court Classics have a surprisingly hefty sole and work well with toe clips. Just the ticket for a quick jaunt down to Sundance Square.

Sigh, looking at this photo, it appears my opportunity become an Italian Supermodel has passed by unrealized...

"Bike Trek" and the Failed Failsafe Turn

When failsafe aircraft structure breaks, bad things happen. When failsafe turn fails in a bike commute, things are not quite so bad - you improvise like anyone else on a two hour journey to discover new worlds and boldly go where no bike has gone before (at least not in the last 15 minutes)! Of course, this episode is based on real life, in the uncharted galaxy of NORTH TARRANT COUNTY.

• Scotty: Cap'n, there's a Klingon train (freight train) comin' along those tracks next to Katy Road!
• Kirk: Scotty, accelerate to warp factor 8 (20mph) and we can still obey the prime directive (take the primary path)
• Scotty: But Cap'n, a mysterious subspace force (head wind) is interferin' with the warp engines and I canna' make her do any more or she'll blow us to kingdom come; those Klingons are gonna beat us to Keller Hicks.
• Kirk: Spock, execute Failsafe 2. Start computer countdown (scan the distant traffic clots due to the train).
• Spock: Yes Cap'n, but there's a 61.9% probability that those Vulcan Cruisers (cars) that passed us through the Neutral Zone (across double yellow lines) will plug the worm hole (4 way stop) up ahead because even their shields (air bags & other safety equipment) are no match for a Klingon train. Ironic how their "we're big so move aside" evaporates so easily. All of a sudden, "it's not fair."
• Kirk: Get off your high horse, Spock, we've got a ship (bike) to move here.
• Scotty: Cap'n, up ahead, there's a plug in the worm hole, we canna make it to Failsafe 2! We're all gonna...
• Kirk: Calm down, Scotty, we'll use a photon torpedo to blast those Vulcans.
• Scotty: But Cap'n, aren't photon torpedos illegal in Fort Worth? Star Fleet would not allow it! We're on a journey of peaceful exploration.
• Kirk: Sorry, Scotty, I forgot myself. In that case, slow to subspace speed and use the impulse engines on low (turn pedestrian) and we'll slip right past all those Vulcans.
• Scotty: Aye Capn' - they walk across the 4 way stop intersection and are about to re-engage the warp engines when the last train car suddenly goes by.
• Scotty: Cap'n, that Klingon train, it just suddenly VANISHED!
• Kirk: Full stop, full about, resume course for the prime directive (prime path). Spock, inform Starfleet that Failsafe 2 is faulty and the Kobyashi maneuver (turning pedestrian) may be the only way to safely counter a terminal Vulcan worm hole blockage. While you're at it, escort Scotty to sickbay (Starbucks) and have them give him something so he's a little less dramatic (triple filtered ice water, NOT coffee). And let's ditch these Vulcans, I've got a hot date tonight back at Outpost 27 (home).
• Spock: Aye Captain. To be precise, trying to go through on either side with warp engines engaged risks total destruction of the ship and all its crew, which would be real BAD.

After returning to the prime path, and many other similarly harrowing adventures, the ship and its crew safely wind up executing Failsafe 3. To celebrate, Kirk ordered up a pint of grog (swig from the water bottle) for the whole crew. Unfortunately the crew got a little surly since the water was about 100F by this time in the journey. But that's another episode of "Bike Trek."

"Just a Minute" Locking

Saturday, I took Frankenbike out for a little exercise. We went to Downtown Fort Worth with a little assist from the Trinity Railway Express, better known as TRE. I'll do posts in the future about TRE, and on my experiences trying to use bikes in combination with local transit.
















Anyway, to make a long story short, the train came, we hopped on (clean bikes are welcome on the TRE).









Before you knew it, we were at the Sundance Square Starbucks, home of other famous blog posts, and ready for the title demo at one of the unique Fort Worth "Star" bike racks. You'll note this one has attracted a bit of half-hearted graffiti. You'll also note that the city has found it necessary to label the things so we'll know what they are. They don't mention this in the link above. I notice Dallas doesn't have to label THEIR bike racks. Hmm.


Anyway, in this case, I was going to swing in to Starbucks for "just a minute" to pick up my coffee. Real coffee, none of that artsy fartsy stuff. Well most of you know that many bikes are stolen while left unlocked at such places for "just a minute." For your consideration (and probably criticism), see my "just a minute locking." Below, not the inferior job at left.







(click on picture at left or on one below for bigger view)




Here's why I think it makes sense:

• Lightweight lock fits in the seat bag, making sure it's always along
• Cable delays the thief while he goes back to car to get a pair of cable cutters
• Cable cleverly "protects" both the frame and the QR front wheel
• Nutted IG hub forces thief to get a wrench if he wants to steal the back wheel. Cable is too short to protect both wheels at once
• Bike value not much more than the cost of the lock. The REAL value here is in the back wheel and there's not a big market for 7 speed Nexus hubs

This is NOT a strategy to keep that bike secure for long, but it DOES work for - "just a minute." Anyway, when catching the train back to the Hurst Bell Station, I found out I could stay aboard the TRE, sweep clear over to Dallas and catch "A Taste of Dallas." Pretty cool - or it would have been had it not been rapidly approaching triple digit temperatures. Still, we did the family trip to "Taste of Dallas" later on via TRE. Full Monty Metroplex!