Faster!

It's almost April, which means spring is nearly here. Well, technically, it's already here but as usual, weather doesn't seem to align too well with calendar, so we will have to wait probably another week or two for real spring to arrive.

Nevertheless, it's getting warmer and that means one thing for sure - many, many more roadies out on the bike path. With the beginning of April they crawl out of their indoor hideouts, put stationary trainers back in the closet and roll out on their bicycles to welcome spring. This is to me the best indication of season's change. Far more regular than looking at bird migration patterns or melting snow.

(Source: yehudamoon.com)

Observing these guys and reading some cycling news recently, I thought about the very clear trend in modern road cycling - the focus on speed. Unlike mountain biking that found many niches and offers many different ride styles, road cycling is still driven mostly by UCI rules and catered towards racers.

Hence, modern road bikes emphasize speed over comfort, aerodynamics over functionality and build an image of Lycra-wrapped man enjoying his morning "race" to a nearby cafe. Do you think I'm exaggerating? That it's not that bad? That there are plenty of "other" road bikes that aren't designed for racing? Sure, but those are still minority. A few years ago you would think that gravel bikes would change that. They were not bound by any UCI regulations, yet they still ended up being just another type of race bikes.

If you still don't know what I'm talking about, try to hop onto a modern road bike in regular clothes. It will surely feel weird. You would *want* to wear a helmet, put those Lycra tights on and "race" to your destination (even if that's only your office commute). Plus, "if it's not on Strava it didn't happen", right?

Faster! Like it's a race.

Certainly, part of this focus on speed is that cycling is seen mainly as a sport, much less as a transportation option, and speed is one of the deciding factors how sport can be measured. But I keep finding this "speed matters" approach even in places that aren't focused on competitive sport as much. I've been looking at Jan Heine's blog recently and he published a series of "cycling myths", many of which are speed-related:

• Wider tires are slower
• Fenders slow you down
• Stiffer frames are faster
• Tubeless tires roll faster

I'm not trying to say that Jan hand-picked these because speed matters to him that much, but it seems that all of us collectively find this topic interesting and as such, these speed myths pop out like mushrooms after rain.

So spring is almost here and you may be looking for a new bike, or perhaps looking at your old bike thinking it needs new aero wheels. Just remember - there is more fun in riding a bike than just going faster.

To tube or not tube - this is the question!

What's the most common mechanical defect cyclists have to deal with? Flat tires, of course! No one likes to have ride ruined by that. The bicycle industry tried to solve that issue and borrowed the concept of tubeless tires from the motoring industry. As a result, we can now enjoy riding relatively flat-free. Relatively - because tubeless tires don't solve all problems and actually introduce some new ones. As such, some people would say tubes are still the way to go. I wanted to compare both scenarios - when tubes and tubeless wheels are used and rate both setups in a few situations I encountered in the last years.

Situation 1 - puncture from a nail on paved bike path. I remember this one since this was the first ever flat I got after buying a new bike. It was a classic flat you would get after riding over a pointy object. My bike was set up with tubes at that time. Going tubeless would've definitely saved the day. Verdict - tubes: 0, tubeless: 1.

Situation 2 - punctured sidewall by a large nail. This one was memorable since it happened on the first ride after I put new tires on my bike (Bad luck, I guess). Nail tore the sidewall and I had to replace the tire. Had my wheel been set up tubeless back then, it wouldn't be entirely painless, since hole was quite large and likely wouldn't easily seal itself just with the sealant. But fortunately, larger holes in tubeless tires can be patched with rubber inserts ("bacon bits") without removing tire off the rim. Verdict - tubes: 0, tubeless: 0.5.

Situation 3 - sidewall torn by sharp rocks. I hated when that happened! Especially that I had to do an emergency patch of the giant gap in my tire. I patched it with a small piece of cardboard I fortunately had with me, installed new tube and slowly limped back home. Tubeless wouldn't save me there. In fact, fixing this in tubeless setup would be messy, with all that sealant spraying around. I'll give tubes half a point here for a less messy fix. Verdict - tubes: 0.5, tubeless: 0.

Situation 4 - pinch flat on sharp rocks. My bike still wasn't set up tubeless at that time. I rode on a very rocky trail with air pressure set too low. It's the recipe for a disaster, unless  I rode tubeless, since in such case I would've been fine. Verdict - tubes: 0, tubeless: 1.

Situation 5 - flat from a nail that never happened. I rode tubeless for quite a while and only after I had to swap tires due to wear, I discovered a small rusty nail embedded in casing. That's a very clear example for advantage of tubeless tires. Verdict - tubes: 0, tubeless: 1.

There you have it - 5 different situations, different conditions, different configurations. Tubeless wins 3:0.

Does it mean that you should switch to tubeless right away? Not so fast. First of all - everyone's mileage may vary. Plus, tubeless has its own problems and there are several factors you should consider first:

• Cost. If wheels in your bike are not tubeless-compatible, it may not be worth upgrading them. You would likely need new tires and new rims, which means rebuilding wheels.
• Riding style. If you ride your bike on clean, well-maintained pavement, chances to get a flat are significantly reduced and as such, switching to tubeless may simply make little sense.
• Ride frequency. If you rarely ride your bike, you may not like the fact that tubeless tires may leak more and require more frequent inflation than when you use tubes. So if you use your bike very infrequently, using tubes is more convenient.
• Swapping tires. If you have one wheelset but need to periodically swap tires, going tubeless will be just too much hassle. This is why my commuting bike runs on tubes at this point. I have to swap to studded tires in winter and then back to normal ones in the spring. Using tubes makes it much easier and faster.

Other than that, there aren't probably good reasons not to switch to tubeless setup. While tubeless systems are not perfect and still being developed, they definitely work well in variety of situations.

Parkland and Park Slope

On February 14 this year, Nikolas Cruz entered Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and started shooting his classmates with AR-15 rifle. He killed 17, injuring 16 more. It was yet another of hundreds of mass shootings in the last decade in United States and one of many this year, even though 2018 has just barely started.

But one thing turned out to be very different this time. Students spoke and started a nationwide outrage, much more pronounced that during any previous shootings. As a result, the debate over smart gun control laws is back in Congress, several major firearm retailers changed their rules of how and to whom they sell guns and many companies ceased their discount programs for NRA members. We have never seen that level of change in such a quick time before Parkland shooting and everyone hoped that perhaps the youngest generation will trigger Congress to act smart this time.

America has a long history of deadly mass shootings due to our undisputed love of the Second Amendment, lack of any serious background checks and regulations and inability to treat mentally unstable citizens. Not to mention - military-grade weapons are seen as "toys for boys" that apparently you have a right to own. Even if you are mentally ill.

As such, tens of thousands of Americans are killed by firearms every year, but at least we, as a nation see it as a problem, even though some of us aren't willing to offer more than just "thoughts and prayers". There is however another cause of death in America that gets virtually no media coverage, even though it results in higher death numbers year by year. I would call it - murder by car.

Our roads are dangerous to everyone outside of the reinforced metal box, our cars became in the last decades. Long years of road design that focuses on drivers and speed, not those vulnerable users - pedestrians and cyclists, lead to over 33,000 dead every year. On top of that is the American licensing system with its very lenient rules and general inability to exclude dangerous drivers from being part of the traffic.

The most recent tragic example came from New York City, where 2 children were killed and a pregnant woman severely injured when driver ran them over in a crosswalk, ignoring the red light. The driver, 44-year old Dorothy Bruns was not arrested (as this seems to be a norm in such situations, especially in New York), but her license was revoked (unfortunately, much too late) after a massive outcry following this collision, once it was discovered her car had 12 traffic violations on record, including speeding and running red lights. On top of that, she was found to have a history of seizures, multiple sclerosis and heart failures - conditions that should not allow her to drive in the first place.

Such traffic collisions happen every day on American roads. And every day police usually dismisses the case, doesn't arrest the driver nor even issue a citation and media quickly call it yet another "accident". Next, we move on, forgetting about victims and not even trying to pause for a moment and think - why are these deaths so frequent? What causes them? Where is the source of the problem? What can we do to stop it?

Similarly to gun ownership, driving is such a well-established part of our life that we generally tend to accept any collateral damage it causes, no matter how tragic it would be. Seeing all this you may think, it's good that cars were invented over 100 years after foundation of the United States of America. Otherwise, our Founding Fathers would probably add "a right to drive" to the Constitution.

Unfortunately, any change will be a difficult one. Not everyone owns guns yet everyone understands danger they pose, which is why it's easier to petition for gun control laws. But, at least here in America, nearly everyone drives and therefore, it's so much harder to impose any restrictions on what most us see as our "right" and a seemingly safe activity. That makes solutions such as congestion pricing be extremely unpopular as that would affect every one of us, not just some remote "guy with a gun" somewhere in Montana.

It became clear that we need to change our streets, making them safer, slower and more friendly for pedestrians and bicyclists. It's clear that we need to end our reliance on cars and built efficient transit systems. It's clear that we need to revise our licensing system to keep people who should not be allowed on roads, not to drive. And finally, it's pretty clear that we need to reform our police and ask them to truly "serve and protect", not to catch people on e-bikes or ticket jaywalkers. Probably the best summary of the problem was given by one of the NYC citizens who confronted Mayor de Blasio the day after the event:

“I don’t want drivers pulled over for speeding. I want them not to be able to speed in the first place. Because the minute they are speeding is the minute they can hit somebody. I want streets where a driver looks at it and says, ‘I’m the guest here.’” https://t.co/IZl8PwfHRO

— Alissa Walker (@awalkerinLA) March 6, 2018

Basically, we need another #NeverAgain campaign (hashtag used by Parkland shooting survivors to promote their call for change) and it shouldn't be the #VisionZero. In fact, there is no need to reinvent the wheel - the Dutch did that for us back in the 70's. Their "Stop de Kindermoord" seems very appropriate. Now it's time to implement it here in America and stop #murderbycar.

re Park Slope, worth noting that the Dutch went with Stop de Kindermoord (literally "the murder of children") instead of some generic corporate-consultant-speak like "vision zero"

— Whet Moser (@whet) March 6, 2018

Is it over yet?

I've been taking a short break from blogging recently. In the time of my absence all sort of random things happen - a couple new mass shootings, a few hundred more people died in car collisions, a car flew into outer space, Boston went into a week of mourning after lost Superbowl, and finally - summer weather arrived - even though it lasted only 2 days. You know - just typical things you would expect to happen in February in United States.

Anyway, some things need to end so others can start. This winter I've been using a "new" bike for my daily work commute. It's actually my 10-years old "long-distance tourer", or whatever the most appropriate name is, just converted this time to a flat bar all-weather rig. This means - drop bars are gone, fenders are in, front rack is installed and a new drivetrain is now in place. I switched from 2x10 to 1x11. Less gears, same range and more than enough I need for this type of riding.

Snowy #commute. #bikecommute #wintercycling

A post shared by Dr J (@drj.bbb) on Jan 19, 2018 at 11:40am PST

All this means that now I don't have a dedicated travel/touring/exploration bicycle anymore... but that's temporary. Something new is coming. Hopefully soon.

Meanwhile, I'm waiting for spring to come and I hope winter is not coming back because I've just replaced studded tires with normal ones.

16 Seconds

It's been over two years since Dr. Anita Kurmann was killed by a semi truck while riding her bicycle to work in Boston. And just like in virtually all other similar cases, police didn't press any charges and quickly closed the investigation, concluding that it was just another traffic "accident".

But as we know now, traffic accidents rarely happen. They're not caused by some higher power but by someone's distraction, lack of control or other human-dependent factors. As such, it's hard to accept someone's death (especially if that someone is your close relative), merely as collateral that we need to pay in order to keep the system going.

MassBike decided not to let Kurmann's death be forgotten and ran their own investigation. Results were published earlier this week. Usually, it's difficult to know what happened shortly before such a tragic collision, but this time we have a video showing exactly that.

Everyone's take on this may be different but you may notice various little details, such as:

• Truck driver (Matthew Levari) had Kurmann in rear view mirror for 16 seconds - i.e. plenty of time to notice her, before he actually executed the turn.
• The truck moved slightly left before turning right - a maneuver necessary for such large trucks to make tight turns, but also something that might have fooled Kurmann thinking the truck wasn't really about to turn right.
• The truck had turning signal on, which Kurmann should have noticed (and maybe she did).

The video shows that Levari clearly broke Massachusetts law that strictly prohibits turning in front of cyclist who we just passed ("right hooking"). He essentially operated the same way as most truck drivers operate - with general disregard to many other road users. I noticed that myself many time while riding my bike - truck drivers control very large vehicles and as such feel empowered to "own" more of the road, consciously or subconsciously intimidating others with sheer size of their trucks. It's basically a straightforward approach - "you better pay attention to me and give me space if you don't want to be hit, as I may not pay attention to you".

Having said that, I have to also say that Kurmann made a mistake too and it costed her her life. Whoever rides bikes in the city knows well that whatever you do, you stay away from large trucks and never ever get between them and the curb. It's generally much safer to either let them go first and stay far behind or, if they're stopped, get far ahead of them to make sure drivers can see us. The spot where Kurmann ended up - right mid-way of semi's length, was the worst possible place should could've been.

There is also a question whether such giant vehicles should even be allowed in downtown Boston, which reminds me about another incident that happened recently on the other side of the globe, in Australia:

There is clearly a lot of wrong about that trucker's behavior as evidenced by his own video, but let's try to understand why he hates cyclists so much. He said:

"I've driven trucks for 16 years and I have been in situations where I'm trying to slow a 64.5 tonne truck when there's a truck coming the other way, and bike riders are the object I have had to miss. Another truck has ran off the road for that."

All this makes me think that clearly heavily-loaded semi trucks are difficult to stop effectively in a short distance, which raises a question whether they are inherently unsafe to be even allowed on many roads in the first place?

Finally, I want to focus on something else here - our police. Dismissing the case before even reviewing all evidence is unacceptable. Letting driver go without even a citation is unacceptable. Calling it merely an accident is unacceptable. For some reason, our police seems to pay more attention to road collisions involving two motor vehicles than those involving a pedestrian or a cyclist and a car.

This problem is much larger than Kurmann's death. It's a systemic problem that our police treats certain road crashes as more worthy a detailed investigation than others. Just like they seemingly treat some people as less important than others.

Police ranking of importance of road users looks essentially as follows:

1. VIPs in their cars - the most privileged group
2. other white people in their cars
3. white people on bicycles
4. people of color
5. people of color on bicycles - the most "hunted" group, since not only they're not white, but also perform an activity considered to be "not normal" in America - they ride bicycles

 As Angie Schmitt from usa.streetsblog.org noticed:

One thing writing about transportation for 7 years has taught me is that we really don't have much freedom to move around in public space.

Even the most normal activities, like walking, are very tightly controlled. Jacksonville for e.g. has 28 different rules for "jaywalking."

— Angie Schmitt (@schmangee) January 24, 2018

This is one reason I think urban cycling has been considered so white. It takes a lot of chutzpah -- or privilege -- to do something "deviant" in the public space like ride a bike in the road and expect not to get hassled. And moreover get angry when you are.

— Angie Schmitt (@schmangee) January 24, 2018

Obviously, I don't know much about it as I'm white as arctic snow, but I think Angie is right. Riding a bicycle in America is something little kids do. Adults have cars. Adult on a bicycle is still considered abnormal in many parts of the country and if that person happens to be non-white, he/she is quickly targeted by police. By the same standard, if this person gets killed in traffic collision with a car or truck, police favors blaming the cyclist as the one "weirdo" on road who "was asking for trouble". As Angie points out:

So cars and traffic violence keeps people from being active but so does the police state somewhat and the way it reinforces (unequally) social norms against outdoor activity of all kinds.

— Angie Schmitt (@schmangee) January 24, 2018

We learned to accept death by vehicle the same way we accept mass shootings - it's apparently a part of American folklore - something so established that we can't imagine living in a world where such things just don't happen. In America, we call it freedom. Everywhere else, they call it stupidity.

Boston after snowfall - a giant middle finger to all cyclists and pedestrians

Who's afraid of the big, bad snow? Boston's Department of Public Works, for sure! This happens pretty much every winter season - when it comes to plowing, traffic lanes get priority while many sidewalks and bike lanes remain forgotten for weeks... waiting for spring to come and snow to melt.

The situation is not pretty as many excellent examples found on Twitter show. What can we learn from it?

Create a free storage space and it will get filled. Sometimes you may wonder how many cars parked in on-street spots in Boston get used on daily basis. Normally, it's not easy to figure that out without careful observation, but snowfall makes it easy:

The main excuse is that people don’t ride bikes during winter and #bikelanes are unnecessary. Cars are parked in our streets for days, some for weeks & months, because we have created spaces for cars. So our City must keep investing in safe walking & cycling infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/e9z1nMx8TG

— Ydanis Rodriguez (@ydanis) January 7, 2018

Apparently, it's more than you may think. Many cars don't get moved everyday. They just park there for days, occupying expensive street real estate that could be used by others.

Walked some residential streets in Boston today and four full days after the snowstorm <40% of the cars/on street parking spots I saw had been dug out

— Ryan Cullen (@transporyan) January 8, 2018

***

Bike lanes are excellent... for storing snow. Everyone was so excited in the summer when new bike lanes were built in Boston. Unfortunately, half a year later we can clearly see what this space is best used for - snow storage. It's just seems so easy to push all the snow away from the street and parking spaces into bike lanes. No one uses them anyway, right?

Mass Ave from the Bridge through Back Bay: snow clearance from the #VisionZero protected bike lane was non-existent. Cars parked in bike lane all along corridor. Only space for people to bike was travel lane with impatient drivers. @BOS311 @BostonPWD @marty_walsh pic.twitter.com/bAciZG1NvX

— BostonCyclistsUnion (@bostonbikeunion) January 8, 2018

And even if you wanted to, you'd better learn how to ride your bike on top of a giant snow bank:

Oh, Boston. You continue to communicate that your commitment to cycling is…superficial, at best. Is cycling *really* a valid mode of transportation? If so, will you treat it on a par with driving? #snow #bike #DoBetter@rightlegpegged @BostonBTD @bostonbikeunion @bikeboston pic.twitter.com/AGM6ZFzgbg

— Steve H (@just_steve_h) January 8, 2018

But at least it seems that DPW has a sense of humor, requiring cyclists to ride in the bike lane buried in snow:

Dear @BostonBTD: If you're going to completely plow under and prevent access to your new Comm Ave bike lane, you could at LEAST have the decency to TURN OFF THE SIGN TELLING CYCLISTS TO USE THE BIKE LANE!

Thank you.@rightlegpegged @bostonbikeunion @bikeboston @universalhub pic.twitter.com/KeN8Mq8AOZ

— Steve H (@just_steve_h) January 9, 2018

***

Safe route to school is best taken in snowshoes and traction cleats. Otherwise, how do you expect your kids to cross huge snow piles and not break their legs on patches of ice?

When you have to walk in street because snow that was plowed covers the side walk....#Safe Routes to School pic.twitter.com/lHREywUWL6

— Yvonne Ramirez (@YvonneR45449275) January 8, 2018

Parents in Boston (and elsewhere) are using the hashtag #snowroutestoschool to highlight their struggles with impassable snow-covered sidewalks this week (HT @CoachBalto) pic.twitter.com/IpggBOREF0

— Streetsblog USA (@StreetsblogUSA) January 9, 2018

***

If you want a snow-free sidewalk, shovel it yourself. Don't count on DPW even though it's their job.

Spent a few minutes clearing the bike path crossing and crosswalks at Mass Ave and Cedar because it was unacceptably impassable. Now it’s ready for the Monday am commute! pic.twitter.com/GTjyzczL7S

— Colin Durrant (@bikinginorange) January 7, 2018

***

Walk in the street just remember that "cars are going to hit you". At least that's what our mayor said. Considering how Boston treats its sidewalks, I'm guessing that "may use full lane" should apply also to pedestrians.

. @BOS311 corner of Mass and a Tremont Streets, no access to crosswalks in front of Dunkin Donuts but for a single path to Mass Ave the width of a human foot. Pedestrians and wheelchairs using street. pic.twitter.com/V3w2NNEYpY

— Maria Dee (@furious02118mom) January 8, 2018

@MassDCR, why is the Mass Ave bridge ramp in such dangerous condition? This is listed as Priority 1 for snow removal. @StreetsBoston @WalkBoston pic.twitter.com/DVZuLFK5Wa

— Jeff Gang 🌹 (@jeff_gang) January 9, 2018

***

That's all folks. Welcome to the city of "a car guy"!

Viking biking in New England?

I'm sitting at home, writing this and looking through the window at snowflakes dancing in the air. It's the snowstorm time. My workplace is closed. Roads are empty. Some snowplows pass by once a while. If you take a walk to your local supermarket you will find empty shelves and a few bored employees inside. This happens every single year in New England and every year we react the same way - with near panic, buying everything from store shelves like the Armageddon was coming.

Surprisingly though, it's also the best time in winter to ride a bike in the city. Overwhelming majority of American drivers don't like driving in snow and in fact, don't know how. Learning how to drive is not a requirement of driver licensing system here. Odd.

This means that when streets are completely free of traffic, they are also safe and as long as you are prepared to ride during snowfall, there is no reason you shouldn't.

📷 copenhagenvikingbiking: It was -10 C plus windchill that morning. Yep. #VikingBiking #Copenhagen https://t.co/x5grnSbNq9

— Colville-Andersen (@copenhagenize) January 4, 2018

Winter cycling is often called "Viking biking" - a catchy term first used by Mikael Colville-Andersen, I believe. Copenhagen has an impressive number of winter cyclists that puts to shame any other city in the world. People ride their bikes there not because they want to, but because it's simply the fastest type of transportation between two points in the downtown. Of course, Copenhagen made this happen by not only designing a vast network of protected bike lanes, but also properly maintaining them in winter. As such, while we in Boston use bikes with studded tries to get through those barely cleared bike paths, citizens of Copenhagen can ride on blacktop lanes using pretty much any bike they like.

Would I like to see this type of infrastructure here in Boston? Of course! But do I think that once we build it, we will see the same percentage of people on bicycles in winter months as there's in Copenhagen? I don't think so. That's because there are two more factors that need to be considered.

First - the weather. Comparing with Boston, Copenhagen enjoys relatively mild winters. Yes, temperature can drop to 15F (-10C) but that's quite rare. And while it rains and snows frequently in Denmark, it doesn't usually dump 2-3ft of snow overnight onto the city. In Boston however, the situation is quite different. I've been living here for the last 15 years and I remember maybe only 2 winters in that time when temperature didn't drop to -4F (-20C). It seems to be guaranteed in January just as winter blizzards are in our area. This doesn't mean you can't ride your bike in these conditions. But no matter what you say, there will be a significant number of people who will refuse to ride bikes when it gets this cold.

Second - the distance. People in Copenhagen use their bikes predominantly for short-distance trips, 2-10km long (1-6mi), and that's not a typical distance of an average American bike commuter. My ride to work is 10mi (16km) long and that's not long by American standards. Combine that with 0F weather and you may not find many enthusiasts who would want to do it, even if infrastructure is perfectly maintained.

I'm not sure Viking biking will ever gain popularity in New England but it would certainly become more common, at least on short distances, if we invest in building and maintaining a proper network of bike lanes. Nevertheless, there is a lot to like about cycling in winter. You should give it a try!