The ride was easier than I’d feared, so either my training paid off or it was just…easier than I thought it would be! The route was well-planned, so that most of the climbing was gradual. I just took it slowly, and used my lower gears as often as I needed to. I did stop a few times, both for pictures and for a break (and for the traffic back-up at the Fremont Bridge), but I didn’t have to walk my bike up any hills, and I never got completely out of breath.

One thing I discovered is that curves on freeways are much more sloped than you realize in a car! They’re still ride-able, though. Riding on freeways was fun, but overall, I highly recommend the experience of riding on streets with no cars. If your city has any such events, where streets are closed to motorized traffic, I definitely recommend taking part.

Now I just need a new challenge of some sort. I’m looking at organized rides coming up this fall, but haven’t found the right one yet. Meanwhile, though, I’ll be getting back to my daily commuting routine in less than a week, when I go back to my regular job!

Not all cyclists violate the rules, of course, but even cyclists know that their comrades are out there and they are not operating their bikes in a safe manner. We have all seen you, and you know who you are. Portland — bicycle center that it is — knows this; pedestrians know it; motorists know it.

Supposedly, licensing would help stop this lawlessness. However, I could easily make the same statement this way:

Not all drivers violate the rules, of course, but even drivers know that their comrades are out there and they are not operating their motor vehicles in a safe manner. We have all seen you, and you know who you are. Portland knows this, pedestrians know it, cyclists know it.

And drivers ARE required to be licensed and insured. I don’t think the argument holds up.

The other argument is that cyclists should pay their way like everyone else. The truth is that we already do. Many of us also drive, so we pay license fees and gas taxes. We also pay property taxes (either as property owners or through our rent payments) and income taxes, and portions of those taxes also feed into transportation funding. Meanwhile, we’re creating LESS impact on both roads and air by riding our bikes (see this article on Grist by Elly Blue for a fuller explanation).

While I support education about and enforcement of traffic laws, I don’t think additional licensing and/or fees for bicyclists are good solutions. Instead, let’s get more people educated and riding!

Photo by oedipusphinx — — — — theJWDban on Flickr, used via CC BY 2.0 license.

As far as I can recall, I haven’t crossed any of Portland’s bridges by bike, though. I don’t commute to or live near downtown, so I haven’t had any reason to. But this summer, I’m planning to hit at least six of them through the Providence Bridge Pedal.

The Bridge Pedal is an annual event in which the city closes down auto traffic on the the Willamette River bridges and lets bikes take over! Even the two bridges that are interstate highways! Many people on bikes cross the smaller bridges every day, but this is the only chance for cyclists to cross the Fremont and Marquam bridges.

There are three ride options — crossing all 10 bridges requires a 36-mile ride, but you can also choose 8 bridges in 26 miles or 6 bridges in 13 miles. I’m opting for the latter. My daily commute is only a little over 2 miles each way, so I don’t do a lot of distance riding. I am training up to it, though — even though 13 miles isn’t very far (and I have done a ride that long before), I expect that climbing at least a couple of the bridges will be difficult for me.

Last weekend, I rode to the farmers’ market and back up the big hill — without stopping or walking for the first time! Today I did an 8.7-mile ride to pick up our ground coffee order, including a climb up a steep overpass. I managed this one without stopping or walking too, but it sure takes the breath out of me! When climbing, I actually feel like I need bigger lungs. I’m at capacity. And back at home, I did feel slightly nauseated from the exertion, despite stretching to cool down and drinking water.

I’m looking forward to meeting this challenge. How are you challenging yourself this summer?

Do the Maintenance

Sure, you probably just pulled your bike out of the garage and rode when you were a kid. But if you do that now, you’re likely to become frustrated when your bike is much harder to ride than you thought it would be. Get a tune-up if you can ($40-80, depending on where you go and what you get). If you can’t, at least make sure the tires are properly inflated and the brakes are working.

Inflate the Tires

I just said that? Oh, yeah. Well, it’s important. You know how you’re supposed to keep the tires inflated on your car in order to increase your gas mileage? That’s because it takes more energy (gas) to move the car when the tires are under-inflated. It’s the same with a bike — except the energy in this case is YOU. You have to pedal harder to move the bike if the tires are under-inflated. You won’t like it. Don’t do it.

Adjust the Seat

If the seat is too low, it’s harder to pedal. When you’re sitting on the saddle, and your heel is on the pedal in the lowest position, your leg should be nearly straight, but without locking the knee. Don’t go too high, either.

Go Slow

You’re not in a race. Or at least, you shouldn’t be, if you’re just getting your bike out after a long hiatus. If you need to be at your destination by a certain time, give yourself plenty of time. I’d say at least 10 minutes per mile. You can probably go faster than this, but you need time for traffic, stoplights, rest breaks, and any issues you might have along the way. And if you’re worried about getting sweaty, again, GO SLOW. Or slowly, as we say in correct English.

Spin It, Baby

You’ve probably heard of “spinning” as an indoor workout, done on exercise bikes. But it’s also a good description of what you should be doing — you should be pedaling fairly easily and spinning along, not struggling to push the pedals around. If it’s too hard to pedal, you need to get into a lower gear, where it will be easier. It may feel like you are spinning your wheels and going too slowly, but it’s still faster than walking! And you’ll get stronger as time goes by — you’ll be able to use higher gears eventually.

Get Rhythm

Or cadence. The spandex crowd calls it cadence, measured in revolutions per minute (RPM), or the number of times you are pushing the pedals all the way around in one minute. I never thought this was important until I read an article about hill climbing, which said that you should shift down to where you can maintain the same cadence all the way up the hill. That was a lightbulb moment. I’ve always struggled with hills, because when I shift down I feel like I’m getting nowhere, while if I didn’t shift down I couldn’t keep pedaling.

But when I tried concentrating on cadence, it worked! I don’t use a cycle computer or actually count my RPMs. I just do 8-counts to myself, as if I were counting out a dance number, and try to keep a steady beat. If pedaling becomes difficult, I shift down so that I can maintain that beat. And it works! I’m not sure whether it’s the shifting technique or just distraction via counting, but my hill climbing has improved.

Breathe

Speaking of distraction, sometimes I use patterned breathing in addition to, or instead of, counting cadence. You know, just like in childbirth? My pattern goes in, out, in, blow! Yeah. Because it’s important to get plenty of oxygen, and it’s helpful as a distraction from how hard you’re working.

Now. Get out there!

This didn’t sound appealing. And the weather was good enough for biking, so biking was appealing, except that it would have been eight, long, uphill miles home.

Well, I really did want to bike, so I did it, and decided to try to hop onto MAX (light rail) with my bike to get home.

Of course, people do this all the time. The trains even have special hooks on them for bicycles. But my Xtracycle is significantly longer than a regular bike, and you’re really not supposed to take a bike on MAX unless it fits into the regular spaces.

I decided to chance it anyway. I’d heard of a couple of ways this could be done. One person said that you could fit an Xtracycle on the hook if you just turned the front wheel sideways (at a 90 degree angle to the bike). I’m still not sure how this would work. The other tip was that bikes ARE allowed in the spaces reserved for wheelchairs if the hooks are full.

I pulled up to the station and bought a ticket, hoping it wouldn’t be wasted. I let the first train go by, because it was too full, with both bikes and people. The second train was less than half full, but the bike hooks were occupied, so I went for it. I ran my bike onto the train, pulled the front wheel up, stood the bike on end, and wedged it into an empty wheelchair spot. It fit perfectly, without blocking any aisles or doors! I did have to stand there and hold onto it, but I did get it fairly securely wedged between the posts and railings.

Taking the Xtracycle on MAX still wouldn’t be my first choice, but now I know it’s doable.

After the events described in this post, BikePortland posted a short piece about bicycle trailers not being allowed on MAX, which sparked a lengthy discussion in the comments. I don’t use a trailer, and didn’t have a child with me, but I found the discussion interesting.

“I stopped by the gas station on my way home, and I thought I was just topping it off, but it cost more than $20!”

“Yeah, I know, it costs me more than $50 to fill up now!”

“The other day, I pumped up my bike tires, and it was free!”

“Yeah, Kathleen, but I didn’t see you riding your bike to the beach, either!”

OK, good point. And my share of the gas money is a little higher this year.

But, seriously, my daily commute costs very little, because I don’t have to fuel up my bike. I eat. And I burn fat. And this is good, because we are still well below the median income for our family size, and keeping the driving expense down helps us to afford other things, like summer camp and ballet classes and decent food. And a weekend at the beach, an overnight in Hood River for my husband and myself, and simple family vacations. And riding the bike will help next year when my income gets cut back because of the school funding crisis.

It turns out that most cyclists are more like me, or they are even more low-income. They aren’t just yuppies in spandex and fluorescent yellow jackets, or yuppies with a bakfietsfull of kids.

Sightline Daily recently published an article highlighting a report from the University Transportation Research Center, which included demographic information about U.S. bicycle riders, both by race/ethnicity and by income level.

According to the research, people in the BOTTOM 25% by income make 31% of all bicycle trips. And the bottom 50%, all together, make 51% of all bicycle trips.

The study also shows that the percentage of U.S. riders who are Black, Hispanic, and Asian has been rising.

We’re out here, and we’re increasingly visible.

Today, I’ve got a post over on Utility Cycling about getting started with family bicycle commuting. Please take a look!

First, in a guest post on Hobo Mama, Rachel Jonat tells about her experiences in going car-less with kids in Vancouver, B.C.

And on YouTube, Stanford University’s graduate journalism program has posted a five-minute video featuring Dr. Maren Pedersen of Palo Alto, and her experience as a life-long bicycle commuter. Enjoy!

I know other parts of the country have much more severe weather, though. How are you getting around? Do you drive, walk, bike, bus? Or just stay home?

Here in Portland, we’ve had a bit of an uproar because a member of our State House of Representatives proposed a bill that would make it illegal for children under the age of 6 to ride on a parent’s bike or in a bike trailer. Yes, that really does mean what it sounds like it means. No toddlers and preschoolers in a child seat, or in a trailer intended for babies and toddlers, or on the back of an Xtracycle.

Huh? I mean, even if you’re not that into biking this has to sound a little crazy. Lots of people, normal, average people, take their little ones out on bikes!

Representative Mitch Greenlick (D-NW Portland), thinks young children on bikes are a public health risk.  He told BikePortland that he bases his concern on a study done by Oregon Health Sciences University, his employer.

We’ve just done a study showing that 30 percent of riders biking to work at least three days a week have some sort of crash that leads to an injury… When that’s going on out there, what happens when you have a four year old on the back of a bike?

Oy. Yes, the study exists. The injuries counted in the study included everything from a scraped knee on up. Cycling advocate Mia Birk has an excellent analysis of the study.

Greenlick says that if we can save even one child’s life, we should do it. But meanwhile, thousands of children die as automobile passengers each year, and I don’t see Greenlick proposing that they be banned from riding in motor vehicles as well. And I’m not proposing it, either! I’m just saying that there’s definitely a double standard here.

Cooler heads have convinced Greenlick to pull back; it’s now going to be a topic for further study rather than a potential law. But he certainly got a reaction from Portland’s family biking community!

But today, we had a bit of sunshine! People in various other parts of Portland and Vancouver, Washington were reporting SNOW, but we didn’t get any where we live; just more rain and then a bit of sun.

When the sun came out, I happened to be taking out some garbage and recycling. And I said “Hey! It’s actually fairly pleasant out here!” and I ordered everyone outside. My eldest child grudgingly went outside for maybe a minute, but I and the other two went for a short bike ride; about one mile.

Of course, the weather changed before we got home — we had a graupel shower! We were just a few blocks from home, so that was just fun, no big deal. And now we’re back to cold, wet and dreary — but we got outside!