Got A Bike Computer

After shopping around and being overwhelmed with choices, I purchased a bicycle computer yesterday. Since I am trying to keep costs down, I ended up getting a Bell platinum series wireless speedometer from Fred Meyer for $20. So far so good.

I installed it this morning and took it out for a ride today. It’s basically like a fancy watch for your bicycle that tells you your speed, average speed, maximum speed, total distance traveled, trip time, temperature, calories burned, and fat burned. It’s got a glowing face for night riding and should do just fine for my needs.

Still in the works is a bike GPS and some travel gear including gloves, water bottles and a trunk rack and handlebar bag. All in due time…

July 11th Ride

Portland has a strong bike culture and it really comes to life in the summer. On my ride today, I spotted this couple cruising along Interstate Ave. in NE Portland. They were very nice and happily posed for a picture. Just before I clicked she pointed out that he had forgotten to wear his helmet. As Portlanders would say, “That’s so Portland!”

Near the river I spotted this car-bike thing:

It was obviously rented specifically to tour up and down the waterfront and looks like fun as long as they stay on the esplanade. Imagine trying to maneuver that thing through traffic! (It was passing by the sewerage sign and boy did that spot smell!)

Seeing the quadracycle made me think about the Segway riders I saw the other day. Those two-wheeled, battery powered personal vehicles and the car-like bike are kind of cool in the right setting, but what is it that makes them stop short of being bad-ass?

Outside of Fred Meyer I spotted a motorcycle and put my bike next to it for fun. You tell me, which bike is more bad-ass?

This comparison got me thinking about the myth of the motorcycle rider as independent, rebellious and free. Why do we love rebels and what is it about a bike vs. a motorbike that makes one cool and the other not as cool? Imagine a member of the Hell’s Angels on a Segway! Is it danger and destruction that makes something cool?

Having a bicycle as a kid was pretty dangerous. Riding a bike was a milestone in skill development, a sign of growing up and our first steps toward independence. Then a few short years later we’re expected to “step it up” and get a car.

Cars are like iPhones. The monthly price tag is just the start of what it’s going to cost you. Once you have one you can’t imagine life without it. Anyone who’s anyone has one. You’ll want a new one in a few years. All of your friends have one and, if they don’t, they’ll want to use yours.

Bisphenol A, Gone Tomorrow, The Disappearing Male

Last night, Gwenn and I watched The Disappearing Male. Apparently petroleum products are negatively effecting the potency of males in humans and in animal wildlife. Sperm counts have dropped dramatically. More and more male children are being born with smaller or deformed genitals and, in some cases, males aren’t being born at all. Not to be all gloom-and-doom, but it’s good to know about this stuff if you plan on heating up food in a plastic container in your microwave oven and giving it to your new baby.

This video also introduced me to Bisphenol A. It’s been linked to health problems such as obesity. Imagine if people are getting fatter because the sugary junk food they’re eating was wrapped in a plastic container that exposes them to Bisphenol A. There are many scientific facts we don’t yet know. There was once a time when they sprayed kids directly with DDT and thought it was a good thing.

We also watched Gone Tomorrow, a 20-minute documentary about trash and recycling. Our plastic consumption (and waste) far exceeds that of the amount we can recycle. Recycled plastics need lots of virgin plastic to make them useable and even then the recycled plastic is usually useless after its second run. Then everything ends up in the ocean or buried somewhere.

July 9 Ride

A photo from my short 12-mile ride this evening.

We Impact the Environment

There was a debate going on about creating single tracks for mountain bicycles in Forest Park (see Oregonlive.com article). Some people are adamant that bicycles in the park damage the environment. Yet, in our neighborhoods, squirrels and birds are run over by cars every single day. 

What makes one space more precious than another? Let’s face it, the debate was not about bikes destroying the park. It was about safety. Hikers are afraid of being hit by mountain bikes and so they used the flawed environmental angle as an argument for keeping bikes out of the park.