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Overreaction to bike path congestion

A week and a half ago the Washington Post ran an article about the congestion on the popular Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) trail in Northern Virginia where I live. This just so happens to be the most popular rail-trail in the country according to this chart from the Rails to Trails Conservancy, and one that I ride frequently on the weekends. The article sparked quite the regional cycling dialogue as D.C. area bloggers and cycling club discussion boards came to life with many weighing in with their opinions on whether this article was balanced/good/not good for cycling.

Most seem to agree that the article was largely biased against cyclists as the trail user's causing the congestion and seemed to draw the analogy that riding the trail is like driving on the beltway at rush hour. I was glad to see that most people realize that individuals are responsible for their own behavior on the trail and that there are equal numbers of ignorant trail users across all user types (walkers, rollerbladers, cyclists, etc.).

The thing that struck me the most was the way the trail managers leaped to costly solutions seemingly without calculating the costs and/or all of the options. Let's break this down a little for those that will only skim the article. Three cyclists died in accidents along the trail in the last year. Two of these accidents happened within a week of one another at the same intersection crossing. Five cyclists have died from accidents in the entire 32 year history of the trail. Now, there are three million users of the W&OD trail per year of which only three died (trust me, I use the term "only" very lightly). Let's take a look at the data. That means that .0001 percent of all trail users have been killed in an accident on the trail in the past year, two of which were at the same intersection. Now take the five deadly accidents that occurred over the past thirty-two years and well...you can do the math.

Instantly, trail managers are looking to impose and enforce speed limits and are thinking about installing rumble strips to control speed. What gets me is that the trail managers don't take a step back and look at the big picture here. Does this mean everyone will have to invest in a cyclo-computer? Could it be that the intersections between roads and the trails are the problem? Perhaps the two accidents that occurred at the same intersection was a coincidence? Maybe that intersection should be addressed instead of the whole trail?

Perhaps trail managers should be working with the Virgina Department of Transportation or county officials regarding what could be done to control the road intersections with the trail since most deadly accidents have involved cars? Meanwhile, it would seem to me that education of common sense trail etiquette could go a long way toward reducing incidents between trail users. For instance, signs reminding people to stay to the right, consider removing the iPods, and to provide a warning when passing.

Speed limits and rumble strips will only absolve people of their personal responsibility.

2007 Kona Preview

NSMB.com has a preview of Kona's bike lineup for 2007. The focus is on freeride and downhill bikes although there's news on the all-mountain front as well. Kona has created a lighter version of its mid-travel Coiler called the Coiilair which sports an air-shock in place of the spring coil rear suspension, for reduced weight and rider induced bob. NSMB also reports that Kona has a philosophy of continuous improvement and has mostly made refinements to existing bikes and no massive redesigns or new rides are in the lineup.

Speaking of Kona, I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes from Interbike 2005. I was talking to "Kona Jeff," a regional sales person for Kona, about how I have never been to Whistler to ride. He said, in his gnarly southern California surfer dude accent, "Graham, there are just two things that every man has gotta do before he dies; have hot and wild sex with the woman of his dreams and go to Whistler!" Words to live by.

Kona sure is a company with focus. I'm not sure how it compares to the big guys in overall revenue, but I'd say this is a company that will soon crack the big four (Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, and Giant) to make it five.

Titus's new marketing campaign

Just thinking out loud here, but...

Titus marketing department, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?

Maybe it's me. Help me out. Take a look at this ad I scanned from one of the many mountain bike publications I read each month. (Sorry about the quality, but you won't need to read all of the fine print to get the gist.)

Who do they think the target market is for high-end titanium mountain bikes? I'm going to guess that there are two main segments of the market that Titus is targeting. First, is the serious cross country racer of any age, and second, is probably older (maybe 40s to 50s), fit and healthy, affluent people with lots of disposable income.

Ok...ok...maybe they are specifically targeting a new demographic...the geriatric set. I'll bet they saw the research from all of the marketing and PR firms about the aging of America. Probably sat in a national sales and marketing brainstorm session and decided that they would catch the baby boomer train. That may even be a good strategy, but guess what. No one wants to connect their outdoor activity to Viagra! Sex, yes! Erectile Dysfunction, no! Not even those that need it (not that there's anything wrong with it...hey, I may need it one day so I have to leave the door open, right? In the meantime, you should know that I am an extremely virile man...ahem...just had to lay that out there. Ok...back to the rant.).

In the meantime, I just had to go to the Titus website to see if the campaign carried through to all forms of media. Well the good news is that it looks like they have retired this ad and taken the "Arousing Technology" campaign to a new level. This is a good thing. The ads are clean. They communicate the technology features in a simple way, and more importantly, connect the viewer to a more youthful place with some well positioned innuendo. A good save.

Still...there's room for improvement. Not just for Titus, but bicycling marketing in general. You see, these ads attempt to explain the technology, but they never get to the point. Why do I care about the technology? Articulate the benefits and not only the features. So what if carbon fiber and titanium are woven together? What does that get me? Is it better? How so?

Ok...I've been pretty harsh on Titus. Everyone is entitled to a brain fart here and there...so what are some other ads that you've seen from cycling companies that make you scratch your head?

Loeka's cool new mountain bike clothing for women

Flattering but not flaunting, is how I'd describe Loeka's mountain bike apparel for women. The company started just over a year ago after a friend of Coreena, the founder, told her to stop bitching about the state of women's bike clothing and do something about it. She set out to correct the following complaints:

• Why doesn't anything for girls fit properly?
• Why doesn't anybody make something sexy for us girls to wear?
• Why do you guys have all the cool clothes?
• All the ladies clothes don't fit over my armour?  And the ones that do are ugly!
• Why are the ladies shorts so dam short? They don't cover my legs!  What good are they?
• No, I will not stop bitching.
• Why can't I have shorts that I can wear after riding?
• This really sucks; I don't want to look like a guy.  I'M A GIRL!!!

The designs are simple, and yes, it's not just menswear in sheep's clothing (or how ever, that saying goes). For example, a little extra length is added to the back of the jerseys as an anti-coinslot measure (sorry guys!).

Anyway, it's my wife's birthday in a couple of weeks...I think I may buy her the hoodie.

Measuring the hilliness of bike routes

When I first bought a GPS system it was all about not getting lost. I was riding some trails that were not well mapped and the GPS helped me get a birds eye view for where I was going. Once I became familiar with the trails and settled into a regular rotation, the GPS became overkill and I stopped carrying it.

Well, Dr. P (a regular riding buddy and one time GC contributor) received a new GPS system from his lovely wife this past weekend for his birthday. We took it out on a trail that we have ridden a hundred times. Now Dr. P is a data guy. Once he got that bad boy back home he instantly downloaded the data and began slicing and dicing it like crazy. He dumped it into Excel and began calculating the tangent of the cosign of the hypotenuse of the derivative of 2/3 of a rhombus to the 2nd power.

Whoa...whoa...whoa...Dr. my head is spinning...

There's got to be an easier way. Well the software didn't help much since it was largely built for GIS users or cartographers. So we turned to the 'net to find out the formulas for such common measurements as hill steepness or "grade."

Grade is the easy one. It's simply:

grade = vertical_climb / horizontal_distance

Grade is reported in the form of a percentage. But once you get the number, now what? I really like Bike Hudson Valley's explanation:

• 0% grade is exactly flat (and a negative grade, less then zero, is downhill). 

• 2% grade does not seem very steep, but it's enough to substantially reduce forward speed, and for most riders it will absorb more than half their power output. 

• 6% grade is enough to cut speed to well under half, and absorb more than 80% of a rider's power output (leaving less than 20% to fight air resistance and rolling friction).   

• 10% grade, and anyone who is not a fit and frequent rider is off their bike walking -- and anyone who is not a racer is reaching for all the extra power they've got.

Still, there are nuances. These numbers must be put into context and Bike Hudson Valley tries to do just that by explaining the tricks to computing total vertical climb and by proposing a total "hill index" for the entire route.

Once this data was surfaced it really gave me a new perspective on my "home" trail. For example (some of the locals may appreciate this one), I learned that the climb up to the Cricket Fields on the Colts Neck loop trail is a grade of 12% (you know...where you cross the stream...navigate the ruts of mud...finagle the parallel roots, while setting yourself up for the perpendicular root...around the bend...and mash up to the cricket fields). While not a particularly long climb it is fairly steep and the ease at which you climb is a good indicator of your overall fitness for the day.

The bottom line is that I will no longer look at my GPS as simply a mapping tool. Instead it will also be a tool to help me compare and contrast my rides across all of my favorite trails. Now I can't wait to measure the grade of the red loop climb at Greenbrier and calculate the hill index for Fountainhead.

Although, I tend to be more of a right-brain type than left, I must say that the good doctor is sometimes correct. Data, while interesting, can sometimes be useful.

Would you ride it?

  IMG_2375 
  Originally uploaded by cusquirm.

Not me...no way...no how!

But, it makes me think...I ride stuff I never would have ridden a few years ago.

Stuff that I thought no one could ride.

Makes me wonder...is there anyone out there that would ride something like this? Is it worth the risk? How much risk is too much?

Bike or Die! Mobile Video Game

As a frequent business traveler and Palm Treo user/addict, I am always looking for some mind-numbing game to pass the time while waiting for the plane to board, standing in the airport security line, or shuckin' and jivin' in the 'people mover' at Dulles Airport (will they ever finish that monorail?). So when a friend of mine 'beamed' me a copy of Bike or Die (you can pick it up at Handango) I figured I'd give it a whirl and kill two birds with one stone...Solitaire and Monopoly are getting tired.

When I first saw the graphics, I thought "oh no, I'm wasting precious RAM on a game circa Odyssey2 (between Atari, but not quite Colecovision)." But despite, the cheesy stick figure graphics this game can be quite addicting.

The idea behind Bike or Die is deceptively simple, yet the game play most definitely is not. Simply maneuver your bike over all obstacles and capture the flags to move on to the next level. But maneuvering over the obstacles isn't as easy as it looks. When I first tried the game I though that it was mountain biking so I attempted to move quickly through the level. This just caused me to crash into and off of nearly all of the obstacles. Once I realized that this was about trials riding and not mountain biking I eased off the gas a bit and began to use a little finesse. Ahhh...success at last.

Now, to be sure, some of the moves defy the laws of physics, but there is a tutorial that walks you through the gameplay. Most of the moves can be conducted with the rocking switch on your Palm or Treo device, but you will need your other hand to press the buttons to change directions. The game also comes with a freely downloadable module that allows you to design your own levels. Evidently there is quite a cult following developing around the game as there is even an online hall of fame where you can compete with other players and post recordings of your best runs through the various levels.

So if your like me and need a diversion from the frustrations of business travel or you finish your copy of Dirt Rag in just two or three visits to the bathroom, Bike or Die may be just the game for you.

The family that Keen's together...

Can I just tell you...Keen's are the ultimate go anywhere do anything shoe. I picked up a pair for everyone in the family this summer. Today we hiked up to the top of Barnegat Lighthouse. Fun. But I think I may need a vacation from the vacation. Heading home tomorrow.

"Two pork roll, egg, and cheese's on a hard roll, please"

Just can't get it in northern VA. That's why every time I come up to New Jersey all semblance of a diet I may be trying to stick to goes out the window. The food is just better here - at least everyday type food that is. Pizza, bagels, cheesesteaks, Boar's Head deli meat, bread, even burgers are better.

Well today Jack (age seven) and I broke away from the clan and went on a bike ride to Neptune Market. I just love the fact that my boy is getting old enough to go on some significant jaunts with me. We did this last year too, so I guess you can say it's become our little tradition.

We cruised north on Long Beach Blvd a mile and a half to the 'market.' It's really a general store. The boulevard has a narrow strip for a bike lane along either side of the road. Lots of obstacles...joggers, sandy driveways, drainage sewers, and packs of kids riding their bikes to the beach on the wrong side of the road...all while cars are whizzing by at 40 mph. Very nerve wracking for a father trying to teach his son the rules of the road.

Anyway, once Jack and I got to the Neptune we parked the bikes, squeezed past a few of the regulars getting their morning paper, and hopped on a pair of stools at the counter. These were 360 stools. Jack started spinning around "daddy...I remember this...I remember that..."

The grill hand turned to take our order.

"Two pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwhiches please."

"On a hard roll, right?"

"Of course."

Let me tell you about a pork roll, egg, and cheese on a hard roll. It's like a cheesesteak for the morning. I'm sure some of you are asking "what's pork roll?" I'll try to explain. Pork roll (aka Taylor Ham - Taylor is a brand name you know) is a kind of mild sausage that is sliced from a "roll" and resembles bologna. There's just a mild spice and a slight sweetness to it. When the grease from this sweet goodness mixes with the buttery but loosely cooked egg and melted cheese all kinds of taste sensations ooze from the flattened hard roll.

Now the hard roll is a bit of a misnomer. The hard roll is actually soft. Only it's outer shell is hard. Actually, more like...crisp. Picture the crisp you get from an authentic flaky croissant. This outer shell is very thin and delicate while the inside of the roll is extremely light and airy. The roll...this texture...is absolutely critical to the experience as it will soak up the greasy mixture the way buttered italian bread soaks up spaghetti sauce.

Needless to say, I wolfed mine down in about 15 seconds. Jack (and let me tell you, that boy can eat) on the other hand could only down a little more than half. So I did what every self respecting father would do and chomped down on his other half.

After Jack bought some Bubble Tape (would you believe gum that's rolled up like a tape measure?) with the loose change from the shore house we cycled back and got ready to spend the day at the beach.

As we arrived Jack proclaimed "daddy...I'm still full." And after one and a half of those bad boys, so was I. Would you believe they carried us through a day of boogie boarding, lasting until dinnertime?

Later that night Jack and I went out on the dock together just the two of us. "Daddy...can we bike to the Neptune Market again tomorrow? This time I'm gonna eat the whole thing."

So we did.

And there you have the story of a boy, a dad, two bikes, and five pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwhiches.