False Environmentalism

With the release this year of the White House Climate Change Report, there was a lot of talk in the media about the topic of climate change and environmentalism.  There's the usual talk about the consequences of climate change and some of the ways we can start to slow down its effects (since honestly, at this point it's probably unavoidable).  In light of this, I again start to think of the massive green-washing that's taken place and the false environmentalism that many progressives seem to believe in.  While I'm normally a fairly optimistic person, I can't help but feel that if the most progressive among us can't make actual "green" life choices, we're pretty much SOL.

Want an example?  That Prius you're driving might be getting better gas mileage than the SUV someone else drives, but you're still likely driving it far too often.  About half of the trips people in metro areas make are less than three miles and over a quarter are less than one mile.  Yet autos are still by far the dominant mode of travel for these trips.  Let me emphasize - THIS IS INCREDIBLY UNNECESSARY.  One more time - if you're traveling under one mile, there's almost no reason to drive.  Only your biggest loads couldn't be carried by bike or foot.  Even if you're driving a Prius, it's still an unnecessary drive and a trip that could easily be avoided.  Not only are trips of this distance unnecessary, they're some of the worst environmentally.  Your car has yet to warm up and produces far more pollutants.  With some small changes in behavior, a huge number of the trips currently taken by automobile could be replaced by walking, biking, and transit.  Would this solve our climate problems?  Not by a long shot, but it would represent a significant change in the right direction and one that's currently not happening to a large enough extent.  Increases in mileage efficiency are great, but the most efficient car is still far less so than going by bike or foot.

The term RINO gets tossed around by Tea Party types to signify someone who is a Republican by title or name, but not in behavior and voting (at least by their standards).  But the opposite of this also exists - what I would term either the EINO or PINO (Environmentalist or Progressive In Name Only).  How can we expect conservatives, who don't even "believe" in climate change, to change their behavior when most progressives don't either.  While many out there are working hard to bring about real change at a personal and larger level, far too many of us aren't.  It's time to change that, bring about real, progressive change.  Get off your butt - walk or bike to those close destinations.  You'll feel better about yourself mentally and physically.  Plus you'll actually be taking cars (and their emissions) off the road.  Truly stand up (really, I mean it, get up and walk!) for what you believe in and make change happen.  Remember - don't be an EINO!

Blackstack Brewing

As I mentioned previously, I'm going to work on detailing (and rating) bike parking options at St. Paul breweries. Some are awesome (I'm looking at you, Dual Citizen and Urban Growler) and some well, suck. For the first in the series, I'm starting at one that is pretty far toward the "suck" end of the spectrum, Blackstack Brewing.

Blackstack has potential. To begin with, it's pretty accessible by bike. While Minnehaha and Prior aren't the nicest bike facilities, like most in St. Paul, they exist and neither road is terrible to bike on. Plus, you can access it from nice quiet neighborhood streets from the interior of Hamline-Midway. I guess technically you can get there via the "bike lanes" on Pierce Butler, if you like biking through debris while being passed by a steady stream of high speed cars and semis. Though I bike there at times, I'm assuming most people avoid those "lanes". But again, by St. Paul standards, probably a B for accessibility by bike.

Then there's the situation once you're there. You start in a pretty tight parking lot that's always crowded (good for them and Can Can Wonderland). Up until recently, they had no bike parking. This for a location with a brewery, mini-golf, coffee roaster, axe throwing, and tool library. So just on that aspect alone they probably should fail. The first time I went I complained about there being no parking to all three of the main businesses in the complex at the time (Can Can, Blackstack and True Stone). They seemed aware and sympathetic and even said I could bring my bike inside if needed. I was told the building owner was "looking into adding some". Which is always a bad sign. Building owners clearly almost never ask anyone who actually rides a bike what good bike parking should look like. Or seem incapable of finding any of the excellent resources available FOR FREE from Dero about bike parking. So I was sadly not surprised when some of the worst bike racks ever showed up. Now granted, they did *technically* add bike parking. And the times I've visited, it has been well used. But I will never park on it because it's almost completely insecure.

Above we have Blackstack's bike parking. The Marin is parked in about the most secure way possible, but I'm still guessing you could clip that bar curving up pretty easily. The next few bikes, not so secure.

Unless I missed it, this Trek is literally not even locked to the rack. So while someone couldn't ride it away, being locked to itself, you could easily throw it in a car and run. Really tough to secure it with that rack being so low.

Next, this bike could also easily be stolen. Granted, those aren't quick release, so it would take a little more work, but barely, and all this poor sucker would come back to would be a front wheel. Bummer.

The parking is also rather tough to access. While the bollards might actually help a bit and provide some protection from drivers parking their cars, they also make the overall space really tight and tough to maneuver, especially given the lack of overall space for the bike parking here.

And if all that isn't enough, you're also right next to the smokers' pole. So if someone is taking a smoke break while you arrive or leave (or recently finished and didn't put out their cigarette), you get to enjoy secondhand smoke with your bike parking - BONUS! But seriously, this is just another factor in making this some of the worst bike parking I've seen.

Given all this, it's not surprising that like myself, you often see that people have locked their bikes to the railings of the entrance. Given that people clearly want to bike here, Blackstack really needs to add capacity and up the quality. This goes for the entire complex, Can Can and True Stone aren't immune from these issues either. While the site earns a St. Paul B for access, it gets a solid D- for parking, simply because it does actually have some, and really should get an F. Though it's the closest brewery to my house, I pretty much avoid the place because I don't feel welcome as a person cycling there, which is really too bad as it's among the easier breweries to bike to in the city. 

Bike Parking in St. Paul

The types of bike parking you find vary drastically by location and to me, too often reflect how much a given business (or the property owner) value or acknowledge that people might arrive at their business by a means other than driving. As an example of this, and as a resource to other people biking hopefully, I'm going to do a series of posts featuring different bike parking options at breweries in St. Paul, Minnesota.

But before jumping into that, I'd like to offer a couple of examples that do a good job documenting how people who bike are treated in St. Paul. Yes, we have a few bikes lanes (mostly narrow, door-zone lanes) and some great MUP options, but in general, the city is a long way from being a safe-biking mecca, let alone a place where anyone but the "strong and fearless" rider type feels comfortable.

Again, the above pictures pretty well illustrate what it's like to bike in St. Paul. You are tolerated, and in some cases have basic accommodations made for you, such as squeezing in the most basic bike lanes or a bike rack added here or there. But as soon as any conditions deviate from optimal, right when you need those facilities the most, they disappear. People freely block the bike lanes, hardly even making an effort to get closer to the curb and bike racks are ignored and not cleared of snow, in addition to being bent and damaged and basically unusable. While these things are absolutely complaints and damning about how seriously our city takes its commitment to improving conditions for people cycling, I'm also going to try and highlight the work of awesome people who are doing things right and setting us on a path for a new standard of bike infrastructure.

Lack of justice

Late 2015 to 2016 saw two more black men dead at the hands of police in Minnesota.  At this point, a tragically familiar, but no less shocking, outcome of systematic racism and a militarized police force.  Both were not all that different in age from myself.  In such cases, it's impossible to not try and put yourself in their shoes.  Both just trying to live their lives, but both living in a very different world than myself, largely due to something as seemingly benign as the color of their skin.  One is claimed to have resisted arrest, a crime certainly not punishable by death in any state or jurisdiction in this country.  The other, according to currently available information, followed every possible rule in his interaction with law enforcement, and still wound up dead.  Some will blindly claim, no matter what, that the officers were justified in their actions.  Any claims otherwise are sometimes targeted as "anti-cop".

I would argue exactly the opposite.  Demanding justice for improper or unjustified use of force is decidedly pro-law enforcement.  Law enforcement officials themselves should strive to bring "bad cops" to justice.  Proliferation of bad cops and improper use of force makes work harder and more dangerous for the officers who are just, unbiased, and trying to protect and serve.  Those actions, and inactions on the part of prosecutors and district attorneys, only breed and foster mistrust and a justified view that the justice system is anything but just for people of color.  While some officers continue to treat all people of color like thugs or criminals who only make up a small portion of that population, it is hard to justify not judging all officers in the same way.  That a "bad cop" can be completely exonerated and resume their job speaks ill of the entire force, and broader system, leading to citizen doubt over the role and integrity of law enforcement.  If a system cannot regulate itself and grows too powerful, we must do what we can to push back and fight for tougher regulation and expect more from those we entrust to protect us.

With all this in mind however, if you're a white person in the US, you have likely never encountered the kind of harassment, mistreatment, and systematic racism people of color are exposed to every single day around this country.  If you make statements or have thoughts that had they should "pull up their pants and follow the laws",  you are buying into stereotypes.  You've grown up with privilege so ingrained in our society that you can't pretend to know what it's like to fear the police, to not see them as either helpful at best, or at worst, a benign, annoying force who gave you a speeding ticket.  You don't have to worry that an officer will shoot you during that stop.  But for people of color, it's a very real concern.  A concern that is amplified by thoroughly proven racial profiling that exists nearly everywhere.  You're more likely to be pulled over as a person of color, and those interactions are more likely to involve use of force.

These people, and don't forget for a second that these are people who are now dead, will never see justice.  Their fate was decided by officers who deemed themselves judge, jury, and executioner in a split second.  They didn't have the benefit of a jury of their peers, representation by an attorney, or the other aspects of the justice system (ignoring the fact that often justice is perverted even within this system).  That isn't the code and beliefs professed by our society and it can't continue.

What is a cyclist?

As a "cyclist", I'm many things depending on who you ask (or who volunteers their opinion). Most commonly, I'm probably annoying. I'm in your way, riding too slowly, and should be on the sidewalk (despite what the law and safety data show). I'm also arrogant, elitist, poor, rich, white, minority, too fast, too slow, an environmentalist, definitely a scofflaw who runs stop signs and red lights with impudence, a target, stupid, entitled, and any number of other things.

In a way, you're right. Cyclists are all of those things and none of those things. There are arrogant cyclists, poor cyclists, rich cyclists, elitist cyclists, dangerous cyclists, slow cyclists, and fast cyclists. The point is, I am not every cyclist and every cyclist is not me. Chris Bucchere killed Sutchi Hui - I didn't. I've never even come close to hitting a person and ride with great care around others and most cyclists I observe act the same way. Can you say the same? Do you speed or text while driving? I encourage you to really think through your own behavior before admonishing others and painting us all with the same brush.

What am I really? I'm a person, just like you. I have just chosen to get around by a different means most of the time. I still deserve to get where I'm going safely. Believing that my life is more important than a couple seconds of your time to slow down and pass at a safe distance and speed doesn't make me elitist or entitled, it means I'm human. If you're so selfish to believe your few seconds are more precious than my safety, you're not human - you're awful and need to re-evaluate your priorities.

Enjoy the ride

Something I'll never understand is why more people don't try commuting or running errands by bike. Millions of people ride bikes for fun and exercise, yet when it comes to getting somewhere they could easily travel to by that same way, they choose a way that costs them money and is generally frustrating. No one likes being part of a traffic jam, yet most of those same millions who ride a bike for fun leave it at home and choose getting stuck in traffic in their cars instead. Yes, there are some circumstances that might "necessitate" driving: working more than 10 miles from your home, grocery shopping for a family of 15, etc. But most trips aren't actually for those purposes and are only a few miles, which is quick and easy to cover on a bike. Why not save the money and ride your bike? Study after study shows bike commuters are among the most satisfied commuters (I'm sure even those that control for our smug-induced happiness). Yet people don't seem to get it or try to make a change. Why?

Driving Reality

Consume any media from a major outlet and you'll likely be bombarded with car commercials depicting the "freedom" afforded by car travel. Either someone is driving down open roads or they somehow magically have streets all to themselves in a dense urban area. In both cases, the truth is vastly different. Think of the last time you were driving in the downtown area a big city. Were you the only one on the road? Unless it was the middle of the night, probably not. The reality is usually gridlocked traffic, honking horns, and frustration. Reality, even on most freeways, looks more like this:

Now of course I don't blame car companies. They're only giving people what they want, right? A big house in the 'burbs and a nice fast car (to sit in traffic)? Yet time and time again, the happiest commuters are those that have short commutes, especially those who commute by bike or foot. So maybe people don't actually want this but see no alternative? But in reality, you probably have a choice. Sure, some "super commuters" may have no choice but to drive to their jobs, but for most people, there are other options, most obviously biking, walking, and public transit. Some of these might not be as "fast" or "easy" as driving, but they are generally a whole lot less stressful (you can relax and read or get exercise), better for your health (more than 30,000 people were killed in automobile crashes last year, and the year before that, and the year before that), and cheaper (biking and walking are essentially free and transit is a bargain). Speed and "ease" aren't everything.

Another huge deviation from reality is parking. Too many people expect to just have free, plentiful parking at their disposal, just like in the commercials. Heaven forbid if there isn't an open space right in front of your destination! But the reality of parking is again hugely problematic. It's often over-supplied, leading to scenes such as:

This horrible waste of public space happens all over the United States. Parking (and traffic lanes) are usually built for peak capacity, which only happens a few times a day at best, so most of the time they sit open like this, wasting public space that could be home to businesses, green space, or wider sidewalks. Of course, then at peak times, some areas will look like this parking garage in Manhattan:

Again, a huge amount of space dedicated to the storage of a completely wasteful form of transport for most people! That's not to mention the huge amount of money wasted on paying for this parking! But you never see this reality in car commercials. And speaking of wasted money, no matter where you're driving (even if it is the "freedom" of the open road), you're going to eventually have to fill up your gas tank:

Car companies do show people at gas stations a lot, but never what they're spending and how much that adds up. I can't remember the last time I worried about the price of gas, since I have to buy it so infrequently. 

So what's the solution? Well, as I said, for some people, nothing much, unless you finally get a job closer to home or move closer to your job. But for many of us, exploring a few easy alternatives to driving isn't the barrier it might appear. You probably have a capable bike in your garage already. Pump up the tires and ride to the store or walk instead of driving! Far too often I see people drive mere blocks to the store and come out with less than a full bag of groceries. Just walk instead and get a little fresh air and exercise. Try to take the bus or train to work. Bring a book or some paperwork and see how much you can get done on that "longer" commute. Instead of arriving drained and stressed from driving, you'll arrive with a headstart to your day! While biking isn't always completely stress free (if confronted with hostile drivers or bad infrastructure), I'll take it over driving any day myself. I arrive feeling energized and ready to start my day. Riding is usually a blast and it's free. Plus, you get to avoid the frustration of idiots like this:

Next time you're shown the "freedom" of driving, think twice and consider what might actually make you feel free. FREE YOURSELF from the stress, cost, and harmful effects of driving.  Enjoy some fresh air, meet your neighbors or complete strangers, and see the world from a different perspective!

Bike "Friendly" Businesses

I really do appreciate the efforts that some businesses make to appear bike-friendly.  Putting bike racks out front does go a long way over nothing at all and I certainly appreciate steps like that.  Especially when the racks are fairly prominently placed so you don't have to walk through a sea of car parking after locking up your bike.  But bike racks alone do not a bike-friendly business make.  There are plenty of ways that this can be messed up.  One that I've observed far too often is racks that would otherwise be useful clogged up with shopping carts and other things.  I've seen two particularly egregious examples of this at a Target and Safeway.  In each case, instead of leaving bike parking open and creating an inviting situation, the parking is blocked with shopping carts.  In the case of Safeway in El Cerrito, CA, it almost appears as though this was being done intentionally by someone working there.  Luckily in this case, there are additional racks to use.  In the case of Target, it appears to be the case of someone putting the cart there by mistake.  Hopefully an employee removed it later so the person with their bike parked there isn't crowded out and can easily access their bike.

Another way that businesses can fail in this way is to provide absolutely worthless bike parking.  Again, Safeway is an offender here.  Again, the racks are located in a decent location, near the front entrance of the store.  But if you want to actually lock your bike up securely, this type of rack is worthless.  You can use the ends, as this bike owner did, but that means the whole rack can hold two bikes.  Otherwise, you're only able to lock your front wheel which can be easily stolen with or without quick-releases.  

May the Health Be With You

There are lots of reasons to ride and I'm sure I'll cover a lot of them in due time.  But for me, one of the best reasons is to stay healthy.  There was a time in my life when I wasn't very healthy.  I wasn't fat or entirely out of shape.  I played soccer and could run just fine.  But it would hurt.  I got shin splints.  I would be sore after games.  I didn't even realize at the time that all this was a product of being out of shape.  Finally, I decided to make a change and started doing a spin class on top of the soccer.  I slowly dropped some pounds and got faster on the bike and on the soccer field.  I didn't hurt after the games.  I could hike for hours without getting tired or sore.  When I moved, I started riding my bike regularly.  Eventually, my commute consisted of about ten miles of riding.  At this point, I could ride 50-60 hilly miles at a quick pace without a problem.  I would ride to parties up in the Berkeley hills (see photo below for views) and people would be shocked and comment on how "intense" I was.  But it was just something I enjoyed.  All of this isn't to brag or anything remotely like that; as a Minnesotan, it's not in our nature.  It's more to state that just about anyone can get to this point.  Riding is easy to start and the more you do it, the more you enjoy it and the easier it gets.  To me at this point, stopping riding seems harder than starting.  If I go a few days without being on a bike, I can start to feel the difference and feel sluggish and anxious.  Your body needs regular exercise to keep in shape.  Without, you'll just start to fall apart, simple as that.
If more of us rode bikes or walked to get where we need to go, we would save billions of dollars in healthcare costs.  Ailments and conditions wouldn't magically go away, but many of them would be significantly lessened.  Even small amounts of activity count for a lot if you're currently not doing anything.  Say that instead of driving that half mile to the grocery store or your friend's house, you walk instead.  By walking there and back you've walked about 20 minutes.  The CDC recommends that you get 22 minutes of exercise each day, so by simply walking that short distance, you're done.  It's really not hard to get enough exercise each day, you just have to make the right choices.  I love riding to get that exercise and feel so much better for doing so.  I guarantee, start getting exercise and you will, too!

Prepare for Zombies, Ride Your Bike

I'm a big fan of zombie stories. There are so many fantastic parallels to our modern lives - disease outbreaks, societal breakdown, and resource scarcity, to name just a few. Many different sources have covered strategies for surviving a zombie outbreak, most famously and completely in the Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks. REI also has a pretty great guide from the outdoors-enthusiast perspective. But one thing that most of these guides don't stress enough is the sheer, awesome utility of a bike in the event of a zombie outbreak (Brooks does give it due cred, but misses some key points). The simple bicycle is awesome for the reasons I'll summarize below.

The ultimate choice for Zombie Survival transportation!

First and foremost - a bike never runs out of gas. Almost any zombie movie you watch will feature some struggle with cars running out of gas or people fighting over limited gas supplies. Inevitably, some survivors die in the conflict or are caught when zombies catch up to their powerless cars. Once it's out of gas, a car is just a cage, holding you until the zombies come. Windows are no match for the beating of dozens of undead fists of the zombies that have surrounded you while you thought you were still safe!

Second, bikes are essentially silent, while cars are loud. Go stand next to a freeway and you will instantly see how loud a car is (and hundreds of them especially). Since noise attracts the undead, the quieter you can be the better! A properly maintained bike will cruise along without creaks or squeaks, carrying you in silent safety from the undead.

As alluded to above, bikes are generally quick and easy to maintain. If you know how to fix a flat, lube your chain, change/repair the chain, and have a few spare parts, a solid steel-framed bike could last you basically forever. Best of all, all the tools for this would weigh no more than a few pounds and many could be easily found as well. Didn't stock up on your chain lube? Just find a broken down car and drain the oil and use that!

For a basic kit, I'd suggest some tubes, tires (you can get nice folding tires now that hardly take up space), chain lube, chains, a basic multi-tool, a nice floor pump that fits both presta and shrader valves, and a set of hex wrenches (or use the Park 3-Way Wrench, which could double as a close-combat weapon!). If you have a group of cyclists, you can easily split up the kit and have an even better supplied tool kit with which you can fix just about anything. Plus, you can use many of the same parts on different bikes, eliminating the need to carry too many extras.

Next - you won't get stuck on a bike like in a car. Again, watch any zombie movie or TV show (The Walking Dead is a perfect example) and you'll see the group of survivors get stuck on a freeway crowded with abandoned cars. This would never happen on a bike, where you could easily weave around the stalled cars. In addition, you can easily take the right bike off-road. Any decent mountain bike will give you a huge advantage over a car. No matter how well a car is built for going off-road, a bike is better prepared and can go more places. And on a bike, if the going gets too tough, you can get off and push or carry it.

Lastly, while most people suggest that a bike is limited by what it can carry, that's definitely not true! You can easily outfit your bike with panniers or a trailer to carry a ton of stuff or choose one specifically designed for the purpose like an Xtracycle, Surly Big Dummy, or a cargo bike! A cargo bike isn't quite as adept at going off-road and can't be carried as easily, but it's still much more versatile than a car, plus has all the other benefits discussed above!

The folks in Portland have outlined the great utility of the bike for disaster relief and many of the same principles would apply to a zombie outbreak: http://bikeportland.org/2013/07/13/disaster-relief-trials-bring-30-miles-of-urban-apocalyptica-back-to-portland-90373  So if you want to be the best prepared for the undead, forget your car and outfit your bike! As a special benefit, same applies for your daily commute or running errands - your bike is often the best vehicle for the job!