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| My bike at work. I rode it there! |
Long story short, Governor Brown vetoed a bill that would have required automobile drivers to keep a buffer of at least three feet between their vehicle and cyclists while driving. Brown's apparent reason for vetoing it?
Find out -- and see how the GreenTech Geek descended into the swirling, inescapable vortex of San Diego cycledom -- after the jump.
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| Pee Wee, my folding electric bike, on the Embarcadero, during a scenic ride home from work. |
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| Briefly "occupying" the Sheriff's station in downtown San Diego with the Occupy San Diego Riders. |
I alternate between taking my all-terrain bike (a Gary Fisher Cake 3 mountain bike converted into a more comfortable ride with higher beach cruiser handlebars and a fat beach cruiser seat) or my Busettii Mini 40 folding electric bike, named Pee Wee.
After a few days riding to and from work, it became clear to me that, on those days, the workday went by faster, I had more energy, and I actually looked forward to getting to work. Then a funny thing happened. I started wanting to ride my bikes more and more, not just to work, but to friends' houses, to coffee shops, to the Gaslamp for a movie -- all places I would normally drive my Prius to get to, or perhaps my scooter, moped or motorcycle.
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| Here's an idea. On your next trip, instead of renting a car or paying taxi fares, by a cheap bike off Craigslist for $50 or so. A way cheaper and more enjoyable way to see a new city. Like I did on a recent trip to Vancouver, Canada. Here's the trusty Craigslist steed that took me all over that beautiful northern city. |
Critical Mass? You'll see me there some months. Urban Bike & Social Club? Becoming a regular. Occupy San Diego Riders? Been building up the courage to mix my pedaling with politics on more frequent rides with this inspirational group of young freedom fighters.
I cycle because it makes me feel good, because I know it's good for me, because I'm meeting the coolest people, and because it lets me see the city I love through new eyes.
It's also making me painfully aware that there is much room for improvement in San Diego's cycling infrastructure. We need many more miles of bike lanes and dedicated bike paths. Our weather supports cycling year-round; so should our infrastructure.
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| Critical Mass empowerment sticker handed to me on the December ride by a friendly chap riding a hand-operated recumbent bicycle. |
And I'm not the only one saying so. It just so happens that, as I found myself descending deeper and deeper into this newfound love of cycling, a 4-part miniseries aired on PBS called Designing Healthy Communities.
In the first episode, evidence is shown that communities with lots of bike lanes and bike paths (think Boulder, Colorado; Eugene, Oregon; Copenhagen, Denmark) have on average much lower rates of obesity and diabetes and up to 15 years added to the lifespan of the average citizen ... compared to communities with few bike lanes or bike paths. Have a look at a preview of this eye-opening program: Episode 1 Preview: Retrofitting Suburbia.
If you have a bike, get on it and come out on one of the group rides linked above. Or try taking it to work, if that's feasible. You can do it. But be careful; you may find yourself getting addicted as quickly as I did.
