This Bike Commuter's Favorite Day - 12/20

From here on the days get longer, until late June at any rate.


Bike trail along Four Mile Run approaching the south end of National (Reagan) Airport. The snow and ice from last week has cleared nicely.

These days I ride in as the sun is just coming up and then home in the dark. Even if there is plenty of cold weather ahead, more light and less dark is good.

Slow Bike as Fast as Fast Bike for Commuting (says MD)

This article in the UK's online Telegraph refers to a medical journal's study that demonstrates that commuting on a cheap steel bike is every bit as fast as commuting on an expensive carbon fiber (or fibre, since he's British) one. The author is a medical doctor, which apparently is considered enough to make up for the many methodological problems with his "study."

As is often the case, the comments are more entertaining than the article itself. Some completely miss the point and a few quibble that the author's "expensive bike" wasn't expensive enough to properly compare to the cheap steel bike.

The best comment includes this:

But the best bike is better, although the difference is marginal. Carbon fibre means the bike is lighter and stiffer and more efficient to ride at any given speed. I would suspect the doctor's heart rate and power output will be slightly higher on his steel bike compared to his carbon bike. If you are very fit and taking part in events at a reasonably accomplished level, spending more on a bike is worthwhile.

I particularly found the article interested since the good doctor's equipment (two bikes being compared) is similar to mine - a steel bike around 30 pounds and a carbon fiber around 20 pounds. (One difference is that I spent about the same amount on each, where he spent very little on his steel bike that he bought used and also less than I spent on either on his expensive carbon "fibre" bike - he's more fiscally sensible than I am, I guess.) And the commuting distance, around 40-45 minutes in good weather - is also similar.

My impression is that the increase in the average speed when riding the lighter bike (and using messenger bag rather than panniers) may not even be two miles per hour - say, from 15 to 16 mph average (for the whole ride, including sitting at lights and various slowing down for this and that). But the enjoyment of riding a faster bike and being able to accelerate much faster if I want to is more than enough that I choose to ride carbon fiber whenever that bike fits with the weather.

The suggestion that the cyclist losing weight is simpler and cheaper than paying big bucks to buy a lighter bike is something one sees in print often enough, but it doesn't work for me. By the same logic, I can argue that a particular tool (say a wrench)is just as good as a more expensive one that applies more force if the purchaser went to gym and worked out more and was stronger. Besides, if most people could lose five pounds or ten that easily, presumably they would.

Commuting in the Snow

Snowed yesterday here in Washington DC during the day; took me about 75 minutes I would guess to get home in Arlington (about ten miles). I was riding my Traitor Ruben bike that is a steel road bike with disk brakes. Riding in the dark is slow, even with a headlight.

This morning I rode in, having reduced the tire pressure to around 60 psi and swapping in regular pedals instead of clipless, and it went pretty good although I guess it took me around an hour - so, ten miles per hour avg. Actually, not so bad.



Usually here the ground isn't frozen solid and I need to stay on the bike trails, which get to be a mess with snow, ice and ruts. Today the ground is frozen solid so I went across the field for fun - a little more pedal energy required but easy to steer in a straight line.



Much of the rest of the way I road on the streets, which are nicely cleared. I try to stay out of heavy traffic - only one angry beep from a motorist.

Someone in Shirlington runs a small snow plow down the bike trail along Arlington Mill Road as far as Walter Reed, clearing about four-tenths of a mile of bike trail. What a nice thing to do!

Return home addendum - the ride home started around sunset but was mostly in the dark. It was a good ride, although tiring. I managed to maintain a pretty good pace. The trails were clearer of snow than in the morning so I skipped riding on the streets - also, in the dark at night the local commuters have much less interest in sharing "their" roads and I don't want to get clonked.

Most of the people riding in the snow were using mountain bikes - while intuitively it would seem like a big mountain bike tire would give better traction in the snow, you are also pushing the big front tire through the snow, which on balance seems like more work. The 25 mm tires I am using have almost no tread; it's the lowered inflation pressure that gives traction (I think). Anyway, it isn't tread!

The worst part this time is that the road salt used ends up all over the bike if any riding is done on the roads (which I did) and the stuff is just annoying to get off, but clearly should come off since it can't do any of the parts or the finish any good (aside from looking bad).

Washington Post story on growing popularity of cycling in D.C.

"Bicycle program makes District easier place to get around, residents say"

Article is about both the success of Capital Bikeshare and the unexpected (apparently) growth of cycling as a way to get around fashionably in the district.

. . . officials say they are stunned by the immediate popularity of Capital Bikeshare, a network of 1,100 communal red bicycles scattered around the District and Arlington County for residents and tourists.

I have certainly seen more and more people using these cycles, some in the morning in places that indicate they are using as part of their commute.

But generally there is room for improvement . . .

Andy D. Clarke, president of the Washington-based League of American Bicyclists, said the District still has a long way to go to catch up to Boulder, Colo., San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and other West Coast cities that promote bicycling.

But Clarke said the District and New York have moved into the "top tier" for short-term gains in launching cycling-related initiatives.

20 Percent of Bike Commuters in One Year . . .

Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) study that tracked bike commuters and monitored the types and severity of injuries, described in the BikePortland blog. (With a link the published study.) This text got the most interest:

Approximately 20% of bicycle commuters experienced a traumatic event and 5% required medical attention during 1 year of commuting. Traumatic events were not related to rider demographics, safety practices, or experience levels. These results imply that injury prevention should focus on improving the safety of the bicycle commuting environment.

Steel Bike in Morning

On my commute I sometimes am lucky enough to chat with some interesting riders. Friday I came upon a young fellow riding a 1985 Fuji steel racing bike that he had "restored" and somewhat updated.

This is a similar looking Fuji from that year. (I should keep my camera in a more reachable location when riding, I guess.)

The bike was beautiful - it looked new (well, other than the design) although he had removed all the decals so I had to ask him what it was. Very nice lugged frame and fork. He had reused the original derailleurs, shifters, and even brake levers. The one concession to modern cycling was to replace the so-called 27 inch wheels with 700 size that he hand built and to put on modern Campy dual pivot brakes.

I interested to see he was riding on 32 mm tires rather than 23 or some more racing bike-typical size. Hmmm. And he reported that while he had started putting in 80 PSI he was now closer to 60 and it seemed fine, speedy enough. And he obviously finds people like me, die hards in the "tires can't be too thin and have too much PSI" camp amusing. (23 mm and 120 PSI in rear, 110 in the front is what I have. I am rethinking this.)

Int'l Bike (or Walk) to School Month, Day ?

Arlington County tells me that October is "International Walk or Bike to School Month," and that on Wed, Oct. 6 (rain date: Oct. 13), Arlington Public Schools will participate by encouraging parents to walk and bike to school with their children.

More information is available.

One assumes in much of the world every day is walk to school day.

Bike commute home

Photos of a typical commute home on Flickr taken with a camera I attached to the handlebars of my bike. The results aren't fabulous but better than I expected for a Nikon CoolPix (and given the bouncy aspect of it all).


Following a rider using a carbon fiber leg, steel one-speed bike