Albuquerque in 2035

Been poking my way through Mid-Region Council of Government's 2035 Metropolitan Transportation Plan and let me chime in on what I think it says about ABQ.

First, you know the development on the westside, southwest heights, and Rio Rancho?   Well, there's more of that in our future. Here's a quote:

By 2035 the projected level of growth combined with an imbalance between housing and
jobs will result directly, and indirectly, in:

• a doubling of vehicle miles traveled per day from 16 million to 32 million
• a leap in vehicle hours of delay from 400,000 to 1.5 million
• one million daily trips across the Rio Grande (doubled from today)
• a reduction in the labor markets captured for key employment centers
• a compromised quality of life (which is often a key factor when employers are
• choosing where to locate their businesses)
• higher transportation costs which reduce housing affordability

Second, you think your commute sucks now?   Not much is gonna change.   And the only way to really keep it about the same is to improve the bus/train system.  Check it out:

Can We Build Our Way Out?
Preliminary analysis using the region’s travel demand model was performed to show the
magnitude of shift required from single-occupant vehicle (SOV) mode to transit modes in
order to meet the anticipated increase in river crossing demand. For example, in 2035
30 to 35 percent of travelers will need to be riding transit or using another non-SOV
mode to maintain reasonable vehicle speeds on Paseo del Norte. The other river
crossings showed similar results, reinforcing the need for projects that support reliable
people movement across the river.

Yep...good bye Single Occupancy Vehicles.

But now for some juicy bits about biking.  Let's start with this acknowledgment, "A significant challenge to increasing the use of alternative modes such as walking and bicycling is changing people’s perceptions, which in large part is accomplished through education efforts."   Right...let's end the perception that biking is not a viable way to get around our fair city.  It is.   The more of us who do it; the more the planners will design our roadways with us in mind.  

But this is not to say that biking/walking as it stands right now doesn't have some problems and pose some risks.   They write, "Safety is a considerable challenge because bicyclists and pedestrians take on
disproportionate risk with every trip, particularly in New Mexico and its urban areas."  Albuquerque doesn't compare favorably to other cities in bicyclist and pedestrian fatalities.  The report simply tells many of us what we already know, biking/walking is downright dangerous here.

The report really does contain a wealth of useful information about what getting around Albuquerque looks like and what it will look like.

What's guiding their decision making? It's nice to see that the Obama administration's Department of Transportation has implemented some forward thinking initiatives in regards to making cities more livable.

Ultimately, though, planning can only do so much.   The rest is up to us.   So talk to your county commissioner or city councilor and demand that our streets are safer for bikers and pedestrians, then park your car and enjoy the fresh air.

Specimen #2

The doctor says he wants another specimen and hands Mindy the small cup and says we can collect it at home.

Sperm Bike

The catch?   Once the specimen is collected, I have 30 minutes to get it to the small fridge in the Andrology Lab.  At 30 minutes, the little guys die and the sample doesn't give a true picture.   And this time, we want to collect it at home.  Unlike last time, this time is actually downright pleasant, but at the end now there's no bonding, no resting, no sitting back.  It's pull the clothes on, pull the cloth bag over my shoulders, sunglasses down, and on the bike.


By my quick calculations this trip would take maybe 10 minutes (barring no traffic problems) by car.  On bike, maybe 20 and that leaves the 5 it takes to get dressed and ready and maybe 5 to lock up the bike and walk to the lab.   We're cutting it close.

I guess nature thinks life would be more convenient with a car too.

My Other Bike is an SUV

Mindy and I were talking with a friend this morning, and the subject of how we are doing, how we are navigating/handling this came up.

We showed all the various accoutrements:  the rear rack and coffee cup holder on Mindy's bike and the fenders and permanent lights on my bike. Then Mindy said something I thought was curious and stuck with me throughout the day.  She noted that when she had a car it was a station wagon, and it was like another closet.  Her bike and its cup holder and rack, with a yoga mat strapped to it, was really just a sort of "station wagon" and my bike, with its fancy lights, slick wheels, fixed gear. was more of a "sports car"-- a cheap Italian sports car.

Villano Single Speed w/ Flip-flop rear hub

What I thought was strange was at how easily the metaphor came to her. And how easily we all just laughed and nodded our heads in understanding.  Cars have infiltrated our psyche, become something other than just a mode of transportation.

Now, as a writer, I'm sort of fascinated by words, by how words work.   So here's a mode of transportation that really didn't become even mainstream until maybe 70 years ago, but we know what a sports car is; we know what a station wagon is, and what they say about their respective owners.   Perhaps with time we'll have to explain the rare car with words like, "His car is sort of a Fixie," or "His friend drove us up the mountain in his car that's like a "mountain bike" or "We put all this gear in a "cyclecross" kinda car."

Sounds strange doesn't it?  But isn't that the transition I am hoping to make?  It's not just trading my car in for a bike; it's changing how I interact with the world, how I see the world.  And for that, language is a good place to start.

Grateful

Tuesday

Work left me sort of flat. Usually the act of getting in my body (yoga, running) is good medicine. Leaving work at 5pm, I knew I would head home and probably not do either one.

If I was in a car, that would simply add to the heaviness of the day. Instead, I took the long way home along the bosque and my spirit was lifted.

Spring. The air is fragrant, and I get a front row seat and a choice to commute on any path that will deliver me home a more satisfied and grateful being than when I started.

For our children

I was at the doctor's office today.

Before leaving, the nurse gave me a card to put on my car for parking.

"Oh, I don't need that, I don't have a car"...(one less thing to worry about).

She seemed interested. She wanted to know more.

"Well, we each had a car and they both gave out around the same time. I was told that it was better to get a different car - as opposed to keeping this one, as the cost was going to be more than the car was worth. So, we donated my car (after donating Don's, or, actually, leaving it on the side of Coors for KUNM to pick up) to KUNM as well."

"Well", she asks, "what about a baby?"

"We don't have a baby. Oh, I guess you know that [the appointment was at a fertility clinic]. You mean, what will we do when we have a baby? I don't know, we haven't gotten that far yet.."

Ibert Toddler Bike Seat

Yet, actually we have gotten there, at least in conversation and in theory. We figured, even if we did get a car with the arrival of a new soul, we would still like to have the car as the alternate form of transportation. We may be naive and overly ambitious, but, I do believe there are ways we can move through parenthood/child-rearing that can be both safe and philosophically sound for the entire family.

I am not suggesting an infant on my bike, but, we are a block away from a bus stop, five blocks from a hospital and in walking distance from grocery stores. The car can be used for emergencies as I will be responsible when it comes to the child's health. But, in addition to making sure my child is safe and secure, I want to raise a child who is aware of other options. I want them to know the experience of two wheels, fresh air, and the sounds of the world around them. I want to give them a chance to get it into their bones before the world starts to "re-educate" them. I want them to know that they can be in the world in many ways, not just the one that is dictated to them.

The Scofflaw-a persona poem

Bicycle, bicycle.
I like to ride my bicycle. I like to ride my bike.
I like to ride my bicycle. I like to ride it where I like.
The weather turns;
the wind blows icicles into my “what the fuck am I doing with wet hair” hair;
a bus blows by and honks only to pull up to the curb right in front of me;
a car nearly hits me because he answered his phone;
why do I ride?

After 2 minor fender benders, 2 major wrecks, and being thrown through a front window.
I realize, now, I hate cars.
I hate ‘em. I do.
They’re dangerous, dangerous, dangerous and driven by people who have nothing better to do….
than drive and eat dinner,
            drive and put on make-up,
            drive and drink coffee,
            drive and pluck hair,
            drive and put on DVDs,
            drive and text.
Drivers kill bikers.
You do.
Not that I could in prove it in court,
but all you people in such a hurry
that you compress air and gasoline in a combustible engine
then sit in your metal cages listening to Limbaugh or NPR or bad music
at 50 miles an hour want to kill me.
You do.
Me—the scofflaw cyclist riding in the middle of the lane,
            running red lights and four ways,
            jumping the curb to the sidewalk,
            crossing lawns and annoying your dog
            wearing dark clothing, refusing to signal,
            never surrendering the right of way
            as I flip you the bird when you lay on your horn.
You:   the Oblivious.
Running red lights while on your cell phone,
turning right but only looking left,
speeding up to 30 on a street posted as 18,
slamming on brakes and reversing into parking spaces without even looking,
and swinging your car door wide
right into me.
Bring it on, Oblivious!
I ain’t making it easy for you.
I’m getting off the road as fast as I can.
I’m wearing dark clothes, removing reflectors, never signaling, never using a light
because if you see me, you’ll hit me.
Give it your best shot, oblivious.
The Earth loves this scofflaw and not you.
So, when the next ice age comes and freezes the Northeast like a sno-cone
and all those obnoxious New Yorkers pile in their “never been off road” SUVS
or mini-vans with DVD players and move to New Mexico,
I’ll be the one biking by you in a traffic jam
on the Paseo Del Norte parking lot or Coors loading zone
and getting to work on time because I don’t need parking.
I like to ride my bicycle. I like to ride my bike.
I like to ride my bicycle. I like to ride it where
and how I like.
So, face it Mr. SUV, Mini-van, boom car, trucker,
I’m the future and the future is passing you by.

My Day Starts Downhill

When we had a car, and thus, another transportation option, I could quickly think of reasons why I couldn't bike to work on that day even if I had planned to do so. It could be: I woke up late or I haven't prepared my bags for the ride or I haven't had time to make lunch or it's either breakfast or biking and there would definitely not be any hanging out on the front porch listening to the song birds while drinking coffee. No, not if I had to "prepare" for the long haul to work.

Now that we have made a choice to limit our options, the excuses are all just a bunch of noise. It is kind of like when you are going through a spell of depression and each daily task appears to you as a crazy and impossible feat and then you have a fantastic talk with a friend, go for a walk or read some wise, witty and powerful words, and the depression passes and those tasks that challenged you so much just days before become simple, even interesting again.

This is the difference between having the car and stating, "It would be great if I rode my bike more or used public transportation instead of driving," and really just going for it. The excuses, like the negative voice during a period of depression, ceases to control the perception of the moment and the trajectory of your decision making.

Bike with Sunrise

These days, I don't do extra hours of planning just to make sure I am prepared for the ride and the road downhill to work. I simply treat it as I did my car. I don't wake extra early, so I can get lunch made and breakfast eaten, I wake around the same time and still have time to sip coffee on our morning side porch. It was, in a way, a matter of changing my mind around biking...

Now, I am not saying that depression is as simple as changing one's mind. But, the days when one's mind is clear and one's soul feels whole again --those are the days that can help save one's life-- when one realizes the gap between one's thoughts and one's reality. Similarly, now that we have made this particular choice, we realize that the excuses around biking when having a car (a choice), were just that, excuses...they were not real. 

Night Rider

 Bike Powered Bike Lights

Tuesday, March 15 at 9 pm, Mindy and I set out from the Santa Fe Outlet Malls to catch the 9:54 NM Rail Runner back to Albuquerque.   The ride is only 2.5 miles, but that is not the real danger this road poses.   The quickest, perhaps only, bikable route is to pedal south on NM 14.   The route has a distinctly rural feel to it meaning that it is dark.    

Now I'm pretty fearless and have a sort of connection with my bike because of lots of hours riding in the dark, sometimes intoxicated, sometimes altered in some other way.   So I know to feel the road beneath me, follow the white stripe along the shoulder (when it's there) and just keep moving through loose gravel, over random pieces of junk that seems to accumulate on the sides of roads.   My biggest fear is puncturing a tire while riding over a nail, board, etc.   Basically, riding on shoulders suck.   I want to get over as far as a I can, but most shoulders, especially if the road isn't designated as a bike route is just inviting trouble.

NM 14 is not designed with bikes in mind.   The shoulders are littered with gravel and debris and the traffic moves much faster than the posted 55.   The road widens and shrinks, meaning some people will give bikers a wide berth at times while at others cut a biker off because they are angling for the on ramp of the highway.   And there are multiple, dark, on and off ramps that you have to go through while riding.   So basically, riding this road at night is just asking for disaster.   Even with my attached bike lights (pictured above) and another one that is attached to my stem, the light is really only helping speeding drivers see me because they certainly aren't enough to ride by on this stretch of road.

Thus, it was with relief that John Flax of Theater Grottesco stressed that taking Mindy and I to the train stop was not a problem.  He has a truck and goes that way to get home.   We gladly took him up on his offer on Wednesday.

I wish I could point to a better solution than "find a ride" to the train station, but unless the state does some major improvements, this road, especially at night, is way too dangerous.

NM Rail Runner

So Mindy and I took the New Mexico Rail Runner up to Santa Fe for a workshop at Theater Grottesco.   The workshop was great and we navigated the rather smooth ride:  loading our bikes on the train, finding a seat, enjoying the view, moving up to the top when more seats opened up (the Bernalillo stop), and getting off at NM 599 (the Santa Fe Relief Route) and rode the quick jaunt on NM 14 to the Outlet Malls where the workshop was held.


I just couldn't get past the feeling on how easy the whole thing was.  It just didn't feel "right."  I guess I've grown so accustomed to having to find my own route and not really counting on more than just a relatively unobstructed highway trip in my own car at my own pace and arrangements that the trip felt more "special" than "ordinary."   


This feeling needs further elaboration and development.  I guess what I'm trying to say is how many train trips, how many arrangements will I have to make without a car to get rid of the feeling that I am really only "experimenting" in this carless thing?  When will this feel normal and riding/driving a car feel "special" or somehow foreign?

April Fools Day

Back in August we thought it would be fantastic if we could make it without a car until April As April Fool's Day approaches, we realize we have been fooled --fooled by the idea that in this society it would be a struggle, or near impossible, to live our life without a car (or two). We thought making it to April would be some major accomplishment. We thought we would be heading toward that "April Fools Day" finish line --crawling and yearning for four wheels-- and, yet, here we are, biking with no current plans to get off of two wheels!

I love biking. Maybe because it's low tech? Maybe because it limits my options, so it urges me to think more carefully about the choices I make? Maybe its because it offers a release after an intense day at work (getting in a car while tired and frustrated is a liability)? Maybe it is because it is one less "thing" into which I have to worry about pouring time, money and energy? Maybe it is because I am making a smaller impact upon this earth? Maybe it is because I am10 years old again tooling around town, and proud of it? Maybe it's because the price of gas goes up and I barely notice (except for the occasional airline fare to go visit the family in Illinois)? Maybe it's because it has given my partner and I (currently childless) a joint project where we are able to learn and grow together (he is also much better about the mechanics...which I am working on!)? Maybe it's because it was something we only "talked" about years ago and had not quite believed until the universe conspired to show us how it could be done? Maybe it is because I want my actions to match my life philosophy as much as possible? I don't want to continue make excuses about "uncomfortable changes" simply because it is not the norm. So maybe I am ready to act on wisdom of those who came before me and be the change I want to see in the world?

Drive-Throughs Have Got to Go.

Why wouldn't you serve this guy in your Drive-through?

It's One in the morning, you're 4 miles from home and you're hungry.


Had this been a normal Saturday outing, you would've headed up to the Frontier or Pita Pit and got your grub on.  But, since you're biking, why not just go home and eat then; both places are just a little bit further east so getting to them is about the same as actually going home.

But you want food.  Now.   You're hungry now.


Hey.  Doesn't McDonald's drive through stay open until 2 AM?   Yes.

But being on a bike does not mean you will actually trip the sensor so that he'll take your order.  This takes a bit to figure out, so you roll around to the window.


He still doesn't notice you and continues to flush hot water through the shake machine.   Finally, he comes up and opens the window.

"Can I get some food?"

"We can't serve you.   McDonald's policy doesn't let us serve bikers in the drive-through."

"But your dining room isn't open..."

"I'm sorry.  McDonald's policy."

"Oh well.  It's your business you're losing."

He shrugs.

You pedal home and heat up a bowl of chile.

How many other businesses or services are designed with  drivers, just drivers, in mind?   Fast Food Restaurants?   Drive-up bank Windows?  Drive-up cigarette shops?  In the quest, to reorient society so that it favors bikers and pedestrians, drive-up windows either have to change or go.

Poetry & Beer

Wow! What an incredibly warm night to be stuck inside Blackbird Buvette, but we really didn't plan on it being this warm.  So I loaded up the music stand, a mike stand, my laptop, a binder, and various cords into my cart, attached it to my fixie and away I went.

But another Poetry & Beer is not the purpose of this post.   The purpose is to talk about the ride back.

My Route Home

What I didn't anticipate was in how much drag the cart, unloaded even, is on my ride.   So as I was making my way from the low point (the underpass right by the Convention Center) up MLK to finally rest at the underpass at the highway, I had to stand up and pound on the pedals.

Off comes the jacket.   I'm sweating and its 11:30 at night.

The lesson:  no matter how loaded the cart is, you need to use the mountain bike  when you're coming home from downtown.   There's a reason for a derailleur.   I know I talked about this before, but I was assuming that was because the cart was loaded.   Not in this case.

Spring is Here!

Weather Today

So it looks like we made it through winter.

I know. I know.  It's just now March and New Mexico springs can still pack a wollop. I know. I know.   The calendar still says it's winter for 20 more days.

But, at the risk of pissing off the weather gods (who would that be anyway?   Mother Nature?)

So what does spring mean?  

Well, it generally means that the nights are still cold and the days are warm.   So I'm planning on either banking on short rides without the warm gear or taking off layers.

It also generally means that I won't be riding in the dark as much.   But, I put down a chunk of change on this:
Bike Lights so taking off my lights and having to replace the batteries every two weeks is no longer necessary.

It still, means, however, having to wrestle with the Lead and Coal Improvement Project which still has about a year for completion, but looks like they are almost done with the area around my place of employment .  They've finally opened up some North/South roads through the construction. For the past few months I've been riding north/south on Yale or University and both roads suck for bikers.

Hoping to get out on this in the next couple of weeks, but have to look at what the possible trails look like.  I know the mountains will still be a mess.

So, see you on the road and hope you see me.
Don