Change My Attitude - Have a Zen Moment

Okay, following the last venting session it was time to re-focus, reset my attitude about being out there with everyone else trying to soak up as much of the nice weather as we can, because after all, it is Oregon and this year each of those nice days are so darned short-lived. We are all going to be out there and so, let's just focus on the good whys versus on the baddies.

While I enjoyed a nice spot along the Eastbank Esplanade, so did the SUB. Together we focused on the beautiful Spring day, the light breeze, the light and shadow and went to our happy places. Well, at least I like to think the SUB went to her happy place.

For me, I think I just had not adjusted to the shift in season and weather here in Portland. In my significant cycling past, I did more recreational riding, training rides in preparation for those 100-200 mile events, some with a few friends and some solo. Oh sure, you would see others but not in the numbers one sees in Portland today. Then when I started my utilitarian era (actually, don't really like that term, utilitarian) I started smack dab in the middle of winter. I think I done gots spoiled. Quiet roads,, solitary times, I could mostly just ride and focus on being out and not have to watch out so much around me.

As our weather has changed, so has the slow, quiet morning pace. So the season changed, my mind did not. And after I thought about this for a bit, all this change is really a good thing, I mean this truly shows there is life in the city, right?

So, I think my mentalness is catching up with my physicalness and we are adapting to the changes. We all are out there, moving about, doing our outdoor thing, wanting to get somewhere, accomplish something.

Speaking of accomplishing something, this year is the first year our work, which moved to downtown from the suburbs, had a more "official" Bike to Work Week/Day set of activities. We organized a waffle breakfast for bike to work day and held an informational brown bag a few days before. That was pretty cool and I totally loved doing something at work bike related.

We had 22 bike commuters on Friday. While that was about our previous max, we did have quite a few first time bike commuters (not all of our bike commuters are 100% bike commuters). We had the most bikes in our overflow space, 5, so we had quite a few firsts. I was so glad we did have the great weather to help motivate people to give bike commuting a try.

So, I'll drink in those moments of calm, enjoy the blend of city and nature and just have fun doing what I love - riding my bike.

The Hordes are De-hibernating!

The week started slow weather-wise, and has exploded into some awesome, warm and sunny true spring days. Within that same explosion, however, the throngs of fair weather folks have also splattered out across everywhere. Now, I should say that most have been pretty civil given they must be absolutely stir crazy, what with waiting and waiting and waiting for all the grey, cold and rain to move aside.

You know all those stories about how for such a rainy area people cannot seem to figure out how to drive in this stuff? Well, I don't think that behavior is limited to just driving, because I see that same behavior with cyclists, walkers, joggers and the other asundry wanderers. Just today, I saw a driver and scooterer get tired of waiting for the train so they could turn right (tracks were parallel to the road) and blast through the red light to go straight. The really stupid thing is they went one block, that's right just one block, to the next red light! I mean, really?

This morning I was riding up on another cyclist on his fixie. At the light, he stopped about a bike length back and seemed to be practicing his track stand, he was a bit wobbly. I moved left slightly and rode up to the crosswalk line. After a bit, he either got tired of waiting or just could not track stand, he rode through the red light - what? - a bit later the light turned green and I proceeded on. Next light, he actually put his foot down.

Oh, so here's a good one for you. That ramp is actually normally going down to the floating section of the Eastbank Esplanade. There is so much water right now, the floats of the ramp have the ramp higher than the bike path. That's a lot of water!

Oh, hey, this week is Bike to Work Week in Portland and tomorrow (Friday) is Bike to Work Day. Since this is our first year at work in downtown, a couple of us wanted to have some kind of inaugural event, so we are having a waffle breakfast on Friday. To entice more to bike to work we had an informational brown bag on Monday. That was pretty well received and we had some great questions. The really interesting thing is about attitude though. There is definitely room to grow in terms of how people, even ones that cycle, perceive the relationship between vehicle drivers and bike riders.

Their perceptions perpetuate the idea that cars have priority over the roads and streets that  spread out across town. And if they know there are official bike ways and routes they believe cyclists should be there and not where they want to go. I mean, how inconsiderate of those cyclists - really? That's why, for me, I think we have maybe too much infrastructure and not enough re-education. Our travel medium, typically paved routes, is designed to move people, not just cars. They are basically for everyone.

I want to say share, but that is not really correct, because the drivers don't want to share, that's the big problem. The attitude change needs to be "Hey! Mellow out, this is a multi-use people mover." And that's not just targeted at drivers. Just  the past few days, I have seen cyclists blow across the crosswalk when everyone else is stopping for pedestrians. I made cars behind me stop because I yielded to some pedestrians. Come on, what gives?

I have to admit that I do miss the cold, rainy winter times because being out there is so much more mellow - because no one else is really out there.

Strange, but I Miss the Darker Mornings

Spring, while maybe not weather-wise, is definitely here. I seem to see more and more people out in the mornings. In some ways, I miss the more solitude of the winter rides, the quiet, the peacefulness, the bit darkerness of the mornings. I can accept the hustle and bustle of the afternoons, the mornings are more like my time, and my time with Evan. I think because it delays the rush around atmosphere of work that I like the quieter, lonelier mornings.

Thursday morning had some fun light out, peeking out from the fog and clouds, lighting some areas of downtown while leaving other areas grey and monotone like.

Next week is Portland's Bike to Work week and Bike to Work Day (20th); and along with our Bike Commute Challenge Captain, I have been working with a couple of our internal groups to promote Bike to Work Day. Monday, we are having a brown bag to present information and answer questions for people who are interested in biking to work but would like more information and help.

For Friday's Bike to Work day, we are having some regular commuters make waffles and our Green Team and Safety & Wellness Team will be providing fruit. We have some overflow plans in place so it would be pretty cool to double our current max of 24 commuters. Hopefully, the weather will not be pouring down rain as that will definitely reduce the first timer count.