ABOUT the Great Balkini

On the roads these days I see a lot more bicycle riders carrying stuff. Commuter cycling, it appears, is once again rearing its counter cultural head. In the 70’s the gas crunch drove bike commuting to the starting line, but that was over in a flash. Back then I was living in Miami taking a decade-long break from New England winters. It was a great time to be in the bike business as the unavailability of gas brought with it a huge spike in bike sales.

I had naive fantasies back then that bike commuting was finally taking hold in a perfect place where the weather was ideal and the terrain was dead flat. I wrote about bike commuting as if it was the Second Coming. It wasn’t.

It still isn’t, and may never be. But among the employed poor there is a worried buzz in the air. With fuel pricing rising, those who work all day just to fill their gas tanks are hating every minute of it. And once again, the trusty bicycle has come into the public consciousness. Already an adventurous few are sucking-it-up and pedaling a few miles to work or school or when running errands. Not only will they feel better for it, but most will also be surprised at how easy the commuting routine becomes.

The physical effort is easier than adopting a new mindset. The biggest hurdle to bike commuting is the idea that cycling is just not viable, due to weather or distance or timing or transporting things. But being a successful bike commuter is not about doing it every day. It is more about biking when you can, and figuring out alternative transportation when you can’t.

A subtler hurdle is the commuter’s inability to multitask while driving. This is tough for people accustomed to eating, shaving, and phoning while heading too and from work. And then there is the inconvenience of not having a car at the ready all day. The successful bike commuter is the one who can plan for contingencies and who adjusts to the unaccustomed lack of automotive freedom.

This time around I’ve given up on saving the world. I’m willing to settle for objectively encouraging those willing to explore the practicality of using a bike as transportation. Only those interested in saving money, getting healthier, feeling better should read any further. The heck with everyone else.

I’ve heard it said that living without wheels in New England is equivalent to a death sentence. The socio/economic realities of our culture revolve around the almighty automobile, even when we know there are other choices. Doing errands or commuting by bike, like carpooling or using public transport, is among the legitimate alternatives. The fact that those who do it are considered odd by mainstream thinking is just another of those hurdles to overcome.

Luckily, young people still don’t seem to care what the mainstream thinks. They are the ones I see riding more frequently these days with knapsacks and backpacks. These pack mules have the right idea, but the better plan is to put some type of rack or basket on the bike. Make the machine do the work. The trick is to learn to carry only what is absolutely necessary and balance the load.

Don’t worry about commuter equipment. Anything with fenders that rolls and stops reliably will do. Bicycles lose most of their lively charm once loaded and, weighed down, take a lot longer to stop – really. Please be especially wary going downhill, since more weight on you or the bike make stopping distances far longer than meets the eye. Bike commuting, unlike recreational cycling, is not about speed and momentum. It’s just about getting wherever in one piece while looking presentable.

For those thinking of buying a bike for commuting, there are unknowns that must be sorted through first. It is crucial to have a thorough knowledge of the roads you will be riding and the time required. If a potential commute contains nightmarish portions of heavily trafficked roads and there is no way around that — forget it. Work or school is hard enough without taking your life in your hands just to get there. Going a back way, even if it adds a few miles, is an elegant fix.

Weather’s uncertainties can also be insurmountable. Even warm weather has moments where riding a bike is not the best transportation choice, while just the thought of biking in cold weather turns people off before they begin. Yet in New England the very same cold weather brings in a host of outdoor activities that are pure fun. Well-designed technical clothing keeps winter athletes warm and the same goes for bike riders. But the bike has evolved a warm-weather persona that makes winter commuting a difficult concept to get one’s mind around.

My riding rules for cold weather were borne of trial and error. Everyone has a different tolerance level. For me the roads have to be clear and dry, the sun has to be shining, and the temperature 35 or above. Days like that

offer great riding for an hour or two and are perfect for riding to work or school.

Getting there is only half the chore. There is a myriad of other details to deal with. Bike security and other workplace rider amenities have to be established and sometimes fought for. Companies of all sizes remain largely uninterested in providing any meaningful facilities for bike riders. I’ve been told by corporate HR people that there are liability concerns and they fear the extra expense squandered on those few brave riders. That’s a self-fulfilling dead end if ever there was one. Even gas at $6 per gallon, it seems, won’t wean us from our comfy cars.

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Copyright © 2005 by David Balkin. All rights reserved.