If you search the internet for words like stress plus traffic, you see that lots of people think that driving is stressful. Probably no surprise to anyone. I had heard it myself, but one time recently I actually got to feel it in a way I had not before.
I was out of town for the weekend and came home to my adopted major metropolitan area early in the morning to avoid rush hour. I still got caught in the beginning of it, and since I don't regularly drive in rush hour I could actually feel the stress of being in it.
Then I got home, got some things unpacked and otherwise settled, and got on my bike and rode to work. Having those two experiences so close together, driving in semi-rush hour and riding a bike in traffic, showed me more clearly than just reading about it could, that driving a car is stressful. I could feel the stress in one activity and noticed the lack of it in the other.
I think that the stress is hidden from us because we are used to it. Now I wonder what toll it might take over decades. I also think that if I were going to try to explain why one should ride a bike to work if possible, it would be hopeless to suggest that is is less stressful. I myself would not have really understood it when I started. It is only after some years that I can really feel the difference and understand.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Product review: Sunglasses
I'm not in the business of reviewing products, but I would like to offer an unsolicited review of my biking sunglasses. I do this because I don't like spending huge amounts of money for trendy things (with some exceptions) and I do like finding cheap solutions from unexpected sources.
For summer daytime riding, I have had great success wearing AO Safety Landscaper Safety Glasses, ten dollars at Home Depot. Before I got these it was not clear to me what made suitable sunglasses for biking, but after some false starts, and finally settling on these, I now know.
These glasses have two features that me them good for biking.
The first feature is the fact that the lens is one piece, as opposed to a frame with two lenses. This is significant because the two halves of the glasses are connected by the piece of the lens that passes over the nose. Since this lens is one piece, the part that passes over the nose is about an inch wide. That means that the distance from the spot on the glasses that rests on the nose, to the top of the center of the glasses, is about an inch. That means that when one is in a bent-over riding position, there is enough of the glasses above eye level that you don't see light coming in over the top. This is not the case with regular glasses, where you can see light over the tops of the lenses if you are bent over and sweating, and the glasses start to slip down the nose.
The second feature is that the lenses are the wrap-around style and that the frame is attached to the top of the lens but does not wrap around the outside edges of the lens. That means that if you turn your head and eyes to the left to look behind at traffic, your eyes are not caught by frame material at the edge of the lens; nothing blocks the view to the rear.
These two features add up to good visibility and the feeling that you are behind a nice tinted shield. It's a pleasant experience. They also look good, in my opinion. Style and safety on a budget.
For summer daytime riding, I have had great success wearing AO Safety Landscaper Safety Glasses, ten dollars at Home Depot. Before I got these it was not clear to me what made suitable sunglasses for biking, but after some false starts, and finally settling on these, I now know.
These glasses have two features that me them good for biking.
The first feature is the fact that the lens is one piece, as opposed to a frame with two lenses. This is significant because the two halves of the glasses are connected by the piece of the lens that passes over the nose. Since this lens is one piece, the part that passes over the nose is about an inch wide. That means that the distance from the spot on the glasses that rests on the nose, to the top of the center of the glasses, is about an inch. That means that when one is in a bent-over riding position, there is enough of the glasses above eye level that you don't see light coming in over the top. This is not the case with regular glasses, where you can see light over the tops of the lenses if you are bent over and sweating, and the glasses start to slip down the nose.
The second feature is that the lenses are the wrap-around style and that the frame is attached to the top of the lens but does not wrap around the outside edges of the lens. That means that if you turn your head and eyes to the left to look behind at traffic, your eyes are not caught by frame material at the edge of the lens; nothing blocks the view to the rear.
These two features add up to good visibility and the feeling that you are behind a nice tinted shield. It's a pleasant experience. They also look good, in my opinion. Style and safety on a budget.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
What are we trying to accomplish
It seems there is a great fear of doing things in some way that is different than the way we always have done them, even if the way we have done them is not the best. This can include killing those who suggest other ways. Maybe that's why you can find people who throw things at bikers. For those too young to remember, Robert Kennedy ran for President in the 1960's and was assassinated.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
"Make like picture"
In one of the Karate Kid movies, the old karate master is teaching the young kid how to make a bonsai tree. He tells the kid to get a picture in his mind of what the tree should look like, and then "Make [the tree] like picture."
I made a breakthrough recently in lightening our load of stuff by giving away (to a good home and not a landfill) two of my computers, the [Commodore] Amigas. That brings to mind the questions, why did I get them in the first place, why did I keep them so long, and why did I finally get rid of them.
I got them because I needed or wanted them at the time. They were less expensive than the "standard" IBM-compatible, and much more technologically advanced. I kept them, after I got other newer computers, because I had this picture in my head of me having a little computer lab at home and being some sort of computer expert. I got rid of them because the picture has changed. I now picture myself living in a sparsely-furnished house owning very little stuff, little enough so that when I am gone my kids won't be faced with the job of getting rid of all of it. Now that I have that new picture, getting rid of the impediments to reaching that picture becomes easier.
Our dependence on automobiles, practiced over so many years, has (in my opinion) created in our collective head a picture of ourselves constantly in motion, going any place we want to go, whenever we want to, without any negative consequences to the environment or our bank accounts. I have found that riding my bike to work has started to alter that picture in my head. I am developing a picture of myself not running here and there, using the car infrequently, transporting myself by bicycle when possible but not transporting myself anwhere at all unless I have to.
When that picture changes, I start to wonder what other pictures I have of myself, and if they should be examined and changed also. One physical act, commuting by bike, changed a mental picture, and now the changed mental picture is causing questioning of other mental pictures, and changes to other mental pictures are driving other physical acts, like getting rid of stuff I don't need because it doesn't fit in the picture.
I made a breakthrough recently in lightening our load of stuff by giving away (to a good home and not a landfill) two of my computers, the [Commodore] Amigas. That brings to mind the questions, why did I get them in the first place, why did I keep them so long, and why did I finally get rid of them.
I got them because I needed or wanted them at the time. They were less expensive than the "standard" IBM-compatible, and much more technologically advanced. I kept them, after I got other newer computers, because I had this picture in my head of me having a little computer lab at home and being some sort of computer expert. I got rid of them because the picture has changed. I now picture myself living in a sparsely-furnished house owning very little stuff, little enough so that when I am gone my kids won't be faced with the job of getting rid of all of it. Now that I have that new picture, getting rid of the impediments to reaching that picture becomes easier.
Our dependence on automobiles, practiced over so many years, has (in my opinion) created in our collective head a picture of ourselves constantly in motion, going any place we want to go, whenever we want to, without any negative consequences to the environment or our bank accounts. I have found that riding my bike to work has started to alter that picture in my head. I am developing a picture of myself not running here and there, using the car infrequently, transporting myself by bicycle when possible but not transporting myself anwhere at all unless I have to.
When that picture changes, I start to wonder what other pictures I have of myself, and if they should be examined and changed also. One physical act, commuting by bike, changed a mental picture, and now the changed mental picture is causing questioning of other mental pictures, and changes to other mental pictures are driving other physical acts, like getting rid of stuff I don't need because it doesn't fit in the picture.
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