Goals, especially public ones that you share on social networking sites like Facebook & Twitter, are great.  They set a clear target and are constantly staring back at you to keep you moving.  They also constantly hold you accountable for an end result.  You also get the encouragement of friends and family that can really make the difference when the going gets tough.

In May, I successfully pedaled 406 miles to  just barely achieve my goal of 400 miles in May as a celebration of Bike Month. It was a true challenge since a few days of inclement weather left me with three days to go and almost 100 miles to complete. My last few miles were great – a nice rideon my Trek Soho S at McAllister Park and a newly opened segment of the Leon Creek Greenway.

Tracking progress against this goal was greatly facilitated by using two online resources – Garmin Connect and MapMyRide.  Both web sites support goal creation and tracking.  Each time I uploaded my ride from my Garmin 705, I’d get an instant update on Garmin Connect about my progress.  This was easy to track since it not only displayed my mileage goal and current mileage but also showed me where I was supposed to be at that specific day of the month (for example, each day the “ticker” moves about 12-13 miles forward which is about the average number of miles you have to ride daily to do 400 miles in 30-31 days).

I encourage you to set your own goals.  Be reasonable.  Start with goals you know you can achieve and then begin to stretch them (e.g., I had previously completed a “300 miles in 30 days” goal a year ago).  Make sure you create or utilize a method that allows you to keep a detailed log of your progress.  Depending on your goal, consider sharing it with family and friends – their support can be instrumental to your success (I had several cyclists volunteer to share some rides with me to help me reach my 400 mile goal – it was awesome!).

Best of luck to you on blasting through your own goals and milestones – you can do it!!

Just a few miles away from my goal…at McAllister Park

To put things in perspective, Rutherford B. Hayes was President when the League of American Wheelmen was founded in 1880.  Bicyclists, referred to simply as “wheelmen”, formed the League to advocate for for paved roads and to band together against antagonism from horsemen, wagon drivers and others.

The Wright Brothers and John D. Rockefeller were members of the League.

Last weekend after being a member of the League for about two years, I attended a seminar in Houston, TX where I earned my certification as a League Cycling Instructor (LCI).  It feels great to be an official bicycle safety advocate and educator for an organization (known today as the League of American Bicyclists) with such a rich history.

The League is serious about bicycle safety and it shows.  There was rigor in the certification process – from the comprehensive pre-seminar exam to the aggressive seminar agenda which included teaching & demonstrating bicycle safety and emergency maneuvers as well as applying the principles of vehicular cycling repeatedly at a busy intersection in heavy Houston traffic.

As a newly minted LCI, I have already discovered a formidable hunger exists in San Antonio for bicycle education and safety — in just two days, I had the names of 30 people interested in attending a Traffic Skills 101 or Commuting class.

I’m looking forward to doing what I can to help these folks improve their riding confidence and honor their commitment to improving their safety.

I decided that in honor of “Bike Month” I’d set a goal for myself — 400 miles in 30 days.  I succeeded at 300 miles in one month last May, completing about 333 miles by the time June 1st arrived.  I’m finding 400 miles is quite a challenge so far!

It averages to about 13 miles a day.  This means that everyday I don’t ride, I start falling behind the goal pretty quickly!  I’m tracking this goal on Garmin Connect and MapMyRide – both web sites feature some fun tools to let you see your progress.

Garmin Connect even has a indicator that shows where you SHOULD be at any given moment.  On days when I complete my 20 mile round trip bicycle commute, I get close to this indicator or exceed it.  On days I drive, it quickly jumps out in front of me!

Setting this goal has been great because it’s made me seriously think about my transportation options.  ”We need a gallon of milk.  Hey, I can ride my bike for that!  Need lunch?  Hey, there are like 10 restaurants within 5 miles round trip.”

So, it’s driving the right behavior which is great!

Wish me luck…I just noticed the indicator has once again jumped out in front of me!

On a whim, I decided I wanted to try and make this errand a bicycle trip versus a car trip. My Trek Valencia was ready for the task and I was pretty certain that my Topeak Explorer rack would be well-suited to handle the nearly 20lb bag of cat food.

As the crow flies, the distance to the local Petsmart store was just under three miles. My Garmin Edge 705 found a bicycle-friendly route that ended up being about 4.3 miles one-way.

Piece a cake!

90% of the ride was on neighborhood streets and about a 1/2 mile from my destination I popped out onto some big streets and did some urban riding.

Grabbed the cat food and slung it over the rack and then used a spider bungee cord over the top to keep the bag from shifting backwards on the rack.

Needless to say, the hills on the ride back were a bit more challenging with 20lbs of cat food on the bike. In the end, however, the added weight had only one true consequence –> I burned more calories.

It felt great to “bike this drive” and get in a good workout in the process. Here’s a little video of my arrival home…

My primary reason for bicycle commuting, as I’ve said on more than one occasion, is to maintain and improve my physical fitness.  Bicycle commuting has truly made that happen.  It ensures I get between 4-6 hours of cardiovascular exercise every week – exercise that’s almost never monotonous.  I’ve lost about 9lbs this year and am working hard to continue that trend (with a little help by reducing my obsession with sweet tea).

While physical fitness may be my primary motivator, I simply can’t ignore the additional benefits that come from using my bicycle to commute to work 2-3 times a week:

• Lower auto insurance premiums since I’m driving fewer miles in my pickup truck.
• Leaving my Ford F-150 in the garage for 2,000 miles has saved me from purchasing about 154 gallons of gasoline.
• Using an average gasoline price of $2.30, that’s about $350 that never left my wallet. 
• I’ve prevented about 1.4 tons of vehicle emissions out of the atmosphere.

These benefits are a testament to the bicycle’s efficiency as a truly viable means of transportation.  Consider going on your own two-wheeled adventure to work, the grocery store, a movie, etc. – there’s a darn good chance that if you do it once, you might just find that two-wheeled, human-powered transportation becomes a healthy addiction!

Let me start by saying Thank You to the 90% of drivers I encounter on the roads in San Antonio that “get it”. They’re patient, they pass me with plenty of clearance, they yield the right-of-way to me when applicable, etc. What’s comforting about all of this is that I know, from experience, that the majority of drivers I share the road with are not represented by the uninformed, mean and sometimes downright malicious comments that a very small minority of motorists feel compelled to make every time a cycling-related article is posted online by the local newspaper.

So, I’m going to ask that small minority of drivers out there and anyone else that’s interested to tune in, for a few moments, on some facts. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. That’s a right we all share and can exercise freely as Americans. But an opinion and a fact are two different things.

This is the first in a series of posts about Sharing The Road that I hope will educate and inform both motorists AND cyclists.

Myth #1 : “Get on the sidewalk you idiot!”

For the two or three drivers that have shouted this to me while passing, this section is especially for you. First, let’s start with the law in San Antonio, Texas (where I live). This is straight from the San Antonio Police Department’s article on bicycle safety : “In addition, in San Antonio, City Ordinance does not allow bicycles to be ridden on sidewalks (except for law enforcement and emergency personnel) [City of San Antonio Ordinances Sec. 19-286]”. Any questions?

But why would the City do something like this??! It’s simple. The Texas Transportation Code clearly states that when riding on a public road, “A person operating a bicycle has the rights and duties applicable to a driver operating a vehicle…[TTC 551.101]”

Simply put, a bicycle on a road = a slow moving vehicle and should be treated as such. Do these same drivers shout and yell at construction workers driving heavy machinery on the road in front of them? I bet they don’t and that, I find very curious. Like that heavy machinery that ends up in front of you in the lane ahead, a cyclist is likely to cause you a very brief inconvenience. Seriously. Time it. I doubt any slow moving vehicle, including a cyclist, creates a delay of more 30 seconds and that’s being conservative.

Need even more evidence? There are these signs you might see on your drive home. They have a bicycle on them and they’re yellow. One variation of this sign says, “Share the Road”. Not “Share the Sidewalk”. Exactly. A traffic sign, created with your hard-earned tax dollars and created by your government, is trying to inform you that you may see a bicycle on the road or in the lane near you and it’s OK.

From personal experience, the two car-bike accidents I have almost witnessed involved cyclists riding on the sidewalk in the opposite direction of the flow of traffic. They approached a driveway where a motorist was trying to make a right turn and by a huge amount of luck the driver caught them in their peripheral vision and jolted to a stop before running over them.

And finally, let’s not forget that bicycles are very efficient. That means I reach speeds of 25-30mph on some downhill stretches of bike commutes. I am sure joggers, walkers and other sidewalk users might have a word or two about how uncomfortable they would feel being approached by a cyclist who might be doing 15-20mph

Myth #2 : Those bicyclists don’t pay vehicle registration and other fees so they shouldn’t have access to the road

This is a popular argument by folks that believe bikes don’t belong on the road. It’s weak for a couple of reasons. One, most cyclists own a vehicle and pay the same taxes, registration fees, etc. that everyone else does and that’s whether their car is used everyday or sits in their garage as a dust magnet. Secondly, a big part of these taxes and registration fees is used to maintain and repair the road – according to the Texas Department of Transportation, “Vehicle registration fees contribute almost $1.3 billion a year to build and maintain state and county roads.” Bicycles are lightweight with a very small footprint on the road (my tires are less than 2” wide). Bicycles are not wearing down the road, creating pot holes, etc.

Hope this has helped. Sharing the road is a dual responsibility. Cyclists have to do their part by using hand signals, riding in a predictable manner and obeying traffic signals and signs. More insights coming soon in Part II…

Last Wednesday I attended “Bike Night”, an evening session of the San Antonio/Bexar County Bicycle Mobility Advisory Committee. This government committee is responsible for making bicycling/walking in San Antonio safe and accessible.

Here are a few highlights from the meeting:

• The 2009 edition of the San Antonio Bike Map will be available in October. Hard copies and a digital version of the map will be made available to the public. During a presentation at the meeting, it was noted that San Antonio went from having 33 miles of bicycle lanes/routes in 2003 to over 133 miles in 2009. That is a great sign of progress and a trend that I hope continues and grows.
• The City of San Antonio (CoSA) is putting the finishing touches on an interactive bicycle route planning web site designed to help cyclists plan their trips using as many bicycle friendly roads as possible.
• There are plans to provide access to the Leon Creek Greenway from Spur 53 (UTSA Blvd).
• A Walkable Community Workshop is being planned for the Loop 1604 and Bandera Road area.
• There are plans to create greenways along westside creeks like Martinez, Apache, Alazan and San Pedro Creeks with connection points to Mission Conception and near downtown San Antonio.
• The CoSA is looking into the possibility of a Bicycle Station in downtown San Antonio. This location would include showers, lockers, bicycle parking and possibly repair facilities.