We’re nearing the time of the year when I gave up bike commuting for the season last year. It wasn’t intentional, I just… sorta… stopped. The last ride that I wrote about was November 6 last fall.

I think it all happened around the time change. I definitely have issues this time of year getting motivated as it gets darker. I probably have that SAD thing to some degree. Who knows… but maybe I’m just saying that. Maybe that’s just my excuse.

For some reason I get creeped out riding alone in the dark at the end of the day, though it doesn’t bother me at all in the morning. Maybe it’s just quieter in the morning. I feel like I’m alone in the morning. In the evening I feel like just can’t see what’s out there. I don’t like taking the shortcuts through the woods or riding on the canal path in the dark. I feel safer taking my chance with the cars.

Am I afraid of the dark? What kind of a giant wimp am I?

I don’t want to quit riding for the season… I want to keep going through the winter. I guess I just need to find new routes that I’m comfortable with and maybe some bike mounted weaponry.

I used to take a martial arts class… maybe I could just ride around with a bokken strapped across my back to make me look crazy. Maybe I could just wave it around insanely when I’m taking a sketchy shortcut. It is my personal believe that looking crazy is a good form of self defense.

Thanks to Utility Cycling for the link

Tow Truckin’ from Xtracycle on Vimeo.

Richard already mentioned this earlier this month, but I wanted to remind our Rochester readers that RIT Center for Student Innovation is holding a Rochester Cycling Summit this Saturday October 24th. The group ride starts downtown at the Central Library at 11am!

I arrived at work this morning & on checking my email discovered the following:

Hi Jody –

XXXXXX confirmed that the kitty-litter panniers are yours ….. could we have a bake sale to raise funds for new panniers for you? LOL!

Best,
XXXXXX

I’ll grant you that they’re not beautiful, but they are very functional. They are waterproof and made from recycled materials. I was kind of proud of my kitty litter panniers. And they were VERY cheap. I think they cost less than $10 in materials. I think they’re going to be great for the crappy weather, once there’s salt and grime on the road. I can just hose these off occasionally. They are also very high visibility, esp with the big reflectors on there.

I confess that I am a huge fan of bike hacks, which is where I got the idea. I love crazy MacGyvered solutions. I figure the panniers also make my bike less appealing to bike thieves, not that it’s worth much anyway. Probably in my perfect world my bike would look like something out of a Mad Max movie. (I know bright yellow and red doesn’t really shout Mad Max… more like McDonalds.)

I’m never one to turn down free bike stuff though. So I may give a thumbs up to the bake sale idea. In case I want to go to a classy event instead of just getting from place to place.

It’s probably true that I have no sense of style. :) But you gotta work with the senses you have.

From today’s New York Times:

It took a few miles to work the kinks out of my legs and churn up the first hill, but the payoff was spectacular. Lake Champlain sparkled blue in the distance, with the Adirondack Mountains rising stately in the background. Lush green hills were peppered with red silos, livestock and a white steeple far off. And then there were the trees, a patchwork of scarlet, orange and yellow that transformed a vista into something so perfect it almost didn’t look real.

• Read the story: “Pedal Peepers In Vermont”

The NYT also published a piece today by a reporter who tried out a pedicab for a day:

• Three Wheels Through the Park

A couple of weeks ago I took a bike ride near Holley, along the Erie Canal. This portion of the trail is not used much, and neither are many of the buildings, it appears.

I highly recommend that you make a day of it and take the kids to Hurd Orchards, one of western New York’s treasures. In the fall they serve apple pie which is yummy and filling enough to be your lunch.

Here are a few pictures from a couple of years ago. I get no credit for those adorable kids.

Via FAIL Blog

Erie Canal Bike Path from Macedon to Palmyra

A couple weeks ago on my commute home I decided to take part of the canal path that’s a little out of my way. I had a little extra time and it was a beautiful day. I even remembered to strap my camera to the handlebars and take a little video.

The ride was really about 20 minutes long but I speeded it up and compressed it into 5. If you want to take 20 minutes you should just drive out there and ride it yourself.

Saturday, October 24th will mark 350.org’s International Day of Climate Action and the end of a week of climate action teach-ins at RIT.

The culminating event in Rochester will be a mass bike ride along the proposed Rochester Greenway. The Rochester Greenway goes south from Downtown along the river, past the University of Rochester, through the Genesee Valley Park, and on down the Lehigh Valley North Trail to RIT.

Once at RIT, the Rochester Bike Summit will be held in the new Center for Student Innovation. Its goal: to discuss a number of exciting bicycle and alternative transportation initiatives, and to make connections between the bicycle community, city planners, and environmentalists.

Look for details at RochesterGreenway.org.

Among the attractions planned for the Rochester Cycle Summit
• volunteer-manned stations for free bicycle maintenance
• exhibits on pedal power and bicycles as energy-conservation solutions
• posters and exhibits describing numerous bike initiatives
• an ultra-wide screen short describing the potential for making Rochester a world class center for recreational and functional transport
• free rides on electric bikes

The folks over at BikeCommuters.com have a handy chart to help you figure it out.

Visit BikeCommuters.com for a larger version.

(Thanks to Bike Commuters for the link.)