tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67688826094446786992024-03-19T00:04:12.154-04:00Baltimore BicyclistA "Share the Road" sign doesn't cut it for meBaltimore Bicyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371300782466374723noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768882609444678699.post-6600309572526390032010-11-19T12:37:00.000-05:002010-11-19T12:37:32.174-05:00Bicycle Checklist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi28rMUqaN6h8JOlS61nDa-8Zfz5yGHFUgS7TjCmIuRascaM_ZDYqzqk2XiUp7Rvxcl8a-lbIC6u-f26R23ii2jbaPy_09wDJ-8jIUAr7UtU6iReHK_z2qQjlHi_AcTxOFUAeWdoqvyg-Y/s1600/the-devil-likes-bike-races.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi28rMUqaN6h8JOlS61nDa-8Zfz5yGHFUgS7TjCmIuRascaM_ZDYqzqk2XiUp7Rvxcl8a-lbIC6u-f26R23ii2jbaPy_09wDJ-8jIUAr7UtU6iReHK_z2qQjlHi_AcTxOFUAeWdoqvyg-Y/s320/the-devil-likes-bike-races.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Not much has happened over the last month for me. Oh, except that the <a href="http://www.bikebaltimore.org/cyclists-bill-of-rights-passes/">Cyclist Bill of Rights passed!</a> Let's not forget the <a href="http://www.bikebaltimore.org/lanvale-st-contraflow-bike-lane-nears-completion/">new bike lane</a> on Lanvale! Now it's easier to get to Falls Road!<br />
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OK enough with the shouting. Let's get onto a subject I haven't completely tackled yet: <b>Necessary Bicycle Accessories.</b><br />
1. Rear-view mirror<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiZZtL3dSeZxRiH40xL3dUpKF_R8EzpfePUPI9T9w-O4TnwA3gqJxNl7JpFj9IjOE4pg_5LCSKNqLmixxsXjh98ojv4GqS7Ca2YZrzf8dLlXmkszx9O5w-687VDc8Rj3UIKPOukyZoddQ/s1600/63398866_4d388fdfbd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiZZtL3dSeZxRiH40xL3dUpKF_R8EzpfePUPI9T9w-O4TnwA3gqJxNl7JpFj9IjOE4pg_5LCSKNqLmixxsXjh98ojv4GqS7Ca2YZrzf8dLlXmkszx9O5w-687VDc8Rj3UIKPOukyZoddQ/s200/63398866_4d388fdfbd.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>All cyclist should not assume the cars or other cyclists behind them are going to pass as expected. Cyclists are not the only people on the road. There are plenty of faster vehicles out there that barely get a scratch if they hit the meat-bag known as your body. Following the rules of the road is not always enough because not everyone is on board. It is the most logical thing for a cyclist to have an extra pair of eyes on the back of their head by installing a $15 mirror somewhere on their bike. When you don't, you put other cyclists in awkward situations:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxC-vzfVZJ-ngkfoUxFyraq1zvFAIJjS-yvc7HuWDOXvsMwpDl3lpf_FG9bwhXK9OsEQzDILIwFXULwHffkHg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
2. More Reflectors<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKoFzMoEbRbl99PttqVIcqjTb5u0HBZKfNtrNRqi6fT5y_CxRHTbENMYz3WO-UvvcRS3eTkgVxi_9Ul97GvKQ8Txjjft4M7drgMGo0rq75hffHtGuhLnny_ivpZjPxtHhWkaB6m0C1nm8/s1600/048c29963aab30ff440bc010fcbadc66.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKoFzMoEbRbl99PttqVIcqjTb5u0HBZKfNtrNRqi6fT5y_CxRHTbENMYz3WO-UvvcRS3eTkgVxi_9Ul97GvKQ8Txjjft4M7drgMGo0rq75hffHtGuhLnny_ivpZjPxtHhWkaB6m0C1nm8/s200/048c29963aab30ff440bc010fcbadc66.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I get it, you don't have much money or just plain old cheap. Everyone has to cut corners at some point in their life. But there is a difference between cutting corners that SAVES money and cutting corners that ENDANGERS lives (more specifically, yours). I see people with single gear bikes (cringe) with maybe just one, front-tire handle brake and maybe a reflector on each pedal, and that's it! Seriously?! You actually feel safe like that? One of the safest things a cyclist can do on a busy road is be seen, especially at night. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">3. Blinking Handlebar Light</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhE-o-LImzty94k8DASe6V5Sxy3KAlHE4lwHG3D7yw0tVcfRdt-OUq1RBHEEGHAP1ikpq0zLnXogETUzqM09QkTgKnvir01wsjHr9FdCOtz3gLdmQ5Uy5fKEKqapAaBnyMEONpe67icjw/s1600/ravx-opti-bar-x4-handlebar-light.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhE-o-LImzty94k8DASe6V5Sxy3KAlHE4lwHG3D7yw0tVcfRdt-OUq1RBHEEGHAP1ikpq0zLnXogETUzqM09QkTgKnvir01wsjHr9FdCOtz3gLdmQ5Uy5fKEKqapAaBnyMEONpe67icjw/s200/ravx-opti-bar-x4-handlebar-light.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This one should be a no-brainer. What kind of light easily catches the human eye? Blinking light! So when you are riding at night an a car is coming from the other direction, they will be able to detect you long before they actually "see" you. Blinking lights are also good for catching peoples' eyes in their rear-view mirror so they know that if they hit their brake suddenly for no reason, a cyclist will lose his wings.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">4. Helmet</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmHuwh-F2J781zhHslXm69f72sh0utwiwk0c_4mVtPR7-_2jhfBBLlqeyu2yf_iZq7lIffGhfqx6W0hbcXpYyhnEFjGAXqosj5dbGyZBf6p-hhUW6hcawlOTdRYdgZ3M8VHyL-m6ZGI54/s1600/MasterReplica_StormrooperHelmet_Ep3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmHuwh-F2J781zhHslXm69f72sh0utwiwk0c_4mVtPR7-_2jhfBBLlqeyu2yf_iZq7lIffGhfqx6W0hbcXpYyhnEFjGAXqosj5dbGyZBf6p-hhUW6hcawlOTdRYdgZ3M8VHyL-m6ZGI54/s200/MasterReplica_StormrooperHelmet_Ep3.jpg" width="185" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I can't believe it, but there are a lot of cyclists in the downtown area who ride without a helmet. It boggles my mind every time, which is funny, because then I think about how their mind wouldn't boggle much after they hit a pothole wrong and fell off. That's right, I just made a joke about a severe head injury at the expense of my fellow cyclists who don't wear helmets. I'm OK with that because they seem to be OK with increasing their risk of head injury on a daily basis. Wear a helmet!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Just four today. Maybe I'll add more as I come across more cyclists who still think they are invincible.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you notice, to the right, I've added a link to <a href="http://bikebaltimore.org/">BikeBaltimore.org</a>. There, you will find plenty of information about cycling in Baltimore because the site is ran by Baltimore's bike planner!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thanks for reading! </div>Baltimore Bicyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371300782466374723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768882609444678699.post-7580236020222282712010-10-28T19:55:00.001-04:002010-10-29T09:42:56.669-04:00I'm back baby!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5lXC92-WpbkZ2kG7tD_22DfyqdUJQGFXYZCp_yARZlzfMOgBG1UVsm77201EknJ_aPfm8Id65l_1qfbkPFbWDQPw720y82OOFcRDBcSWTCto8odLw2JGKC6VyEde_Ng6CJesq5NZL3xw/s1600/carpool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5lXC92-WpbkZ2kG7tD_22DfyqdUJQGFXYZCp_yARZlzfMOgBG1UVsm77201EknJ_aPfm8Id65l_1qfbkPFbWDQPw720y82OOFcRDBcSWTCto8odLw2JGKC6VyEde_Ng6CJesq5NZL3xw/s320/carpool.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://g2bgreen.com/looking-for-a-carpool">Source?</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Well, after almost a full month of no bike riding to/from work (and no blog posts either...sorry) I have to say riding in a car to work still sucks...For the record, the reason why it took a month to fix my bike is because the part that broke is very unique to my already unique bike. It took two weeks just to get the wrong piece and send it back, then another two to get the right one...so back off. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I did, however, carpool with a good friend, and I appreciate his tolerance in letting me bum rides off of him every day. Although I do recommend the carpooling option, there are still a few notable negative aspects.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">To lighten the mood, let me discuss a few of the good things first:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>1. Carpools = that many fewer cars</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">For however many people, minus the driver, there are in the car on the way to and from work, it means there are that many fewer cars on the road that day. This is great because it's that much less crap we put in the air and hey, it probably saves the carpoolers gas-money.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>2. Getting to know people</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Carpools are a great way to socialize with people in your community. Whether you met up on a carpooling website or it's your neighbor, it's always good to know at least one person from your area.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>3. Forces you to keep a solid morning and evening schedule</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Since the person(s) is(are) involved with your daily commute, you must now stick to a schedule that includes their schedule. This is a very good thing for people like me who usually wake up at the latest possible moment to get to work on time. In the evening, it's not too bad especially if your employer knows you carpool. Then you can sometimes leave a few minutes before 5pm because your carpooler's schedule changed at the last minutes. If your employer gives you crap about it, you can pull out the environment card and say "so you don't want me to take part in saving the planet?." Then hit them in the face with a copy of "An Inconvenient Truth" and then again with a copy of "2012."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Now onto the bad things about carpooling:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>1. Carpools = Cars</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Cars suck, especially when the driver lives within 5 miles of their office. If you drive to work and you live within 5 miles of your office, then you shouldn't be surprised when "someone" leaves a flaming bag of poo on the roof of your car...I know who you are.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>2. Getting to know people</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">People suck, as do their driving. Last thing people need in the morning is someone else talking to them about the latest mobile phone technology and the stupid youtube video/internet meme of the week. We don't care about you're new Android phone and how you can watch kittens sneezing on youtube with it, we just want to get to work like all the other "sheeple."</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>3. Forces you to keep a solid morning and evening schedule</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Sometimes you oversleep. On those "sporadic" mornings, where you are 20 minutes late to work, you can pull out the old "my bike had a few problems this morning" excuse, it works every time. Except with carpooling, for every minute you are late, the other carpoolers are late too, and that just makes you look and feel like an ass. There are other times when you find out, in the middle of the day, that you need to stay at the office a little later. If you're the driver, you just abandoned you're fellow carpooler. If you are the passenger, you just put yourself in a situation where getting home might not be so easy. In my case, I live just far enough away from the light rail that walking home from the station would be a bit dangerous. Since I live in Baltimore, I won't risk it alone.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>4. You aren't on a bicycle</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'll be honest with you, I don't ride a bike to work because it's good for the environment, or that it's a good exercise, or even to please the ladies. No, I ride my bike to and from work because it's FUN. Yes, FUN! You know, that thing you aren't having most of your work day. No matter what the weather condition is, that ride in the morning is a great way for me to relax and truly enjoy a city that is slowly transforming into something better. In a car, this morning fun-time doesn't exist. Instead it's morning rage-time: "Go back to Jersey you moron!!!"</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks for reading!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">p.s Videos of crappy people for next time!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div>Baltimore Bicyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371300782466374723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768882609444678699.post-14766303739612614672010-09-26T21:17:00.000-04:002010-09-26T21:17:34.885-04:00You Give Cyclists a Bad Name<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsSi6jRz30CF6rh5aB0dFNgi01nxc1VqRFXpt0tsjlNkgOjQIoJX8An-snfyHMPheR7xmidn1OOP8T9vimhWLs3MJo_yK-zahsM_1OCWsb2pSwr7S0ZnMAsrtD5kRr3gnjd-rDjjdkgiU/s1600/2991049193_e941ddcb23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsSi6jRz30CF6rh5aB0dFNgi01nxc1VqRFXpt0tsjlNkgOjQIoJX8An-snfyHMPheR7xmidn1OOP8T9vimhWLs3MJo_yK-zahsM_1OCWsb2pSwr7S0ZnMAsrtD5kRr3gnjd-rDjjdkgiU/s320/2991049193_e941ddcb23.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/soupandacookie/2991049193/">Flickr</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Don't get me wrong, I can't stand cars anymore than the next cyclist, but there are certain people in the cycling population that give us a bad name. I understand that there are different types of cyclists that fit different types of cycling environments. The following list pertains to the city environment:<br />
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1. The "hearing impaired" or as the guardian.co.uk refers to them as "<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/nov/30/ipod-zombie-earphones-music-cycle">zombie cyclists</a>"<br />
This type of cyclist chooses to turn off one of their senses. Usually it's their hearing. At least once a ride, I see a person with earphones and think to myself "that better be the best indie-rock song." What's scary about this is that there are a lot of cars that speed up when they don't see traffic. It's those cars that wont be able to stop in time if a "deaf" cyclist forgets to check before changing lanes/make turns. I've seen a lot of close-calls this summer, and the "hearing impaired" were involved in a lot of them.<br />
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2. "Red light runner"<br />
I get it, you have to get to work/home. The last thing you want is to miss those "precious" moments of starting your day in a cubicle, or finish your day passing out on the couch while watching Simpsons reruns. Come on people, red means STOP. I don't care how good you are at timing traffic patterns. What if your bike completely breaks down in the middle of the road? Yeah, you got NOTHING!<br />
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3. "Lane jumpers"<br />
"Oh no! The car in front of me stopped moving forward for some reason! Maybe I should suddenly change lanes...right...NOW!" At least, that's what it seems like they are thinking. These lane jumpers don't give much of a heads up to cars and other cyclists when they know they are changing lanes. I feel for them too! When you are cycling and you have a good rhythm, the idea of stopping because a car can't make up its mind is just unacceptable. But I'd rather get stuck behind a bad driver than get hit by one. <br />
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4. "Strugglers"<br />
I'm no hater. I urge everyone who is able-bodied, to figure out a way to ride a bike to work instead of a car. Sometimes, the people who take the leap into cycling don't have the best bike, or aren't in the best shape to conquer the north-bound, (literally) up-hill battle on Charles Street. From the inner harbor, up until the Washington Monument, the street is very narrow and full of buses, end-of-day cubicle zombies, package delivery trucks, and happy hour pedestrians. Riding up the street at one-mile-an-hour will not make it any better. Please, just get off your bike, and walk it up the side walk. It's safer and, well, it's SAFER!!<br />
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I'll stop there before I piss off every Baltimore cyclist. Just in case I already did: I have, or still do, fit into each of these ;)<br />
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Hello Fall weather!Baltimore Bicyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371300782466374723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768882609444678699.post-60655433093965197412010-09-16T00:45:00.004-04:002010-09-16T00:54:53.098-04:00Three in One Ride!Hello (3) fans!<br />
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I have not been keeping up on my daily posts lately. For that, I apologize. Since there has been little for me to complain about lately, and my rides have been pretty smooth, I have trouble coming up with daily topics. So let's just say I'm shooting for at least once-a-week posts.<br />
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Today, however, was action packed! <br />
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My first "idiot on the road" incident occurred around 5:45pm. The place, is Charles St. and Centre St.<br />
Apparently, this guy doesn't care to use a blinker, which means inexperiences cyclists would most likely feel the pain from his bad driving practices. <br />
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Let's watch, shall we?:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyURec4xbTqIVRJSwwjpnoc6djsJYLpTjV11zF2wKk-cbWQJRS-cOpGpuegPMIY__-3xTKJ_477FgHLpB_f5A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
My next "who cares about checking our mirror and blind-spots for cyclists?" incident takes place at Charles and Chase St. As you will see, I was staying the in the middle of the right-lane behind a cab. All the cars are stopped at a red light. Since there were fewer cars in the right lane, some dude, no more than 5 cars from the front of the middle lane, decided he needed to get over to the right for no reason (he wasn't turning right, I checked).<br />
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I guess he just hates being in 5th place. You'll notice in the video that I begin to "drift," which is due to me hitting my back brakes abruptly that I skidded:<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy6n8ncIs9wUrvtEgF4cHwzb74i0ayO7UHUgvBolQgCjZk9AZLoKjsQUqYnD8Scv0sw9ajEezEi4oNq9wOA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
Last but not least, I witnessed a great example of an over gratuitous, space respecting, driver. These are people who, when passing a cyclist, feel the need to go completely into the the opposite side of the road, as if that makes things any safer (it doesn't). I forget if it's state or city law now or not but (edit: <a href="http://onelesscar.org/page.php?id=152">the bill passed</a>!),<a href="http://www.baltimorebrew.com/2010/04/07/2nd-cyclist-dies-maryland-still-waiting-on-ruling-for-3feet2pass/"> unfortunately, after the recent deaths a few cyclists</a>, cars must pass cyclists at a min of 3 feet, this is a good thing. Law or not, it's not necessary to pass a cyclist with such an exaggerated distance like many people do. If you have trouble, or feel nervous, with passing a cyclist 3 to 5 feet of space between, then YOU SHOULD NOT BE DRIVING.<br />
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This Mini-Coup had a close call, the video shows them jerking their car back into the right side of the road after almost causing a head-on collision with a minivan: (please disregard my typo/lolcat caption in the video)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyiK2raSFhct6LA-L7dh8zp7sGiVUFyTd9fNw1QKLarHQMnI_WAmELsp0jP-MwFjHK6h9at-dsqUbogNAVMcw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you're looking to be more active about getting the "3feet2pass" law passed, <a href="http://www.3feet2pass.com/">go here</a> and do it to it!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Remember to ride without a jacket while you still can, it's going to get very cold before you know it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Baltimore Bicyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371300782466374723noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768882609444678699.post-20532009088308976842010-09-09T19:03:00.001-04:002010-09-10T11:09:23.912-04:00Falls Road gets a fix!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkcAszJVzjit4FBRbmZIr1fGS8A02oNr55Jtz_fYbOz7fDhpXnZGOEZn9CzADMB50gws9XMPmQglaCvmjAgvl0UBRBlryahOVDY-ZoB65dE0NkfhzbhKH2lZO4-sjQEo9IXBAV75u3Dm4/s1600/IMAG0055.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkcAszJVzjit4FBRbmZIr1fGS8A02oNr55Jtz_fYbOz7fDhpXnZGOEZn9CzADMB50gws9XMPmQglaCvmjAgvl0UBRBlryahOVDY-ZoB65dE0NkfhzbhKH2lZO4-sjQEo9IXBAV75u3Dm4/s320/IMAG0055.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Will you look at that?! A nice little, "temporary," fix for the sink-hole I mentioned in one of my first posts. It's nice and smooth and if you aren't looking out for it, you just might miss it!<br />
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In fact, I almost missed it, I had to turn around and get this picture. I then rode over it a couple of time in victory!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyte16Kefeub6tvKcWdePx9yqT4_EoxKkej7Suj8pWyrS1pDXGbCBa-FRrIZHwSdffTTpPV5GskimeQ352eHA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It's good to know that Baltimore cares about the cycling community. I could complain that this came late being it's the end of the summer, but I consider this a win. So, I will end this post saying something you won't hear often from me:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thank you Baltimore City!</div>Baltimore Bicyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371300782466374723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768882609444678699.post-19529998916113851952010-09-08T23:49:00.003-04:002010-09-08T23:51:11.617-04:00Pedestrians Crossing to Penn Station Suck...and that driver that couldn't make up his mind (but still blamed me)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Of course, today, a couple decided to stand quite a ways into the I-83 on-ramp on Charles St., in the exact place I like to get over and wait for cars to pass me by. You see, when coming down Charles St., towards Penn Station, I usually stay on the side walk, but today there were a lot of people out so I decided to stay in the street, in the left lane. Usually, it's all OK because either I'll take up the whole left lane when the on-ramp comes up, or I get over the left and wait for an opening in the traffic and continue across the ramp.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">So when I realized, a little too late, that there were people waiting to cross the street, I figured "OK I'll just stay in the lane and hopefully I won't die." Luckily, I didn't die.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Instead, when I figured I'd stay in the lane and keep moving forward, a car tried to pass me on the right, but wasn't going to make it, so I slowed down and went all the way to the left. Of course, they didn't expect me to do that and then they slowed down and went over to the left, and then finally, I just get onto the curb and the dude curses me out (with his windows up, so I win!) and drives away.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Here's a quick video of the people in the lane waiting to cross, however, I did not get the car that couldn't make up his mind, on video.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz2ktekHRwYMnFM8z8bXD3Z3cyaVev0-ZX_epZXOgLqYIcPINVJNO2LQ89eCi-f-i2DVCuikg4q-zgBSg-34g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">On a lighter note, I exchanged e-mails with, Baltimore Bike and Pedestrian Planner, Nate Evans. After looking over my blog he added these three helpful tips:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The short url to the bike info on the city website is </span><a href="http://www.baltimorecity.gov/bike" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">www.baltimorecity.gov/bike</span></a></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">A super quick link to the interactive bike map (with direct link to the pdf) is </span><a href="http://www.baltimorebikemap.com/" style="color: #0000cc;" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">www.baltimorebikemap.com</span></a></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The Jones Falls Trail is proposed along Fallsway between the Inner Harbor and Penn Station, which should begin construction in the spring. It’s proposed route gets lost on the map.</span></span></li>
</ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px;"><br />
</span></span></div>Baltimore Bicyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371300782466374723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768882609444678699.post-12808407471054064642010-08-30T18:54:00.001-04:002010-08-30T19:03:08.923-04:00App Day - CardioTrainer Android App<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi32PFuJx1XQyyZXdkN2DuzWNUS8D7VTs5DJfYWq59nY2Iwt5ZuSIWfBhaLMPMwsFT7p8eQ5MrB0b29pSZ9CSGKCdWnfFI6f9711e6nVu1gS7oSE1xQhybn7_H0bOJPbbNCTWNoPaX9-qA/s1600/IMAG0302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi32PFuJx1XQyyZXdkN2DuzWNUS8D7VTs5DJfYWq59nY2Iwt5ZuSIWfBhaLMPMwsFT7p8eQ5MrB0b29pSZ9CSGKCdWnfFI6f9711e6nVu1gS7oSE1xQhybn7_H0bOJPbbNCTWNoPaX9-qA/s320/IMAG0302.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Pretty easy ride to and from work today, my only complaint is that I hate when people temporarily park their cars in front of the University of Baltimore Academic Center on Charles street...DURING RUSH HOUR.<br />
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How stupid are these people? There's a little street (w Oliver St.) about 15 feet where they can stop instead. What's worse is that this is right by Penn Station and an exit onto I-83. Keep in mind this is when people are driving home thinking every little second counts.<br />
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When cars are stopped there, I am forced to use the sidewalk and wait to cross the exit ramp. Not too bad of break in my ride since many cars decide at the last minute to get onto the ramp, which means they have an easier time not seeing me riding.<br />
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--Done Venting--<br />
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A few weeks ago I downloaded "CardioTrainer" for my Android phone. It's an app that uses your GPS and depending on which mode of exercise/transportation you use, it will calculate your mileage, draw out your route on Google Maps and provide other health-related info like calories burned, average speed, etc.<br />
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After you save a "workout" you can go to their website, input the unique code they give you, and track your workouts from your computer and even share your results.<br />
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I used it for the first time last week and found out that my commute is about three miles each way. I don't really care much for the health aspect, but it's definitely a bonus.<br />
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<a href="http://www.worksmartlabs.com/">Check it out!</a>Baltimore Bicyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371300782466374723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768882609444678699.post-70275673983845582072010-08-29T12:11:00.001-04:002010-08-29T12:22:19.892-04:00Jogger Sucks and Some Advice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seriously, I know this guy probably has headphones on, but WTF? When you jog anywhere, especially on a shared trail, you stay to the right. Notice he's all the way left at first, then when I get closer he's now smack in the middle. He left me little space to pass on the left. I was close enough that I could have kicked him...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx4W4y6Jz4MrSuaUwHOnxG40mtjw02LSppCsu9t6NQIoU5LMx4_Ui46A_9IdQ9p3aL8p6Hpvas_3XFIvu7YXQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div>Having been a week since my last post, I spent some time researching other Baltimore cycling-community-related websites. One that seems to be pretty popular is<a href="http://www.baltimorebrew.com/"> BaltimoreBrew.com</a>. This website is more for various off-beat communities in Baltimore and cycling falls under that category.<br />
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The article that caught my eye is called <i>Safety tips for Baltimore cyclists, after a rash of attacks on bike riders </i>(<a href="http://www.baltimorebrew.com/2010/08/22/16184/">link</a>).<br />
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According to this article, and as mentioned in the comments section, the cool thing that the youth of Baltimore have been doing is throwing rocks at and robbing cyclists. Isn't this such a great sign of our future?<br />
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One form of advice from the author, in avoiding attackers, is to take St. Paul street down town. Now, I'm not sure what areas of Baltimore he means. I used to take St. Paul street down to the inner harbor and constantly felt like I was going to get killed. So now I always take Guilford from Mt. Royal and motorists seem to respect my cycling space (usually). I will try St. Paul St. again and see if there are any differences these days. I'll be sure to record these trips in case I notice any crappiness.<br />
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I can go on all day talking about what I agree or disagree with article on, but instead here's my advice: <br />
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<u><b>When Traveling north from the Inner Harbor, TAKE CHARLES ST.</b></u><br />
There are two main reasons for this:<br />
1. Charles St. has some of the heaviest foot traffic in all of Baltimore. No one is going to attack with so many witnesses and people that (hopefully) would help out.<br />
2. If travelling during rush hour, dead stop traffic = fewer cars passing you at 30 mph. Learn how to read cars. I'm not saying I'm perfect, but I find it fairly easy to weave in and out of dead-stop traffic.<br />
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<b><u>Travel with pepper spray that is quick and easy to access</u></b><br />
I keep pepper spray attached to the side of my bike via Velcro. If I need to use it, it's less than arms reach away for quick response. I take it off every time I leave my bike outside so no one will steal it or use it on me.<br />
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<b><u>When in doubt, use the sidewalk</u></b><br />
Now, I know most of you are thinking "but that's illegal!" and you would be right in thinking that so do this at your own (legal) risk. When taking Charles St. during rush hour in the afternoon, when it's completely down hill from the Brewers Art area until Penn Station, some people become reckless drivers. I know better than to stay all the way left or right, especially since people are now parking their cars on both sides. So, instead of thinking I can cheat death, I just take the side walk and ALWAYS GIVE PEDESTRIANS RIGHT-OF-WAY (of course if there are a lot of people on the sidewalk, either walk your bike or go VERY slow). Yes it might take a little longer to get to where I want to go, but I'd rather hang with the "walkies" to get home, then ride with a sweaty, bald, disgruntled, cubicle-jock on the verge of cracking behind the wheel of a two-ton-bike-breaker (car). My point is that some days I get that "bad feeling" pushing my luck with a bike. So I'd rather "break" the law and be safe than "obey" the law and be a sucker.<br />
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Thanks for reading!<br />
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</div>Baltimore Bicyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371300782466374723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768882609444678699.post-63044382284172109882010-08-17T21:49:00.002-04:002010-08-17T21:51:27.885-04:00Mobile App Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdjv9I-p0donPOWo5uGsz6GZILthI5HDSZYI6nZyJMWYJ13XzBdc_Tjkrfp41UapdSQUgO_QmswJFUfVuaJXHo8pl169HRk8KtqufYVNmy9p4E6VVVn67ySb1wndAerKzGml6A8aGfqOw/s1600/Domino.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdjv9I-p0donPOWo5uGsz6GZILthI5HDSZYI6nZyJMWYJ13XzBdc_Tjkrfp41UapdSQUgO_QmswJFUfVuaJXHo8pl169HRk8KtqufYVNmy9p4E6VVVn67ySb1wndAerKzGml6A8aGfqOw/s320/Domino.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Another day of riding my bike off-hours. Although I did take Calvert home from the Inner Harbor, it was a smooth ride. Of course, I had to ride most of the way on the sidewalk because riding in left or right lane means you come within inches of death-by-side-swipe.<br />
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Being a subscriber to the Smartphone Community, I come across interesting/useful apps on a weekly basis. The one to catch my attention, since starting this blog, is called <i><a href="http://www.citysourced.com/" target="_blank">CitySourced</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">:</span></i><br />
<blockquote>"<span class="Apple-style-span">CitySourced is a real time mobile civic engagement platform. CitySourced provides a free, simple, and intuitive platform empowering residents to identify civic issues (public safety, quality of life, & environmental issues, etc.) and report them to city hall for quick resolution; an opportunity for government to use technology to save time and money plus improve accountability to those they govern; and a positive, collaborative platform for real action. A picture tells a thousand works and CitySourced makes it snap." (<a href="http://www.citysourced.com/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">www.citysourced.com</span></a>)</span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">Now, this app is definitely not perfect from an "app" perspective. Some people are reporting that it does not detect their city properly while others see the app crashing. I believe it's a matter of time until they work out the bugs.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">What's great about this app is that it is both free and available for the holy trinity of smartphones: Android, iPhone and Blackberry!</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">I have yet to really get to messing around with it. I think the first thing I'll report is the metal plate over the sink hole on the Jones Falls Trail. In the meanwhile, I suggest that all smartphone owners out there get this app and make good use of it. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">Sorry all (seven) Palm Pre owners.</span></span><br />
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</span></span>Baltimore Bicyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371300782466374723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768882609444678699.post-73166995835740691492010-08-16T19:35:00.001-04:002010-08-29T12:33:39.490-04:00No Videos Today, But "Let's Give Them Something to Talk About"Although this entire blog is dedicated to the exposure of Baltimore City's (lack of) bicycle-friendliness not every day of my commute is worth discussing. This morning was an easy ride and the weather was perfect and since I left late from work, there were not as many cars on the road and cross-town traffic was mostly gone.<br />
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</div><div>Just because nothing happened to me today, doesn't mean I don't have something to complain about. </div><div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://baltimorecity.gov/" target="_blank">Baltimorecity.gov</a> is a "wonderful" website that "provides" both tourists and locals "easy" access to information on cycling in the city (was that sarcastic enough?). In fact, I'll wait while you go and find city bike route information from the link...</div><div><br />
</div><div>...</div><div><br />
</div><div>Find it yet?</div><div><br />
</div><div>Of course you didn't!</div><div><br />
</div><div>That's because you were looking in the logical places. Of course, if you were illogical, like our city website, you would have easily found it by following these directions:</div><div>1. Start at <i>Home </i></div><div>2. From top menu, mouse over <i>Government</i></div><div>3. Select <i>Agencies and Departments</i> from drop down menu</div><div>4. Select <i>Transportation </i>(3rd to last on left) </div><div>5. Select <i>Planning </i>(last item from "In this section" on left) </div><div>6. Select <i>Bike Baltimore</i> (last option on left)</div><div>7. Select <i>Downloads</i></div><div>8. Select <i>Bike Baltimore Map</i> to view pdf with info</div><div>(sometimes I wonder if they are deliberately hiding this map from us)<br />
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</div><div>Now that you have this map-O-bike-info open, I would like do draw your attention to this part:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2B4ts2RJcUfr6lBMDq5WYfF29HthpW1qkazWtVsuaLJiM14IBPtK6axWX2Vt-DoHC93qrnY44h2BYm9s7h-tWHnehEUkwhgBkj4aYyqdeT2wB6qouwsHEWDTqKsSKOWHMer1g3suK2WA/s1600/map.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2B4ts2RJcUfr6lBMDq5WYfF29HthpW1qkazWtVsuaLJiM14IBPtK6axWX2Vt-DoHC93qrnY44h2BYm9s7h-tWHnehEUkwhgBkj4aYyqdeT2wB6qouwsHEWDTqKsSKOWHMer1g3suK2WA/s640/map.JPG" width="409" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">*Courtesy of </span><a href="http://www.baltimorecity.gov/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">www.baltimorecity.gov</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">*</span></div><div><br />
</div><div>Please make note that the red lines mean "Routes Commonly Used by Cyclists" and green lines mean "On Street Bike Facilities."</div><div><br />
</div><div>According to this map, there is no sure, bike-friendly way to get from the Inner Harbor to the Jones Falls Trail or even Johns Hopkins University. To get to the Inner Harbor, Guildford Road seems to be your best bet as of now, but of course, if you work just west of Charles Street, your ride is a constant battle of survival while you cycle on the busiest streets in the city.</div><div><br />
</div><div>My main complaint (when looking at this one part of the info document) is that the City of Baltimore still doesn't have at least a "Future Trail" planned for any of the big time, red-lined, streets that run north and south. So far, all they have going is the Fallsway road north, and if any of you know Baltimore, you know that getting onto Fallsway, for the PM rush hour, is INSANE.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Please Baltimore City, give us a piece of Charles Street or at least Calvert. </div><div><br />
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</div>Baltimore Bicyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371300782466374723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768882609444678699.post-32983628240400232942010-08-15T15:37:00.000-04:002010-08-15T15:44:48.515-04:00A Few ExamplesAlthough I am posting this on Sunday, the videos of this post took place on Friday the 13th of August.<br />
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<i>Also, all videos that I post will <b>not </b>have sound.</i><br />
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</div><div>Here's some background for the first video clip:</div><div>The winter of 2010 was pretty harsh for Baltimore. There were reports of up to 5(6?) feet of snow. Since the Jones Falls Trail runs along the Jones Falls River, the concrete already has loose earth supporting it. As the snow melted it seemed to have taken a nice chunk of the ground with it, creating a hole in the concrete of the trail, about a yard in diameter. Within a few weeks (couple of months it seemed), the sink hole was covered with a metal plate. Of course the plate was sealed in with small sharp bumps along the perimeter which now forces cyclists to use 6 inches worth of smooth trail. Of course I'm not saying it's completely "unsafe," most cyclists seem to pass by without hesitation. What I fear is that this seems to be city's only solution, of course, until that entire section of the trail erodes completely, then nature took care of everything!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwKYJaWlH084PH15areg3qKPXhgYRPtehYoIpW71trWRR6y6b3B2HfutDNu3rwUNtLjKIcAjWTyN56iKj2wtw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Video clip #2 is just an example of how many Baltimoreons (in this case, just one) do not use turn signals, which can be a hazard for cyclists (you can skip to :25):</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwMVNcwzwz5_pHxqoT2l7oPqROO3SdO664c0KSYQAJHVEq06SHW_TXIPcNzTrQ1ZqLh_ZOvvs8YuLWZRvZ5cg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Video clip #3 for that day, is of a bus that made it clear to me that it was going to pull over to the right side of the road for a bus stop. Instead of stopping it slowed down on right, kept moving forward, and moved back into the lane while I was passing. You do not get a proper view of the non-stopping of the bus, nor and idea of how close it was on my "six" but trust me, it was pretty close:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That's all for Friday, see you next time:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Same Bike-Time</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Same Bike-Channel!</div><div><br />
</div>Baltimore Bicyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371300782466374723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768882609444678699.post-48922978865479137462010-08-12T17:46:00.000-04:002010-08-12T18:00:23.448-04:00Hello World!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOhstKOLXt-WEsm33ikVTt5jivI9K7-wS4WBhO3CHVNi7vvGxB2TI3nSMDwWiPKN2DWfqbnW0pjgFKX6XMwxjjMx7qTR3YJ2si6XycPFvCmRsZhbkVP1TfBUgx3QFEE3Yk5Xq0juBlHy4/s1600/2010-04-16+12.30.35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOhstKOLXt-WEsm33ikVTt5jivI9K7-wS4WBhO3CHVNi7vvGxB2TI3nSMDwWiPKN2DWfqbnW0pjgFKX6XMwxjjMx7qTR3YJ2si6XycPFvCmRsZhbkVP1TfBUgx3QFEE3Yk5Xq0juBlHy4/s400/2010-04-16+12.30.35.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span id="internal-source-marker_0.35217501036822796" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.35217501036822796" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Riding my bike to and from work, 5 days a week, leads to interesting situations. Some are scary, some are plain weird and the others “might” be my own fault (for better or worse). I intend to video record my rides everyday and and post them. If I am lucky, I can link my experience with a message to the Baltimore City government, and it just might catch the eye of a city official who can do something about it. If not, the least I can hope for are active comment-discussions on each post from readers. </span><br />
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.35217501036822796" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.35217501036822796" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Also, I am kind of a tech-nerd. I am definitely not as skilled or knowledgeable as your office IT guy, but sometimes I can get close. This blog is also a hobby of mine because I love technology.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the video part of this blog, I will only upload the interesting parts so you won’t have to sit through an entire video of just a normal bike ride. If there isn’t anything interesting on the videos for the day, I will sum up my rides and link to and/or comment on, cycling-related news in Baltimore City.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each post will reflect both, my morning and afternoon ride. If I get into a good rhythm with this, I will be posting once a day some time after 5pm (Baltimore time). </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have moderate experience with video editing software so bare with me as I learn-then-apply when watching my videos.</span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Below are the maps of my bike route to and from work.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div><div style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Route From Hampden to Work</span></span></b></div></span></span><iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=107257680570783124927.00048da52ed1ed24be3ed&ll=39.312254,-76.617966&spn=0.046485,0.072956&z=13&output=embed" width="425"></iframe><br />
<small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=107257680570783124927.00048da52ed1ed24be3ed&ll=39.312254,-76.617966&spn=0.046485,0.072956&z=13&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Commute to work</a> in a larger map</small><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Route From Work to Hampden</span></span></b></span></b><br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="350" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=107257680570783124927.00048da56d091f466869e&ll=39.30885,-76.622639&spn=0.046488,0.072956&z=13&output=embed" width="425"></iframe><br />
<small>View <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=107257680570783124927.00048da56d091f466869e&ll=39.30885,-76.622639&spn=0.046488,0.072956&z=13&source=embed" style="color: blue; text-align: left;">Ride to Hampden</a> in a larger map</small><br />
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(update: don't know why there's a huge space between title of post and pic)<br />
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</span></span>Baltimore Bicyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371300782466374723noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6768882609444678699.post-6956316590753800112010-08-11T18:07:00.000-04:002010-08-13T10:45:23.965-04:00A Start<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[Below is a conversation I had with my brother that pushed me to start this blog] </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ME - dont u feel like buses always pull away from their stops right as u are passing them? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">BRO - yes, yes i do </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ME - i hate that </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">a couple of weeks ago</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">i see a bus blocks away from me</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">not moving</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">no one getting on or off</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and of course it pulls away whem im casually passing by</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and then has the nerve to honk at me</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">then honks at me again while im staying on the right side of the road</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">im flipping them off next time</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">BRO - hmmph. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ME - that incident sparked a blog idea i might follow up with</span> <br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">BRO - what's that? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ME - just my experience riding in baltimore, figure ill take video of every ride, if something interesting/scary happens ill post it </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">BRO - yeah go for it </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ME - its kind of sad that baltimore has very little cycle-friendliness </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">a "share the road" sign doesn't cut it for me</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">BRO - and the cool thing about this is that i write it up and you've been nice enough to read it so we have a topic to discuss </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">you should make that the thesis of your blog</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">"ts kind of sad that baltimore has very little cycle-friendliness<br />
a "share the road" sign doesn't cut it for me"</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ME - nice </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">BRO - that would get your local peeps talking </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">seriously</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ME - yeah </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">BRO - local councilman or someone might pick up on it </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ME - what should the name of the blog be? I've been thinking, something like "Baltimore Bicyclist" </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">BRO - sure </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ME - or "A Baltimore Bicyclist" </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">BRO - i'll meditate on a title but yeahsomething like that </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ME - implying im part of a bigger community </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">i figure ill do it as a hobby at first, but if it actually gains momentum, i would push for ppl to write up their own little stories about the BS they face when riding in the city</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">BRO - hell yeah </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ME - the first time i ever had a thought about how sad the cycling environment is in baltimore was back during the winter </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">charles street was completely under construction</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and out of 3 lanes, usually 1 (sometimes 2) lanes were open</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and it was awesome, i rode my bike maybe 80% knowing i didn't have to worry about cars</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and im thinking "all this work, i hope they put in a cycling lane, because everyone goes on charles street"</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">then they finish</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">and of course</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">no cyclist lane</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">not even the crappy sign</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">BRO - see -- that's a premise. a good one, too. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ME - hahaha, the funny thing is, my initial idea for the blog was a colbert-esque angry rant </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">where i dont like anyone</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">even cyclists</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">hahaha </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">but it wouldn't be fun to read because not everyone would get my humor</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">but having a cause behind it seems it would go over well</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">BRO - do it up </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">eventually you find your voice while writing</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">one method is to concentrate really hard on a writer/voice/person you really want to emulate and just go -- that's how you find your own voice sometimes</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ME - so "Baltimore Bicyclist - A 'Share the Road' Sign Doesn't Cut it For Me" </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ME - a voice eh? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">can't help but go straight to Colbert</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">but i don't want my sarcasm to overshadow the point im making</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">hmmm</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">BRO - well therein lies the challenge. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ME - ok </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="mailto:baltimorebicyclist@gmail.com" target="_blank">baltimorebicyclist@gmail.com</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">BRO - nice </span></div>Baltimore Bicyclisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06371300782466374723noreply@blogger.com0