Memorial Day recalls those who sacrificed themselves. More than soldiers who've died mercifully young on front lines, those who deserve as much honor are those who give up their well being daily as domestic technicians or dungeon workers at companies that don't care whether they die or live. Caregivers and parents painfully and slowly lose their sanity and vitality so someone else can survive or thrive, someone who generally doesn't know how fortunate they are, particularly pampered artists and spoiled children. Someone nurses wounded soldiers, too. Warmongers profit from all equally, but revel over foolish cannon fodder upon which empires are founded, you'll forever find.
Funny how Memorial Day is bracketed by Father's and Mother's Days on calendar. Once organized blog entries around these holiday revelations. With a memetic buildup of buzz and commercials goading spending, one ought to organize some balance against agendas, but why bother when message is blurred by conformity and greed?
Viewed feature film, Le Gamin au Vélo (A Kid with a Bike) directed and written by Jean-Pierre Dardenne (2011, French with subtitles). Schoolboy Cyril gets abandoned by single parent father and suffers consequences of neglect. Driven to regain his missing bike and resume relationship with financially strapped dad, he runs from orphanage straight into trouble. Recovered bike enables his futile quest, gets stolen, and results in escalating confrontations. A hairdresser steps in to change his life despite his churlish behaviors. None of the above holidays hold much meaning in this bleak scenario. All credit goes to an unsung stranger who freely sacrifices and forgives unconditionally. The stain is in the name of his own blood. Social justice keeps families together and lets adults act responsibly. Society can never forget that unless unrelated individuals intervene soon enough, crime ensues.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Headcount Train
Should companies back bike programs? Apple does. Apparently they make no fanfare about theirs. You don’t have to be a World Class market leader. Companies who do usually feel it’s worth it for healthy lifestyle, improved concentration, and mood boost. This translates into reductions in HMO premiums and unproductive days. Nationwide, commutes average only 11 miles, so majority are quite bikeable. Every year vehicles collisions and repairs cause appreciable attendance disruptions.
Marathon Terminus as seen from Green Monster, 2004.
Corporate commitments run from free (merely reassessing policies) to major (revising infrastructure and supplying appliances).
1. Encourage participation: Allow riders to carry bikes to and store in their cubicles. Apple has a bike garage, presumably with surveillance cameras. Leaving bikes unguarded for 8 hours would give most cyclists separation anxiety.
2. Permit flextime: Reduces fear of arriving late in bad weather or when issues arise, like flats.
3. Hold learning sessions during work hours: Invite speakers, organize info sharing either in person or over intranet, and post an experienced staff cyclist as part time liaison. Hold lunchtime rides for beginners in parking lot.
4. Arrange for changing rooms, lockers, laundry facilities, showers and vending machines: Probably won’t become a profit center, since you’ll have to hire a someone to oversee, police, repair, and restock machines with sample sized detergent, deodorant, shampoo, and shower gel. Might break even if appropriately scaled. Manufacturing facilities often already have a janitorial staff and showers for treating those upon whom chemicals have spilled.
5. Buy a fleet of bikes to share: You could start your own VeLib that does generate revenue by charging a small fee to the many employees who’d ride a couple times a week. You could have a repairman, sag wagon, and stock of parts and tools. Unless thousands get involved, this is more likely to lose money or require subsidies. However, commonality among bikes would control costs. Like any fleet, bikes can be insured against damage or loss.
As a practical matter, bike sharing only gets capable people reacquainted with pedaling. Real cyclists rather use own equipment tailored to suit them personally without hygiene worries. A fleet would have to be regularly cleaned and maintained. Advise a limited 2-year startup that gets scaled upon response. People who want to cyclo-commute will generally buy own $300 hybrid, then graduate to a $1500 roadie. Diehards invest in $5000 speedsters. Accordingly, buy several hybrids with gel saddles, metal baskets or plastic panniers plus some 1-speeds with rugged helmets for novices to borrow and train. Extra wheelsets, even those no longer serviceable, can be used to explain flat repairs. Tire levers are something that local bike shops might be interested in donating as advertising. Count yourself lucky if management cares enough to offer any of the above, because, apart from Apple and a few forward thinking companies, most don't. Some days, though, you're grateful to survive terrorists nearby because your nose was to the grindstone.
Marathon Terminus as seen from Green Monster, 2004.
Corporate commitments run from free (merely reassessing policies) to major (revising infrastructure and supplying appliances).
1. Encourage participation: Allow riders to carry bikes to and store in their cubicles. Apple has a bike garage, presumably with surveillance cameras. Leaving bikes unguarded for 8 hours would give most cyclists separation anxiety.
2. Permit flextime: Reduces fear of arriving late in bad weather or when issues arise, like flats.
3. Hold learning sessions during work hours: Invite speakers, organize info sharing either in person or over intranet, and post an experienced staff cyclist as part time liaison. Hold lunchtime rides for beginners in parking lot.
4. Arrange for changing rooms, lockers, laundry facilities, showers and vending machines: Probably won’t become a profit center, since you’ll have to hire a someone to oversee, police, repair, and restock machines with sample sized detergent, deodorant, shampoo, and shower gel. Might break even if appropriately scaled. Manufacturing facilities often already have a janitorial staff and showers for treating those upon whom chemicals have spilled.
5. Buy a fleet of bikes to share: You could start your own VeLib that does generate revenue by charging a small fee to the many employees who’d ride a couple times a week. You could have a repairman, sag wagon, and stock of parts and tools. Unless thousands get involved, this is more likely to lose money or require subsidies. However, commonality among bikes would control costs. Like any fleet, bikes can be insured against damage or loss.
As a practical matter, bike sharing only gets capable people reacquainted with pedaling. Real cyclists rather use own equipment tailored to suit them personally without hygiene worries. A fleet would have to be regularly cleaned and maintained. Advise a limited 2-year startup that gets scaled upon response. People who want to cyclo-commute will generally buy own $300 hybrid, then graduate to a $1500 roadie. Diehards invest in $5000 speedsters. Accordingly, buy several hybrids with gel saddles, metal baskets or plastic panniers plus some 1-speeds with rugged helmets for novices to borrow and train. Extra wheelsets, even those no longer serviceable, can be used to explain flat repairs. Tire levers are something that local bike shops might be interested in donating as advertising. Count yourself lucky if management cares enough to offer any of the above, because, apart from Apple and a few forward thinking companies, most don't. Some days, though, you're grateful to survive terrorists nearby because your nose was to the grindstone.
Monday, March 18, 2013
If Leaks Pertain
Ah, Spring, only days away. Anticipating longer rides and trading back up to better road bike from snow beater. Finally fixed flats recently mentioned. Don't mind divulging that reinstalling rubber is a satisfying pastime best done at home or shop rather than in field. New tires and tubes smell curiously acrid and tactilely please, whereas old are musty and worn smooth. The more care you take, the more confidence you have you'll not have to bother again soon. Although the more often one must the more proficient one gets, prefer each year to repeat just once preseason.
Potential failure modes abound, so diagnosing flats is more than just assuming a puncture. Experienced everything from side wall blowouts to valve failures. It's helpful to have a big bucket of water to locate puncture from bubbles, but indoors you can pump up tire and pass it close to your face, then likely feel air leak. Pay special attention to where puncture occurred, because there you might find glass, metal or wire still embedded, which will cause another flat. If reusing, rub entire tire through your thumbs, because you might discover multiple offenders. It's a jungle out there. Always remember, as Murphy said, if it can go wrong it probably will.
When rims are bare, it's convenient to assess rim tape, which doesn't last forever but less than several seasons. If frayed or punctured, replace with new. Also swipe all rim surfaces for grit or nicks, which can be smoothed with a bit of emery cloth. Use only the best materials for tape, tire and tube; the small difference in price is well worth it in issues prevented.
Tubes can be squirrelly and willful. Some people advocate inflating tube a bit before installing, since this makes easier to handle. Manufacturers routinely warn against doing so, since it weakens walls when not confined by rim and tire. Put one side of tire on first, and pull bead into center well of rim. Inspect and wipe tubes before installing; they are not necessarily grit free or perfect, and sometimes you run into a porous batch that hardly hold air long enough for you to go flat far from ride finish. Remove valve cap and, if presta, outside knurled nut. Pinch down tire at rim valve hole, slide in tube valve, then work tube around tire making sure it doesn't get twisted anywhere in periphery. Then lever on other tire bead. Avoid pinching tube between rim and tire or rough handling. Tubes must be completely happy tucked into that confined space.
Before inflating, inspect by pinching tire side walls and watching for bits of tube caught underneath tire bead; go entirely around, especially at valve stem. Pressing down on stem, where tube tends to hang up, pushes tube deeper into tire. Screw on presta's knurled nut about half way; it's only there to stabilize pump nozzle, not secure anything. As you inflate a bit at a time, check bead seat all around; let out air if beads don't seat evenly. More of valve stem will show, so you can screw nut down more but never tighten.
Carefully reattach wheels to fork and frame. The quick release nut should only be flush, then pivot lever back to latch tightly. Cyclists debate lever's proper position, say it should face backwards to avoid the unlikely chance that something could snag on it, dump you, or loosen wheel. Prefer to lock it astride fork or frame member, so lever is less affected by carrying bike on a rack.
Now comes the fun part: Go for a short spin to make sure your repairs can be trusted. Wear a helmet.
Potential failure modes abound, so diagnosing flats is more than just assuming a puncture. Experienced everything from side wall blowouts to valve failures. It's helpful to have a big bucket of water to locate puncture from bubbles, but indoors you can pump up tire and pass it close to your face, then likely feel air leak. Pay special attention to where puncture occurred, because there you might find glass, metal or wire still embedded, which will cause another flat. If reusing, rub entire tire through your thumbs, because you might discover multiple offenders. It's a jungle out there. Always remember, as Murphy said, if it can go wrong it probably will.
When rims are bare, it's convenient to assess rim tape, which doesn't last forever but less than several seasons. If frayed or punctured, replace with new. Also swipe all rim surfaces for grit or nicks, which can be smoothed with a bit of emery cloth. Use only the best materials for tape, tire and tube; the small difference in price is well worth it in issues prevented.
Tubes can be squirrelly and willful. Some people advocate inflating tube a bit before installing, since this makes easier to handle. Manufacturers routinely warn against doing so, since it weakens walls when not confined by rim and tire. Put one side of tire on first, and pull bead into center well of rim. Inspect and wipe tubes before installing; they are not necessarily grit free or perfect, and sometimes you run into a porous batch that hardly hold air long enough for you to go flat far from ride finish. Remove valve cap and, if presta, outside knurled nut. Pinch down tire at rim valve hole, slide in tube valve, then work tube around tire making sure it doesn't get twisted anywhere in periphery. Then lever on other tire bead. Avoid pinching tube between rim and tire or rough handling. Tubes must be completely happy tucked into that confined space.
Before inflating, inspect by pinching tire side walls and watching for bits of tube caught underneath tire bead; go entirely around, especially at valve stem. Pressing down on stem, where tube tends to hang up, pushes tube deeper into tire. Screw on presta's knurled nut about half way; it's only there to stabilize pump nozzle, not secure anything. As you inflate a bit at a time, check bead seat all around; let out air if beads don't seat evenly. More of valve stem will show, so you can screw nut down more but never tighten.
Carefully reattach wheels to fork and frame. The quick release nut should only be flush, then pivot lever back to latch tightly. Cyclists debate lever's proper position, say it should face backwards to avoid the unlikely chance that something could snag on it, dump you, or loosen wheel. Prefer to lock it astride fork or frame member, so lever is less affected by carrying bike on a rack.
Now comes the fun part: Go for a short spin to make sure your repairs can be trusted. Wear a helmet.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Lock Combination
An odd activity of an overwrought brain is to combine or deconstruct words and redefine meanings. Crack open or flip over anything familiar and you find unappreciated dimensions. To a cyclist pedaling through disrespect demonstrated daily by angry motorists and unforgiving roads, combination might resemble "combine nation", e pluribus unum, or what America is supposed to be, your land of opportunity for all who harbor no ill will. That doesn't routinely happen. Witness anti-immigrant, poverty prejudiced sentiments versus tax breaks for wealthiest. Should offer tax deductions for demonstrable service to community, not just sheltered foundation grants that never reach needy and victims. Cash flow and power control are locked through corporate privileges. Freedoms should belong to those who serve, but limits and thresholds are impossible to regulate. Coming together need not mean sacrificing freedoms, rather sanctifying principles that extend majority survival.
Any survey of bike books recently published must mention 3 that pertain to this topic. English cyclist Dave Barter compiled 30 articles he wrote over 10 years of challenges and events in which he participated into Obsessive Compulsive Cycling Disorder (Phased Publications, 2012, 218 pp.). Granted, all but the initiated must think whoever takes on cycling's repetitive boredom and torment might have some masochistic personality disorder. Then again, most cyclists are not racers, more likely people who can't afford motor vehicles or even to lose bikes to theft, so carry combination locks.
Speaking to that point domestically, Sue Knaup's Defying Poverty with Bicycles (One Street Press, 2012, 205 pp,) is a self help guide that promotes social change through bicycling organizations, mainly providing builds, parts and repairs to the disadvantaged. Knaup wrote it from 4 decades of personal experience in for-profit services and not-for-profit ventures.
Addressing even graver issues internationally, Eric G. Bing and Marc J. Epstein collaborated on Pharmacy on a Bicycle: Innovative Solutions to Global Health and Poverty (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2013, 240 pp.). It lays out how to use bicycles to improve medical services to remote villages where dollar doses of vaccines could save millions of lives. Although models exist, mechanisms sell hard where there's no will to implement.
Before her untimely death to breast cancer, Montreal's velorutionary Claire Morissette was able to collect tens of thousands of used bikes and ship them to Africa, no questions asked. Link is mostly in French with some English, just like Montreal. Some serve to unlock hearts.
Any survey of bike books recently published must mention 3 that pertain to this topic. English cyclist Dave Barter compiled 30 articles he wrote over 10 years of challenges and events in which he participated into Obsessive Compulsive Cycling Disorder (Phased Publications, 2012, 218 pp.). Granted, all but the initiated must think whoever takes on cycling's repetitive boredom and torment might have some masochistic personality disorder. Then again, most cyclists are not racers, more likely people who can't afford motor vehicles or even to lose bikes to theft, so carry combination locks.
Speaking to that point domestically, Sue Knaup's Defying Poverty with Bicycles (One Street Press, 2012, 205 pp,) is a self help guide that promotes social change through bicycling organizations, mainly providing builds, parts and repairs to the disadvantaged. Knaup wrote it from 4 decades of personal experience in for-profit services and not-for-profit ventures.
Addressing even graver issues internationally, Eric G. Bing and Marc J. Epstein collaborated on Pharmacy on a Bicycle: Innovative Solutions to Global Health and Poverty (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2013, 240 pp.). It lays out how to use bicycles to improve medical services to remote villages where dollar doses of vaccines could save millions of lives. Although models exist, mechanisms sell hard where there's no will to implement.
Before her untimely death to breast cancer, Montreal's velorutionary Claire Morissette was able to collect tens of thousands of used bikes and ship them to Africa, no questions asked. Link is mostly in French with some English, just like Montreal. Some serve to unlock hearts.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Stuck de-Nemo-in'
If a statistician is someone who focuses on facts of status, that is, how things are, then there should also be a sadistician, someone who perversely tortures others with trivial details, like nonstop weather forecasts. Yet who can deny that a magnificent obsession becomes a living art form, a performance art of monologues available upon demand and slight nudge? The obsessed possess a refined sense of paradoxes and truths about narrow topics, so are dismissed as autistics, savants or trainspotters. Conversely, when you think about it, what's wrong with majority with their limited knowledge of what they are sold and told? Statistics are derived mostly about buying preferences; to know what consumers will buy before they do increases profit.
Constitutional freedoms allow individuals to believe/go/think whatever/whenever/wherever they want. Mobility is a freedom used irresponsibly during a blizzard. Morons hop into 4-wheel SUVs and roam side streets to glare at homeowners shoveling themselves out. It's a deviant live entertainment akin to reality television, and so prevalent it's deemed a conditional misdemeanor since it impedes cities and towns from plowing and sanding. Besides, it's dangerous; every year someone trying to stay warm in a vehicle dies of carbon monoxide poisoning. And who can you call when even rescue squads can't get through?
Nemo rates among New England's 5 worst snow events, but its brutal cold, hurricane gusts, and up to 30 inches of snow don't come close to describing suffering of thousands of households stuck without power. Too many people take electricity and fuel for granted. Being prepared never occurs to them; they trust corporations and institutions to provide everything they need and reprove self-reliance. But only masochists will submit to deprivation for billionaires' sake. Never berate last minute buyers of bread, milk, power generators, snowblowers, or snow tires for mountain bikes, the way to go when you can't drive your car on hard packed snow.
Nemo rates among New England's 5 worst snow events, but its brutal cold, hurricane gusts, and up to 30 inches of snow don't come close to describing suffering of thousands of households stuck without power. Too many people take electricity and fuel for granted. Being prepared never occurs to them; they trust corporations and institutions to provide everything they need and reprove self-reliance. But only masochists will submit to deprivation for billionaires' sake. Never berate last minute buyers of bread, milk, power generators, snowblowers, or snow tires for mountain bikes, the way to go when you can't drive your car on hard packed snow.
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