Comments on: Week 4 Challenge Recap: Ride for Transportation and Recruit a Friend

By: Steave Scott

Steave Scott — Sat, 26 May 2012 23:57:30 +0000

I’m glad to see this blog. I have been spreading the word in the course of my usual activities as much as possible. Most of the staff at my favorite pizza place (art school students for the most part) bike as their principal form of transportation. They’re entusiastic and may form a team. I’m also alerting our two local bike co-ops. Their patrons are largely the folks who just can’t keep a car on the road, so they bike.

I think the biggest problem with publicity for the challenge is that the dues paying membership of advocacy organizations is still dominated by recreational cyclists. As a utility cyclist, I have no objection to them, nor they to me – until it comes time to allocate resources for infrastructure projects, at least! My point, though is that concentrating the advertising in social media such as Facebook is unlikely to reach someone who bikes to work, but never goes on social rides, tours, or charity events.

I would suggest a campaign to get a stack of cards with the signup information in every local bike shop in the land (and every student coffee house, cyber café, and dorm as well.)

Full disclosure: I use my bike for 99% of my transportation at around 130 miles per week. Since I work the “off schedule” my weekends are only free if I use vacation time for them, which precludes all of those lovely century rides and 600k brevets. I did ride our annual Tour de Taco last year (a ride from one taco truck to another, to another, to another.)

By: Elizabeth Freundorfer

Elizabeth Freundorfer — Sat, 26 May 2012 03:31:53 +0000

Having ridden with Michael Lemuel for 55 miles on one of his century+ days, I would agree with Leonard, it’s hard to say what’s transportation and what’s recreation. I know that day at least 55 miles was transportation because we were riding it for my job, did we enjoy it, yes. I think the purpose of categorizing the “type” of miles is more about getting an idea of what type of cycling is happening in a given community. Miles are miles guys, and I’ve seen some amazing stuff in the last month! Let’s all just keep on riding!

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Fri, 25 May 2012 18:13:38 +0000

Great point Leonard! However you log it, you’re an inspiration to us all!

By: Leonard Wright

Leonard Wright — Fri, 25 May 2012 18:11:34 +0000

Recreation??? Transportation??? I find most of my rides contain elements of both. For example, when I stopped for breakfast at a restaurant 20 miles from home during a recreational ride – log as recreation or transportation??? If I hadn’t been riding, I would never have driven to that restaurant for breakfast but the restaurant received my business – transportation/recreation??? On the way home I stopped by the bike shop for a new chain – recreation/transportation??? Since my rides are directly downloaded from my Garmin GPS without modification, I would find it very difficult to determine what was recreation and what was transportation, therefore everything I log goes under recreation. { Side note: I typically use less than 40 gallons of gas a year, I use other methods of getting around (that do not involve burning gas) – I avoid driving my car as much as possible….. }