Another quick note here. I'm still in Spokane, having a great time and learning a lot. I'm accumulating a pile of notes and when all this is done, I'll post more digested, analyzed thoughts.
Here are a couple of neat things that have already happened on this trip. In Spokane I'm talking with John Speare about his Pedals2People project. What he's doing is very similar to what Kyle Morris is doing at the Hub in Bellingham. "Talk to Kyle," I advise, "you'll learn a ton. Better yet, go there and see what he's doing." In Winthrop Scott Wachler and I talked about issues with chipseal on roads and I told him about some of the places that are doing some simple things to lessen the impact of chipseal on cyclists. And we also talked about motivating kids and getting them riding. I pointed Scott to some of the stuff that Bikeworks is doing in Seattle.
I stop at various bike shops to get a feel of the local bike business and from that get a feel for what kind of cycling folks are doing. Some places are more road, some are more mountain. But in every place I'm getting stories of an uptick in utility cycling, folks riding around to get places. I think this is a good trend.
I don't have time in the moment to write all this up, so I'll continue blasting up fragments. When I'm back at home and have a couple weeks worth of stories, pictures and impressions, I'll pull together a larger reflection of what I've seen and learned on this trip.
Great journey so far. Enjoying it very much from here (in Spain). A bit far but what the heck. By the way, pardon my ignorance but what is cheapseal and what impact does it have on cyclists?
ReplyDeleteTyping is writing, too-
ReplyDeleteAs to motivating the kids; depends on the age! Tempe, AZ is in the hot hot hot time, but check this next generation of kids out:
http://www.myspace.com/bikesaviours
I'll try to visit them and turn them on to your blog. Who knows?
"cheapseal" is a corruption of "chip seal", a cheap process of resurfacing a road, where tar is sprayed down and then covered with gravel. Theoretically, the weight of the moving cars presses the gravel (the "chips") down into the tar for a ridable surface.
ReplyDeleteIn reality, though, there is lots of loose rock since the surface is only compacted where heavy vehicles drive. So, the road near the shoulders is often loose gravel and not the best for cyclists.
Sadly, lots more places are using chipseal because it's cheaper for them in the short run....
great blog Kent!