Chock Full of Info....

This one is a good one. So much to share. First, I was introduced to a man named Michael Bauch. He is an independent film maker who did a house swap a couple years ago with a family in Amsterdam. The things he discovered about bikes and bike culture were amazing. Check out this trailer to his movie...very impactful. Go to YouTube and type in "Riding Bikes With The Dutch". The biggest message in here is that...Bike Riding is normal. It's not something people without money do, or crazy super fit athletes do or an impossible task. The culture in Amsterdam makes it seem that bike riding is just another form of transportation. No big woop. You don't have to proclaim that you're "saving the world" or "being green" or anything...you can just ride a bike, because you like too, and that's it. He said he interviewed some politician over there about the culture. The guy was wearing a suit during the interview. At the end...he hopped onto his bike and rode off back to the office-no biggie. In the trailer you'll see people that are sitting in traffic and are miserable in Long Beach or on the LA freeway--then it cuts too the freedom of being on the bike and the happy looks on everyone's faces. It's awesome. So...check it out. It inspired me again for sure. Some other cool things happening with the SD Bike Coalition are.... Island Street Bike Boulevard! There's an effort to remove as many stop signs on Island Street as possible to make it a 2 way bike road. There are some obstacles involving diagonal car parking spots and some weird little one way street jogs, but, if this can happen, it would be a bike commuter's dream to enter into downtown from Golden Hill/Southpark/Hillcrest and Northpark. There are also bike corrals being put up all over the city. Did you know that 30 bikes can fit in 1 parking spot? If you were a business owner--what impact would it make to have a 30:1 ratio? If you were a business that supported placing the bike corral in front of your store, you should tell everyone about it. As a bike rider, I'd be loyal to that business for sure. Also--there is a Bike Friendly Business Program. Many merchants in San Diego are now participating in giving discounts to people that ride their bikes. Google It...and look for the logo in your area business. Pretty cool stuff. Go to SDbikecommuter.com There are discounts for up to 15% at area places. So much more to talk about but...WOW...that SD Bike Coalition is really making waves here in San Diego. The most exciting news is that Tour De Fat is this Saturday. This is the New Belgium event where they dare you to trade your car for your bike. This will mark the 1 year anniversary of me becoming obsessed with the car vs. bike experience..... Who else do you know that writes about their obsessions???

Where Does My Tax Money Go anyway?

So....I am organizing some pals to volunteer to show up to clean the OB Bike Path. San Diego Bike Coalition does it every other month. I am an avid rider of the path and believe it's the right thing to do to show up and help. I look at it as if it were my house. I live here, (i ride there) therefore I should take care of it--right? Why complain about it being messy or have graffiti or ugly when I can show up and clean it up and make it look pretty. Most of the Invitees agreed. One of them disputed my efforts. I welcomed the notions brought to me, but, want to explore the validity of them-just a bit. The neigh Sayer's position is: "Yeah, I ride that path all the time, but, why would I spend my precious time on the weekends that I don't have, cleaning up after homeless people that should clean up after themselves, or juvenile delinquents that should be looked after by their family, and my tax dollars are going toward the clean up. I already pay for it to be cleaned up, so, why should I have to do it myself." It was a position brought to me which I did not expect and I really appreciated it. This caused me to wonder.... Who is responsible for keeping the OB Street Path clean and safe? Is it the city? Is it the county? or is it us? Where do our tax payer dollars go? What % goes toward improving bike path safety, maintenance and cleaning? If anyone knows the answers to this....please reply or email me mkobasic@msn.com If you have a thought on it...please do share. I will spend some time researching this. If for nothing else than to learn---is the neigh Sayer making a stand due to "principle" or is it the neigh Sayer's subtle way of really saying, "I don't want to get up on a Saturday to do something good for the world?" We shall see.............

Night Ride.....

Well...last night we went on a night ride. It was a harvest moon and it was awesome. University ave still needs some work. The road between 1st and kettner is dark and rickety--but--it's a nice night ride. We took PCH all the way into downtown and had a picnic on the bench in front of the Embarcadero. I HIGHLY recommend a night ride ending over here. You can look at the boats, have the grassy knoll all to yourself, and there's plenty of night light with the Hilton right next door, the Coronado bridge and the marina lights. It took 20 minutes from Mission Hills to downtown and 35 minutes back. Nice nice ride.

In other news....this morning on my bike I found a sign in the neighborhood called "The Ponder Post". Someone randomly posts quotes on a little piece of paper on the "Ponder Post". This week's ponder was about the value of reading a book. Very cool stuff. Anyway....Just another reason to ride a bike--the things you find along the way are things that have been there forever, you just never paid attention--or had too....

Back in the saddle....

Well--we've made some strides the last couple of days. My car lease expires 11/24 and guess who's NOT getting a new car??? You got it--ME--that's right. I am going to be a full time 100% bike commuter.....chew on that Exxon Mobil.

My boyfriend still can't believe it's possible and is already thinking about insurance options for his other car. It's impossible for him to believe that one can just ride their bike everywhere.

I say, anything's possible with a bike and a blog...right?

Anyway---you have to check out this movie.... Riding with the Dutch. YouTube it. I am fascinated by the story and want to see more. I want to learn more about this guy and his family and how the bike stuff changed his life. More to follow.

I finally reconnected with the SD Bike Coalition today. Very excited to volunteer again at Tour De Fat. This time I am going to ride in it...then volunteer. Also, I guess there are some other awesome Urban Core things happening in the downtown area. Need to connect with Kathy at SDBCC to get back involved.

Easing back in....

OK...now that I am back in San Diego I need to get back into my groove of biking everywhere. It's been a slow start as I am going between 2 house--my main squeeze and mine...I have a ton of running around to do for new job and house stuff...and the main squeeze has a dog..who unfortunately cannot ride a bike--YET. I got back into the groove this week and kicked off the inspiration with the annual Bike the Bay bike ride. WOW...what a great event. My friends Sandy and Andy created this great ride and they let me run the beer garden for it. How fun is it to greet bike riders after they just enjoyed a radical ride over the Coronado bridge on the San Diego Bay...and then have a delish cold brewski? Seeing all those bike riders this past Sunday was inspiring...so....we watched...we enjoyed and I kicked it back into bike gear. While riding this week I realized cars still do not like bikers. They are still real mad. On the road a couple days a ago a fella yelled from his car window: "You're suppose to be riding on the sidewalk...". I did not correct him, nor did I cite the law that states in a commercial area you are suppose to be on the road...but..if I knew that off the top of my head I would have for sure. Today while riding I encountered a man with a plastic pitch fork riding his bike on the opposite side of the road. He didn't seem mean...but...he did seem that he was on a mission...Yesterday on the way from a gal pal's house to my main squeeze's house I hopped on the trolley... There seemed to be a bit of a scuffle with some folks on the trolley and I started feeling unsafe, so...I hopped off and rode the rest of the way. I was suppose to get there at 830 and arrived at 9 but fret not....the spaghetti was hot and a glass of wine was waiting---DELISH! Today I rode 15 miles....rode from my house to doctor in U heights....then to Kinko's in Hillcrest..then Mission Hills for boot camp and back home. University street seems in the worst shape I've ever seen it. There are cracks and crevices that are not safe. That street needs to be fixed.... Onward and upward...stay tuned for my progress on getting my pedi cab lisence...yep...I said it...Pedi Cab Operator....