August 29, 2006
(1 minute video - 5.6MB download)
This past Friday’s Critical Mass was just a fun and enjoyable bike ride through Minneapolis. No one was hurt, arrested, or otherwise unhappy. Some great moments included a very distinguished looking man on the street interacting with us:
Man: “Critical Mass? What’s a Critical Mass?”
Bicyclist: “It’s kind of a bicycle celebration.”
Man: “Oh! Very good!”
Click on the image above for a video of the ride! Special thanks to Jon Hain of Uvulittle Records for allowing me to use the song, Coma Savant, by The Coma Savants in this video.
For more information about Critical Mass:
Critical-Mass.info
Bicycle Lane Yahoo Group in Minneapolis
A few nights ago, Michael and I biked to the Midtown Global Market to meet our friend Randy for dinner. If you have not been here, you should go! You are in for a treat!
The Global Market is in the lower level of the Midtown Exchange Building (formerly the Sears building) on the corner of Lake and Chicago Streets in Minneapolis. Inside you will find a wide array of local restaurants, markets, and shops that represent the diversity of the neighborhood. You can have tacos, tamales, Indian food, Asian food, Middle-Eastern food, and find all the ingredients you want and need to prepare a feast at home.
The great thing for bicyclists is that you can take the Midtown Greenway to the Midtown Exchange Building. There’s even parking on the greenway for your bike!
August 23, 2006
I thought I’d give you all a taste of the Bike-In at the Bell event that I went to on August 12. The event was held at the Bell Museum on the campus of The University of Minnesota. Click the image above for a small video (2 min, 10MB) of Dreamland Faces and their musical merriment. Sit back and enjoy while you browse photos on Flickr.
All in all it was a pleasant gathering of bike shops, a “fix-your-bike” station, organizations tabling information, and great entertainment. I’m considering doing the Tour de Sprawl bike ride from Woodbury to Hastings, MN with the Sierra Club. $15 gets you a great meal featuring local foods, and a tour of what good suburban, bike-friendly development looks like.
August 18, 2006
If you look back long ago on my blog, I was showing pictures of the damage that motorized vehicles were doing to the bike trail along the Hiawatha Light Rail.
I emailed my city council representative, Cam Gordon on May 20, 2006. I also attempted to find the “Bicycle Advocacy Committee” that is part of the Minneapolis Public Works Department. I was extremely late to sit in on the meeting because it took 40 minutes to find someone who knew about the committee, the meeting room, and who oversaw the committee. Yes, they need a “Meetings in City Hall Today” information sheet. Once I arrived at the meeting, they were in full swing, and about to undertake their “visioning and direction” exercise among those seated at a big round table. There really wasn’t any way for me, Joe Citizen to participate, so I left.
Anyway, almost 3 months later, here’s the response from Cam Gordon’s office.
Scott,
Cam asked me to write you back about the police cars on the bikeway.
Though police cars are exempt from the prohibition on motorized vehicles
on the bikeway (as they are in parks, on the greenway, etc), I agree
that it’s not the ideal situation. I use the path to bike to work here
every day, and I hear what you’re saying about the difficulty of passing
the cars. We’ve passed your concern along to the first police precinct
and the metro transit police, along with your request that bike patrols
be used for the bike path.
Thanks for contacting the office,
Robin Garwood
Council Aide,
Second Ward Council Member Cam Gordon
612.673.3654 (office)
651.338.7699 (cell)
http://secondward.blogspot.com
I’m frustrated that these processes dealing with government can take so long, and that in the end, you begin to feel like you aren’t meant to be “plugged in” to leaders and departments of the city. I think I will stick to my approach of working outside the power structures and institutions, and maybe finding ways to inspire at the grass roots.
August 14, 2006
As promised, I’ve uploaded the videos I took with my camera while in Portland, OR. They are all about 30 seconds in length, and give you a little “peek” into my experience. Click on the image above or this link for the Dances of Universal Peace video that I captured while at Grace Memorial Episcopal Church in Portland.
I shared a part of my sandwich from the Food for Thought Cafe with a cute pidgeon, while sheltered under a pavilion made of cob.
Also, I took a short video of the Salmon Street Springs fountain on Portland’s riverfront.
Enjoy!
August 8, 2006
Both times now, after renting bikes in Portland and Madison, I’ve felt more comfortable riding bigger bikes with higher seats and handlebars. I fell in love with the Gary Fisher Zebrano FS bicycle especially after renting it in Madison. But moreover, when I came back from these trips, riding my own bike felt very foreign and confining.
So, just when i was about to try to sell my bike to get a new one, I decided to make a last effort to keep my Breezer. I took it in to The Hub to see if they could adjust the seat and handlebars up a bit for me.
What a difference it made!!
My leg actually has some extension now, and I’m able to generate a lot more forward momentum! I may actually save my knees! No it’s not perfect by any means, but it feels a lot better now. I’ve saved myself the expense of buying a new bike (at least until next summer!), so that’s a very good thing.
I may see about investing in some accessories for the bike, like a few quick release levers for the seat post, and maybe the wheels, if they can put them on. My next worry: What if I get a flat tire on the road? The way the Breezer is set up, I would need a bunch of tools, and I’d rather not have to carry a ton of them with me just to take off a wheel to change a flat tire.
Now that it’s below 80 degrees, maybe it’s time to go out and ride once again in Minneapolis!
August 7, 2006
After taking a day to recoup from the 36-hour Amtrak ride home, I’ve finally placed a photo album of my pictures from Portland on Flickr. I also went back and placed photos within the posts that Michael translated and placed on the blog. Thank you, Michael!!
To tie up a loose end, I was never able to get to the Catholic Worker House in Portland. Apparently the phone number was for the Archdioses of Portland, and they had never heard of the concept of a Catholic Worker House. Portland could use one or two, since homelessness tends to be a large problem in the city.
Just as I felt while in Madison, the time I spent bicycling in Portland gave me an opportunity to really understand the city from a perspective I might not have otherwise known. I’m convinced that renting a bicycle in an unfamiliar city is one of the best ways to get to know it!
I believe that by choosing to bike for five days with a flexible agenda was my best choice. The people I met, the sights I saw, and the experiences I had - they were all formed through that choice. Never more did I feel that stronger than when I attended the Dances of Universal Peace event with my now new friend, Daniel. This was a profound event that I could have missed all together.
One of the dances and songs translated as, “All you who mourn, may you be embraced by love.” In this song, we each danced around our circle looking into the eyes of our partner. We would embrace our partner in a hug, then move around the circle to a new partner and do the same. In another song we were called to “Return Again”. “Return to who you are. Return to what you are. Return to where you are.” This was the affirmation I needed for the entire trip, knowing that my choices led me to wonderful people who were invested in our shared humanity.
I mentioned in an early posting that “you have to believe in yourself” first and foremost, and that the best place to start to make change is in your own back yard. I feel a bit renewed in my spirit to “create the change I wish to see” after this trip.
I’m glad to be home, and I’m glad for this experience and the way it unfolded. I’m sure my adventures aren’t over when it comes to bicycling. I’m now really itching to bike down the Willard Munger Trail, 75 miles from Duluth to Hinkley. Minnesota is a beautiful place.
I live here.
August 5, 2006
“Hi, it’s Scott. It’s Friday. I am at the Amtrak station waiting for my train to leave Portland. It’s been fun. Ironically, I ran into two people, one of the Mom and daughters that went on the Portland trip. They’re going back because the daughter blew out her knee and they had to leave the trip early. So they’re going on the train the same time I am. They’re going to go in First Class, however.
It’s been a great trip. I wanted to run down the people I met in Portland because they’re so warm and wonderful. Everyone can talk to you on the street. First there was a person named Dolly. She sat down and talked to me at the bus stop out of the blue, one of the first days I was here. She was 62. She looked about 40 years old. She talked about retirement and how people just get comfortable and how wanted to go to New York and live with her sister. That time of life where she wanted to connect with her. So Dolly was a great person right up front.
Karen at Waterfront Bikes, she was great. She showed me the great trails and shared my sentiments dealing with the tour. She really worked out a good deal for me for the bike rental. A guy Michael from L.A. He made the decision to leave L.A. while he was here and move to Portland. We talked a little about, just a few spiritual things. Some of the quotes he said was “God is in nature and is protecting me so I’ll be just fine.” He wrote death certificates for funeral homes. I found that as an interesting occupation. He will be staying in Portland. I met him at the hostel. Doug and Laura at the hostel: Laura was moving from Sacramento to Portland, and Doug from Eugene was her tour guide. They were a great couple I met there.
I guy I met Tom, who I met casually while biking, he lived in Hawaii. He told me about how the 100 degree days almost did him in when he was surfing with his friends…people from South Korea who saw my Twins hat and loved baseball. Greg, who I met previously before coming to Portland, we shared pizza and a meal at Old Town Pizza, the home of Nina the ghost. We didn’t see her. Alex Wrekk from Microcosm [Publishing]. I want to thank her especially for all the great links and resources. I’m glad to have gone there and seen their store and seen all the things that they do. I wish I could have gone back again.
I met a bike messenger while I was there. He was a man of a few words. He seemed to like his job. He said “yeah, Portland’s really chill.” He has a lot of down time, been in a lot of jobs. Didn’t say much at all but was a cool guy. Food for Thought Cafe: they make the greatest sandwiches. I think that was a great highlight. And Daniel, this guy who I met at the library. This guy who read my blog. We got to connect and go to the Dances of Universal Peace at the church. It was great. I’m very thankful to Daniel. Sorry for not calling him back, I was doing my own thing the next day, trail riding.
It’s been a great trip. The people here in Portland are wonderful. I’m going to miss a lot of them but I’m glad that I got to meet a lot of people. I’ll have to get on the train pretty soon and see the sights there one more time. And then come back to Minnesota and the people that I love. Thanks for listening on this trip. I’ll give a little recap when I’m back.”
August 4, 2006
Voice Post on Livejournal #8
“Hey, it’s Thursday in Portland, Oregon. Today I went trail riding for a lot of the day, it was great. I went down the Springwater Corridor Trail which runs South on the East side of the Willamette River. It’s not the will-a-met, but the will-aaa-mit. As my friend Nancy says, “It’s the will-aaa-mit, dammit,” so you can remember. So anyway I rode through parts of the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge there along the trail, it was really nice. It really kind of struck me. It was kind of prairie wildlife but there were some really cool pictures of animals on stakes and little words on them saying “I live here,” which really struck me. It’s kind of a reminder to stay on the trail and if we had more things like that in the world. All of the things, just on stakes and on sticks in front of us like birds, and insects, and any creature. With pictures of them saying “I live here,” maybe we’d be a little more conscious. That was kind of interesting, I found that to be really great. On the trail coming back, you go right along the river. You cross the Willamette River on the steel bridge, but the steel bridge is a lift bridge. So you get to cross it, almost water-level on this lift bridge that cars pass over you like maybe 40 or 50 feet above you. It’s kind of fun. I didn’t get to ride the lift, I didn’t think they would let me.
As far as transit goes, I haven’t talked about transit in Portland much. Transit is great! They have a fareless square in downtown Portland. Basically that means that if you’re inside this interstate loop in downtown, you ride for free on the bus, the light rail, and the streetcar. Also, they have really cool parking kiosks and zones where you can take your time with you. All these kiosks are run by solar power, they have solar panels on the top. It’s kind of like you go and pay this little kiosk, they give you a little ticket thing that you can put on your window on your car and it says how much time you have. You can take that time with you. So if you still have time left on your sticker that you put on your window you can go to another place, another parking spot downtown or somewhere else and use that time up. It’s great. As long as it’s in the same or longer time zone. Some of them are 90 minutes, some are 4 hours, and some are 5 hours. You can’t take a 5 hour time sticker and then go park in a 90 minute time zone for 5 hours. They don’t like that.
The people in Portland are really great, they’re very laid back, they’re very friendly. You can talk to people on the train, you can talk to people on the streetcar. People take their pets and their cats and they introduce you to them on these forms of transit. It’s great. You know, in Minnesota we have this very thin veneer between people. I’ve not found that here. People are very open and honest, regardless of whether they’re very extroverted, introverted, a little weird, or if they have really good social skills. It’s very open. People are very laid back. I kind of like that.
Tomorrow I go home. I’m kind of looking forward to coming home to Minnesota. I kind of miss it. It’s time to come back. Also tomorrow I’ll do a little recap. I’ve met a lot of really cool people here and I’ll give some shout-outs and some thanks and tell you about them. So, tomorrow I go back on Amtrak! I’m missing Minnesota and I’ll be back soon. Bye-bye.”
August 3, 2006
Voice Post on Livejournal #7
“It’s Wednesday in Portland, Oregon. Just recapping today. I went to the farmer’s market this morning, it was actually more like noon, and picked up a few things. It was wonderful, beautiful I’d never seen chard, swiss chard that was a foot long. It’s incredible. The leaves are a food long, I’m not exaggerating. I got some chard, a peace, some blueberries. The blueberries here are huge! Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be cooking a lot of these things up at the hostel and hopefully sharing some food with some people here. That’s one thing I miss being at home is that I’m kinda the cook of all of our fresh veggies that we get from our CSA, our Community Supported Agriculture farm. So, hopefully I”ll get a chance to cook some chard up and make some nice veggies for people and others maybe at the hostel.
After that, I actually took a nap. It was great. So today has been my relaxing day. Then I hung out with my friends Nancy and Martin who I didn’t get to see at DemiCon in Des Moines, which is normally a science fiction convention I go to this time of year. It was last weekend in Des Moines and I didn’t get to see them. That’s the time of year, once a year usually, that I get to see them. Nancy and I hung out for a while and she drove me up to a park where you can see Mt Hood and Mt St Helens at another point as well. Really good picturesque views of those two mountains. You can even see Mt Rainier and the whole Oregon coast range as well from this point in the city. It was wonderful. We went to a nice little tavern up in the hills called the Rock Creek Tavern for dinner. It was just a nice time seeing them.
Tomorrow plans to be a day for some trail riding around Portland on the bike and maybe just some random things along the way. It’s my last day in Portland so I want to take advantage of it on the bike if I can. So, that’s Wednesday. Stay tuned.”
