CR: Feet don't fail me now

I blew a snot rocket expertly from each nostril and sped ahead... The
sun is up and the morning commute is on. I hop off a curb and keep a
sharp eye for the guy in the SUV who looks like he is making the turn
without ever seeing me in the intersection... I pump my legs furiously
and get through ok. I shift my messenger bag and open the zipper of my
jacket up a bit... I am warming up now. I look down and realize I have
a potential blowout situation going on... I stop and bend down to tie
my shoe... 10 seconds later I am off again like a rocket. My feet
acting the part of my bike. Walking sure isn't biking but it is
commuting.
Our move brought some changes. I now live 40 miles from work and taking
the car is not a great option. I would normally be able to make the trip
in just under an hour, but the traffic here makes it an hour and a half
task in the morning and more like two hours at night. We have made a
commitment to live as green as we can in our new digs. I am taking the
commitment to heart and making my transportation as green as I can.
The Long Island Railroad is my greenest option. There are some
"difficulties" to work out. I have a 3 mile trip from home to the
station and a mile and a bit from the station to work. A bike would be
the perfect alternative. We paid for lifetime bike passes for the train
sometime back.
I assumed everything was golden and I would be doing my part and
getting some biking in. I looked at my pass a couple of days before and
noticed some fine print. NO BIKES DURING PEAK HOURS ARE ALLOWED ON THE
TRAIN.
That is not a very friendly and green policy is it? My first day I
politely ask the conductor if they are strict on this policy. I am told
in strident tones that I will NOT be permitted to bring a bike with me.
My options are to have two junk bikes and keep them chained up at my
home station and my destination, or buy a folder. The junk bikes are a
great idea but I have yet to see a junk bike out for sale or garbage.
Before we moved Carla found a great commuter but I had to let it go.
The move just wouldn't allow it.
The other option is a folding bike. We priced some out and found a
decent one but the money is just not in the budget for more bikes...
So for now it's me and my furious feet.


Jimbo(san)


--
Jimbo(san)

Jimbo(san) wrote:
I blew a snot rocket expertly from each nostril and sped ahead... The
sun is up and the morning commute is on. I hop off a curb and keep a
sharp eye for the guy in the SUV who looks like he is making the turn
without ever seeing me in the intersection... I pump my legs furiously
and get through ok. I shift my messenger bag and open the zipper of my
jacket up a bit... I am warming up now. I look down and realize I have
a potential blowout situation going on... I stop and bend down to tie
my shoe... 10 seconds later I am off again like a rocket. My feet
acting the part of my bike. Walking sure isn't biking but it is
commuting.
Our move brought some changes. I now live 40 miles from work and taking
the car is not a great option. I would normally be able to make the trip
in just under an hour, but the traffic here makes it an hour and a half
task in the morning and more like two hours at night. We have made a
commitment to live as green as we can in our new digs. I am taking the
commitment to heart and making my transportation as green as I can.
The Long Island Railroad is my greenest option. There are some
"difficulties" to work out. I have a 3 mile trip from home to the
station and a mile and a bit from the station to work. A bike would be
the perfect alternative. We paid for lifetime bike passes for the train
sometime back.
I assumed everything was golden and I would be doing my part and
getting some biking in. I looked at my pass a couple of days before and
noticed some fine print. NO BIKES DURING PEAK HOURS ARE ALLOWED ON THE
TRAIN.
That is not a very friendly and green policy is it? My first day I
politely ask the conductor if they are strict on this policy. I am told
in strident tones that I will NOT be permitted to bring a bike with me.
My options are to have two junk bikes and keep them chained up at my
home station and my destination, or buy a folder. The junk bikes are a
great idea but I have yet to see a junk bike out for sale or garbage.
Before we moved Carla found a great commuter but I had to let it go.
The move just wouldn't allow it.
The other option is a folding bike. We priced some out and found a
decent one but the money is just not in the budget for more bikes...
So for now it's me and my furious feet.


Jimbo(san)



Or just go to work earlier and come home later. I would lead a group to
change the rules. There is no reason they can't save part of one rail
car for bikes.



--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Ride-A-Lot Wrote:

Or just go to work earlier and come home later. I would lead a group
to
change the rules. There is no reason they can't save part of one rail
car for bikes.



--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Well let's see peak begins at 5 am and ends at 8:50 pm...
Makes for a long day to avoid a few mile walk don't cha think?
I'd rather not fight the LIRR...
What's the point?
I think when the budget comes around I will go for the folding bike and
pretend it is an oboe or something... In other words I will bend like a
reed in the wind Muad Dib


--
Jimbo(san)

Jimbo(san) wrote:
Ride-A-Lot Wrote:
Or just go to work earlier and come home later. I would lead a group
to
change the rules. There is no reason they can't save part of one rail
car for bikes.



--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Well let's see peak begins at 5 am and ends at 8:50 pm...
Makes for a long day to avoid a few mile walk don't cha think?
I'd rather not fight the LIRR...
What's the point?
I think when the budget comes around I will go for the folding bike and
pretend it is an oboe or something... In other words I will bend like a
reed in the wind Muad Dib



Wow, that's some peak! The riverline here near my town that goes to
Trenton allows bikes all day (six on each car in a specially designed
hanging rack). It's a nice light rail system although the clientelle is
a bit questionable (it doesn't go through the nicest towns from Camden
to Trenton).

--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Jimbo (san) wrote:
Ride-A-Lot Wrote:

Or just go to work earlier and come home later. I would lead a group
to
change the rules. There is no reason they can't save part of one
rail car for bikes.



--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Well let's see peak begins at 5 am and ends at 8:50 pm...
Makes for a long day to avoid a few mile walk don't cha think?
I'd rather not fight the LIRR...
What's the point?
I think when the budget comes around I will go for the folding bike
and pretend it is an oboe or something... In other words I will bend
like a reed in the wind Muad Dib

Certainly a letter to the editor of your local paper would be in order? How
environemntally and commuter unfriendly of them! In this day and age! With
the price of gas! And no bike boxes. Be sure to list examples of places
that a) allow bikes on trains and b) have commuter boxes. BART in the Bay
Area would be a good example.

ps

Jimbo(san) wrote:

That is not a very friendly and green policy is it? My first day I
politely ask the conductor if they are strict on this policy. I am told
in strident tones that I will NOT be permitted to bring a bike with me.
My options are to have two junk bikes and keep them chained up at my
home station and my destination, or buy a folder. The junk bikes are a
great idea but I have yet to see a junk bike out for sale or garbage.
Before we moved Carla found a great commuter but I had to let it go.
The move just wouldn't allow it.
The other option is a folding bike. We priced some out and found a
decent one but the money is just not in the budget for more bikes...
So for now it's me and my furious feet.


Keep a junker for the home side and keep your feet for the work side.

Greg
--
"All my time I spent in heaven
Revelries of dance and wine
Waking to the sound of laughter
Up I'd rise and kiss the sky" - The Mekons

Jimbo (san) wrote:
I blew a snot rocket expertly from each nostril and sped ahead... The
sun is up and the morning commute is on. I hop off a curb and keep a
sharp eye for the guy in the SUV who looks like he is making the turn
without ever seeing me in the intersection... I pump my legs furiously
and get through ok. I shift my messenger bag and open the zipper of my
jacket up a bit... I am warming up now. I look down and realize I have
a potential blowout situation going on... I stop and bend down to tie
my shoe... 10 seconds later I am off again like a rocket. My feet
acting the part of my bike. Walking sure isn't biking but it is
commuting.
Our move brought some changes. I now live 40 miles from work and taking
the car is not a great option. I would normally be able to make the trip
in just under an hour, but the traffic here makes it an hour and a half
task in the morning and more like two hours at night. We have made a
commitment to live as green as we can in our new digs. I am taking the
commitment to heart and making my transportation as green as I can.
The Long Island Railroad is my greenest option. There are some
"difficulties" to work out. I have a 3 mile trip from home to the
station and a mile and a bit from the station to work. A bike would be
the perfect alternative. We paid for lifetime bike passes for the train
sometime back.
I assumed everything was golden and I would be doing my part and
getting some biking in. I looked at my pass a couple of days before and
noticed some fine print. NO BIKES DURING PEAK HOURS ARE ALLOWED ON THE
TRAIN.
That is not a very friendly and green policy is it? My first day I
politely ask the conductor if they are strict on this policy. I am told
in strident tones that I will NOT be permitted to bring a bike with me.
My options are to have two junk bikes and keep them chained up at my
home station and my destination, or buy a folder. The junk bikes are a
great idea but I have yet to see a junk bike out for sale or garbage.
Before we moved Carla found a great commuter but I had to let it go.
The move just wouldn't allow it.
The other option is a folding bike. We priced some out and found a
decent one but the money is just not in the budget for more bikes...
So for now it's me and my furious feet.


Jimbo(san)


--
Jimbo(san)

Congrats on the move. I might be able to help you cobble some freebie
frankenbike together out of a bunch of old frames and parts I have
lying around waiting to be CHUNKed. You have any plans to be in
Brooklyn in the near future? The Atlantic Ave/Flatbush LIRR stop is
around 2 miles from my apt....
Drop an email and I'll try and rustle up some glamorous photos of the
cream of Brooklyn's discarded.

/s

G.T. wrote:
Jimbo(san) wrote:

That is not a very friendly and green policy is it? My first day I
politely ask the conductor if they are strict on this policy. I am told
in strident tones that I will NOT be permitted to bring a bike with me.
My options are to have two junk bikes and keep them chained up at my
home station and my destination, or buy a folder. The junk bikes are a
great idea but I have yet to see a junk bike out for sale or garbage.
Before we moved Carla found a great commuter but I had to let it go.
The move just wouldn't allow it.
The other option is a folding bike. We priced some out and found a
decent one but the money is just not in the budget for more bikes...
So for now it's me and my furious feet.


Keep a junker for the home side and keep your feet for the work side.

Greg


Exactly. Get an old Schwinn Varsity on eBay for $10.

JD

On Tue, 21 Mar 2006 08:59:51 -0800, small change wrote:

Certainly a letter to the editor of your local paper would be in order? How
environemntally and commuter unfriendly of them! In this day and age! With
the price of gas! And no bike boxes. Be sure to list examples of places
that a) allow bikes on trains and b) have commuter boxes. BART in the Bay
Area would be a good example.

ps

And Portland! (The OR one.)

gabrielle

On Tue, 21 Mar 2006 08:59:51 -0800, small change wrote
(in article ):

Jimbo (san) wrote:
Ride-A-Lot Wrote:

Or just go to work earlier and come home later. I would lead a group
to
change the rules. There is no reason they can't save part of one
rail car for bikes.



--
o-o-o-o Ride-A-Lot o-o-o-o
www.schnauzers.ws

Well let's see peak begins at 5 am and ends at 8:50 pm...
Makes for a long day to avoid a few mile walk don't cha think?
I'd rather not fight the LIRR...
What's the point?
I think when the budget comes around I will go for the folding bike
and pretend it is an oboe or something... In other words I will bend
like a reed in the wind Muad Dib

Certainly a letter to the editor of your local paper would be in order? How
environemntally and commuter unfriendly of them! In this day and age! With
the price of gas! And no bike boxes. Be sure to list examples of places
that a) allow bikes on trains and b) have commuter boxes. BART in the Bay
Area would be a good example.

ps



Unfortunately BART doesn't allow bikes during commute hours on the main
commute lines (to and from S.F.) so if you need to commute at those times
you're sol. They do have nice and safe lockups at some stations.

http://www.bart.gov/guide/bikes/bikeRules.asp

Paul