JohnBrooking

Anyone else around? I'm in Westbrook, and would be interested in conversing with others, especially commuters.

boundconcubine

dude whats up, portland here......

late

Hi Boundconcubine(?),
Falmouth here. Supposed to go over 40F today. Once it gets above freezing, I'm riding... I'm going to the Mall to exchange something for wifey.

boundconcubine

temp says 41 ouside........ you better be headed out, and on that note me thinks it's time for a ride

late

Called Time+Temp and it said 29F. My backyard thermometer says 30F. Dress warm.

JohnBrooking

Maybe late has already left (in which case I am late), but if anyone's riding near the mall, let me know and we can meet for lunch. (Or in Westbrook on a week-end.) I think it'd be fun to meet other bike commuters, but it's hard to know how to do that. It's not like you can tell a bike commuter by looking, except when they're riding, and then they're on their way somewhere. I guess you'd just have to advertise somewhere they'd be looking, like on this forum!

JohnBrooking

Forget to mention: I bought the warmest head thing from a stand in the mall a few weeks ago. It's a PolarTec hood made by Headsokz Inc. (www.headsokz.com), it goes over your entire head and shoulders, and you can optionally pull part of the lower brim up through the inside front to make a mask to cover your mouth and nose. For really cold days, you can use the drawstrings to pull it tight so only your eyes are showing. And you can even fit a helmet on over it. I wore it this morning, not even that tightly, and it was almost too warm. Definately beats the plain headband and small nose/mouth mask I used to use.

late

Hi John,
sorry I missed you. I'd enjoy meeting you sometime.

boundconcubine

not that bad out today, besides any day when you can ride is not all bad..... hope you all made it out........

JohnBrooking

My wife told me she heard on the radio news tonight that a bicyclist was killed in an accident in Portland! No doubt it'll be in the news tomorrow; look/listen/watch for it!

JohnBrooking

Press-Herald story here. Name was Kevin Spaulding, age 45. He was riding against traffic through the big intersection at Forest & Marginal, and was hit by a U.S. Postal Service tractor-trailer turning right.

late

Hi,
riding against the traffic is dangerous. I felt a lot safer
after I read Forrester's Effective Cycling.I found it at Portland Public Library.

JohnBrooking

Thanks, I'll look for it!

CRUM

Yo Maina's! CRUM here in Springvale. Great to see some folks from these parts in this forum. Hey, if enough of us get together, we could give those cocky Aussies a run for their money with our own thread.

I lurk alot in the cycling threads, but post a lot in the politics/religion forum, foo, and Gen cycling, with a remark here and there. Since I am in the business, I feel like an intruder sometimes, so I just read mostly.

bikesnotbombs

heyy, im in portland.
just wanted you all to know about Critical mass in portland.
its the last friday of every month at 5 p.m.. Meet up in monument square, come and celebrate independence from auto-dependence.

JohnBrooking

bikesnotbombs, would you happen to be Percy? Or maybe you know him? He was a bike messenger, and now operates a little LBS by the corner of Congress and Bramhall. There was a newspaper article that profiled him and some others a few months back.

bikesnotbombs

nope, but does he work at the bikecycle?

JohnBrooking

Yeah, I think that's place. I know he was involved with CM in Portland. I met him protesting the war together back in March 2003.

bikesnotbombs

yeah, hes a nice guy.
i got my bike from his shop.

powerhouse

It's good to know you're there. I'm a stone's throw away in Portland on Forest Avenue. I'm not a commuter but I'm with the Bicycle Coalition of Maine and ride thousands of miles per year all over the state. I was dubbed "Powerhouse" because of the energy reserves enabling me to finish longer rides no matter what the lay of the land.

What makes me shy away from riding in Portland is that I don't quite know how to deal with the heavy traffic here. Perhaps you could give me some tips?

I look forward to hearing from you

powerhouse

My brother heard the story on TV and thought the rider was me. He's conveyed his concerns every now and then ever since.

late

Hey,
Portland Public has a copy of Effective Cycling. Get it, read it, it will help. It uses the vehicular cycling idea. That is where you act like a car.

While you really need to read it, I use whatever tactic seems to fit the situation best. I try to use side streets where I can. There are intersections I mostly avoid (Forest and Allen, for example).

You are lucky, ten years ago people were hostile to cyclists. That seems to have gone. And if you think the traffic is bad here, you should try riding in Boston sometime.

JohnBrooking

Actually, the Portland Public Library no longer has it. I was in there a few months ago to get it, and we found that it had been stolen! (Good that someone wanted it, I guess, but still...) I was told that they would re-order it, but I just called for an update and the woman said it hadn't been yet. BUT, she found two other copies available through inter-library loan. I'll probably ask for one (I couldn't right now because I didn't have my library card handy), but you can ask for the other, powerhouse. Call the reference section (871-1700) and say that you were told it was available through Maine Infonet.

I have also written an article on one of my websites about riding safely in traffic, with some links to other places, here. You might find it useful, and I very much welcome constructive feedback on it.

Ritehsedad

Anyone in the York/Kittery/Portsmouth area?

Anyone doing the 8 Lighthouse Right for the Eastern Trail Association?

late

Hi,
we're up in Falmouth. Thanks for mentioning the ETA ride,
we'd never heard of it. Might do the 35 mile ride. Gonna see how the girls react to the idea of 75. We did 66 miles a couple weeks ago, but we were pretty sore the next day.