Bike to work this week – Jeff Cozad shows you how!

It’s time to do some cycling, Quad Cities! QC in Motion week is underway and a number of Quad Citians are saving on gas, beating the bridge slowdown and arriving to work bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Meet our 2011 Bike to Work Blogger, Jeffrey Cozad, Bettendorf. Jeff is a veteran commuter cyclist who regularly bikes 11 miles each way from his home to his John Deere offices in downtown Moline. Yes, that means he travels not only the bike paths, but crosses the river TWICE A DAY, rain, sleet, snow or shine, and is still smiling!

Stay tuned all week as Jeff Cozad will video blog every day about his commuter cycling experience and provide some insights, tips and inspiration along the way.

Friday, May 20, 2011 – What to Carry on the Road; Questions from Readers

Ok, we’ve talked bike and how to carry your stuff, now let’s talk about what to carry. I have two bags on my bike. One is bike related that stays on the bike and the other is the bag that contains stuff for work. First, what to I carry with me on the bike and why.

• Spare Tube – It’s way easier to replace a tube than to find and patch a leaking tube.
• Tire Levers – I need these to get the tire off the rim if I flat
• 15mm wrench – I have a bolt on rear wheel. This is what I need to remove it if I have to fix a flat on the rear wheel.
• Multi-tool – This has the most common Allen wrenches (6mm, 5mm, & 4mm) that I might need to use on my bike
• Patch Kit – In case I have a second flat
• Bettendorf Bus Token – In case I need to use the bus to get home
• A couple of dollars – For a pop or to use as an emergency tire boot.
• A couple of zip ties – The duct tape of the 90’s. Great for holding things together temporarily.
• A pair of rubber gloves – I don’t like getting my hands dirty if I have to change a flat.
• Small tire pump – Not in the bag, but on the bike

So… That’s it for the bag on the bike. Now… What do I carry into work?

• Lock & Cable – To lock the bike to the rack
• Rain Cover – This makes the bag water tight.
• Work Clothes – Fresh shirt & underwear. (I carry a pair of pants in on Monday and home on Friday. I keep a pair of shoes at work.)
• Wallet
• Cell Phone
• Access Badge

And that is it. You can see that I’m in the minimalist camp. If you need to haul way more stuff, you could drive on a Monday to haul it in and drive on Friday to pick it up. There are any number of solutions. It’s just a matter of figuring out what you need and how you can get it there. The important thing to remember here is that this needs to be easy.

So… Question time!

• Dave writes: “What happens if I get a flat?” – Well, Dave, you should be carrying everything you need to fix it. It just a matter of doing it. If you don’t know how, the friendly folks at your local bike shop will be glad to show you how. Or you can always ask Mr. Google.

• Fred writes: “What happens if it rains?” – Well Fred, My short answer is you get wet. Now for the serious answer… If it is raining when I leave, I pull a rain jacket on and ride. If it start to rain while I’m at work, I pull out a rain jacket that I keep at work and ride home. If it’s in the 80’s in the middle of July, it’s kind of nice to have the rain. If you don’t want to ride in the rain, don’t. Drive that day, take the bus home, get a ride. Again, the important thing here is to have this be fun.

• Julia writes: “ Where do I park my bike?” – Julia, I’m lucky. I have a bike rack available to me where I work. I just lock it up there. You might be able to bring your bike into where you work. If that isn’t an option, light poles, fences, etc are all good places. The thing to remember is to make sure that it isn’t impeding folks and that it’s in an area that people are in and out of. That will help to keep it secure.

And now it’s time to thanks a few folks. I’d like to thank the folks at QC In Motion for asking me to do this. The folks at Mississippi Valley Health News for hosting this. The folks at Bawden & Lareau PR for doing all the heavy lifting on the editing side. My camera crew, consisting on my daughter and son. And I especially like to thank you for reading. I hope to see you on your bike soon!

Here are Jeff’s video posts for today:

Thursday, May 19, 2011 – On Bikes, Bags and Backpacks

Now we’ve talked about “why” and routing. It’s time to talk about bikes and equipment. I’m going to break this down into three parts, bikes, how to haul your stuff, and just what stuff might you need to haul. First a little bit of philosophy. This is about what works for you. What works for me might be different than what works for you.

There is a tremendous amount of information available about riding to work and using bicycles as transportation. Ask questions of your local experts, the folks at your local bike shop, or Mr. Google. They will all have answers, but the best answer is what works for you and your circumstances.

Bikes
I can talk bikes all day. But what do you really need to ride to work? My short answer is a working bike. That’s it. In my case, I ride on a single speed with fenders and a rear rack. Why? It seems to work for me. I have other colleagues that also ride to work. Their bikes are all over the place… fixed gear, mountain bike, cargo bike, road bike, and even a recumbent now and then. Why? That is what works for them.

You should pay particular attention to making sure you have good tires and working brakes. The best place for that is one of your local bike shops. That will help to keep your bike “happy”. And keeping your bike happy will help to keep you happy and minimize problems.

Carrying Stuff
There are two approaches to carrying things on your bike. They are back packs and bags that attach to your bike. In my case, I’ve gone with a rear rack and a bag that attaches to it. Why? It seems to work for me. My other colleagues that ride to work use back packs and bike bags.

Now I hear you asking…. “What’s the difference?” As with all things, it’s basically a trade off. The back packs are cheaper, but they change the center of gravity of the bike and are less comfortable. The racks and bike bag solution costs more and affect the balance of the bike less.

The observant reader will have noticed that I only talked about two things today. The “What to carry” will be the topic for tomorrow. Thanks for reading / watching. If you have any questions, please drop them into the comments and I’ll do my best.

Check out what people are riding to work at Jeff’s office:

Wednesday, May 18, 2011 – What’s a Realistic Riding Time and Distance?

Now that you’ve decided that you want to ride to work, the next question is “How do I get there?” There are a few questions that you’ll want to consider before mapping out a route.

1. What is an achievable distance for me? In my case, I live about four and half miles from where I work, Bettendorf to Moline. That is the distance by car. The distance by bicycle is about eleven and half miles. The difference is because I can’t use the I-74 bridge with my bicycle. So, eleven and a half miles one way might be a bit too long to start with. So… How could that be shortened?

Perhaps a mix of transportation modes might be in order. The Quad Cities has a great mass transit system. I believe all of the buses are equipped with bike racks, so that opens a number of possibilities up. In my case, the total bike distance would come down to about three miles.

Other possibilities include, driving in with your bike in the morning and then riding home that evening. Of course now you have to right in the next morning to get your car. The take away here is that with a little creativity and flexibility, you can manage to do this.

2. How much time do I need to get there? For me, assuming that the Government Bridge isn’t doing a turn for a barge and I don’t have to wait for a train to pass, I can be at work in as little as 45 minutes without much effort. So, how can you estimate your travel time? The best way to do that is a dry run on the weekend. That will give you a good idea of how much time you will need.

3. How do I get there? Here’s the part where it gets interesting. Obviously, the route that you’d want to take will not be the same that you would drive. The key here is to look for bicycle infrastructure that is already present. In my case, I make use most of the bike paths in the Quad Cities since that is pretty much direct for me. The city streets that I do have to ride consist of lightly used non-arterial streets. One of the best resources out there for route planning is the Quad Cities Bicycle Map from the League of Illinois Bicyclists. This map was made by consulting a number of folks about routes that they use with their bicycles. It’s available at area bicycle shops and the visitor bureaus. It’s also available on the Internet.

Check out Jeff’s video blog below:

A number of other resource are listed below. Now that you’ve figured out how to get from Point A to Point B, the next two questions are:

• What kind of bike do I need?
• How do I carry my stuff?

I’ll try to answer those tomorrow.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 – Why Ride?
So… Why would anyone want to ride their bicycle to work? Jeff says there are a number of great reasons.

• Save money: You can save money by not driving the car. That especially rings true given the current price of gasoline.

• Save time: Save time, you say? Sure… Given all of the road construction and bridge work it’s just about as quick to ride the bike.

• De-stress: After a hard day at work, there is nothing better than unwinding with a bike ride.

• See things: On the bike, you travel a bit slower and have a chance to really see what’s around you.

• Have Fun!

Check out Jeff’s video blog below:

Tomorrow, Jeff will talk about route planning and how to get from point A to Point B.

 

Monday, May 16, 2011 – Introducing Jeff Cozad