Two Weeks to Go!

Two Saturdays from now the Tour de Fat returns to Durham.  It will be a fun, zany festival of all things motorless and two-wheeled.  For those who missed last year, the "Tour" can be described as "street theater", vaudeville, and festival all rolled into one.  It is most definitely a bike festival with beer, really good beer, on the side.  Its sponsored by the New Belgium Brewing Company which makes its signature Fat Tire Beer (hence the "Fat" in Tour de Fat).  The TDF raises money for local biking advocacy and development.  All the proceeds stay local.

They've changed things around this year so that the "Car for Bike Trader" (that would be me, last year) receives not a bike, but money to put together a tailor made commuter bike at a local bike store.  That way even more of the money stays local and you can design a commuter to suit your particular needs.  So put your name in the pot to give up the old gas guzzler (they sell it and donate the money locally) and commit to riding for a year on your new leg powered vehicle.

For a bit of fun tune in to NBC17 for My Carolina Today on Tuesday, June 19 at 11am.  I'll be doing a bit of an interview to talk about the Tour and the bike trade.  Fun!

The Big Question

I am often asked these days, "When does your year commitment end?"  The simple answer would be June 25, the anniversary of the car for bike trade.  But there is not a simple answer because I don't plan on purchasing another car.  We'll still have our family vehicle which my wife drives, and perhaps I can once again drive it to fetch 50 lb. bags of lime for the yard, but overall I don't plan on changing my main way of getting around.  Why? Because it is fun, cheap, mostly efficient, and just genuinely good (especially now when the weather is basically perfect).  And on the worst weather days it is still very doable.  Remember, "there is no bad weather, just bag gear."

One recent experience gives you a taste of the good part. I wa riding on Hillsborough Street on my way home when I saw a young man yelling at the bus that was picking up across the street.  Of course the driver did not see him or wait (or saw him and didn't wait).  Our eyes caught, I yelled "bummer" we both laughed and I pedaled along my way.  That connection never happens in a car.  If I am behind the wheel, that person barely exists.  On my bike we are fellow travelers.  Those connections are precious and they are humanizing.

May is National Bike Month.  So be nice to the bikers you encounter on the road, or better yet, join them!

June 23rd is the next Durham Tour de Fat.  Join the parade, bring the kids, take in the festival.  And, just maybe, trade you car for a bike.  You won't regret it.