When the sun’s out, and it’s a beautiful morning, and fall colors are everywhere you look, it’s easy to forget that wet leaves can be nearly as slick as ice. Keep an eye out!

Here are a few winter riding tips from the Portland Office of Transportation, a place where they know a thing or two about wet road conditions.

Stay Dry and Warm
You don’t need the latest and greatest cycling gear to get around town by bicycle. A decent rain jacket and pants are your best defense. They both cut down on wind and keep you dry. If you can afford it, GoreTex or other breathable fabric will keep the rain out and keep you from feeling clammy. Fenders are also a very good investment — they keep your clothes from getting gritty and dirty. Nice extras include waterproof gloves, a snug hood or cap, a synthetic layer next to your skin to wick away moisture, and rain booties to go over your shoes.

Use Front and Rear Bicycle Lights
Lights are required by law when riding after dark. A white light visible at least 500 feet to the front, and a red light or reflector visible at least 600 feet to the rear. These lights allow other people to see you from the back, front and side. For more visibility at night wear bright clothing, an orange vest, or use reflective tape. The more reflectors whether blinking, flashing or solid, the better.

Brake Early and Often
Allow plenty of stopping distance. Gently squeeze your brakes in the rain to clear the water from you brake pads before you need to stop.

Avoid Some Painted and Steel Road Surfaces and Leaves
Steel plates, sewer covers, grates and other metal can be very slick in the rain. For paint, Portland City crews use non-slick paint and plastics for bike lanes and bicycle markings (and those blue bike lanes); however, crosswalks and other painted surfaces can be slippery. Avoid using your brakes or turning on these painted surfaces and on leaves and oily spots.

Stay Out of the Puddles
While it is tempting to splash through puddles especially if you have really good rain gear, a puddle can disguise a very deep pothole.

Slow Down on Newly Wet Roads
That first rain brings all the oil on the road to the surface making for a slippery ride. This is especially true after a long dry spell. Give yourself longer stopping distances and keep a firmer grip on your handlebars.

Probably the question we’re most frequently asked by our non-bicycling friends and colleagues is, “Why do you ride bicycles for transportation?”

Underpinning everything we do here at EcoVelo is the desire to reduce our dependence on the automobile while encouraging others to do the same. We strongly believe reducing automobile use can improve our neighborhoods, our cities, and ultimately, the world. While this is reason enough to leave our car in the garage, truth be told, there are other, more personal (selfish?) reasons why we ride bikes, including:

• the feeling of well-being that comes with physical activity in the out-of-doors;
• the tangible health benefits that come from daily exercise;
• the surprising amount of money that can be saved by eliminating an automobile;
• the greater connection with our community that comes from being out and exposed to our neighbors;
• the increased appreciation of nature that comes from daily exposure to the elements; and perhaps most importantly for us,
• the sheer joy of sharing the experience with friends and family.

Taken together, these benefits make a compelling case for transportational bicycling, and on a personal level, they make bicycle riding an extremely important part of our daily lives!

—Alan & Michael

The dark has really been coming on lately. I know people who essentially park their bikes over the winter, even in the relatively mild climate we have here in Northern California. Around here, I think it’s a general unease with riding in the dark, more than the cold and wet, that causes some people to put their bikes on a hook until spring. The thing is, riding in the dark can be exhilarating (it’s one of my favorites, second only to cruising on a cool spring morning), and with a good set of lights, it’s at least as safe as riding during the day where we blend in more with our surroundings and share the road with many more motorists. I’d highly encourage anyone who hasn’t tried night riding to pick up some lights and give it a try; it truly is a blast.

Here are a few of our articles on bike lights:

• Bike Commuting 101: Lights
• A Minimalist Lighting System
• Supernova E3/Shimano Alfine

Enjoy your weekend!

In the northern hemisphere the autumnal equinox occurs at 9:04 a.m. UTC today. An equinox occurs twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth’s axis is inclined neither away from, nor towards the Sun. I always look forward to this date because it marks the change of seasons and the impending arrival of the cool breezes and lovely colors of fall. It also means it’s time to start playing with bike lights again, which happens to be one of my favorite fall/winter pastimes.

Transportation planners talk about something they call “the last mile problem”; the challenge of bridging the gap between a public transit stop and a person’s final destination. Typical solutions include walking, bicycling, and so-called Park-n-Ride lots. Walking is an option for able-bodied individuals, though time and distance can be major drawbacks. For obvious reasons, the Park-n-Ride solution is popular, though it presents a number of issues including neighborhood traffic congestion and limited flexibility. Bicycling combines efficiency with flexibility while solving the congestion problem; arguably, this makes it the best “last mile” solution.

Folding bikes are the perfect solution for a different, less-common type of last mile problem. Let’s say a car-lite or car-free person needs to travel to an area that’s not served by transit and is left to drive there. And let’s imagine they have to stay in that location for a few days but they were unable to bring a full-sized bike due to storage issues or lack of a bike rack on a rental car. Typically, a person would have no choice but to use the car more than they’d like. But, with the addition of a tiny folding bike, they can park the car once they’ve made their long trip, and then use the folding bike for getting around the area during their stay. This often overlooked use for a folding bike saves gas, cuts down on emissions, and provides some exercise while on a motorized road trip.

[I'm always surprised by how many bicyclists aren't aware that it's possible to trigger a traffic signal with their bike, so I thought I'd re-post this article from the archives. —ed.]

There’s nothing more frustrating than getting stuck at an on-demand signal and having to wait for a car to come up from behind to trigger the light. In some jurisdictions, if you’re unable to trigger the light, it’s legal to proceed after stopping, but that doesn’t help when you’re at a cross street with heavy traffic moving in both directions. The good news is that in many cases it’s possible to trigger a light with your bicycle.

On-demand signals use what they call “induction loop vehicle detectors” to sense when a vehicle is waiting at a light. These detectors are essentially metal detectors embedded into the pavement. They work by sensing changes in an electromagnetic field and have nothing to do with the weight of the vehicle. You can often see evidence of loop detectors as lines cut into the road surface just behind the crosswalk. Wire sensors are embedded in these cut lines, and it’s possible to trigger a light by placing your bicycle wheels directly on top of one of the wires to disrupt the magnetic field. Some sensors seem to be more sensitive than others; in those cases where the light isn’t initially triggered, I’ve had some success by leaning my bike over toward the inside of the detector loop. In cases where there are two side-by-side loops, lining up over the center where the two loops meet doubles your chances of triggering the light.

Once I understood exactly how loop detectors work, my rate of success at triggering lights considerably improved; I’m currently getting somewhere approaching a 90% success rate at the lights in my area.

Sometimes I wonder if we subconsciously “forget” items on our grocery list just so we have a reason to ride back to the store in the evening to catch the sunset. If I remember correctly, the excuse for the above evening’s ride was an onion for the following morning’s tofu scramble. You know what? Forget the excuses, a beautiful sunset is always worth a trip!

While quietly and effortlessly cruising along on our weekend errand run this morning, we agreed that there is no better, more pleasant, or more efficient way to move about on this planet than the bicycle. Then the following quote from Elizabeth West came to mind.

Did you know that a gallon of gasoline contains the equivalent of approximately 28,900 food calories? If a person could drink gasoline, they could ride approximately 722 miles on a gallon (assuming 40 calories per mile). Not bad for a vehicle that also provides so much (priceless) pure joy!

S.F. BikeMapper →

For everyday utility riding around town, I prefer a bike that can carry a pair of grocery bags in back and at least one up front. This allows me to carry a week’s worth of groceries on one bike if necessary (this is assuming a “normal” sized bike, not a cargo bike). A bike set-up for hauling this type of load will typically have a full-sized touring rack in the rear and some sort of basket or porteur rack up front. Alternatively, it could have a “lowrider” touring rack up front and a second set of smaller panniers. Besides providing extra capacity, having the ability to carry weight on the front of the bike balances the load between the front and rear, improving stability on most bikes.

People talk about the need for low trail geometry for carrying loads on the front fork, and perhaps for touring or randonneurring that’s true, but I haven’t found it necessary for utility riding. More important is a good center stand that holds the bike upright and steady when loading. A centering spring or strap to hold the wheel straight during loading is a good idea as well. When we’re talking about short trips to the grocery store, ease of loading and overall carrying capacity are more important than light steering for long days in the saddle.

If you’ve considered a porteur/front cargo rack for your grocery getter, but you’ve hesitated because your bike’s geometry isn’t optimized for carrying a front load, I’d encourage you to give it a try; personally I feel it’s a non-issue for the typically short distances most people travel for grocery shopping and errands. More important is a set-up that’s optimized for the loading process; once the bike is loaded and rolling, you’ll quickly adapt to the steering and you’ll be glad for the extra carrying capacity.

On the way home from Sunday morning coffee.

We talk about the health, financial, and ecological benefits of bike riding, but evenings like this are reason enough.

His and hers, parked at the grocery store.