Reading Bill McKibben's book, Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet, I was struck by his illustration of how much human power is equivalent to the energy contained in a single barrel of oil. 42 gallons of oil equals about 25,000 hours (or more than a decade) of one human being's labor and that, along with natural gas and coal, has provided humankind with a sort of time machine: By combining the energy stored in fossil fuel with human ingenuity, we started the industrial revolution and in the process we changed our earth forever. We created machines and infrastructure that allow us to travel vast distances in a matter of hours. Communication systems allow us to exchange data and ideas, such as this blog. Data can travel around the world in a matter of seconds. By letting us accomplish so much in such a short period of time, fossil fuel has altered our consciousness.
We don't perceive or value time and energy the way our ancestors did because with fossil fuel, we can fold time and space. Walk outside your home or office, stand by a stop sign, wait for a car to appear, and you'll see something that happens hundreds of thousands of times each day. The driver will bring their car to a stop (hopefully) and then accelerate away from the stop. Depending on how aggressive, frustrated, or relaxed the driver is feeling, they may accelerate slowly (using less fuel) or rapidly (using a more fuel). What the driver probably doesn't appreciate is the benefit provided by their car's engine and the fuel it is burning: They are moving a ton or so of metal, rubber, plastic, themselves, their passengers, and their cargo by simply extending the toes of their right foot. Put the same cargo onto a bicycle, turn the driver into the engine, and you will dramatically realign their awareness of energy, time, and space.
The compression of time and space provided by fossil fuel, along with the increase in available activities and goods, has changed the way we value those goods and activities. We spend a lot more time sitting, observing, and thinking. We tend to drive more and walk less. With less physical activity, we are more obese and more likely to suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiac disease. We expend less physical energy, but we complain that there aren't enough hours in a day to accomplish all we'd like to accomplish. Without an appreciation of the labor that goes into cultivating food, we aren't troubled by wasting food. Forced to walk or bicycle the 32 miles the average American commutes to work each day, most of us would choose to live closer to work, or find work closer to where we live, or allot considerably more than the 52 minutes the average American spends commuting. Forced to walk to the grocery, we make more thoughtful choices and have a greater appreciation of our resources. Which gets us back to the crux of our predicament.
With dwindling fossil fuel reserves and climate change already underway, McKibben has been exploring the myriad of issues we will soon face: What sort of work we will do, how we'll meet our transportation needs, what sorts of food will be available, and where will we find clean water. It's a huge topic, so big that most of us can't get our minds around it. We have catapulted ourselves into the future, but soon we'll begin to decelerate and we'll need to adjust our priorities and values. A good place to start is to cultivate an appreciation of how much human labor is contained in a barrel of oil, a gallon of gasoline, even a 60 watt light bulb. Forget carbon offsets and all the other distractions. Getting your mind around renewable energy, human-powered activities and locally-based economies are the first steps toward preparing for the future.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Monday, June 24, 2013
TTCBCOAB #50, Cycling Goals, and Privacy
Here are some things that can be carried on a bicycle, from a recent Costco run. It's much easier to negotiate the parking lot on a bike rather than a car. I park right by the entrance and lock up my bike, which makes for a pleasant and quick escape. Plus, I can ride through the gaps in the parking lot speed bumps. Sweet!
Milestones
My stated goal for this year is to log 4500 commuting miles on my various bikes. Halfway through this year my running total stands at 2700 miles, which is well over the 2250 miles I expected. Assuming no hideously bad weather this fall, I may very well exceed that goal. I use MapMyRide to track my mileage and have found it a very useful service. It's easier to stay motivated when you have a measurement of how you are doing.
Got Privacy?
The recent revelations about the NSA data collection and surveillance (which many of us already suspected was occurring) got me to thinking about privacy and how we unconsciously change our behavior when we think someone is watching us. Chatting with many friends and acquaintances, I discovered they are thinking about expectations of privacy, too. So what's a law-abiding citizen to do? Here's my top ten list:
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| Various odds and ends That Can Be Carried On A Bicycle... |
My stated goal for this year is to log 4500 commuting miles on my various bikes. Halfway through this year my running total stands at 2700 miles, which is well over the 2250 miles I expected. Assuming no hideously bad weather this fall, I may very well exceed that goal. I use MapMyRide to track my mileage and have found it a very useful service. It's easier to stay motivated when you have a measurement of how you are doing.
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| Stats, courtesy of MapMyRide |
Got Privacy?
The recent revelations about the NSA data collection and surveillance (which many of us already suspected was occurring) got me to thinking about privacy and how we unconsciously change our behavior when we think someone is watching us. Chatting with many friends and acquaintances, I discovered they are thinking about expectations of privacy, too. So what's a law-abiding citizen to do? Here's my top ten list:
- Ensure you have a good password on your all your devices.
- Enable FileVault, BitLocker, or an equivalent product to encrypt your hard disk.
- Use an anti-virus prorgam to regularly scan your computer.
- Install Tor and use it for anonymous browsing.
- Install Gnu Privacy Guard on your computer (I use GPGmail).
- Encrypt your email and encourage your friends to do the same.
- Install a version of GPG on your mobile device (I use ipgmail for iOS).
- If you access email with a browser, consider using mailvelope .
- Make a donation to the Electronic Freedom Foundation.
- Tell your senators and congressional representative that privacy is important to you.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Metadata and the Unwanted Gaze
The President claimed yesterday, in the continuing debate about NSA surveillance, that Americans' privacy has not been violated by the collection of so-called meta-data. But it appears there are a large number of citizens who don't agree with the President's assessment. We should have seen our growing surveillance society as it was developing, but most of us didn't. The crux of debate on NSA data trawling hinges on two related issues. The first has been our inability, to date, to translate the rights and privacy we desire in the actual world to our presence in the virtual world of email, web surfing, and social media. The second is the very real injury that comes from being watched. One has to agree with the President that it's important to debate the issue of governmental surveillance, now that we know it is occurring, because how we decide today on the issues of virtual rights and the unwanted gaze will set the stage for expectations of privacy and rights for generations to come.
Letters & Postcards
A couple of decades ago, Phillip Zimmerman developed an open source public key encryption suite called Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) that could be used to scramble stored data and email content, thereby preventing it from being read without the permission of the owner or the intended recipient of the data. The need for encryption was illustrated by comparing letters and postcards: When you send a letter via US Post, you expect the contents inside the envelope to remain private while the letter is in transit to the recipient. In contrast, when you send a postcard you have relinquished any such expectation: You are willingly acknowledging that anyone and everyone is free to read what you have written. Each of us knows this and adjusts accordingly: There are many things that we might put in a letter that we would never consider revealing in a postcard. What most American's don't seem to realize is that an unencrypted email message is the digital equivalent of a postcard. They can be intercepted and read by any number of entities while the data makes it's way from the sender to the recipient. If you think that no one can read your email once you press SEND, it's time to wake up and smell the coffee.
PGP, and it's variants, rely on a public key for each person that is widely distributed (usually on one or more of several key servers) and a private key that the individual keeps securely stored. Data sent to an individual is encrypted using their public key and can only be decrypted using that person's private key. You can use PGP to encrypt locally-stored data and you can digitally sign a message so that the recipient can verify the message was 1) sent by the holder of your private key and 2) that the contents have not been altered by a third party. Encryption should be the default for email, but sadly it is not. Few people realize the implications and even fewer actually care that this is the state of digital privacy.
For his part in developing and distributing PGP, Zimmerman was subject to a federal investigation (at considerable personal expense) for unauthorized exportation of weapons (military grade encryption). In the end, Zimmerman prevailed and even started a company that marketed the PGP products. Eventually PGP was acquired by Symantec and has since been sold, but you can find PGP products for Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android. It's a bit cumbersome, but you can send encrypted emails that are essentially the equivalent of a sealed letter, it just requires some effort and your recipient must do some work to create a public key.
Metadata and What It Means
Traditional Jewish law recognizes that injury occurs when anyone comes under the unwanted gaze of another. This sort of gazing does not have to have the salacious intent of a peeping tom. Anyone who watches their neighbor's activities without permission is harming the other person. This injury is what seems to have been lost on the White House when it asserts that no one's phone, email or text messages are being read so there's no harm being done. The very fact that the government is recording details about who is talking to whom is causing injury, regardless of whether or not one of the parties is a "foreigner."
What makes the NSA's wide-scale snooping so troublesome is that, by collecting and storing large amounts of meta-data, they are creating an index into all communications occurring between individuals. While some of these individuals may have criminal or, if you prefer, "terrorist" intentions, the data that is being swept up is general in nature. The general search and seizure of this meta-data is occurring before any crime has been alleged or committed. Having a meta-data index into communications simply makes locating and reading of unencrypted data that much easier. Governmental assurances that only "suspect" communications are being targeted is beside the point.
Data has been gathered without the knowledge or permission of everyone involved and this turns the presumption of innocence on it's head. We are developing a legal framework where everyone is potentially guilty until proved innocent. Just as you would not write your innermost thoughts and feeling on a postcard, each of us changes our behavior when we know we are being watched. We have all been injured because when we are under surveillance, we cannot act and think freely.
Taking Action
There are productive choices each of us can make in regard to the NSA's snooping. First, make your displeasure known to your elected representatives who have been complicit in approving these activities. Citizens only enjoy the rights that they are willing to defend.
Second, take steps to secure your communications and data. GPG (GNU Privacy Guard), a free implementation of the OpenPGP standard, is available for Windows, Unix, MacOS, iOS and Android. Download GPG, generate a private and public key, publish your public key, keep you private key secure, and encourage your friends to adopt the policy of sending only encrypted emails. If you send text messages and are an iOS user, use iMessage whenever possible since, according to this article, those messages are encrypted and cannot be intercepted by law enforcement.
All of these actions may not stop NSA snooping. Governmental snoopers may ultimately be able to access encrypted data through password cracking or by installing key logging software, but at least we can make them work for it.
Letters & Postcards
A couple of decades ago, Phillip Zimmerman developed an open source public key encryption suite called Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) that could be used to scramble stored data and email content, thereby preventing it from being read without the permission of the owner or the intended recipient of the data. The need for encryption was illustrated by comparing letters and postcards: When you send a letter via US Post, you expect the contents inside the envelope to remain private while the letter is in transit to the recipient. In contrast, when you send a postcard you have relinquished any such expectation: You are willingly acknowledging that anyone and everyone is free to read what you have written. Each of us knows this and adjusts accordingly: There are many things that we might put in a letter that we would never consider revealing in a postcard. What most American's don't seem to realize is that an unencrypted email message is the digital equivalent of a postcard. They can be intercepted and read by any number of entities while the data makes it's way from the sender to the recipient. If you think that no one can read your email once you press SEND, it's time to wake up and smell the coffee.
PGP, and it's variants, rely on a public key for each person that is widely distributed (usually on one or more of several key servers) and a private key that the individual keeps securely stored. Data sent to an individual is encrypted using their public key and can only be decrypted using that person's private key. You can use PGP to encrypt locally-stored data and you can digitally sign a message so that the recipient can verify the message was 1) sent by the holder of your private key and 2) that the contents have not been altered by a third party. Encryption should be the default for email, but sadly it is not. Few people realize the implications and even fewer actually care that this is the state of digital privacy.
For his part in developing and distributing PGP, Zimmerman was subject to a federal investigation (at considerable personal expense) for unauthorized exportation of weapons (military grade encryption). In the end, Zimmerman prevailed and even started a company that marketed the PGP products. Eventually PGP was acquired by Symantec and has since been sold, but you can find PGP products for Windows, MacOS, iOS, and Android. It's a bit cumbersome, but you can send encrypted emails that are essentially the equivalent of a sealed letter, it just requires some effort and your recipient must do some work to create a public key.
Metadata and What It Means
Traditional Jewish law recognizes that injury occurs when anyone comes under the unwanted gaze of another. This sort of gazing does not have to have the salacious intent of a peeping tom. Anyone who watches their neighbor's activities without permission is harming the other person. This injury is what seems to have been lost on the White House when it asserts that no one's phone, email or text messages are being read so there's no harm being done. The very fact that the government is recording details about who is talking to whom is causing injury, regardless of whether or not one of the parties is a "foreigner."
What makes the NSA's wide-scale snooping so troublesome is that, by collecting and storing large amounts of meta-data, they are creating an index into all communications occurring between individuals. While some of these individuals may have criminal or, if you prefer, "terrorist" intentions, the data that is being swept up is general in nature. The general search and seizure of this meta-data is occurring before any crime has been alleged or committed. Having a meta-data index into communications simply makes locating and reading of unencrypted data that much easier. Governmental assurances that only "suspect" communications are being targeted is beside the point.
Data has been gathered without the knowledge or permission of everyone involved and this turns the presumption of innocence on it's head. We are developing a legal framework where everyone is potentially guilty until proved innocent. Just as you would not write your innermost thoughts and feeling on a postcard, each of us changes our behavior when we know we are being watched. We have all been injured because when we are under surveillance, we cannot act and think freely.
Taking Action
There are productive choices each of us can make in regard to the NSA's snooping. First, make your displeasure known to your elected representatives who have been complicit in approving these activities. Citizens only enjoy the rights that they are willing to defend.
Second, take steps to secure your communications and data. GPG (GNU Privacy Guard), a free implementation of the OpenPGP standard, is available for Windows, Unix, MacOS, iOS and Android. Download GPG, generate a private and public key, publish your public key, keep you private key secure, and encourage your friends to adopt the policy of sending only encrypted emails. If you send text messages and are an iOS user, use iMessage whenever possible since, according to this article, those messages are encrypted and cannot be intercepted by law enforcement.
All of these actions may not stop NSA snooping. Governmental snoopers may ultimately be able to access encrypted data through password cracking or by installing key logging software, but at least we can make them work for it.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
TTCBCOAB #44 & Finding the Way Up
My wife fell and broke her wrist yesterday, so grocery shopping was done by car today. I did an earlier trip by bike, carrying a lighter than usual load: 8 pound bag of dog food, 2 pounds of dog biscuits, and a Schilke B-flat trumpet.
Looking UP
Looking UP
Two weeks ago, while waiting for my iPhone to be restored at the local Apple Store, I had plenty of time to browse the aisles (It's entrapment I tell you, entrapment!). That's when I noticed the Jawbone Up. It's one of a new class of electronic activity trackers that are tapping into growing awareness about how movement (or lack thereof) affects human health. Some studies indicate that being inactive at a desk (or at the controls of an aircraft) for hours on end can have a health outcome similar to smoking cigarettes. What I've noticed about human beings (myself included) is that it is easier to change our behavior if we enhance our awareness of our behavior. I've seen this with hybrid vehicles: Give a driver real-time feedback on how much gas they're burning and they are more likely to reorder their driving goals and adjust their driving technique.
The Jawbone seemed like a pedometer on steroids, so I bought one for my wife who had broken her mechanical pedometer and had given up tracking how many steps she was walking per day. After watching her use it for a week and announce proudly one day that she had walked 16,000 steps, 1000 more steps than the average Amish man, I was impressed! She had rededicated herself to being active and, more importantly, was enthusiastic about it. There were other features that helped me decide I wanted to try a Jawbone, too.
The device is unobtrusive. A lightweight bracelet you wear, preferably on the wrist of your non-dominant hand, it contains accelerometers and other electronics that, together with iOS- or Android-based software, can track your daily activities, your sleep, even the food you eat. I chose to wear mine on my right wrist, even though I'm right-handed.
To find out how active you've been or how well you slept, you plug the Jawbone Up into your iPhone, iPad, or Android device and launch the free Up application, available for iOS and Android. The device plugs into the audio jack and a separate USB charger is provided. The fully-charged battery lasts about 10 days. There is a single push button that you use (in Morse code fashion) to access the basic modes: Awake, Sleep, activity timer, and Power Nap.
Once you've synced with your iOS or Android device, the app will give you an overview of your activity and some details about your sleep the night before. It will also tell you the current state of you battery charge.
I've found the information on how much sleep I've been getting to be very interesting. In short, I was not sleeping as much as I thought so I've adjusted my schedule to sleep more. I've blogged before on the subject of adequate sleep. There's plenty of research that shows most people need more sleep than they are getting. And when people don't get enough sleep, one of the side-effects is that they actually don't realize that they are impaired. I do quite a bit of physical activity with bike commuting, so quality sleep is especially important. After adjusting my sleep schedule I've found that I seem to be recovering more completely from the previous day's ride.
The app lets provides a historical view of your activity that is both intuitive and inspiring. Recently, the Up app was updated to share data with other fitness apps, including the one I use to track my cycling - MapMyFitness.
There are a few other useful features. One is an activity alarm that reminds you to move when you've been sitting for too long. You can adjust the inactive interval with the Up app. When you've been inactive, the bracelet will vibrate to remind you to stand up, walk around, or at least stretch or wiggle in your seat (what I do when teaching in a small aircraft).
You can activate the Power Nap feature by pressing the bracelet button twice, once quickly followed by a slightly longer second push (in Morse code lingo, this would be dot-dash). Again, the Up app lets you set the maximum length of the Power Nap feature and the bracelet will vibrate to wake you at what it thinks is the optimum point in the nap.
This brings up the last, and I think one of the more useful features: The Smart Sleep Alarms for morning wake-up. You set the time you want to wake up for different days and the bracelet will vibrate to wake you at what it thinks is the optimum point in your sleep cycle within a 20 minute window of your desired wake-up. I get up earlier than my wife does and the vibrating bracelet wakes me while allowing her to continue to snooze. Pretty awesome ...
These new activity monitors promise to change the way we live, work and play. Given that most of us work long hours, inside rather than outside, and we're often sitting for extended periods, having more information on how we are treating our bodies in our competitive society and workplace can allow us to influence our individual health in a positive way.
To find out how active you've been or how well you slept, you plug the Jawbone Up into your iPhone, iPad, or Android device and launch the free Up application, available for iOS and Android. The device plugs into the audio jack and a separate USB charger is provided. The fully-charged battery lasts about 10 days. There is a single push button that you use (in Morse code fashion) to access the basic modes: Awake, Sleep, activity timer, and Power Nap.
Once you've synced with your iOS or Android device, the app will give you an overview of your activity and some details about your sleep the night before. It will also tell you the current state of you battery charge.
I've found the information on how much sleep I've been getting to be very interesting. In short, I was not sleeping as much as I thought so I've adjusted my schedule to sleep more. I've blogged before on the subject of adequate sleep. There's plenty of research that shows most people need more sleep than they are getting. And when people don't get enough sleep, one of the side-effects is that they actually don't realize that they are impaired. I do quite a bit of physical activity with bike commuting, so quality sleep is especially important. After adjusting my sleep schedule I've found that I seem to be recovering more completely from the previous day's ride.
The app lets provides a historical view of your activity that is both intuitive and inspiring. Recently, the Up app was updated to share data with other fitness apps, including the one I use to track my cycling - MapMyFitness.
There are a few other useful features. One is an activity alarm that reminds you to move when you've been sitting for too long. You can adjust the inactive interval with the Up app. When you've been inactive, the bracelet will vibrate to remind you to stand up, walk around, or at least stretch or wiggle in your seat (what I do when teaching in a small aircraft).
You can activate the Power Nap feature by pressing the bracelet button twice, once quickly followed by a slightly longer second push (in Morse code lingo, this would be dot-dash). Again, the Up app lets you set the maximum length of the Power Nap feature and the bracelet will vibrate to wake you at what it thinks is the optimum point in the nap.
This brings up the last, and I think one of the more useful features: The Smart Sleep Alarms for morning wake-up. You set the time you want to wake up for different days and the bracelet will vibrate to wake you at what it thinks is the optimum point in your sleep cycle within a 20 minute window of your desired wake-up. I get up earlier than my wife does and the vibrating bracelet wakes me while allowing her to continue to snooze. Pretty awesome ...
These new activity monitors promise to change the way we live, work and play. Given that most of us work long hours, inside rather than outside, and we're often sitting for extended periods, having more information on how we are treating our bodies in our competitive society and workplace can allow us to influence our individual health in a positive way.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Between the Cracks
"How can you ride a bike on Central Expressway?" a coworker asked several years ago. "It's so dangerous!" The stretch of pavement that connects Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and Santa Clara was a route I used most every day, but this was a hard question to answer. How you define danger, what makes you feel vulnerable, what makes you feel safe? The best answer would cut through the emotional layers and illuminate the cycling experience for a non-cyclist. "What drivers don't realize is that the traffic on the expressway isn't a continuous stream, it comes in waves. There are actually long periods of quiet and calm." It was clear the reality experienced by a driver in a car was not what was experienced by a cyclist.
Fast forward 20 years to Saturday morning, 6:30am, I'm cycling across Berkeley on my way to the Oakland Airport. This is my favorite time because the streets are quiet, the air is cool, and the winds are calm. I often see deer standing in the neighborhood lawns regarding me with a placid sort of curiosity, or is it bored indifference? This time of morning, it's easy to believe that you've returned to a time when people worked a 40 hour week, slept 8 hours a night, and ate breakfast before leaving for work. Things will get more hectic in 20 minutes, when I make my way through Oakland and closer to the freeway, the road that never sleeps. But for now the stillness magnifies every sound and lets me hear the crows' alarm as I approach as well as boisterous garbage trucks worming their way through the streets. Turning onto San Pablo Avenue, life begins to accelerate.
"How can you cycle on San Pablo Avenue? It's so dangerous!" I've been asked this question recently and the answer is the same as it was 20 years ago. I slide up on the ride side of an AC Transit bus waiting at a red light. Looking inside, the patrons seem dazed, some almost asleep, eyes closed. I'm just the opposite: My heart is pumping steadily, I'm in touch with the world around me, and I'm wide awake. I'd better be because the bus driver is all business. She has seen it all and is inching forward in little jerky motions, intent on blasting straight ahead and leaving me in a cloud of diesel exhaust as soon as the light turns green. I hate to disappoint, but this is where I turn right.
Humming down Adeline Street, muscles warm, not yet fatigued, in the zone, passing auto body shops, a tofu distributor, and my favorite green coffee distributor (Sweet Maria's), the giant Port of Oakland cranes come into view. A left on 8th Street is a shortcut that trades a long, poorly timed stoplight for a couple of stop signs. Controlling the traffic debate is key for urban cycling. This is not an affluent neighborhood. Section 8 housing predominates, but it has never felt particularly dangerous. Until today.
I turn right on Filbert and an FBI van surrounded by a swarm of SWAT-style police comes into view. A couple of officers (are they CHP or FBI or OPD? Does it matter?) loping down the sidewalk in military fashion briefly lock eyes with me. I give them my best, innocent, "Hey, I'm just on my way to work" sort of expression. Apparently I'm not a threat. They continue on their "mission," I continue on mine, silently lamenting the never ending wars in which we engage: The war on drugs, the war on terror. What happened to the wars on poverty, illiteracy, and hunger? Did we lose those wars, tacitly admit defeat, and move on? Does a militarized police force make us safer or do we just feel safer? A few more blocks, I pass under the freeway, and I'm quietly spinning through the Jack London Square neighborhood. A line of semi trucks are queued up, heading to the docks. The events a few blocks earlier are out of sight and out of mind, as are the questions they raise, at least for now. I've mentally clicked on dislike, changed channels, moved on.
Third Street is a designated bike route that cuts through the heart of the Produce District, but only a non-cyclist could have decided it was good for bikes. Dozens of delivery trucks protruding into the street, forklifts zigzaging, workers in a hurry to load fresh fruits and vegetables, the street punctuated by numerous intersections and stop signs. This is a bike route in name only. I head to Embarcadero, even though train tracks run through the middle of the street and the pavement is rough. It is less trafficked, fewer stop signs, fewer intersections, more direct. It is safer, or at least it feels safer.
Embarcadero trickles out of Jack London Square and threads the thin gap between Alameda's inner harbor and interstate 880. I'm passing the freeway traffic which is crawling because of an accident of some sort. The drivers are encased in steel cages, airbags, anti-lock brakes, so they must be safe, right? To me, their faces look like the ones I saw on the bus: Dazed, disconnected, maybe disaffected. In contrast, the cyclists I encounter are alert, engaged, alive. Some look straight ahead, but others nod, wave, some ring their bike bells, some are even smiling. Just a few more miles and I'll be at the airport, refreshed and ready to start flying.
Endless wars, countless conflicts, and our obsession with security provide a never-ending supply of patriots and heroes. We've forgotten the patriots who have never wielded a gun, but who have the courage to get out of bed and face a neighborhood where gun violence is commonplace. We've lost sight of the heroes who serve and protect an aging parent or a care for a spouse with a debilitating illness. And when did we lose the courage to look into the mirror each morning, see an aging face, wrinkles not hidden or corrupted by plastic surgery? It is time to forgive, accept who we are, what we have become, and what we have made of ourselves. It's not too late to find the courage to live life, risk trusting our neighbors, face pain and loss, and know that life will go on whether or not we feel safe. Perhaps we can discover a way through the gaps left by others to find love, acceptance, and awakening through simple daily acts. Perhaps we can reach enlightenment just by riding a bicycle.
Fast forward 20 years to Saturday morning, 6:30am, I'm cycling across Berkeley on my way to the Oakland Airport. This is my favorite time because the streets are quiet, the air is cool, and the winds are calm. I often see deer standing in the neighborhood lawns regarding me with a placid sort of curiosity, or is it bored indifference? This time of morning, it's easy to believe that you've returned to a time when people worked a 40 hour week, slept 8 hours a night, and ate breakfast before leaving for work. Things will get more hectic in 20 minutes, when I make my way through Oakland and closer to the freeway, the road that never sleeps. But for now the stillness magnifies every sound and lets me hear the crows' alarm as I approach as well as boisterous garbage trucks worming their way through the streets. Turning onto San Pablo Avenue, life begins to accelerate.
"How can you cycle on San Pablo Avenue? It's so dangerous!" I've been asked this question recently and the answer is the same as it was 20 years ago. I slide up on the ride side of an AC Transit bus waiting at a red light. Looking inside, the patrons seem dazed, some almost asleep, eyes closed. I'm just the opposite: My heart is pumping steadily, I'm in touch with the world around me, and I'm wide awake. I'd better be because the bus driver is all business. She has seen it all and is inching forward in little jerky motions, intent on blasting straight ahead and leaving me in a cloud of diesel exhaust as soon as the light turns green. I hate to disappoint, but this is where I turn right.
Humming down Adeline Street, muscles warm, not yet fatigued, in the zone, passing auto body shops, a tofu distributor, and my favorite green coffee distributor (Sweet Maria's), the giant Port of Oakland cranes come into view. A left on 8th Street is a shortcut that trades a long, poorly timed stoplight for a couple of stop signs. Controlling the traffic debate is key for urban cycling. This is not an affluent neighborhood. Section 8 housing predominates, but it has never felt particularly dangerous. Until today.
I turn right on Filbert and an FBI van surrounded by a swarm of SWAT-style police comes into view. A couple of officers (are they CHP or FBI or OPD? Does it matter?) loping down the sidewalk in military fashion briefly lock eyes with me. I give them my best, innocent, "Hey, I'm just on my way to work" sort of expression. Apparently I'm not a threat. They continue on their "mission," I continue on mine, silently lamenting the never ending wars in which we engage: The war on drugs, the war on terror. What happened to the wars on poverty, illiteracy, and hunger? Did we lose those wars, tacitly admit defeat, and move on? Does a militarized police force make us safer or do we just feel safer? A few more blocks, I pass under the freeway, and I'm quietly spinning through the Jack London Square neighborhood. A line of semi trucks are queued up, heading to the docks. The events a few blocks earlier are out of sight and out of mind, as are the questions they raise, at least for now. I've mentally clicked on dislike, changed channels, moved on.
Third Street is a designated bike route that cuts through the heart of the Produce District, but only a non-cyclist could have decided it was good for bikes. Dozens of delivery trucks protruding into the street, forklifts zigzaging, workers in a hurry to load fresh fruits and vegetables, the street punctuated by numerous intersections and stop signs. This is a bike route in name only. I head to Embarcadero, even though train tracks run through the middle of the street and the pavement is rough. It is less trafficked, fewer stop signs, fewer intersections, more direct. It is safer, or at least it feels safer.
Embarcadero trickles out of Jack London Square and threads the thin gap between Alameda's inner harbor and interstate 880. I'm passing the freeway traffic which is crawling because of an accident of some sort. The drivers are encased in steel cages, airbags, anti-lock brakes, so they must be safe, right? To me, their faces look like the ones I saw on the bus: Dazed, disconnected, maybe disaffected. In contrast, the cyclists I encounter are alert, engaged, alive. Some look straight ahead, but others nod, wave, some ring their bike bells, some are even smiling. Just a few more miles and I'll be at the airport, refreshed and ready to start flying.
Endless wars, countless conflicts, and our obsession with security provide a never-ending supply of patriots and heroes. We've forgotten the patriots who have never wielded a gun, but who have the courage to get out of bed and face a neighborhood where gun violence is commonplace. We've lost sight of the heroes who serve and protect an aging parent or a care for a spouse with a debilitating illness. And when did we lose the courage to look into the mirror each morning, see an aging face, wrinkles not hidden or corrupted by plastic surgery? It is time to forgive, accept who we are, what we have become, and what we have made of ourselves. It's not too late to find the courage to live life, risk trusting our neighbors, face pain and loss, and know that life will go on whether or not we feel safe. Perhaps we can discover a way through the gaps left by others to find love, acceptance, and awakening through simple daily acts. Perhaps we can reach enlightenment just by riding a bicycle.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Down the Tube: Part II
Several friends have asked what is so fascinating about non-motorized access to the Posey Tube. I'm not sure how to answer other than to say that it's hard to find a more poignant illustration of the imbalance between motor vehicle facilities provided by the State and those provided to non-motorized transport (i.e. walking or bicycling). The single, narrow sidewalk called the Posey Tube Trail is meant to be shared by two-way pedestrian and bicycle traffic. It is so inadequate it seems medieval, especially when you consider that bicyclists traveling in opposite directions have to lift and then dangle one bike over the railing so the other can pass. The only reason that this arrangement is allowed to continue seems to be that the conditions inside the tunnel limit the number of people willing to use the trail. And those users are not influential or well-heeled. But this was all hearsay. I had to transit the Posey Tube myself to see the conditions firsthand (video at the end).
The first thing that strikes you is the narrow space between the steel pipe railing and the tiled wall. It would be uncomfortable for two average-sized people to walk side-by-side. Adding to the challenge for cyclists is a seam right in the middle of much of concrete pavement, an indentation that tends to cause your front tire to stray in ways you'd rather it didn't. The sidewalk seems to get slightly wider in the center of the tunnel, only to become narrower at the ends. I didn't take measurements. I didn't have time.
I transited from Oakland to Alameda on a Tuesday around 12:30pm, on my way to work at the Oakland Airport. The vehicle traffic was light and the air was not as profoundly polluted as when I first peered into the portal a few weeks ago. I measured the sound level with an iPhone decibel meter app at 85 to 105db. Not pretty, but not much louder than inside a BART train (sorry BART - your cars are very noisy). There's a headwind the entire way because 1) the vehicle traffic is headed toward Oakland and 2) the giant ventilation fans on the Oakland side draw fresh air in from the Alameda side.
The first 20 yards of the sidewalk are especially difficult given the 3 inches of clearance on each end of my handlebars. Now you know why all the young hipsters ride fixed-gear bikes with incredibly sawed-off, narrow handlebars: They make it easier to transit the Posey Tube, of course! I had recently installed new handlebars on my Prole and it's a good thing I had trimmed 25mm off each end.
Others have written about how filthy the tunnel walls can be when coated with soot from diesel exhaust and what one writer described as "human disappointments." Lucky for me, the walls of the Posey Tube seemed to had been recently pressure washed. I slid against the wall a few times and I was wearing a light colored shirt and came away without any visible dirt or stain.
I didn't encounter an opposite-direction cyclist during my trip. My commuter bike is heavy and lifting it over the railing was something I'd rather avoid. I did encounter two pedestrians: One, a smartly dressed young professional, the other a man who seemed to have all his earthly possessions stacked onto a dolly. Good thing he had not yet begun to transit the tube with his dolly - that would have been a real challenge.
When I reached the Alameda side, I carried my bike up the stairs rather than continuing on the narrow path. Once past the man and his stuff and being careful to not step in some human excrement, I looked back as I rode away and marveled at the primitive, dangerous, and inadequate facilities the Posey Tube Trail provides and the message it sends to those of us who choose not to drive motor vehicles.
My thanks to Hamish for the lending me his GoPro Hero3 for this project.
The first thing that strikes you is the narrow space between the steel pipe railing and the tiled wall. It would be uncomfortable for two average-sized people to walk side-by-side. Adding to the challenge for cyclists is a seam right in the middle of much of concrete pavement, an indentation that tends to cause your front tire to stray in ways you'd rather it didn't. The sidewalk seems to get slightly wider in the center of the tunnel, only to become narrower at the ends. I didn't take measurements. I didn't have time.
I transited from Oakland to Alameda on a Tuesday around 12:30pm, on my way to work at the Oakland Airport. The vehicle traffic was light and the air was not as profoundly polluted as when I first peered into the portal a few weeks ago. I measured the sound level with an iPhone decibel meter app at 85 to 105db. Not pretty, but not much louder than inside a BART train (sorry BART - your cars are very noisy). There's a headwind the entire way because 1) the vehicle traffic is headed toward Oakland and 2) the giant ventilation fans on the Oakland side draw fresh air in from the Alameda side.
The first 20 yards of the sidewalk are especially difficult given the 3 inches of clearance on each end of my handlebars. Now you know why all the young hipsters ride fixed-gear bikes with incredibly sawed-off, narrow handlebars: They make it easier to transit the Posey Tube, of course! I had recently installed new handlebars on my Prole and it's a good thing I had trimmed 25mm off each end.
Others have written about how filthy the tunnel walls can be when coated with soot from diesel exhaust and what one writer described as "human disappointments." Lucky for me, the walls of the Posey Tube seemed to had been recently pressure washed. I slid against the wall a few times and I was wearing a light colored shirt and came away without any visible dirt or stain.
I didn't encounter an opposite-direction cyclist during my trip. My commuter bike is heavy and lifting it over the railing was something I'd rather avoid. I did encounter two pedestrians: One, a smartly dressed young professional, the other a man who seemed to have all his earthly possessions stacked onto a dolly. Good thing he had not yet begun to transit the tube with his dolly - that would have been a real challenge.
When I reached the Alameda side, I carried my bike up the stairs rather than continuing on the narrow path. Once past the man and his stuff and being careful to not step in some human excrement, I looked back as I rode away and marveled at the primitive, dangerous, and inadequate facilities the Posey Tube Trail provides and the message it sends to those of us who choose not to drive motor vehicles.
My thanks to Hamish for the lending me his GoPro Hero3 for this project.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
SoCal Exploring and Intermodal Transport
With a busy schedule, it's unusual for self-employed entrepreneurs (like me) to do something different. Uncertain of how much work may be available in the future, we live work in the moment. And sometimes we work too much. But last Tuesday provided the rare opportunity to explore a bit of Orange County, CA in an active yet leisurely fashion. An instrument student had a work meeting near the Fullerton Airport that would start early on Tuesday. He proposed an instructional flight on Monday afternoon, an overnight stay, and a return on Tuesday afternoon. The gears started turning in my brain and soon there was a plan: Load my BikeFriday Tikit into the back of the DA40 and use it to explore Fullerton and environs. I've done this type of intermodal transportation before and have found a folding bike a great way to travel, transforming a potentially boring trip into exercise and adventure.
With full fuel, BikeFriday Tikit, and our minimal bags, we were below maximum gross takeoff weight and right in the middle of the center-of-gravity range. The southbound flight was smooth and uneventful, culminating in a practice RNAV approach into Fullerton. Between the evening haze, the glare from the setting sun, and my vague familiarity with Fullerton (I've visited handful of times) it was a good choice: We visually acquired the airport about 2 miles out.
The folks at General Aviation Co. had a rental car for my instrument student. I had my trusty BikeFriday Tikit. As we headed our separate ways in the evening twilight, I turned airplane mode off on my iPhone noticed it was searching for a cellphone network. I had reviewed the 3 mile route to my hotel in nearby Buena Park when I made the reservation, but hadn't paid close attention. Being unable to navigate with the iPhone, I did what any good pilot would do: I reverted to pilotage, of course.
I knew the general direction. Head west on Commonwealth, then a left turn, followed by a right turn, another left, cross I-5, right turn on Orangethorpe Avenue, and a few blocks down on the right. An interesting feeling, being forced to revert to basics. At the hotel, my phone was still "Searching ..." I connected to the hotel's WiFi and used Skype to call home. Skype calls appear as a "private caller" which, heretofore unknown to me, are blocked by our telco. So I sent an iMessage. A bit later, my wife launched Skype on her Mac and we were in business.
Waking up to overcast skies, mild temperatures, and light winds, I saddled up and headed back to the General Aviation Co. to drop off non-essential items. I yearned for a light breakfast and good espresso. My iPhone was still "Searching ..." so I was reduced to pilotage and intuition. Cycling eastward on Commonwealth Avenue, I got my first taste of the roadway facilities provided to cyclists in Fullerton. Every community integrates bicycles in a unique way, but the first thing I noticed was the local cyclists ride on the sidewalk. I'm not a fan of cycling on sidewalks because 1) sidewalks are for pedestrians, 2) many municipalities have ordinances against bike riding on sidewalks, 3) sidewalks have numerous, often blind intersections with streets and parking lots, and 4) it takes longer to get where you're going. So I rode on the right side of the rightmost lane. The road surfaces ranged from smooth and clean to seriously mangled and potholed. There are some nice bike routes in Fullerton, but finding them requires local knowledge, a functioning iPhone, or both.
In the business district at Harbor and Commonwealth, I located the Rialto Cafe where I didn't find espresso, but did discover better-than-Starbucks coffee, nice oatmeal, and sidewalk seating in the shade. Try as I might, I couldn't locate any bike racks so I locked the Tikit to a bench on the sidewalk. I was too slow to snap a photo, but an elderly Asian woman appeared amused by the Tikit and inspected it very thoroughly. When one is behind the Orange Curtain (as some refer to Orange County, CA) it seems the accepted conveyance is a super-sized, gasoline-powered vehicle. Ah, America!
Next on the agenda was to continue eastward to the Cal State Fullerton campus and the Fullerton Arboretum. But first, I found myself diverting westward again. I spotted a residential street flanked with blooming jacaranda. I was first attracted by the purple blossoms, then noticed an entire block of beautiful craftsman bungalow-style houses.
Continuing on Harbor, then on Brea Boulevard, I discovered ... bike lanes! Not only that, but a very nicely maintained, tree-lined walking path. And this: A baseball field with a deactivated oil rig, neatly fenced in, situated in the field's parking lot. Holy hydraulic fracturing, local residents!
Without a map or a functioning iPhone, I made a wrong turn and got lost. So did the uncharacteristic thing for a male of the human species - I asked for directions to the Fullerton Arboretum. I found the arboretum, took a few photos, but truth be told, it wasn't my cup of tea. Besides, I had consumed considerable calories with the unnecessary detour and was in need of espresso and something sweet. Following my nose, I made my way through the Cal State Fullerton campus and retraced my steps. That's when I stumbled upon McClain's Coffeehouse.
The sun being out in full force made McClain's all the more appealing with it's chill, slightly dark atmosphere. The espresso was tasty and the pumpkin pastry had just the right mixture of sweetness and calorie density. And thanks to the wifi, I was able to receive an iMessage about our proposed ETD. Time to hightail it back to Fullerton Municipal. Refueling completed, preflight completed, Tikit and luggage loaded, and a right downwind departure toward El Monte. With luck, we'd make it back to the Bay Area before sunset.
 |
| Tikit (just) fits without disassembly. |
With full fuel, BikeFriday Tikit, and our minimal bags, we were below maximum gross takeoff weight and right in the middle of the center-of-gravity range. The southbound flight was smooth and uneventful, culminating in a practice RNAV approach into Fullerton. Between the evening haze, the glare from the setting sun, and my vague familiarity with Fullerton (I've visited handful of times) it was a good choice: We visually acquired the airport about 2 miles out.
 |
| Approaching the LA Basin |
The folks at General Aviation Co. had a rental car for my instrument student. I had my trusty BikeFriday Tikit. As we headed our separate ways in the evening twilight, I turned airplane mode off on my iPhone noticed it was searching for a cellphone network. I had reviewed the 3 mile route to my hotel in nearby Buena Park when I made the reservation, but hadn't paid close attention. Being unable to navigate with the iPhone, I did what any good pilot would do: I reverted to pilotage, of course.
I knew the general direction. Head west on Commonwealth, then a left turn, followed by a right turn, another left, cross I-5, right turn on Orangethorpe Avenue, and a few blocks down on the right. An interesting feeling, being forced to revert to basics. At the hotel, my phone was still "Searching ..." I connected to the hotel's WiFi and used Skype to call home. Skype calls appear as a "private caller" which, heretofore unknown to me, are blocked by our telco. So I sent an iMessage. A bit later, my wife launched Skype on her Mac and we were in business.
Waking up to overcast skies, mild temperatures, and light winds, I saddled up and headed back to the General Aviation Co. to drop off non-essential items. I yearned for a light breakfast and good espresso. My iPhone was still "Searching ..." so I was reduced to pilotage and intuition. Cycling eastward on Commonwealth Avenue, I got my first taste of the roadway facilities provided to cyclists in Fullerton. Every community integrates bicycles in a unique way, but the first thing I noticed was the local cyclists ride on the sidewalk. I'm not a fan of cycling on sidewalks because 1) sidewalks are for pedestrians, 2) many municipalities have ordinances against bike riding on sidewalks, 3) sidewalks have numerous, often blind intersections with streets and parking lots, and 4) it takes longer to get where you're going. So I rode on the right side of the rightmost lane. The road surfaces ranged from smooth and clean to seriously mangled and potholed. There are some nice bike routes in Fullerton, but finding them requires local knowledge, a functioning iPhone, or both.
In the business district at Harbor and Commonwealth, I located the Rialto Cafe where I didn't find espresso, but did discover better-than-Starbucks coffee, nice oatmeal, and sidewalk seating in the shade. Try as I might, I couldn't locate any bike racks so I locked the Tikit to a bench on the sidewalk. I was too slow to snap a photo, but an elderly Asian woman appeared amused by the Tikit and inspected it very thoroughly. When one is behind the Orange Curtain (as some refer to Orange County, CA) it seems the accepted conveyance is a super-sized, gasoline-powered vehicle. Ah, America!
 |
| Freaking out the locals ... |
Continuing on Harbor, then on Brea Boulevard, I discovered ... bike lanes! Not only that, but a very nicely maintained, tree-lined walking path. And this: A baseball field with a deactivated oil rig, neatly fenced in, situated in the field's parking lot. Holy hydraulic fracturing, local residents!
Without a map or a functioning iPhone, I made a wrong turn and got lost. So did the uncharacteristic thing for a male of the human species - I asked for directions to the Fullerton Arboretum. I found the arboretum, took a few photos, but truth be told, it wasn't my cup of tea. Besides, I had consumed considerable calories with the unnecessary detour and was in need of espresso and something sweet. Following my nose, I made my way through the Cal State Fullerton campus and retraced my steps. That's when I stumbled upon McClain's Coffeehouse.
The sun being out in full force made McClain's all the more appealing with it's chill, slightly dark atmosphere. The espresso was tasty and the pumpkin pastry had just the right mixture of sweetness and calorie density. And thanks to the wifi, I was able to receive an iMessage about our proposed ETD. Time to hightail it back to Fullerton Municipal. Refueling completed, preflight completed, Tikit and luggage loaded, and a right downwind departure toward El Monte. With luck, we'd make it back to the Bay Area before sunset.
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