test above



test below

sprawl and the CLC

I posted this on Bike portland, it could have used some fleshing out, but, you know.

I've lived in Portland for 12 years. The only time I get frustrated by the seeming lack of infrastructure planning is when I get in my car.
I tend to think that people know what they're doing when they moved to Beaverton or Vancouver or Clackamas, I knew a guy who built a house in LaCenter and commuted to Sellwood each day because the lot was $40k cheaper. To me that seemed ridiculous.

At the same time a 5 acre pastural spread in Battleground looks pretty nice to me sometimes, so long as I could work from home - but I can't, so I stay in Portland and I live as close to the center as I can afford. There's no farmland, but there are empty lots and drug dealing on the street. I occasionally get spare-changed when I step out my front door. There are also families living on my street and they feel safe enough, as I do. It's not terrible pretty but we live in a community here. I'm also near bike lanes and downtown, and If I do get in my car it's in the opposite direction of traffic.

Portland infrastructure can't handle more cars. The Chokepoints of I-5 and 26 might not have been planned, but they suit me just fine. The only new ways into the city should be rail and ped/bike and if they're attached to a new roadway I think we can live without them. Vancouver can do what it wants, but if it's their intention to build low density bedroom communities and send everyone to work in Portland, one person per car, I'd say that's a plan that Portland should fight. Portland's not an office park or an industrial zone. It's a city full of people and families and more cars and trucks make it worse. Our lives shouldn't be degraded so that someone choosing to live in a cute little subdivision 20 miles away doesn't have a hard commute.

monday 11/26

Man!
Yesterday was such a bad customer service day for me that I woke up bummed out about it. WTF is going on?
I hope my whole week isn't ruined. My holiday spirit has been dealt a severe blow.

I couldn't get anyone to go on the long ride with me yesterday so I ended up not going, which was fine. I was a little relieved when it sleeted for about a half hour at the point I would have been a little more than halfway through. that would have been a real drag.

I almost let myself bail out again today but instead I did a much shorter ride. Still I almost bailed from that about halfway through when I realized that the front wheel which I robbed from another bike (probably not serviced in 20 years) was probably out of grease and I could hear the bearings. Hopefully I haven't screwed anything up, I'll check tonight.

I rode the sekai and it was OK. I'm not sure it's any better or worse than the bridgestone but I did notice that even without fenders I had some toe overlap. I tried fitting 700s on but the canti's wouldn't work so it's got big 27"wheels and nice fat 32 tires so maybe I should have expected it. maybe this bike is dry weather only, I don't know.

I used stis and some old ergo bars. I liked the shifters ok but not the bars, which is what I'd expected. I don't think the sti's are worth the extra money and possible hassle (rather than bar ends which for the most part can't break down.

I felt pretty weak, I need to ride more. I think it took three hours, but I'm not sure. Hopefully it took less. It didn't really hurt. My knee's a little sore but everything else is fine. We'll see tomorrow morning.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1470721

test

testing 4c10b