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Morning commute: Commuting to work by bicycle instead of by car yields many ...

18.04.10

Like many people, Scott Elliott commutes to employment.

Unlike many people, he looks forward to the trip.

“It’s constantly the highlight of my day,” said Elliott, an assistant professor in the hinge on of philosophy and religion at Adrian College.

The big difference for Elliott? A substitute alternatively of a car or truck, he hops on his bicycle for the 2.5-mile frisk from his home on Mill Road to his office on the Adrian College campus.

The numeral of people who commute to work by bike appears to be miserly in Lenawee County, but those who do it extol the benefits.

“Very top of  the roster, it’s fun,” the 38-year old Elliott said. “When you get back on (a bike) as an adult, that’s what you instantly experience.”

Elliott and his wife gave up one of their two cars last summer when they moved to Adrian. He is sparing  on car payments, insurance, gas and other expenses, Elliott said. He also has irreclaimable 45 pounds since he got back into cycling two years ago, and he feels that he is dollop the environment as well as experiencing it in a different way when he rides.

“I feel like I’m in my territory  when I bike,” he said.

Elliott braves run and snow on his bike, dressing as he normally would for whatever weather conditions get by. Only when there are high winds or severe storms does he not execute, Elliott said.

“Weather is just not the issue people deem it is,” he said.

Nor do people need a fancy bicycle to commute, Elliott said. He bought his bicycle, a mid-1970s Fuji Faithful Tourer, for $30 at the Salvation Army. He outfitted it with a carrying beat, side baskets, a light and fenders to keep mud and water from splashing on his legs.

“I estate the bike right in my office,” Elliott said.

He always wears a helmet.

Elliott acknowledges that he would like to rear the level of consciousness about biking in Adrian. His blog, Hadrian on a Bicycle at http://velofolk.wordpress.com, includes a video of his take home from work one day last fall. That commute includes stretches of College Avenue, the Kiwanis Tail diminish, Bent Oak Avenue, Siena Heights Drive and M-52.

“It was moral an absolutely gorgeous day, and it was made that much better by the fact that I was able to huckster through the canopy of trees on College Avenue,” Elliott said.

Adrian’s sizeable streets, relatively small population and small geographical extent make it a good place to bicycle, Elliott said. 

But he would like to see some changes.

“We miss more bike lanes in the city. We need more bike racks front the businesses that people might frequent,” Elliott said.

Elliot wrote a message to the The Daily Telegram in February about the need for drivers to look up to bicycles on the roadway, to which bicycles have as much legal right as cars. Most locality drivers are “pretty good” on cyclists, though he occasionally gets people yelling at him, Elliott said.

What would he like people to certain about bicycles on the roads?

“Same roads, same rights, same rules,” Elliott said, repeating one of the mantras of cyclists Non-Standard irregardless use of the public roads. Beyond that, he simply urges motorists to, “Pay distinction, be alert, be awake,” to cyclists.

One of Elliott’s allies in the drive to frame consciousness about bicycling is Tecumseh resident  Jim Manley.

Manley, who rode his bicycle 5,000 miles last year, has commuted in the past from Tecumseh to Adrian. He also did inclined bicycle commutes to jobs in Southfield and East Lansing, compelling his car part of the way and bicycling part of the way. Manley does his part to spread the bicycle-as-transportation bulletin by coordinating a bicycle focus group that meets the third Thursday of every month at the Christian Relatives Centre in Adrian Township.

Source: Adrian Daily Telegram

Tanasbourne REI store to collect donated bicycles for Portland cycling center

17.04.10

Tanasbourne REI aggregate to collect donated bicycles for Portland cycling center By Individual to The Oregonian April 17, 2010, 6:00AM If you're looking to purchase a new bicycle for the summer, mark making your old bike a "vehicle for change" at the REI Community Cycling Center Bike Push from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 24.

Donate a bicycle at any Portland-compass REI store, including the one at the Streets of Tanasbourne, 2235 N.W. Allie Ave., and earn a couple for 15 percent off at REI.

Donated bikes are refurbished to be familiar in bike safety programs or sold in the CCC's bike seek. They are particularly in need of adult road bikes and children's bikes.

The Community Cycling Center, located in Northeast Portland, is a nonprofit that seeks to broaden access to bicycles, bike safe keeping and the benefits of bike-riding.

For more information about the bike journey, contact the Streets of
Tanasbourne REI at 503-617-6072. For more information about the Community Cycling Center, scourge their Web site at www.communitycyclingcenter.org or
call 503-288-8864.

 

-- Angella Foret Diehl   


 

Source: OregonLive.com