Nasrudin the Smuggler, Revisited

This week I’m once again on the road. This time, I’m off to Grand Island, NY. Usually, given the car-centric nature of the area, I pick up a rental car and drive down. This time, though, I was determined to try to find a better way. And, indeed, I found one. I took my bike.

Now originally I had big plans to ride all the way from Toronto but with heavy panniers, potentially bad weather, and the fact that it’s been a while since I’ve ridden more than 10-15km, it was probably an unwise choice. So instead, I pumped up the tires on the folding bike and headed out to the bus station. But as (good) luck would have it, my rear tire blew out rather spectacularly with a loud *BANG* a block away from the bus station – and, incidentally, about 20 feet from a Zipcar. Undaunted, though a bit crabby, I had Sage key in a reservation for me, folded the bike up and tossed it in the trunk and drove off to the bike shop. Turns out that a scrape I got when I almost fell on the streetcar tracks was just weak enough that the tire completely blew. Not, I might add, in a desolate industrial area outside of Buffalo with no bike shops around, but right next to a ride to the bikeshop.

So within a remarkably short time (Thanks, Urbane Cyclist! for fixing it right away) I was back at the bus terminal and was on my way to Niagara Falls within about 15 minutes.

Once I got to Niagara Falls, I was pleasantly surprised at the ride that waited for me. What I expected was a dismal ride through a post-industrial wasteland. What I got instead was a lovely ride on a dedicated trail next to the Niagara River all the way to Grand Island and then really nice roads for the rest of the way.

The biggest surprise, though, had to be my US Customs experience. Now let me preface this by saying that my experience with US Customs near Buffalo, NY has not been great. Other crossings in Michigan, Washington, and Vermont have been problem free, but NY is where I get the attitude. The most obnoxious was when I drove a rental car down a few trips ago. The guard asked: “Whose car is this?”

When I told him it was a rental he asked why I had a rental. “Because I don’t own a car.”

There was a pause.

And then a scowl.

And then: “You DON’T own a CAR?!?!” “No, my company pays for the car.”

“Your company PAYS for this? What do you do?

“I work in pharmaceutical regulatory compliance – I consult with companies to help them be ready for FDA inspections.” (It’s easier than trying to explain all this in a sentence or two).

“Yes, well what do you DO. Do you just stand around all day? What do you DO?”

Other crossings there have been varying degrees of the same. I expected much worse when crossing with a bike. If they were weirded out by my going on a business trip with a rental car they’d surely give me a body cavity search for daring to enter the United States of Automobiles without any motor vehicle at all.

But instead it went like this:

“Where are you coming from?”

“Toronto”

“What did you do there?”

“I live there.”

“Where are you going, then?”

“Grand Island to work for the week.”

(scan passport)

“OK – have a great day!”

And I headed out, shocked at how easy it was given my previous experiences. And then I realized today that from their point of view there was minimal risk. My panniers couldn’t hold much to smuggle, there certainly were no illegal immigrants stashed in my bike. I laughed, though, when I was reminded of the Mullah Nasrudin’s experiences as a smuggler:

Nasrudin the smuggler was riding a bike with panniers loaded full of clothing An experienced border inspector spotted Nasrudin coming to his border.

“Halt,” the inspector said. “What is your business here?”

“I am an honest smuggler!” replied Nasrudin.

“Oh, really?” said the inspector. “Well, let me search those panniers. If I find something in them, then you are required to pay a border fee!”

“Do as you wish, “Nasrudin replied, “but you will not find anything in those bags.”

The inspector intensively emptied and searched the bags but could not find a single thing in them. He turned to Nasrudin and said, “You have managed to get one by me today. You may pass the border.”

Nasrudin crossed the border with his bike while the annoyed inspector looked on. And then the very next week, Nasrudin once again came to the border with a pannier-carrying bike. The inspector saw Nasrudin coming and thought, “I’ll get him for sure this time.”

He checked the panniers again, and then searched through Nasrudin’s clothing, and even looked inside the seat tube. But once again he came up empty handed and had to let Nasrudin pass.

This same pattern continued every day for several years, and every day Nasrudin wore more and more extravagant clothing and jewelry that indicated he was getting wealthier. Eventually, the inspector retired from his longtime job, but even in retirement he still wondered about the man with the bike.

“I should have checked that bike’s frame more extensively,” he thought to himself. “Or maybe he hid something in its tires”

Then one day he spotted Nasrudin’s face in a crowd. “Hey,” the inspector said, “I know you! You are that man who came to my border everyday for all those years with a bike. Please, sir, I must talk to you.”

Nasrudin came towards him and the inspector continued talking. “My friend, I always wondered what you were smuggling past my border everyday. Just between you and me, you must tell me. I must know. What in the world were you smuggling for all those years? I must know!”

Nasrudin simply replied, “Bicycles.”

Pedestrian Helmets are Good Helmets

Copenhagenist talked about a new, likely tongue in cheek, ad campaign in their city suggesting that A Walking Helmet is a Good Helmet. Given the recent news in Toronto, it does make one think a bit.

In just a few days, a woman was struck and killed by a sidewalk-riding cyclist, and a sidewalk-riding cyclist was hit and seriously injured by a car outside Yorkdale Mall.

If one steps back a little, one could suggest that maybe both people needed a helmet (there was no discussion as to whether or not the cyclist hit outside the mall was wearing one but he suffered head injuries which either means they weren’t wearing a helmet or possibly they were wearing one and it may have saved them from a worse fate). But my point is not to suggest that bike helmets are a bad idea (I wear one) or that pedestrian helmets are a good idea (though statistics might suggest so). My point is that the common thread between these incidents was that they were likely preventable with better infrastructure and education. Cycling is dangerous because it has been engineered to be so by an auto-centric city design. And right or wrong many ride on sidewalks because of the perception that it is more dangerous to ride on the road (and in many cases outside the downtown core, I can see why)

The helmet is not the answer, but the question. What is it about cycling that is so dangerous and what can we do to make it safer? When a neighbourhood experiences a number of shootings we don’t lobby for requiring flak jackets in the area, we try to address the issue. Why does our culture look at cycling, an activity that shouldn’t be much more dangerous than walking through a neighbourhood, and decide to do everything but address the problem?

Disrespect for over a century

Bike Snob NYC had a link to an interesting article: The Dangers of Cycling (pdf link) from an 1896 issue of the Lancet.

It’s an interesting, albeit a little discouraging read. While lots has changed, much has remained the same. The hazards of inexperienced cyclists, wet streetcar tracks, and even angry taxi drivers remain very much present. And even the attitude of drivers hasn’t changed one bit:

Drivers of light private vehicles again frequently show the utmost contempt for the cyclist whom they seem to think has no right whatever to the use of the road. This feeling on the part of drivers often shows itself against pedestrians and it cannot be too frequently pointed out that the road is not the exclusive property of the drivers of horses and carts.

In fact, perhaps the only thing that changed is that the cars got heavier and faster with big heavy doors that can fly open into your path at any time.

The more things change, the more they stay the same?

Everything I expected of a city I learned from Sesame Street

Sage and I both really love Toronto. I can’t speak for her, but I definitely feel more at home in this city than I have in any other place I’ve lived including the town in Vermont that I grew up in and spent over 15 years of my life in. I’ve often wondered why and usually dismissed my own questions with “Of course you love it, it’s a great place to live!” but really, I’ve met more than enough folks who can’t stand this city so I’m guessing there are a few things at play. The first, I know, is selective viewing. Partly because of where I live, how I travel, and where I travel in the city, I see a different city than any other person – we all do, really. Riding a bike or taking transit downtown gives one a *very* different view of a city than driving in from Scarborough (or trying to bike, say, on Ellesmere or Kennedy). And of course I tend to notice things that support my positive impressions and gloss over those things that don’t. But an even deeper reason may have come from the fact that as a kid I spent many hours of my life watching early 1970’s Sesame Street. I notice, for example that many of the things I love about Toronto are the same things portrayed positively in Sesame Street. A few examples:

Transit
Toronto loves its transit:

And of course Sesame Street did as well:

Diversity
Toronto’s one of the most diverse cities in the world. Sesame Street always promoted multiculturalism:

Cycling
Cycling is very popular in Toronto:

Sesame Street also promoted cycling:

Street Life
And finally, Sesame Street knew that streets are not just for cars, but for people too:

Toronto knows that as well:

No wonder I feel at home. Kind of funny, really, to think that in a strange way Jim Henson and the producers of shows like Sesame Street, The Electric Company, and Vegetable Soup (am I the only one who remembers that one?) had a noticeable effect on where and how I want to spend my life.

Taking the Gardiner for a good cause

I waffle back and forth on whether or not I think Critical Mass’ taking the Gardiner Expressway was a good idea or not. Regardless of how I feel about it, I am a little disappointed that I missed the experience.

Fortunately I have another chance at it this coming Sunday. I’ll be riding in the Ride for Heart. They will be closing two major expressways: the Gardiner expressway, and the Don Valley Parkway and opening them up to cyclists and rollerbladers. I’ll be taking the middle-sized route: 50 KM.

Anyway, for those interested in supporting a very good cause, please consider sponsoring me. And thanks to several of you who have already sponsored me based on announcements over at twitter.

Also, for those of you actually in Toronto, you might want to consider joining me. Registration is only $40 and this will likely be your only chance to bike on the Gardiner this year.

Unless Critical Mass gets some crazy ideas again…

Scofflaw Bikers, eh?

I’m really tired of the whole “War on Cars” rhetoric being pushed by the media these days. And of course start talking about that and the drumbeat starts in the comments of all the major newspapers about how the majority of cyclists are scofflaws and don’t belong on the road. All we need to do is license them like car drivers and *then* they’ll start behaving properly. As I was heading home today I was thinking about this and wondered. Are cyclists such scofflaws? I’m not sure. I don’t think I often see:

Illegal Street Racing Cyclist Kills 8 in Crowd

Luxury Getaway Bike Used in Bank Robbery

Cyclist Runs Over, Kills Man in Downtown Dallas. Cyclist Flees

Drunk Cyclist Jailed for Crash that Crippled Nine Year Old

Five Year Old Child Shot in Bike-by

High Speed Bike Chase through 3 Counties ends with 3 in Custody.

Maybe I’m being unfair. After all. We’re talking about how cyclists are always dangerously running stop signs and going the wrong way on a one way street. Good thing those licensed drivers don’t do stuff like that.

One full week!

Sad but true – this past week was likely my most number of consecutive bike-commuting days ever. I’m guessing it’s about 15km each way and I did 5 days so 150 km. It’s not a record (I did a few 200+ weeks a year or two ago) but enough that I feel pretty good.

Yesterday was a fun and challenging one. It was the first day they predicted rain since coming here (I *know*! I can’t believe it hasn’t rained yet, either!). So I brought the raingear to work but really didn’t need it on the way in. While I was working, though, the skies opened up and wet the roads down and filled the irrigation ditches. In order to make it possible to take today off, though, I worked an extra-late day and finished up a little after 11:00 PM. By the time I got out it was sprinkling just a bit, with a cold damp wind from the south – my diirection back to the hotel.

It was an interesting experience riding home along the dark rural roads. I liked the sense that I was this mysterious person passing in the night while everyone was cozy in their house. While the cold didn’t bother me (I had enough gear on to keep me warm) the wind made it pretty rough and it took a lot longer to get home. But instead of like on my trip around L’Ile d’Orleans in Quebec where I was frustrated and impatient, I just found a steady and not too taxing cadence (come on! It was 11:30 and my east-coast body thought it was 2:30 AM) and made my way home. Riding at night in the country, though, is a different experience. I didn’t worry too much about being seen as I was the only thing around with *any* lights and lots of bright clothing (and really, only 3-4 cars passed me on the way – only one from behind which just to be safe, I moved off the roadway to avoid and still, as usual, I was given the entire lane) The lights I have, while OK for visibility in a busy city were a bit dim for an area with no streetlights and a cloud-obscured moon. It probably wasn’t such a bad thing that the wind prevented me from going too fast.

But enough about the mechanics of riding through the country in the night. Other than the biking itself, it was really interesting. The feel of the route was totally changed. All the smells had changed – probably in part due to the nightfall and in part due to the rain. Where there had been mostly floral smells with occasional barnyard or compost smells, the smell of vegetation overpowered. Everything smelled so green and lush. The peepers in the irrigation ditches and ponds were happy also though I only hear a little of their song over the wind. There were a couple times, though, where my inner 12 year old got the best of me. At one point, I passed an old falling down abandoned farmhouse that reminded me very much of a place we used to go on a dare when I was a kid – an abandoned house filled with destroyed books and rumours of murders, ghosts, bodies in the basement, and so forth. As I passed the old farmhouse, I remembered a couple of strange experiences of my own at that place and rode a little faster, goosebumps appearing on my arms.

Overall it’s been really good to have the bike be my only transportation (aside from a bus trip downtown to visit a friend). Without a bus pass or even being familiar enough with the system to decide to be lazy and not take the bus on some days, I’ve been quite religious about riding wherever I need to. And that has done me a great deal of good. Hopefully I can bring those habits back to Toronto with me. We’ll see how it goes – I hope to take some time off once I return and then it’ll be off to a new client and as yet I’m not 100% sure who/where that’ll be. There’s a local prospect (not far by bus but crappy roads may prevent cycling there) and of course other ones further afield. Meanwhile, I’ll just keep on riding…

Imaginary Line

Sage tells the story of our landing in Canada. I’m glad I didn’t talk about it in my last entry. Sage tells the story *so* much better!

On the road with a bike

It’s been a good week so far and my experiment is working swimmingly. Saturday afternoon, after a friend of mine helped me figure out how to best take apart (and re-assemble) the bike, I had it packed and ready to go for Monday.

Sunday was an awesome day. I picked up a car and we drove to the border. Long story short: we’re permanent residents of Canada now! Longer version of the story will eventually make it to Sage’s show, I expect.

Monday I took packed my bike and clothes into the rental and drove it to the airport, returning the car and getting a ride to the airport at the same time. Traveling with the bike couldn’t have been easier. I checked the bags (no extra charge from Westjet despite the fact that the bike bag was a tad oversize). When I got to Vancouver I needed only to grab my bags and run – no different than any other time I’ve traveled and caught a cab to Tsawwassen where I’m staying now.

Cycling-wise it’s been great. The bike went together with barely an issue (and none I couldn’t fix) and the route is really incredible. It takes me along Boundary Bay for a couple KM where every day I see seabirds and raptors as well as dogs and their people. After that there’s a nice ride down a farm road for a few km before a short ride on a bike lane along a busy street before getting to work. All told it’s about 15 km and takes me about 40 minutes. It’s harder to do this commute than a similar commute in Toronto – there really is only one stoplight (and it can be green) between here and work which means I go nonstop the whole way there. Good for me, I’m sure, but takes getting used to.

Drivers overall are very courteous, and with only a few exceptions give me the entire lane when they pass. But really other than the one busy street at the end I’m lucky if I see more than 3-5 cars on the way.

Still getting used to the time zone so this’ll have to be a short entry and I’ll end it here but not without a few photos from today’s commute:

A bit of a dark post

I’ve been watching the hysteria build over swine flu. I’ve even seen some of the characters from Stephen King’s The Stand (Randall Flagg, and Mother Abagail to name a couple)

Which reminds me. The whole TV miniseries of The Stand is online over at youtube. Might be too scary to watch now but it really is well done.