Clear, Sunny, Fall Day

Today it is 49'F at sunrise. The sun is warm but the shadows feel icy. The breeze coming off high mountain passes is freezing and smells of snow. It is supposed to reach 75'F today. A good day for a bicycle ride. Would be an excellent day for a drive in the country with a convertible and a woman in a good mood.

It would also be a good day for a ride on a motorcycle or scooter, one with a few stops along the way for pictures or pie. I would really enjoy doing that.

I live in a place where the average vehicle is a Subaru wagon. Where the work truck is always covered in a steel contractor rack for carrying lumber. Where the population that commutes to work in Sacramento is slowly going bankrupt and moving out, so the folks staying here are either Rich Retirees or the people serving them, mostly at Minimum Wage jobs. If you want a happy lifestyle, you have to accept living within those confines. Bikes that cost more than $8K are probably for the rich people alone, and at retirement age, they don't get ridden long or hard.

4 cylinders of smooth running acceleration.

For the poor servant class, folks like me, those sub-$5K bikes are probably more our speed. The more experienced will rescue a basket-case bike and restore it. Something with wire wheels and 4 cylinders so when its done it will purr like a kitten and give a lot of reliable miles of riding. I've read that people use toothpaste to polish rust spots out of the chrome. Most of the really serious restoration guys will strip the whole thing down to the frame, strip that and reweld or repaint any imperfections so it's strong as it needs to be. During the rebuild they test and replace any electrics needing help, as well as a spare for when it burns out, and hunt E-Bay for more parts. All of this takes months of weekend labor, often in a freezing garage while the weather comes down, wrapped in long underwear and a filthy gray sweatshirt. That's LOVE right there.

When the oil runs out, we're each going to face that day of reckoning where we see the empty fuel gauge on our commuter car and know its not enough to get where we need to go and back. We'll have seen the news about the gas stations being empty for some international (arab) reason beyond our control. We'll stop and stare at our bicycle, take a deep breath, and have to decide, each of us, if it's worth going to work under our own power. Many, due to their long distance commute or inclement weather or both, are going to say "hell no". And that will be the moment that the Rat Race dies.

When the car goes from the daily instrument of the economy to something a lot more like a lawnmover: used seasonally, awkwardly, with uncertain quality gasoline and not much care, with a strange and peculiar feeling about it all. Someday we'll be staring at the rusting metal carapace in our driveway and wondering how much we can get for it from the scrap yard, and what they charge back for the pickup, or if it should be shoved off to the side, seats ripped out and replaced with plywood, windows with mesh, and turned into a nice chicken coop? Or maybe the not-very-welcome-guest bedroom. This is the real future for the SUV. When they're hauled away, we'll get a few dozen bicycles out of each, and probably some slow electric car.

Since a motorcycle runs on a small fraction of the fuel needed to run a car, in exchange for safety and comfort, it is likely they'll be the primary transportation for jobs too far for bicycling. Most dedicated specialists who love their jobs above all else will find a way to move close so they can keep the job. Most people love where they live more, and the job is merely convenient, so they'll find something else close to their homes and avoid disrupting their kids lives. Their kids will learn to ride bicycles.

When I was a lad the cool kids had BMX bikes. One speed, a hand brake, a low seat and knobby tires. Goes anywhere. Kids were tough back then. We didn't know about ADD, or have Ritalin. Spazzy kids just spent more time outdoors exercising. We didn't even have Nintendo yet. Race around on your bike, doing tricks and jumps and riding up a mountain for a 10 minute view, then racing back down again like a fool. Nobody ever died like that, which is odd. A Separate God for Drunks and Children, indeed. One with a sense of mercy.

I never had the patience for healing all the wounds to be that good an athlete with a BMX bike, but I do watch Danny McAskill with wonder and respect. He's amazing.

I wonder how slow the world will need to become for things like the 10 mph Segway to become transportation? These things are toys with motors for people too lazy to just WALK. My bicycle, which costs a couple hundred when new, goes 20 mph without too much effort, and needs no batteries, no computers, and the replacement parts are everywhere. The Segway costs thousands, requires smooth level streets to work right, and is more computer than transportation. They're also too slow for streets and too fast for sidewalks. Not to say they aren't still trying to beat that dead horse.

The Segway PUMA really is just a wheelchair with a rain cover. Needs some bright colors, safety equipment, and not operating on a busy street with taxis whizzing by. Considering how unsafe it is, it deserves some of those rotating orange lights on the roof.

Why is it they won't allow TukTuks in America but they'll play with the Segway? If your plumber or locksmith showed up with a Tuktuk and his tools you'd be okay with that. Your pizza could arrive that way too. Three wheels, 275ccs, plastic/canvas rain covers with velcro to hold it together, and a motorcycle steering wheel. What more could you ask? Other than a 4th wheel. These things are cheap because if you hit the brakes too hard in a corner, you may flip over. And get hurled out into the street. Safety is imaginary.

People like the Tuktuk because its so damned simple: a motorized tricycle. No rack and pinion steering, no pedals. The engine, small as it is, does that for you. Who wouldn't be thrilled to have the fastest tricycle in the world? Who didn't dream of that very thing behind the handlebars of their Big-Wheel(tm) from Mattel? The grown up version goes 30-45 mph, depending on gearing and if there's a tailwind. And wouldn't that be a way to put a grin on your face in the morning commute?

 Now that oil is running out, and the prior incompetent president did nothing at all about it but talk, I expect the next one will ask states to lower speed limits from 65-70 down to 55 again. This reduces air drag, thus improving fuel economy and reducing the need for foreign oil. Its simple physics. Lowered speeds also lowers head-on crash energies, meaning vehicles won't need as much engineered crumple zone which is dead weight until a crash happens. Thus we might see a slight loosening of safety standards to allow those little Japanese trucks we all remember from the 1980's again.

Rather than an open canvas box balanced on a small central wheel of a Tuktuk, we might see the return of the tiny Datsun pickup with a 3/4 scale bed that will contort if you put more than 500 pounds in it. The seats don't move back because they've got nowhere to go. They've got doors, roll down windows, lights, and safety belts though, so you'd probably survive a rollover, and that extra 4th wheel is a lifesaver. Not as light as a Rickshaw/Tuktuk, but they'll do. The tiny Japanese truck is very basic, and these used to be everywhere before safety standards and upsizing lunch became typical. When Americans got fat in the late 90's, we couldn't fit behind the wheel of a mini truck anymore. We needed BIG trucks to compensate for our own anxieties and performance issues. We should have taken up bicycling to stay slim instead. Might have saved some marriages too. Pity. You don't get the Baywatch body from eating burgers and fries.

Yesterday was lovely. Today is shaping up to be lovely too. Hop on your bicycle if the weather allows, take your camera and enjoy the day. It will be cold and rainy soon enough.