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Issue 1
Editorial
Motorcycle riders are a minority. Commuting and transportation riders are a minority within a minority. Motorcycles will someday be more widely recognized as good solutions to many social, urban and environmental problems. In our technological era, increases in motorcycle use can become a benefit for everyone. Motorcycles are safe and fun...and riding everywhere is a social good. Everyday motorcycling and commuting has an enormous unrealized cultural potential. We want to carry these ideas forward and teach them to as many road users as we can. I start by choosing to ride to work... This organization wants your help. Ride to Work is a new entity. If you can join us with a supporter�s contribution (see inside), thanks. If you are interested in making a direct, working contribution please let us know.
for Ride to Work Day
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Advocacy
An Overlooked Alternative?
In many parts of the country, particularly those with vibrant local economies, automotive 'gridlock' is rapidly becoming an unattractive fact of life. This is due to the greatly increased use of single-occupancy automobiles. Increases in automobile usage cannot be sustained without consequences, and this sentiment is beginning to have some resonance among the general public. An objective analysis of the potential benefits of increased use of motorcycles will reveal that they are an underutilized solution, and that their value as a source of congestion relief is being largely ignored. Motorcycles are a legitimate part of the overall transportation mix, deserving of greater consideration in traffic planning procedures and by those responsible for all kinds of social policy decisions. Our current culture largely considers motorcycles 'toys'. This is an unfortunate hindrance to the status they deserve as a legitimate mode of personal transportation.
Stuff We'd Like to See Happen (In no particular order)
Traffic and Urban Congestion Reform:
The ability of motorcycles to take advantage of their narrowness to 'split' or 'filter' through heavy traffic is banned in many states, which results in more congestion than is necessary. (In many areas motorcycles are allowed to use HOV lanes, an encouraging sign of progressive thinking which should be universal.) Lane splitting should be defined as a congestion solution and made legal in all jurisdictions.
Insurance Reform:
Riding/Reading is Fundamental
| The City After The Automobile by Moshe Safdie with Wendy Kohn New Republic Book/Basic Books a division of Harper Collins Publishers The Geography of Nowhere/ The Rise And Decline of America's Man Made Landscape by James Howard Kunstler Simon & Schuster Asphalt Nation/ How The Automobile Took Over America And How We Can Take It Back by Jane Holtze Kay Uneasy Rider/ The Interstate Way Of Knowledge by Mike Bryan Knopf Sustainability And Cities/ Overcoming Automobile Dependence by Peter Newman & Jeffery Kenworthy Island Press | Getting There/ The Epic Struggle Between Road And Rail In The American Century by Stephen B.Goddard University of Chicago Press Beyond The Car/ Essays On The Auto Culture by Sue Zielinski & Gorden Laird, Editors Steel Rail Press Killed By Automobile/ Death In The Streets Of New York City by Charles Komanoff & and members of Right Of Way Frontiers Of Sustainability/ Enviromentally Sound Agriculture, Forestry, Transportation, And Power Production by Roger, Daryl Ditz, Paul Faeth, Nels Johnson, Keith Kozloff and James J.Mackenzie Island Press | An Empire Wilderness/ Travels Into America's Future by Robert D.Kaplan Random House Fortress America/ Gated Communities In The United States by Edward J.Blakely & Mary Gail Snyder Brookings Institution Press Americans On The Road/ From Autocamp To Motel 1910-1945 by Warren James Belasco Johns Hopkins University Press American Autobahn/ The Road To An Interstate Freeway With No Speedlimit by Mark Rask Vanguard Non-Fiction Books Divided Highways/ Building The Interstate Highways, Transforming American Life by Tom Lewis Viking Press |
Street Hero
This award will recognize and profile a person who exemplifies the mission of Ride To Work. Applications and nominations can be made to our address or website.
Help A Wrench
Contribute to a separate scholarship fund for motorcycle mechanics. One scholarship to an accredited training program will be announced when enough funds have been raised. As the fund grows more scholarships will be made available. You'll get a receipt.
Digest/Clips
Excerpted from Rider Magazine
Aug. 2000
by Clement Salvadori
To subscribe call 800 678 2279
"Going to work, whether at a factory, an office or a retail shop, happens 10 times a week...if you count the going-home part. Let us say your commute is 20 miles each way, 200 miles a week, 50 weeks a year, for a grand total of 10,000 miles.
Now we get mathematical. If your Dodge Caravan is delivering a snappy 16 mpg, that means you have pumped 625 gallons into the tank. At $2 a gallon, that equals $1,250. If your bike is getting 40 mpg, that means 250 gallons, or $500.
Aug. 2000
by Clement Salvadori
To subscribe call 800 678 2279
"Going to work, whether at a factory, an office or a retail shop, happens 10 times a week...if you count the going-home part. Let us say your commute is 20 miles each way, 200 miles a week, 50 weeks a year, for a grand total of 10,000 miles.
Now we get mathematical. If your Dodge Caravan is delivering a snappy 16 mpg, that means you have pumped 625 gallons into the tank. At $2 a gallon, that equals $1,250. If your bike is getting 40 mpg, that means 250 gallons, or $500.
Everyday Rides
What Daily Riders Ride
Road Rage
Everyday riders are sometimes abused or even killed by other motorists. These jerks yell, shout, crowd, shoot, throw stuff or otherwise attack motorcycle riders, bicyclists and pedestrians. They are criminals. We support increased fines, penalties, better laws, stronger enforcement of existing laws, and more measures to make roads safe for all road users. Smaller and lighter forms of personal transport should be actively encouraged by leaders and authorities. The individual use of heavier, larger private vehicles should be discouraged. Send u
Technology
Commuting riders should have available emergency remedies or backup plans to use in cases of mechanical trouble. From knowing how to reach towing services to having a friend with a trailer.to being able to make emergency repairs by the side of the road, having a �plan B� can make everyday riding a lot more secure. Each issue will cover a different aspect of everyday preparedness here.
Flat Tires It is not too difficult to fix a tire on the side of the road but it can take an hour (or more)of dirty, sweaty work if you do not have much practice. To be able to do so, you must carry a flat repair kit. You should have one with both plugs and patches so you can fix innertubes or tubeless tires. You will also need to have an airpump, some CO2 inflators, an aerosol emergency inflation can or all three. You will need to know how to break the bead on tubeless tires, and how to use tire irons and patch materials. If you do not regularly change your own tires at home, you may not want to try it for the first time on the side of the road... but if you do, be sure to move yourself and your bike completely clear of the traffic stream. This type of emergency repair is especially risky on the side of busy limited access highways. (It�s not as dangerous to fix a tire on the sides of residential streets and rural highways.) All of the tools, patches,spare tube, etc... can be carried in a small bag (made of strong leather or cordura nylon) tied to the rear fender behind the saddle, carried in saddle bags/fairing pockets, or attached to your bike�s frame. Protect the inner tube from abrasion damage. Re-inspect the contents of the kit at least once a year. (If a can of tire-inflate aerosol gets a vibration caused pinhole, it will make you think your bike is on fire as a giant, thick cloud of white smoke issues violently from the container.) Specific techniques for wheel and tire removal may be covered in your bike�s owners manual. You can also find additional specific tire repair information on the internet, and in guidebooks and magazines about motorcycling. If you�d like to write a detailed �how to� for changing tires, please contact us. It could become available as a brochure/guide in the RideTo Work library.