The Big Lock Up

Shortly after moving to Springfield, Ginger's bike was stolen. Her (very appropriate) response was to buy a big-ass U-lock and keep on riding - albeit on a different bike. She picked up a Kryptonite Series 2, which thus far has kept her machine out of the hands of would-be bike-thief ass-clown losers. A couple of notable drawbacks are that it's quite heavy to haul around and also limits your ability to lock to large diameter objects like lampposts. It's also exceedingly difficult to lock up multiple bikes simultaneously with a single lock. With that said, it's definitely a heavy duty lock that will help deter thieves.

Meanwhile, I'm still riding around with my ultra-cheap 1/4" cable lock. It's definitely been a source of concern for me. On the one hand, I never leave my bike out overnight and our security guard at the office has an unimpeded view of the bike racks at work. On the other hand, my rig is locked up in the same place every day, making it easier to premeditate a theft. So last week, I finally upgraded my lock, opting for a Kryptonite Evolution Mini with a 4' Flex cable. I also bought an extra 4' Flex cable for Ginger.

I'm certainly resting easier having a big scary lock keeping my bicycle secure. The Evolution Mini fits nicely in my panniers, so it's easy to carry. I'm not trying to endorse Kryptonite by any means. They make a great product, but so do a number of other companies. The Evolution Mini is just what was available to me at my LBS. Thick cable locks, heavy chains, and U-locks from any reputable manufacturer (Knog, Avenir, Blackburn, Abus, OnGuard, etc.) are great ways to keep your machine in your possession.

How not to bike in the rain

It's no secret I hate biking in the rain. The streets get gross. My hair gets frizzy. My clothes get wet. But I always wanted to try biking with an umbrella.

It's so unsafe.

Having access to only brake on slickery streets can only lead to disaster. What you see here was just a two-block experiment, but even that made Cody really nervous.

We put together some real tips for biking in the rain for the Healthy Living Alliance. See what you really need to take into account when cycling on a rainy day.

Gettin' judgey

The local newspaper has this daily feature called Roses & Thorns, a space where locals can write in kudos or complaints about whatever they want. This is what was published a few days ago:

Now, I'm not young anymore. And our kid is no longer a baby. But she could have been talking about me! I bike our boy to school almost every day. In a trailer.

What this Giver of Thorns fails to understand is that the woman she saw was probably not biking for recreation. That many people rely solely on their bicycles and their feet for transportation. That motorists - however careful those drivers might be - also share the road with inattentive drivers. That pedestrians also have to watch for distracted drivers.

Inattentive drivers are a danger to us all.

We Stringers understand that not everyone is comfortable transporting children in a trailer. We get it. Really. It took us a long time before we were comfortable bringing the Little Dude on bike rides. But we are committed to helping normalize nonmotorized transportation. We want to see more people getting around town by bike. And we want drivers out there to get used to seeing us.

Really, we just want to share the road.

What can we do to protect ourselves from dangerous drivers? Look both ways before crossing the street. Wear our bike helmets. And fasten our seat belts.

Popping My Ozark Greenways Cherry

I'm a little late getting to this, but there were a couple of organized rides scheduled for last weekend. I decided to skip the Nixa Bike Ride, which has been rescheduled for June 29th due to weather, and attend the Polk County Wildflower Ride on the Ozark Greenways instead. Unfortunately, it was still raining when the Wildflower Ride started, so I opted to skip that ride as well. I sent a message out to my sister and good friend that were planning on going with me, saying that we'd go heckle the governor during his event up at the Dry Sac trail later that day, but that event too was postponed.

Undeterred, we decided that if we couldn't facilitate a bike ride with an organized event, we'd just organize our own. My sister, her boyfriend, and one of our buddies met up at my house and made our way down to the Galloway Trail trailhead on Seminole and rode the entire length of the trail. There were a few flooded areas that required some portaging, and there was a brief stop for beer at the Brown Derby on Battlefield, but otherwise we stayed in the saddle and made great time getting to the south edge of town. Our plan was to continue on up the James River Trail, making a big loop and ending up back at the Galloway trailhead, but the James River Trail was badly flooded, so we just turned around and went back the way we had come.

This was the first time I had ventured out on the Greenways and I was not disappointed. I'm definitely looking forward to spending more time on the Galloway Greenway, as well as exploring the other trails in and around Springfield.