Bikes are back in Dublin

There has certainly been a bike boom in Dublin since my last visit in July 2006. Bikes are piled into racks and locked to street signs and railings everywhere. Brave cyclists claim their space among taxis and double-decker buses on the busiest streets in the downtown tourist areas. Bike lanes have been signposted throughout the city, usually within the bus lanes. Many of the bike lanes are reserved only during the morning and evening rush hours, and some bike lanes appear to be no more than 2 feet wide, but they are being used despite their shortcomings. Whether it's the higher cost of gas, the drop in the economy, or a growing environmental awareness, Dublin residents of all ages seem to be bringing out their bikes, and the city seems to be scrambling to meet their needs.

Catching a photo of any of these cyclists from the crowded sidewalks or our moving rental car sure kept me scrambling, but I eventually caught a few live ones. Click here or on the photo below to see my small set of photos from Dublin.



(For an insider's view of cycling in and around Dublin, check out Jack's blog, Le Vie en Velo.)

Bike photos from County Kerry, Ireland

I seem to have taken more bike-related photos in Ireland than I realized, so I will be posting them in small batches. This is the first set from our week in County Kerry in the southwest of Ireland. Click here or on the image below to see all 15 photos in a slideshow on Flickr.

More photos from Ireland coming soon!

What would Yehuda Moon do?

Last week I sold my old bike, the one that I bought about four years ago to accompany my daughter around the neighborhood. It had been taking up space in our garage for over a year, and my husband wanted it out before lawn mower season arrives.

My first thought was to donate the bike to Neighborhood Bike Works, a non-profit organization that teaches kids to work on bikes and eventually earn one after putting in enough hours. But their website says they are not interested in low-end department store bikes. So after offering it to family and friends with no success, I decided to try selling it on craigslist and put the proceeds toward a secondhand bike for our daughter.

Choosing an asking price, however, was a bit uncomfortable for me. The bike was in perfect working condition and looked nearly new, but it was just an inexpensive mountain-bike-wannabe from a big sporting goods store. Although decals on the frame boasted that it was “Shimano equipped” and made by Mongoose, a name that most people would recognize, I felt like I was trying to sell inferior goods. Just one year ago I had experienced firsthand the difference between a department store bike and a bike shop bike, yet now I was trying to convince another person to buy a lower quality bike. Or was I just being a bike snob? How bad can Shimano parts be? How low-end does Mongoose go? Was I promoting cycling or leading someone toward a money pit bike?

Eventually I realized that it could simply be another person’s first step to discovering (or rediscovering) the joy of biking, as it was for me. I priced it low enough to keep my guilt at bay and their investment minimal in the event that they too decided to upgrade to a better quality bike. There was a lot of interest in the bike for a few days, and when the eventual buyer came to pick it up, I knocked $10 off the price without even being asked. Maybe not what Yehuda Moon would do (he’d most likely put it out on his bike-sharing racks, I think), but at least it made both the buyer and seller feel better. What would you do?

[Yehuda Moon and the Kickstand Cyclery is an online comic strip by Rick Smith. Read the first one here.]

Supermarket Park It

Make-do
Make-believe

Okay, more than likely the riders of those six bikes were visiting the REI store to the right of the supermarket (as I was). Nearly every time I’m there, I see a bike or two parked outside, which is not surprising since the Schuylkill River Trail is nearby, but there isn’t a bike rack anywhere. This small shopping center got a makeover last year, but I guess nobody thought of adding a bike rack. Maybe I’ll ask someone at REI about it after the holidays when they have time to chat. Or maybe I’ll send an email since that worked wonders in my town. In the meantime, maybe Santa will leave that Playmobil bike rack in my stocking. It’s so small!

Firsts and Seconds

Welcome to my first attempt at blogging about my second love affair with the bicycle.

Blogging is a completely new sport for me, so please forgive the "training wheels" feel for a little while. Hopefully, a smoother ride (read) will come when I figure out how to work all these gears and get my rusty brain lubed.

If anything can get an adult back onto a bike, it's a child (or a DUI charge). Once your child masters two wheels and takes off down the street to see the world, you'd better grab a bike and be their guide. I hadn't owned a bike since I got my driver's license, so a few years ago I headed to one of the big sporting goods chain stores and picked out a cheap, one-size-fits-all bike. I chose a mountain bike style for its fat, knobby tires. Surely I couldn't wipeout on those tires! I also bought a helmet since I didn't trust myself on a bike without coaster brakes. It took me quite a while to get used to riding a bike again. No, you never do forget how to ride a bike, but you sure can feel nervous. It didn't help my confidence that I could never get the seat height adjusted to a comfortable level or stop the brakes from screaming at the slightest squeeze. But I was able to ride alongside my daughter instead of running behind, and after a few months I began to relax and enjoy our short trips around the neighborhood.

Last summer my daughter discovered the joy of coasting downhill, overcoming her fear of losing control. However, she did not welcome the uphill struggle on her "single-speed" little girl bike. This really limited our route options and made the trip home from school a chore. So at the end of the winter, we decided it was time to move her onto a bigger bike with gears. We came home from the bike shop with not one, but three new bikes, and oh, what a difference it has made! Our daughter now adjusts her pedaling comfort level with the twist of a wrist. My husband and I have solid bikes that fit us perfectly, with tires that roll so smoothly we never want to stop. The joy of riding a bicycle has returned to each of us.