Attention Cyclists With Any USD Affiliation (Past/Present)

June 10th, the last day of Tour de Kota, there is a plan in motion to ride from Vermillion to Sioux Falls en mass wearing this one of a kind, special order jersey. There will be no ability to order these EVER again so you will own part of history.

Requirements you ask?
1. Sign up for Tour de Kota (all week or just the one day)
2. Get me your t-shirt and jersey size via email (bikingbrady AT gmail DOT com). Do this soon as we will be ordering within the next week or two.
3. Ride on June 10th (at least).

Let's have a sea of Coyote jerseys fill the rural landscape!

LATE EDIT FROM USD EMAIL: Team USD members will also have the opportunity to purchase, at a reduced cost, a one of a kind, limited edition USD bike jersey commemorating the event. If you are interested in riding as part of the USD team, please go to http://link.usd.edu/3563 by February 25th to sign up and order your jersey.
****For this you will need a USD Email account. If you don't have a USD email account but would like to ride with USD pride, email me.

The Obligatory 1000th Consecutive Day of Commuting Post

Why Did I Get Started on the Streak?
Simple answer: I’m not sure. More likely answer: I wanted to encourage others to try it. I already had a pretty good following on my blog and decided to try my hand at making them commuters.


Worst Weather/Coldest Day:
The two are actually mutually exclusive. The coldest air temp was -28F. The coldest wind chill was -58. Neither was the worst day of commuting. Unexpected cold rain sucks the absolute worst. Getting caught without rain gear and soaked wet, cold clothing. That friends, is the worst.


Number of times I’ve crashed while commuting during the streak
In the 5-7 range, usually on ice: Three times hard that come to mind. A couple times where I crashed “gracefully” and the bike took off on the ice for a good distance longer. One crash on the “post winter gravel” last year was actually one of the hardest on my body. The concrete was the only thing to hit and I went down hard and fast.


Things I’ve been asked/told:
1. Did you get a DUI or something? Um, no.
2. Did you ride today? Usually a question asked on the nastiest of days, testing to see how psychotic I truly am, or secretly trying to be the first one to ask me on the day that the streak ends.
3. How was your ride in today? Also usually asked on the nastiest of days, but by people who have long since accepted the fact that I undoubtedly rode by bike to work.
4. I’ve been asked numerous questions about the best gear for commuting. This is always encouraging as it means people are actually considering commuting by bike.


Random Thoughts
The streak would be 49 days longer, but right as I was getting ready to leave on March 2, 2007, a good friend of mine called and offered to pick me up because she was worried that the conditions were too nasty out. They’ve been worse on numerous occasions since.

There are two types of commuting I have counted during this streak: My normal commute to work (.92-1 mile depending on the route) and my “second” job with the production team with the Daktronics Scoreboard at the Dakota Dome (1.6 miles one way). I have commuted to Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls (a 66 mile commute) to work Daktronics equipment for track meets. I’ve never counted them directly, but I usually commuted to work for a couple hours on those days also.

I have had to push my bike part of the two blocks to Main Street on three occasions (that I can remember) due to snow that was just too deep. Once on Main Street, I hit emergency routes.

Because of my use of the bicycle to do everyday tasks around town, I made a decision to sell my car. When I brought it up to my wife, she didn’t even flinch. Within a month it was sold. We’ve been a one vehicle family since March 8, 2008. I can honestly say there has only been a couple of times since that having a second car would have been handy.

Use of my Burley Trailer, aka “The Grocery Getter”, has been part of a number of conversations. I’ve often posted about the contents of my Rubbermaid container that I use on my trailer. Yet again erasing excuses for people who say the bicycle isn’t practical.


This isn't the most exciting post I've ever written, but to me the 1000th day is just another day. Is it cool?? Sure. I remember when I was excited about my 300th day. Now they just seem to be another day in a great way of life.

I will allow you this opportunity to ask questions you have about commuting or the streak. I'll do my best to answer.

As I Continue to Grow Up

I never want to totally grow up. I love my ability to act 12 years old from time to time....Okay, often. However, I will never do things that will potentially make bicycling more dangerous or give cyclists the perception of being completely arrogant. We have enough issues on the road without furthering a stereotype of arrogance. Where am I going with all this? I'll try to make sense of it now.

Understand that I've been sitting on this blog post for over a year now. Partially because I was upset over a website and wanted time to think about my response (really? you needed over a YEAR?) and partially because I didn't really want to draw attention to said website that caused my angst.

Cyclists are an expressive bunch. I completely get that. From my single speed friends who proudly announce their pride with a "One F**king Speed" sticker on their chainstay to those of us who have at least one very loud, and often many, obnoxious jerseys. I want none of you to ever lose that expression. You can even disagree with what I'm about to say (and many of you will) and I'll still consider you a friend. Really.

Get to the damn point already! Damn, yes, that's a good place to start. There is a website that promotes some jerseys that I have a personal beef with. Sharethedamnroad.com started with a jersey that, as you may have guessed, is emblazoned with SHARE THE DAMN ROAD on it. Since then they have come out with the equally subtle DON'T RUN ME OVER, I'M A TAXPAYER (share the road), and others.

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A VIOLENT PERSON AND DO NOT CONDONE HARMING ANY LIVING PERSON FOR ANY REASON.

For just a minute, let's pretend I don't bike (Hey, I said pretend). Furthermore, let's pretend that I HATE cyclists with a burning passion. I'm out driving in the country in my SUV all by myself since it would be absolutely incredulous to have more than one person in this size of a vehicle. Suddenly, there they are, those hated cyclists in a pack spanning the whole road. What's that? They are wearing jersey's saying "Share the Damn Road" and "Don't Run Me Over" and others. I think I need to show them who really owns the road and go by as close as I can and maybe throw something at them. BINGO! Drilled one with my pop bottle! That'll teach 'em!

Okay, that was over the top, especially from me. Do you see my point though? Even for those who support us on the road but don't bicycle, don't you think that such messages might cause damage to our hope of their ongoing support?

While I do understand that is NOT the message intended to be portrayed on this website, I think they are failing. There are blogs who readily link to the site and their jerseys. There are also blogs, who like I, think a few of the jerseys do a great disservice to cyclists. I've had my say on the subject. I now jump back off my soap box and return to normal living.

Car Free America Day

Today is Car Free America Day. I did my usual short commute, but I definitely didn't bundle up quite enough. I needed a couple more layers as all I had on were jeans and tennis shoes from the waist down. My Helly Hansen Parka sufficed but I had a few frozen whiskers that were exposed from my balaclava. It's hard for me to proclaim this, but today was beyond chilly. Today my friends, it officially hit COLD.

Really - It's NOT Me!

A friend of mine sent me a picture of my brother-from-another-mother in Milwaukee. See Mom, I'm not the only one. Long live the year round bike commuter!!

Dear Mother Nature

Dear Mother Nature,

You can't defeat me, you can only hope to contain me.

Sincerely,

Biking Brady