Imperative Flats

Getting a flat tire is never fun, but all flats are not created equal. My black bike has had a slow leak for months.  I have to pump it up every few days.  Surely I’ve spent more time and effort inflating the tire by now than would have been required to patch the hole or replace the tube.  This is my least favorite kind of flat.  It’s a long term drain that’s never quite inconvenient enough to demand fixing.  Sometimes they linger until a second puncture forces you to remove the tire anyway.

In contrast, when you run over a big piece of glass as you’re rushing home with drinks for people who are supposed to be showing up any minute, there’s no ambiguity — you just sit down and patch it, right there, right then.  If it’s obvious where the hole is, you don’t even have to take the wheel off the bike, and it turns out not to be such a pain in the butt after all.

Late and Flat

(Especially if you remember to unseat the bead of the tire all the way around before trying to lever it off the rim… D’oh!)

Human Language in the Palm of My Hand

One of the Rosetta discs was recently bequeathed to the University of Colorado libraries, and the Long Now put out a request for pictures of it in its new home.  I eagerly responded by heading to the special collections in Norlin yesterday.  It didn’t seem to be on display anywhere, so when the librarian made eye contact, I said I was here to see the Rosetta disc, and she sent someone off to get it.  And they took it out of its Pelican case, and set it on the table in front of me (after I’d filled out a reader card and agreed only to take notes in pencil… or by digital means — no pens are allowed near the old books)  At first I was hesitant to touch it, and asked if it was okay, and she said “Oh it doesn’t look like the kind of thing that requires any special handling.”  So I picked it up.

Humanity's Languages in the Palm of my Hand

Continue reading Human Language in the Palm of My Hand

48 Minutes and 75 Bikes on the Boulder Creek Path

I spent some time this afternoon sitting alongside the Boulder Creek Path out east of where it joins up with the Goose Creek Path, heading toward the ocean of office parks that employ a significant chunk of Boulder, a 7 minute ride from my house at 21st and Walnut.  As the sun headed for the continental divide, I took a picture of (almost) every bike that went by.  Over 48 minutes, I saw 75 bikes. 

Looking at the photos after the fact, I did some counting and found some things out about cyclists in Boulder.

Continue reading 48 Minutes and 75 Bikes on the Boulder Creek Path

Location Efficiency and Housing Type

According to this EPA study, regardless of the type of housing, living in an area with good transit access saves more energy than building a “green home”. Of course, living in a mixed use, transit accessible apartment that’s also energy efficient uses the least energy, but it’s important to realize how limited the potential for cost-effective energy efficiency is in a sprawling suburban context.

A Weekend Bike Tour to Fort Collins

I’m organizing an overnight bike tour from Boulder to Ft. Collins and back the first weekend in April (weather permitting of course, who knows what it will do).  If you’ve got route suggestions or know anyone in Ft. Collins that might be interested in letting some weary cyclists camp in their backyard for a night and take showers… we could cook them dinner or take them out as thanks!  And if you know anyone who might be interested in giving bike touring a bite-sized try, let them know.

Population density vs. cycling rate

David Hembrow looks at the correlation between population density and cycling rate for a range of cities.  Or rather, he points out the remarkable lack of correlation.  Clearly there’s an intrinsic relationship between population (# of people) the distances people need to travel to access that population, and the density of the population, but even for cities with densities comparable to the US (1000-2500 people/km^2) cycling can be a very convenient mode of transport.

Activate the Future

BMW is running an ad campaign on the future of mobility.  Of course, they call it a “documentary”.  It’s amazing how close they come to imagining a future in which we don’t use cars in cities.  But of course, since they’re a car company, they can’t quite get there.  The fundamental attribute of cities that makes them work — density — is also what makes them incompatible with cars.

Bidder 70 goes on trial

Tim DeChristopher goes on trial Monday. He faces 10 years in prison and $750,000 in fines for punking the last-minute auction of federal oil and gas leases in southern Utah in the last days of the Bush administration.  The auctions were later determined to be illegal.  He will not be allowed to use a “necessity” defense, or even mention his reasons for disrupting the auction.  If found guilty, he should be pardoned.