Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bicycle, bicyclists, bike, Bike Commuting, BPM, cars, commuting, crowded, measure, measurement, mile, road, traffic, transportation
Wow… it was almost crowded on my ride in to work this morning! I saw eleven other bicyclists on the road, over the five miles that I ride from home to work. I have never really kept track of how many I see, but I’m sure that is a new record!
I have been bike commuting for almost two months now, and I’m sure the number of bicyclists on my route has at least doubled, if not tripled. I remember the first couple of days it seemed like I was lucky if I saw two or three other cyclists on the road.
All this got me thinking that it might be fun to actually start tracking that number to see if I can put some data behind the trend. So… I propose a new unit of measurement: BPM or “Bicyclists Per Mile”. Coming up with that figure is relatively simple… Count the bicyclists you see on your commute, add one for yourself, then divide that total by the number of miles in your commute.
So for today I would have 11 + 1 = 12, 12 divided by 5 = 2.4 Bicyclists Per Mile (BPM)
So, I would ask all of you who read this blog to start tracking BPM when you ride. I’m going to do this, and see how things change over the next few weeks. Is this scientific?… Are you kidding? We’re having fun here, remember?
Now go figure out the BPM for your next ride! 🙂
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bicycles, Bike Commuting, cars, commuting, crowded, gas prices, transportation, travel
I left about 10 minutes later than usual today, and I noticed about twice as many people out riding. I don’t know if it was the time difference, or what, but there were a whole lot more bikers on the road today, and most of them looked like commuters. It’s encouraging to see more people bike commuting on “my route”, which is a fairly main road. I waved at a couple of the riders that I could make eye contact with, and almost had a few seconds at a light to chat with a guy coming up behind me on a mountain bike, but before we could stop the light was green and I turned to make a quick stop at McDonald’s for a couple breakfast burritos to eat at the office, so we both sped away.
I don’t think it is just that I am more aware since I am riding now, because other people tell me they see more bikers as well. The gas prices just keep going up, so I would think that more and more people will start bike commuting. Have you noticed more bike commuters lately?
Drive My Bike 