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Bumper Stickers and Road Rage

Dip A Hippie bumper sticker may signal aggressive driverYou can tell it’s springtime back home in MO. The Speak Out column (a repository of ramblings for people who can’t be bothered to write a letter to the editor) in The Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian contained one of the annual rants: “I AM frustrated by bicyclists who use the middle of a road lane. It blocks traffic. Do us a favor. At least ride closer to the edge or bike somewhere else.”

When I sat down for my coffee and cereal, my eye was drawn to a Washington Post story picked up by The Palm Beach Post. Follow the link to see the whole story. It’s worth reading. I’ll steal key parts of it below to place the Speak Out comment in a kind of perspective.

The gist of it was that “drivers of cars with bumper stickers, window decals, personalized license plates and other “territorial markers” not only get mad when someone cuts in their lane or is slow to respond to a changed traffic light, but they are far more likely than those who do not personalize their cars to use their vehicles to express rage — by honking, tailgating and other aggressive behavior.”

More Markers, More Aggression

“The more markers a car has, the more aggressively the person tends to drive when provoked,” Szlemko said. “Just the presence of territory markers predicts the tendency to be an aggressive driver.”

The key to the phenomenon apparently lies in the idea of territoriality. Drivers with road rage tend to think of public streets and highways as “my street” and “my lane” — in other words, they think they “own the road.”

Why would bumper stickers predict which people are likely to view public roadways as private property?

Social scientists such as Szlemko say that people carry around three kinds of territorial spaces in their heads. One is personal territory — like a home, or a bedroom. The second kind involves space that is temporarily yours — an office cubicle or a gym locker. The third kind is public territory: park benches, walking trails — and roads.

Drivers are in public AND private territory

Unlike any environment our evolutionary ancestors might have confronted, driving a car simultaneously places people in both private territory — their cars — and public territory — the road. Drivers who personalize their cars with bumper stickers and other markers of private territory, the researchers argue, forget when they are on the road that they are in public territory because the immediate cues surrounding them tell them that they are in a deeply private space.

“If you are in a vehicle that you identify as a primary territory, you would defend that against other people whom you perceive as being disrespectful of your space,” Bell added. “What you ignore is that you are on a public roadway — you lose sight of the fact you are in a public area and you don’t own the road.”

It doesn’t matter what the sign says

Oh, and, by the way, it doesn’t matter whether the bumper sticker is a warm and fuzzy “Have a Nice Day” or in-your-face like the one above I shot in the 70s in central Florida. They both feed your sense of territory.

Hmm, now that I think of it, I have a Florida Share the Road license tag on my car.

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Insulated Water Bottles vs. Uninsulated (BPA?)

Today, my cycling friends, I’ll be discussing the difference between insulated water bottles and uninsulated water bottles. I’ve done extensive testing and am ready to present my results.

If you’re the lazy type, look at the pretty chart (shamelessly borrowed) below and then buy a BPA-free 24-ounce Polar Bottle.

Why do you need cold water? Or water at all?

Insulated versus Uninsulated Water BottlesIt is hot.

I realize that South Florida hot isn’t the same as Arizona hot or Africa hot but it is still pretty darn hot. Add in our world famous, not available in stores, humidity and bike riding is punishing. Keeping well hydrated is absolutely necessary, not just to maintain performance but for survival.

With an uninsulated bottle, water reaches air temperature in less than half an hour on my bike.

I used to ride with an iced-up Camelbak and there was usually still ice in the bag four or five hours later. Yummy! It worked great but I never liked the heavy weight and the massive reduction of air flow across my back.

Freeze Water Bottles Overnight

For the last two years, I have been freezing my water bottles overnight 3/4 full then putting cold water on top right before I leave the house. A large, solid chunk of ice kept the bottle cold about twice as long as did ice cubes.

Even then, that just means cool water for an hour.

My normal Saturday morning group ride is 31 miles and we are out there for an hour and a half. Not even to the turn around point, my water is 85 degrees. Yeah, it’ll keep you hydrated but it is not at a temperature which would encourage you to drink.

You want me to spend how much on a water bottle?!?!

Over the years, I have amassed quite a collection of free water bottles…

Water Bottles of all Shapes, Sizes and Materials

Just about every event I do, there’s a free water bottle available. I bet I have 20 of them in the garage. The low end bottles have tops that sometime leak. The higher end bottles are acceptable in every way shape or form with the exception that they don’t keep the water cool.

Did I mention they are free? Until a couple weeks ago, I had never actually paid for a water bottle. It seems almost seedy, maybe reckless, to pay for a water bottle. It would be as though I were lighting my BBQ grill with $10 bills.

Hello, my name is Matt and I paid about $10 for an insulated water bottle.

So, do insulated water bottles really work?

Continue reading “Insulated Water Bottles vs. Uninsulated (BPA?)”

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Garmin Nuvi 760 GPS

Garmin Nuvi 760 GPS - Front ViewOK, I guess I have to acknowledge that it’s not a bike computer. It’s a little on the big side and it’s not water resistant. On the other hand, I would never have bought the Garmin nüvi 760 if I hadn’t been exposed to GPS technology through cycling.

I got a Garmin Legend shortly after my kid bought one for cycling and auto use. Since he’s a ham radio operator, he hooked it to send position reports using APRS . His mother was a bit freaked out when she got nearly live reports about how fast he was driving. And then, when it was linked to a satellite photo, she couldn’t figure out why she couldn’t see his car…. She understands the technology now.

Anyway, the Legend opened up a whole new world. Now I was able to plot my rides in advance and not have to worry about paper maps and cue sheets. If I was confused and missed a turn, the GPS would help me find the best way to rejoin the route without backtracking. Best of all, I was now able to record exactly what I did on the ride: here’s where I stopped to rest, here’s where I helped a turtle cross the road (hey, I’m so slow that helping turtles is a form of professional courtesy)… Continue reading “Garmin Nuvi 760 GPS”

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When the 2001 Bianchi Talladega was Brand New

The Bianchi Talladega was the coolest bike I had ever owned, well with the exception of the Sears Spyder that I had early on. That bike ruled the neighborhood when I was on it.

Bananna Seat Bicycle -- The Spider

But back to the Bianchi. I purchased the bike and got a good deal on it because I knew someone who knew someone at the bike store. Actually, the someone at the bike store I think was more interested in the someone I knew which really made me a middleman. So I got a great bike at a wonderful price.

First Trip: First Dent

I had the bike for less than a month and tore it down and packed it up to be shipped to West Palm Beach, FL on the same flight that I was on to do a ride with Ken and Wally and Jan Norris. The ride was from someplace (I’ve forgotten because of a head injury on the same bike, but that comes later on…) to Key West, FL.Got a Flat, Walking Across the Seven Mile Bridge

I unpacked the bike from the Thule Round Trip Bike Travel Case (that a certain someone from the bike store had loaned someone I knew so that I could ship my new bike safely) and low and behold something as heavy as an anvil had been sitting on the case all the way from St. Louis, MO to West Palm Beach, Fl because there was a noticeable dent in the bike frame. Grrrrrr.

The ride to Key West, Fl was wonderful. Except for the ride across the 7-mile bridge where I picked up some broken glass and got a flat. The tire was ruined, not just the tube. Fortunately, we had our very own SAG. Unfortunately, the SAG was not on the same bridge as I was. So we took the front tire off and someone else (neither of the before mentioned) rode ahead with my tire to meet the SAG in order to get to a bike shop before it closed to purchase a new tire and tube. That left me with having to hoof my new bike across the bridge, a long way across the bridge. Did I mention it was a 7-mile bridge?

First Trip: First Victory Hoist

First Bicycle Ride Victory HoistThe rest of the ride was perfect once the bike was back together. It was on that ride that I started hoisting the Bianchi over my head to document each ride.

Here is the first time that the Bianchi was “celebrated” after a ride. It is always good when there is water on a ride and I can ride down to the water’s edge, get off and wade into the water and hold the bike up in the air. People look at me like I am a lemming heading out to my own demise when I do it. Silly people, I suspect they don’t ride a bike.

The Bianchi with it’s strong yet light frame endured a lot in the years that I owned it (with the exception of the dent from the airline). In fact it proved itself to be quite the iron horse on one occasion. Technically it is a stainless steel horse with a mixture of Reynolds 631/525 aluminum and carbon fiber materials. Nonetheless it proved itself to be a formidable opponent when pressed into service.

I Had This Accident…

Where I Had The AccidentI was riding on some of the Ozark Mountain hills in Jefferson, MO on the Bianchi years ago while training for a ride that I was going to do in Mountains of Tennessee later on. I was riding alone out on some obscure hills when I had my first accident on the bike.

Two dogs came out of a country lane and while I was used to dogs nipping at the pedals of my bike, I was not prepared for what they did.

They ran right in front of my bike.

We, of course, collided and I was thrown over the handlebars. I suffered a concussion (yes, I was wearing a helmet) and that has left me with some precise short-term memory loss that continues today. The Bianchi on the other hand came through like a champ. A few scratches on the brake hoods was all that it suffered, amazingly because I was flying down a hill when I hit the two dogs. Here is a photo of the road I was going down.

Bad Dog bike jersey after hitting the road hardAnd here is what the back of my Bad Dog jersey looked like after hitting the road. Note the abrasion above the “A”.

The bruises I suffered are not suitable for posting here.

Best Miles Ever

Some of the best miles I have ridden were on this Bianchi Talladega.The miles on the Bianchi that Matt mentioned were some of the best that I have ever ridden. And here are some photos that I hope tell the story of how much fun this bike was to ride.

The TURBOSPOKE ™

Detailed view of the TurboSpoke mounted on the Bianchi.
Ken was nice enough to send me a unique gift that made the Bianchi popular for a 100-mile ride one day.

It was called the TURBOSPOKE and it was a glorified baseball card in the spokes noisemaker. It sounded great for the first 2 miles of the ride. But after the third mile it was just too much for me and all the other riders that I rode past. Oh sure there were lots of jokes and it was a novelty that provided me with a lot of fun, in addition to never having to say “on your left” when I rode up on anyone. They could hear me coming from quite a distance and did not need any other warning. Riders accused me of having an engine on my bike at first (it was that noisy), but I would just tell them that it was a two-stroke engine that was powering it.

The second day of 100 miles, my group asked that I not use the TURBOSPOKE; it was driving them crazy. Enough was enough and although I kept the TURBOSPOKE on, I took out the plastic card that made the noise for the second day 100-mile ride.

I have hoisted the bike in Armstrong

Three States, Three Mountains

I have hoisted it at the top of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN at the Three-state Three-Mountain ride each year (except this year when I had a new bike).
Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN - My First Year on the Ride
First year.
Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN - Part of the Three State, Three Mountain RideSecond year.

Tunica, Mississippi

Mile 90 in a cotton field in Tunica, MississippiI have stood in cotton fields at mile 90 of a ride in Tunica, Mississippi.

Giant Ketchup Water Tower

Ketchup Bottle Water Tower in IllinoisI hoisted it high in front of the Ketchup Bottle water tower over in Illinois.

Bianchi's Distinctive Paint Job

The paint job really stands out in a crowd of bicycles.One of the best things about this Bianchi is how easy it is to find in a large group of bikes. The distinctive paint job is the equivalent of tying a ribbon to your car antenna.

Cycling with Lance Armstrong
Bad Dog Mark Steinhoff: 2005 Ride for the Roses, Austin, TXNot sure about the 25,000 miles that Matt said I personally put on the bike, but it always rode well (love the granny gear in that triple ring) and when I rode in the 2005 Ride for the Roses in Austin, TX it cut through the same hills that Lance rode on when he was training and THAT day as well without a whimper.
Riding with Lance Armstrong in Texas in 2005In fact, here is a photo of me and Lance riding together that day. Lance is the guy on the left of me who is listening intently to my story about hitting the two dogs…and saying to me, “that’s one crazy ride dude.”
Here I am explaining to Lance Armstrong about my dog toubles.Okay, so maybe I was added into that photo with the help of Photoshop, but I was there on the Bianchi that same day as Lance, I just didn’t raise $15,000.00 in order to have the pleasure of riding with Lance at the front of the pack.

Climbing Tower Rock
climbing down the bank to the Mississippi RiverWhich brings me to maybe the best Bianchi photos yet. The day Ken and I decided to climb Tower Rock, which sits in the middle of the Mississippi River. Normally there is river water around it all the time, but this particular year the level dropped and so we headed up there to do something we might only have a once in a lifetime chance of doing. Climbing Tower Rock. And why not up the ante a bit and take the Bianchi along as well?
near vertical climb up Tower Rock
at the top of Tower Rock
victory on Tower Rock

So passing the Bianchi torch to Matt also means passing on the “Hoisting of the Bianchi” as well. I guess I should have gotten that in writing when we were negotiating the price…

–Mark

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2001 Bianchi Talladega — My New, Used Bike

Before: 1998 Trek 7300 Urban/Bike Path BikeMy new, used 2001 Bianchi Talladega is an awesome bike and a huge step up from my frankensteined Trek 7300.

First, a few words about the Trek 7300. I bought it in 1998 shortly after moving to Orlando. I didn't know anyone in town and figured that with an empty social calendar I could get some exercise. I stopped by the local bike shop (Bike Works, MetroWest location) and told them what I wanted — a low-end road bike. When they told me that would cost $800, I asked them what they had for $500. That brought me to the Trek 7300. I swapped out the straight bars for drop bars and rode it for the next ten years. After eight years, the head tube cracked and Trek replaced the frame (under warranty) with a Trek 7700 frame. I even managed to do a century on the bike.

Still, it was a beast of a bike. Naked, it weighed in at 22 pounds. Add in the lights, rack, generator hub, ham radio, MP3 player with handlebar-mounted speakers and whatnot and it must be 40 pounds. My fault, I know. Still, heavy and slow. It was no road bike.

I had never seriously considered upgrading since all the bikes I lusted after were more than $2,000 and I really had no excuse to spend money on a bike that I rode ostensibly for exercise.

2001 Bianchi Talladega Road Bike

That was, until my (now favorite) Uncle Mark borrowed a full carbon bike for the Tour of Rural Southern Vistas (TOSRV). After tearing up the road on a bike that was lighter than air, he was hooked. Not too long after he got home, he bought a 2008 Trek Madone 5.5. Good for him and better for me. The fine Italian road bike on which he had put more than 25,000 miles, a 2001 Bianchi Talladega, was put out to pasture. (Read about Mark's Bike in his own words.)This is Matt with the box in which his bike arrived.

After weeks of negotiation, begging, whining and small unmarked bills, Uncle Mark put the bike in a box and it showed up at my office. Continue reading “2001 Bianchi Talladega — My New, Used Bike”