Big Daddy Kane says pimpin' ain't easy, and while I have no experiences to refute this claim, I can say that being an Intermodal Man of Mystery certainly is no cakewalk either. Careful planning of what to wear for weather, bike/bus/train/all?, helmet head, lycra over Levis.... The list is endless, but if you want to save the planet from the Dr. Evils out there, one must make sacrifices.
Intermodal is the practice of utilizing multiple forms of transportation to get to where you are going. I suppose walking to the car out front, driving to work alone, then walking from the parking lot to the office could be technically considered multiple forms of transportation, but it seems to fly in the face of reality and gut the spirit of the word. Sort of like believing waterboarding isn't torture because you only feel like you are drowning. Typically you'd use a bike and train, or bus and bike or something like that (for intermodal transportation, not waterboarding.)
The mystery part comes in where coworkers and motorists wonder if you've lost your mind. The thought that a person who can easily afford any decent sort of a car would ride a bike and/or bus to work doesn't compute for most people (get it? Afford, compute?). Oh sure, on sunny warm days maybe, but when it's cold? When it's raining? Hard? I say revel in your mysteriousness. Don't let on how much you eat or how much beer you drink. Don't be obvious that instead of sitting in a gym at night you are sitting in your daughter's bed reading The Cat in the Hat to her. No need to explain why you are considering yet another bike purchase. Just smile and be cheery when you get to work (especially in days of adverse weather.) That alone will generate interest in bicycle commuting. Rising fuel prices will start the gears turning (so to speak) of how it could work for them. Unfortunately I haven't figured out what will push most people over the edge, though. To me, that's the mystery.
Speaking of mystery, here is another Intermodal Man of Mystery, Clarence the Traffic Calming Wizard. Check out what NYC is doing for cyclists. What, are Berkeley and NYC competing for top honors of craziness? I just hope I don't find out the wizard's gay, because that would be so, uh...oh wait, I couldn't care less about things that don't matter. Psst, note to haters: Harry Potter is fiction.
4 Important Comment(s):
Condering Clarence and the bike lane; great idea and well documented, but I can see so many potential issues with this.
But that said, my attitude is really hypocritical; this is exactly what I/we keep clamoring about. So, to criticize an effort such as this seems unproductive.
Therefore, I will shutdown the logic center that says the implimentation of this is impractical just about everywhere and instead, open up the emotional center that loves seeing it happen.
Half full, not half empty, right?
Like the bike boulevards in Berkeley, you only need select streets in NYC to accommodate cyclists. I'm guessing that's the plan.
Of course this kind of thing would probably never work in your area, but that just means you need a different sort of solution.
Word. I love being mysterious. We ride our bikes every where now and I don't think any of our neighbors/friends/family know what to think of us. Are they destitute? Should we loan them some money? Should we offer them a ride? Just smile and keep everyone guessing.
the other day i drove my car around town on some errands for half an afternoon, mostly just so it wouldn't just sit there and rot.
i couldn't wait to get it back into the driveway. the traffic was so stressful, the other drivers so unpredictable. people cutting me off, no signaling, sudden stupid moves.
i'd forgotten what it was like to deal with all that.
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