Bus, Bike, Blog Post!!!

Say that ten times fast!!!! Now do it after you've had three or four drinks (Julie = 5, Melissa = 0. Not drinks, times we could repeat the bus/bike tongue twister after said drinks).

Welcome to the first real time blog post (coming from Lily's Seafood in Royal Oak).

We're enjoying this beautiful sunny evening of Pure Michigan weather and the fact that Melissa literally ignored actual Ryan Gosling in the streets of Detroit today in order to make the bus. Just a day in the life of 2 Women and their 4 Wheels, really.




This is us on the bus passing where Gosling was sited. See ya! Vodka and gin, we are coming for you.

We know we need to write more and more is coming, we promise!

Cheers, fans of 2W4W!

#timeforfroyo

Sub-zero green commuting

While we've been writing this blog since December of 2010, we've been pretty lucky as far as the winters go. By "lucky", I mean global warming has worked in our personal bus/biking favor (and really, that's the only positive), and we haven't had to navigate the snow much.

It was always fun to answer the question 'but, do you ladies REALLY bus/bike in the winter?'. We were always able to smugly say 'oh yes! of course' without having ever really living it.

Until the winter of 2012/2013.
Hello, sub-zero green communting!

And hello:

-Frigid winds
-Wind chills of below zero
-Black ice patches like nobody's business
-A newfound understanding of what municipalities are good about snow/ice removal and who needs, ahem, some work
-Teary bike rides (see also: "Frigid winds")
-A newfound love of my creepy face mask
-A newfound love of my heavy mountain bike and just how well it handles in the snow/ice
-Seeing just how quickly my bike tires get jammed up with snow
-Seeing just how quickly my behind gets covered with dirty snowmelt as I bike (next project: fenders!)

Alas.

I had a thought that maybe I'd have to take a break from biking this winter and try to just bus commute on the really snowy days. I would have to navigate a SMART bus transfer from my house, but always up for a good metro Detroit transit challenge, I gave it a shot.

The bus stop was about a 10 minute walk from my house, not bad. I then waited for the SMART 430 bus for TWENTY minutes (see also: "Frigid winds"), took the short ride to the Royal Oak Transit Center, and waited another 10 minutes for the Woodward 460. My total commute time, including walking from my house = 1 hour, 35 minutes. And I don't think I thawed out until lunchtime. This bus connection is good to know, but don't think this is going to be my sub-zero green communting answer. My normal commute time when I bike? 1 hour, 10 mins.

And what I realized: the underappreciated warmth that walking & biking provide as a part of this whole green commuting experience. It also takes me about a 1/2 mile of walking or biking to really warm up. That cold start is kinda brutal, but once you get rolling? Not so bad. And it's so much better than just standing in the elements. Oh and of course. Happy hour/vodka helps too. #nosurprisethere

So, please feel free to share your winter green communting stories here! What works/doesn't? How do you stay safe & warm during your bus/bike commutes?

Bike Summit: Information Station

Happy Monday, 2W4W fans!

I had the opportunity to attend the Bike Summit back in December at the Royal Oak Public Library.
A big shout-out to Tom Regan, our fearless Oakland County bike organizer, because this event was fantastic!

Standing room only.

Representatives from various local groups, companies, the county and SE MI cities sharing tons of great info.

People really rallying around this whole nonmotorized city thing = whoo hoo!

So, this is an information-sharing post highlighting ways you can kick off 2013 by supporting non-motorized transport in SE Michigan.

From Todd Scott, Detroit Greenways coordinator: 
Great news about biking in Detroit! 

Fun fact: 45 miles of bike lanes in the city as of year-end 2012, 70-80 miles total slated for 2013. NICE.

Bike share feasibility study at WSU: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/20/detroit-bike-sharing-service-share-program_n_1900951.html

Birmingham multi-modal public hearing, Thursday January 17th 8:00 pm, Baldwin library
If you live in, bike through, or walk through Birmingham you will want to attend this hearing.  A large, enthusiastic crowd at this hearing will boost efforts by city staff to build a walkable, bikeable Birmingham:
http://wearemodeshift.org/visioning-workshop-multi-modal-transportation-birmingham

Gran Fondo (Woodward bike event to be held this summer) - to be discussed at the Royal Oak City Commission Monday January 28th 7:30pm Royal Oak City Hall.
Birmingham's city commission endorsed the Gran Fondo.  Heather Carmona of the Woodward Avenue Action Association plans on speaking to the Royal Oak city commission again on Monday, January 28th.  Royal Oak has not yet decided if they will endorse this important community biking event.  Please join us at the city commission meeting at speak up during public comment to urge the city to endorse this great community biking event.

This event is causing some debate locally, here's some more background: 

http://wearemodeshift.org/gran-fondo-bike-ride-more-debate
http://royaloak.patch.com/articles/gran-fondo-big-ride-or-big-headache-for-royal-oak

Modeshift

Achille Bianche of Modeshift was one of the speakers at the summit, he wrote an article on it at the Modeshift website:
http://wearemodeshift.org/bike-summit-outlines-2013-advocacy-and-policy-efforts-woodward

Work at Beaumont?

If you work at Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital and are interested in joining their bike-to-work campaign contact Matt Faraday at faradayrn@gmail.com.

Facebook group

If you live in, bike through, or walk through Royal Oak, definitely check out the non-motorized Facebook group to stay informed on great events like this:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/116745178378727/?fref=ts

Bike Gadgets & Directions

Happy New Year!!!  In preparation for my first bike/bus commute of the year with Julie, I decided to install some bike gadgets I received for Christmas from one of my family members.


Despite feeling kind of badass riding around Detroit and the metropolitan area with my headlamp to light my adventures, I decided to install my first bike gadget, a new bike headlight.  It was pretty simple.  I started by taking the old one off with a phillips screwdriver.  An aside - I finally found where the spiders that created webs last year on my bike hung out - in the cracks of my old headlight!  Back to the story - after I took the old gadget off, I installed the new one without any tools.  It was a piece of cake and I felt super kick ass that I installed it in just minutes while also preventing future spiders from spinning their webs all over my bike in 2013.



Feeling pretty confident, I decided to install my other new exciting gadget.  It's one of those neat bike computers that calculates your distance, speed, time, and who knows what.  Well, it was neat until I went to use it.  Do you see the directions in the picture?  Unfortunately, they are not well written and I was lost within minutes.  Actually, the only thing that seemed to work was that the computer now kept time, which meant it was keeping track of how long it took me to figure out the directions.  AHHH!!!  The pressure!  After an hour and twenty-one minutes, I gave up and decided to write this blog.  The good news is that I didn't completely give up.  The better news is that I went to the manufacturer's website and found a very easy video to follow that has directions on how to install this gadget (thank goodness)!  In this day and age, they should have just saved the paper and wrote that on the box.  Hopefully, I can wake up early enough to install it in the morning before the big bike/bus commute of 2013!


Lastly - just out of curiosity - if you have a bike computer, how many miles do you put on your bike a year?  I'm not talking about the miles from biking on a trail for fun - I'm talking about commuting.  I ask because I want to set a goal for 2013.

Cheers to new bike gadgets, more bike/bus adventures in 2013, and a regional transit authority (that hopefully works)!

People of the bus/city: so much amazing

I had the total fantastic opportunity to bus/bike back-to-back Thursday and Friday last week. After three weeks of work travel-holiday-work travel, I was having some serious bus/bike withdrawal. Thursday was basically an insane mix of random so let me summarize the best I can. 

At the SMART bus stop, 8:10am: A woman that works at the salon right near my usual bus stop unlocks the door to say hi and to tell me she's glad I'm ok as she hasn't seen me at the bus stop in awhile. Wow.

SB 460, 8:25am: a man drinks 2 five-hour-energy drinks + an iced tea in about 1 minute. Caffeine shots + a chaser? Let's get this party started! 

SB 460, 8:35am: the following is seen in front of the DIA: 

1. A waving Santa
2. A small card table with a bunch of stuff on it
3. A police car, lights on, on the sidewalk next to the table

Um, the holidays have arrived!? 

SB 460, 8:50am: five-hour energy man stands up, spends what feels like 10 minutes fumbling with this pants and maybe puts on a belt?

Post-work, I enjoy a few cocktails with my coworker and catch the northbound 475 back up Woodward. As my stop gets closer, I move towards the front of the bus and who is there? BIG HAT, PLASTIC BAG MAN. The one that hands out sandwiches to people when he gets off the bus! I see him all the time, no matter what bus or schedule I'm running, but we've never spoken.

This guy to me is like bus-celebrity. And how it seems he lives his life? Love him. 

He turns to me and "Hi, I see you on the bus all the time. What's your name? I'm Alan. Do you have far to go? No? That's good. It's cold out there. Be safe and see you next time." 

As he steps off the bus, yes with his big hat and a few plastic bags, I have this distinct feeling that I'm truly a bus-regular. I'm so used to looking at my bus/biking through the eyes of this blog and material for it - I forget that bus/bike commuting is just kind of a norm for me now. Talking to this bus-saint Alan has me thinking all sorts of stuff. Would I still bus/bike if I didn't have the blog? Do I do weird things on the bus that someone is blogging about?! 

Bus-existentialism. 
Too much wine. 
It's time to get home.

But does the story end here? Alas, the best is yet to come. 

I have about 1/4 of a mile left on my bike commute. Smooth sailing down this hill right by by my place and I notice man standing right in the middle of the sidewalk near the end of the hill. I get closer and I see he's holding a bag of Doritos and one of the chips up towards the sky - just kind of staring at it. I literally have to stop completely as he's blocking my way. He finally notices me, yells "OH MY GOD I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT YOU WERE THAT LIGHT", and jumps into the grass.  

One day. All of this happened in ONE DAY. 

I've missed you, people of the bus/city. Three weeks was too long for us to be apart! 

This is why I'll never go into politics.

"Transit authority bill stalls after House Dems withhold votes over right-to-work"

The headline from this article: http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20121205/NEWS/121209923/transit-authority-bill-stalls-after-house-dems-withhold-votes-over-right-to-work

What I really want to write: &$%#&#(*$&#(#&@#%#@@#

What I will write instead:  it's so beyond sad to me that politics has come to this. And it comes from both sides. Super important legislation that will MOVE THIS AREA FORWARD is swept aside due political games. And has to be used as a bargaining chip. 

If I were in the House as a Democrat (let's just say), I don't know if I'd be physically able to vote "no" on the Regional Transit Authority. Is democracy not voting as your constituents - the people that elected you - would vote? Aren't you called a "representative" for a reason? 

Super idealistic? Totally. Maybe I don't "understand" politics. But voting with my heart/my constituents hearts on the bill at hand without playing these types of games? C'mon people. 

We should all be embarrassed that our political system supports and encourages this kind of behavior. And as a side note - "this behavior" also includes bringing up something like "Right to Work" during a lame duck session after previously stating it wasn't a priority for your administration, Gov. Snyder. 

So until we get this *all* figured out - I'll just continue to watch the efficiency of the DDOT Woodward 53 and the SMART 450 leapfrog all over Woodward as we all watch the Regional Transit Authority fade away in the distance. We've been waiting 30+ years for this, so what's another legislative session? 

Bus romance turned......therapy session?

Bus romance has lately been few & far between but ALAS. The temps are dropping and people are looking to hunker down for the winter. What can you do? 

I am on the bus after downing a very quick post-work cocktail. A friend calls and while I'm talking in that loud whisper that everyone knows is louder than actually talking (one drink, people. and I do apologize, fellow bus riders), this man gets on the bus near the DIA. With a large garbage bag of pop cans - wearing a piano tie and a Bill Cosby sweater (YES). This is most definitely not our first meeting - he's actually tried to chat with me twice before - usually right before I get off the bus. So, he sits in the seat across from me and yells 'HELLO MA'AM'. I'm still on the phone but the second I finish my conversation - he says hello again. The conversation goes like this:

Hello, I'm Derek. What's your name? I'm just getting off work - I have a job with DIA security. Do you have a job? Do you have a degree? Awesome. I'm at OCC working to finish my degree in communications. You know - I've seen you around Royal Oak a lot. Do you live there? I live in Troy. ALONE. Do you live alone? (mini-white-lie alert) Oh, you live with your boyfriend. So is it serious? He's a lucky guy. Is he good to you? He better be. 

Best pick-up line ever, by the way: I live alone. YOU live alone. What else do you need?

<conversation shift>

My ex-girlfriend MELISSA (those trifling Melissas!) - she's constantly jerking me around. Calling me when she needs money. She has this best friend - Aaron. She says he's gay but I've seen the pictures. Pictures of them making out all over Facebook. We were together two years. TWO YEARS. She takes advantage of my kindness and generosity and I'm just getting sick of it. Last Christmas, she actually asked me to buy Aaron's gifts. As I'm buying them - we were still together you see - I thought - WHY am I do this? And then this year - she showed up at my birthday party. And asked me for MONEY. 

I'm just listening - this poor soul. I tell him he's better off without her - he can do better. That he deserves someone that appreciates him. This other woman (who, by the way, last week - handed out her phone number to a fellow bus rider. BUS ROMANCE EVERYWHERE) starts chiming in and saying some similar things. That he should just think it through - not to be blinded by love. He knows that Melissa and this Aaron character are actually together. 

As we are all gathering our things to get off the bus - Derek says he feels better. Just needed to get that out and get some validation. 

This therapy session - well worth the $2 bus fare.