Wow, thanks for all the helpful hints. The
baby-wipes idea was especially good, since my office doesn't
have showers yet. <br><br>I just bought a blackburn
rack like the one your ladyfriend uses, but I don't
think it's big enough to hold a backpack... Does she
use the cords that come with it, or did she get
additional bungies? I may return it for the metal baskets...
I dunno yet.<br><br>One thing: LA has quite an
extensive system of safer biking routes (dunno if
blkswimmer was aware of that). All I did was call the
commuter hotline and they sent me some free maps showing
me the safest cycling routes, some even with bike
paths or bike lanes. <br><br>I did a trial run last
weekend following the map's suggestions. I got off track
once and very quickly learned the advantages of the
map's route! <br><br>The ride is only 4.8 miles each
way (or so my cycle computer tells me). It took me
1/2 hour there, 45 mins back due to a slight uphill
grade.

Welcome aboard Nkmd!!!  <br><br>Forgot to say that in other post.  This is a
<br>good place to share your experiences in alternative
transportation.<br><br>Karl

A lady friend of mine who bicycle commutes here
<br>in the St. Louis area has a rear rack. She bungies
her daypack to her Blackburn rear rack.<br>This seems
to work well for her.<br><br>I preferred to use
cheap saddlebags (no longer<br>found at discount
stores) & a Pletcher style<br>rack (with the spring
loaded rat trap thing).<br>This allowed me to quickly
take bags on & off.<br>No straps to mess with--the
spring holds the<br>the one piece bags
on.<br><br>Unfortunately the only one piece bag that I now<br>know of is
the Bike Nashbar "Day-Tripper". It <br>is a bit too
small.<br><br>Other hints.... Start easy with one or two days<br>a
week. Check your route out on weekends first.<br>Do use
the survival tips posted earlier on this<br>site.
Hopefully you have shower/locker facilities<br>that you can
use. If not baby wipe-type things<br>can be used for
post-ride cleanup. Main thing is<br>just start doing
it--while remaining very alert.<br>After you find a good
route and become familiar<br>with it you will find the
spots where the worst <br>of the idiot drivers are
commonly found.<br><br>I salute you Natalie!!<br><br>Karl

If there are any female cyclists, I'd love to hear any "helmet hair" tips you
might have...<br><br>thanks,<br>.n.

Hi. I am preparing to start commuting by bicycle
in the Los Angeles area (from Burbank to Glendale).
I'd love to have hear any tips, hints, etc. you
veterans have to offer. <br><br>Right now I'm trying to
find some sort of basket or something to put on my
bike so I don't have to get my backpack all sweaty.
Any
recommendations?<br><br>Thanks,<br>-Natalie<br><br>PS: Gregory, don't give up on
our fair city. I think
you underestimate Los Angeles. Where else would be a
better place to initiate change and make a positive
difference by example? Besides, San Francisco is all up
steep hills (quads, anyone?). :-)

Hey I am glad that you have not forgotten the
club. I can understand when other things come up. By
the way, I lived in Sydney and Canberra for over a
year back when Bob Hawke was PM and Paul Keating was
Treasurer. I never got the chance to hit your neck of the
woods. Anyway, I will try to add more to the
club.<br><br>Gregory

I thank you for starting club. While it has
not<br> completely taken world by storm it gets some
hits<br> including me (happycycler)!<br><br> I would
suggest leaving the club where it is &<br> including a
link to your new site. You have a<br> good name for
the club and it will continue to<br> attract the
occasional urban cyclist. The link<br> to your new site will
drive some traffic to your<br> site where you will be
concentrating your urban<br> cycling advocacy.<br><br> I feel
that getting traffic to a site is very<br>
desirable--& this club is a natural link to the<br> part of
your site that deals with Urban Cycling<br> issues. I
think that it takes a while to get a<br> site into
"search engines" and such--unless you<br> have a bunch of
money to spend. This club has<br> been around for a
good while now and has probably<br> been "found" by
some "search engines". It would<br> be a shame to
completely lose that!!<br><br> Thank you,<br> happycycler

Each month (on last Fri.) Metropolis St. Louis
has<br>an Urban Bicycle Ride to raise awareness.
They<br>attempt to get media involvement. In August we<br>had a
local TV station taking film. For Sept. a<br>local
weekly newspaper did a story with a color<br>photo on
their Wed. front page. I scanned in most<br>of the
story & put it on my Yahoo! briefcase. <br>You can see
it @ link
below:<br><br><a href=http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/kkleen9
target=new>http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/kkleen9</a><br><br>They also try to
attract local politions. Aug.<br>saw
some St. Louis City Hall beauracrats. This<br>month
the Pres. of Alderman (& Mayor candidate)<br>visited
with us.

I am the neglectful sod who started this club.
I'm sorry I haven't been more attentive, but it took
a long time to take off & then I got my own
computer on line & a fixed e-mail address & yada, yada,
yada, I forgot you guys.<br>Anyway, it seems there has
been a bit going on & I dont have time right now, but
I'd like to talk with you all. So, please get in
touch with me at benn@... (I know, bloody
Aussies).<br>In the mean time, here is a letter I tried to send
back to blkswimmer, but it didn't accept it.<br><br>Hi
Gregory,<br><br>Thanks for the e-mail. As you can probably see
from<br>the message list on the club, you are one of only
a<br>few people to post something. I kind of forgot
about<br>it actually, which is really bad & something I
really<br>hate when other people do it.<br>Thats not to say that
I've lost interest in bicycle<br>advocacy. In fact,
since I started the club I have<br>become more
involved.<br>What has happened is that I got my own computer, got
a<br>provider & then started to discover all the other
bike<br>sites, etc. that are around. I then got a
bit<br>dispondent about the Urban Cycling Movement club.<br>In the
mean time, I have started work on my own web<br>site,
which I was planning to use for bike advocacy
as<br>well as many other environmental & social
issues.<br>However, a lack of time & a distinct lack of
internet<br>experience has hampered this.<br>Right now, I getting to a
position (fingures crossed)<br>where I can spend a bit
more time on my site. So, I<br>might indeed shut down
the club, because I hate<br>leaving dead space on the
net. It seems kind of over<br>indulgent or something &
reaks of apathy.<br>If you would like, you can take it
over, although I<br>dont know how it would be done.
But, what might be<br>better, is if you & I & possibly
others, could join<br>forces to work on something
else.<br>Please let me know what you think.<br>You can contact me
on my main e-mail which is
<br>benn@...<br><br>Hope to here from you,<br><br>Ben North

Probably don't work for everyone but I use
Brooks<br>Leather Saddle. They are fairly expensive, sometimes hard
to find and do require "breaking in" but I prefer a
saddle that (finally) conforms<br>to me rather that me
needing to conform to it.<br><br>My saddle preference
shows my age and I know many<br>riders who have found
"modern" saddles that work<br>for them--I do not know
which are best tho. (Usually the "thing" that initially
comes on the bike is the worst posible solution
tho.)<br><br>Colorado Cyclist and Preformance Elite have both<br>sold
the Brooks via mail order/web in the past.<br>Harris
Bicycle (see link I added to our club list)<br>also
claims to have some Brooks saddles.

I have been riding a lot now and really feel it in the butt.  What are the best
bike seats.

I would guess that cyclists are too busy
riding<br>bikes to spend a lot of time getting involved
in<br>clubs--real or cyber. I like what you are doing<br>here tho.
& appreciate that you are taking time<br>from
riding to share w/ us.<br><br>I added a couple of links
to the club's links. I<br>may add a few more of the
cycling links that I<br>find useful--unless I hear a lot
of opposition<br>from our leader or other members

I was really beginning to wonder if I should quit this group.  Each cycling
group I have joined is quiet.  Glad to have another cycler here.

#1. NEVER ASSUME THAT PEOPLE SEE YOU. They
usually do not!<br><br>While riding in the streets with
traffic, remember that people can become so focused on
everything else, they may not see you. You must get use to
looking at everything at once. Items to look out for: POT
HOLES, PARKED CARS PULLING OUT, CARS CHANGING LANES,
BUSES, DOGS, ETC.

Thanx for initiating this club!!  It is worth while.  Keep up the good
work!!!<br><br>Karl

Hello -- small group; hope the quality of
members<br>overides shortage of quanity!!<br><br>I did a fairly
regular commute (4 mi./one way) for<br>about 20-25 yrs.
until retirement a couple of years ago. Sill use a bike
for short errands &<br>do some recreational cycling
with local Hostelling<br>International
group.<br><br>If I had a vision for this club... It might be
to<br>educate any non-cyclist that we can reach. Also<br>to
share experience about how to surrive & thrive<br>as
an"Urban Cyclist".

I decided to ride my bike instead of taking the
bus from my home to hollywood. This is about a 7+
mile ride. It actually was not bad. The only problem
was the cars and REFUSE to see you and the buses that
produce tons of polution. I am more certain that cycling
can be a viable alternative to driving even in Los
Angeles. I could have gotten there faster if it weren't
for the cars

I wish the founder would say something.  We all can work to promote this club
and cycling.  <br><br>I am willing

I absolutely agree with you about this club being
a potentially important voice for the cycling
community. The founder of the club should join us in
spreading the word about the mission. Thanks for all the
great links and info Greg!

I feel this club can be a great opportunity to promote biking as a sport, hobby
and a mode of transport.  what is the vision of this club and what is the plan
to get the ball rolling?

<a href=http://www.transalt.org/blueprint/contents.html
target=new>http://www.transalt.org/blueprint/contents.html</a>

<a href=http://www.bikelink.com/law_safety.htm
target=new>http://www.bikelink.com/law_safety.htm</a>

I wish people would start the process of
thinking! How could someone spend $35,000 and up for a car
that sits on the freeway for hours moving at a slow
pace, when they can spend $30 to $150 on a bike and
ride where they need to go. The more I ride the more I
can see not buying another car. Every now and then I
think about getting a car, especially when it rains,
but I am falling more in love with biking. I may get
a motorcycle again. That is better on gas and is a
good companion to a cycle. Anyway, I wish one city
would stop listening to the automotive, gas and oil
industries and start to promote the healthy lifestyles
biking can offer.<br><br>Now let me get off of the
pulpit and sit down.<br><br>Thanks

I've had no experience riding there (San Fran). I
would love to have one city where the car was banned.
Now Baltimore, MD was more bike friendly due in part
to its size you can ride all over the city in no
time. NY is not friendly at all to bikes. You must have
30 eyes to handle NY. LA sucks, the streets are so
full of pot holes it is easy to fall over. Stray dogs
have a field day chasing you.

I've read that The Bay area (San Fran) is suppose
to be alot more bicycle friendly. I've often
wondered how true that really is. Have you had any
experience bike riding in that area? Wouldn't it be nice if
there were just one large urban city that was
completely car less? I'd move as fast as I could!

Los Angeles is not known for having the best
roads and bike trails. Even more important the cars do
not seem to care about cyclists. To them we are in
the way. To be honest with you depending where you
are it is not the safest thing to do by riding a
bike. Los Angeles is a car city and fight the change.
The weather is not too bad. For the most part it has
been pretty good. The major problem is the smog and
polution. <br><br>I am sincerely considering leaving LA
after I finish school and move to a cleaner city.

Gregory, You are absolutely spot on with your
views of the benefits of cycling. It is truly time for
a change in American transportation, but the vested
interests in the petro-chemical industries (poisoners for
short) don't like the thought of losing their big
mansions, jets, and Rolls. They have good reason to be
frightened! It is truly going to be up to people like you and
I to lead the revolution by example. We need to
show people by our very acts that bicycling is a
clean, healthy and cost effective alternative form of
transportation. Now, I am very curious to know what kind of
conditions you encounter while bike riding in LA and it's
surrounding suburbia? #1 question, is it safe? How's the
weather? Do you have good bike lanes/sidewalks or trails?
Please let us know. Thanks!

1. Stronger immune system.<br>2. Fat reduction
(with proper diets)<br>3. Stronger lung
capacities.<br>4. Sexier looking bodies.<br>5. Cleaner air.<br>6.
Less wear and tear of roads.<br>7. No worries about
gas prices.<br>8. No more car notes<br>9. No more car
insurance<br>10. Get the chance to really see your
communities<br><br>There are many more benefits to cycling. One way to
promote cycling is to start your own cycling clubs or
join already established ones.

I believe there is a big fight to keep things the
way they are. Automotive industries do not want to
see people leaving their cars behind. I live in Los
Angeles. The traffic is a mess, yet the city refuses to
really put money into their buses. Because LA is so darn
large driving seems to be the only answer. Yet I
believe this club is a must.<br><br>We need to promote
the MANY benefits both to the body and the
environment. Cycling is an answer. I got rid of my car and use
the bus and bike.

This topic (Urban Cycling and Sustainable
Transportation) I believe will become even more important in the
coming years as our citizens are becoming more and more
fed-up with the daily gridlock, urban sprawl, and
environmental damage that the automobile has caused over the
last 100 years!! So, now is the time to revive this
club and to start getting some productive dialogue
going on this topic. I look forward to reading your
comments!