We Have a Winner

The much blogged about yet scarcely played "Pin the Tail on My Commute" game has ended, and we have a winner. I am relieved that I can walk down the street and hand deliver the prize to Brenna. It always feels wrong to pay more in postage than the shipped item is worth.

In any event, Brent supplied the correct answer, and Vodka Alley is located right before the crossing the 5th Street bridge over I-35W (heading into downtown) and is so named due to the high number of empty vodka bottles that "decorate" the landscape. From every indication, the locale appears to be a night time gathering place for young men in the neighborhood.

Final map with answer

Wrench In My Commute

First things first: The deadline to play Pin the Tail on My Commute is this Friday, September 24. At that point, the winner will be crowned, Dennis Green style. There are only two guesses so far, so do the math and you can probably see that you have a good shot at winning.

Now to the wrench...



I picked this up as I waited for the stop light on 5th Street and 11th Avenue, right across from the Dome. This being my first experience with a literal wrench in my commute, I have to say it's a much welcome occurrence as compared to the figurative wrenches I've encountered. Unfortunately figurative wrenches outpace their literal counterparts 2 to 1. (See Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2) And if you remember, the "figurative" wrench in Exhibit 2 was actually a literal screwdriver.

Week 95 Summary (Sept 13 - 17)
Mon-Wed: Bicycle
Thursday: Car & Bicycle (AM Carpool)
Friday - Bicycle

Mileage Count
9/19/10 - 499.7
"And I will bike 500 miles..."

I Can't Count

Each year Transit for Livable Communities performs a bicycle and pedestrian count at various locations in the metro area to measure the rate of bike/pedestrian commuters. Last year I was able to help out, I got a free "I Count" t-shirt, and was even inspired to write a blog post of almost palindromic proportions.

This year the count is happening this week and next. I'm teaching a training in the office, and my schedule won't let me count this week. Next week my schedule has me at a client site so I can't do it then either. I won't even get counted.

I can't count. Not this year anyway. Maybe next year I can.

Testing the Existence Assertion

Note: The "Pin the Tail on My Commute" game is still on. If you haven't already, go read it and make a guess!

Nobody ended up taking me up on the invitation to confirm that all 65 Nice Ride stations in Minneapolis indeed exist. Nevertheless, Corby and I managed to obtain sufficient audit evidence to gain comfort over the existence assertion of the 65 stations.





We rarely strayed from our course, grabbing our first bikes at Birchwood Cafe and docking for the 65th time at Franklin & 21st Avenue. Other than dismounting for lunch at Punch Pizza in Northeast, picking up some water and Powerade at CVS on Hennepin Ave, and a brief call with a customer service rep (more about that below), we didn't waste much time in between stops. Our longest time between was only 10 minutes, and one of the station to station trips only took one minute (according to the My Trips function of the Nice Ride website).

It took us just shy of four cycling hours to complete the ride and my estimate for mileage was 36. The Nice Ride account login put it at 27.2 miles, but their assumptions seem a little faulty to me. If I have time, I'll complete a "complex estimates" practice aid, retrace our steps on Google maps to get some more comfort over management's estimate. I'm kidding about the practice aid, I just wanted an excuse to slip in some auditor-speak.

We did have to backtrack once, since a glitch in the system kept us from checking out another bike after we had docked at the downtown library station. After we were denied trying to check out every single back at the station, I called customer service and had what can only be described as a ridiculous conversation with this woman.

She instructed us to check the ID numbers of the bikes to find the ones we had just returned, so she could then release them for our use. The problem was, the bikes that she had in the system were not at the dock. She told me there should be 22 bikes at the station, and when I assured her there were only 20, she pretty much called me negligent and a liar, albeit in polite terms.

I figured telling this lady that this wasn't my first rodeo wouldn't overcome her obstinance so instead I proposed that we return to the previous station to check the ID numbers. I kept her on the line for two blocks, and sure enough, the bike IDs in question were there. Only the tech wizards at NiceRideMN will be able to figure what happened on that one.

Overall successfully completing the challenge was the "cherry on the spoon" of an otherwise perfect bike commuting week, and we even scored free jerseys for our efforts. I would definitely do this again if anyone needs a sherpa, or if some visitors wanted to check out some of the popular Minneapolis landmarks from the seat of a green two wheeler.

Week 94 Summary (September 6 - 10)
Monday - No commute (Labor Day)
Tues - Friday: Bicycle

Mileage Count (Fiscal YTD)
9/12/10 - 459.0 miles

Pin the Tail on My Commute

In an attempt to make this an interactive blog, I've decided to introduce a game that any reader with a Google or Gmail ID can play: Pin the Tail on My Commute

Here's the basic premise.

A question will be posted that has to do with some sort of landmark from my commute (aka, "the tail"). I have mocked up a Google Map with my normal route, and it is open for "collaboration" so anyone can "pin the tail" on the map (click the EDIT button to open the collaborate feature) by dropping a placemark on your best guess. Simple enough? If that's not clear enough, the description section on the Google Map gives an example guess and further instruction.

The person to get closest to the spot wins a bicycle themed prize of my choosing. Disclaimer: these prizes will not be glamorous.

Here's the question:

Where in my commute would you find the area that I affectionately refer to as "Vodka Alley?"

Here's the link:

Link to Google Map

Happy hunting.

Des Moines - the Revolution is Here

But will it be televised?

I just caught wind from anoynymous Dan in Des Moines that a bikeshare program has just launched in Des Moines.

B-Cycle

DM Register article

Okay, Des Moines friends, who's got the scoop on this for me?

Open Invitation for a Nice Ride

Remember when I mentioned I wanted to tackle the Nice Ride 65 Challenge? Well, it's goat time go time this Saturday.

My neighbor Corby and I are co-piloting this journey, and if anyone else is up for the challenge drop me a line. The plan is to depart about 10:30 am this Saturday and grab some grub on the way. We have no idea how long it'll take, or if we'll hit all 65 or not, but we're gonna have a blast trying and hopefully score some sweet Nice Ride swag in the process.

From the NiceRideMN.org website:

Prizes:

* 35 stations: Nice Ride t-shirt
* 45 stations: Nice Ride socks
* 55 stations: Nice Ride mechanics shirt (value $30)
* All 65 stations: Nice Ride jersey (value $75)

If you don't have an annual membership, you can still participate with the $5 all day pass.

Who's with me?

August Amnesia and Good Samaritan Wednesday

It took me a bit to dredge up what mode of transport I had used over the past month, but once I got things rolling it came back to me like so much soap opera.

August Summary

Week 89 (Aug 2 - 6)
Monday - Friday: Bicycle

Week 90 (Aug 9 - 13)
Vacation - There wasn't much counting for me in Portland, so I had to make up for it with cycling. I considered how to account for the miles I racked up on the sub-ledger and have determined I won't add them to the total tally.

Week 91 (Aug 16 - 20)
Monday - Tuesday: Bicycle
Wednesday: Bicycle (AM) & Car (PM)
Kind of a strange combination, but the facts that led to a morning bike commute and evening return via automobile include meetings with regulators, some dudes from New Jersey, and a last minute invite to The Oceannaire. I'll leave it at that.
Thursday - Friday: Bicycle

Week 92 (August 23 - 30)
Monday - Tuesday: Bicycle
Wednesday: Car (plus bonus Bikeshare action )
Thursday - Friday: Bicycle

Week 93 (August 30 - Sept 3)
Monday - Wednesday: Bicycle
Thursday - Friday: No commute - recruiting event in Cedar Falls, IA

Good Samaritan Wednesday
Many of you are perhaps familiar with this parable. I had a similar experience this past week, just substitute the whole assault and robbery part of the story with me getting a flat tire and forgetting my hand pump at home.

While one can hardly eat muffins in an agitated manner, one can certainly change a flat tire in that exact mental state, be it a car or bicycle tire (see Exhibit A). This day was no exception, and it was especially easy to get myself worked up since I had a patch kit, but was without the necessary means to re-inflate the tire. I couldn't even blow up the tire to spot the hole and see if it was patchable. Frustration gave way to carelessness, which led to the rear cog scooping out a chunk of my right index finger as I removed the tire. What a (literal) bloody mess.

Thankfully, a kind soul noticed my plight and stopped to help. He was already late to work, but nevertheless offered his bike pump even though he didn't have time to wait around for me to finish the patch job and test my work. After briefly considering my dilemma, Douglas trusted me to drop it off at his place of employ sometime during the day.

What a relief! I don't know if I would have just walked the bike into downtown and dealt with the mess later or if I would have waited for someone else to stop with a pump. I finished the patch and it held, so I hopped back on the bike to finish my commute. My finger still oozed, and I didn't have anything to clean it up with, so I rode the last mile or two with my right hand held up, blessing oncoming cyclists with a bloody pope-like hand gesture to keep my handlebars clean.

Mileage Count (Fiscal YTD)
8/23/10 - 326.7 miles
8/31/10 - 384.9 miles