On May 12, 9:03*am, SMS wrote:
Numbers: Seemed like there were a lot more people riding this year.
Maybe it's the price of gasoline. Ran into several people I knew (not
literally).

Lighting: Big change from last year. A lot more daytime lighting,
probably 20% of bicycles I saw had a front flasher going, and 40% had a
rear flasher. I saw one other bicycle (besides mine) with a dynamo
light, but other than that it's very much a battery driven world around
here.

Helmets: I did not see a single cyclist at any of the energizer
stations, or on the road, that was not wearing a helmet. So while there
is no adult MHL in most of the U.S., at least in areas where the people
are highly educated, helmet usage is extremely high. Good to see that
the facts regarding helmets are getting out despite the best efforts of
a few people!

Trouble-making: Called the Sunnyvale police about a car parked in the
bicycle lane. Didn't wait around to see if they got there in time. I
have all the police non-emergency numbers for Bay Area cities programmed
into my phone and I don't hesitate to use them when I see something like
this. It was very annoying and dangerous because you had a lot of
cyclists in the bike lane having to swerve out into traffic to get
around this car.

For Bay Area people, the May 2011 Santa Clara County bicycle map is
available and was being distributed. This map is generally only updated
every couple of years, and there were many changes from the previous
one. I think VTA will mail you one if you call them. The 2010 San Jose
Bikeways map was also being given out.

Best bicycle I saw was a triple Bike Friday where the owner was taking
his two small children to their elementary school three miles from their
home.

Went to the Apple and HP Energizer stations. Alas this is the last year
for the HP station as they have sold all their buildings in my area to
Apple and are moving out. Unlikely that Apple will continue the HP
station and have two stations next year.

Some guy was dogging me to work on a Scattante. I always wondered who
bought those things -- and now I know: its guys who are excited about
"being paced" by some old dude on a anchor-weight cross bike who is
just riding to work over the hills. -- Jay Beattie.