Johnny GONE lately

And so it ends...

My loyal reader (readers?) may have been wondering what happened to the intrepid Dubai Sans Auto. Was he run over by a bus? Sideswiped into a ditch by a careless Emirate driver? Finally felled by heat exhaustion? Hauled in by the RTA secret police for sedition?? No my friend (friends?), nothing so painful became of me, I merely got the f*ck out of Dodge. Well, technically Dodge booted me out, but in any case I am gone for good.

It was an interesting 10 months to say the least. I came in with grand goals and the best of intentions. I was going to not only ride Dubai, I was going to help make it a better place to cycle! I had dreams of starting up a bicycle advocacy group along the lines of New York's Transportation Alternatives; lobbying the government for better bike infrastructure and instituting safety campaigns amongst wrong way riding Indians. But beyond this blog, which I hope at least helps a little, I didn't get many of my goals accomplished.

Not to pooh pooh the blog (I surreptitiously obtained the Dubai Bicycle Master Plan for Gods Sake!); I think in the end it will provide at least a glimmer of hope for those who are thinking of commuting by bike in Dubai. I remember when I was first looking into moving to Dubai, one of the first questions I asked was, "can I ride my bike in Dubai?" It is a rather basic question, but the answers I could dig up on the internet were far from helpful. There were a couple of asinine replies to message board queries that basically said, "try it, and you'll die", and then of course there were the Roadsters (but unfortunately their rides didn't go by my office every morning). Neither informational tidbit was very useful, and thus the genesis for this blog - spreading the info that I found, sharing my experiences on the road. I wanted to let people know that it is INDEED possible to ride your bike around Dubai, that you can IN FACT live in Dubai without a car and get by just fine. I only hope that I have inspired someone, anyone, to get out of their car and onto a bike.

I am back in NYC now, where things have changed quite a bit since I left (for the better). In the last two years the city has built hundreds of miles of new bicycle infrastructure, including fully protected lanes! The number of cyclists on the road has doubled in just a few years; things are really taking off. It is frankly a relief to be back in a city where cycling is taken seriously as a form of transport. Though NYC still has a long way to go before it becomes the next Amsterdam or Copenhagen, it is definitely on its way.

Here's hoping that Dubai will go through with its plans to create a vast cycling network. I still see press releases every once in a while extolling the virtues of Dubai's Bicycle Master Plan (which I still have a copy of if anyone wants to read it), but the start date seems to be continuously pushed back. I keep thinking things might change soon, like right before I left I rode down Al Wasl Rd in Satwa and noticed they were widening the street. Al Wasl Rd happens to be a route on the bicycle master plan, designated as an on-street lane. It will be interesting to see if the widening has anything to do with the bike route, but somehow I doubt it. Just like they managed to completely rebuild the intersection of Al Wasl Rd and Al Diyafah St well over a YEAR after the BMP was issued and not include the 'planned' off street bicycle infrastructure in the new design, there seems to be no impetus to include the provisions of the BMP in on-going construction works. Whom ever is in charge of bicycle infrastructure at the RTA (if there IS anyone), certainly has zero wasta.

I've left Dubai, but my interest in the city hasn't completely waned. I plan on blogging (occasionally) from afar to keep everyone up on the latest and greatest. Me and my better half have already decided we want to come back to Dubai (on holiday) in 10 years to see what this mess of a city turns out to be. Hopefully by then we'll be able to cruise around unfettered by crazy drivers, but I'm not holding my breath.

If anyone cares to take up the reins, and continue to blog about riding in Dubai, let me know! I would be more than happy to share my miniature bully pulpit. Conditions: must ride to work frequently, and love all things non-auto (public transit, etc)! Anyone out there??

Peddle on my friends!

-Dubai Sans Auto (Sans Dubai)

Bike Lanes in Dubai's future? Probably Not

As I mentioned recently, there doesn't seem to be much progress on the Bicycle Master Plan front. None of the phase one routes are being built, and they haven't even bothered to stencil bicycles onto the beach road path (a recommendation of the BMP). I did recently discover Dubai does indeed have a bicycle stencil, as I saw some bicycle pavement markings approaching the beach path (not to be confused with the beach road path). I had heard about the beach path, but hadn't actually seen it until recently. I think that mainly has to do with the fact that it goes from no-where to no-where. Literally, there is only one way to get on, and it's in the middle. I personally can't think of anything more boring than riding around in circles which is probably why I hadn't ever seen it before (and why I don't drive out to Nad Al Sheeba to ride). You might as well get a trainer and ride your bike in your living room while watching footage of the Tour de France - it would be more interesting.

Speaking of recent discoveries, I attended City Scape last week (or was that two weeks back? I am a bit lazy in my blogging duties), and was quite impressed with the Meraas Jumeriah Gardens project. Not only was I impressed that they had the cajones to exhibit a model (since they clearly are not working on the project, they knocked down half of Satwa and then sat on their collective hands), but I was also impressed by their actual vision for their development (should they ever actually build it).

It seems the Meraas folks are new urbanists! Everywhere you looked there was dense development, public transportation, walkable streets (with closely spaced signalled intersections), and... wait for it.... BIKE LANES! Not even just bike lanes, bike lanes and bike boxes at the intersections! They even went so far as to have little cyclists in their models. It was truely heartwarming to see.

There are 16 bikes on the first block alone! But in a bow to reality, two buses are blocking the bike lanes

Not so sure if putting the bike box in the crosswalk would be standard practice, but I like the grassy median and the sidewalk cafe!

I really like that they were on-street bike lanes as well. I don't think cycle tracks are going to work very well in this city since no one bothers to stop, much less look when making right turns (and thus you would need to come to a halt at every intersection and wait for traffic). If you want to actually get anywhere, you are going to have to mix it up with traffic.

The more I ride around Dubai, the more convinced I am that they should shelve their BMP and just take about 35cm from each travel lane and donate it to a bike lane (a three lane road like 312 road behind DIFC could easily handle a nice 1.05m wide bike lane). Standard lanes in Dubai are 3.5m wide, and must be a minimum of 3.0m, so there is plenty of room. Also, narrowing lanes generally leads to slightly lower speeds, which is an added bonus!

I had heard of the Jumeriah Gardens development before, and besides that whole tearing down half of Satwa thing, I thought it was brilliant in that they decided to build it right in the middle of the city rather than off in never never land (AKA Dubai-land, or some other hard to reach location). The only way this city will ever become a true city is if it creates a dense core and makes that core incredibly pedestrian, transit and bicycle friendly. I always thought the high rise district along SZR was a bit silly; who centers their city around a highway? Plus, its all too linear. Some of the new buildings in the DIFC will help on the east side of SZR, but the Jumeriah Gardens development would really flesh out the area and make it a dense urban district. Then all you have to do is submerge SZR between the trade center roundabout and the 1st interchange and cover it up with a park! Could you imagine? It would restore the street grid to the area and make the whole district one piece again.

Bike Culture in Car-land

Recently whilst trawling the blogosphere for interesting liveable streets news I came across a link to an interesting article in LA Magazine, Postscript: Bike Culture. It’s a rather in-depth piece on cycling culture in LA; from the established bike coalitions to the newer hipster infused Midnight Ridazz. The article examines the rise of the nascent bike culture in LA, which until recently couldn’t boast much in the way of cyclists, much less a movement, especially when compared to cities like San Francisco and Portland.

It really has to be one of the first pieces I have read which both accurately depicts the constituent parts of cycling culture and cycling advocacy, without devolving into trite stereotypes. Not once is the word spandex mentioned, which is something of a milestone in itself for an article covering cycling. The closest they come is, “type-A roadies”, which I would say is not an unfair description of roadies and avoids the ever present clichés.

LA is apparently a huge melting pot of bike culture (which must be quite recent since I was quite lonely when riding around several years ago). The older guard is represented by the LA County Bicycle Coalition, a traditional advocacy group. In the middle are dedicated bicycle advocates working alone or in groups to lobby / harass those in charge to make changes to the streetscape and ingrained anti-bike attitude of some city agencies (namely the police). On the very left you have a whole array of newer riders, some drawn in by advocacy, but many purely for the alternative culture. Whereas many cities have one critical mass ride per month, LA can sometimes reach double digits.

Critical mass, Midnight Ridazz, C.R.A.N.K MOB, Crimanimalz; each has a different M.O. Midnight Ridazz are more critical mass-ish, but the C.R.A.N.K. MOB appears to be more of a roving bicycle rave, and Crimanimalz like to ride on the freeways during bumper to bumper traffic to illustrate the futility of the automobile. How is it that so many different groups popped up in a city like LA? Is it a backlash to the reigning car culture? A sudden mass migration from San Francisco? The article posits that perhaps these groups will provide the necessary “sip of Kool-Aid” that will sell people on joining the larger bike culture (commuting, running errands, regular advocacy, etc).

Midnight Ridazz, who perhaps should be called Midnight Standazz, as I could find very few photos of them actually riding (perhaps they can't cycle and shoot at the same time)

One of the advocates who straddles the line between the ‘anarchist’ mass rides and the more mainstream advocacy groups has a great website about ‘vehicular cycling’ called cyclistview.com. A topic I believe I covered earlier, but warrants another mention here. The basic concept is ‘taking a lane’, that is, taking the space that the law gives you. If you ride in the gutter, you just make it easier for cars to pass you without giving you enough space. If you ride out into the lane, they will firstly SEE you, and second, need to change lanes to go around you. Some might call it being obstructionist, but I (and many others) see it as being safe, and riding within the law. I believe it is THE best way to ride in Dubai given the shenanigans of some motorists here. People may honk, but they will not run you down. Stand your ground!

Be the little green man!

The thing that intrigues me about the article is that this is all taking place in LA! LA, a place that is not all that dissimilar to Dubai in terms of physical layout and near universal allegiance to the motor car. LA faces many of the same physical obstacles as Dubai in becoming a slightly less hostile place to ride. LA DOT’s bike coordinator is interviewed for the piece and basically cops to being unable to help out much at all. To take away parking or a lane of traffic is beyond her remit and for others – political suicide. I would imagine a similar fate for bicycle infrastructure here.
LA is in the midst of drafting a bicycle master plan (coincidentally authored by the same planning firm which wrote Dubai’s BMP). From what I have read it is not going very well, with some activists advocating for torching the current plan and starting over. Apparently the plan bows a little to far towards status quo and auto / traffic interests and doesn’t do much to relieve the plight of cyclists. After looking at the Dubai BMP and speaking with those involved, I am quite sure something similar happened here. Not that the RTA is actually implementing the plan anyhow, but what they have approved is basically window dressing and not much help at all for anyone who actually wants to get around town on a bike in an efficient manner.

I seriously doubt that Dubai will ever spontaneously sprout a ‘bike culture’ like those in LA or Portland. Everyone sites the weather, but its not really much of a factor most of the year. As I have said before it is much more a psychological block. On top of that, I don’t really think Dubai has the right ethnographic mix of people to support a diverse bike culture. They’ve got the roadie bit down, and a few mountain bikers sprinkled around, but where are the young, just out of college, idealistic, artsy people who make up the bulk of most cities thriving cultural scene. I don’t think this is really the place they would choose to move – and I don’t blame them really.

Almost Famous

I debated about posting about this, but in the end decided I am not quite as famous as I had hoped I would be, so anonimity seems less useful (and I am leaving town soon).

YES, it was me in the National last week. That blockbuster below the fold article about a hapless young(ish) man who does not own a car in Dubai, but rather gets 'sticky' when he rides to work on his bicycle. Now the young(ish) man has a new alternative; the metro! Along with his trusty sidekick - Senior Brompton, he flies effortlessly to the metro station (easily beating the trailing auto-bound photographer (OK, so I ran a couple of lights)).

As far as I know, its the only non-roadsters, non-it will be here someday bicycle master plan, article I have seen in Dubai. Only in Dubai would I make the paper for riding my bike to work. Hopefully a couple of people read it and hopefully a couple of those people might think, hey, maybe I'll try that! Wolfi should stock up now, them babies gunna be flying off the shelf!


They must have taken about 500 photos, suppose they picked this one since it has the metro station in the background. Thank God they picked one where I wasn't wearing my helmet! Would have been dork-ville central.

Just for the record:

1. It is still quicker to ride the whole way than to ride and fold and take the metro (even when you take into account changing)
2. I never said 'sticky', I prefer, 'icky gross', or 'sweaty beast'
3. I do hope that more people start cycling, but not just when it gets cooler. Come on peeps, learn to love your sweat!

Metro Bike Racks - Update!

This morning I saw the first of what I believe are the promised '30 bike racks' at each metro station. A little sleuthing turned up this post from the manufacturer of the racks. Apparently they were custom designed for the RTA. I haven't seen any at the financial center station yet, but hopefully soon!

Photo from Dero Bike Racks Website

The design looks pretty good, a place to put your front wheel to stabilize the bike, as well as a taller (and beefier) bar to lock the frame to. Let's hope the RTA rolls these out all over town, not just the metro stations!

State of the pedal update

It’s been a while since I have posted about cycling – one might think I had given up on it or something. As my loyal reader will note, I NEVER give up on cycling! I guess I have just been preoccupied with other topics lately. I suppose it’s time we had an update, so welcome to my ‘State of Cycling’ post.

The biggest news on the cycling front is the arrival (FINALLY) of my new (old) frame for my fixed gear bike. If you read my post about the multitudes of bikes in my proverbial stable you may remember I had a fixed gear bike converted from an old Yokota road bike my friend John had given me. I ended up riding it into the ground (figuratively, not literally), and fracturing the head tube – rendering it rather useless for riding. Subsequently I went on a fruitless odyssey looking for a replacement frame, only to find one when I wasn’t looking for it (who knew my replacement frame was in Australia?).

I originally bought the replacement frame last November, but due to a many factors, I didn’t actually receive it until I was in London on my re-secondment (I’ve never been seconded from a secondment before! Very meta). It was a looooong wait, but totally worth it. I love my new (old) bike, and ride it to work every day now here in Dubai (when I don't wuss out and ride the Brompton to the metro).

I am fairly certain I am the only person in Dubai rockin’ a fixed gear bike, please feel free to correct me if I am wrong on that point. I’m not exactly your standard fixed gear freestylin’ hipster (I even have trouble doing track stands), but I do really enjoy the ride and agree with all the other platitudes people use about fixies (you feel connected to the bike, feel the road, etc). Plus, the minimalism appeals to me.

Also on the bicycle blotter, I finally went out for a cruise with the Friday Morning Fanatics (AKA. Wolfi’s wolf pack, AKA the Roadsters). A friend from work caught the cycling bug (unfortunately not the commuter cycling strain) a couple of months back and had been nagging me to come along for a Friday ride. I’ve never had anything against the ride, I just never really wanted to get up that early (unless it was to run 20 miles into the dessert).

I think what finally changed my mind was a recent ride I did in Massachusetts while I was on holiday. The trip was planned around attending my friend John’s wedding (the same guy that gave me the Yokota which turned into my first fixie, the only man with more bikes than me). John is an incredible athlete (we used to Adventure race and hash together), and his new wife is also an adventure racer and all around athlete, so the days leading up to their wedding were a crazy sports carnival (and drink fest). There was yoga in the morning, then a mini adventure race, followed by a ‘grooms road ride’ on the morning of the wedding, then I went kayaking, followed by a run.

In case you are wondering, "why did you bring a bike 8000 miles to a wedding?" Well, we didn't fly them over, just rented the bikes in Boston and rode down to the wedding. Oh, and after the wedding we did a 3 day bike tour up through southern Mass and Cape Cod - sweeeeet! I must give big props to my better half, who managed to fit all of her wedding kit (including hair dryer) and clothes for a week and a half into two medium sized panniers - Boo ya ka!

The weather was horrible for the grooms road ride – sheets of rain were falling, and I hadn’t ridden in a pack for a while, but I had the best time on the ride. I’ve never been a huge roadie, but that ride made me want to come out and try one of the roadsters Friday flings.

I have a big problem with driving somewhere just to ride your bike, especially when it is just across town; so I decided to ride over and meet up with the pack as they passed Safa Park. The website said a group would usually wait there for the main group, and it was easier (and quicker) to get to than the lime tree. I arrived around 5:30 and saw a group waiting, it wasn’t long before another group rolled up and we rode off to the east.

My friend had mentioned there would be a rest stop at 40km in, so when 50km rolled by I started to wonder what was going on. I asked a guy next to me and he said this group actually leaves earlier than the regular group, only stops once rather than twice and rode about 130km. Hmmmm, seems I had joined the wrong group – no one had mentioned the earlier group, my friend or the website, honest mistake.

I figured I could easily do the distance, but I was slightly concerned about the pace. How right I was. After about 60k, and without much warning, everyone took off like rabbits. I hung on for a while, but didn’t manage to catch the pack and they slowly pulled away doing about 28mph (I was managing 26, close, but no cigar). In retrospect I should have dug a bit harder to pull back up to the back of the group as it is much easier to draft than fight it out on your own, but I was under the mistaken assumption that they were doing a relatively short sprint. Such is life.

After about 5 minutes I managed to lose sight of them completely, but was saved (or so I thought) by a lone straggler who I figured had fallen off the back as well. After 10 minutes of pushing hard I managed to catch up to the straggler, only to find out the guy was out riding solo and not with the pack at all. I was never really worried, as I have a rather keen sense of direction, but I really wanted to know where that darn gas station was (I could have used a snack). I managed to make my way back home without any problem, averaging a pretty decent pace might I add.

My only regret is I didn’t bring anything to gnaw on, only two bottles of water (as I was expecting to stop at a gas station with the group and buy something). I was rather beat by the time I got home since I didn’t make any pit stops. Even so, I made an extra lap around the neighborhood to make sure the odometer read 100k rather than 98.7k. Total time – 2 hrs 50 min, which gave me an average pace of 21 mph, not too shabby for a guy who normally only rides 10k each way to work!

I may go out for another ride with the Roadsters (in a different group of course), but I can’t say I am all that fussed about it. I thought I would like it more after I had so much fun on the ‘grooms road ride’, but perhaps that was because I was riding with friends. Riding in a pack is nice, you can cruise along without much effort in the slipstream, but in the end, I think I would rather spend my time out exploring and wandering.

Driven to Distraction

Even though I was away, I didn’t forget about Dubai or its myriad of traffic woes. I kept tabs on the local press, searching out articles on traffic and the metro. I must say I have been very impressed with the recent reporting in The National concerning road safety. After the WHO report on traffic fatalities came out they stepped up the to plate and have been doing a good job of highlighting the woeful inadequacies of the built environment in the UAE as well as the horrendous local driving practices.

My favourite article was headlined, Young motorists 'fear ridicule' , on August 13th. I was excited to see the story as I had read a similar storey previously, but I was never able to figure out where I saw it. The basic jist is, young Emirates drive like complete nimrods because they are afraid of what their friends will say if they drive safely. It’s apparently even uncool to wear a seatbelt. I’d totally rather die than be uncool!

I suppose a certain percentage of the youth in any country can be pointed to as being complete morons. In LA one would perhaps join a gang, deal some drugs, and perhaps shoot at someone from a moving car. Here, drugs and gangs don’t seem to be so cool, so hey, instead let’s drive at high speed while swerving between lanes without signalling!

I think the driver behaviour here is a symptom of a larger problem with this society. The people who engage in these behaviours obviously lack some sort of key personality trait that links behaviour with consequence. They are basically kings of the castle, running around with big boys toys and little to no impetus to act in a way that benefits anyone but themselves. I’m not saying that every Emirate acts in such a way, but clearly there are enough doing so that one runs into them every single day – even on a short commute.

There is a definite sense of entitlement wizzing through the air here. For example, just last night I was hunkered down at the fish shack near Um Suqeim park enjoying some tasty fried fish and prawns. We were merrily munching away, sitting at our plastic table in a dirt lot when a car (piloted by locals) pulled up and started honking. It continued to honk until the waiter finally went over and spoke with them. Basically, they couldn’t be bothered to actually get out of their car to order their food! It happened more than once while we were eating, which was quite annoying. I finally yelled at another car to try walking into the restaurant themselves. They ended up tearing off in a huff – sans fish. It’s not like it was terribly hot outside, or there was no parking. They apparently just thought it was beneath them to actually lift a finger for their meal.

In terms of crazy road behaviour, it’s hard to top an email I recently received from a colleague. He sent around some photos that he took while driving home on Emirates Rd. Incredibly (or not so incredibly for Dubai), what he described was a series of about 20 cars driving down the highway at 120 kph with several people hanging out the windows and one guy literally sitting on the roof. As if that wasn’t enough, someone jumped from the roof of one car to another and then climbed in the window (unfortunately that wasn’t captured on film).

This isn’t an isolated incident either. Another friend told me last National Day he was driving to Abu Dhabi and saw a guy sitting on the roof of a car doing 120 kph as well. Another guy he saw had his seat fully reclined and was steering the car with his feet.

OK, so I have heard of this in the US as well, but more than likely this similar behaviour would also include a rural farm road and take place at well after midnight. This was a crowded Emirates Rd at 6pm on a weekday! WTF? Are they all training to be stuntmen? Have they watched one too many re-runs of CHiPs? It’s no wonder everyone drives like maniacs, they have little to no sense of consequence for personal danger – where were the cops? Are the lives of these young Emirates otherwise extremely boring? Do they need this in order to feel ‘alive’? I am genuinely curious.

Of course these were just outlandish examples of bravado by the young (and brain dead). In fact, the people actually driving were probably doing so a bit safer than normal since their friends were hanging out on top of the car. The real problem is the everyday driving habits of these same guys. If they don’t think sitting on top of a car is risky, then changing lanes at high speed without signalling is a bit of a yawn. But it’s all of those little decisions that they make that cause all of the big accidents.

Disturbingly, the actions of certain reckless drivers are apparently more contagious than swine flu. According to a recent article – again in The National – “Bad driving spreads like a “virus” among motorists who copy others’ negative behaviour and flout the law”. I have totally noticed this trend in Dubai, and I am glad someone has actually gone and quantified it (the study was done by a researcher from UAE University in Al Ain). I see westerners, who have completely been undone by the defacto ‘rules of the road’ here in Dubai. They drive more aggressively and more dangerously than they would at home, simply because everyone else is doing it and there is an utter lack of enforcement.

I have had colleagues tell me they didn’t realize how bad of drivers they had become until they went back to their home countries and hit the roads. They soon realized they were driving like complete lunatics – excessively speeding, tailgating, making unsafe lane changes – practices they rarely engaged in prior to living in Dubai.

What is going on here? What happened to this country? What is it doing to the people who live here? It’s like one of those horror movies where everyone gets turned into Zombies or infected with rage.

According to another article in The National, some people may actually need therapy to curb their whacked out driving. The article also seems to suggest that poor driving by local youth is the result of the breakdown of traditional family life paired with universal teenage unruliness. One teen was quoted saying, “During driving and that rush of adrenaline – the car becomes like ... I’m a superman, and I can do whatever I want to do.” Again, this could probably be a kid from any country, but the major difference here is, no one is stopping him.

Something really needs to happen; a societal change needs to occur. Hopefully the WHO report was the wake-up call that this country needed. Kudos to The National for not letting the report be a blip on the radar. Let’s hope they keep up the heat on the government, and on the residents of this country (local and expat), to make the roads a safer place.

Of course the problems on the road aren’t all caused by poor driving. The built environment itself encourages speeding, and there seems to be little impetus for yielding to more vulnerable road users (pedestrians and cyclists). There is a slight glimmer of hope though, and once again it seems that Abu Dhabi is gaining the upper hand in converting their city to a more liveable place. According to yet another article in The National (they are on a roll), the city has created a new program to upgrade pedestrian crossings. Though small, it is a great first step in rearranging priorities on the road. In Dubai’s defence I have seen several new raised crosswalks dotted around Bur Dubai and Karama, but there doesn’t seem to be even the glimmer of any systematic change in design principles (such as Abu Dhabi’s plan 2030).

Both cities have a long way to go before becoming attractive places for pedestrians (according to the article, Abu Dhabi saw 26 pedestrian deaths in just the first 71 days of the year). Plus, neither of these programs is much more than a bandaid for the real problem, which is roadways which are designed purely to move as many vehicles as possible without regard for pedestrian or cyclist safety. Study after study has shown that roadway design greatly influences driver behaviour, and Dubai’s roadway designs say please speed!
I think it’s time for Dubai to reassess its relationship with the automobile. Hopefully the opening of the Metro will be seen as the moment when a shift started to occur; a shift away from designing for cars, and towards designing for people.

I'm Back! And the Metro is open!

My faithful reader(s?) may have noticed a slight drop off in Dubai Sans Auto blog posts of late. I have never been a consistent poster, but 3 months is a bit of a stretch, so I suppose I owe an explanation. Lately the ‘Dubai’ has been taken out of Dubai Sans Auto. Due to the recent financial… unpleasantness, opportunities for gainful local employment are growing rare for a hard working engineer. Long story short, I was shipped off to jolly olde England for a few months of chargeable time. Do not be alarmed though, rest assured dear reader(s?) as I am Sans Auto Sans Frontiers (i.e. I rode in London)!

I know what you are thinking, I totally bagged on cycling through the summer in Dubai even though I made grand pronouncements about riding all year, but honestly, it wasn’t my decision. Not that I minded being able to run and ride without fear of heat stroke.

I was actually back in Dubai as of late August (and rode in the 44 degree heat), but didn’t manage to post until now. In my defence, I was really busy (and or lazy), and I was only here for two weeks before heading off again (this time on holiday). But now that I am safely ensconced back in Dubai’s hot and humid womb (and less busy), I plan to be like the RTA and ‘Unleash’ a series of stupendous posts.

First of all, let’s pick some of the low hanging fruit:

Metro! Holy moley, it’s actually open! Well, sort of. For one thing, it didn’t actually open on 09-09-09. That really irked me, as I flew out of Dubai on 10-09-09 at 12:30 AM to go on holiday. Here I was thinking I was going to get to ride it to work on the 9th, and BAM! The RTA unleashes a worm into my proverbial celebratory apple. I entered the golden ticket contest, but to no avail. So at 9:09 PM on 09-09-09 I was staring out my window at the celebratory fireworks in the distance, being transported nowhere.

Second gripe, they didn’t open all the stations, and the ones they did open don’t necessarily seem to make much sense. They obviously targeted certain stations to finish on time, so it is rather curious that not a single one was adjacent to the marina which is probably the densest concentration of housing within walking distance to a station.

Third gripe, their information management leaves something to be desired. Up until right before the launch there was scarcely any information about riding the metro available on their website. To find out about fares, zones, timetables, etc one had to search the newspapers for information! Even now, the RTA website doesn’t include the individual feeder bus maps, which by the way are the most unprofessional looking maps I have ever seen. I could do better with Microsoft Paint (which is what it appears they were done in).

I am really having difficulty seeing the RTA’s thinking here (RE website/maps/graphics). If you look in the stations (or even close to the stations) they have really well designed maps and signage, why didn’t they extend that content (and level of design) to their website? I can forgive construction delays and first week delays due to bugs in the system, but they had all the time in the world to come up with a clear and coherent website and content for it. Why did they spend big bucks hiring Satchi and Satchi and not have them make over all of their graphics and info?

Despite the gripes, I was really looking forward to trying out the metro, and rode it to work as soon as I returned to Dubai from holiday. I’ve now ridden it several times, and I have to say I am quite impressed with the stations and how smoothly everything seems to be running (in an inadvertent stroke of luck I managed to miss out on the opening week teething problems).

For my first ride I set off from home and headed to my nearest feeder bus stop, which is a mere 4 minute walk from my front door. I knew approximately where it was supposed to be from the craptastic (looking) map for the F13A route, and I honed in on the exact location by looking out my living room window (we are on the 26th floor) and seeing the bus stop to pick someone up. Upon arriving at the stop I noted there was no sign, but it seems the RTA is experimenting with bus stop sculpture in lieu of signage – my stop is called red hairy moustache shovel tongue man. Dude is totally stoned…

Mr. Moustache bus stop

The morning wasn’t TOO hot, but rather humid. I did start to glisten, but didn’t reach anywhere near even the middle of the ‘MOIST’ scale. Luckily, there is quite a bit of shade near the stop, so it was a fairly pleasant wait. In any case, I only waited 5 minutes for the bus, which arrived nearly empty.

The bus took 13 minutes to reach the financial center station, and that was after just missing several lights. I can’t wait for my local ‘Burj Dubai’ stop to open, as the bus shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes. The buses are quite nice and surprise, surprise, the ‘next stop’ screens actually operate correctly! Perhaps the RTA is reading my blog.

Interior of feeder bus with funcioning 'next stop' screen!

Upon arriving it was a short walk to the station, up several escalators, through the gates and up another escalator to the platform. I heard my train being called as I arrived, so I booked it up the escalator and ran onto the train… only to have it sit there for a minute and a half! Soon I discovered this was standard procedure at each stop. Anywhere from one minute 10 to one minute 30 seconds dwell time at each station. I seriously hope this is going to be phased out when the whole line becomes operational because it will easily add 30 minutes to the full trip time which is insane. A dwell time of 10 seconds would be more appropriate, especially for the number of people using the service (not many, there were about 25 people on my train).

Morning commute = empty train

In any case, the train finally pulled away and we hummed along the tracks without incident. The ride is nice and smooth and you can’t beat the view! I only went two stops, so the whole journey took eight and a half minutes. It’s the only time I wished I lived on the other end of town, so I could get a longer ride in. The trains are well appointed and comfortable to ride in. I could do without the background music though.

Upon arriving at Burjuman (Khalid Bin Waleed) station, I made my way above ground and trekked down to my office. Total travel time door to door was 44 minutes. Not too shabby! As a comparison, it usually takes between 20 and 25 min to ride to work, plus 10 min to walk upstairs and change. 10 min extra to arrive non-sweaty is not huge price to pay. Not that I will totally give up on cycling to work, but it is nice to finally have an alternate option!

The stations themselves (at least the two I have seen) are quite spectacular. This is one area where they definitely have everyone else beat - except perhaps Moscow. Though they may even surpass Moscow, check out this chandelier at the Burjuman (Kalid Bin Waleed) station:

The Cosmic Jellyfish chandelier

For the trip home I decided to test plan B, which is metro + folding bike! I had left my Brompton at work while I was on holiday so a colleague could use it for a test ride before deciding to buy one himself, so it was ready and waiting for my ride home.

The Brompton seriously sped up the commute. I even rode it the short distance from the office to the metro saving a couple of minutes. Again, my train arrived just as I was entering the station – there must have been some good karma coming my way after my months of bike commuting. The train was much more crowded than it was during my morning commute; plenty of room to stand, but no seats.

Plenty of room for the trusty Brompton

Commute home is slightly more packed. Check out the 4 posted hand hold!

Upon arriving at financial center station I unfolded and peddled off towards home. The ride only took 11 minutes, but I had decided to do it in my work clothes to see how I scored on the MOIST index. It was still fairly steamy, though no where near mid summer temperatures. I did sweat quite a bit – but not full cycle to work sweatiness. I managed to go out to dinner later in the same outfit without the missus even noticing – i.e. I didn’t stink.

Total travel time for Plan B? 29 minutes! That means the folding bike + Metro is on par with or (slightly) better than riding the whole way (when changing from bike clothes into work clothes is included in the time)! It should be even faster and even less sweaty when the Burj Dubai station opens. I could easily pop down there in 5 minutes on the bike; which in all but the hottest of weather won’t make me sweat horribly.

There is also a plan C, which is riding to the station on a normal bike and locking it up. This option will be slightly longer since I’ll have to walk from the station to the office, but then again, I won’t have to lug the Brompton around either.

So basically I now have a whole range of options for commuting. If I want to get around town, I’ll be taking my Brompton with me, since the feeder bus service is still a bit spotty (and subject to traffic). For getting to work, I’ll either still ride, or ride to the station and park the bike + metro. If I am planning on running home, I’ll catch the feeder bus + metro.

I am totally mobile, and LOVING it!

Riding in Dubai - Trickle down economics

Up until now I have been focusing mainly on the policy, safety and behavioural side of cycling in Dubai, but I realized I have neglected another key issue with regards to riding to work – BO! I would say in terms of excuses why people don’t ride more here, sweat and odour come in a close second to traffic safety issues. Valid point, it can get rather… warm in Dubai, and cycling in higher temperatures obviously makes one perspire – but it doesn’t necessarily make you smell.

I admit that the heat was one of my major concerns when I contemplated moving to Dubai. I figured I could handle cycling in the traffic, but I wasn’t so sure if my office had a shower. It turns out the answer was no, yet somehow (surprisingly even to me) I have managed to get by without one. I did check out the local gym – Fitness First – but they didn’t seem very interested in giving me a shower membership, and I was definitely uninterested in paying over 400 Dirham a month just to take a shower (I have a free gym in my apartment building, plus I don’t even like gyms – boring!!).

I resolved to stick it out, and perhaps resort to the gym when things got really bad weather-wise. So far, I still have managed to snub the gym! This pleases me, since I generally dislike gyms and I don’t really feel like giving them loads of cash. How did I do it? Quite simple really – I practice good hygiene.

Several factors are involved in my gym-snubbing good fortune. First off, my ride to work isn’t all that far, roughly 10 kilometres, which takes me an average of 20 to 25 minutes to cover. Second, a good portion of my trip (approximately 30 to 40%) is shaded - this is quite important, as direct solar radiation feels a LOT hotter than the ambient temperature. Third, I dress the part – I tend to eschew anything cotton in favour of breathable wicking fabrics. Fourth, I shower right before riding to work, and finally, I am fit, and therefore am slightly better equipped to expel excess heat than someone who is carrying a bit more baggage.

Sun dappled palm tree shade, the gold standard of shades!

Metro Shade, not quite a palm tree, but quite handy

As you can see, the first four variables can be influenced quite easily by each individual cyclist. I chose the location of my domicile to be near my workplace, I chose a route to work that was partially shaded and I obviously choose what I wear to work each day and how often I wash myself. To an extent, everyone also chooses how fit they are, and cycling can be a great way to improve that fitness!

I’ve noticed a definite variation in the distance I can cycle each morning prior to starting to sweat. This distance seems to be dropping precipitously by the day as the weather heats up; I call it the MOIST index (Moment Of Identifiable Sweat Trickle). The recent rise in humidity has driven the MOIST index to an all time low of 5 minutes recently; marked by an unmistakable bead of sweat on my upper lip by the time I reach 312 Road. I am sure if I went helmetless I could bump my MOIST score up at least one or two points, but it would be a bit of a moot issue since I am generally soaked when getting to work anyhow. Back in February, I could easily get to Zabeel 2 Road, or even sometimes the Trade Center Roundabout before becoming MOIST, ah, the good old days.

The MOIST Index - 6 month trend

Sweating when riding to work in Dubai is inevitable, even in the winter. This doesn’t automatically mean that one will smell though, and therein lies the big difference! Sweat actually doesn’t smell like much of anything, most of what our sweat glands produce is 99% water with some salt and potassium thrown in. What makes humans smell offensive ‘after’ sweating is bacteria. Everyone carries around a churning sea of bacteria with them both internally and externally. The bacteria in our guts helps break down food (and produces gas), while the bacteria on our skin laps up sweat and produces smelly acids as a by-product (the same acids found in smelly cheeses!). However, only the sweat glands in our pits and genitals, the aprocrine glands produce a viscous substance containing fat and protein that the bacteria feed on. That is why those regions produce so much odour.

My secret to smelling fresh as a daisy at work is to shower right before I leave in the morning, and then wipe down with a washcloth and re-apply deodorant before I change into my work clothes (lucky for me, there is a nice Superman changing room adjacent to my office – aka the disabled bathroom). I still manage to sweat for a good 10 or 15 minutes after changing and sitting down at my desk, but most of that sweat isn’t from my aprocrine glands, and the bit that is gets taken care of by the deodorant. True, it is a bit of a pain to carry another set of clothes and change when I get in, but like anything, once it becomes routine it’s not so bad.

When the Metro rolls around later this year, things will be even easier. As you can see from my MOIST chart, even in rather balmy weather I don’t start to perspire until around 5 minutes (meaning I can most likely ride in my work clothes, saving even more time). My nearest Metro station can be reached easily within that time frame, and I’ll bet the bike will be much more convenient than the feeder bus. If the RTA manages to install the 30 bike racks at each station that they have promised, my trip to work will be incredibly easy. I will still ride to work most days, but it will be a nice fallback for those days I am feeling a bit lazy!

Fare is Fair

The RTA today finally 'unleashed' their fare structure for the new metro system! The news was actually broken by the paper Xpress on June 4th, but I have been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks.

As I figured, the fares are quite fair (har har), with the priciest ticket – a ride from one end to the other in ‘gold class’ coming in at AED 11.8, bargain! That is almost the same as a one zone ticket bought with an Oyster card discount on the London Underground, and slightly more expensive than a ride on the New York City Subway (no zones in NYC). I don’t think that either NY or London’s trains could be considered ‘gold’ by any stretch of the imagination either.

For your more average ride the fare will be even cheaper. There are a total of five zones, but the maximum fare is for three zones, i.e. if you travel between 4 or 5 zones the fare will be the same as for 3 zones. Further, there are discounts for pre-paid cards as opposed to single ride tickets (like the Oyster card). If you are going 3km or less, the price is even cheaper than the single zone fare. Here is the breakdown (all fares in AED):

A quick look at the price structure reveals that the gold glass is double the silver class and the student / senior fare is half of the prepay silver class fare (this would make sense since you need to get a special card for students and seniors and thus would be pre-paying).

The monthly rate is a bargain, with a 3+ zone monthly card coming in at a very reasonable AED 270 (cheaper than a monthly in NYC), two zones for AED 180 and one zone for AED 100. They only give the 3+ zone fare for Students and elderly (170 and 200 respectively), so I am not sure if there is a discount for shorter journeys (I would imagine so). A day pass is set at 14 dirham, though I would suspect this is only for one zone, no word on how much it will be for additional zones.

The cards are good for all forms of RTA transit including: Metro, Bus, and Water bus. One fare is good on all modes within each journey. According to RTA chief Mattar Al Tayer (via Xpress):

Using a unified card, riders can pay a single fare to ride the metro within one zone and then catch a bus within 30 minutes free of charge. The single fare will cover all transportation up to three transfers in one zone for a total 180 minutes, he said.

The ever cheery Tayer, shows off the blue Nol card - but where is his photo?

The fare structure will extend to the buses as well, so bus fares will be going up rather dramatically in some cases. For instance the X25 (which I rode when I first arrived in Dubai) from the Marina to Al Gubaibah bus station is currently a 2 dirham flat fare; under the new structure it would cost a minimum of 5.80 dirham, a 290% increase (assuming the distance would be at least 3 zones – a reasonable guess). Though this is still cheaper than taking the bus in New York.

The minimum fares will be available to those who buy the permanent ‘Nol’ card (which means fare in Arabic). These are available for 6 dirham, though you need to spend 20 dirham to purchase one – 6 goes to the cost of the card and the remaining 14 dirham goes towards your fare. You can add up to 500 dirham of value to your card at any one time.

The cards will come in four different varieties; silver, gold, blue and red. The silver card allows you to ride in regular silver class, and the gold in uppity gold class. The blue card is a registered card and will feature your smiling mug on the front. The blue card will also allow you to manage your account online and receive a refund if your card is stolen; they can be used for either gold or silver fares. The red cards will consist of paper tickets which can be used for up to 10 journeys or for 5 days maximum, there is no extra cost to purchase the red ticket.



The zones seem to be set up for quite a bit of system expansion, as the majority of rides at the moment will most likely fall within two zones. Here is the zone map:

Metro to the danger zone

Zones 3 and 4 aren't going to see a whole lot of use at first, and zone 1 seems applicable only to those working in Jebel Ali. I have lucked out, as it appears I will both live and work in zone 5, making my journey cheap, cheap, cheap!

All in all, I think the RTA has done a fairly good job. It seems like even the gold class fares are reasonably cheap. If the fares end up including free transfers to the buses, I would sum up my reaction in two words, bargain mate!

Dead Wrong?

Since I had been away for awhile I decided to check in with the local rag trade to see what doings were a transpiring in Dubai lately. For a while there it seemed that cycle-related stories were popping up left and right, but no such luck these days. Perhaps they should do a story on me, that crazy white dude riding a bike to work!

There was some interesting streets-related news though. Both the National and Gulf News had stories on the recently released World Heath Organization (WHO) study: Global Status Report on Road Safety.

WHO?

It seems (to no-one’s surprise) that the UAE is ranked quite poorly with a whopping 37 deaths per 100,000 rating (PHT). That is, each year 37 out of every 100,000 people in the country die in vehicle related crashes. Compared to other countries ranked in the high-income category (i.e. developed countries), the UAE has THE worst fatality rate.


In the high income category (where one would expect well designed roads, safe vehicles and traffic enforcement) The next closest is Saudi Arabia, which comes in at 29 PHT, followed by Qatar at 23.7 PHT. After that it drops down to 21.7 in the British Virgin Islands (which is probably skewed since there are only 23,000 residents and 5 fatalities) and then down to 16.9 PHT in Kuwait. There appears to be some sort of death wish going on in the Gulf States.

So who is WORSE than the UAE? Only 7 countries on earth rate that distinction, and none of them have a per capita income anywhere near the UAE.

Eritrea, 48.4 PHT, $230 per capita income (PCI)
Cook Islands, 45 PHT*, $13,098 PCI
Egypt, 41.6 PHT, $1580 PCI
Afghanistan, 39 PHT, $319 PCI
Iraq, 38.1 PHT, $1646 PCI
Angola, 37.7 PHT, $2560 PCI
Niger, 37.7 PHT, $280 PCI

So, lets see here; we have Eritrea, 6th poorest nation on earth, the cook islands (probably another anomaly due to low population, they had only 6 deaths), Egypt – a known driving crazytown, two war zones (Iraq and Afganistan), and two former war zones (Angola and Niger). Why is the UAE ranking up there with failed states? Look at the road infrastructure – brand spanking new, built to international standards. There is an operational police force who just last month handed out 107,000 traffic fines in Dubai alone!

Compare the UAE’s rate with other nations who have a similar per capita income, like say the USA, where there is a similar highway and car culture, but only 13.9 PHT, or the UK, with a startlingly low 5.4! The UK rate may be somewhat attributed to greater transit use, but the US has a similarly low percentage of transit users, and as far as I know the UAE uses the exact same AASHTO highway design standards. So why is the fatality rate in the UAE nearly 3 times higher?

So where does the blame lie? I would put in squarely at the feet of motorists. Just this morning on the way to work I had someone pass me at well over 100kph in a residential neighborhood side street with a 40 kph speed limit. What exactly is the point of that? Where do these people need to be in such a huge hurry? I am sure they aren’t keeping the same pace after leaving their cars. I have yet to see anyone dashing out the drivers door and sprinting down the street to their destination.

Of course its not just speed, anyone who has driven from Dubai to Abu Dhabi can tell you people completely lose their heads once they leave the city; weaving in and out of traffic at high speed, tailgating within inches of your bumper and flashing the brights if you don’t get out of the way – complete chaos!

The sad thing is people take it as some sort of given, as though driver behavior here is willed by God or something. The recent moves by Dubai to add more (as well as new and improved) speed cameras are a good first step, as are the speed-table crosswalks I have seen popping up around Bur Dubai. But these measures are too few and too far between. Dubai seems to have built itself into a corner here. They have enabled a culture of fast and reckless driving and now they are paying the price.

Its not just motorists who are affected either, a full 28% of fatalities are pedestrians – over 250 people a year! I am sure many of these deaths can be attributed to the complete and utter lack of convenient road crossings. Its as though the planners completely forgot that people have legs and just assumed everyone would naturally drive everywhere.

The Death Pie

Lets hope the government sees this report as a wake up call. Do you suppose a nation can be shamed into action?

A Tale of Two Cities

My loyal readers (I know there is more than one now!) may have noticed a bit of a drop off in my posting of late. Part of this may be attributed to shear laziness, but more-so to the absence of my honk inducing presence on the streets of Dubai. No, I haven’t given up riding – I’ve been on holiday! Sure, I booked the tickets in order to go to a wedding, but it also gave me a great opportunity to objectively compare my riding experience here in Dubai with that in New York City.

I hadn’t been back to New York since last November, and on that trip I wasn’t able to get out and ride due to time constraints. Plus, recently there has been a rash of new bicycle and pedestrian projects popping up all over the city thanks to the new leadership at the DOT. There are now several on-street protected bike lanes, along with loads of new standard class 2 bike lanes and a host of new pedestrian plazas – most strikingly in Times Square!

8th Avenue Cycle Track

I worked in Times Square for 7 years and did battle daily with the heaving masses of humanity coursing down the sidewalks. Talk about level of service problems, the sidewalks in Times Sq. would easily get an F if anyone actually cared to measure it. There have to be more people passing through on foot than in cars, yet cars take up, or shall I say took up, a lions share of the space. The only place in the city that I could see being worse off is 7th Ave and 34th St around Penn Station. At least there most people are commuters know what they are doing. Times Sq. is chock full of gawking tourists who walk erratically, slowly and stop suddenly without warning – much like children now that I think about it. I suppose this is due to the fact that wherever it is they come from, no one walks to get anywhere. Its more a strolling through the mall on a Sunday afternoon kind of crowd. I had a chance to visit the new layout in Times Square, and it is in one word, AWESOME. It is so much more pleasant to move around now, and it appears that both locals and tourists love the new layout. Even a cabbie admitted it helped out the traffic flow.

Broadway through Times Square (photo from NY Times)

Anyhow, I am getting ahead of myself. What I really wanted to find out was if my claim was correct that Dubai was no less difficult to ride around than New York or London. It’s always difficult to gauge rival experiences since it is impossible to actually be in both places at the same time. I could however manage to be in two different places within a day or so, which despite my notoriously bad memory, would provide me with a pretty good comparison.

I had always sort of been able to compare Dubai with NYC, but not so much NYC with Dubai since I hadn’t been back since moving here, it’s a strange distinction, but I think it holds water (one being a bit more distinct in memory than the other). The thing that really struck me and that I seemed to have not noticed earlier was the massive difference in average road speeds and how this affected the ‘feel’ of the street. New York has some fairly wide avenues to rival some of the larger streets in Dubai (not the great wall of SZR, but we’ll confine our comparison to surface streets). However, what New York also has is an abundance of cross streets (one every 80m) and a 30 mph (48kph) speed limit that is mostly obeyed (mainly because the lights are timed to flow at 30 mph). The massive difference in speeds made an equally massive difference in perception of the street. It ‘felt’ calm, at least in comparison to where I had just came from.

It was really a very strange feeling. I had lived in NYC for so long, and felt a certain way about the traffic – too fast, too loud, etc – but now here I was exposed to the exact same scene and I found it near bucolic! It was amazing, sort of like stepping out of a sensory deprivation chamber or something; this is what a real city feels like!

I was eager to get on the bike and try out the new bicycle infrastructure. Since many of my bikes were weeping gently in Dubai, awaiting my return, and I was travelling with my better half – we opted for the tandem. This is not the most comfortable bike to ride due to some gearing, geometry and seat issues (oh, and a bent pedal), but it’s quite nice since you can have a conversation and of course I get to drive.

The biggest coup was that we (cough) ‘forgot’ to bring helmets with us. I will generally wear a helmet whilst cycling around NYC, but for some reason don’t feel the need when I hop on the Schwinn. Perhaps it’s the relaxed pace, or the upright seating position, but I just feel safer. Seeing as how the tandem has one gear and a very low maximum speed, I wasn’t incredibly worried, but my riding partner is generally something of a helmet-Nazi, so this was a rare treat. I feel riding without a helmet (though perhaps slightly more unsafe if one gets in an accident) makes me feel more human somehow. I feel a smaller divide between me and the peds. I am less of a vehicle and more of a hyper-mobile human!

We headed south from my hilltop hideaway in newly landmarked Audubon Park (Washington Heights), down the Hudson River Greenway. It wasn’t long before I got my first taste of new bicycle infrastructure as they had completed a section of the greenway through Harlem in my absence.

Hudson River Greenway in Harlem

What was formerly a Fairway Supermarket parking lot was now a lovely riverside park with a separated bike path – Bueno! Further on down the path I saw the genesis of the long awaited 83rd street greenway connector (only up to the piling stage at the moment). At present one must divert landside up a big hill and back, but soon we’ll be able to stay waterside the whole trip from Battery Park City to the GWB.

By the time we reached midtown the inadequacies of the tandem were starting to take their toll on the booty, so we stopped for a spell at the newly renovated pier 66. Lucky for us the Lightship Frying Pan had just recently received its operating license from the city and we were able to sit back and enjoy a brew with an amazing view of the city and the river.

When we hit the village I turned left and headed inland. It wasn’t long before we found a nice cross-town bike lane (now painted green to stand out better), and cruised along easily over to the east village for some sushi. After lunch it we meandered over to Williamsburg Brooklyn, finding ourselves on bike lanes a good portion of the way. The massive increase in bike lanes was frankly spectacular – they seemed to be everywhere! It wasn’t that riding without them was that much of a problem, but riding IN them was something of a treat. Also of note was the stunning increase in cyclists. To be fair, it was a very pleasant day, but there were bikes everywhere. Quite a significant increase from two years ago from my perspective.

So what does this all mean? Are the mean streets of New York safer than the mean streets of Dubai? Why is it that there are so many more cyclists in New York than here? I think the second question is more important than the first; mainly because there weren’t always so many cyclists in New York for many of the same reasons people cite for not cycling here, like crazy drivers.

The recent efforts by the NYC DOT (over 200 miles of new bike lanes in three years) show that improved cycling infrastructure can help attract new riders, which in turn improves the safety of cyclists, which then attracts more cyclists. The roads are perceived to be safer, and in fact they are.

Crash Data vs Ridership

As you can see from a recent Transportation Alternatives study, despite a boom in cycling (more than doubling in the last 7 years, and a whopping 35% increase last year alone), the accident rate overall has dropped 25%. That means, despite there being twice as many cyclists on the road, there were one quarter fewer accidents. Not as a percentage, but overall!

Note that the drivers in NYC didn’t suddenly become saints, they still get voted the most aggressive drivers in the country, but what they did do apparently is start looking out for bicycles. This wasn’t out of some altruistic kindness, it was a subconscious response to seeing more bicycles on the road. Because there were more bikes they expected them to be there, and thus are more likely to avoid hitting them.

This is rather informative, and it ties in with my feelings riding in Dubai after returning from holiday. I realized that a lot of the near criminal behaviour directed towards me was due less to pure evil on the part of the motorist, and more to ignorance and surprise. People are genuinely surprised by my presence on the road (and more often than not, angered, since I tend to slow their supersonic pace by a hair). If there were say, 10,000 of me riding to work everyday, I would imagine traffic would soon grow accustomed to the sight of cyclists on the road and dare I say, be slightly less belligerent towards them.

So how can Dubai start attracting more cyclists? Well, building the bike lanes and tracks outlined in the BMP would be a good start. I know there are other commuter cyclists out there, hibernating, waiting for the proverbial spring thaw when they can mount their trusty steed and take to the streets. I don’t think many will though, until the bicycle infrastructure is in place – the perception of safety, or lack thereof is still too great. Hopefully the opening of the metro will spur some to at least ride to the station, and that ride might not seem so bad, which then might lead them to venture a bit further. It could be the seed from which our cycling tree grows!

I have heard rumours that the RTA is looking into starting a bike share program which would have kiosks at metro stations (this is also mentioned in the BMP). This would be a great step, even just the presence of bikes at the stations might stir some cyclists from their slumber. “What, I can ride in Dubai?” they might think, hmmmm, perhaps I will give it a try!

Recumbency - or - How I ended up with eight bikes

Now that I have relinquished my angst about traffic my commute is a much happier experience. My ride home consists of cruising along in a state of inner peace - ignoring the horn blasts of frustrated motorists, brushing off the sophomoric antics of poorly educated drivers and finding myself in no hurry to make the next light.

It was in this Zen-like state that I pulled up to the light near the Novotel on 312th Rd. Normally I would have been angling to jump the light so I could get a break from the traffic, but I decided I didn’t really care and I would just wait with the rest of traffic (which I find gives you some wasta with the motoring public). The next thing I knew I heard a voice from my left, it was an Emirate in a red BMW SUV. He had rolled down his window and started asking me why I wasn’t jumping the light, since I was on a bike and all. I replied that I just felt like obeying the law that day and was in no rush. Then we proceeded to have a short conversation about me riding to work each day.

The quick street-side conversation highlighted what I really enjoy about cycling. It puts you out there as a person, rather than a motorist stuck in your anonymous bubble. It creates random interactions with people, it basically ‘humanizes’ travelling. I had a similar thought a few weeks back as I was riding in the back of a friend’s convertible. I mused that if everyone drove a convertible, there would be fewer accidents and less road rage because you are faced with a person rather than sheets of glass and steel. If you ever really need to change lanes and no one will let you in, just roll down the window and stick your arm out – it’s like magic.

Now that I no longer have enormous bundles of angst about my commute, it leaves me free to worry about all sorts of other things. With the state of the economy such as it is, many people are rightfully worried about the security of their jobs. The fear of being made redundant is a powerful one, but I feel my job is fairly secure at the moment. I am honestly more afraid of being made recumbent!

This man has been made recumbent

For those of you who aren’t aware, recumbency is a horrible disease. Once one catches it, you become not only a pariah of your community, but also a tireless supporter of an unpopular cause. I am not sure any bike that I must attach a flag to is the bike for me.

Aerodynamic, AND has mag wheels, bitchin'

It’s a genuine fear for me, you see I have so many bikes already I am fast running out of different types to buy. Therefore, I am at a great risk of falling prey to recumbency.

It all started in college with a run of the mill Mongoose mountain bike I bought for commuting around campus. It was the 90’s and mountain bikes which would never see a dirt trail were all the rage, just like SUVs which were never taken off road became the ‘in’ thing in the aughts.

My Mongoose served me well, and of course came along with me to NYC when I moved. I was rather paranoid about it getting stolen (I had 2 bikes stolen 3 times when I was in high school, that isn’t a typo), but the worst that ever happened was someone stole my seat! That was an uncomfortable ride home.

In NY I fell in with an adventure racing crowd and my poor Mongoose quickly became obsolete for the task (having been basically designed to ride around town), so I went out and bought myself a nice new Rocky Mountain hardtail. Ahhh, nice bike. We spent countless days together flying around the country, riding for hours through seemingly endless bike stages.

One of my teammates had been riding for quite some time and had managed to amass an arsenal of bicycles. His first road bike, a Yokota, hadn’t been ridden in years and was in a sorry state hiding in his attic. Since I was road bike-less, he took pity on me and let me have it. After a bit of a tune up and some new tires it was good to go. The derailleur was already pretty shot, but I managed to put several hundred miles on it. This new (old) bike did nothing to assuage my growing thirst for new bicycles. I was like a junky, always looking for and looking forward to my next hit.

My biggest problem at that point was that I didn’t have a bike I felt comfortable leaving outside in NYC. I felt I would be more mobile if I could keep a utility bike on the street and just hop on and go whenever, instead of having to lug one downstairs and locate gear and such. Therefore, I headed out looking for a 3 speed! I found the bike of my dreams at a small shop in E Williamsburg (aka Bushwick) Brooklyn. They scoured the country buying up old schwinns and the like which they then repaired and sold. My dreams of utility cycling died when I laid eyes on a mint condition Schwinn Metrocycle circa 1970. Apparently it had been ridden twice and left in a garage for 30 years. They had put on some new tires and oiled the chain, but everything else was out of the box new! I loved it, but I loved it too much to leave it locked up outside.

Meanwhile, the Yokota had got me all hot and bothered about road cycling, but at the same time frustrated me with its ancient and worn down componantry. I started to lust after a shiny new road bike, but my finances were such that I couldn’t easily drop several thousand dollars on a new ride. I waited and waited and saved, and finally the day came. I walked out of the shop with a brand spanking new Cannondale R1000 with Ksyrium elite wheels and an Ultegra groupset. I know its not uber top of the line, but it rode oh so smooth compared to my Yokota. I could have gone carbon fibre with a cheaper groupo, but I like the Aluminum just fine.

mmmmm, speedy

Once the Cannondale arrived on the scene, my Yokota was of course sidelined. Down, but not out. As this was 2004, the fixed gear revolution was just getting into full swing. My ancient steel frame with it’s horizontal drop outs was just crying out for conversion! And so convert I did, self consciously walking into TrackStar in the E Village and buying some new handbuilt wheels and a fixed cog. The ride home was a comedic experience, as I was sporting some really annoying toe clips which were hard to get into even with a freewheel set up. I am surprised I didn’t end up on the pavement, but somehow I managed to make it home in one piece.

After a bit of practice I really took to the fixed gear, they are incredibly fun to ride and then there is all that jazz about ‘feeling connected’ to the bike and such which I found to be quite true. The best part really is how it forces you to be a bit more aware since stopping can be slightly more time consuming. In the end, I ended up spending much more time with my Yokota than my lovely Cannondale. Part of this can be contributed to the fact that I can’t lock up the Cannondale outside, too risky. But I think I actually like riding the fixie better.

One might think that having four bicycles would be adequate, but that person more than likely doesn’t ride very often. There were all sorts of bikes still on my list, I really wanted to turn my Mongoose into an XtraCycle (still haven’t done that), I figured I could do with a cyclocross bike, and a touring bike, perhaps a tandem...

One day I was reading through the Craigslist ads trying to find a decent 3-speed for a friend and I came across a posting for a vintage Schwinn tandem! I was so psyched, it was only $200, I was totally going to buy this bike! The only problem being I was in London at this point, and the bike was in NY. I quickly phoned a friend to enlist them as my buying agent, but they were headed out of town. However, they suggested another co-worker who was also on the look out for a tandem. I rather wanted full ownership, but decided since I was in London anyway that we go in halvsies for it. It was in the bike room at work the next day. I finally got to ride it when I went home for a break, seat posts are a bit on the short side and there is only one gear, but it is great fun to ride!

I only managed to bring the fixie on my trip to London with me, which it turned out was an ideal bike for the city (unless you were headed up to Hampstead). Unfortunately on a ride to work one morning my frame broke, literally cracked clean through the head tube. As fate (or bike geometry) would have it, the head tube also houses your stem, so I managed to not come crashing to a halt in a heap on the asphalt. The bike was a total write off though.

I searched in vain for a replacement frame (as the components were all fine), but this was the frenzied peak of the fixed gear revolution and old steel frames with horizontal dropouts were hard to come by or incredibly pricy. I finally managed (with some difficulty) to get my hands on an old Peugeot 10 speed. It was the perfect frame, huge head tube, great old yellow finish, only one problem… It was built just before the cycle industry switched over to 700c wheels and thus sported incredibly odd 28 x 1 ¼” wheels. This meant I couldn’t switch my Yokota components over, or even easily find new tires for the bike!

I was at a bit of a crossroads since I had hoped to ride the bike to Burning Man from Reno airport in a manner of weeks. I had already planned on getting a new rear wheel with an 8 speed internal hub that I could switch out with the fixed gear wheel for longer trips (Reno to BM was about 135 miles), so I ended up having two new wheels built to fit the Peugeot – thus leaving my Yokota components in a lurch.

Shortly thereafter it was time to pack up and head out to Dubai. Everything was going by sea, so we decided to take some holiday between London and Dubai so we would arrive at the same time as our worldly possessions. I’d never been professionally moved before, it was rather strange to leave your flat in the morning – with everything where you normally kept it, and then come home to find a completely empty place. Off we headed, spending some time in Australia and HK, everything was going swimmingly until 4 days before we were due to arrive in Dubai when both of our companies decided our visas wouldn’t be ready on time, in fact they would take another 8 weeks!

Dejected, we headed back to London with only our luggage, and into a temporary flat. I was soon chafing at not having a bike. It felt alien to have to take the tube to work every day, I longed for the freedom of two wheels! Noting our small living quarters and my current roster of velocipedes I quickly honed in on a gap in my arsenal – a folding bike!! Within days I was in possession of a shiny new Brompton with 6 speeds, dynamo lights and a brooks saddle. It wasn’t my idea of a sweet ride, but I soon grew to love my Brompton, even if I didn’t often use it as intended (i.e. actually folding it and getting on a train).

Two weeks earlier we were riding around Melbourne (on borrowed bikes), and managed to get a flat. Checking the city’s excellent bike map we found a nearby bike shop and headed over to get a patch kit. I was astounded as I walked in, this was no ordinary bike shop, more of a bike hospital where bikes were being operated on and also being born. I was surrounded by lathes, presses and all manner of metal working machinery, it was bike heaven! My attention quickly shifted from patch kit to bike frames, and before I knew it I was purchasing a vintage steel frame, having the superfluous pieces ground off and the whole thing powder coated. My Yokota would be reborn as a bright orange demon.

So there you go, the story about how I ended up with eight bicycles. When you say you have eight bicycles people look at you a little funny, but I don’t think I have really gone too far overboard yet. Each of my bikes has its place, each different trip has different requirements, I’m just making sure I have all my bases covered. That being said, hopefully I’ll be able to resist being made recumbent!