Radar Redux

Bike Blast 2009 from RADARREDUX on Vimeo.

Fred Scharmen & Jonas Risen, two seasoned commuters, provide insight.

Radar: Worst experience biking through the city?

Fred: “In one afternoon I had two people run red lights on me.  And, then coming through one of the narrower streets in South Baltimore, somebody opened a passenger side door.  Almost ran into, and luckily I was going slow enough and hit the brakes in time.”

Jonas: “Ah, yeah, the worst experience I’ve ever had is getting to the office all sweaty in the morning.  (laughs) No, I do get to work all sweaty, but the worst was downtown near Mercy Hospital. J-walkers cross the street so the SUV in front of me had to put on their breaks, and I slammed my breaks on my bike but, I hadn’t tuned my breaks well enough.  They were old-fashioned, sort of center-pull breaks, and I couldn’t stop in time so I hit the back of the SUV.  Not a great experience, and my neck hurt for a long time.”

Radar: Best part about riding in the city?

Jonas: “I feel like that’s the point where you connect with the world around you in the day.  You’re not in your car listening to NPR (which is great), but you sort of become a part of the city, and you feel life.  I think that you get to work with a much clearer head because you’ve already been involved and engaged in something.  It’s pretty active.  And, for safety reasons you have to be alert.”

Fred:  “That awareness is really cool; I used to have a longer commute and had to drive.  It was about a half hour drive both ways, and if I had to add something to my commute, if I had to stop to buy milk or something, I would forget because I was totally zoned out, totally disconnected from my environment.  Just sort of like a robot; left here, right here.  But, you can’t do that on a bike, you can’t ever zone out, and your environment is always changing.”

Radar: How is Baltimore different traveling on a bike?

Fred:  “You notice different stuff when you’re on a bike, because the whole city rearranges itself in a way.  A storm drain that you just ignore on foot becomes a serious hazard.  You’re scanning for that, and you’re scanning for traffic lights and crosswalk lights because you need to know what pedestrians are going to do too.  And the hills, you notice the hills a lot.”

Jonas:  “No, that’s true. You do notice the typography of the city.”

Fred:  “And you plan out routes based on typography.  How do I get from here to there without going down and then back up again.”

Radar: Is there one change that you would like to see in the city to better serve bikers?

Fred:  “I just always wish that there was more assurance that people were aware that there are bikes out there too.  That, people were looking for bikes, because there is constantly this feeling of mistrust of other vehicles on the road.  I don’t trust that they know that I’m there.”

Jonas:  “I would say more bike paths, dedicated bike intersections, converting some of the alleys to bike routes.  It is a perfectly dense city to use biking.  More bikers because it would push, it would drive all those things.  More bikers would encourage a better network of bike paths, and then the infrastructure would come along afterwards.”

Radar: What about bike culture in Baltimore, does it exist?

Jonas:  “We don’t really have a developed bike culture like in the Netherlands where it’s orderly.  So, in a way you feel yourself sort of removed from any rules while biking.

Fred:  “Yeah, I almost feel like there are several bike cultures, and there isn’t a lot of overlap between them.  There is a weekend warrior fully dressed in sportswear.”

Jonas:  “Road biking.  Lance Armstrong kind of thing.”

Fred:  “Yeah, lycra.  There’s a messenger culture.”

Jonas:  “There’s the fixy culture which is the same as the messenger and overlaps.  And, then there is strictly the commuter culture as well.  The briefcase mounted to the back of the bike, dressed up, the rearview mirror on the helmet.”

Fred:  “I see more and more people (like me) that just do what they do, and they also ride a bike.  You know, it’s not a matter of having to buy into a lifestyle or get a whole new wardrobe or to get all this expensive gear.  You just do what you do normally, and instead, you happen to hop on a bicycle when you leave the house.”

Jonas:  “Bike culture in America, in general, seems to be driven in large part by this image… no, it’s not image, but maybe its what gear you have.  If you look to the European model, they ride awfully old bikes.  Their dress and their attitude toward biking are much more commuter and commonplace.  It’s not so much about an aesthetic.”

Radar: What do you wear biking, anything you regret today?

Jonas:  “Spandex pants… no, no, never done it.”

Fred:  “I would say the inverse, I am glad that I wear a helmet out there.  I don’t see a helmet as dorky.  The more people that wear them, the less perceived dorky-ness a helmet has.  It’s actually cool.

Jonas:  “Yeah, a helmet is cool.  They even make helmets that look like hats now.”

Radar: “Did you say cats?”

Jonas: (laughs) “Hats, I said hats not cats.  I am sure you could get one though.”

For more information about biking in Baltimore and discussion boards, visit Baltimore Spokes

Baltimore Bike Blast

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Druid Hill Lake, Baltimore, Maryland

Text and interviews by Gretchen Warner