Tuesday:  Since my day was going to be spent at the Capitol and office--and as this is the final week I get to mix up ride types--and the weekend paper has not been read, I combined a scooter ride to the Dunwoody MARTA station.  As I noted before, this is one of the most convenient options available.  I also was able to read all of the paper, half in and half out.

Wednesday was a ditto of Tuesday, though I was not able to catch up with Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday's papers.  I had a DeKalb County Planning Commission meeting in Decatur, so all I had to do was hop on MARTA to get there and ride it home.  Again, very convenient.

Monday:  Our Nation's first Scooter Commuter Monday!  How great was that.  I scooted from Dunwoody to the DDS facility next to the Braves Stadium.   I have to admit it was a cold ride, but that quickly changed when my heart warmed to the almost 100 scooter riders who were participating in our awareness campaign.  From there we engaged in a Capitol ride by and scooted to Polk Plaza next to Underground Atlanta.  We were joined by representatives from the scooter stores, manufacturers and Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd.  As I have noted, the Mayor and City of Decatur are real innovators when it comes to accommodating alternative transportation.  Thank you to the Capitol Police and State Patrol for looking out for us.

The event ended with our moving a vehicle from one parking spot and revealing seven scooters parked in an adjacent same size spot.  The enthusiastic scooter crowd repeatedly chanted "SHARE THE ROAD"!   Just like Extreme Home Makeover, only better. 

All four Atalanta television networks covered the story and we also received coverage from public radio and several of the State's papers.  Why is this important?  First, it helps to educate the pubic about the fact we are going to see more scooters on the road, so let's share it and look out for them.  Secondly, it helps policy makers, like the Mayor (who already knows) how important it is to ensure the needs of the scootering public are taken into account.

I anticipate Scooter Commuter Monday becoming an annual event and the participants increasing many fold.

Saturday and Sunday.  As you might guess, the weekend was filled with kids, kids sports and church.  Since this was Easter Sunday, we drove down to Fairburn to visit the in-laws.   Liz drove, which meant I had the opportunity to check out driver behavior without having to concentrate on my own.  This also gave me the opportunity to check out Liz's driver behavior, and in my official capacity, make appropriate comments.

You would think that Liz would have appreciated my constructive comments.  But noooo, she did not.  If you ever want to lower the temperature during your ride, comment on your spouse's driver behavior.  Conversely, if you want to raise the temperature, do so repeatedly. 

Friday:  Since I am attending the Mother's Against Drunk Driving Law Enforcement Recognition Luncheon in Macon, I am sad to say scooter will not work.  However, this does give me the opportunity to ride GOHS's Law Enforcement Challenge Motorcycle; which happens to be a law enforcement equipped 2007 Harley-Davidson Road King.  This is the motorcycle GOHS will award to the law enforcement agency with the best comprehensive motorcycle safety program. 

The ride down I-75 was uneventful, which in motorcycle parlance means it was a great ride.  One thing I don't understand is why drivers seem to park it in the middle lane of three.  If we all worked to keep to the right, then there would be fewer traffic conflicts (a/k/a crashes) and peoples' nerves would be less rattled. 

There  were about 300 law enforcement officers, troopers and sheriff deputies at the event.  MADD gave the top officials awards for the great work they do to keep impaired drivers off our roadways.  Thanks you MADD and GA law enforcement.  P.S., they are pros, you really don't want to challenge them by drinking and driving.

The ride back was through Gray and Monticello, Georgia.  That was fantastic.  Great roads, very courteous drivers and going through some of Georgia's most picturesque towns.  If you get the chance and have the time, it is very much worth it to get off the interstates and see the real Georgia!  Check out my video-cast on Monticello. 

Thursday.  Scooting continues to be fun.  It only takes about 45 minutes to get to my office traveling down Peachtree Street.  This is because I generally am able to keep up with the traffic (or catch it at the next light) and park the scooter in the bike rack right in front of our office building.  This is about ten minutes longer than a good day's commute, with bad traffic, the same or better.

If you check out my wife Liz's video-cast, she tries to suggest it takes longer, thereby leaving less time for me to share in caring for our 4 young boys.  Since it actually takes about the same time, please do not share this information with her.  I have been able to successfully get more work time in with our "little" secret!

Wednesday scooting started at home with a 25 mile ride to a meeting at the GDOT facility on Confederate Avenue.  This is also where the Georgia Emergency Management facility is located.  I have to say again how well Governor Perdue and GEMA with their many partners worked to put our cities back together after the great tornado storm damage.  Without compare, our State has an incredibly dedicated public safety team!

From there I scooted to a lunch meeting at Manuel's Tavern on North Avenue.  We needed to continue our discussion regarding traffic safety data and State's comprehensive highway safety plans.   What wasn't in my plans was the rain.  I thought I could leave at 1 p.m. and beat the rain.  Now I can notch riding a scooter in the rain as an experience.  Fortunately I had a raincoat and thankfully, it wasn't all that bad.  The helmet kept my head dry, so only my knees got wet. 

Other than that, riding the scooter was fun, fun, fun.  I again have to say the driving public was very courteous. 

Tuesday=Fun=Scooter!!!   I am late blogging and I can only attribute that to the simple fact riding a scooter is about as fun as it gets.  Our friends at Moto Brovo and Vespa have lent me a 49cc scooter and it is a blast.  It is fire engine red, goes about 34 mph if there is a downward slope in the grade and is as simple as twist and scoot.  It is important to note that although a license is not needed for this ride, I strongly suggest taking the motorcycle safety course.  That 3 day class has in depth instruction on the dynamics of sharing the road with other vehicles and great hands on training with a smaller motorcycle.   It made me a more conscientious motorcycle (and now scooter) rider, bicyclist, and driver. (We are working to see if a one day course for scooter riders can be instituted.)  As a scooter rider, I wear a helmet, gloves, and proper shoes and jacket for protection. 

Riding a scooter is similar to riding a bike, but the little engine that can takes you there without all the work.  So, it is not a substitute for the exercise benefits of a bike, but is very convenient.  For example, there is no problem wearing a suit.  This is especially true if you live near a MARTA station and can ride it to work.  I rode the scooter to my office at Five Points, to a meeting in Midtown and back to the Capitol for committee hearings.  All along the way I essentially kept up with the traffic.  This is because Peachtree street has many traffic lights and other traffic calming devices.  With all going the 30 mph speed limit, we successfully shared the road.  The other neat part is being able to park where the bikes park.  This is generally near the front door--thereby saving time over having to search for a car parking spot.  BTW, about 7 scooters can fit into a standard parking space. 

While it is tempting to try to scoot around the traffic, please don't.  First it is against the law.  Second it is dangerous.  Third, it is not the Southernly thing to do.  Being polite as we scoot will cause drivers to be polite back.   Remember too, there may be some gas envy since a scooter gets anywhere from 60 to 80 miles per gallon.

In case I forgot to mention it, riding a scooter is fun!

The tornado and storm aftermath in downtown Atlanta meant our downtown offices were closed on Monday.  Fortunately, as part of our participation in Governor Perdue's telework program, all but one GOHS's non-secretarial employees are telecommuters.   That meant no work time was lost.  This is just another benefit of having this program in place.  Other benefits include more productivity and a very positive impact on congestion and air quality for the Atlanta region.

I also cannot say enough about how the State and City worked together.  Governor Perdue's agencies, from GEMA, Homeland Security, GA State Patrol, GA Building Authority to GDOT and others  worked closely with the City of Atlanta to coordinate the excellent response.  Here is a little secret:  one of the first things commenced in Governor Perdue's administration was to have the State department heads get together at least twice a month.  My understanding is this never happened before.  As a result, we have been able to work on many common goals with shared resources.   For example, whomever wants to chat with me about how important DHR is to public safety and visa versa, please give me a call! 

Also, there was tornado damage outside of Atlanta which GOHS's traffic enforcement network was able to assist.  In Wrens, the Chief Chief of Police called upon his TEN coordinator and we were able to pull together resources to assist to minimize the disruption in traffic there.  This clearly illustrates how law enforcement working together to save lives on our roadways works to save lives whenever and wherever there is a disaster. 

Saturday and Sunday were like the others:  kids stuff, kids stuff, kids stuff and church.  On Saturday two of GOHS's great employees checked to see if the offices  were intact after the storm.  GOHS's offices are at Five Points and the news accounts showed how buildings surrounding the office suffered tornado damage.  Fortunately there was no damage to GOHS's building.  However, because of the damage to the surrounding buildings and falling glass continuing to threaten, the public safety officials asked that only essential personnel return to work on Monday. With that, we sent out an email to all GOHS employees to take Monday as a telecommute day.  Fortunately almost all of our employees do so on a regular basis.

I again have to give props to our State and local public safety officials.  As bad as the damage was, it was great to see all of them come together to help.  We at GOHS see that on a regular basis so it is very gratifying when the general pubic can see the same thing.  In Georgia, public safety working together to make our lives better is the rule, not the exception!

Friday began with threating weather, so I again took advantage of riding to MARTA.  A light sprinkle in the a.m. but little damage; at least then.  Read the paper on the train and a short walk from Five Points station to the office.  Since the legislature was not in session, a needed full day at the office was had.  Oh, by the way, you will recall yesterday I packed my suit for the office so I could be properly dressed for meetings.  I forgot to mention that when I opened my backpack, I was pretty surprised to discover only half was packed.  Since my coat, shirt, dress shoes and tie just didn't match my bike shorts, I opted to keep my riding outfit on.  Whatever impression I left, at least I know it will be remembered. 

I left at 6 p.m. with a threatening sky over downtown.  My ride from the Dunwoody MARTA station home was fortunately between the rains, so I didn't get wet.  Like the rest of us, I watched the late night news in shock as the storms rolled though downtown Atlanta.

With a little rest and great weather, I decided to ride the 21 miles to work.  This meant packing my suit, shoes and related clothing in a backpack and dawning my safety gear.  My route was Ashford-Dunwoody to Peachtree to the front of our office.  I like this route since the traffic move slower.  This is because of the many uses along the way in addition to the number of vehicles encouraging drivers to not exceed the speed limit.  One of the more interesting road engineering concepts is called context sensitive design that takes advantage of this.  It essentially states that a road should be designed to meet the needs of the adjacent uses.  So in an urbanized area with many competing uses, the lanes should be narrower, parking on the side of the street should be allowed, trees and other structures are located near the road.  Divers will naturally slow down.

In contrast, where higher speeds are desired, the lanes are wider, the road straighter and there are fewer curb cuts.  This is generally desirable when the adjacent uses are less intense.  The challenge is when growth overcomes this use, how do we slow drivers down to accommodate the adjacent uses when the road design is for faster speeds.  Examples where retrofitting the roads have successfully slowed the traffic to accommodate the adjacent uses include Milledgeville and Decatur's central downtown areas.

Fortunately the ride in was very uneventful and took about an hour.  Drivers shared the road and I didn't feel crowded out.  This gave me the opportunity to observe a few things.  First, I find it interesting to see drivers speed up to stop at a red light.  I think this is because many drivers focus to close to the traffic just in front of them rather than the big picture.  By constantly changing the view, near, far, left, right and rear-view mirrors, divers can not only actively search for hazards, they can see they are going to have to stop in a few yards.   Just think how much fuel could be saved by avoiding jackrabbit starts.

Second, drivers do a lot of things not associated with driving when they drive.  You probably have seen it all, but from a bike perspective you see it often.  Without going into all of the distractions, suffice it to say that all of us should pay more attention to the task of driving rather than eating, reading, texting, smoking, talking, drinking, adjusting the radio, . . . .  (Sorry, I couldn't help myself and had to list them). 

Third, I rode past Elton John's and Neal Boortz's Atlanta homes.  I don't know Elton, but have met and regularly listen to Neal on AM radio.  Neal is great on safety and often talks about it.  Don't drink and drive, always wear a safety belt, take safe driving courses or driver's ed, keep to the right, don't follow too close, and many more safety tips.  But when it comes to speed, we depart.  Neal suggests it is the slow drivers that cause the crashes.  I say it is the excessively speeding drivers that cause the injury and death crashes.  What I believe Neal is saying is differential speeds are the problem, so slower drivers should speed up to the faster drivers.  We both agree the slower drivers should keep right except to pass, but I can't see how having the average driver go faster is going to make our roads safer.   I believe excessive speed accounts for at least 20% of Georgia's crash deaths.  The only expert drivers are on a racetrack and that when we make a mistake driving, the room for error and time to react to it relative to distance is less with higher speeds.  I know for a fact that when a crash occurs at higher speeds, the energy released will cause more damage to the vehicle and occupants and results in more deaths.   I prefer to trust the expert traffic engineers who have set the speed limits to determine the correct speed we should travel.   I also know our vehicles get better fuel mileage when we slow down, and that you can bank.

Heading home took longer.  The afternoon rush spilled onto Peachtree Street.  With a bit of guilty pleasure I did enjoy passing stopped and slowed cars on the sections with bike lanes. 

As this is bike week, no not the motorized kind, I had to adjust my strategies.  From my Dunwoody home to work is almost 20 miles.  First I needed to get rid of the ridiculous brief case that carries stuff I only occasionally use.   This is just another benefit of changing transportation modes.  Second, I had to get a light for my bike.  I already had the other bike safety equipment, namely my helmet and a rear blinking light.  Finally, I had to fix the flat. 

Tuesday was the Mayors' Ride to the Capitol event.  This meant I rode from Dunwoody to Roswell to meet up with the biking mayor, a/k/a Roswell Mayor Jere Wood.  Mayor Wood is demonstrating that making communities bikable and pedestrian friendly is good for families, and good for business.  My 7 mile ride there was easy enough.  Though I did find irony on the Northridge GA 400 overpass to see that the southbound traffic was virtually stopped.  I wondered if I wouldn't reach downtown before they did.

Upon arrival at the Roswell City Hall complex I was pleased to see that Trader Joe's had provided coffee for the chilly morning and other treats needed to offset the calories we would otherwise have lost during the ride.  So much for the biggest benefit of riding--loosing weight!   At precisely 9:30 we took off down Roswell Road to Piedmont to Courtland onto the Capitol Steps.  We started off with a couple hundred riders and along the way picked up others who joined our ride or started in Decatur.  The riders included Mayors form throughout Georgia who also recognize the benefits of riding. 

The riding community is a very protective bunch.  Along the way riders would shout out "slowing" when they were slowing.  I guess the lack of break lights necessitates this.  The would also shout out "hole" and point to the hole as they rode by.   Minor potholes to cars can become very big people eating-holes.  If I was mayor I would use bikers as my pothole posse.   I firmly believe a peloton of bikers shouting anything would get immediate results.  To appreciate the bikers' sound, envision the seagulls in Finding Nemo.  It definitely beat the honk of cars.

If you have ever driven Roswell Road you will know there are several challenging hills along the route.  I didn't mind that fact, since I thought all of the riders would simply slow to a crawl like me.  Apparently most of the riders are semipro Tour de France competitors.  This was evidenced by the fact they zipped past me as we were climbing.  I could tolerate that, but when it included kids a small fraction of my age I got downright irritated.  This means in just a couple of years all of my five boys will beat me--at everything!

Twenty one miles later we reached the Capitol.  Over 1,500 bike riders joined the elected officials to raise awareness about biking.  We were joined by dignitaries such as Lt. Governor Casey Cagle and Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd.  They pointed out how biking has a bigger economic impact for our State than golfing and that it is healthy.  I can say that after riding 29 miles my legs felt very healthy. 

I have to also give a spacial shout out to our law enforcement escort.  They included troopers, sheriff's deputies and police.  BTW, be glad when they are out enforcing traffic laws.  By doing so, they are slowing down drivers and getting the drunks off the road.  In other words, making it so we can bike safely in the first instance.  But remember, as bikers we have to obey the traffic laws. 

From there it was a lunch meeting, time at the office and then back to the Capitol then back to the office.  I left at 6 p.m.  Since the ride home took me past my barber, I thought it appropriate to get a hair cut.  Note to file, it is not a good idea to get a haircut and then ride home.  Talk about itchy under the collar, there is also the issue of the helmet.. 

On my way home north on Peachtree Street I was surprised when a driver beeped at me. This is the section near the Fulton/DeKalb boarder that is six lanes wide.  Although I was riding all the way to the right on the white line, the driver apparently believed it was necessary to also keep to the right.  This despite the fact the two adjacent lanes were open.  I guess the driver thought I should be on the sidewalk.  Which as my good friends at PEDS (Pedestrians Educating Driver Safety) would remind me is for, your guessed it, pedestrians.  It is a common misconception that bikers are supposed to ride on sidewalks.  They are, in fact, supposed to share the road.   If there is a designated bike trail, then that is for bikes. 

Getting home meant I logged 60 miles for the day.  Not bad for riding on the bike I started riding when I was in 7th grade.

Georgia Bikes! Executive Director David Crites on Sharing the Road and the Georgia Rides to the Capitol on March 11, 2008

Roswell Mayor Jere Wood on Sharing the Road and the Georgia Rides to the Capitol Event on March 11, 2008

Friday:  Back to the office on Friday sans legislature being in session.  Once again I took MARTA and was able to finish all of the paper.  I rarely read the movie section, but now I had time.  Unfortunately the section didn't discuss how to shake the kids for an evening so Liz and I can actually see a movie.  We need a program called Share The Kids!  Please.

At quitting time a few of us wanted to get together at a local establishment known for its brewing prowess.  Normally that means one would have to become the designated driver, at that one is often me.  (In the Scandinavian countries they refer to this person as the Bob.  I'm not quite sure how to take that, but I understand it works well.)  But this time, I was able to take advantage of the ultimate designated driver--MARTA.  A quick ride to the Midtown Station and the bus left on time.  It dropped me off less than 50 feet from the front door.  Afterwords, I car pooled home with one who who was the Bob.

Saturday and Sunday:  Both days again entailed carting the kids to sports and church events.  Load up the clown car with seven or eight people of various sizes.  On Sunday I was able to scooter to the bike shop to get a new innertube for my old bike.   This week begins the biking segment of my Share The Road month. 

Monday was window-less meeting Hades; we started at 8 a.m. and ended at 5:30 p.m.   Upon adjournment, I bolted to walk down King Street to the Potomac River.  Very nice walk.   I am always amazed how older cities like Alexandria and Savannah have the ability to accommodate both pedestrian and vehicle traffic versus newer cities.  I guess it depends on which came first, the pedestrian or car? The evening was a quick walk to a good restaurant.  On the way back, we were waylaid by a local Irish pub.  Given St. Patty's day is around the corner, we had to pay homage.  With that, I barley sign off!