Scenic Route

[Updated Sun 10 Sep. and Mon 11 Sep. See below.]

The story went out on the wire today. Look for the column by Associated Press’ Peter Svensson titled, Ditch the car? Don’t laugh, it works for some creative commuters.

It shipped with several photos. As near as I can determine, four of them are of me, taken by the AP’s Donald Heupel. The individual papers get to select which one (if any) they include with the piece.

Mr. Svensson was kind enough to email me the piece. I don’t want to get into copyright trouble with the AP, so I’ll quote only the portion with me.

Ditch the car? Don’t laugh, it works for some creative commuters
Eds: Moving on general news and financial services.
AP Photos IACN101-103, NYDH101-105
By PETER SVENSSON
AP Technology Writer
biz_topic:Product;
09-05-2006 13:09

NEW YORK (AP) — Six years ago, Bruce Wilbur did what most Americans wouldn’t dream of: he got rid of his car. And his minivan, too.

He started taking the bus to work — not a common sight in Rochester, N.Y. — and loved the switch. More recently, he’s been biking to work.

Getting rid of the car gave him his sanity back, the 49-year-old Web designer said, and saved him a lot of money too.

As a driver, “I tended to be prone to road rage,” Wilbur said. “It was nice to arrive at one’s destination without feeling all tense and angry.”

He’s not quite sure what to do in winter, which can be snowy and cold in Rochester. If slush makes biking unsafe, he may go back to riding the bus now and then.

The story is already on the interweb in its entirety at the San Francisco Chronicle. I’ll post others as I find them.

Since the local Daily Fishwrapper doesn’t carry his column, I’d be indebted to anyone who could send me the page from their local paper. Email me (link at the right) for my address.

Only a couple of hours later…

I’m in Forbes, two papers in Australia and as of this writing, 29 others listed at Google News

There’s a photo in the Houston Chronicle. I love the irony. An article about being car-free by choice, in the Houston Chronicle. Same photo, only a bit larger and more clear at Mlive.com a single web site for seven papers in Michigan. Click the “See photo” link.

Actually, that’s one I didn’t care for, even if it’s one of the more newspapery ones. Sheesh, the caption all but reads “Man posing with bicycle.” I liked the action shots better. There was one where I was riding along, passing the church van from next door which was parked at the curb, and I’m being overtaken by a mail truck.

Oh, screw it

Here’s the pic:

Photo credit: Don Heupel, The Associated Press

I’m not sure if I look more like a man on a mission, or if I look constipated. Oh well.

If you look closely, you can see my new headlight, and just behind it, the old one. Oh, and just beyond that, my Incredibell.

Updated Sun 10 Sep

Thanks to Andy, another one of the interviewees for the article, here’s one of the alternate pictures that shipped with the article. Image poached from MSNBC:

Photo credit: Don Heupel, The Associated Press

In the future, I’ll use the shot above to explain to other cyclists why I’m leery of going clipless. Getting cleats caught in the fire-escape stairs would be much worse than simply tipping over at a stoplight.

And finally, one of the ones I really liked, poached from Netscape News:

Photo credit: Don Heupel, The Associated Press

On his site, Andy has several more links to versions of the article, including one in Spain and in a cycling advocacy web site. Also, see his comments here.

BTW, good news. He reports on page eight of this thread, that there seems to be some resolution for him on the dating-by-bike front. See post 192 by “Bizurke”. That’s our boy.

Updated Mon 11 Sep

Many thanks to Kirby at the Bicycling Love Forum for finding the remaining two pics that shipped with the article. Images poached from Yahoo News.

Photo credit: Don Heupel, The Associated Press

Don seemed disappointed when I declined to ride down the stairs for another shot after this one.

Photo credit: Don Heupel, The Associated Press

I got a month’s worth of sidewalk rides in that day. I had to explain to Don why the riding on the sidewalk isn’t safe, and that I’d rather ride on the street. Still, this 50 feet in front of my building is the only place where actually do I ride the sidewalk. Saves two left turns in traffic. And I haven’t mowed down any of my neighbors yet.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 5th, 2006 at 8:09 pm EST and is filed under Bike, Generic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.