From the flood affected city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Dave Glandon is a ‘crazy commuting cyclist‘ (aren’t we all?). Here’s his commuter profile:
How long have you been a bike commuter?
I have been commuting on a bike for a year solid (including the winter).
Why did you start riding your bike to work and how long is your commute?
I started to ride to work because I was looking for away I could save money on gas. My wife works full time and goes to school (4 year College) and must travel to and from work , school and home a lot. Needless to say a lot of money was going into the tank. My commute has been 19 miles round trip.
How does Bike Commuting help you with your lifestyle (economics, health, relationships)?
My bike commuting has helped me get lose some weight and cut down on my stress levels.
What do you do for a living?
I am a digital artist working my way to be a professional photographer full time.
What kind(s) of bike do you have?
I ride a Schwinn Mesa GSX bilt in 2001.
Any funny or interesting commuting story that you may want to share?
When I commute to work not too many funny things happen except for once. Part of my commute goes through an area that is heavily populated by geese. It is late spring just before summer and the goslings are out walking around. Because of this I watch out out for them when I arrive at the stretch that they populate. I came up to one group of Geese parents overseeing the goslings and slowed down to let them cross. This is when one of the Geese parents took the opportunity and flew up to me and beat me with her wings. Luckily, I did not get hurt, but from a bystander point of view, that had to be funny to watch.
What do people (coworkers, friends) say when you tell them that you are a bike commuter?
Most of the comments I get are; how far do you ride to work? Don’t you get too hot (or cold)? Is it that hard to do? Have you lost your mind?
How about bicycling advocacy? Are you active in any local or regional advocacy groups?
As far as Advocacy group, right now I don’t belong to one, but I keep my eyes out for issues that pertain to bikes and bike laws. I also have started a blog that deals with commuting and what goes into commuting on a cycle. Right now Cedar Rapids does not have a big advocacy group nor do we have a lot of issues that pertain to bikes. We don’t have bike lanes and at this point I do not see it as a bad thing. Because we have a good trail system that is expanding every year, I believe we can live without the lanes at this point.
Anything else that you want to share with us?
Right now, Cedar Rapids is in a clean up mode from the floods. I have been documenting what has happened and how it effects my commute. At this point, I hitch a ride with my wife because the only bridge open as of today is the interstate bridge though downtown. Hopefully I can start soon but in the mean time I take little rides here and there.
Check out Dave’s Blog for pictures and posts about the flood at http://crazycommutingcyclist.blogspot.com/
Note: We are still receiving some great profiles, please be patient, we will post most of them. I’m also mailing out stickers to most people that submitted profiles, some of you forgot to include your mailing address.
Popularity: 3% [?]
