Courtesy and the Sexes: An Unscientific Study

Due to the nature of my job, my daily commute changes quite often.  Some weeks I ride to the same place every day, while other weeks I may be riding through Fountain Square one day and riding to Fischer's the next.  Since I have ridden through most of the city and surrounding areas a good bit, I have formed purely unscientific opinions of the drivers one typically encounters in the differing areas one is likely to ride through.  Basically, the farther south you get from Fountain Square and the farther north you get from Broad Ripple the more dangerous and obnoxious the drivers get, and drivers in Broad Ripple are more likely to drive in or block bike lanes than drivers elsewhere in the city.  Also, no matter where you are in this city, 4-way stop signs confuse the Hell out of local drivers.

This past week, I have been doing a good bit of riding through Carmel, both on the Monon, and on the streets.  I saw nothing to change my overall opinion that drivers in this area are quite dangerous due to an inflated sense of importance and smart phone use while driving.  In fact, I rode by a four-car accident scene yesterday morning which, on it's face, appeared to be a chain reaction distracted driver accident.  However, during my rides in this area through this past week, I did notice an apparent difference in courtesy which falls along gender lines.

This week's commute involved the Monon as well as the traffic circle at 116th and Keystone Parkway.  The Monon has a few crossings of city streets which require stopping for traffic, and the traffic circle has pedestrian crossings for those who are unwilling to ride in the street through it.  In these cases despite the presence of crosswalk markings, a cyclist or pedestrian must wait for a break in the traffic, or for a courteous driver with the latter being a rare thing, especially at the traffic circle.



Male Driver who pulled into, then blocked
the crosswalk
 (Note the courageous girl negotiating this traffic circle)

After the first two times through these crossings (one going and one coming back) it seemed to me that every driver who stopped and waved me through was a woman.  This seemed a bit odd, so I paid particular attention the next day, and, sure enough, every driver who paused for a few seconds to let me through was female.  This trend played out for the entire week.  I also noticed that every driver stopped in a crosswalk or blocking a bike lane was male.

Given this observation, I began paying more attention to cyclists and pedestrians on the trail who initiated or returned a smile, nod or wave, and even then, the vast majority of courteous people were women even though most of the trail users I encountered were male.

Female Driver (stopped well before I got there)

I'd like to tell myself that the courtesies shown were due to my rugged good looks and overpowering charm, but my daughter has over ruled that assumption, and even posited that it is due to my being old, and the women in question merely feel sorry for me.  She also says that the over-abundance of homo-phobic men in this city accounts for an unwillingness by men to show courtesy to other men.  Since I am unable to question the courteous women I encountered this week, I am unable to rule out either of these assumptions (though I like mine better, and can see the merit in my daughter's observation about the men one encounters).  Also, I haven't interviewed other cyclists and pedestrians, so I can't say positively that this observed phenomenon is universal.

However, based purely on my own personal observations during this past week I have come to two more unverified conclusions:  1)-Women drivers, cyclists, and joggers are far more likely to show common courtesy to those around them than their male counterparts, and 2)-I owe an apology to the women who drive in Carmel for my inclusion of them in most of the negative things I have said about Carmel drivers.  Though, so far, the male drivers still seem to deserve my contempt and fear.

New Build Underway (Finally), and Revamping my Current Steed

I have finally started assembling my shiny new Disc Trucker into an actual bike instead of a frameset and a collection of packaged components.

A couple of weeks ago I had my LBS install the headset and bottom bracket, and this past weekend I installed the brakes, derailleurs, cables, handlebars and stem, shifters, brake levers, fenders, seat post, saddle, and rear rack.  To complicate matters, the bar end shifters for my new ride were taken from my current ride which necessitated changing shifters, brake levers, and handlebars on the current ride so I can have a working bike during the build/tweak process on the new one.

I had originally planned to sell my current ride after the Disc Trucker is complete, but have decided to instead, equip her for the ice, snow, and slush which come with an Indianapolis Winter. Since my bike is my only transportation I have decided that having two bikes setup differently will be easier than swapping out tires and trailer hitches every time the road conditions change.  More than one person has told me that this is merely an excuse to keep the bike, and they are probably right, but I can't seem to let go of something which has reliably carried me for thousands of miles in the two years since my heart attack.

So far, the build is going well.  I have included some random pictures below of the various components.  There was, however, one minor hitch.  I installed Velo Orange stainless fenders on the DT and didn't notice until after the fact, that they interfere with my trailer hitch.  The design of the rear dropout area on the Disc Trucker is great in that it allows for installation of a rear rack and fenders in separate sets of braze-ons without having to get a special rack for disc brakes, or getting creative with fender stays like I had to on my current bike.  However, the placement of the braze-ons, and the design of the rear triangle don't allow for using both a Burley hitch and the fender braze-ons.  The fix was simply attaching the fender stays and the rack posts to the same set of braze-ons (pictured below), so, really, not a big deal.  I mention it only as a heads up for anyone else who wants to use the same fenders and Burley combination that I have.

Rack post, Burley hitch, fender stay installation on Disc Trucker


One other note on this setup; the position of the quick release is in the only functioning position, so I (you) have to pay attention to it's position every time the wheel is removed and reinstalled.

I also want to mention that the Velo Orange fenders are quite fiddly to install.  They are great fenders, and look really nice once installed, but I would suggest having a second set of hands around for when things get tricky.

So, as promised, here are some pictures from the new build I will post better pictures once the process is complete, and the new ride is ready to roll:



I'll cut the steerer tube once I have made sure that the stem height is where it needs to be.

Horrible focus!



Art Along the Monon: Part 1 Downtown to Broad Ripple

Anyone who travels by bike between downtown Indianapolis and points north is likely well acquainted with the Monon trail.  The Monon starts at 10th street in downtown Indianapolis and runs north for 18.5 miles to Quaker park in Westfield, and is easily the busiest of Indianapolis' trails.

Having logged many miles on this trail and ridden the entire trail I can't help but notice all of the Murals and other works of art alongside the trail.  However, since I am generally using the Monon to get from point A to point B, I rarely take the time to stop and look at the abundance of art surrounding me on these trips.  With this oversight in mind, I have started a small project to record this artwork for myself, as well as for others who may not have the time to stop and admire what is around them while on the trail.

For this post, part 1, I present some photos of the many murals along the Monon from its southern terminus at 10th street to Broad Ripple Ave.  While I do regularly travel north from  Broad Ripple to 146th, it is the southern section of the Monon on which I log most of my Monon-miles, and it is also this section which has the most artwork alongside.

These photos are mostly just snapshots, and in most cases, don't do their subjects the level of detail and honor they deserve, but they can serve as a starting point for someone's exploration of what is available for viewing alongside Indianapolis' most used greenway.

So, right off the bat, at the entrance to the Monon we have the sculpture below.

 

 

A few hundred yards later we get to the series of overpasses which comprise the merging of highways 65/70.  Every available spot on the underpasses have a bit of art on them.

 

The first one also contains what is my favorite piece of "graffiti" in the city:

 

Just after clearing the underpasses, across from the Soccer Park, on the eastern side of the Monon is the mural below on the side of an IPS building:

 

Just a little farther north, at the intersection with 16th street we come to what is my favorite mural on the trail:

 

 

This mural stretches for almost an entire block and is incredibly detailed.

 

 

A few blocks later, just north of the intersection with 19th street, on the western side of the trail is the break area below:

 

 

A block later, north of 20th, there is a reminder to ride safely.  Though probably not intended as art per se, it is beautiful in its own way:

 

Just a couple of blocks later on the side of the Habitat for Humanity 'Restore' bldg  at 22nd, we have one of the more colorful murals along the Monon:

 

Next up, on one of the lumber yard bldgs we have on of the many tags from "Big Kemp" that I have seen around the city:

 













While I'm sure that Big Kemp isn't popular with his targets, I do like seeing his sprucing up of otherwise dull bldgs.

 

 

Just after crossing Sutherland, there is a rather smelly little bldg which serves some kind of purpose for the local water company.  This little bldg's only saving grace as far as travelling the Monon is concerned, is the artwork on it's westward facing side:

 

A little more north the Monon crosses Fall Creek, intersects the Fall Creek Trail, and crosses over Fall Creek Pkwy.  While not necessarily art, the view of the bridges over the creek and parkway, is one of my favorite views along the entire trail

 

After Fall Creek there is the intersection with 38th, the Fairgrounds, and an unfortunate lull in artwork.  But, the art begins again at 42nd street with a wonderful little break area put up by students from the Indiana School for the Deaf:

 

 





 This break area is well worth a stop and look.  It is adorned with several representational examples of American Sign Language, so can be considered educational as well as beautiful to look at.

 

A few blocks more, and we get to two sets of murals on the sides of the Winthrop Plumbing bldgs north and south of 49th:

 

Just north of the intersection with 52nd we have the newest mural on the Monon- "The Love Train":

 



 

 

"The Love Train" mural marks the end of large-scale art on this section of the Monon, but there are still a few pieces to see.

 

Just after crossing over Kessler, on the western side of the trail is the Monon's newest rest stop/bench:

 

 

Then we come to some private pieces by Pat Mack (this picture definitely doesn't do this beautiful work justice.  I will try to get a better one soon):

 

 

And a nice garage mural:

 

This takes us to 62nd/Broad Ripple Ave, and the end of this leg of the trip. 

I'll do a follow up post later of the little bit of art work on the northern section of the trail, as soon as I have the time to record it.  I also intend to cover the other local trails, such as the Cultural Trail, as well.

Until then; enjoy the local trails, and remember to take a little time to enjoy some of the views along side.