The Spandex Warrior:
I Propose to Ride Bikes

A Master’s Project
Andrea P.
10/16/08

Committee:
Don M., Chair
Dan B.
Connie P.

The Focus

When I was an undergraduate at Butler University in Indianapolis, I played trombone for the school’s marching band. Naturally, the rest of the band and I spent copious amounts of time outdoors practicing on the school’s football field. Every day, rain or shine, we would march.
After a few weeks, we began to notice we were not alone – a large group of Spandex clad bicyclists would congregate every Tuesday and Thursday on a nearby parking lot. The cyclists, perhaps 100 in all, would socialize for a half hour or so, chatting, fixing last minute spare tires, eating power bars and so on. They were a large, colorful group; their Spandex bicycling clothes reminded me of the plumage of a flock of macaws. Thus, (and because of their presence despite often extreme weather conditions), we called them the Spandex Warriors.
In large cities, it is often necessary for bicyclists to group in this way, as strength in numbers allows some protection from deadly traffic while riding. Often, it is difficult or impractical to ride through the suburbs long enough to reach peaceful country roads. So riders take to path systems and frequently ride in packs to alleviate the boredom that comes from pedaling on monotonous trails. This helps path congestion as well – pedestrians need only condense to single file once, as a pack passes them, rather than a hundred times, as single riders pass.
Spandex Warriors in Iowa, as in many predominantly rural places, are different. There is little need to bother with city riding at all; the quiet highways and rural routes of the countryside are perfect for biking. So the Iowa cyclist is by nature an isolated and nomadic beast, often traveling alone or in groups of two or three. The independence to ride whenever and however one likes is appealing — though can prove dangerous in the case of breakdowns, occasional traffic, and unforeseen road hazards. This also makes it difficult to share route information or organize rides of any magnitude.
Thus, I propose the creation of The Spandex Warrior (henceforth, TSW), a magazine prototype and companion weblog. The hyper local journalistic publication will be written for and about all those bicycle fanatics in Johnson County, Iowa (and surrounding counties), who choose to spend their spare time bicycling despite weather conditions, silly appearance of cycling gear and the daunting threat of saddle sores. The goal of TSW is to foster a sense of community and camaraderie among local riders, to improve rider awareness of hazards, and to create a snapshot of local bike culture.


The Form

TSW will take form in two media. Primarily, it is to be an online publication. I will also produce a pilot magazine issue in order to increase public awareness of the site (and show off my design skills).For the purposes of this project, I will design the website, complete with at least a month’s worth of online content (some will overlap with the magazine).
Because of the nature of this project, my reporting style will be a blend of civic/service, citizen (blogging), explanatory, and “traditional” objective journalism. The bias of TSW will be toward bicycles and bicyclists, and (to the extent possible) nothing else.

Magazine
The meat of TSW magazine will consist of four 1,500-2,000 word articles on bicycle design, fashion and culture. I will also complete all text graphics, sidebars, informational descriptions and commentary.

Style and Fashion of the Bike World

The basic uniform of the bicyclist is pure Spandex. Padded shorts are a must. But every rider adds individual touches to his or her clothes – a lucky jersey from ten years ago, brand new Oakley glasses, a specific type of rearview mirror for the helmet and so on. Bike riders in general are determinedly tacky at all times but separate groups of riders are weird in different ways. This story will seek to understand the rationale behind wardrobe choice as well as trends in bike wear specific to Johnson
County.

Review of a local trail.
In this piece, I will ride and critique a local bicycling trail. This might be an expanded version of a shorter trail review posted on the TSW website. Here, I will include reviews of places to find the best food, bathrooms, mechanics et cetera, as well as interviews with riders along the route. This will tease to the photo section of TSW’s website. I stress that this piece is not to be an ephemeral synopsis of events; rather an attempt at sharing what it might be like to experience a bike trail and note which type of rider (mountain, touring) it would serve best.

Bicycle legislation analysis
Currently, there are several major bicycle legislations in the works, especially in regard to rider insurance liability on large tours such as RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa). Are these bills in the best interest of riders or large insurance corporations? Who is behind the push for legislation? What can local riders do to ensure their rights to free access to quality trails and roads? This article will answer these questions and more.

Bike fad – Critical Mass bike rides hit Iowa City
In several large cities across the United States, Critical Mass bicycling has been popular for some time. Participants in this event converge (often in the middle of the city, at some important intersection, or other notable location) in order to draw attention to how unfriendly the city is to bicyclists. By definition there are no leaders of a Critical Mass ride, and no rules beyond a set meeting time and place. This last September, Iowa City riders “organized” their first of such events – who (or what group) instigated this protest? Have Iowa City leaders addressed the bicycle friendliness of downtown Iowa City? Why hasn’t Critical Mass reached Iowa City more quickly? And when will they return? Do bicyclists in Iowa City carry enough political heft to change a city ordinance? What drives cyclists to attend these monthly events (and what will happen to these riders come wintertime)?

Website

TSW’s website will take the form of a blog, with weekly (sometimes more frequent) updates. Some web content will be summarized and included in the monthly magazine, as noted below.

The Stories

This is the main content of the blog. I will write 200-400 word articles on a weekly basis and post them on the site. Four separate topics: trail reviews, fashion commentary, the culture of the Spandex Warrior and miscellaneous (how-to repairs, pending legislation, tips for seasonal riding, product reviews, et cetera). Some of these stories will form the basis of the longer printed magazine articles.

Maps
The most adventurous Spandex Warriors need no maps. For those of us who need direction on occasion, I will create three. First, a map of Johnson County with various routes outlined. Small “pins” a la Google Maps will be placed in the graphic at various points, describing difficulty of terrain, commentary on scenery and the like. Readers can write in and make notes of their own, or suggest new routes.
Rider safety is of utmost importance. This map will be geared (pun intended) toward bike commuters, detailing current metro (Iowa City/Coralville/North Liberty/Solon) road construction and road hazards. This data will be culled from government construction updates, my own experiences and reader input.
The final map ties in with the stories described in the previous section. With every story, I will take photos and chart their locations. Readers will be encouraged to submit their own ride pictures and captions.
All maps will be interactive and allow for reader comments and additions (photos, notes, et cetera). Maps of planned construction and one of the month’s featured routes will be published in the magazine edition of TSW.

Bike Photo of the Day
In this way I will gradually build a photo essay of typical bicycling life. Every day (for the purposes of this project, the duration of spring semester 2009) I will ride my bike and take photos. I will select one that I feel particularly captures my bicycling experience – extreme weather, breakdowns, notable scenery, odd objects sighted along trips, et cetera – and write a brief caption (100 or so words) describing the event. The purpose of this photo collection is to promote an awareness of a visible bicycling culture. As the online community develops, I will call for reader submissions in addition to my own contributions. In my mind, the gradual accrual of photos is the most realistic way to paint this picture, as it is similar to the way in which we make memories. An RSS feed of this feature will be available, and one bonus photo each month will be selected to run in the magazine edition of TSW.

Calendar
In short, riders are more likely to participate in group rides when they know the rides exist. TSW’s calendar will be an aggregate of local bicycling events. Readers can submit listings, and I will cull information from local bike organizations and their websites. The calendar will be printed in the magazine edition of TSW for the purposes of this project: April.

Gas Savings Index
For the frugal cyclist. According to a 2005 ABC News Poll, (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Traffic/Story?id=485098&page=1) commuters drive an average of 32 miles each day. Using this information, up-to-date oil prices and average vehicle gas consumption figures, I will estimate weekly how much money one saves by riding to work rather than driving. The last month’s summary, in chart form, will be included in the print edition. Inspired by a novelty shirt given me by my roommate.

Discussion Forum
Here, riders can discuss various bicycling topics. Again, this will help develop a sense of bicycling community.

Resources
Links to helpful bicycling related websites. As with most magazines, ads will be the primary form of revenue generation and will be accepted from locally owned businesses and organizations.

Reflective Essay

The Reflective Essay will be approximately 1,000 words long and focus primarily on the lessons I will learn through the course of preparing the project. I foresee this to include much on the subject of web and print design, as those are the areas in which I have the most to learn. It will also consider any common themes/trends my reportage may yield and speculate on their relevance to Johnson County, IA culture as a whole.

Timeline
A tentative timeline.

October 2008
Complete proposal. Form committee.

November
Committee approval of project by the first week of this month. Work on reading list. Sketch out website. Begin preliminary reporting.

December
Continue reporting. Develop template for print edition, complete basic website.

January 2009
Web updates start immediately upon the start of spring semester. Prepare rough drafts of legislation and trail review articles and submit to Chair for editing. Publish short version on site, draft longer version for magazine.

February
Prepare rough drafts of fashion and critical mass articles and submit to Chair for editing. Revise and supplement legislation and trail review articles as requested by Chair.

March
Revise and supplement fashion and critical mass articles as requested by chair. Final drafts of extended stories. Make necessary arrangements to publish pilot issue.

April
Finishing touches. Finish layout for print publication. Publish magazine. Defend project.





Literature Review
All of the literature I will read for this project can be placed in at least one of three main categories: bicycles, publication design and Johnson County affairs.

Bicycles

Books
Donaldson, Doug. Bicycling Magazine’s Guide to Bike Touring: Everything You Need to Know to Travel Anywhere on a Bike. Rodale, 2005.
An easy to read guide to traveling by bike.

Hurst, Robert. The Art of Cycling: a guide to bicycling in 21st-century America. Guilford, Conn: Falcon Guides, 2007.
To help put my project in context – bicycling in the US vs. bicycling in Iowa.

Lovett, Richard A. The Essential Touring Cyclist: A Complete Guide for the Bicycle Traveler, Second Edition. Ragged Mountain Press, 2001.
A more in-depth approach, with information on longer-distance riding.

McMullan, Rory. Biking to work. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Pub. Co., 2007/2008.
I assume many who bike for recreation on the weekend and evening also ride to work. If they don’t, they should. I want to have as much information as I can as I begin to write about this cause.

Morgan, Bob. Biking Iowa: 50 great road trips and trail rides. Madison, WI: Trails Books, 2006.
This will serve as a great resource as I begin to review nearby trails.

Pirsig, Robert M. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. William Morrow and Company, 1974.

Sidwells, Chris. Bicycle repair manual. New York: DK, 2008.
Just in case.

Blogs
http://askwobg.blogspot.com/ Ask a Wise Old Bike Guy – As the name suggests, lots of information and tips from a seasoned biker.

http://bikecommutetips.blogspot.com/ - Tips for bike commuters, as compiled by some guy from Sacramento. It appears he does a pretty thorough job keeping his blog up to date on bike legislation, tips etc.

http://www.bikewebsite.com/rprper.html A website about what it’s like to be a bicycle repairperson.

Magazines
Bicycling Magazine. Every Spandex Warrior I know reads this magazine. I will read this monthly publication to track fads, styles and new technology in the popular bike world. One column in specific that I will focus on is the Style Man column – monthly bike fashion critique.

Cycling Plus. Another popular bicycle magazine. Supposedly with more in-depth content than Bicycling. I have yet to receive my first issue, so we’ll see.

Print. A US magazine covering the newest trends in graphic design.

Publication Design
Goodman, Allison. The 7 Essentials of Graphic Design. Cincinnati: How Design Books, 2001.
To enhance my basic understanding of the formalities of graphic design.

Hoekman, Robert. Designing the moment: Web interface design concepts in action. Berkeley: New Riders, 2008.
This will help with various aspects of my web project. I have almost no experience in web design.

Poynor, Rick. No more rules: graphic design and postmodernism. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2003.
Sometimes it helps me to focus on a particular area of study when attempting to learn about a broad subject or discipline.

White, Jan V. Editing by design: for designers, art directors, and editors: the classic guide to winning readers. New York: Allworth Press, 2003.
I will edit the content I present to my readers, and will need to be prepared to make appropriate choices.

Johnson County Affairs
F.I.R.S.T. pedestrian & bike map. Created and designed by Haberecht & Assoc. Iowa City, IA: distributed by Friends of the Iowa River Scenic Trails (F.I.R.S.T.), 1996.

http://publicrecords.onlinesearches.com/IA_Johnson.htm
Oftentimes, the savvy journalist’s first stop.

www.Johnson-county.com Provides information about government departments, agendas and minutes, county facts, calendar, forms and office hours and locations.



And of Course, Local Newspapers
Daily Iowan
Des Moines Register
Cedar Rapids Gazette
Iowa City Press-Citizen
I have included these newspapers, though arguably I should be monitoring these sources whether reporting for this project or otherwise….