Right. So sometimes, you make a plan, and it just doesn’t go that way.
John and I were running around last night, trying to get ready to go to Idaho, and knowing we’d spend most of the evening having dinner with friends. We went out to start the car (remember how we thought the battery was dead?).
We hooked up the jumper cables.
Nothing.
We re-read the instructions, and tried again.
Nothing.
We looked at the instructions a third time, and tried a third time.
Something is seriously wrong with our car (maybe it’s sulking!)
If I were superstitious, I’d say this was because I said, just the other day, that our car was really reliable! ; )
Anyway. Now we are on car-free challenge for real. So we took the bus to the Petco for dog food, and to the mall for new sneakers. A.J. drove past as we were waiting for the bus, and we must have looked like we needed a ride, because he stopped and picked us up! See that? We have such nice friends!
Tomorrow, the car gets to get towed out of the garage and down to the dealership, and we’ll find out what’s wrong with it... hopefully, it’s a simple fix!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
The Car-Free Challenge: Wednesday
So, today we had to move the horse trailer. Really. We did! Honest! The barn where we keep the horses has finished the new trailer parking area, and we needed to move the trailer from the temporary parking area to the new parking area. We were the last trailer in the old area, and the owner of the barn was asking us to move it.
So we took the truck out to the barn, and moved the trailer. We also had lessons, and then dropped the bikes off at the bike shop to get their annual tuning done. Then we met a visiting former student for lunch, and then headed home.
We took the 603 bus back downtown in the evening to meet the same former student (and family) for dinner at Shin Sei (best sushi in town!). We took the 603 home again.
So, car-free readers... does it count? Or do we re-start the clock?
So we took the truck out to the barn, and moved the trailer. We also had lessons, and then dropped the bikes off at the bike shop to get their annual tuning done. Then we met a visiting former student for lunch, and then headed home.
We took the 603 bus back downtown in the evening to meet the same former student (and family) for dinner at Shin Sei (best sushi in town!). We took the 603 home again.
So, car-free readers... does it count? Or do we re-start the clock?
The Car-Free Challenge: Tuesday
The Car-Free Challenge, day 10... more time at the barn.
I rode my bike to the barn again, no sweat. I even got brave, and rode down Harrison (a pretty busy thoroughfare). We’ve been afraid to do this! I thought I’d drop West across Harrison, and take Monroe north to 24th, but I misjudged my street, and came out at the wrong light. If I’d gone straight across, I would have wound up in the mess of streets and hills behind the Carriage dry cleaners. So I made a right instead, and went straight up Harrison to 24th. No sweat at 8:30 or so in the morning.
Rode my pony.
Headed back via bike to downtown, and caught the 603 up the hill. I can’t recall if I’ve mentioned, but our bikes need to be tuned, and my lowest gears are unreliable. At least, that’s the excuse I’m using! ; )
But seriously. 15 miles is nothing to sneeze at, and it’s getting easier and easier. While I’m not sure I’d want to do it after work, first thing in the morning, it’s actually a really nice way to start the day!
BTW, looking at that picture, I suddenly notice that my horse’s head is REALLY BIG compared to mine. I never noticed it before...
I rode my bike to the barn again, no sweat. I even got brave, and rode down Harrison (a pretty busy thoroughfare). We’ve been afraid to do this! I thought I’d drop West across Harrison, and take Monroe north to 24th, but I misjudged my street, and came out at the wrong light. If I’d gone straight across, I would have wound up in the mess of streets and hills behind the Carriage dry cleaners. So I made a right instead, and went straight up Harrison to 24th. No sweat at 8:30 or so in the morning.
Rode my pony.
Headed back via bike to downtown, and caught the 603 up the hill. I can’t recall if I’ve mentioned, but our bikes need to be tuned, and my lowest gears are unreliable. At least, that’s the excuse I’m using! ; )
But seriously. 15 miles is nothing to sneeze at, and it’s getting easier and easier. While I’m not sure I’d want to do it after work, first thing in the morning, it’s actually a really nice way to start the day!
BTW, looking at that picture, I suddenly notice that my horse’s head is REALLY BIG compared to mine. I never noticed it before...
Monday, July 28, 2008
The Car-Free Challenge: Monday
Today, John and his whole research team were in the car, most of the day. BUT. It wasn’t our car---it was a University vehicle. AND, their high-altitude balloon launch had been planned for almost a year. AND, they all car-pooled together over the mountains. AND, all his team was going anyway. Is this cheating on the car-free challenge? I don’t know... sticklers would say ‘yes’, and we should probably consider our Car-Free Challenge officially over.
But I didn’t get in the car today. So I am still car-free after nine days! I walked to work, as usual, and walked home for lunch, and walked back to work again in the afternoon, and walked home and took Cassie (bark!) for a walk on the trails. I pondered ordering delivery food, since John was out with the ballooning crew until very late, and truly, we are getting a little low on basic staples around here, since it’s the end of our ‘food week’---Winder Dairy and the CSA box come tomorrow. But then I just made rice and had a salad instead. And some of the awesome dark chocolate we brought back from Peru for dessert! Mmmmmm.... Better than the Chinese delivery place!
Tomorrow morning, we have barn, but I’m planning to bike out there. Actually, I think we have to, since we can’t seem to find our jumper cables and so the car is still not running (remember that we left the door ajar last week, and didn’t discover it until Thursday). On Wednesday morning, we both have lessons. Our friend Angie is coming in to town, and we will meet her for lunch downtown on Wed after lessons, so that’s all bike-able, although the timing is going to be tight.
But then Thursday, we for sure have to get back in the car. We have had plans for months to go up to Sandpoint, Idaho and meet up with C&T---they have a new kid we haven’t even seen yet! I think it’s going to be weird to get in the car. Then, next week, we have the big road trip seminar for local school teachers. That’s going to be even weirder!
But I didn’t get in the car today. So I am still car-free after nine days! I walked to work, as usual, and walked home for lunch, and walked back to work again in the afternoon, and walked home and took Cassie (bark!) for a walk on the trails. I pondered ordering delivery food, since John was out with the ballooning crew until very late, and truly, we are getting a little low on basic staples around here, since it’s the end of our ‘food week’---Winder Dairy and the CSA box come tomorrow. But then I just made rice and had a salad instead. And some of the awesome dark chocolate we brought back from Peru for dessert! Mmmmmm.... Better than the Chinese delivery place!
Tomorrow morning, we have barn, but I’m planning to bike out there. Actually, I think we have to, since we can’t seem to find our jumper cables and so the car is still not running (remember that we left the door ajar last week, and didn’t discover it until Thursday). On Wednesday morning, we both have lessons. Our friend Angie is coming in to town, and we will meet her for lunch downtown on Wed after lessons, so that’s all bike-able, although the timing is going to be tight.
But then Thursday, we for sure have to get back in the car. We have had plans for months to go up to Sandpoint, Idaho and meet up with C&T---they have a new kid we haven’t even seen yet! I think it’s going to be weird to get in the car. Then, next week, we have the big road trip seminar for local school teachers. That’s going to be even weirder!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
The Car-Free Challenge: Sunday
Our walk home at 10 pm last night was particularly nice. The sun had just set, and we had a nice late evening walk, getting home just as the last light faded from the sky. We don’t spend enough time outside at night...
This morning, we were out the door at 8:10 am to ride the bikes to the barn. John led, and was tuckered, so we definitely ‘took our time’. It’s shocking to think that ‘taking our time’ on the bikes means traveling at 17 miles an hour, but that’s the way it is! I’m barely pedaling on the flat at that speed... crazy.
We rode horses, bragged about our car-free challenge, brought some pony laundry home, and caught the 603 bus to get back up the hill. It was a moment of perfect timing. As we were coming across the 24th Street bridge, we saw the 603 pull into the transfer station. So we hustled along to 25th and Washington, which is the next stop. We had to wait about 5 minutes, which was really just enough time to organize ourselves to get on the bus!
We were home at 11:30.
Ok. So let me make a big deal about this, if you please. When we DRIVE to the barn, which is about 9.5 miles, we leave the house at 8 am, and arrive back a little after 11. We have worked it into our world view that a barn trip takes about 3 hours.
Riding our bikes for most of the way, it took us 3 hours and 20 minutes. Dude. We totally rock.
This morning, we were out the door at 8:10 am to ride the bikes to the barn. John led, and was tuckered, so we definitely ‘took our time’. It’s shocking to think that ‘taking our time’ on the bikes means traveling at 17 miles an hour, but that’s the way it is! I’m barely pedaling on the flat at that speed... crazy.
We rode horses, bragged about our car-free challenge, brought some pony laundry home, and caught the 603 bus to get back up the hill. It was a moment of perfect timing. As we were coming across the 24th Street bridge, we saw the 603 pull into the transfer station. So we hustled along to 25th and Washington, which is the next stop. We had to wait about 5 minutes, which was really just enough time to organize ourselves to get on the bus!
We were home at 11:30.
Ok. So let me make a big deal about this, if you please. When we DRIVE to the barn, which is about 9.5 miles, we leave the house at 8 am, and arrive back a little after 11. We have worked it into our world view that a barn trip takes about 3 hours.
Riding our bikes for most of the way, it took us 3 hours and 20 minutes. Dude. We totally rock.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
The Car-Free Challenge: Saturday
Saturday is the day of the Farmer’s Market downtown, which at this time, still has very few farmers! Spring was late this year, and so the produce is late, and it’s a good thing we can ship it all in from California, or we’d starve to death.
But seriously. We took the bus to the Farmer’s Market, then walked down to the transit station to pick up the BIG bus map, so we can continue our challenge into next week and the future. We walked back to the Farmer’s Market, picked up a few things, got an iced coffee and a crepe, sat on the lawn for a while, and then decided to go to the grocery store. This occasioned some nervousness on John’s part, because he didn’t want to pick up a huge amount of stuff at the store. But that’s ok, because we didn’t need a huge amount of stuff!
Back on the 603 bus, past our usual stop, on to the Smith’s. We bought everything we need, and a few things we don’t, and only spent $64, about half the usual amount. I think this is partly because we didn’t buy a LOT of things we didn’t need, for fear we couldn’t carry them! (We cheat, admittedly, because we have a delivery dairy, as well as a CSA membership, so don’t go thinking this is our total grocery bill, or that we were trying to get milk home this way!)
We came out of the store, and while we were trying to figure out which stop to stand at, the North-bound bus went by (the Smith’s is near the end of the line, so you can get on South-bound if you want, and it won’t take much longer than crossing the extremely busy street and heading back North-bound). It would be about 1/2 an hour before the next bus, so we decided to walk. Turned out the bank was open, so we stopped and deposited our economic stimulus check (whoopee!), and then cut across campus. We were home in less than 1/2 an hour, including the time to stop and deposit the check. All the food was fine, and so were we, in spite of the 100-degree heat today.
I will say that I think I need new sneakers. Mine were worn out at the beginning of the week, and I’ve put some miles on ‘em since then. Do they make sneakers that are meant to actually be used to actually go places? I’ll have to shop around! On Monday. At the mall. Which I can get to by taking a bus that goes RIGHT PAST MY HOUSE! (Have I mentioned that I feel like an idiot for not doing this years ago?)
We spent some time this afternoon talking about what it would be like to get rid of the car all together. We ran some numbers, and figure we could save about $5000/year. What would we do with an ‘extra’ $5000/year, tax-free? Huh. That’s like getting a $7,500/year pay raise. We’ll try being car-free a little while longer, and see how we do. If we can do it for six months, then that will get us into the winter months, and we’ll know that we can do it all the time.
Tonight, we have a dinner date with the Johnstons, to exchange trip souvenirs. We’ll walk over there on the trail, cutting across Mount Ogden Park, and walking on surface streets for probably less than half a mile. In the past, we’ve tended to walk to their house about half the time. It’s a nice walk, and since our dog likes to play with their dog, we usually take Cassie with us. It’s nice to be able to take her for a long-ish walk through the woods on the way over there...
Have I mentioned that Ogden is a really great place to live?
But seriously. We took the bus to the Farmer’s Market, then walked down to the transit station to pick up the BIG bus map, so we can continue our challenge into next week and the future. We walked back to the Farmer’s Market, picked up a few things, got an iced coffee and a crepe, sat on the lawn for a while, and then decided to go to the grocery store. This occasioned some nervousness on John’s part, because he didn’t want to pick up a huge amount of stuff at the store. But that’s ok, because we didn’t need a huge amount of stuff!
Back on the 603 bus, past our usual stop, on to the Smith’s. We bought everything we need, and a few things we don’t, and only spent $64, about half the usual amount. I think this is partly because we didn’t buy a LOT of things we didn’t need, for fear we couldn’t carry them! (We cheat, admittedly, because we have a delivery dairy, as well as a CSA membership, so don’t go thinking this is our total grocery bill, or that we were trying to get milk home this way!)
We came out of the store, and while we were trying to figure out which stop to stand at, the North-bound bus went by (the Smith’s is near the end of the line, so you can get on South-bound if you want, and it won’t take much longer than crossing the extremely busy street and heading back North-bound). It would be about 1/2 an hour before the next bus, so we decided to walk. Turned out the bank was open, so we stopped and deposited our economic stimulus check (whoopee!), and then cut across campus. We were home in less than 1/2 an hour, including the time to stop and deposit the check. All the food was fine, and so were we, in spite of the 100-degree heat today.
I will say that I think I need new sneakers. Mine were worn out at the beginning of the week, and I’ve put some miles on ‘em since then. Do they make sneakers that are meant to actually be used to actually go places? I’ll have to shop around! On Monday. At the mall. Which I can get to by taking a bus that goes RIGHT PAST MY HOUSE! (Have I mentioned that I feel like an idiot for not doing this years ago?)
We spent some time this afternoon talking about what it would be like to get rid of the car all together. We ran some numbers, and figure we could save about $5000/year. What would we do with an ‘extra’ $5000/year, tax-free? Huh. That’s like getting a $7,500/year pay raise. We’ll try being car-free a little while longer, and see how we do. If we can do it for six months, then that will get us into the winter months, and we’ll know that we can do it all the time.
Tonight, we have a dinner date with the Johnstons, to exchange trip souvenirs. We’ll walk over there on the trail, cutting across Mount Ogden Park, and walking on surface streets for probably less than half a mile. In the past, we’ve tended to walk to their house about half the time. It’s a nice walk, and since our dog likes to play with their dog, we usually take Cassie with us. It’s nice to be able to take her for a long-ish walk through the woods on the way over there...
Have I mentioned that Ogden is a really great place to live?
The Car-Free Challenge: Friday
So, when we started this on Sunday, we thought, ‘Oh good, because on Friday, we won’t have to go anywhere! That will help us get through the week.’ But then Friday rolled around, and we were having so much fun with our challenge that we decided to hop on the bus downtown and grab dinner and see a movie. We chose to see ‘Dark Knight’, which is, like, THREE HOURS long. Oy. That put a little crimp in our style because the latest show we could go to was the 5:30. Otherwise, the buses would have stopped running by the time we got out.
But it was ok, because we are hungry all the time now! So we ate at Subway (me with the ultimate veggie sandwich), and then headed off to the movie.
Notice that I don’t even mention the bus ride? That’s because it was so flippin’ easy to walk down the street, grab the bus, and head downtown. Seriously.
But because we hadn’t carefully checked the time, we were back at the bus stop to go home about half an hour before we needed to be. By the time the bus came, we had completely debriefed about the movie, figured out all the inconsistencies (never go to the movies with a physicist unless you LIKE this kind of analysis!), and gotten a little tired of standing there! Had we checked the time, however, we might have gone down the street to get a beer before taking the bus home, and that would have been really great... next time...
But really, here’s the thing. It was not a hardship to wait for the bus. We just conversed, enjoyed the cool(er) night air, and people-watched. Apparently, it’s now way cool for guys to put their shirt on only halfway---with one arm out of the sleeve... weird. Waiting for the bus was just... down time. Which we don’t get enough of, anyway. So maybe during the school year, this will seem like a pain? Or when the weather is bad? Dunno. Some people HAVE to take the bus everywhere. They seem to get by all right.
It’s kind of embarrassing, really. I mean, here we’ve been complaining this whole time about the noisy buses that go RIGHT BY OUR HOUSE. Dratted buses. Making so much noise. And it turns out that this is something to treasure, not complain about! Imagine. Somebody driving past your house every day, like 50 times a day, just waiting for you to notice that they can take you where you need to go. Ugh. I feel like an idiot. This is not a challenge. This is a reality check.
But it was ok, because we are hungry all the time now! So we ate at Subway (me with the ultimate veggie sandwich), and then headed off to the movie.
Notice that I don’t even mention the bus ride? That’s because it was so flippin’ easy to walk down the street, grab the bus, and head downtown. Seriously.
But because we hadn’t carefully checked the time, we were back at the bus stop to go home about half an hour before we needed to be. By the time the bus came, we had completely debriefed about the movie, figured out all the inconsistencies (never go to the movies with a physicist unless you LIKE this kind of analysis!), and gotten a little tired of standing there! Had we checked the time, however, we might have gone down the street to get a beer before taking the bus home, and that would have been really great... next time...
But really, here’s the thing. It was not a hardship to wait for the bus. We just conversed, enjoyed the cool(er) night air, and people-watched. Apparently, it’s now way cool for guys to put their shirt on only halfway---with one arm out of the sleeve... weird. Waiting for the bus was just... down time. Which we don’t get enough of, anyway. So maybe during the school year, this will seem like a pain? Or when the weather is bad? Dunno. Some people HAVE to take the bus everywhere. They seem to get by all right.
It’s kind of embarrassing, really. I mean, here we’ve been complaining this whole time about the noisy buses that go RIGHT BY OUR HOUSE. Dratted buses. Making so much noise. And it turns out that this is something to treasure, not complain about! Imagine. Somebody driving past your house every day, like 50 times a day, just waiting for you to notice that they can take you where you need to go. Ugh. I feel like an idiot. This is not a challenge. This is a reality check.
Friday, July 25, 2008
The Car-Free Challenge: Thursday
This was Pioneer Day, a uniquely Utah holiday. The whole place pretty much closes down, including banks and the post office, so there can be parades and picnics and rodeos to celebrate the arrival of the Mormons in the Salt Lake Valley.
To gentiles working on our car-free challenge, this means that buses are on Sunday service. Fortunately, we are not actually expected to be anywhere at any particular time, so it all works out!
We left at 8 am, to ride bikes out to the barn, which turns out to be just under 10 miles. No problemo. It took us half an hour to get there, which is about 5 minutes longer than it takes to drive, on average. Because it’s a holiday, there was very little traffic. A couple of scooters went by, and we wondered out loud if we’d been transported to a third-world country, where cars are much less common! We did the pony thing, and then headed back towards town at around 11 am. We were back downtown by 11:20, and watched the 603 bus go by, a little behind schedule, and on a detour. This was ok, because the bike racks were all full anyway, and we wanted some tacos!
So we wandered over to the town center, skipped past the sheriff’s posse BBQ, and went up to the taco carts. We ate five tacos between us, and then headed back to the transit station. We waited a little bit for the bus---maybe 15 minutes or so. When it showed up, there were two bikes on it already---uh-oh. One person got off with his bike, and the bus driver hopped off the bus and said to us, ‘I’ve got room for one.’ The guy who got off said ‘I think the other guy is getting his bike off at Washington and 25th (this is about 4 blocks away). So John decided to bike over there, and put his bike on when the other bike got off.
I got on the bus, and talked to the guy who had his bike on the front. We switched places on the rack, so his was in front, since he was getting off first. He was pretty mad at the bus driver for not ‘letting’ John on with his bike. But we hadn’t asked, so there you have it. The bus driver came back, and away we went. We dropped off the other rider at Washington, and picked John up, so everything worked out. John is now almost as happy as I am about the 603 bus, and not having to ride up the hill when it’s nearly 100 degrees outside.
We have heard that UTA has a policy that if the bike racks are full, and there’s room on the bus, you can actually bring your bike on the bus. (A quick search of the website neither confirms nor denies this information.) If it’s true, then John, technically, could have gotten on the bus. But it was a holiday, and not a big deal to ride over to the next stop, so we don’t really care. We’ll have to try to find out the actual policy, for future reference.
All in all, a successful car-free day. We are starting to feel competent at getting around without a car! Time to go back and re-read this book: ‘How to Live Well Without Owning a Car’ by Chris Balish. Car free all the time? hmmm... something to think about. Especially since we accidentally didn’t shut the back door of the Prius all the way on Sunday, and today find that the battery is dead. Drat.
In related news, today is a yellow air day (too much car exhaust at ground level combined with high temperatures makes ground-level ozone. This is bad for you), AND a yellow power-forward day (the grid is showing signs of stress from all the air conditioning). Yikes. It’s a little surprising, because it’s the Friday after a holiday, and lots of people have taken the day off... traffic was light this morning, NPR tells me.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
The Car-Free Challenge: Wednesday
Success!!!
It was a pretty sleepless night, actually. I had dreams that I was falling off my bike into traffic, and between that and the thunderstorm rolling by, I had to tell myself in the middle of the night that I would just drive to the barn in order to calm my nerves. But then I got up, and the sun was shining and the streets were dry, and I decided, ‘What the heck!’ I took a deep breath, got my stuff together, and headed out the door.
I caught the 603 at 7:27 am, figured out how to put my bike on the rack (where it says ‘Pull the Handle’, it really means ‘Lift the Handle’---it has to go up, not down.) I got my ‘you’ve stored your bike on our bus’ pass, and away we went. 17 minutes later, I got off of the bus at the Transfer station, and I’m pretty sure I forgot to put the rack up. But the bus driver didn’t say anything, so maybe I didn’t.
At 8, the 604 pulled up to the station. I successfully loaded my bike, got on the bus, had a conversation with the driver about the exact stop for me to get off, and settled in. At 8:07, we left the station, and 15 minutes later, I was on the other side of the treacherous bridge over the tracks, and hopped off. I definitely forgot to put the rack up, and the driver had to remind me. Dratted novice bus-bikers!
I took a minute to get myself organized, and then walked my bike across the street, hopped on, and pedaled to the barn. 3.5 miles later, I was there. That nice flat section just flew by. Every time I looked at my speedometer, it was over 20 mph, so I was zooming. It took about an hour all together, house to barn.
I was in plenty of time for my lesson, so I drank some water, and took my time getting changed. Then I had my lesson (Trinket was a star!!!!! We have stretchy trot!!!! On demand!!!! But that’s a whole OTHER blog.), held horses for the farrier for a couple of hours, helped out with turnout, and shot the breeze with the barn staff a little bit.
At 1:27, I texted John that I was getting ready to go. I probably wandered around for at least five more minutes, just getting helmet and gloves on, putting phone away, generally making sure I hadn’t forgotten anything... I hopped on the bike, and had an uneventful trip back to where I left the bus that morning. I just missed the 604---I mean JUST---it pulled out as I was arriving, so I decided to just keep going and pedal back to the transit station. This was about three more miles, but the bus either had to make lots more stops, or traveled a longer route---I actually beat it back to the station. I got to the station, and hung around for about 5 minutes before I realized that John would probably want to know I’d gotten there, so at 2:06, I texted him. This is of no interest, except that I traveled 6.5 miles in about half an hour, including stopping at three traffic lights and a railroad crossing, and having to slow down for a trailer that didn’t see me. So that’s a pretty good clip, I think.
The 603 was running 15 minutes late, so I didn’t get on it until about 2:10. By 2:30, I was home! I definitely remembered to put the rack up this time! Again, the trip took about an hour, including the delay for the 603. I think if we timed it right, we could get home in 45 minutes. (Barring any bus delays.) This is about twice what it takes to drive the distance.
Biking OUT is not a problem. We typically do that in the morning, when it’s still cool, and it’s all downhill. It’s coming up the last hill to the house in the middle of the day that sucks. Give us a couple of weeks, and it will probably be trivial, but it’s nice to know that the bus option is there to help us get home. It means we’ll ride our ponies harder---no doubt they’ll be happy about that!
So here’s what I learned. The bus doesn’t go everywhere. But if you think hard about it, you can probably find away to hook a bus and bike trip together. It will take longer to get where you are going, probably, but between being able to do other things on the bus, and not needing to go to the gym, it’s not a bad solution. IF you can be flexible about when you leave, and it’s ok if you are 15 minutes late sometimes. That’s a huge ‘if’, especially for people who need to take the bus, because they probably don’t work for the most flexible and understanding bosses on the planet.
I also learned that we need more food. LOTS more food. I gobbled two huge veggie tacos as soon as I walked in the door. That was two hours ago, and I’m STARVING. ; ) I need a snack. Eventually, this will level out, but I’m definitely burning more calories. I’m not craving meat, which is an interesting change from previous years, when my body was used to meat protein, and didn’t know how to cope without it. But I sure am hungry!
It was a pretty sleepless night, actually. I had dreams that I was falling off my bike into traffic, and between that and the thunderstorm rolling by, I had to tell myself in the middle of the night that I would just drive to the barn in order to calm my nerves. But then I got up, and the sun was shining and the streets were dry, and I decided, ‘What the heck!’ I took a deep breath, got my stuff together, and headed out the door.
I caught the 603 at 7:27 am, figured out how to put my bike on the rack (where it says ‘Pull the Handle’, it really means ‘Lift the Handle’---it has to go up, not down.) I got my ‘you’ve stored your bike on our bus’ pass, and away we went. 17 minutes later, I got off of the bus at the Transfer station, and I’m pretty sure I forgot to put the rack up. But the bus driver didn’t say anything, so maybe I didn’t.
At 8, the 604 pulled up to the station. I successfully loaded my bike, got on the bus, had a conversation with the driver about the exact stop for me to get off, and settled in. At 8:07, we left the station, and 15 minutes later, I was on the other side of the treacherous bridge over the tracks, and hopped off. I definitely forgot to put the rack up, and the driver had to remind me. Dratted novice bus-bikers!
I took a minute to get myself organized, and then walked my bike across the street, hopped on, and pedaled to the barn. 3.5 miles later, I was there. That nice flat section just flew by. Every time I looked at my speedometer, it was over 20 mph, so I was zooming. It took about an hour all together, house to barn.
I was in plenty of time for my lesson, so I drank some water, and took my time getting changed. Then I had my lesson (Trinket was a star!!!!! We have stretchy trot!!!! On demand!!!! But that’s a whole OTHER blog.), held horses for the farrier for a couple of hours, helped out with turnout, and shot the breeze with the barn staff a little bit.
At 1:27, I texted John that I was getting ready to go. I probably wandered around for at least five more minutes, just getting helmet and gloves on, putting phone away, generally making sure I hadn’t forgotten anything... I hopped on the bike, and had an uneventful trip back to where I left the bus that morning. I just missed the 604---I mean JUST---it pulled out as I was arriving, so I decided to just keep going and pedal back to the transit station. This was about three more miles, but the bus either had to make lots more stops, or traveled a longer route---I actually beat it back to the station. I got to the station, and hung around for about 5 minutes before I realized that John would probably want to know I’d gotten there, so at 2:06, I texted him. This is of no interest, except that I traveled 6.5 miles in about half an hour, including stopping at three traffic lights and a railroad crossing, and having to slow down for a trailer that didn’t see me. So that’s a pretty good clip, I think.
The 603 was running 15 minutes late, so I didn’t get on it until about 2:10. By 2:30, I was home! I definitely remembered to put the rack up this time! Again, the trip took about an hour, including the delay for the 603. I think if we timed it right, we could get home in 45 minutes. (Barring any bus delays.) This is about twice what it takes to drive the distance.
Biking OUT is not a problem. We typically do that in the morning, when it’s still cool, and it’s all downhill. It’s coming up the last hill to the house in the middle of the day that sucks. Give us a couple of weeks, and it will probably be trivial, but it’s nice to know that the bus option is there to help us get home. It means we’ll ride our ponies harder---no doubt they’ll be happy about that!
So here’s what I learned. The bus doesn’t go everywhere. But if you think hard about it, you can probably find away to hook a bus and bike trip together. It will take longer to get where you are going, probably, but between being able to do other things on the bus, and not needing to go to the gym, it’s not a bad solution. IF you can be flexible about when you leave, and it’s ok if you are 15 minutes late sometimes. That’s a huge ‘if’, especially for people who need to take the bus, because they probably don’t work for the most flexible and understanding bosses on the planet.
I also learned that we need more food. LOTS more food. I gobbled two huge veggie tacos as soon as I walked in the door. That was two hours ago, and I’m STARVING. ; ) I need a snack. Eventually, this will level out, but I’m definitely burning more calories. I’m not craving meat, which is an interesting change from previous years, when my body was used to meat protein, and didn’t know how to cope without it. But I sure am hungry!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
The Car-Free Challenge: Tuesday
So today was the first big challenge day. Fortunately, it is summertime, and our schedules are really flexible. Unfortunately, it’s summertime, and it’s really hot. Probably not the smartest thing we ever did... riding 26 miles round trip... first day out... in the summer sun... D’oh.
So we head out to the barn, leaving the house at 8 am. On paper, it looked like a good idea to drop down to the Ogden river trail, (a dedicated bike lane) and then head out to the barn on 24th street. Turns out that adds several miles to the trip! We wanted to do this to avoid a bridge that is pretty intimidating. Driving, it’s 8 miles to the barn. Biking this route? 13. D’oh. It took, like, an HOUR.
So, by the time we get there, we’re pretty pooped already, and I figure that if I ride my horse as well, I’ll never make it home! So we play with Kody and Trinket in the arena for a while, and then head back out. This time, we decide to skip the river trail, and head straight back over that intimidating bridge. While stopping at a traffic light, I overbalance to the left, get my foot stuck in my toe clip, and take a low-velocity tumble. But I jump right back up, hop on my bike, and make the light. I’m nearly a mile down the road before I notice that my handlebars are all messed up, and the gear shifters are no longer where they used to be!
We stop off at Bingham’s (pretty much the greatest bike shop ever...like anyone could ever know that, Napoleon), to get lunch, and to buy racks and sacks for our bikes, so that we can carry stuff. They help us with the install, since I’m so short the rack didn’t fit quite right---there wasn’t enough room between the brakes and the attachment point. Over lunch, I begin to wonder if ‘mostly meatless’ and ‘mostly carless’ go together... hmmmm... And away we go!
Coming back the rest of the way was relatively uneventful, except for the jerks who thought we were taking too long to cross Monroe, and yelled at us. Well, whatever. They would have felt pretty crappy if we’d rushed into it and got hit by a car...
But I had to walk my bike up the last bit of the hill. I was just pooped out. John’s a good guy, and walked his bike too. We got home around 1 pm.
But this afternoon, we had to go get the CSA box. What to do, what to do? Too tired to take the bikes, and who wants to ride a bike down Harrison anyway? I’ve seen people get in trouble on the part by the behavioral center (there is no shoulder, and a fair hill there makes for slow cyclists, and impatient drivers). So, we checked with UTA. A bus goes almost exactly where we want to go! So we made a date to take the 4:26 bus from down the street, and go get the CSA box. This is great! We empty out the box into our backpacks (SWEET! we don’t have to remember to bring the empty box back!), pick up a few extra local produce goodies at Cochran’s (they promise fresh, local corn will be in on Thursday!!!!), and trot back across 89 and just catch the bus back. Total travel time: 45 min. This is about what it would take to go by car!
The bad: trying to get down Harrison and across 89 from the bus stop. There are no sidewalks. There are no crosswalks. It’s one of those places where the car reigns supreme.
The good: we have an Ed-Pass! We paid for it one way or another through the University (or maybe our students did---thanks students! or maybe our provost did---thanks Mike!), and it lets us travel on UTA for free!
The even better: It was totally painless and easy and as fast as taking the car.
Tomorrow. I have to be at the barn for a lesson by 9 am. The farrier is also coming tomorrow. So I have a new plan. I’m taking the 603 to the transit station, where I’ll pick up the 604. This will drop me almost at the light where I fell down yesterday. So I’ll ride my bike the last two (almost perfectly level!) miles to the barn. I’ll hold horses for the farrier, take my lesson, and then ride back to the bus stop, and take the 604 to the 603 to my house. It’ll be an adventure... I’ll write about it tomorrow!
So we head out to the barn, leaving the house at 8 am. On paper, it looked like a good idea to drop down to the Ogden river trail, (a dedicated bike lane) and then head out to the barn on 24th street. Turns out that adds several miles to the trip! We wanted to do this to avoid a bridge that is pretty intimidating. Driving, it’s 8 miles to the barn. Biking this route? 13. D’oh. It took, like, an HOUR.
So, by the time we get there, we’re pretty pooped already, and I figure that if I ride my horse as well, I’ll never make it home! So we play with Kody and Trinket in the arena for a while, and then head back out. This time, we decide to skip the river trail, and head straight back over that intimidating bridge. While stopping at a traffic light, I overbalance to the left, get my foot stuck in my toe clip, and take a low-velocity tumble. But I jump right back up, hop on my bike, and make the light. I’m nearly a mile down the road before I notice that my handlebars are all messed up, and the gear shifters are no longer where they used to be!
We stop off at Bingham’s (pretty much the greatest bike shop ever...like anyone could ever know that, Napoleon), to get lunch, and to buy racks and sacks for our bikes, so that we can carry stuff. They help us with the install, since I’m so short the rack didn’t fit quite right---there wasn’t enough room between the brakes and the attachment point. Over lunch, I begin to wonder if ‘mostly meatless’ and ‘mostly carless’ go together... hmmmm... And away we go!
Coming back the rest of the way was relatively uneventful, except for the jerks who thought we were taking too long to cross Monroe, and yelled at us. Well, whatever. They would have felt pretty crappy if we’d rushed into it and got hit by a car...
But I had to walk my bike up the last bit of the hill. I was just pooped out. John’s a good guy, and walked his bike too. We got home around 1 pm.
But this afternoon, we had to go get the CSA box. What to do, what to do? Too tired to take the bikes, and who wants to ride a bike down Harrison anyway? I’ve seen people get in trouble on the part by the behavioral center (there is no shoulder, and a fair hill there makes for slow cyclists, and impatient drivers). So, we checked with UTA. A bus goes almost exactly where we want to go! So we made a date to take the 4:26 bus from down the street, and go get the CSA box. This is great! We empty out the box into our backpacks (SWEET! we don’t have to remember to bring the empty box back!), pick up a few extra local produce goodies at Cochran’s (they promise fresh, local corn will be in on Thursday!!!!), and trot back across 89 and just catch the bus back. Total travel time: 45 min. This is about what it would take to go by car!
The bad: trying to get down Harrison and across 89 from the bus stop. There are no sidewalks. There are no crosswalks. It’s one of those places where the car reigns supreme.
The good: we have an Ed-Pass! We paid for it one way or another through the University (or maybe our students did---thanks students! or maybe our provost did---thanks Mike!), and it lets us travel on UTA for free!
The even better: It was totally painless and easy and as fast as taking the car.
Tomorrow. I have to be at the barn for a lesson by 9 am. The farrier is also coming tomorrow. So I have a new plan. I’m taking the 603 to the transit station, where I’ll pick up the 604. This will drop me almost at the light where I fell down yesterday. So I’ll ride my bike the last two (almost perfectly level!) miles to the barn. I’ll hold horses for the farrier, take my lesson, and then ride back to the bus stop, and take the 604 to the 603 to my house. It’ll be an adventure... I’ll write about it tomorrow!
The Car-Free Challenge: Monday
This was an easy, cheater day, mostly.John and I live within a block of where we work. So toddling off to work in the morning, it’s trivial to be car-free. Once in a while, we run into a colleague at the break in the fence, and get to complain about the ‘traffic’. And M,W,F are generally car-free days for us anyway, since we go to see the horses on T,Th, Sat, Sun.
BUT. John is getting ready for this big balloon launch (he and the students are building a high-altitude balloon that will ferry student projects to SPACE (100,000 feet)). And they need some zip ties, and a tarp, and some batteries, and an 8-Gig camera memory card, and a bunch of other stuff. So, he goes to the Lowe’s and Best Buy. On his bike! Fortunately, these stores share a parking lot (with no bike rack). Unfortunately, it’s on box-store-row, hereabouts known as Riverdale Road. But there’s a sneaky back way, if you go behind the mall and past the liquor store. It took him about 1.75 hrs, total, to go there, shop and come back again, about 6 miles round trip. This is maybe half an hour longer than if he drove. Maybe. Because you never know what’s going to happen once you get on Riverdale Road!
Coming back up the hill, there was drama, because we haven’t ridden our bikes in a while, and he was missing his lowest gears. But he came panting in the door long before I expected him... and then he fixed his gears himself, which was one of those ‘A-ha!’ moments when you realize that if it can be done, it can be done by you...
A good day in the car-free challenge. An unexpected trip goes off without a hitch!
Car-Free Challenge: Sunday
It seems to be our nature to push it... so as an experiment this week, we are trying to live car-free. This being Tuesday, we’ve already got some news to report!
The car-free challenge started Sunday at noon. (We had to take my sister to the airport in the morning, and it didn’t seem fair to include her in our wackiness!) In the afternoon, I needed to make an emergency trip to the grocery store for those feminine hygiene products (I know, I know, there are other options. I’m not ready for that yet!) So I hopped on ‘old blue’, and rode on over there. The closest grocery store is the Smith’s on Harrison, about 1.5 miles away. Generally, we hate this store, because all the employees are rude. But maybe it’s time to get over that, and instead of avoiding them, try to work with them on their social issues. ; )
They have no bike racks at the Smith’s, so I locked my bike to the cart corral, and went inside.
Since I was there anyway, I got the following:
2 lemons
2 limes
dog biscuits
feminine hygiene product (quit giggling!)
trash bags (still on the hunt for the perfect kitchen can liner---we don’t get enough grocery store bags or paper bags! Any other options, anybody? I haven’t thought hard about this yet...)
OH! And Bicycling Magazine, which has a column about Ogden in the August issue. I couldn’t pass up that little impulse buy---note to magazines: write about my town and I’ll buy the issue. Promise!
Anyway, there I am at the checkout, and I ask the woman to put it in my little backpack, since I’m biking it. She is not a very good packer, and is quite put out that I won’t let her just put each item into it’s own plastic bag, and hand it to me. I have to repack when I get out of the store. But it all fits in my little backpack, and I hop on ‘old blue’, and come home. Up the hill from the Smith’s, across the University, hop off to get through the unpaved break in the fenceline. Ta-da! Easy-peasy. John said, ‘Already?’ when I walked in the door! Faster than driving, I bet. John and I should race one of these days.
I’ll put Monday’s adventures in the next entry...
The car-free challenge started Sunday at noon. (We had to take my sister to the airport in the morning, and it didn’t seem fair to include her in our wackiness!) In the afternoon, I needed to make an emergency trip to the grocery store for those feminine hygiene products (I know, I know, there are other options. I’m not ready for that yet!) So I hopped on ‘old blue’, and rode on over there. The closest grocery store is the Smith’s on Harrison, about 1.5 miles away. Generally, we hate this store, because all the employees are rude. But maybe it’s time to get over that, and instead of avoiding them, try to work with them on their social issues. ; )
They have no bike racks at the Smith’s, so I locked my bike to the cart corral, and went inside.
Since I was there anyway, I got the following:
2 lemons
2 limes
dog biscuits
feminine hygiene product (quit giggling!)
trash bags (still on the hunt for the perfect kitchen can liner---we don’t get enough grocery store bags or paper bags! Any other options, anybody? I haven’t thought hard about this yet...)
OH! And Bicycling Magazine, which has a column about Ogden in the August issue. I couldn’t pass up that little impulse buy---note to magazines: write about my town and I’ll buy the issue. Promise!
Anyway, there I am at the checkout, and I ask the woman to put it in my little backpack, since I’m biking it. She is not a very good packer, and is quite put out that I won’t let her just put each item into it’s own plastic bag, and hand it to me. I have to repack when I get out of the store. But it all fits in my little backpack, and I hop on ‘old blue’, and come home. Up the hill from the Smith’s, across the University, hop off to get through the unpaved break in the fenceline. Ta-da! Easy-peasy. John said, ‘Already?’ when I walked in the door! Faster than driving, I bet. John and I should race one of these days.
I’ll put Monday’s adventures in the next entry...
Sunday, July 20, 2008
After a time away...
So, it was the end of term, and we went to the Amazon, and my sister came to visit (she’s 16 and such a good kid!), and we were generally busy, so I haven’t posted in a while. Coming up... we have three new chickens! and our struggle with my sabbatical in Socorro (TWO residences?! Oh no!), and the big bike challenge... is it possible for us to leave our car in the garage for one week every month? And, oh yes, the Amazon. I wanted to see it before it was gone, but I think I was too late...
But here’s a piece of an email containing good links from N, to help us all find some new things to try.
Homemade Green Cleaning Methods (I have tried most of them, and they do work):
http://www.metrokc.gov/health/asthma/facts/greencleaning.htm
Seventh Generation (awesome, awesome, awesome--there isn't a product of them that I have not used yet, I think--dishwashing liquids and detergents, toilet cleaner, nonchlorine bleach, fabric softener, feminine care and paper products); the founder has some great blogs:
http://www.seventhgeneration.com/
The BEST liquid castile soap (a little wackiness on the labels, but I give the founder a break--he lost his family in the Holocaust and wished the world to become All One in Love)--the best body wash/face wash/shaving lotion/delicate and regular laundry soap/etc. I ditched my expensive Dove body wash, Cetaphil facial cleanser and shaving foam!
http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/LS.htm.
Natracare (feminine care products--100% organic and biodegradable):
http://www.natracare.com/index2.htm
But here’s a piece of an email containing good links from N, to help us all find some new things to try.
Homemade Green Cleaning Methods (I have tried most of them, and they do work):
http://www.metrokc.gov/health/asthma/facts/greencleaning.htm
Seventh Generation (awesome, awesome, awesome--there isn't a product of them that I have not used yet, I think--dishwashing liquids and detergents, toilet cleaner, nonchlorine bleach, fabric softener, feminine care and paper products); the founder has some great blogs:
http://www.seventhgeneration.com/
The BEST liquid castile soap (a little wackiness on the labels, but I give the founder a break--he lost his family in the Holocaust and wished the world to become All One in Love)--the best body wash/face wash/shaving lotion/delicate and regular laundry soap/etc. I ditched my expensive Dove body wash, Cetaphil facial cleanser and shaving foam!
http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/LS.htm.
Natracare (feminine care products--100% organic and biodegradable):
http://www.natracare.com/index2.htm
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