I was talking with my wife today about getting local with our grocery shopping...she pointed out that Newport Market is the cheapest around, if you walk or ride your bike.
Good point. True, you do pay a bit more there, but for some things, you do not pay any more than you would elsewhere. You do get better quality for the most part. What you certainly get is better service, especially in the wine and meat departments. I hope to leverage my law degree into a job at Newport selling wine. It could happen.
It is no longer feasible to drive down to Fred Meyer's to shop their better prices. The gas is killing us (us=people in general). But for those of us who did not buy into the southern deschutes sprawl that is, say, River Rim, we are better off eschewing the car and riding down to Newport or Devores, paying a bit more per item, and burning no gas.
Is that commuting? Hell yes. The wisdom of alternative transport does not start and end with the work day.
Look at the recent article on the bulletin's site about the development program for the Bactchelor parking lot. Nowhere did anyone talk about alternative transport for the roadway engineering. Interesting.
If we can get 5% of us on bikes, maybe 6%, you will see a decrease in roadway traffic. That also means less risk. As my wife pointed out, not driving to Fred Meyer's means less of everything, gas, risk, hassle, headache...
I found an interesting video at http://www.celsias.com/2007/05/15/designing-cities-for-people/ ...scroll to the bottom. The f word is used 4-5 times, so keep your volume under control.
OK...enough random thoughts for now. Have a great weekend.
Get out there and ride...there is no someday.
Showing posts with label Smart Wife. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Smart Wife. Show all posts
Friday, February 29, 2008
Saturday, February 2, 2008
3hird
My wife had to buy chains for our Nissan 240 SX (her car is ruby pearl) just to get up the driveway.
Most of the year, we get 30mph+, but in the winter, bad winters mind you, the car sucks for traction as it is rear-wheel drive. It is fun to drive in the summer, challenging in the winter.
Chains just to get up the drive. Dang. Bend has had feet of snow recently. I am surprised the city did not hire her to plow roads with her low profile.
She (my wife) has blood pressure that is so low, she cannot get warm in the winter, otherwise, I would get her studs for her bike.
Old Man Winter wins this round with my family. He has yet to beat me over here in the valley. I did have to walk to school one day recently. I had biked a couple of blocks when i noticed I was biking on ice. I got off and walked most of 1.75 miles. Sketchy to say the least. I need some yaktrax for my bike shoes when I am forced to hoof it.
Wife left the chains on so she can roar off at a moments notice, 14 inches on the streets nothwithstanding. I hope she does not chew up the garage floor.
yes, but how can I help?
Below is an email I sent to a friend who was thinking of converting his Cannondale mtb to a commuter. He lives in Hillsboro and commutes 8 miles round trip. He asked me to put together some wisdom on outfitting for commuting in the rain...something I have a little experience with. Edited for anonymity...
*********************************
Start now. In spite of the rain, soldier on.
Bike – yer Cannondale is fine for it, but switch to slicks, anywhere from 15-25 per tire.
Get some fenders, another 25
Get a tune up, 35-65
Maybe a new chain will be needed? 35-60 depending on level of quality
You have a rear rack? If not, 15-25
Weather proof panniers – I say, go big and get top of the line gear. Well, I would say that about anything you get, but especially for something you want to be weatherproof. Look at http://www.jandd.com/ for top-notch panniers. Anything that goes on a rear rack and looks like a dry bag, ought to do well.
Messenger bag – Same site, http://www.jandd.com/ for messenger bags. That is where mine is from. Never regretted getting that model (largest size).
Lights – MARS Blackburn, LEDs, rear 5 reds with 2 yellow side markers…I actually ride with two of these on my Commuter. Headlight, I have two four-LED whites mounted on my commuter.
Batteries – get rechargeable AAs and AAAs for your lights.
Headlamp – either wear on your helmet front with clear LED cover, or wear on your helmet rear, with red LED cover.
Pedals – get some simple pedals to go with your cycling shoes
Pumps – get a floor pump, a two hander, for the garage if you do not have one already, and get a small hand pump to attach to your bike
Under seat bag – put yer tools and your spare tubes (always 2) and your tire removal kit in here
Clothes – Take yer work clothes in your panniers
Cycling Pants- Spend some money on good gear. I have pants from http://www.nau.com/, they work like champs
Cycling Jacket – jacket is from http://www.craftusa.com/ and worth the extra coin.
Gloves – get some winter gloves when it is butt-arse cold, otherwise, simple riding gloves will do
Helmet cover- for rain, I use the shower caps from hotel rooms…free, elastic rimmed, they work awesome…on warm days, even if raining, forget it, because your helmet will not breath
Riding cap – get a thin, slim head cover to wear under your helmet to retain heat
Cycling shoes – something simple that you can wear into a store while on the commute home…three Velcro strap style
Waterproof booties – wear these over your socks...keeps your feet dry, even if your cycling shoes are soaked. Put these on, then step into your cycling pants, then put your shoes on.
Lock – I use a small, Kryptonite U-Lock designed for motorcycles, along with their 7 foot, thick braid, cable lock with loops on both ends. Get both tires looped through with this thing, and through the frame and no one will mess
Helmet - more vents the better, spend no more than 50
Reflective stickers – buy some and stick them on your fenders for more vis
Maybe your riding jacket should be fluorescent yellow for high vis?
Get a bell to put on your handle-bars.
Looks like a lot, and it is, and will cost cash. But, you should be able to get you a lot off of craigs list or ebay. The nice thing is that once you buy an item, that is it. You do not do a lot of spending all the time, as you would for a car.
My wife usually gets me whatever I want (off ebay, etc.), because I save so much by not owning a car.
Give it a week or two, and you will never look back. Soon, you will be riding everywhere for every errand and feeling righteous the entire time…and you should.
Now get after it…
*********************************
Start now. In spite of the rain, soldier on.
Bike – yer Cannondale is fine for it, but switch to slicks, anywhere from 15-25 per tire.
Get some fenders, another 25
Get a tune up, 35-65
Maybe a new chain will be needed? 35-60 depending on level of quality
You have a rear rack? If not, 15-25
Weather proof panniers – I say, go big and get top of the line gear. Well, I would say that about anything you get, but especially for something you want to be weatherproof. Look at http://www.jandd.com/ for top-notch panniers. Anything that goes on a rear rack and looks like a dry bag, ought to do well.
Messenger bag – Same site, http://www.jandd.com/ for messenger bags. That is where mine is from. Never regretted getting that model (largest size).
Lights – MARS Blackburn, LEDs, rear 5 reds with 2 yellow side markers…I actually ride with two of these on my Commuter. Headlight, I have two four-LED whites mounted on my commuter.
Batteries – get rechargeable AAs and AAAs for your lights.
Headlamp – either wear on your helmet front with clear LED cover, or wear on your helmet rear, with red LED cover.
Pedals – get some simple pedals to go with your cycling shoes
Pumps – get a floor pump, a two hander, for the garage if you do not have one already, and get a small hand pump to attach to your bike
Under seat bag – put yer tools and your spare tubes (always 2) and your tire removal kit in here
Clothes – Take yer work clothes in your panniers
Cycling Pants- Spend some money on good gear. I have pants from http://www.nau.com/, they work like champs
Cycling Jacket – jacket is from http://www.craftusa.com/ and worth the extra coin.
Gloves – get some winter gloves when it is butt-arse cold, otherwise, simple riding gloves will do
Helmet cover- for rain, I use the shower caps from hotel rooms…free, elastic rimmed, they work awesome…on warm days, even if raining, forget it, because your helmet will not breath
Riding cap – get a thin, slim head cover to wear under your helmet to retain heat
Cycling shoes – something simple that you can wear into a store while on the commute home…three Velcro strap style
Waterproof booties – wear these over your socks...keeps your feet dry, even if your cycling shoes are soaked. Put these on, then step into your cycling pants, then put your shoes on.
Lock – I use a small, Kryptonite U-Lock designed for motorcycles, along with their 7 foot, thick braid, cable lock with loops on both ends. Get both tires looped through with this thing, and through the frame and no one will mess
Helmet - more vents the better, spend no more than 50
Reflective stickers – buy some and stick them on your fenders for more vis
Maybe your riding jacket should be fluorescent yellow for high vis?
Get a bell to put on your handle-bars.
Looks like a lot, and it is, and will cost cash. But, you should be able to get you a lot off of craigs list or ebay. The nice thing is that once you buy an item, that is it. You do not do a lot of spending all the time, as you would for a car.
My wife usually gets me whatever I want (off ebay, etc.), because I save so much by not owning a car.
Give it a week or two, and you will never look back. Soon, you will be riding everywhere for every errand and feeling righteous the entire time…and you should.
Now get after it…
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
bad, getting worse
And Bend is not immune to this phenom...
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/18/traffic.congestion.ap/index.html
Cooley and 97 is already bad. Juniper _will_ make it worse.
The state wants to spend money changing 97 into an expressway south of Madras to California, making all interchanges below highway grade. That makes perfect sense. Take that truck traffic and make it more fluid, unfettered by cities like Redmond, LaPine, Bend, etc. or dumb intersections like China Hat has been or like the Sunriver T has been.
What is interesting about the cnn article, acknowledging that it is cnn, is the lack of planning to get fewer people driving and/or getting more bodies into cars. Of course, no one mentions bikes.
There just seems to be a lot of head scratching going on. Gee, we had no idea that more cars would be on the roads, would mean more time in the car commuting. Could better planning have mitigated this issue before it happened? Or simply staved off the inevitable? I think it was inevitable. We are bound to buy more, consume more, use more, because we are Americans. I am about to compare us to Europe...be ready or stop reading now...In Europe, most people do not own cars. Most people do not own large, gas-guzzling cars. Housing and building is centered around the urban center, not sprawling across miles landscape. They tend to build up, not out. Smaller houses (versus 2600 square feet for two people). Now, do not get me wrong, I live in Bend/Salem, not Amsterdam; I bought into this just like you, true believer. I love Bend, living in Bend, but thank some one's god that I ride to work, instead of contributing to this problem. I do contribute to other problems, like wine consumption and love of the 80's.
See that waste the article quantifies? We as a people, as a culture, as a belief system, NEED to move ourselves away from what has defined us as consumers, guzzlers, abusers of resources. As in Fight Club, you are not the car you drive...the things you own, start to own you.
Bikes, not Bush.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/18/traffic.congestion.ap/index.html
Cooley and 97 is already bad. Juniper _will_ make it worse.
The state wants to spend money changing 97 into an expressway south of Madras to California, making all interchanges below highway grade. That makes perfect sense. Take that truck traffic and make it more fluid, unfettered by cities like Redmond, LaPine, Bend, etc. or dumb intersections like China Hat has been or like the Sunriver T has been.
What is interesting about the cnn article, acknowledging that it is cnn, is the lack of planning to get fewer people driving and/or getting more bodies into cars. Of course, no one mentions bikes.
There just seems to be a lot of head scratching going on. Gee, we had no idea that more cars would be on the roads, would mean more time in the car commuting. Could better planning have mitigated this issue before it happened? Or simply staved off the inevitable? I think it was inevitable. We are bound to buy more, consume more, use more, because we are Americans. I am about to compare us to Europe...be ready or stop reading now...In Europe, most people do not own cars. Most people do not own large, gas-guzzling cars. Housing and building is centered around the urban center, not sprawling across miles landscape. They tend to build up, not out. Smaller houses (versus 2600 square feet for two people). Now, do not get me wrong, I live in Bend/Salem, not Amsterdam; I bought into this just like you, true believer. I love Bend, living in Bend, but thank some one's god that I ride to work, instead of contributing to this problem. I do contribute to other problems, like wine consumption and love of the 80's.
See that waste the article quantifies? We as a people, as a culture, as a belief system, NEED to move ourselves away from what has defined us as consumers, guzzlers, abusers of resources. As in Fight Club, you are not the car you drive...the things you own, start to own you.
Bikes, not Bush.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
brain bucket
I asked a class-mate how much he was spending on his law school education...over 100k...I then asked him if a $30 helmet was a worthy insurance policy for his bike rides to school.
He laughed...but did not answer...or maybe he did.
He laughed...but did not answer...or maybe he did.
Monday, August 27, 2007
there is no someday
My wife bought me this righteous shirt at her home-town's bike shop. Nothing fancy on the front, but on the back it reads:
*****
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
See? There is no "Someday" so get out there and ride.
*****
That is logic that even my five-year-old daughter can understand. If it is still unclear, email me and I will get you an answer someday.
Word.
*****
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
See? There is no "Someday" so get out there and ride.
*****
That is logic that even my five-year-old daughter can understand. If it is still unclear, email me and I will get you an answer someday.
Word.
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