Aside from the horrible inversion, we ride on! (well only if it isn't too poisoness)

Pollution stinks... Literally. Where is the air quality the worst in the nation? Not in L.A. no sirree. Right in the middle of Utah County! The best part is, is half the people don't even realize they are causing it by driving in their cars! (We have no factories here, no major airports, no major constructions sites!) It's just plain ole car pollution, well, and the fact that there has been like zero wind.  I forgive you all who won't car pool!

In other wonderful matters.  Ren and I have been taking the bus (to avoid said smogginess)! I tell you that thing is awesome! I will go over my top ten perks of taking the bus.

1. No road rage, somebody else gets to deal with that garbage.

2. The bus comes by my house every 20 min ! It's like my own private chauffeur!

3. Ren loves, LOVes LOVES the bus.  She can see out the window and talk to strangers and smear her face on the window.  All the things she would not get to do in a car.

4. People watching.

5. Nature watching

6. Front-al bike racks. For the days Dad rides and we pick him up for some quality relax time.

7. Did I mention it requires no insurance, no wash, no maintenance, just $2.25 for a 3 hour pass. Heaven.

8. No middle console.  I can sit right up next to my hubby and stare into his wonderful eyes, with no fear of crashing.  Ahhh all the things Cake sang about.  

9. I heart bus drivers! They are so nice and super helpful.  It could help that I have the cutest accessory, REN!

10. Oh ya it does kinda help the environment. ONE LESS CAR BABY!

Man I just love that Cake song. I would take that song out to dinner, then back to my place. And then I would totally marry it! wait.. first marry then back to my place. 

Zac also got a new ride over the break.  Ya baby.  Well it's a new old ride. But it is still super sexy.  

Check it out for yourself.

Of course Renners loves it!

It's a 2 speed kick back Schwinn Racer.  He repainted it and cleaned it up. Put new grips on and he finally got a sexy new Brooks saddle which he has been in love with since the time he first knew about bikes when he was 2! Well maybe not 2 but at least 10. He also scored this rockin basket from our Bicycling buddies. It fits Ren perfectly.  As you can see she loves it. I also love it cuz it means I get the xtracycle! I love love loves that bike.  It is so smooth and I can't even tell when it is loaded down with a weeks worth of groceries. Ahhh, that bicycle is the life. I bless xtracycle with many more years of awesome service and good fortune!

And to all my southern Nevada readers I hear the weather ROCKS down their so get on your bikes and ride!

Happy Riding!

  ~Krysta~

OH ya one more goodness from Queen.

ooooh snow!

We didn't die! We are just hibernating a little more now that ol' Jack Frost decided to dump a LOAD on Provo.  When we do get out it takes about a 1/2 hour to get the 3 of us properly bundled up.  Mittens, earwarmers, coats, thermals, tights, wool socks, long sleeves, jacket, boots, fleece blanket and lovey blanket must all be assembled and then placed upon each dutiful rider.  Let me tell you, it is a sight to behold. One that unfortunately I do not have a picture of :(.  We are still enjoying our time that we can ride.  Neither of us has taken a spill yet, thankfully. We also have to avoid tons of ice.  No biggy right? Right.  

The greatest thing about riding in the winter is how quiet it is when the snow falls.  It's like standing all alone in a tunnel with dandy lion seeds fluttering in the wind.  It's like a warm blanket full of cotton balls.  It's like...wonderful.  sigh.  I love the snowfall.  It especially makes those noisy cars a little less noisy and threatening.  It's amazing how the snow can make the worries slip away, how it can make the roughest day, not so rough.  It can warm your heart.  Huh, snow warms your heart. 

Hope these warm your heart also!   Happy Holidays! from Bike Nuts!

         

yes it worked

Makes you think.

 This is a very interesting report not meant to depress or make afraid just some interesting information I thought to pass on. Everything after this paragraph is thiers. I remember reading some where that more pollutants are put out by making a new car (even hybrids) than any old car will put out the rest of its driving life. Originaly posted over at copenhaganize.com.

Here's an interesting list of 28 reasons to ride your bicycle, as compiled by the University of Central Florida. It is based on Orlando but the sources are broad and thorough.

In addition, I just watched this interesting PBS show about commuting and petrol prices. I couldn't embed it, so click on through to see it.

28 Reasons To Ride your Bicycle
1. Increase in local property values.
2. Correlation with Overall Wealth.

The notion that more cars equals more wealth is really more myth than reality. In fact, some new research shows that high and increasing levels of car dependence actually harms an economy. In a report to the World Bank, researchers from the Institute for Science and Technology Policy (ISTP) in Perth, Australia showed that there are "diseconomies" associated with car use. Auto dependence can drain an economy of its wealth….

It found that, among cities in the developed world, regional wealth (as measured by per capita gross regional product - or GRP) actually goes down as car use go up. In other words, the more we drive, the poorer we get....

The global comparison is ... illuminating. Cities such as Zurich,
Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Tokyo and Paris all have a much higher use of public transport than any American, Canadian or Australian city. Yet they build fewer roads and own fewer cars. They have much higher bike use. They have roughly half the transportation deaths. They spend less on getting to work. They emit a fraction of the CO2.

And, oh yes, they're richer.

Europe's 11 principal cities average 390 cars per 1000 people and have an average GRP of US$32,000 per capita. Meanwhile, the USA's 10 principal cities average 600 cars per 1000 people with a GRP of only $27,000. Tokyo's average car ownership is a paltry 225 while its GRP soars at $37,000.

More spending on cars does not create wealth. It just transfers money
elsewhere. Often that elsewhere is outside your local economy. Last time I checked, my home town didn't have an oil or car industry. And buying Ford and GM seems isn't making Detroit, MotorCity USA, any richer. Excessive spending on cars and their infrastructure merely means less money in your pocket and your economy that can be used for productive things.

3. Less Public Money Is Needed To Create a High Quality Transportation System.
4. High-Tech Business Is Attracted by a Perceived Better Quality of Life
5. Improved Personal Finances
6. Better Physical Health
7. Better Mental and Emotional Health
8. Fewer Overweight and Obese Citizens
9. More Free Time
10. More Beauty
11. Greater Mobility
12. Inclusion of Senior Citizens
13. More Equitable Living for Low Income Earners
14. Increased Sense of Community
15. Individual Opportunities for Safer Travel
16. Less Congested Roads
17. Safer, Quieter Neighborhoods
18. More Resources for Public Use
19. Enhanced and More Credible Metropolitan Image
20. Better Air Quality
21. Visually More Appealing Metropolitan Area
22. Cleaner Surface and Ground Water
23. Quieter City
24. Slowed Pace of Global Warming
25. More Sustainable Lifestyle

Paths will help not only by reducing the need for the vast infrastructure needed to support automobile travel and by reducing emissions, but also by saving on the manufacture and disposal of autos. The Environment and Forecasting Institute in Heidelburg, Germany lists the following environmental costs of one car:

Extracting raw material:
26.5 tons of waste
922 million cubic meters of polluted air

Transporting raw material:
12 liters of crude oil in the ocean for each car
425 million cubic meters of polluted air

Producing the car:
1.5 tons of waste
75 million cubic meters of polluted air

Driving the car:
18.4 kilos of abrasive waste
1000 cubic meters of polluted air

Disposing of the car:
102 cubic meters of polluted air

26. Recognition for Leadership in Sound Environmental Policy
27. Readiness for Other Environmental Initiatives
28. Enhanced Quality of Life for Women

Adventure Dump

So my buddy Brad over at bikeuv.org made a really nice post about me and Krysta. Then gave me a guilt trip on how I never write on my blog so this is in response to his request since i have a spare minute from school thanks to Turkey Day. This blog has always been dedicated to the bicycle and all of its simple and supple pleasures so what follows is a photo representation of our little adventures around Provo that are only possible because of our bikes.

This above photo is one of our newest purchases even though the picture is kind of sad these are two pristine, matching, boys and girls, Schwinn Collegiates. Some nights me and Krysta just geek out on bicycle stuff and search through the Internet for new information or new bikes/bike makers this also is followed by searches on Craigslist and KSL, on one of these geeky nights we found these two babies for $40 total that's right $40 I was       skeptical becausethese bikes are worth way more but, I called the guy and went to his house the next morning, he opened the garage and I fell in love. He said him and his wife were the original owners they bought them back in 74 and he just wanted to make sure they would be ridden I gave him my word that they would be. Then I proceeded to amaze him when I hooked them up to the Xtracycle. When I came home it was to a very excited wife.

To get the story on the tandem see below. This is our Schwinn tandem (we are not Schwinn freaks it just happens that we have gotten these bikes in the last little while). This bike is great because it helped us go on an awesome ride with our friends Todd and Pam. Pam was a little nervous to ride bikes so I told her we would set her up on the tandem and she would not have to worry about anything. After some close to home riding she was convinced and we went out on an awesome ride which led to an awesome Halloween ride using the same bike.

This is our other wonderful friend (we are blessed to have so many), Pippi. Pippi and Karl wanted to go for sushi and, who are we to argue half off sushi, but instead of drive we rode, and as can be seen it was a blast. Karl and Pippi rode our Electra cruisers. This ride also led to another ride to the lake then to Del Taco and home it was a pretty epic ride and these two kept up and had fun the whole way. Yeah for the converting power of bicycles.
Here is our wonderful tandem that I bought for my beautiful wife Krysta, for our one year anniversary. It was stored at a friends house for like a year while we were in Idaho and we just went up there to claim it a little while ago. As you can see there is no limit to the Xtracycle I rode it like this for over two miles with no problems and allot of looks. The tandem needs some work but since coming home it is getting ridden allot and turns out it is a great ambassador for the non bicycle inclined.
This is one of my favorite pictures not because I am in it, but because this is me moving my house by bike!!!!!! I was so stoked to do this, we had allot of help from my buddy Todd and his car but, i ended up moving a third by bike so i was really happy. In other places they move every thing by bicycle. But, i only know one other cargo bike and that is Brad and his awesome Bakfiets, and since I did not want to bother him I had all the fun to myself. 

I guess what I am trying to say with all these pictures and words is, bicycles are awesome, and riding all the time or just going on a cruise with friends and family is a fun and rewarding way to have some simple adventures. There is so much to do in our backyards if we can look at it with that same type of imagination we used to have before we could drive, before we got so busy with getting here or there. So, get out and ride, even if you need to dust off the saddle to that bike that has been sitting in the garage, take it for a spin, you will not be disappointed.

Critical Sadness

Zac and I have really tried to become more involved with bicycle advocacy here in Provo.  Let's just say that there isn't much. This year though some more forward thinking college students have tried to put a Critical Mass together to get people out to ride their bikes.  I am excited to say that the numbers for those Critical Mass rides have gone up amazingly from when we went the first time in June.  When we attended in June there was maybe 25 of us.  Sad but still fun.  This month we attended and I think there was almost 300 people present.  Way to go Provo.  Only the sad thing is, is that was there really a reason we were riding?  

Critical Mass was and is to promote safety for bike riders.  It was started to help those who rode their bikes in the city to have one day a month where they could ride with other people and feel a sort of "safety in numbers".  It doubly was to make cars more aware of bicycles on the road-ways, because bicycles are vehicles, and they have a right to ride on the road.

I am all for letting people know to watch for cyclists.  There is always a concern for safety when you travel on the roads, even for people who drive! This is definitely one of my main concerns as my husband rides a 20 mile commute between work and school. As I am sure many of you are concerned when your husband drives to work. 

But the shocking and saddening thing about the Critical Mass was I felt so unsafe.  There was a traffic pile-up due to an accident and instead of stopping behind the cars people chose to go around on the shoulder. Then people went in between the stopped cars! COME ON! Really. Really people weaving in and out of traffic. I can understand if you are a lone cyclist and you have to get into another lane or things of that nature but to purposely give a car no room to move.  They not only endangered themselves but those of us that were riding safely.  Critical Mass is supposed to be an unorganized coming together of cyclists but why does that mean that safety should not exists?

Then when we moved to an open area of the road.  Cyclists took up 3 lanes instead of one. Many who took the outside lanes felt it was leisure time. They started doing tricks and showing off. In the middle of Friday night traffic. Emphasis on the fact that it was night! Thus causing more mayhem for the cars behind us. I apologize to anyone who was behind us.

My favorite part of the night (ie. really the worst part of the night) was when a gentleman rolled down his window and asked what we were doing/riding for.  One cyclist in the group said, "we're going for a bike ride". Ahhh the simple genius of that rider! Of course we were riding our bikes!! So I turned to the gentleman in the car and said, 'We are trying to raise bicycle awareness. So when you are out in your car be sure to watch out for those who may be riding their bikes.' Simple yet a very informative answer.  No we were not just 'going for a bike ride'!  Uhh I was so frustrated. This was the last straw for us.  Zac and I and our friend Todd quickly left the group and decided not to attend another one. 

Safety should be first and foremost what we all as citizens of the road should be striving for. Making people upset by blocking traffic, weaving in and out of cars, taking up too may lanes these are not ways that anyone can promote safety, even cars! So it turned out to be a night of sadness.  Hopefully we will find other ways to promote the bicycle community in Provo as well as other places. We will continue to ride and hope that you all will consider taking your bike instead of the car. 

Happy Riding

     Krysta

Thanks for all the fish.

Just wanted to thank everyone for their comments.  I'm much calmer now ;) In a perfect world we wouldn't have to worry, then again would it be so perfect.  Someday though it may be much safer.  Zac and I totally want to move to Europe. Zac keeps talking about how we should move to Amsterdam.  I couldn't agree more!  I bet it is so quiet there.  Hopefully with what he has chosen for school we will get the opportunity to live abroad and experience different bike cultures.  Check out this website for the zen that is Copenhagen  and I 'll end this with some lovely bike pics.

Provo River Trail on the tandem

Lovely European bike (sorry it's like 100 years old) PS those bikes still look the same. That is the genius of their engineering.

Bikes and their death machine equivalents

Happy Riding

   Krysta