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.